Cooking With Joy: Update #2

My resolution for 2013 is cooking with joy. With my second update I broke from the plan laid out in The 4-Hour Chef in 2 ways. First, I decided to cook 2 different dishes from the book in one meal. Second, my wife planned to have some people over so it turned into a dinner party a few weeks early. Dealing with change is a great thing to tell you about though so allons-y!

2 Different Dishes

As I looked to what I would make for this week in the book, I saw that it was a zucchini side dish called Union Square Zucchini. I wanted to do something different for my entree than the past 2 meals I made of braised meat so I looked at the next recipe - Harrissa Crab Cakes. Even though, as written, it too is a side dish I decided to treat it as the entree and make a go of it. First I'll discuss the zucchini, then the crab cakes. After that I'll give write about the difficulties of doing them at the same time and a bit of cooking for the group.

Union Square Zucchini

The zucchini dish was interesting on a couple levels. First, I'm not a big fan of the stuff but this dish turned out pretty good. Second, it looked as if I was making way more than I needed. However, when it cooked down and I gave everyone a serving spoonful on their plate it was just about the right amount. All the recipes in The 4-Hour Chef have skills they are meant to teach so you have a growing skill base as you progress. The skills for Union Square Zucchini were using the star peeler and sauteing. With regards to the peeler, as obvious and simple as this skill was I felt pretty dang good about it when I was doing it. Also, cutting the zucchini this thin in this way kept it from getting mushy in the way we usually cook it that I don't like. Sauteing was something that I kind of feel I didn't really get from this recipe. Either that, or the trick with the garlic on the fork was the thing that was taught and I didn't realize it. Perhaps when I'm not cooking for so many people, I'll have a lot less zucchini and feel like I'm actually sauteing it.

Notes on Union Square Zucchini

First of all, one zucchini per person is the right amount and the plus one just ensures you have enough. I had plus 2 because one person didn't show up for the dinner party and it all worked out with some leftovers. Second, you can be skimpy on the red pepper with this one. Following my note from the flavor combinations with scrambled eggs in my first update, I went a little heavy with the red pepper flakes because I was cooking so much zucchini. I got a mostly positive response from my tasters but I feel it could have been less. Also, I found out one of my kids likes spicy food. Not the one I expected but one of them. So, one kid like 'em and ate almost all his veggies. Yay! I had the though that I could work on zucchini much like the scrambled eggs - try flavor combinations and see what works. It will be an interesting test to see if I really am getting anything from the flavor experiments with eggs.

Harrissa Crab Cakes

These turned out better than expected and didn't take that much work at all. The skills being taught with this recipe were using egg whites and cutting with the knife without cutting yourself. I did use egg whites to keep the crab cakes together, in fact I also decided to brush the outside of them with an extra egg white to make sure they stayed together. This step was probably not needed but I was throwing a dinner party so I wanted to make sure. Holding the food and cutting with the knife is going to take some work though. Because the item I was slicing was green onions it was difficult unless I went one at a time, which I did. I guess I'll have to work my way up to that. The crab cakes were tasty though and everyone ate them except one son who tore his apart and wasn't keen on the texture of it all spread out. I'll definitely make these again.

Cooking 2 New Dishes For A Dinner Party

Both cooking 2 new dishes and adding half again as many people to cook for had me test something discussed in the book, separating preparation from actually cooking. This made it very easy to just cook when I had to by having everything I needed ready. A couple hours before we wanted to do dinner I sliced all the zucchini. That is when I got a little concerned about maybe cooking too much of it. Then I got started practicing my knife work on the scallions. Good thing too, that took more time than mentioned in the recipe but as I get faster that won't be the truth. Preparation for the crab cakes had me actually create the patties. With a little over an hour left I placed the crab cakes in the fridge, which probably helped keep them together.

Conclusion

Having cooked before, I wasn't too concerned about the dinner party. Also, before my wife realized I would be cooking dinner for the people who came over she was thinking we would just order some pizza. If everything went down the tubes we were covered and very much like recommend in The 4-Hour Chef at the end of the lesson calendar. If you don't feel comfortable cooking it might be a little too much. Also, recipes you are already comfortable with are probably fine to accompany your side dish(es). In fact, I think they would be better as these two dishes, though good, didn't really compliment each other very well. So if you want to throw a dinner party, get some more dishes under your belt so you know what will go well together. The book recommends the osso "buko" with the crab cakes.

