Glace a la Fraise

Posted by Nerdyy

It's summer aka ICE CREAM TIME!

Today's edition covers the recipe for the yummiest home made ice cream ever.

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
5 egg yolks
2 cups fresh strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 ice cream maker (Necessary)

Mix cream and milk and sugar and bring to almost a boil over heat (about 185F). Turn off the heat,  beat the five egg yolks. Transfer the heated milk and cream one spoon at a time to temper the egg yolks, to make sure you don't end up with scrambled eggs. Keep stirring the egg and warm milk mix. When the eggs and milk+cream are almost the same temp, pour the egg and cream mix back into the rest of the milk and cream. Keep stirring, add vanilla extract. Take off heat at approximately 200F. One good indicator is when the mixture thickens to coat the back of a spoon.

Pour the milk cream egg mix into a bowl and place bowl into an ice bath. Grind the strawberries into a coarse smoothie consistency, when the milk cream mix has cooled, add and mix the pureed strawberries to the milk cream mix, gently folding it in so it becomes a pinkish mix. Keep in fridge for about 3 hours to chill.

The ice cream maker has to be appropriately chilled, check the directions. Mine needs to be kept in the freezer for the bowl to freeze. Once ready pour the chilled mix into the ice cream maker and turn on according to directions.


Churnin"
The ice cream maker basically churns the mix to add air into the mixture, while at the same time the sides of the liquid freeze and the paddle collects the frozen bits so slowly the mix freezes and becomes fluffy. About 20-30 mins. Gently scoop out the ice cream into a tupperware or other freezer safe bowl, and cover tightly. 


Looks yummy the next day! Its not going to be exactly the store bought stuff or the artisinal stuff, but it is homemade and tastes great!

OK that's it from this weekend in Chez Nerdyy or Casa Nerdyy, however you wish to call it!

0 footnotes:

California Dreamin'

Posted by Nerdyy

"Hello can you hear me?"

 Tbt June 27 2019, Carmel CA, two thirds done on an epic 28 day road trip, a reminder to me that I really need to move here.

Also blooms of gorjus, i mean how can you not stare!

0 footnotes:

Baked Chickpeas, Olives, and Feta

Posted by Nerdyy

Guess who is back midweek, Bitch (and I say that in the most platonically loving tone!) - well there is this recipe I HAD TO SHARE!

1 can chickpeas rinsed (use turkish or israeli chickpeas, tend to be crisper)
1/3 lb feta cheese
1 cup Kalamata olives pitted
2 roma tomatoes diced
2 cloves garlic crushed
a bunch of radish greens (sharp tasting, in this case home grown - of course), chopped
a bunch of mint (also home grown), chopped
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Pour oil in oven safe dish, along with crushed garlic and roast in a 300F oven for about 10 mins, the garlic will smell heavenly. Put in all the other ingredients in the bowl, arranging them artistically (!!), isn't that the point?
Bake for about 25 mins. Take out of oven and sprinkle some mint leaves on top.



Seriously, this reminded me of the early artistic works of my favorite food porn creator, in later months she has moved on to creating color and texture separations between different foods.

Bon Apetit, mon ami!

0 footnotes:

New comments are not allowed.

Solstice, Summer

Posted by Nerdyy

Coming @ 443 pm CDT

Bloom away, gorjus. Tis your season!




0 footnotes:

Matar Paneer

Posted by Nerdyy

Hiya

Weekdays are rough, the whole process of planning for socially distanced operations starting mid August is taking a whole lotta time, but it all seems worth it. Thus Sunday evenings to Friday mornings are hectic hectic!

OK - so here's the next recipe, also a food recipe like last time.

Part 1: Making homemade paneer:

 In a pan bring abut half gallon of whole milk to a boil, once that is done mix in about 5-6 tbsp of lemon juice and the milk will curdle quickly. Cool it down and strain the water out using a cheesecloth. Make sure all the water is squeezed out, it will create a better pressed paneer. Also supposedly using vinegar creates a better paneer. My experiment resulted in a more rustic country style paneer!

Part 2: Matar Paneer:

Heat oil, I used frozen masala that I had made fresh last October(ground onions, ginger, garlic, and hot chilli peppers) so fry the masala mix, add abt 1 tsp whole cumin, 1 tbsp ground coriander, 1 tsp turmeric, and 1 tbsp chilli powder. Yes it is going to be hot 'n spicy. Add peas, stir for about 15 mins, and add fresh coriander leaves (In this case, the coriander is home grown so I just snipped them off the plants and put them in my food!). Sprinkle some lime juice on top for an added pep.


Served with flour tortillas, seconds were gobbled down easily, and leftovers became a Paneer Panini!

In this case, as with most Indian food, a sparkling wine is best, so my suggestion is a Cava, or Prosecco. Gewurztraminer or Riesling also works.

0 footnotes:

Poulet Roti et Asperge grillees

Posted by Nerdyy

It's Summer! Ya didn't think I'd be moping inside did ya now?


Recipes:

1. Poulet Roti

About a 3-4 pound chicken (whole), keep about half a stick of butter outside to room temp, add salt to butter, mix it and apply under the skin of the chicken all around. This seasons the chicken well and also gives it the wonderful golden brown crisp skin (although take care not to tear the skin like I've done here!). For added flavor you can add cut up garlic under the skin, herbes de provence, and also quarter a lemon and keep it in the cavity while roasting.
I'm using a cast iron skillet, works well on the grill, take care to have some oil on the skillet because the grill gets really hot and can burn the chicken.
Temperature - about 450F for 45 minutes then bring the grill down to about 350 for half hour, we are looking for 175-180F temp for a thermometer inserted into the thigh.

