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Sunday, November 23, 2003

Nino Burdzhanadze   Sounds like “Birds in Handzee,” a little bit, don’cha think? China View calls her “A tall woman with raven black hair who favors stylish clothes, Burjanadze is a moderate voice within the opposition.” I think she resembles Dick Cheney. What do you think?   10:30:36 PM    comment []

Duck Season 4:24:07 PM    comment []

Canard a la Popeil   Yes, we have crucified a duckling in the Showtime Rotisserie. Earlier, this guy got steamed in the Mehu-Liisa, just because that seemed like the idée du jour. He was also injected to make his travail more bearable - a mixture of lemon juice, olive oil, white pepper, kosher salt, tarragon, and marjoram. There will be stir-fried root vegetables, mashed potatoes with duck dripping gravy, and a great gnashing of teeth later on. The gravy, with a duck giblet base, will be augmented with a teaspoonful of demi-glace concentrate. This duckling will not have died in vain. In fact, his treatment in the afterlife probably surpassed that in the real one. 3:41:02 PM    comment []

Speaking of oil, Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze signed his resignation papers today. Wonder what the implications for the Georgian Pipeline are? From the LATimes…   Military leaders invited Shevardnadze to take power after a brief civil war in the 1991-92 winter, in a move his opponents viewed as a coup. He was elected as the nation's leader later in 1992. Since then, the United States has poured more than $1 billion into this country of about 5 million, giving it one of the highest per capita rates of U.S. aid in the world. Washington is spending $64 million to train 2,000 Georgian soldiers for a rapid reaction force meant to block terrorists from establishing bases in the country's rugged border areas, in particular the part bordering the war-torn Russian republic of Chechnya. The troops also could help protect a $3-billion U.S.-backed oil pipeline being built from Azerbaijan through Georgia to Turkey's Mediterranean coast, which is expected to greatly increase the flow of Caspian Sea oil to world markets.   Along with the recent arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky in Russia, it appears the oil supply in the former Soviet Union is up for grabs. Wonder who’ll grab it? 12:28:15 PM    comment []

No this ain’t a sex toy, it’s a filter pump for cooking oil. Harris Teeter had these out with the turkey fryers and it fit the bill for something I’ve wanted for years – a power filter. It runs on three D calls and has enough power to augment a normal siphon. The filter fits over the intake. There have been times I wanted to filter the juice out of homemade sauerkraut before canning it and I think this little groundhog will do the job. It worked like a pro on the 5-liter Euro-Pro fryer, taking less than a minute and leaving behind about 2 cups of residue laden oil. Clean up is easy, just pump through some soapy water and then some fresh. Cleaning up after deep-frying reminds me of a hangover – the party was fun, but was it worth it? This thing makes it a little better. It costs about $16 at Harris Teeter, about $20 at Amazon.   11:40:39 AM    comment []

This from The Telegraph…. Five personal chefs are in Dubya's entourage For all that President Bush's advisers have been fretting about security matters on his visit to Britain, the man himself seems to be more worried about his tummy. Spy hears that the 650-strong entourage Dubya has brought with him to London includes no fewer than five personal chefs. His host, HM The Queen, was apparently less than chuffed to learn of their presence. Forget the Royal insult, what about those poor “chefs.” Doesn’t this say “career-ending move” on the resume? 4 years smearing peanut butter on white bread? Maybe they play on the White House basketball team? They didn’t get the royal treatment… The five Yankee fajita fillers - rather than being put up in Buck House - have instead been banished to the servants' quarters at the US Ambassador's Residence, Winfield House. "The chefs, along with most of the rest of the entourage, will either be staying at Winfield House or in nearby hotels," says a US Embassy spokesman helpfully. "As for why the President needs five chefs, I really can't say. You'd better ask the White House." Let’s see, one to fetch the chips (potato variety), the peanut butter and jelly duo, a couple to clean up…the NY Post also picked up the story: Fit for a queen, dicey for W.  Too many cooks spoil the President. George W. Bush has allegedly offended Queen Elizabeth II by bringing no fewer than five of his personal chefs to Buckingham Palace. "Her Majesty greeted the news that Bush was coming with his own chefs in absolute silence," a snitch tells London's Daily Telegraph. "That's her general way of expressing disapproval. She's not thought to be [thrilled] about the whole visit anyway, but when you consider that she has excellent cooks herself, you can see why this would be taken as a bit of an insult." The POTUS with the mostest, who doesn't like to travel abroad, may have been afraid the queen's cooks wouldn't fry pork rinds the way he likes them. The White House didn't return a call yesterday. But the Telegraph quoted one Bush source saying, "He's the President of the United States - maybe he needs a late-night snack." 10:04:14 AM    comment []

This would be the way I’d suggest making deep-fried chicken then. Steam it or put it in oil just under the boiling point to cook it and preserve the internal moisture.   While it is cooking, make a batter with an egg, about ¾ cup half-and-half, a teaspoon of salt, and half a teaspoon of white pepper. A blender is great. You can add infinite herbs and spices like the Colonel did, if that makes you feel like a gourmet. It’s just batter. No need to get carried away.   After about 20 minutes near the boiling point, the chicken should be nicely prepared. I threw the breast portions in frozen and it took about 30 minutes. Remove the chicken from the oil (or steamer), drain the fat and let it cool. Crank the oil up to 320ºF. When it gets there, blend a tablespoon of baking powder into the batter. It will puff up and get very thick, you’ll need a rubber spatula to get it out of the blender.   Thoroughly coat each piece of chicken and drop into the preheated oil. It’s done when the batter is a nice crispy brown. The chicken inside will be moist and tender, reminiscent of the kind that used to be called “Chicken In A Basket.” Amazing grace, that flavor once was lost but now it’s found. Crunchy outside, scrumptious within. 5:06:16 AM    comment []

Shevardnadze on the brink as Georgian opposition proclaims 'velvet revolution'   See – it was really Lou Reed who won the Cold War. 4:23:32 AM    comment []

pssst...wanna buy some spring-loaded chopsticks? 4:13:57 AM    comment []

Salmon Skewed My Schedule!   Okay, it’s the middle of the night, I’m wide awake watching “pretentious” Titus on IFC and really diggin’ it, but I’m hungry. There are some frozen chicken breasts in, guess where, the freezer, so I’m thawing them in the deep fryer set to 212º F and remembering some twice told wisdom. The wonderful lady at the Oriental Grocery near Eastgate, the one who whistles along to classical music on the radio, told Liz and I that the way to deep fry chicken is to steam it first. Otherwise, you either burn the crust (panko or tempura) or the meat is undercooked. Then last week, on Splendid Table, a caller asked Lynne Rossetto Kasper about deep-frying birds other than turkeys. The advice there: steam a goose or duck about 10 minutes per pound before deep-frying. Make some slits for fat to escape while steaming, then chill before deep frying. Upshot here is that I’m using low temperature fat to thaw, then cook the breasts, then I’ll chill ‘em and coat up with a nice bubbly beer batter before frying them about dawn. 3:32:48 AM    comment []

Just an old sweet song…   When Shevardnadze tried to steal the election in Georgia, the voters stormed Parliament. Democracy has always been the civil alternative to anarchy. When it fails, order is threatened; when it is taken away, order should be threatened. Now, before you sic the FBI on me, keep in mind that I’m talking about democracy in a former republic of the USSR, not the “domestic” variety. We used to have freedom here, but 9/11 changed all that. Now we must sacrifice freedom so the terrorists we want to export it to don’t take it away from us.   2:32:50 AM    comment []