Wednesday, February 19, 2003

Our beloved former mayor Rudy Giuliani once memorably said that the progress of civilization has been about keeping excrement off the walls.  While it is an interesting point, my husband and I must respectfully differ.  As far as civilization goes, it’s all about the running water. Our water started flowing again at around 8:30 Tuesday morning.  Fortunately, I had already called in that I wouldn’t be at work because I was awaiting the plumber.  So that meant for me a day to recover from the water problem.  I washed dishes, which was an all day process, as our hot water can only hold out for about five minutes at a time. I once again attempted ladyfingers, in preparation for Charlotte Malakoff au Chocolat.  I had been prepared to make some changes to my method based on readers’ suggestions.  I was going to line the cookie sheets with parchment paper but I didn’t have any, and then anyway I realized it would make shaking off the excess powdered sugar tough.  I thought of putting the batter in the fridge when I was done, but was afraid the beaten egg whites would go flat.  So I wound up doing everything almost exactly the same, except I used a narrower tip in the pastry bag. It was, as last time, a godawful mess.  However, for some reason, I can’t imagine why, it seemed to work better.  I can only imagine it’s because I turned the oven a little lower this time.  They would have been perfect if it hadn’t been for the fact that I made the mistake of checking my email while they were baking, and got all involved in the email of a friend in crisis, and forgot the lady fingers and let them burn a little. Goddamm those real-life problems getting in the way of my baking! I also took our laundry to the Laundromat.  We haven’t done our laundry in three weeks, I haven’t had clean underwear for as long as I can remember, it’s a very sad state of affairs.  Also very sad it the spectacle of Julie toting two twenty pound duffel bags of smelly socks and damp towels through the nasty slush of Long Island City.  It’s the kind of thing I ask so cavalierly of my husband – “You’ll drop off the laundry today, right?  Thanks, hon….”  Never again.  What a pain in my tookus this was. And yes, we do drop off our laundry.  Sue me. Oh, and I took a shower.  Though by that time we’d run completely out of hot water.  And I seem to have lost my wallet. Grr.  Argh. Dinner was leftover lamb stew, leftover garlic mashed potatoes, and Celeris Braises – Braised Celery. Start by blanching some bacon in water for ten minutes. Trim two heads of celery, cutting off the tops, so they’re six or seven inches long, from the root.  Boil them for fifteen minutes.  This seems like an inordinately long amount of time, but they will hold together.  Drain them and let them sit in cold water for a couple of minutes.  Press the moisture out of them with towels and tie them up with string so they hold together.  Cook some sliced carrots and onions with butter in your schmancy braising dish.  Or, you know, a pot.  When the vegetables are soft, scooch them off to the side and put in the bound celery.  Scoop the vegetables over them.  Lay the blanched bacon on top.  Pour in some vermouth and beef broth almost to cover the celery.  Add parsley, half a bay leaf, and some thyme.  Bring to a simmer, cover, and stick in a 350-degree oven. My husband thinks that everything in the world should cost five dollars.  He’s neverendingly shocked by the price of razor blades, or dinner at a restaurant, or our heating bill (which is, I will admit, pretty shocking.)  I’m like that with cooking times.  I just don’t read ahead like I should.  And I was absolutely appalled to find that the celery was meant to cook for one and a half hours.  I shouldn’t have been – I’ve braised vegetables the Julia way before.  But I just find it amazing, every time. Anyway, that was about all I had to do, dinner-wise.  I watched Buffy, though I swear to god, it causes me physical pain to do so these days. I stuck the lamb stew on the stove, and the garlic mashed potatoes. When the celery had cooked for an hour and a half, I turned up the heat, uncovered the dish, and cooked it for another half hour. What does she want me to do with this celery, anyway?  Use it for glue? But actually, the celery is still solid, and even just the tiniest bit firm, at the end.  I put it on a dish and keep it in the oven, turned off and ajar, while I finish the sauce.  The braising liquid has boiled down too much, so I add some broth and boil that for a few minutes.  JC wants me to drain it, but I’m just too goddamned tired. I add cornstarch mixed with port and let the sauce simmer a couple of minutes.  I cut the little strings of the celery, and trim each head in half.  Pour the sauce on top. The braised celery is pretty good, I guess.  It tastes like soft celery with bacon.  I don’t know, though – I just think the time for serving celery as a side dish has passed. As for the Charlotte Malakoff au Chocolat, I didn’t make it, because Queens is an utter black hole when it comes to semi-sweet chocolate.  I don’t know what it is – it’s like there’s a borough ordinance or something. The next few days are going to be pretty quiet on the Julie/Julia front.  I have parents coming into town, determined to whisk me away from me workaday life, keeping me out of the kitchen entirely. We’ll see.  But in case you don’t hear from me for a couple of days, be not afeared.  I will be back! 7:57:55 AM    comment []