2. Asparagus

Very simple recipe: Wash, cut, drizzle olive oil and salt. I'm using a vegetable grilling pan - very handy because it prevents the veggies from getting burnt on the grill.

For an accompanying drink if you prefer wine, go with a Sancerre or Pouilly Fume from the Loire Valley; or a Pouilly Fuisse or even a generic Chardonnay from Burgundy.

For this particular meal, I made a very refreshing summer cocktail: 1 and half ounce Gin, 1 and half ounce Aperol, half a can of grapefruit Seltzer and lots of ice, garnished with a slice of lemon. Yum!

BON APPETIT 😎

0 footnotes:

Anti Fascists Version 1.0, June 6 1944

Posted by Nerdyy

"Into the Jaws of Death" Omaha Beach Normandy; National Archives DC, and MoMA New York City
Sometimes, history is just a picture that says it better than a thousand words, a reminder to the noble selves within us that fighting for a just cause together, in our own ways, is always better than fighting separately. 🇺🇸🇨🇦🇬🇧

Also the intersection of the the photo caption, and the blog descriptor!

0 footnotes:

A vignette

Posted by Nerdyy


of lifelong anxiety and trauma in the United States, 2020.


Ryleigh Eadie, 4, at a rally in Bronzeville Chicago, photo courtesy Armando Sanchez, Chicago Tribune.

0 footnotes:

American History: Part 1 - The Confederate Flag

Posted by Nerdyy

So we have entered into, what the world sees, as a different era in our protests against inequality. For most of us in the US though, this is not the first neither the last. The US has a deep systemic and maybe intractable problem in the issue of race relations. So, I thought I could use this usually music and food centric forum to bring some light into the long and tortured history that my country has with race.

Part 1: The Confederate Flag.

 In many ways, the confederacy holds the key to an understanding of why things are what they are. In particular, the confederate flag. What is the flag you may ask, we have only seen the usual stars and stripes flag you may inform me. So here's some background, and also an explanation of the why the issues in the US are way deeper than just a hashtag, or a feel good blackout that people post on instagram. Sigh if only it were that simple!

Well - this is the flag:

Classified as a Hate Symbol by the ADL

In 1860, angered by the push by the US Government under President Lincoln to abolish slavery, 11 Southern States - South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas seceded from the Union, created their own constitution, own battle flag (see above), and thus started the US Civil War. Long story short, the US Civil War raged from 1861 until the confederate forces surrendered in April 1865. We had the Emancipation Proclamation and Abolition of Slavery, Reconstruction of the South, assassination of Lincoln, and eventually the rise of the Jim Crow laws that enforced racial segregation in the South, including the Klan that used this flag extensively to send a message(mostly violent) to their former and now free slaves . Segregation continued until the Civil rights Act and Voting rights act were enacted in 1964 and 1965.

It is important to understand this history because the confederate flag has never really gone away in the South. Having lived in Texas and North Carolina, it is still common to see it around sometimes. The sight of it provokes a visceral reaction of fear in non-white folks, since it harkens back to the era of lynchings, cross burning, tear gas against protesters, water cannons, and beating of people assembled peacefully (Wait what does that remind us of?). For example you could be living in an affluent mostly white suburb in Winston-Salem NC, and a block or two down see the confederate flag flying in a house that looks similar to yours. I can attest to how unsettling that is as a non-white person. A non-white, relatively affluent, professional person. Imagine how a working class black person would feel if they see that flag. Folks say that the flag is there as a heritage symbol, but imagine the heritage. Make no mistake, the confederate flag is flown or pasted on the back of cars and trucks as a not so subtle reminder to non-white folks "You watch your step boy, we have our eyes on you." (Boy is a historical term used to address slaves in the South).

So this "racism" has never really gone away, it is built in as part of the heritage in the South, as well as part of the regular historical discrimination in the North.

So, how do we proceed in our fight?

 Well, in a way we all do our part. Racism especially systemic racism is inbuilt in us our society, our work, family and all parts of life. We each do our part to change something that is actual change, not just a feel good protest symbol on social media.

Yes, I am often mocked for being such an Obama fan. Let us focus on the change we have seen so far. Change happens when things change politically, when the racist whites in small towns and counties and states in the South lose their political power to the center-left coalition of liberal whites and African Americans and Hispanic Americans. Nowhere is the South has this been more stark than in Virginia, the former capital of the Confederacy. In 2004, Virginia was a red state (solidly Republican), George W Bush easily won re-election with more than 53% of the vote in the state of Virginia. In 2008 Barack Obama won Virginia with more than 52% of the vote. In 2012 Obama won it again, in 2016 Hillary won it. Virginia is now a solid blue state, every level of statewide power is held by Democrats. As a result nowhere in the South do you see more progressive policies being enacted. Including, the slow and systematic removal of Confederate symbols and statues, each one of them divisive, and a reminder of our horrible past. We need more change like this all through the South and the rest of the US, and the world.

So we each have a responsibility to help change the system in our own way. Do it at work, do it in the community, donate to political organizations, feed the poor, engage with stubborn family members. If we each do something, little things, as a sum total big changes can happen. It will take time, but change is on the way. 5 months from today, we will celebrate my birthday, and also hopefully vote out Trump.

We stop today with this story of a kid in a school in NC, being uneasy about the perpetuation of confederate symbols around her: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article238545213.html

I will be back with Episode 2 of US History, when time permits me to!

PS: Also this just happened: 


And this in Ferguson MO






0 footnotes:

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)