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United States, North Carolina, Carrboro, English, Paul, Male, 56-60, All Music, All Food.

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Sunday, October 13, 2002

Vivid dream awaking this morning. Ridng a bicycle on a curving road, there was a clinking sound as I crossed the center line. Looking down I saw a penny rolling on edge that had apparently fallen from my pocket. "Only a penny," I say aloud, "not worth chasing after." I then began to describe aloud a moist steamed flower roll. Ahead of me, also going the "wrong way", an oriental woman stopped her bicycle and succinctly described the process of rolling them up - like a cinnamon roll. Then she smiled as my eyes opened. I like shallots in them, instead of scallions  - and a very coarse salt, like the pretzel salt from King Arthur's. Just a little, so you can watch your sodium and still get a full microburst of salt in some of the chewy bites. 8:36:48 PM    comment []

Yes, boudin is "all right" if you make it with chicken thighs. Bruce Aidell's seasoning mix is righteous and there's no doubt in my mind this sausage could be created in a vegetarian variation. The sundried tomatoes I'd purchased today were more the consistency of dried apricots, chewy not dry. They ground up into little bits in the meat grinder, which encouraged me to go for a coarse chop on the scallions as well - simple thin slicing, 4 complete scallions right to the green end. Before that, however, this time I chilled the onion/chicken/tomato/rice mixture completely before adding the parsley and scallion. Reasoning here was that the warmth of the rice (everything else was at room temperature before grinding) would wilt them, as reheating will certainly do, and I wanted just a bit of crunch in it - at least for the tasting. After all the mixing was done, the boudin was a bit dry so I just added enough water to make it a little bit squishy. Didn't want to add any wine since it would be overwhelmed by cayenne and red pepper flakes. It's been 10 minutes since I did the the last tasting and there are still eddies of the blessed heat rippling against the shoreline. It's not that hot, it simply lingers. It's all sealed in a bag now, maturing overnight in the fridge. 7:25:39 PM    comment []

A scaled-down experiment today - Chicken Boudin, using 4 thighs instead of pork. Everything else just about the same. Instead of fresh jalapenos, I used a handful of the ones I dehydrated a couple of weeks ago. I might also add a handful of sun-dried tomatoes just before grinding, to make a contrast with the green of scallions and parsley. Still jonesing to try out the motor on the food strainer. It might require the 200-011 Motor Bracket Assembly from VillaWare. No URL on the manual, but their address is: VillaWare Mfg. Co., 3615 Superior Avenue #44, Cleveland, OH, 44114. Most of the attachments are cheaper from Lehman's, but they don't list the motor and bracket in their catalog. The motor could probably be stabilized with a clamp anyway. The strainer itself costs $10 less than what I paid if you buy it at Amazon, but they say they don't have them in stock until later. A friend at the 'dillo yesterday told me that where he grew up in NC, they always had applesauce with meatloaf. He described old-fashioned applesauce, the kind that makes a puddle of apple juice when plated. I'm thinking steam the apples in Mehu-Liisa, sauce them in the Villaware, then combine the juice and pulp. The Ball Blue Book says to just press boiled apples then simmer 5 minutes in the cooking liquid - which was "just enough water to prevent sticking". The cookbook that came with Mehu-Liisa says to can the juice separately. I'm still gonna mix and reduce to the right consistency. Other potential test using the motor is riced potatoes, steamed first - of course. (later - just found the VillaWare site here, the stuff is very expensive there) 3:01:43 PM    comment []

Men Behaving Badly Good article. I've never cared for this kind of workplace behavior, but have tolerated it and sometimes, in "go along" adolescent acquiescence, even participated. Never again. 'n' it's all right now, learned my lesson well You see, ya can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself - Garden Party, words and music by Rick Nelson Of course, like Lady Madonna, once one tune gets "runnin' through" your head the turntable might get bumped on an expression like "all right" and, next thing you know, the needle lands on the Traveling Wilburys: Well it's all right, even if they say you're wrong Well it's all right, sometimes you gotta be strong Well it's all right, As long as you got somewhere to lay Well it's all right, everyday is Judgement Day End of the Line   1:45:06 AM    comment []