 
 "Eating, drinking and carrying on..." -- Adelaide Brennan
Impeach Cheney. "The vice president," says Slate's Bruce Fein, "has run utterly amok and must be stopped."
Given the fact that they tried to impeach Clinton for lying about having sex with an intern as part of a deposition for a civil lawsuit that was eventually dismissed for lack of merit ... it as always prompts the question of what the fuck you have to do to get impeached nowadays? The Washington Post concludes its series on Cheney's "most outrageous usurpation of power that this nation has seen in decades, if not in its history" with two more pieces: Dominating Budget Decisions, detailing how he made himself the dominant voice on tax and spending policy, outmaneuvering rivals for the president's ear; and an examination of his environmental policy, i.e., how he gutted it, easing air pollution controls, opening public parks to snowmobiles and diverting river water from threatened salmon. I've heard people say that they pray nothing happens to Bush because it'd mean that Cheney would become president and that'd be scary. They don't realize that he's already president, de facto if not de jure. And that's really scary. UPDATE: He's flip-flopping now. Quotes of the day. From a TPM article linked above:
In that case ...
[ Link to today's entries ]
Love is all you need. It was 40 years ago today (well, yesterday actually) ... the world's first global satellite broadcast. The message is as valid as ever ... for this country, perhaps more so than ever before. (Thanks, Steve!) [ Link to today's entries ]
Cocktail of the day. It was gorgeous but warm on Saturday, and I felt like rum. My turn to mix, and I was looking for something with rum, but something a bit different. Recalling Gary Regan's excellent tome The Joy of Mixology, I tried to remember if there was a rum-based example of his drink category of New Orleans Sours (base spirit, orange-flavored liqueur, lemon or lime juice). I couldn't, so I looked it up. Turns out that oddly enough, there was no classic cocktail fitting this description, so Gary created one in 2002 and called The Missing Link (heh). It features his favored Margarita proportion of 3:2:1, with light rum, triple sec and lime juice. Okay, but I was looking for something just as refreshing but a little more complex. I had just picked up a bottle of Rhum Clément's Créole Shrubb, a once-rare liqueur from Martinique that I had tasted at Dr. Cocktail's house but which wasn't readily available in the States until recently. It's an orange liqueur in the same general category of Curaçaos or triple secs, but that's where the similarity ends. This liqueur is drier than most of those, is based on a type of rum called rhum agricole (made from fresh pressed sugar cane juice, not molasses), is sweetened by just a touch of pure sugar cane syrup and has a blend of really interesting Caribbean spices. I had tasted some straight from my new bottle, and was eager to use it in some sort of cocktail. This seemed to be the time for it to make its début in our bar. I thought of a light rum, perhaps, but decided to pair it with a fellow Martiniquan rum. I didn't have any Rhum Clément on hand, but I did have a Saint James Hors d'Age rhum agricole, which until then I'd only ever sipped and never used in a cocktail. It's got the complexity of a Cognac, and while it might not let the Shrubb shine through quite as much as a white rum would, I thought I'd see what kind of cocktailian-alchemical witches' brew of flavors might come forth. What kind? A startling kind. Neither Wesly nor I had ever tasted anything quite like this. The best way to describe the flavor would be ... exotic. We were both a bit taken aback at first, with all the flavors going on in here, but decided within two sips that we liked it. A lot. This is different enough from a Missing Link that I thought we'd give it its own name. "Missing link" is a term given (sometimes inaccurately) to a transitional fossil in the evolutionary line. The first skeleton of Australopithecus afarensis was a key transitional fossil, and it (or rather, she) had a name, which I've lent to this drink.
Next time I make this I'll make it with a lighter rum, to get more of a sense of the Shrubb flavor on its own. If not a Martiniquan rum, then certainly 10 Cane from Trinidad, which has become our standard rhum agricole these days. Cheney's "robust interrogations" The Washington Post continues its four-part series (here's the first article) about how deeply frightening our vice president is. Today we learn about how Cheney crafted our nation's torture policy, or what he liked to call "robust interrogations." Joe Sudbay of AmericaBlog says, "Reading these articles is intense. As bad as many of us thought Cheney was and is -- he's worse. This man, and the President who has enabled him, have seriously undermined the country -- and the constitution they swore to uphold."
I'm hoping this series of articles does for Cheney (and ultimately, Bush) what Woodward and Bernstein's series of articles did for Nixon, but with a new ending -- prison. [ Link to today's entries ]
Barack Obama speaks the truth. In a 30-minute address to the General Synod of the United Church of Christ, Sen. Obama excoriates the religious right-wing for "hijacking" faith.