While I was planning my meal this week, an update to the kindle edition of The 4-Hour Chef was made that fixed the missing step #3 from osso "Buko". That gives me good hope that the book will only improve and be easy for new chefs to follow.

Resolution 2013:Cooking With Joy - first update

My main resolution for 2013 is cooking with joy. I have cooked a lot and I used to cook with joy before the kids made it hard to be very creative in the kitchen. Now that they are old enough I can take on cooking again.

The genesis of the idea to take on cooking with joy as my 2013 resolution was the book, The 4-Hour Chef by Tim Ferriss. I got the book after listening to an interview with Tim Ferriss on The New Man Podcast. In the interview Tim mentioned that the book was a book about how to get great at anything fast but using cooking, and his applying methodologies to learning to cook, as the vehicle for this information. Because of this my updates that link in my work from this book will also be a piece-meal review of the sections of the book I reference for my own resolution.

Pre-Resolution

After I listened to the interview, I went online and found out that The 4-Hour Chef was available on Kindle for the sale price of $4.99. As of this writing it is $9.99. At $5, it was most assuredly worth it. At $10, your mileage may vary. The book did inspire me for my resolution, and so far I have had success (more on that shortly), but there are some hiccups along the way.

I got this book at the end of November and I started reading it then. The first section, entitled "Meta" is really the meat of the get great at anything fast information. The DS3 and CaFE methodology makes sense but you don't hear much about it (at least directly) after this section. The actual cooking, and a great place to start if you only care about the cooking, is in the second section "The Domestic." I held off on being "The Domestic" until the new year, because Christmas was coming and I thought to put some of the better kitchen items recommended on my wish list. It worked for my initial needs. Since the beginning of the year I've been working my way, slowly, through the topics and recipes. Using what I learn or am attempting to learn to make dinner for my family each Sunday. Here's how the lessons and meals have gone for me so far.

First Recipe/First Dinner - Osso "Buko"

This recipe was an easy win and claimed to teach braising and blade grip. I was worried that I would buy expensive lamb shanks and only my wife and I would like the meal (the main reason I stopped cooking when the kids were younger). However, both my kids loved the meal. My 9 year old has a thing for eating meat from the bone right now so it was right up his alley. My 6 year told me it was tasty.

As this was the first thing in the book and it was a main dish, I used the carrots that are cooked with it as the vegetable and had some rice and leftover bread for the starch. The carrots were okay, they were basically stewed carrots. So if you like that you'll be fine. My kids were less than impressed and I've never been a fan of stewed carrots so - meh. I might try it without the carrots in the future and pick a vegetable that will contrast with the entree more.

Other notes from my first meal

I used a pan-saver type bag with my dutch oven and it did make cleanup easy. This was especially nice since my wife wanted to use the juices in a broth she was making. However, I have yet to try without the pan savers so I don't know if overall cleanup without bags is really that bad. How to hold your blade was taught along with the direction to cut the ends of the carrots. This is a nice and easy introduction as opposed to something deeper. More knife handling techniques are taught later as necessary. Part of me likes this low-stakes approach to learning to cook but the other part of me feels a little cheated. However, he did just say blade grip so I did learn what he said I would.

One editing note about the kindle edition of this book. It seems step 3 is not written down in the recipe and I did things out of order. If you look at the A, B, C picture and realize that step 3 is related to picture C you'll be a-okay. It didn't seem to affect the meal though so no big deal. I was just wondering why I had bought a big can of whole tomatoes for a second.

