Monday, July 19, 2010

Sarah Dunant: The Birth of Venus



This book is the coming of age story of a girl in 15th century Florence, (and in many ways is also the coming of age story of the city itself). Alessandra grows up in Florence and witnesses the historical events that unfold in the city, like the death of Lorenzo de Medici, the iron fist of Girolamo Savonarola, and later, his downfall, the threat of the French invasion, and a terrible plague. There is also a serial killer on the lose who some readers believe, turned out to be a famous painter.

Alessandra is a young girl full of life, who is constrained by the mores of the society around her, as she struggles to find her freedom. Alessandra's story is the central plot of the novel, although several fates of the women of that period are represented through various female characters in the story. Dunant has very cleverly blended fact with fiction to produce a masterful tale full of the colors and textures of Florence. She adds a very artistic touch by describing episodes from the lives of contemporary painters and even dropping intriguing hints about their involvement in the story.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Cooking with beer

Yes, that is right. Beer can be, and is used in a lot of dishes. If you think that is strange, read this. Apart from what you will read on that page, let me tell you that beer adds a very distinct flavor to your food that is unlike anything you might have tasted before.

We will call this particular recipe squash and tofu in thai(?) peanut sauce and serve it on top of egg noodles.

Ingredients (serves 2)

  1. 2 nests egg noodles

  2. 4 medium sized yellow squash

  3. 1 cup diced tofu (preferably tofu patties that you get in the Asian store)

  4. 2/3 cup bitter-ish lager

  5. 5-6 cloves garlic

  6. 1 large onion

  7. 1/2 cup peanut butter

  8. 1 can coconut milk

  9. 1 tsp fish sauce

  10. 1/2 tsp chili garlic paste

  11. 1 and half tsp curry powder

  12. 1 lemon

  13. salt to taste



  • One thing I learned about cooking tofu is that you must marinate tofu in advance if you want it to soak all the flavors. Mix 1/3 cup beer (we used bitterish lager) with the juice of 1 lemon, crushed garlic from about 3-4 cloves, 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp of curry powder (important ingredient!). Marinate diced yellow squash and diced tofu in this mixture for 2 hours or more in the refrigerator. Preserve this marinate for later use. Do not discard.


Photobucket

  • In a pan, add finely chopped onions, and saute till they are translucent. Add crushed garlic from 1-2 cloves and saute for a minute. Add 1/2 tsp of curry powder and saute for a couple of more minutes.


Photobucket

  • In a large bowl, mix a can of coconut milk, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1/3 cup beer, 1/2 cup peanut butter, and 1 tsp fish sauce (you can find this at your nearby Asian store. substitute by soy sauce if you can't find it). Add the leftover marinate.


Photobucket

  • Add this mixture to the pan with onions. Add salt to taste, and 1/2 tsp chili garlic paste. Add the marinated tofu and squash. Cook till the gravy attains the desired consistency. Serve on top of egg noodles.


Photobucket

Cooking with beer

Yes, that is right. Beer can be, and is used in a lot of dishes. If you think that is strange, read this. Apart from what you will read on that page, let me tell you that beer adds a very distinct flavor to your food that is unlike anything you might have tasted before.

We will call this particular recipe squash and tofu in thai(?) peanut sauce and serve it on top of egg noodles.

Ingredients (serves 2)

  1. 2 nests egg noodles

  2. 4 medium sized yellow squash

  3. 1 cup diced tofu (preferably tofu patties that you get in the Asian store)

  4. 2/3 cup bitter-ish lager

  5. 5-6 cloves garlic

  6. 1 large onion

  7. 1/2 cup peanut butter

  8. 1 can coconut milk

  9. 1 tsp fish sauce

  10. 1/2 tsp chili garlic paste

  11. 1 and half tsp curry powder

  12. 1 lemon

  13. salt to taste



  • One thing I learned about cooking tofu is that you must marinate tofu in advance if you want it to soak all the flavors. Mix 1/3 cup beer (we used bitterish lager) with the juice of 1 lemon, crushed garlic from about 3-4 cloves, 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp of curry powder (important ingredient!). Marinate diced yellow squash and diced tofu in this mixture for 2 hours or more in the refrigerator. Preserve this marinate for later use. Do not discard.


