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Sunday, February 01, 2004

Texas Chlili #2 8:16:12 PM    comment []

Calvin And Hajj   Why do we insist on bombing these people to slaughter them, at enormous taxpayer expense, when all that is necessary is to give them 7 rocks to hurl at a statue of Satan? The Saudi minister responsible for the hajj, Iyad Madani, told a press conference yesterday that at least seven pilgrims were in a critical condition. "All precautions were taken to prevent such an incident, but this is God's will," he said. "Caution isn't stronger than fate." 7:25:12 PM    comment []

Friend Or Foe - If You’re Not Me, You’re A Liability Close associates of Tony Blair fear that the Prime Minister is on the point of being hung out to dry by President George Bush over the issue of whether Iraq held weapons of mass destruction when Britain and the US went to war last March. 6:18:07 PM    comment []

I’m doing a variation of the David Rosengarten Real Texas Chili recipe (which appears in It’s All American Food) to celebrate the first-ever time the Carolina Panthers have appeared in the Super Bowl. Here are his ingredients:   2 ounces dried chiles 1 ½ teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted in a pan until fragrant, then ground ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper 1/3 pound beef suet, diced, or 1/3-cup vegetable oil 2 ½ pounds bonesless beef chuck, trimmed of excess fat and cut into ¾-inch cubes (about 2 pounds after trimming)   ¼ cup finely chopped onion 1 tablespoon minced garlic   2 cups unsalted beef broth (homemade or canned) 2 cups water 2 tablespoons masa harina   1 tablespoon firmly packed brown sugar 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar   I made this a week or so ago and really screwed up by not pulverizing the skins well enough because I used a food processor instead of a blender. Basically, you roast the peppers in a hot pan then cover them with very hot, not boiling water for 30 minutes. Next step, you drain them and remove the stems and seeds. I’m leaving the seeds in this time. Then you put them in the blender with the cumin, pepper, and a little salt, adding water to make a paste.   Today, on A Splendid Table, Lynne Rossetto Kasper was discussing the peppers of Spain with Ari Weinzweig and, in passing, they agreed it was a mistake to rinse peppers after you roast them, even though it makes them easier to peel, because a lot of flavor goes down the drain. This recipe for Texas chili has you soak them and it also calls for 2 cups of water – hmmmm, why not put that soaking water in the chili?   I’ll be using the veal broth made yesterday instead of beef broth, tripling the onion to ¾ cup, tripling the garlic too. Another addition will be coriander, roasted right along with the cumin, for the chili paste – about an equal amount for starters.   The recipe calls for rendering the suet in boiling water, but I’ll be using the vegetable oil (I’d prefer the suet, but it’s too difficult to find). Then you brown the chuck roast cubes in small amounts. Lower the heat and cook the onion and garlic in the same pan, adding more oil if necessary and stir in the broth, water, masa harina,  and chili paste – making sure you scrape all the goody bits that stuck to the bottom of the pan.    Add the beef, boil, then reduce heat and simmer 2 hours. Finally, during the last 10 minutes of cooking you add the brown sugar and vinegar. Then you let it rest about 30 minutes so the beef absorbs more liquid. Correct the thickness and seasoning as needed, reheat gently, and serve. 3:46:51 PM    comment []

Just discovered a great set of maps online for finding places in Tokyo! The one here, aoyama, is from this page and has enough information to locate Maisen, that “second most famous” tonkatsu restaurant. From the superfuturecity site, you can also hit similar maps of daikanyama, harajuku, shibuya, and marunouchi – as well as similar maps for New York and Sydney.   2:44:11 PM    comment []

Small World   Occasionally, a comment shows up here that reminds me how neighborly our global village web really is. Last week, I posted a blog entry about how an Andy Raskin piece on NPR had prompted me to do a little Google research on Ramen Jiro. Later in the week, I learned I would be going to Tokyo twice later in the year, and posted another entry on how excited I was to have a chance to visit Ramen Jiro in person.   Then this week, Andy Raskin himself posted a comment on that blog entry with detailed instructions on how to find the original Ramen Jiro. These are greatly appreciated since buildings in Tokyo are not numbered in any system that will help you find them. You either need a map or someone to show you the way. I’m posting Andy’s directions here to help anyone else find the way. Thanks, Andy!   By the way, Andy also has other of his NPR stories on his site, including another about Tokyo that caught my attention when it was broadcast last September, Tokyo “All Aboard” Melodies. Here are the directions to Ramen Jiro:   Glad to hear the piece sparked your interest in Jiro, and that you'll have a chance to visit. Yes, their owner has now franchised out the name in the last few years, but you want to go to the original, which is in the Mita section of Tokyo, next to Keio University (the alma mater of my friend Masa, who tells the story in the piece). To get there, take the JR to Tamachi Station, or the Toei Mita subway line to Mita station, then ask people where Keio's main entrance is. Facing the entrance, go along the big street to your left (toward the gas station). If it's lunchtime, you'll see people in line. Hours are 10-4 Mon-Sat. but he closes early if he runs out of noodles. Here's a map in Japanese. If you don't speak Japanese, I recommend going with someone who does, because ordering is more complicated than I had time to describe in the radio piece. There's a whole code language around toppings, and you have to buy a ticket beforehand from a vending machine to describe your order. The code language is not written anywhere, but is explained, again in Japanese here. If it's in the summer, take a towel with you to wipe off your sweat/noodle splatter. I recommend starting with the small :) Let me know how it goes!   Sometimes when we go to Tokyo, we meet up with John, an American who has lived there for the past 7 years or so. He does speak Japanese and has always been very helpful as a “tour guide.” He introduced “us” to okonomiyaki and tonkatsu on a previous visit. A trip to Taira’s (first rate okonomiyaki!), where John designed the menus, is a must stop on every trip. We can pig out there and have a few beers for around $20 – a genuine bargain price for dinner in Tokyo. My favorite tonkatsu place (though you can find it at nearly any large subway station) is Meisen in Shibuya-ku. You have to love a place that is billed, with a straight-faced pride, as “Tokyo’s second most famous tonkatsu restaurant.” I’ve never been to Tonki, which is the “most famous,” whatever that means.   UPDATE: I just found this map, in English, of Keio University in Mita. A full-sized subway map of Tokyo, shrunk above, is available here. 9:52:47 AM    comment []

I’ll take “Celebrity Fuckups” for $200…   A: Game show host who recently fell asleep at the wheel, sideswiped a string of mailboxes with his pickup, and plummeted into a ravine near his horse farm.   Q: Alex Trebek   …Sorry, you must phrase it in the form of a question in Double Jeopardy.   12:54:00 AM    comment []