Second Recipe - Scrambled Eggs

Scrambled eggs are a very neutral food and as such are used to teach flavor combinations. This recipe is actually ongoing. So far I've tried the first two flavor combinations for North East African and Middle East flavorings. I've also tried different ratios of egg whites to egg yolks. My initial thoughts on the white to yolk ratio is that, it isn't a big deal. I can notice a difference, but if I'm cooking for myself I'm not going to waste any of the egg parts. However, he does make a point to give options for how to use leftover egg whites. As for the flavor combinations I'm learning that you don't want to be timid with the flavoring. At this point he talks about a 3 finger pinch and eyeballing the amounts. You can go more and learn to back off if it is too much. Right now you are learning flavors. A little bonus for me today, Safeway had all the spices BOGO so I bought a bunch that I wasn't planning on so I hope to learn some new flavor combinations I can add to other recipes. I've already applied the North East African (mint, cumin, garlic) to a sauce I was making - that's when I learned I can use more. By the way, the snotty texture he recommends making are absolutely stellar. I did, surprisingly, improve my ability to make a basic like scrambled eggs.

Third Recipe/Second Dinner - Coconut Cauliflower Curry Mash

This alliteratively named dish is aimed at teaching the skill of Mash Anything and I must admit I was skeptical. I had read the recipe so many times and I didn't feel like I would have the sense that I could mash anything after all was said and done. Turns out, I did feel like I could do it. After I finished I went back to the book and read the sidebar section titled, "Mashing Variations" and I think I'll try them out in future dinners. The kids didn't really dig the cauliflower mash, though one did say he though it tasted good. Or, was that "interesting?" Of course, they don't usually like cauliflower anyway so I wasn't expecting much. It was an unexpected texture and flavor combination and it was very filling. Because it was a side dish I had to come up with a main dish. For the main dish I did the bonus points recipe from Osso "Buko" which was named Jude's Chuck Roast. I braised again and it turned out amazing. I used 10oz cans of the broth, consommé and soup which was plenty for braising in the dutch oven. For extra bonus points I used the cipollini onions, a very good idea.

Overall I'd say the recipe was good, even if not a hit with the kids. The chuck roast was a hit with the kids though so I did have a win with the dinner. In the introduction to the recipe he does mention the C3 mash as a good alternative when you need a snack. I think it would be, it was surprisingly filling and tasted good. Another editing note on the kindle edition for this recipe as well. He says you need a dutch oven for the recipe but I don't think that is necessary. For one, the pictures in the book don't match him using a dutch oven. For the other, I was using the dutch oven for my meat dish in the oven already so I just used a regular pot and it turned out fine. On a personal note, I thought there wasn't enough liquid in the mash when I was suppose to get it boiling so I put the whole can of coconut milk in - this wasn't necessary. In the end I had to do a mixture of draining the pot and cooking the excess liquid off to get it to a thicker consistency.

First update conclusions

So far, so good with the resolution. I've been happy and successful working at the pace I am with the stakes that I've set. The book may be written in a weird, jockish, frat boy voice (on purpose) and may have some editing problems but it seems to deliver on what it claims with regards to cooking. As for the get great at anything fast business, we'll see. Also, I've read through the entire "The Domestic" section along with the section titled "The Wild" and only just began the section titled "The Scientist." I'm not sure how much if any I'll do beyond "The Domestic", especially the part about pigeons, but we'll see and I'll update here.

Speaking of updates, I've already noticed and mentioned some editing issues with the kindle edition of the book. I don't know if these affect the hardcover edition. However, since I am talking about the Kindle edition I hope some edits can be made and the book can be updated for myself and future readers. This is one of the benefits of Kindle books that is underutilized in my opinion.

Reviewing the Green Party Debate

Last night, I watched the videos that I posted yesterday of the Green Party debate which occurred on Sunday. After watching the debate I agree with what Jared Ball said, it was more of a discussion than a debate. A discussion makes more sense when the Green Party convenes anyway. Below is my review of each of the candidates as well as a couple of my differences with what I heard in the discussion. ...

I will review each candidate as they appeared on stage from right to left, as that was the order they responded to questions. As a non-candidate I will review Ralph Nader last.

Dr. Jared Ball
Dr. Ball did not speak to me, at least not directly, and that was the point. He is working to get the word out to the community about the Green Party through the hip hop movement. I have always said that if you can get the 50%+ of voting aged American's that do not vote into the polls to vote for a cause you could start a revolution. Ladies and gentlemen, Jared Ball could very well be that revolutionary.

