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

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Friday, March 14, 2003

What’s Cookin’?   Turmeric Thyme Chicken with Rice and Purple Cabbage over at Frog-Gras. Blue advises us to never boil cabbage in the most recent entry. That’s a pretty strong stand, what with St. Patty’s Day just around the corner, but when you see the picture of the plated meal you’ll understand. Gorgeous.   Julie/Julia is shaking off some nasty comments and contemplating leftover Rolled Lamb Roast – stuffed with lamb kidney, rice, and onion! There’s also skinned pork belly in her fridge. Is she going to make some pancetta?   KIPlog last cooked up Squid, Squash, and Mushrooms over Somen.  The purchase of the frozen squid at a Japanese market sounded like an impulse decision – when is the last time you went to the market specifically to buy a squid? Of course, any dish that features two mushroom varieties and “black fungus” will be instantly appealing to me.   Meg is drinking leftover Riesling (I polished off a bottle last night, purchased a week or so ago after reading her praise of Riesling) after mentoring a staff wine-testing training where most of the attendees had given up drinking for lent. I won’t spoil the happy ending. Meg’s last cookery was Penne con Vitelle e Limone that she got from Eat, Drink and be Married.   MurrayHill5 is out of town, maybe to get over the guilt of drowning her sprouts, but she’ll be back.   Bruce Cole at Sauté Wednesday has posted the nominees for The James Beard Journalism Awards 2003 – complete with article links, when available.   Simmer Stock has Duck Duck Cous - pan roasted duck breast with a blood orange sauce served over couscous with some asparagus.   Leah, at Struggle in a Bungalow Kitchen, has Lemongrass-Ginger Soup with Mushrooms. That sounds really good, must be the ingredients.   My kitchen timer just went off. The pork loin in the freezer is ready to slice for Pork Jerky II. For some reason, I’ve become very hungry and may just eat it half-frozen. 4:42:03 PM    comment []

Carrboro: Vive la France! By Tomas Murawski : The Herald-Sun chh@heraldsun.com Mar 13, 2003 : 7:14 pm ET CARRBORO -- Even as restaurants across the nation are cooking up "Freedom" fries to protest French opposition to the Bush administration’s Iraq policy, Carrboro is saying "Vive la France" -- and buy French. The Board of Aldermen approved a resolution Tuesday night, designating April as "French Trade Month" in response to anti-Gallic sentiment among many pro-war Americans. The resolution encourages Carrboro’s 17,000 residents to buy products from France, defying a national boycott of French products such as fine wines, brie and rich pastries, which has caught on in other parts of the country. "Even though it was a tongue-in-cheek resolution, the place where it’s coming from was very serious," said Alderman Jacqueline Gist, who sponsored the resolution. "As a patriotic American who has taken an oath of office to uphold the Constitution, and as a Christian who believes in the cause of just war, I’m very disturbed by the current drumbeat toward war." Gist added, however, that she has particular concerns about what she called the increasingly popular attitude that tells the rest of the world that they ’re "either with us or against us" on matters of global security. "I’m very disturbed that anyone who disagrees with the war is held up to insults and ridicule," Gist said. "People somehow think that lashing out against the French is patriotic." The Aldermen passed Gist’s resolution unanimously, although one member insisted on making a tiny amendment before signing on. Alderman Joal Hall Broun rejected the resolution at first because, as Gist later recalled, it encouraged townspeople to gobble up french fries -- with their artery-hardening grease and heavy helpings of salt. In the end, the board reached a compromise and simply dropped any mention of french fries. Gist said she was relieved to learn, days later, that french fries aren’t actually named for the nation or its people, but for the process of "frenching" used in slicing the tuber. Despite their inability to agree on a stance regarding french fries, the Aldermen have not hesitated to express their unanimous opposition to a war against Iraq -- or on any other contentious national issue, for that matter. Last fall, the board passed a resolution opposing the war and sent it to President Bush and other national leaders. Tuesday’s resolution also will be mailed to the French Ambassador to the United States, Gist said, as a show of anti-war solidarity from a town that, aptly enough, has been nicknamed the Paris of the Piedmont. Residents of Carrboro -- as well as the outsiders who come here to work, shop or simply to hang out -- were of mixed feelings about the pro-French resolution. Some greeted the town’s stance with a firm au contraire. "I’m not really thrilled about the French opposition to this [war]," said Sid Keith, the owner of Surplus Sid’s, an army surplus and military antiques store that stands like a fortified outpost near the border with Chapel Hill. "They’re calling for longer inspections," Keith said, "but at the same time they’re not putting pressure on Saddam." "The French," he added, "somebody ought to kick their ass." A much different response came from Barry Feiler, a Chapel Hill resident who sat at a table in front of Weaver Street Market Thursday. "[Carrboro’s resolution] is just like a little gimmick that makes people wake up," he said, "and I think it’s a beautiful thing." Many people simply didn’t know what to make of the resolution. "I don’t support the war or anything," said Patricia Brummitt, a Chapel Hill resident who was walking through Carrboro Thursday afternoon. "But I’m not going to go out of my way to buy wine." Gist said she doesn’t necessarily want people to go on a shopping spree for anything with a French name during the month of April. "I just want people to not boycott French products," she explained. "And one way to start a neighborhood discussion about the war is over a bottle of French wine." URL for this story: http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-330981.html (though the links at the Herald-Sun go away in a day or so) 8:54:21 AM    comment []

Beaufort, SC, is a beautiful coastal town, used as a backdrop for such movies as The Great Santini and The Big Chill. The residents pronounce it "Bew-fert" and are unapologetic about it. Beaufort, NC, is also a beautiful coastal town. The residents are proud are proud of their French historical roots and are quick to point out that they pronounce the city's name "correctly." They even celebrate Bastille Day. So it is somewhat ironic that the whole idiocy of Freedom Fries started when US House representative Walter Jones heard that a Beaufort restaurant (in his district) had renamed them and circulated a letter suggesting that the House cafeteria follow suit. New Orleans will not. As the last bastion of sanity left in America, they have announced that The French Quarter will not be renamed. (Later…this was before I read the Carrboro story) 7:44:21 AM    comment []

There seems to be an abundance of artichokes at the local Harris Teeter. Yesterday, I spotted a little tray of baby artichokes for two dollars with my magic VIC card. That means it's finally time to make Carciofi alla Giudea – deep-fry them in olive oil. I’ve wanted to try these since seeing David Rosengarten make them on his FoodTV show a few years back.   The Carrboro Farmers Market re-opens on March 22. That is bigger than Christmas to me. It totally rearranges Saturday morning. I like to be there the minute it opens, at 7am, to get a good parking spot as well as the pick of the crop. This year, I’ll bring the camera. What I find there will determine what gets cooked on the weekend. If you enjoy cooking and food preservation, the growing season is a very exciting time. Fresh locally grown food is the best.   My second attempt at making salted in the shell peanuts came out more flavorful than the first. It started with a big mistake – I bought peanuts that were already salted and roasted. On one side of the aisle were peanuts with an orange label that said they were salted and roasted, so I picked up two bags with a blue label on the other side of the aisle. Turns out they were just another brand. I don’t buy peanuts that often, but will look more closely when I do from now on. I decided to go ahead anyway, doubling the salt from the previous attempt and putting in half a bottle of Texas Pete hot sauce. They stewed in that, under a vacuum, for a full day. They dried out in the dehydrator most of the next day, then went through about 3 roasting cycles of 20 minutes and were tested. They were still too chewy. Another 4 hours in the dehydrator (didn’t want to burn them) and one more roasting cycle made them suitably crunchy. 4:08:56 AM    comment []