I've just spent 4-5 hours today sorting and shredding about 4+ years worth of documents that I've accumulated by shoving into various boxes. Not only do I have enough paper strips to do several paper mache dogs, I've become very efficient at feeding the shredder beast...almost Arthur Anderson-Enron level of expertise. BRING ON THE COVER-UP!
Once upon a time, there was an online social networking site. Somehow, I got looped into joining, but nothing really came out of it because it was slow and basically sucked for someone that didn't live in the Bay Area. Then, Google decided to jump on the bandwagon and created Okrut. Orkut is still in beta - much like the other site - but it actually runs at a decent clip and has all these nifty features like circles of information disclosure, communities and friend ranking. IOW, you could say it whips the competition's llama's ass. Pretty much everyone I know has either jumped ship or finally joined it for their first online social networking site.
So why am I writing this? Well, I think I hit everyone I should with invites, but someone might have slipped under the radar. In the interest of spreading the love (and friend count pumping ;), I can get you the hook-up if I know you and you want to join. Just comment against this entry along with some sort of identifying message, and I'll try to get in touch with you to set things up.
I loves me iPod, and it loves me back. Now that I have one, I'm never going back - it's just that awesome. I'm quite struck by how well put together it is - being both lighter, more functional and significantly sexxier than my old player, even with the replacement bios. I can't wait to take a trip to really let her shine.
After vowing to not gorge myself silly after four days of eating out culiminating in a two caipirinha and corvina meal at Café Brasil, I made the mistake of being inspired enough to cook a semi-fancy meal. I guess watching a good episode of Iron Chef, browsing through the latest Bon Appétit and going grocery shopping does that to one.
Tonight's main course was a pork loin roulade based on this recipe. First, I took a pork loin, cut it into one long roll, hammered it into a relatively even thickness and then partitioned it into thirds. The paste I used was pretty much spot on the same as what was written in the recipe, but with a few substitutions - serrano chiles, lime juice, ginger, garlic, basil leaves (a bit more than the recipe called for since I didn't have any mint), peanut oil, almond flour (instead of slivered/whole almonds). All of that was food processed into a pesto and then slathered on the pork loin. The pork loin pieces were rolled up tightly and then skewered shut. Finally, the whole package was roasted in the oven @ 350º F for about an hour + 20 minutes.
How was it? Some pork loin roulade, some braised broccoli and the leftover chardonnay has reduced me to food coma apathy. So good, so tasty, so sleepy, so much for cleaning and laundry...*snore*
The Economist has a book review on X-Treme Latin, a book that dares to create Latin sayings for today's bumper stickers, social insults and pick-up lines. It seems like it has some choice phrases like Nisi mecum concubueris, phobistae vicerint (“If you won't sleep with me, the terrorists will have won.”). It's not out yet (March 8th?), but the book has plenty of quotes along the lines of those mentioned in the review, it could be quite amusing.
Just ran into this article on Edmunds about how the author goes undercover as a car salesperson to find out what *really* goes on. It's salacious tale of selective information, psi-ops and "a $300 burger". Oh, and there are some car buying tips at the end if you care about that.
Gilmore Girls Season 1 on DVD May 4th. Huzzah.
Those of you familiar with Japanese culture are probably well aware that Japan has a lot of "unique" television shows. I remember watching nasubi and Iron Chef while I was in Japan a few years ago. Even The Simpsons got around to poking fun at the phenomenon.
Given the Japanese love affair with cell phones, it's only natural that they have created a tv show around them. According to this Washington Post article (free reg. blah blah), "One Tokyo TV station recently broadcast a reality show featuring a teenage girl whose cell phone was taken away for one week. She was reduced to tears when she finally got it back." Now *that's* what I call junkie need devotion broadcast for the masses. I guess cell phones really are all that over there.
Yesterday was a risotto day. Originally I had intended to make it on Friday, but decided against it because of a co-worker's birthday happy hour.
Risotto, for me, is one of those dishes I'm still sort of feeling my way around. I know the basics, have read a few different recipes, but I haven't made it enough times to really feel comfortable making. However, I feel like I'm getting closer to what works for me based on the results of yesterday's attempt.
I started with a base of diced onions sweated in butter. Next came the chopped artichoke hearts. That was followed up with a minced garlic clove and the arborio rice. Then I began the arduous folding the rice while adding part of the hot chicken stock about a cup at a time over medium high by high heat. After 20-30 minutes of this, I folded in the earlier cooked chopped portobello mushrooms and crumpled pancetta. Finally, I salted and peppered to taste.
The end resulting dish was a very rich version of risotto. I think the mushrooms, artichokes and pancetta made for a more hearty character compared to other versions I've had. Additionally, I finally realized that a big difference in the flavor in my version vs. what I have had in the past is using my homemade chicken stock, which has remarkably more "oomph" than plain ole broth (a 10 hour simmer with vegetables and a bouquet garni tends to do that). Most importantly, I actually cooked it a little past al dente because I dislike al dente rice. On the down side, I forgot that the pancetta's saltiness would leak out and infuse the risotto so I probably oversalted a little. Nonetheless, the final product gets the thumbs up from me, even post-nuke reheat.
Within any domain of expertise, a given individual generally has a core repertoire that is relied and called upon with great frequency. I believe cooking is no different: a chef will generally have a set of dishes that falls in the comfort zone, regardless of the difficulty or the time required. Unsurprisingly, I have my own portfolio of recipes that I fall back upon. One of these recipes is braised shanks. This usally involves seasoning + browning the shanks, adding some liquid, tossing in some chopped veggies and then shoving the whole concontion into the oven at low heat for an extended period of time. Although the contents vary depending on what ingredients are readily available at cooking time, the basics remain the same.
Today, I decided to fudge with the details of making braised shanks a bit. After reading the One Pot Dishes cookbook my mother picked up for me for Christmas, I ended up altering the preparation to incorporate some of the techniques and flavors used by some of the recipes I perused. I started with lamb shanks seasoned with sea salt, black pepper and paprika. Then I dredged them with flour before browning. Next, I deglazed the pan with red wine and combined the remainder with more red wine and chicken stock for the braising liquid. A very basic bouquet garni of garlic, black peppercorns and a bay leaf was added to the liquid for richness. That was followed up with coarsely chopped chunks of carrot and onions. For an interesting twist, I added dried cranberries in the hopes that they would function similarly to apricots, prunes or other dried fruits added to stew-like dishes. Finally, the whole shebang was shoved in the oven at 325 deg. F for 2 hours.
The end result was wonderful. The shanks themselves were *very* tender. The same could be said about the vegetables, but they were not overcooked to the point of mush and blandness. The braising liquid ended up being nicely rich and slightly sweet, but not overwhelmingly so. Overall, I am extremely pleased with the results. I think this might be the best variant I have made on braised shanks ever.
I am happy to report that I was finally able to do an upward bow! Even though I had not done my yoga workout in about a week or so, this time everything came together. The first two or three times were total busts, but the last time I actually lifted myself up for five seconds or so. The feeling of accomplishment was awesome until I collapsed back down on the floor.
