Assorted mythologies of her own devising

Nov 13 2013
Oct 24 2013

Chili

Adapted from Bryan Voltaggio’s template for Esquire

Fat

  • Melted lardo

Meat

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1 lb sweet Italian sausage, loosely crumbled
  • 1 lb chorizo (prepackaged and greasy works best)

Vegetable mix

  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • Assorted fresh chili peppers: Anaheim, serrano, jalapeno, habanero, Hungarian, etc
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced

Spice mix

  • 3 tbsp dark chile powder 
  • 1 tbsp ground cumin
  • 1 tbsp ground chipotle pepper (or sauce from a can of chipotles)
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • 1 tbsp Spanish smoked paprika (the sweeter version, not the hot)
  • 1 heaping spoonful Ovaltine
  • ground black pepper

Wet mix

  • Assorted beans: kidney, navy, cannellini, pinto, and garbanzo all work great. Having beans and meat pieces be around the same size is a good rule of thumb
  • 1 bottle American lager (or Stout), or a few good glugs of apple cider
  • One 14 1⁄2-oz can crushed tomatoes
  • One 14 1⁄2-oz can diced tomatoes, with juice
  • One big spoonful miso paste (for extra umami)
  • Beef or chicken broth for remaining added moisture
  • 1 finely grated carrot (which will liquify and impart subtle flavor and sweetness)

In a Dutch oven, work from the top down. Simmer 2 hours, rest 2 days.

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Lessons in heat and balance #chili #nofilter

Lessons in heat and balance #chili #nofilter

Oct 09 2013
Woke up mad early

Woke up mad early

Oct 03 2013
For the months of sep-nov, “hairy crab” overtakes haagen dazs as the most expensive commodity in china. You’re looking at about $250-$350 here (each crab is smaller than my fist). Shanghainese like fat females with roe, dipped in rice vinegar with crushed ginger and sugar.

For the months of sep-nov, “hairy crab” overtakes haagen dazs as the most expensive commodity in china. You’re looking at about $250-$350 here (each crab is smaller than my fist). Shanghainese like fat females with roe, dipped in rice vinegar with crushed ginger and sugar.

Oct 01 2013

"Kimmel claimed there were two Kanye’s, a "bad Kanye" who was behind Thursday’s tweets and "a good Kanye West, who posed for a picture with my dad." Obviously, there are not two Kanye’s. There is one Kanye, who poses for pictures with people’s dads, cries about his mother’s passing on national television and is endearingly defensive of his baby daughter’s privacy. It’s this same Kanye who gets mad when he gives risky testimony to having experienced racism only to have his words voiced by a child in a mocking sketch."

Kanye is his own worst enemy, but I’m getting increasingly queasy every time we collectively and flippantly gaslight him. He’s not crazy, he’s the only one at his level consistently calling out racism.

Sep 29 2013
"When the sand runs out, lift the cover." I suppose a country of 1.3 billion necessarily develops an ingenuity for simple instruction.

"When the sand runs out, lift the cover." I suppose a country of 1.3 billion necessarily develops an ingenuity for simple instruction.

Sep 23 2013
Jing An Temple, Shanghai. Nearing the end of my stay and already can’t wait to be back.

Jing An Temple, Shanghai. Nearing the end of my stay and already can’t wait to be back.

Sep 09 2013
Possibly the biggest HD in China

Possibly the biggest HD in China

Aug 26 2013
The previous photo, cleaned up. The clay pot is from Yunnan, one of those marvels of Chinese ingenuity. In goes a cut up young chicken, Shaoxing rice wine, salt, scallions, and ginger. You stick the whole thing in a stock pot with a few inches of water, cover both pots, and boil on high for an hour. Steam rises from the stock pot through the spindle in the clay pot and condenses into the most magical chicken soup. All that liquid came from condensation! The chicken stays tender because it’s never in direct contact with boiling water, so what you get is pure flavor.
I’ve been dropping hints - I want to see what this thing can do with lobster (!) - but mom is playing coy. Guess I’ll have to get my own. 

The previous photo, cleaned up. The clay pot is from Yunnan, one of those marvels of Chinese ingenuity. In goes a cut up young chicken, Shaoxing rice wine, salt, scallions, and ginger. You stick the whole thing in a stock pot with a few inches of water, cover both pots, and boil on high for an hour. Steam rises from the stock pot through the spindle in the clay pot and condenses into the most magical chicken soup. All that liquid came from condensation! The chicken stays tender because it’s never in direct contact with boiling water, so what you get is pure flavor.

I’ve been dropping hints - I want to see what this thing can do with lobster (!) - but mom is playing coy. Guess I’ll have to get my own. 

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