“Change” We Can Believe In

Thanks to Joe for the image. Somewhere in America, Hillary is laughing.

A Feast for the Senses

Saturday, I had brunch at a friend’s place in Murray Hill. I rarely have Chinese so early in the day, so this was a welcome treat.

Beer-batter coated shrimp, spicy plum dipping sauce

Lamb spring rolls

Chicken with peppers and black bean sauce

Chilled noodles with scallion oil and rice wine

Stir-fried shrimp with vegetables and fermented tofu

Pea Season 2

Pea soup with creme fraiche and chives

onion, peeled and thinly sliced
carrots, peeled and diced
celery, trimmed and diced
shelled peas
salt, to taste
extra-virgin olive oil
asparagus stock
creme fraiche
minced chives

For the asparagus stock: Combine peelings from 2 lbs. asparagus and 3 1/2 cups cold water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Strain. Makes approx. 3 cups asparagus stock.

For the soup: Sweat onion, celery and carrots in olive oil until partially softened, about 5 minutes. Add a pinch of salt and a ladleful of water and stew, covered, for 5 minutes. Add asparagus stock. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Add peas roughly 10 minutes in. Check seasoning.

Working in batches, puree soup in a blender. Return to pot and cook for an additional 3 minutes to let flavors meld. Check seasoning. Serve with a dollop of creme fraiche and minced chives.

Pea Season

I picked up a pound and a half of English shelling peas at Union Square Greenmarket yesterday.

These have already begun to turn starchy. I had been contemplating making a pea flan but now I’m going to have to rethink that.

Carrot tagliatelle with cippolini onions, fresh peas and red sorrel

Eggs and Mushrooms, Part 2

Late brunch today:

Green garlic and fromage blanc omelette
Morels sauteed in butter; mimosa (not shown)

Not Exactly Quick, Relatively Easy

Pan-roasted Arctic char, slow-cooked tomato sauce, roasted heirloom potatoes

unsalted butter
Arctic char fillets, about 6 to 8 oz. each
kosher salt

1 can crushed tomatoes or 2 lbs. fresh tomatoes
5 T. unsalted butter
1 onion, peeled and halved
pinch of salt

heirloom fingerling potatoes
olive oil
kosher salt
cracked black pepper

For the Arctic char: Melt butter in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-low heat. When butter ceases sputtering, slip char in skin side down. Cook undisturbed for 15 to 20 minutes or until fish becomes opaque near the top. Finish with a sprinkle of sea salt or kosher salt.

For the tomato sauce: Place onion halves in a sauce pan. Add butter, cut into bits. Add tomatoes. If using fresh tomatoes, peel them, then chop coarsely. Add a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then immediately lower heat to the lowest possible setting. Stir occasionally. Simmer uncovered for 45 minutes to one hour or until droplets of fat coat the back of a wooden spoon. Discard onion. The tomato sauce recipe is adapted from Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Italian Cooking. The sauce is wonderful paired with gnocchi, spaghetti or with meat and fish.

For the potatoes: Scrub potatoes. Leave unpeeled. Slice potatoes on a bias or leave whole depending on size. Toss with 2 t. olive oil, a pinch of salt and pepper. Roast at 375 F for 30 minutes or until potatoes are golden brown. Sprinkle with chopped herbs prior to service.

Eggs and Mushrooms

Scrambled eggs with creme fraiche and chives, paired with morels sauteed in butter

eggs
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
crème fraîche
chives
morels
shallot
unsalted butter

Whisk eggs in bowl. Place bowl over pot with boiling water, acting as a double boiler. Continue whisking eggs, and cook to desired doneness. Finish with crème fraîche and chives, season to taste with salt and pepper.

Clean mushrooms thoroughly in water, drain. Cut morels into halves or quarters, or leave whole, depending on size of mushroom. Sweat shallots in butter, add mushrooms and sauté for couple minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Plate eggs and morels, garnish with chives. Serve at once.

