Post for January 1 2023
# 1587
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Opening Picture
Cabbage Ukrainian kapusnyak
Kagor at the Ukrainian language Wikipedia
Ukrainian soup Kapusnyak
Use raw cabbage leaves in a sandwich as a super substitution for more usual lettuce which is of limited food value. Or make a soup or cole slaw, or boil as a side vegetable or…
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Commentary
Three vegetables, cabbage, beets, and broccoli.
I’m recommending that, weekly, we cooks should rotate buying one of these in quantity, preparing each in turn, and gorging on it in a variety of ways. Go on the Internet for thousands of good, simple ideas. I’m recommending buying a quantity of them so that a single preparation will be enjoyed multiple times.
Why these three?
I’m not precluding others but these came instantly to mind as super easy to prepare and super good for us and the people we love.
Beets? Just boil and serve them as a simple vegetable.
Boil extra beets and on another day enjoy the leftovers with a soupcon of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon as a small meal or a snack.
Detroit Dark Red Beets
Brianna Walther - Own work
(An unsung advantage to eating beets is that bodily wastes temporarily take on attractive red hues.)
Broccoli? We are all familiar with the scope of the family but perhaps do not use broccoli as often as we may. Go to the Internet for preparation suggestions.
Furrow flood irrigation on a field of broccoli raised for seed in Yuma, Arizona.
Jeff Vanuga / Photo courtesy of USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Furrow flood irrigation on a field of broccoli raised for seed. Yuma, Az.
The idea of today’s Commentary is a recognition that replacing meats and other proteins with nutrients from plant-based foods is a very good thing for our typical American diet. We need to consciously weave vegetables into our meal planning to satisfy our hunger, improve the nutritional value of what we eat, enjoy a variety of tastes, and decrease our caloric intake.
Keep your refrigerator stocked with one of these (or other plant-based foods, of course) and when you need a nibble you have a tasty, healthy, easy option.
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Health Issues:
Suicide is a leading cause of death. And we’re in denial about our pain.
Édouard Manet - Le Suicidé (ca. 1877)
Édouard Manet - The Bridgeman Art Library, Object 593052
We are living in a system that makes you fight to live at every turn. That plays a role in deaths by suicide.
Mental health is an individual journey. It’s more than that, too. Society undeniably affects wellness. How the world allows you to move is a factor. And we, as a nationwide community of all ages and identities, are unwell.
Hope isn’t easy. Faith isn’t always simple. But I pray you feel seen. Ending the pain doesn’t have to mean ending our lives. Help is hard but healing is possible. Continue to be here, please.
By Jeneé Osterheldt Globe Columnist, Updated December 20, 2022, 12:57 p.m.
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Gen Z
From Kat and Mother on Christmas vacation in Montserrat, Columbia.
Kat and mom soaking up the rays.
Will and Kat on vacay enjoying the weather and scenery.
Next day was Will’s birthday and he chose to go birding with Kat.
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That’s life
While Will and Kat were birding exotic places, America had some birding buzz of its own in the form of a pink-footed goose.
Bird-watchers from across the country flocked to central Kentucky to try to catch a glimpse of a pink-footed goose, a species typically found in Greenland and Iceland.
The Lexington Herald-Leader reports the goose was originally seen in November, but it made an appearance last week on a pond at Ramsey Farm in Nicholasville.
A caravan of about 20 bird-watchers arrived on the farm to look for the bird — which has bright pink legs — but couldn't find it.
The birders then learned the goose was in a nearby neighborhood and eventually found it in someone's yard.
Ronan O’Carra, a Central Kentucky Audubon Society board member, told the Herald-Leader the bird was "one of the rarest" they've seen in the state.
FYI
Mike Allen
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ROUX
Weigh out 2oz of flour (cake or pastry flour is preferable to all-purpose but all-purpose works just fine) and 2oz fat, bacon, butter, or other.
Heat the butter and then add the flour, whisking as you go. Make sure all the flour is incorporated into the fat.
On low to medium heat, use either the stovetop or oven to cook the roux for at least 10 minutes. The longer you cook the roux the more nutty flavor it will develop, like 30 min, 45 min. Stir regularly to avoid burning.
Use cold roux to thicken hot stocks for gravy.
A white roux
Roger469 - Own work
Or use the roux to make an all-purpose white Bechamel Sauce, the basis for cream and cheese sauces we love so well whether it’s Mac and Cheese or Green Lasagna Bolognese.
BECHAMEL SAUCE
The Roux recipe above and 1 cup of room temperature milk.
Heat the Roux in a fry pan.
Remove the hot roux from the heat and add the warm milk in a steady, thin stream, whisking out any lumps as you pour.
