Provence en Anglais

The South of France (Provence) mimics where I grew up, only with carbonate geology (affecting soils). I grew up with clay based soils thanks to the local volcanoes. They don't have that in Provence. We don't get scorpions either. We get heat and passion. No lavendar trays, no Mistral wind to drive you mad in deepest Winter.

We got heavy ground hugging fog every evening around 5-6 PM that hung around all night until around 10:30 AM the next morning, when it would suddenly burn off and reveal sharp blue skies and a brilliant sun. We both have good wines, good bread, good meat and good cheeses. Both regions are agricultural with poor sense of time and lousy roads. Both kinds of road kill people. Such is life.

Our architecture is Spanish influenced, California being a former territory of Spain lost thanks to distance, incompetence, and low value since, apparently, the Mexican caballeros never looked DOWN when running steers across a stream in the Sierra Nevada foothills to see the huge gold nuggets there. Really. Never did. How lame is that? This is one of those quirks of History that seems highly implausible. Spanish Land Grant rock walls are all over the place, running with barbed wire fences through the middle. The wall looks older because it IS. The coast running nearby provides fresh seafood and surfing for those brave enough to fend off the Great White sharks hunting for sea lions. Inland is redwoods and oaks, tall dry grasses, orderly rows of vineyard, and the occasional town. Some are tiny burgs with a few stoplights and then you're back out into the wilds again. Some are burgeoning metropolises with ivy hung brick walled colleges you'd swear belonged somewhere in the East. Only, instead of French Bistros, you find better taco and burrito stands. Its different. It's home.

The Greatest

What do you do when you realize someone famous is a 2nd cousin? Cat Power is a cousin of mine. She's famous for "The Greatest" which is a very good song. How do you recognize that? She's worked hard to reach this level, but most of her work isn't very good. I don't disagree about her efforts, but still, effort does not equal result. She tried, but the outcome was mediocre. That's live. Like L7, you try hard and some of it is awesome, some is crap. You have to accept this.

Beer?

This looks interesting: Brewing Beer

I'm curious to see how expensive it ends up being. Research more.

Bread Is Life, Or Ground Up Grain Risen with Yeast, Anyway

So bread can be tricky. Often times homemade bread is gummy and not very good. Slathered with butter and jam, you don't care that much but I've been working to make better bread.

First, use filtered water and rinse your bowl and utensils so there is no soap on them. Its antibiotic and kills the yeast. Second, proof the yeast in warm sugar water. I microwave the water to kill any competing bacteria, then add a good amount of sugar, stirring so it dissolves, then add a good amount of dried yeast. My yeast "expired" 3 years ago, but since it was sealed it didn't really expire. Yeast keeps for thousands of years. We have brewers yeast from the Pyramids, and Egyptian beer. After about 15 minutes the yeast should have a good foam on top. This means it is active, good yeast. Next, flours and salt. I use about half whole wheat, half bread flour, and a tablespoon of salt. The salt slows the yeast production but doesn't stop it. This is a good thing. You want the yeast to grow, but you don't want the bread to fall apart in a wrong way. Slower rising bread tastes better than quick rising. For one thing, the gluten develops better. For another, the flour fully hydrates and will cook properly instead of merely toast in the presence of steam. You'll taste why that's important later. If you like, you can add molasses. I did in my last bread and it was delicious. Mix it all together. Don't bother kneading. Just mix it and set it into a flash-warmed oven for 12 hours, checking after 3 hours to see how much it has risen. If all goes well it will rise about half again its original size. Turn, knead a few times by hand on a floured board, then place on a cookie sheet spread with cornmeal. This is important because the meal will allow the bread to expand sideways as well as up. Allow it to rise for about an hour. It should be bigger yet. Take it from the oven, heat to 375'F, then place back into the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. When baking done it should sound hollow when thumped. Allow it to cool at least 10 minutes before cutting. The steam inside will avoid gummyness if you wait a little. Serve with butter and jam, cheese, or cream cheese.

MOVIE: Julie and Julia

A movie about a blogger who decides to cook all of Julia Child's recipes from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". The movie also provides views of Julia's life in 1949 Paris as she attends the Cordon Bleu school and 8 years of effort to translate various french recipes into English with the help of two French ladies from the Embassy where her husband works. Kinda light on many details, and skips most of Julia's TV shows, which I grew up on (small wonder) but still reasonably interesting and they had many foodie details, including why Aspic often falls apart (gotta cook it long and SLOW to get the gelatin to cook down without breaking down, which is why Julie's fails in the movie). Aspic is Meat Flavored Gelatin. Delicious. Used as a sauce. Good quality broth is practically aspic, which is one reason my soups taste like concentrated numminess. The wife and I enjoyed watching this on Sunday and I think we both bonded a bit over the couple's trials and travails. Sometimes it seems like we live above a pizza store.

Condolences

Found out the wife of an writing-friend is dying of cancer. She's been a real trooper dealing with his obsessions, which are more severe than mine. Tempted to describe the afterlife but figure it would be less than helpful as they're xtian and religious and it would be best to keep quiet and let them retain their misconceptions as they're basically harmless anyway. Still, I hope my friend doesn't lose his mind in grief. She's been the world to him over the decades and I don't know if the shock of losing her will be good for him or bad.

On a lighter note: Happy Lughnassadh! This is Lugh's day. Apparently Lugh was a real person. Lyon is named for him, as its full translated name is Lugh's Fortress.

More recipes and cooking info later.

Sherried Pork

I like to name my recipes. Any dish that is actually a recipe is not for me. Tonight I was feeling creative so I carmelized some onions, added slices of portobello mushroom, lemon pepper, and olive oil at medium low in a big frying pan. After a good browning I slid the onions and mushrooms to the side, added a little more olive oil and two boneless porkchops. I cooked them with more lemon pepper, both sides, for about ten minutes at medium low. I added a cup of water, two cloves of chopped garlic to the sauce made by the deglazing onions, and covered for another 10 minutes. I turned the meat over and cooked another five before serving in a salad bowl with a teaspoon of sherry added to the sauce, and a pinch of salt to pop up the flavors. Very nice. Needs bread and either artichoke with butter or asparagus, though you could also use steamed/boiled broccoli. Very nice.