Justice 5, Tyranny 4

On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled in 5-4 decision that the “The detainees in these cases are entitled to a prompt habeas corpus hearing….The costs of delay can no longer be borne by those who are held in custody.”, in essence declaring the Military Commissions Act of 2006 unconstitutional.

I’ve written before about the MCA. You can view previous posts here, here, here and here. In addition, I previewed several cases on the Court’s 2007-2008 docket here.

For those of you who don’t know about the MCA, the Act was a legislative response to Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 548 U.S. 557 (2006). The Act strips the right of habeas corpus from the detainees at Guantanamo Bay and provides legal precedent should the executive branch wish to implement a similar action on the general population of the United States should a situation arise that warrants its use. Read that again by the way.

The American legal system is built upon the principle of habeas corpus, that the rights of the individual trump those of society except in cases where the greater good of society is threatened by a danger so profound as to necessitate its temporary suspension. As a central pillar in our system of government, habeas corpus is so important that it merits its own clause in the Constitution.

Article One, Section Nine states:

The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it.

It’s amazing how none of these events have registered any sort of public outcry that would give our government pause. Giant collective yawn across the nation. The government’s position is that we’ve instituted these laws “for your protection”. Habeas is an outdated notion anyway.

The reality is without habeas corpus, a lot of other rights lose their meaning. But if you look at the actual Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments of that pesky Constitution, you’ll see just how many remain for your protection.

OK, No. 1 is gone. I mean, if you’re detained without trial, you lose your freedom of religion and speech, press, assembly, all the rest of that. So, you don’t need that any more.

And you know, you can’t petition the government for anything.

No. 2, While you are in prison, your right to keep and bear arms just might be infringed upon even if you’re in the NRA, so that’s gone.

Three, well OK, no forced sleepovers at your house by soldiers.

Three’s all right.

Four, you’re definitely not secure against searches and seizures, as it says here, with or without probable cause. And, in prison that’s not limited to just the guards, so forget the fourth.

Five, grand juries and due process, obviously out, so forget five and the little trailer up here.

Six, well trials are gone too, let alone the right to counsel. Speedy trials? You want it when?

Seven, well this is about—I thought we just covered trials and juries earlier so forget the seventh.

Eight, well, bail’s kind of a moot point isn’t it?

And nine, other rights retained by the people. Well, you know, if you can name them during your water boarding, we’ll consider them.

Ten, powers not delegated to the United States federal government. Well, they seem to have ended up there anyway. So as you can see, even without habeas corpus, at least one tenth of the Bill of Rights, I guess that’s the Bill of Right, now—remains virtually intact. No. 3 is still safe.

We can rest easy knowing that we will never, ever have to quarter soldiers in our homes as long as the Third Amendment still stands strong.

The president can just take care of that with a signing statement.

Sorrel Stuff

Here’s some red sorrel I bought a couple weeks ago. I’ve been using it in mostly salads and pasta but I want to do something else. Got any ideas?

After a weekend filled with BBQ PORK, I’m ready to return to reality. Not sure yet what’s for dinner but it’ll involve something with cauliflower. More later.

The Week in Food

No hobbit lives on BBQ alone.

This post in response to Homer’s reply from earlier.

Black bean soup served with coconut rice and lime

Salad greens, heirloom radishes, herbs and a poached farm egg

Glazed scallops with asparagus and ramps

Tri-color penne pasta with asparagus, red sorrel and chives

Fromage blanc omelette, salad with a white wine viniagrette

Fromage blanc with Champagne currant conserve, fresh squeezed orange juice

Lamb’s quarters, heirloom potatoes and chopped tomatoes

Tagliatelle with radish greens and garlic

Roasted asparagus with a poached farm egg and shaved Parmesan cheese

Chopped salad — English cucumber, heirloom tomatoes, peppers, herbs, sea salt, extra-virgin olive oil

Heirloom radishes and asparagus braised in butter and herbs
Crimini mushrooms sauteed with green garlic, Italian parsley and lime