All posts by JamesIsIn

Christopher Hitchens Modernizes Some Famous Commandments

Irreligulous

Here they are plainly stated:

  1. Do not condemn people on the basis of their ethnicity or color.
  2. Do not ever use people as private property.
  3. Despise those who use violence or the threat of it in sexual relations.
  4. Hide your face and weep if you dare to harm a child.
  5. Do not condemn people for their inborn nature.
  6. Be aware that you too are an animal and dependent on the web of nature, and think and act accordingly.
  7. Do not imagine that you can escape judgment if you rob people with a false prospectus rather than with a knife.
  8. Turn off that fucking cell phone.
  9. Denounce all jihadists and crusaders for what they are: psychopathic criminals with ugly delusions.
  10. Be willing to renounce any god or any religion if any holy commandments should contradict any of the above.

Here you can find his exposition:

JamesIsIn

Stuffed Baked Pumpkin

Food

Ingredients:

  • 1 decent sized pumpkin with lid removed and inside cleaned
  • sauté
    • 1 onion chopped
    • 1 red bell pepper chopped
    • 12? cloves garlic chopped
    • handful of dried bing cherries chopped
  • deglaze
    • 1/4 cup? pomegranate molasses
    • 1/4 cup? white wine
  • remove to mixing bowl (leaving liquid behind)
  • sauté after reducing retained liquid
    • 10 maybe mushrooms (let them fully wilt)
    • 1 lb sweet Italian sausage
  • remove to mixing bowl
  • 1 cup black rice with 3.5 cups chicken stock 5 minutes boil and simmer to finish, then add to mixing bowl
  • finally add the rest to the mixing bowl
    • 1/4 cup? Asiago
    • coriander, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg
    • 2 apples chopped
    • lemon juice
    • cream
    • sage
  • mix everything and stuff the pumpkin

450f for 30 minutes and then 350f for another 90 minutes

I ended up with too much liquid after cooking and would reduce the amount of liquid used (or reduce the rice liquid more) for the next cook.

Pumpkin seeds

  • sauté in olive oil
  • add salt, cayenne, and butter
  • 300f oven 45 minutes

These turned out amazing for being so simple.

Gutting the pumpkin (and then salvaging the seeds) was a bit of a pain in the ass.  I used an ice cream scoop for gutting the pumpkin which did a fair job for most of it.  I may try using a serrated knife for removing the lid next time, though I suspect my dreams of sawing around are folly.

The flavor combination of the stuffing was amazing and I wouldn’t hope to alter it one bit.  Just maybe reducing the final liquidity some.

Have fun!

JamesIsIn

Sous Vide Ropa Vieja

Food

I cobbled together some recipes from the Internet and sort of followed Guga’s (Sous Vide Everything) technique.  I also made some substitutions based on what I happened to have here.

Get some flank steak, maybe 50 oz, and flame sear the flank as quickly as possible over very licky flames.  Set this aside (I refrigerated it overnight).

Get your biggest cast iron skillet hot and start sautéing or wilting this stuff:

  • 1 green bell pepper
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 1 yellow or white onion
  • 8 cloves garlic (add after the others are well along)

Once that is nicely done start adding your liquids:

  • 1 C white wine
  • 1 T balsamic vinegar
  • 1 can tomato paste
  • 1 lime juice
  • 2 t soy sauce
  • 1 C chicken stock
  • 1 T adobo

Once that is integrated and bubbling add your dry stuff:

  • 1 t annatto seeds ground
  • 2 t coriander
  • 2 T paprika (Spanish aka smoked)
  • 1 t cayenne
  • 1/2 t allspice

Into the bag with everything plus (probably easier to let the sauce cool for a while):

  • 1/2 C Spanish olives
  • 1 T oregano fresh (or 1 t dried)
  • 2 bay leaves

Seal that bag and sous vide at 185f for 24 hours.

It’s recommended by literally everyone to let it rest overnight after cooking to punch up the flavor even more.

I tasted this at every stage and each tasting kept getting better.  Crazy!

JamesIsIn