Dr. Kent Mesplay
Dr. Mesplay was very intelligent and put thoughts together well. He was very clear on almost all topics presented to him and it was obvious where he stood with each. He was a little subdued throughout the discussion but I did see some fire from him in his closing arguments. He was a great counterpoint to Dr. Jared Ball whose answers he followed in the debate.

Cynthia McKinney
As a six-term former member of Congress from Georgia( the first black congresswoman from that state ), she definately has the most high level political experience in the group of candidates. All of her responses showed that experience as many of the issues she had already dealt with on the congressional floor and in committee. I don't really need to say much about her as she speaks for herself, and quite well.

Kat Swift
What were you doing ( or are planning to do ) when you were 34? Were you running for President of the United States of America? The fact that she is running for President speaks volumes to her courage. Unfortunately she had to follow Cynthia McKinney for most question all night and that had a spotlight on her inexperience in high level politics. However, she did make a run for mayor as a Green Party candidate in the state of Texas and received 30% of the vote with 1/20th of the budget. Perhaps her strategy of speak the truth and people will vote for it works.

Jesse Johnson
Technically he is not a candidate, as he stated in his opening statement. That is based on the fact that he is the chair of the West Virginia Mountain party and is not allowed to hold or seek political office. That is really not important, as he was a great speaker to have at this event. His acting experience combined with his passion give his words a tremendous amount of power. He has presence.

Ralph Nader
While it is very clear that Ralph Nader isn't a candidate at this point, it was important that he was at this event. His opening statement was a powerhouse. In many ways it reminded me of the way Bill Clinton speaks. He doesn't tell you what to think directly but rather inspires you to think about what he is saying. It even had a dash of humor that garnered some laughs with the line, "there are people who really get angry about that." It is obvious why the Green Party wants to draft Nader as a Presidential nominee.

My Arguments
While I can agree with almost everything I have 2 points of contention with statements made last night.

1. Be a politician
I heard a few of them say that they were not politicians and I can understand why. The word politician has some nasty stuff associated with it, but that is not what it means at its core. I liken it to when I was in sales. At first I hated being called a salesman because of the negative connotations associated with the word, and I did poorly. At some point I saw that it was possible to be a salesperson and hold on to my personal values and take care of the customer the way I wanted. When I accepted the fact that I was a salesperson and sold to people based on my personal values I excelled as a salesperson. We must accept that it is possible to be a politician who acts from their personal values. Be the shining example of what is possible. Be the reason people need to wake up and start voting for Green Party( or any third party ) candidate. You aren't business as usual. You aren't a Democrat. You aren't a Republican. You are a Green Party politician and you don't act like the politicians people are used to.

2. Make distinctions between the office and the office holder
Language is a powerful thing and with great power comes great responsibility. The office of The President of the United States should talked about with respect in all cases, even when the person holding the office is not held in high regard. When you speak down about the office holder it needs to be clear that you are talking about the individual and not "The President." The main reason is that when you finally achieve that position, you do not want people to mistrust you just because you have the position you spoke so poorly of. This goes for all political positions that Green Party members are striving for.

--
Daryl Joseph Ducharme is a proud member of the North Carolina Green Party

Who Killed The Electric Car?

Who Killed The Electric Car is the name of a documentary I've wanted to see for a while. I actually wrote a post about the movie's website back in April. In case you haven't heard about it, here is a taste – the movie's preview.

This is a movie a lot of people should see. As I stated in my April post about the movie's website, there is a bias in the way this movie is presented so you may be skeptical. Well if you believe in this technology, you'll already want to watch it. If you think it is hogwash, then you should watch it to better understand where the other side is coming from. ...

Because I believe everyone should see this movie, I have it right here for you to view(though I did not post it). Please purchase it if you enjoy it.

If you watch the whole thing, you will learn a lot about events that I did not even know occurred. The thing that made me watch this now is that I am in the market for a new car in the near future. A major selling point for me is gas mileage. The only vehicle on the road today that gets decent gas mileage at a reasonable price is the Toyota Prius. This movie makes me want to wait until they unveil their Plug In Prius for regular sale.