Photobucket

  • In a pan, add finely chopped onions, and saute till they are translucent. Add crushed garlic from 1-2 cloves and saute for a minute. Add 1/2 tsp of curry powder and saute for a couple of more minutes.


Photobucket

  • In a large bowl, mix a can of coconut milk, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1/3 cup beer, 1/2 cup peanut butter, and 1 tsp fish sauce (you can find this at your nearby Asian store. substitute by soy sauce if you can't find it). Add the leftover marinate.


Photobucket

  • Add this mixture to the pan with onions. Add salt to taste, and 1/2 tsp chili garlic paste. Cook till the gravy attains the desired consistency. Serve on top of egg noodles.


Photobucket

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Updated to wordpress 3.0

I have been wanting to update my blogging software from its original archaic version that I installed over a year ago. Yesterday I finally decided that I cannot wait any longer because the old version of the wordpress software was not letting me link images from external hosting services like picasa. So I bit the bullet and did the whole updating process. I did the manual update because my ancient version did not even support the automatic update.

So I took a backup of the database, a manual backup of the entire blog directory using ftp, and just followed the instructions. True to the word, it updated the web-app and the MySQL database in a matter of seconds. I really like this new interface, but I am still looking for desktop publishing applications that can simplify the blog post process easier for me because I hate to have to muck with the HTML code myself. So, I am going to experiment with a couple of publishing applications for a while.

Friday, July 09, 2010

Poaching an egg



Do you remember this scene from Julie and Julia? After watching it, I felt that poaching an egg requires some kind of black magic, and that it is extremely difficult for you to poach an egg without an egg poacher. I checked out a book by Jamie Oliver, and his advice was similar to that of Julia Child (as in the video). A google search gives you a tonne of conflicting advise. Finally, I found a way that has always worked for me:

  • Take lots of water in a saucepan and bring it to a light boil. Add a teaspoon of salt, and a teaspoon of the secret ingredient: vinegar. Vinegar helps the egg white to cook as soon as the egg is dropped into the water. This is what helps you avoid the disastrous "scrambled egg soup".


adding-vinegar

  • Now reduce the flame a little so that the water is not boiling hard. When the water is relatively calm, use a spoon to twirl the water in the pan so as to create a mini-whirlpool.


image092.jpg

  • Gently crack an egg, taking care not to break the yolk; and drop it into the center of the whirlpool. Drop the egg from close to the surface of the water.


image093.jpg

  • That's it. Waiting and watching: the only two things you need to do. No need to push the egg-white around. You will notice that the egg starts to cook immediately as it falls into the water, and it starts to congeal around the yolk. Cooking time varies between 90 seconds to three minutes depending on how well done you want it to be.


image100.jpg

  • Use a slotted spoon to gently scoop the cooked egg from the pan. Serve it on some good toasted bread (for those in Baltimore, try the raisin pumpernickel from Atwaters)


image103.jpg

Poaching an egg







Do you remember this scene from Julie and Julia? After watching it, I felt that poaching an egg requires some kind of black magic, and that it is extremely difficult for you to poach an egg without an egg poacher. I checked out a book by Jamie Oliver, and his advice was similar to that of Julia Child (as in the video). A google search gives you a tonne of conflicting advise. Finally, I found a way that has always worked for me:

  • Take lots of water in a saucepan and bring it to a light boil. Add a teaspoon of salt, and a teaspoon of the secret ingredient: vinegar. Vinegar helps the egg white to cook as soon as the egg is dropped into the water. This is what helps you avoid the disastrous "scrambled egg soup".


adding-vinegar

  • Now reduce the flame a little so that the water is not boiling very hard. When the water is relatively calm, use a spoon to twirl the water in the pan so as to create a mini-whirlpool in the pan.


image092.jpg

  • Gently crack an egg and drop it in the center of the whirlpool. Make sure that you do not break the yolk, and drop it from close to the surface of the water.


image093.jpg

  • That's it. All you now need to do for poaching your egg is to wait and watch. No need to push the egg-white around. You will notice that the egg starts to cook immediately as it falls into the water, and it starts to congeal around the yolk. Cooking time varies between 90 seconds to three minutes depending on how well done you want it to be.


image100.jpg

  • Use a slotted spoon to gently remove the egg from the pan. Serve it on some good toasted bread (for those in Baltimore, try the raisin pumpernickel from Atwaters)


image103.jpg