Alternatively, add about 1/3 cup of milk and whisk vigorously until the milk has been completely absorbed by the Roux and repeat until milk is all absorbed by the sauce.
Béchamel sauce.
Jacek Halicki - Own work
It’s a sauce of a thousand uses including Mac and Cheese.
C’est ca.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
“Magnetism is one of the Six Fundamental Forces of the Universe,
with the other five being Gravity, Duct Tape, Whining, Remote Control, and
The Force That Pulls Dogs Toward The Groins Of Strangers.”
~ Dave Barry
Keep your nose to yourself.
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Wellness
From Medicare.org:
“Another way that helps to keep personal connections up-to-date and strong is the fun of having group calls on the Zoom social platform. Besides having the pleasure of both seeing and hearing each other in real-time, your Zoom group calls give you the opportunity to creatively enjoy each other’s company while still being physically separated. With group chats and coordinated activities staying in touch is easy, safe, and heartwarming.”
Not everyone wants to work at home.
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Social Life
Alone on Christmas Day, after morning dinner, I went out for coffee to George Howell, the only café open in downtown Boston. On my way I fed some sparrows.
I felt fine as I walked away after leaving a cup of food for birds and squirrels.
My aloneness continued into George Howell’s cafe in downtown Boston which seemed to be the only cafe open on Christmas Day.
I managed to find a good table.
And then two strangers took the table beside me and after a while a conversation ensued.
Suddenly I had amiable visitors on Christmas Day.
Next day, also a holiday, also a day slated for me to be alone, Mei and I enjoyed a Chinese restaurant together.
And we made plans to have dinner together on New Year’s eve.
The company of two visitors from China has totally filled my holiday dance card.
Dom with Dan Chou, an educator.
And meet Mei Liu, a Master Degree candidate at Tufts and an English-fluent conversationalist.
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Art
Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus (c. 1484–1486). Tempera on canvas. 172.5 cm × 278.9 cm (67.9 in × 109.6 in). Uffizi, Florence
Sandro Botticelli - Adjusted levels from File: Sandro Botticelli - La nascita di Venere - Google Art Project.jpg, originally from Google Art Project. Compression Photoshop level 9.
Depicts the goddess Venus, having emerged from the sea as a fully grown woman, arriving at the sea-shore. The seashell she stands on was a symbol in classical antiquity for a woman's vulva. Thought to be based in part on the Venus de' Medici, an ancient Greek marble sculpture of Aphrodite.
One of the pictures we will be admiring on our trip to Tuscany.
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts, including links.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This from Sally C:
From: brasscastlearts@gmail.com <brasscastlearts@gmail.com>
Subject: RE: Post # 1586
Dear Dom,
Thanks for sharing your gustatory (and may I coin “gastatory”?) routine.
I agree with you – butter is impossible to resist. Despite the health warnings against it that have so bombarded us from every angle for decades, butter is far better for you than the synthetic margarines and spreads of hydrogenated this and that. That said, of course olive oil and other such vegetable-sourced oils are probably better than butter. But sometimes for superior flavor and texture, butter is the only option – shortbread, for one, and to dip lobster in, for another.
When we lived in Virginia, our neighbor Gwen was almost a pure vegan. She was pretty dedicated to consuming no animal products. But her one failing was butter. She didn’t beat herself up over it, though – after all, nobody gets slaughtered to produce butter.
About twenty years ago, I modified a snickerdoodle cookie recipe to accommodate the dairy-free needs of one of my nephews. I substituted poultry fat for the butter (chicken and/or turkey, and I’ve used pork fat as well). The cookies came out so short and crisp that I’ve never used butter in the recipe again. Phenomenal! I got the idea from an old recipe my mother used sometimes – “Chicken-Fat Brownies.” Properly cleaned animal fat has almost no flavor – cleaning it removes the meat, juices, and seasonings.
I also agree with you on not running the celery through the food mill to make your sandwich spread. The crunch is important. I have a casserole recipe called “Hot Crunchy Chicken Salad” which is cubed cooked chicken (or turkey or pork), chopped celery, a can of cream of mushroom soup, a bit of minced onion, and a few other ingredients, topped with a half-and-half mix of grated cheese and crushed potato chips (I use dry turkey stuffing sometimes). I often throw in mushrooms and/or sliced black olives for variety. Baking for about 45 minutes gets it bubbling. It softens the celery, but not enough to eliminate the celery’s crunch.
My crabcake recipe, which I developed a few years ago, includes very finely minced celery, too, tiny enough so the celery isn’t lumpy or chunky, but there again is that element of satisfying crunch. The cakes aren’t in the hot oil long enough for the celery to cook or soften. Let me know if you’d like me to send the recipe to you.