Some of the parties that are deemed “guilty” in this film made me think of something else I had been looking back into lately. I've noticed that while my writing on wrestling has picked up lately ( thanks to Jericho's return ), my political writing has been non-existent. I have done what many American's do around politics, tune out and hope it all works out. That doesn't sit well with me so I decided to re-energize myself. I need to be ready to watch the Republican CNN/YouTube debates this Wednesday. So I went to my favorite candidate, Bill Richardson's, website to see what he has been up to. He unfortunately doesn't get as much media attention as some others. One thing he said in a recent debate that relates to all this is best said by him:

Originally posted by Bill Richardson:

And It's gonna be also the American people – I'm gonna say this honestly – sacrificing a little bit...when it comes to being a part of an energy efficiency revolution

. More great videos from this debate can be found at http://action.richardsonforpresident.com/page/s/unlvdebate. From this documentary it seems the sacrifice won't be as big as consumers think. However, it remind us as consumers that we do need to think.

Much more could be said, but I would love to hear what others think. Please, watch the movie before you make any comments. If you like it, please purchase it to show your support.

Some other good bits of info can be found at:
Plug in America
Who Killed the Electric Car segment on PBS's NOW

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

On Saturday I got to do something very special. Along with my wife and brother in law, I went to see Rush in concert. It's been a while since I've been to a concert, and I believe the last one was Rush as well. But it was a pleasure for more than just a chance to see them play live. The nights playlist was different than what you would expect, and yet it was the same. ...

I love live albums and there are some perennial concert classics that always seem to get played. For instance, Spirit of the Radio, Tom Sawyer and some part of 2112. All great songs, but I've heard them live. In some cases I have 3 different live versions on CD plus the Rush in Rio DVD version. Because of this I went in with some songs that I would love to hear, but I wasn't expecting them to play.

Limelight is one of my favorite songs and it was likely to be played ( in fact it was first in the playlist ). Some others that I like were played as well. The song that has the line from the title of this posting, "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose", Circumstances I didn't think would get played. The songs from Hemispheres that usually get played are The Trees and La Villa Strangiato, neither of which was on the playlist. Instead, they played Circumstances which was awesome. Another song that was unlikely but very cool is Natural Science. They played it! In fact the whole first part of the show was a mix of stuff from their new album Snakes and Arrows and older stuff that you don't usually hear.

During intermission we heard a part of 2112. Not as played by Rush, but the string quartet version of 2112. That was quite amusing and gave way to a conversation about how cool it would be to have a string quartet play Rush songs during intermission, then the band could play the songs they didn't.

The second part of the show started out with more of the same mix. A bunch of great Rush songs that you wouldn't expect mixed in with songs from their new album. As the saying goes though, the more that things change, the more they stay the same. Then the familiar opening to Spirit of the Radio started and we began a set, albeit short, of more expected songs. They did mix things up a little and had a great intro into Tom Sawyer by the boys of South Park acting as Lil Rush.

All in all, a great concert. My wife wrote down the playlist and might be putting it on her blog, but I think their was only 23 songs played that night. Given the number of albums they have and the fact that some albums got more coverage than others, not every album was represented. However, much of their career for the past 30+ years was represented including the theme song from Summerslam 2005, the cover of Summertime Blues.

If you haven't bought their new album yet, make sure to pick it up. While you are at it check to see when they are coming to your area and get yourself some tickets if you can. They once again put on a great show and played some great music.

Watch the drama unfold

Many people around my age probably remember the Schoolhouse Rocks song entitled "I'm just a bill". I not only remember it but I have the DVD and my 3 year old loves it. That song makes the journey of a bill on its way to, hopefully, becoming a law interesting. Once we get older, many of us have quickly lost that interest. However, I have found something today that might rekindle that interest for some of you. ...

I was reading an article on slashdot that discussed the Terrorist Hoax Improvements Act of 2007 ( S. 735 ) and how it relates to the Mooninite Scare in Boston earlier this year. I wanted to see what the bill, well amendment, actually said. My googling lead me to GovTrack.us. The first sentence on their about page says it all:

Transparency in government is key for a healthy representative democracy.

