10pm supper for two

Salmon-potato cakes, adapted from this recipe.  This is how I did it:

  • 1/2 can salmon (leftovers - last night I sauteed the other half with pasta)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 stalk celery
  • 1/2 a cooked (in the microwave) yukon gold potato, diced
  • About 2 T diced white onions
  • A handful of breadcrumbs
  • A tsp. or so of my homemade garlic aoili
  • Salt (I put in too much) and pepper to taste
  • Olive oil for frying
Mix everything together.  Use hands to form into patties.  Fry until nice and brown, then flip and fry the other side.  Top with extra-sharp cheddar.  I served them on a bed of spinach.  Next time I will serve with aoili on top!

Andrew Keen has a talent for stating the obvious.

I don't know why he talks about the death of Web 2.0 and the rise of individualism like it's something new.  It's the way it's always been - people who have the talent will dominate and people without talent will follow.  What is so groundbreaking about his observation and why are people so offended by the prospect of the Internet NOT being democratized?

It's funny, the first time I watched the video I thought he was saying "digital fascism and digital futilism" rather than feudalism. That would be a lot more interesting. Check out the full story here.


Surprised by Drew Barrymore's Fresh Air interview

Fellow NPR listeners may have heard Terry Gross interviewing Drew Barrymore this week in anticipation of Saturday's premiere of HBO's Grey Gardens, a dramatized version of the 1975 documentary about Big and Little Edie Beale, aunt and cousin to Jackie O. whose existence descended into abject squalor.

I actually find Terry Gross's voice terribly smug, I don't like her giggly laugh, and I think she often cuts people off/interrupts them rudely.  But, I listen to her show because she does interview some really amazing people - accomplished artists, actors, thinkers, influencers.  I suppose people listen because of the great line-up and the great line-up comes because of the large audience.  Talk about network effect!

I was really surprised and impressed to listen to Drew explaining her approach to her character, the "anguish" over estranged relationship with her mother, and how the legacy of being born into a family of actors has made acting an integral part of her soul's creative outlet.  I know a lot of people assume Drew is kind of a ditz based on her roles in an endless string of romcoms, but I thought she sounded incredibly educated, drawing on a wider and more descriptive vocabulary than most people I know.  

I've also got nothing but admiration for how she went from drug-addicted wild child to stylish 20-something to confident, mature businesswoman/producer... and now to thoughtful director.  She's accomplished more in her first 30 years than I hope to accomplish in my lifetime, for real.

Listen to the full interview (34 min.) here.

EDIT: On another note, how do I get a hooded silk jumpsuit like the one Drew's wearing in that picture!?

Foodie Tuesday: Fava Beans

I'm hopping on the springtime bandwagon and featuring one of my favorite legumes, the fava bean, particularly the fresh fava bean, because so few people (including myself, until recently) know what to do with it.

Of course, I never met a bean I didn't like, but the fava bean takes the pulse family to the ultimate in sublime.  Apparently it's also known as the broad bean, which is how I originally knew it, sold fried, cracked open, and seasoned in plastic packets at the Chinese supermarket.  It seems most of the world where the bean originated (that is, north Africa, the Middle East, and southwestern Asia) eats it dried, fried, or otherwise brown.  

Tasty, but not nearly as good as it is fresh. Eaten fresh at the peak of its season, it has a firm but yielding texture, a delicate and nutty flavor, and a really pleasing bright green color. Of course the only thing I'd heard about the fava bean until recently, like so many of my American peers, was that line in Silence of the Lambs when Hannibal Lector talks about having a guy's liver "with fava beans and a nice chianti."  It did not do the poor bean justice.  

I fell decidedly in love with the fava bean about one year ago, under Thomas Keller's masterful influence, in a French Laundry dish with veal, sunchokes, and chanterelle mushrooms.  The veal was supposed to take the main stage but the fava beans stole the show for me.  There were about three of them on the whole plate, so perfectly tender and flavorful, that I put them in my mouth and have not been able to get them off my mind since.

You can imagine how thrilled I was the other day when I saw a small bucket of them at my neighborhood grocer.  I had no idea how to prepare them or how much to buy or even how to pick the best ones, so I just picked more slender ones that looked rather green (in retrospect, I should have picked ones that were bigger and plumper).  They turned out to be somewhat labor intensive (involving shucking, blanching and peeling before cooking again) but well worth the effort.  Check out the Bon Appetit article on how to prepare them.

It took me a while to decide how to cook the beans, what precious few I had.  I finally decided to saute them in olive oil with asparagus, diced white onions, prociutto, and thinly sliced crimini mushrooms, served over linguini.  It was perfect.

Who knew there were so many Burmese people in the Bay Area

My family and I went to Half Moon Bay this afternoon, for a food festival put on by a Burmese monastery there.  I've rarely seen so many Burmese people (outside of Burma, that is) in one place, and I have no idea where they came from!  And unlike most of the events my parents take me to, there were a lot of Burmese Burmese people, not overseas Chinese-Burmese (hua ren in Mandarin) like my family.

Soo much good food to sample.  In the pictures below: 
  • Mandalay meeshay, similar to Yunnanese mishen (rice noodles) with pickled mustard greens (suan cai) and pork
  • Spring roll salad (doke)
  • Noodle doke with potatoes and tofu
  • Throngs of people
  • A man dishing out mohinga from the hugest pot I have ever seen in my life
  • My own bowl of mohinga garnished with cilantro and chili
  • The whole pot of chili sauce
  • Hosing down the giant pots and woks afterward
  • Some sign written in Burmese script

Happy Easter!

I went to the 8:30am service for the first time in my life and was shocked to see how packed it was.  So painfully early on a weekend morning!  This passage from Pastor Paul's sermon really stayed with me, from Romans 5:

6You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

I actually had never come across that particular verse before, and it very neatly boiled down for me why I believe what I believe.  And I have to laugh a little when I hear people asking the question, "what is love?" Because for me, that right there, is it--giving someone what s/he needs the most, when s/he least deserves it.