I was sitting at the bar drinking some hot cocoa in our Casablanca mug with the picture of Bogie and Bergman sitting at a table in a cafe with the caption: "Here's looking at you, kid."
Shafer / Mr. Incredulous: Who's Here?
Monday, October 30, 2006
for moo, for autumn
The day becomes
more solemn and serene...
There is a harmony in autumn,
and a lustre in its sky.
The Indian Serenade
by Percy Bysshe Shelley
hot mama
by rachel tsunami
Earlier this month, Queen B. Shenaynay posted a treatise called Chili Apologetics, a thought-provoking piece about the virtues and benefits of capsaicin, and endorphins, and pain. As best I could tell, she believes (through extra-biblical revelation), that Adam and Eve ate chili on their first date. Of course, none of us can prove her wrong, nor would we want to.
At the time, I proffered a comment about the following recipe, which has found a happy home in my collection, and was pressed to share it, which I happily do here. However, I need to be perfectly clear about this. I did not try to claim that this chile is "better" than Shenaynay's, only that it is very good, and that it has caused a shift in my chili paradigm. I don't know about you, but in my world, there's room for more than one chili, and each family has its favorites for different reasons.
btw:
~masa harina isn't hard to find. Most any grocery store will have it.
~obviously, the quantity of jalepenos can be adjusted up or down according to how many brain cells you can spare.
~as usual, when cooking with beer or wine, they are added for the flavor. I can't vouch for the taste if you omit the beer. It might be just fine.
All in all, a really good recipe!
Beef Chili with Masa Harina
There are as many versions of chili as there are chili cooks. This one includes a signature flavor of the American Southwest: masa harina. The Mexican corn flour used for making tortillas and tamales, masa harina is made by grinding corn kernels that have been simmered in a slaked lime solution and then dried. It is sold in well-stocked food stores and in Latin markets. Added to the chili near the end of cooking, masa harina thickens the liquid slightly, giving it body, and imparts a subtle corn flavor.Grind the meat yourself or ask the butcher to grind it fresh for chili, using the large holes of a meat grinder to give it a coarse texture. Accompany the chili with small bowls of sour cream, salsa, shredded cheddar cheese and chopped green onions.
5 Tbs. vegetable oil
3 lb. beef chuck, ground for chili
3 large yellow onions, finely chopped
8 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeño chili, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 cup chili powder
2 Tbs. ground cumin
1 Tbs. ground oregano
2 tsp. ground coriander
1 1/2 cups lager-style beer
2 1/2 cups beef stock
1 can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes
1 can (15 oz.) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15 oz.) pinto beans, rinsed and drained
3 Tbs. masa harina
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
In a large nonstick fry pan over medium-high heat, warm 1 Tbs. of the vegetable oil. Add half of the beef and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a colander placed over a bowl to drain off the fat. Repeat with 1 Tbs. of the oil and the remaining beef.
Drain and set aside.
In a large pot over medium heat, warm the remaining 3 Tbs. oil. Add the onions and sauté, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add the jalapeño, chili powder, cumin, oregano and coriander, stir until well combined and cook for 1 minute more.
Add the reserved beef, the beer, stock and tomatoes and bring to a gentle simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 50 minutes. Add the kidney and pinto beans and masa harina. Simmer until the chili is slightly thickened, 5 to 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve in large bowls.
Serves 8 to 10.
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Collection Series,Soup,by Diane Rossen Worthington (Simon & Schuster, 2001).
Earlier this month, Queen B. Shenaynay posted a treatise called Chili Apologetics, a thought-provoking piece about the virtues and benefits of capsaicin, and endorphins, and pain. As best I could tell, she believes (through extra-biblical revelation), that Adam and Eve ate chili on their first date. Of course, none of us can prove her wrong, nor would we want to.
At the time, I proffered a comment about the following recipe, which has found a happy home in my collection, and was pressed to share it, which I happily do here. However, I need to be perfectly clear about this. I did not try to claim that this chile is "better" than Shenaynay's, only that it is very good, and that it has caused a shift in my chili paradigm. I don't know about you, but in my world, there's room for more than one chili, and each family has its favorites for different reasons.
btw:
~masa harina isn't hard to find. Most any grocery store will have it.