Feel Free to read more of the about page.

While checking out the site I came across a very interesting find. The have a ton of feeds for watching bills make their way through congress. They have feeds for new bills, new laws and each bill has a feed to watch that specific bills progress through congress. As I stated before you can read the text of the bills. You can also see who sponsored and co-sponsored the bills and as they are voted on you can see who voted for and against these bills. While this information is all available online in other forms, they have created a nice system for more easily tracking bills.

I suggest checking out the new bills and keeping an eye on a few that interest you. If they were just introduced, the full text might not be available yet but it should be soon.

Joost Review

For the past couple weeks I have been beta testing Joost. For those that don't know, Joost is a new web venture that puts on demand video on the web. The service is free, and paid for by advertising that is interspersed within the shows you watch. The grand plan for Joost seems very cool. On Demand television without paying the cable company. Let's see how well that plan is doing in my short review. ...

Joost is currently in an invitation only beta, though as of this week all users now have unlimited invitations, so take everything I say with the knowledge that things may change.

Joost is pretty nice system. It opens up in full screen mode when you first start it up. It seems more like a media center than a program running on your computer right away. The first thing that loaded up for me was a "Channel" of Joost recommendations so that I could get started. I had read on the Joost website that the "Fight Network" channel had Ring of Honor wrestling so I went to check that out first. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to have any ROH material up so that was disappointing. Someone had told me about the show "Stella" on Comedy Central so I went to check that out. This was available and I got a chance to watch a whole show.

When I first started watching shows the commercials would jump in at random points, sometimes in the middle of a sentence. Since the latest upgrade it seems that has changed, the commercials now seem to come in at natural points in the shows.

Currently the Joost system is pretty basic. It allows you to watch shows from channels you select and it pretty decent quality as well. They also have a "My Joost" section that has some widgets for you to have up while you watch your shows. The selection of widgets is small right now but I have heard that they will be increasing the number of widgets and allowing others to make widgets. However, when I watch a show I don't need to be doing much else, especially with video on demand.

Once in a while I would run into a glitch or two. Sometimes I would just get disconnected from the network or the show would stop and go to the next in the list. However, these are minor inconveniences as you can easily get right back to what you were watching. The biggest problem I saw with Joost is the current availability of programs. What they have is pretty limited, but this is just beta. They have made deals with CBS and recently on their blog I read that they made a deal with Turner Broadcasting Systems. Content is on their way but will it be any good?

In conclusion I think the system is pretty sound for a beta product and will only get better as they increase the numbers of users. The only downfall for this system might be lack of quality content. At home, I only have very limited cable so that the network stations come in clearly. I don't really need cable because their really isn't that much to watch. That is why a system like Joost could be very good with the right content. I would love to be able to watch wrestling, the only thing I really miss from cable, and would love to be able to watch it on my schedule rather than it's broadcast schedule without having to pay for extra stuff.

By the way, if you'd like an invite just let me know. I am more than happy to let my friends and relations check out this new system.

Review: Firefly (Original Television Soundtrack)

Within the past year I was introduced to the television show "Firefly" and the movie that was made after it was cancelled called "Serenity". As this show is well beyond just "brilliant but cancelled" I became a big fan. When this soundtrack came up in my amazon gold box deals I had to check it out. ...

Of course, for a fan the Firefly soundtrack is a must have. One of the many great things about the series was the music. It set such a great mood for this future, yet so present day, 'verse that Joss Whedon created. Today I have been playing the songs in random order at work and they are great background music to work to. It sets a wide assortment of moods, to go along with the ways visuals the music went with, but for the most part it is very soothing. I feel that the music on this album would be great for anybody to have in your library, especially if you are a fan of soundtracks.

For fans of the show it is missing "The Hero of Canton", but after listening to it I feel the song would almost be out of place with the rest of this music. Of course, if you own Firefly: the Complete Series you probably have access to the Easter Egg of Adam Baldwin ( Jayne ) singing the song, with a slight modification.

As I said before, this is good music even if you aren't a fan of Firefly and Serenity. However if you haven't seen them yet do so, you will become a fan as well. It is what television was meant to be.