Merry Christmas, Dom, and a prosperous New Year!
Sally
Blog meister responds: Perhaps we could do w/o 'gastatory'. But not w/o your recipe.
Please send. I'd love to steal from it.
Not only writers have licenses to steal, it's expected that cooks also steal.
In fact, I pay annually for a double license to steal both recipes and ideas. Saves a few bucks.
Happy Christmas, my dear.
Love
Dom
Hannah Glasse's signature at the top of the first chapter of her book, The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, 6th Edition, 1758, an attempted defence against rampant plagiarism
Hannah Glasse - Own scan of The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, 6th Edition, 1758
Hannah Glasse's signature at the top of the first chapter of her Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, 6th Edition, 1758
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And you remember that I was introduced to Truffleist at the Boston Christmas Seaport Crafts Fair and praised the Truffle Butter while bemoaning that my order arrived missing the Truffle Foie Gras.
In response, I received this email”
From: The Truffleist <info@truffleist.com>
Sent: Monday, December 19, 2022 9:22 AM
To: domcapossela@hotmail.com <domcapossela@hotmail.com>
Subject: Truffleist Order# 9428
Hi Dom,
Thank you for placing an order with us, I Just saw your review of the Truffle Foie Gras and I am very sorry that we forgot to include this product with your order. I just had a new order entered and it should be delivered by Wednesday.
Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions, my phone number is (585) 455-1159.
Thank you,
Paul
Blogmeister’s Response: In the event, I did receive the Foie Gras on Wednesday and although I had already had my dinner, I couldn’t wait for an appropriate time to taste it. I loved the Truffle Butter and have been using it a good deal and, after tasting it, I loved the Truffle Foie Gras as well: richly textured and richly flavored. Both products wonderful to have on hand.
I ate the Truffle Mousse de Foie Gras and it was wonderful. The equal of Truffleist’s Truffle Butter which I very highly praised.
Note that I couldn’t use a photograph of the actual Truffleist product because my platform only recognizes jpeg files and the Truffleist website uses a different file.
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Local Pics
Just before Christmas, protesters voicing their opinions regarding killing animals for their fur.
The driver of this car had to work to get it on the sidewalk.
Perfect holiday event: ice skating
The work on City Hall Plaza is nearing completion.
The work on the plaza at City Hall is nearing completion.
Here is the joining of the plaza to the sidewalk.
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Short Essay*
Ode to Cabbage
Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of Brassica oleracea, is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads.
It’s regal looking.
Cabbage Kondah - Own work Le chou
A cabbage generally weighs between 1 to 2 lb. Smooth-leafed, firm-headed green cabbages are the most common, with smooth-leafed purple cabbages and crinkle-leafed savoy cabbages of both colors being rarer. Under conditions of long sunny days, such as those found at high northern latitudes in summer, cabbages can grow quite large. As of 2012, the heaviest cabbage was 138 lb 4 oz. Cabbage heads are generally picked during the first year of the plant's life cycle, but plants intended for seed are allowed to grow a second year and must be kept separate from other cole crops to prevent cross-pollination.
They can be prepared in many different ways for eating; they can be pickled, fermented (for dishes such as sauerkraut), steamed, stewed, roasted, sautéed, braised, or eaten raw. Raw cabbage is a rich source of vitamin K, vitamin C, and dietary fiber. World production of cabbage and other brassicas in 2020 was 71 million tons, led by China with 48% of the total.
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People
Franco Harris (March 7, 1950 – December 20, 2022) was an American professional football player who played full back in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily for the Pittsburgh Steelers. A nine-time Pro Bowl selection, he won four Super Bowls with the Steelers. He was a key player in one of professional football's most famous plays, dubbed the "Immaculate Reception", which gave the Steelers their first ever playoff win.
The Immaculate Reception is one of the most famous plays in the history of American football. It occurred in the AFC divisional playoff game of the National Football League (NFL), between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Oakland Raiders at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on December 23, 1972. With the Steelers trailing on fourth down with 22 seconds left in the game, Pittsburgh quarterback Terry Bradshaw threw a pass targeting John Fuqua. The ball bounced off either the helmet of Raiders safety Jack Tatum or Fuqua's hands. Steelers fullback Franco Harris caught it just before it hit the ground and ran for a game-winning touchdown. The play has been a source of unresolved controversy and speculation ever since, as many people have contended that the ball only touched Fuqua or that it hit the ground before Harris caught it, either of which would have resulted in an incomplete pass by the rules at the time.
*The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Community Pictures with Captions are sent in by our followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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