~obviously, the quantity of jalepenos can be adjusted up or down according to how many brain cells you can spare.
~as usual, when cooking with beer or wine, they are added for the flavor. I can't vouch for the taste if you omit the beer. It might be just fine.
All in all, a really good recipe!
Beef Chili with Masa Harina
There are as many versions of chili as there are chili cooks. This one includes a signature flavor of the American Southwest: masa harina. The Mexican corn flour used for making tortillas and tamales, masa harina is made by grinding corn kernels that have been simmered in a slaked lime solution and then dried. It is sold in well-stocked food stores and in Latin markets. Added to the chili near the end of cooking, masa harina thickens the liquid slightly, giving it body, and imparts a subtle corn flavor.Grind the meat yourself or ask the butcher to grind it fresh for chili, using the large holes of a meat grinder to give it a coarse texture. Accompany the chili with small bowls of sour cream, salsa, shredded cheddar cheese and chopped green onions.
5 Tbs. vegetable oil
3 lb. beef chuck, ground for chili
3 large yellow onions, finely chopped
8 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeño chili, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 cup chili powder
2 Tbs. ground cumin
1 Tbs. ground oregano
2 tsp. ground coriander
1 1/2 cups lager-style beer
2 1/2 cups beef stock
1 can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes
1 can (15 oz.) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15 oz.) pinto beans, rinsed and drained
3 Tbs. masa harina
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
In a large nonstick fry pan over medium-high heat, warm 1 Tbs. of the vegetable oil. Add half of the beef and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a colander placed over a bowl to drain off the fat. Repeat with 1 Tbs. of the oil and the remaining beef.
Drain and set aside.
In a large pot over medium heat, warm the remaining 3 Tbs. oil. Add the onions and sauté, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add the jalapeño, chili powder, cumin, oregano and coriander, stir until well combined and cook for 1 minute more.
Add the reserved beef, the beer, stock and tomatoes and bring to a gentle simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 50 minutes. Add the kidney and pinto beans and masa harina. Simmer until the chili is slightly thickened, 5 to 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve in large bowls.
Serves 8 to 10.
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Collection Series,Soup,by Diane Rossen Worthington (Simon & Schuster, 2001).
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
"This come's from our many media's"
Van Atkins billboard in Ripley-
You're back to school headquarters!
I am?
On a homeschool blog-
If you realy want to homeschool, their is allways away...
Not if you spell like that!
And I'm sure you have all seen this one-
Only windshields kills more bugs than we do!
N.C.S.P.
On a grocery store in Tupelo-
No credit cards are excepted in this store.
Well, in that case...
Uh...
addendum by rachel tsunami~
Ellie, you forgot this one, also seen on a billboard in our fair town. And this is exactly how it appears, mind you:
You're back to school headquarters!
I am?
On a homeschool blog-
If you realy want to homeschool, their is allways away...
Not if you spell like that!
And I'm sure you have all seen this one-
Only windshields kills more bugs than we do!
N.C.S.P.
On a grocery store in Tupelo-
No credit cards are excepted in this store.
Well, in that case...
Uh...
addendum by rachel tsunami~
Ellie, you forgot this one, also seen on a billboard in our fair town. And this is exactly how it appears, mind you:
Cash for Your,Nothing doing! I'm never parting with my Your.
Paychecks and titles!
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
To Autumn
SEASON of mists and mellow fruitfulness!
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.
Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,
Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twinèd flowers;
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cider-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.
Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—
While barrèd clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.
-John Keats 1795–1821
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.
Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,
Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twinèd flowers;
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cider-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.
Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—
While barrèd clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.
-John Keats 1795–1821
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Ok, since you're so smart...
Here's a harder one. Guess who said this:
"I'm so sorry you're feeling bad... Can I have your sausage?"
"I'm so sorry you're feeling bad... Can I have your sausage?"
Monday, October 02, 2006
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