Amen, brother. You can watch Sen. Obama's complete speech (with introductions) from the UCC's web archive. I'm not a Hillary Clinton fan (and if she's the nominee I'm afraid that she'll be so disliked that even some Democrats will vote for a Republican so as not to have her), so at this point it's either Obama or Edwards for me. I think Obama has a better chance so far, but it's still early. We'll have to see how they do as they go along. Lunch. Grilled asiago cheese with speck and quartered dates on OatNut bread. Honeydew melon slices on the side. (We used our panini press and they came out great!) (I decided to experiment with posting some minor food porn, with or without pics, about daily meals if I think it's warranted. These sandwiches were particularly good, so I thought I'd pass the idea along, and I'll continue to do so.) The fourth branch of government? The Washington Post begins a four part series (continuing tomorrow, Tuesday and Wednesday) on how Dick Cheney is completely without historical precedent as the most powerful and influential man ever to hold the office of Vice President of the United States, which only became possible because Bush is anxious to get out of the way, because Cheney makes the decision first before Bush "makes" the decision. As Steve Silberman said in MeFi, "Cheney set up his own government within the government of the United States, answerable to none." One scary passage (of many), describing Cheney's reaction on 9/11:
My friend Steve said in email, "This pretty much confirms something I've thought for quite some time: that instead of viewing the attacks as a tragedy, the Bush Administration saw them as an opportunity." Indeed, Cheney, Rumsfeld and their cohorts in the Project for a New American Century had been waiting for such an opportunity for years. Regarding Cheney's claim that he's exempt from rules overseeing classified document security because he's not part of the executive branch, Rep. Rahm Emanuel has raised the stakes -- he's entered an amendment to cut funding from the Office of the Vice President from the legislation that funds the executive branch.
Fair enough. [ Link to today's entries ]
Cocktail of the day. We hadn't had this in a while. It's yet another luscious creation by The Libation Goddess, Audrey Saunders of The Pegu Club in New York (and we'll be sampling her sacramentally delicious creations at one of the Spirited Dinners at Tales of the Cocktail next month, woo!). This takeoff on the sidecar turns the brandy into a Cognac-Calvados blend, the Cointreau into an orange-herb blend, and the lemon juice into a lemon-pineapple blend, maintaining the original character of the drink but adding many layers of additional flavors. I like it with the sugared rim, but as Gary Regan says in the next article, "Some folk like to rim the glass with sugar when serving a sidecar. I'm not one of them."
If Calvados isn't on hand, try substituting Laird's Straight Apple Brandy, which is really good stuff. The Cocktailian. Speaking of Sidecars ... in this edition of Gary Regan's column, Cindy, a substitute for the Professor, our cocktailian bartender (who's in Peru at the moment) creates another Sidecar variation, this time retaining the principal ingredient styles and trying other types of brandy and orange liqueur for a subtly different character. Ardent Spirits. The new Ardent Spirits newsletter is out, covering a bar crawl in Blackpool, England and a trip to the Beefeater distillery; Gary's presentation at the London Bar Show ... ... Rhum Clément's 2nd annual Cocktail Challenge with the winning recipe (and can I say how great it is to see Rhum Clément's products easily available on the shelves now, especially their wonderful Créole Shrubb liqueur!); and much more! Mexican liqueurs you've probably never heard of. Yes, we've all heard of Kahlúa, but how many other Mexican liqueurs can you name? The Los Angeles Times Food Section has a nice feature on a lot of really lovely and complex liqueurs from Mexico. I'd always been curious about the Damiana one, which comes in a bottle shaped like a chubby naked goddess statue, and turns out to be "[a] bright yellow liqueur with a voluptuous aroma bright yellow liqueur with a voluptuous aroma -- an explosion of resin, mint and flowers; [t]heflavors are resinous, candied and flowery with a note of lemon leaf." You can also find ratings and tasting notes of the aforementioned Guaycura Liqueur de Damiana, along with Patrón XO Café, Agavero ("like a tequila-based Chartreuse"), Reserva del Snñor Almendrado, Kalani Coconut Liqueur, Xaica Hibiscus Flower Liqueur ("happy-hour jamaica," which sounds fantastic; I'd tried to do a jamaica infusion with limited success, but my skills have improved since then ... maybe I'll try again with tequila and do a homemade version, or ... maybe I should just try this!), D'Aristi Xtabentun ("Pernod for honey lovers"), and Reserva del Señor Licor de Café. Man, don't some of these sound fantastic? [ Link to today's entries ]
The Pimm's Cup. Continuing this great series being posted in The Times Picayune, master bartender Chris McMillian shows us how to make a Pimm's Cup, a very refreshing cooler for the summer and the signature drink at Napoleon House on Chartres and St. Louis in the French Quarter. I'm trying to remember where we were recently where the bartender took great pride in his Pimm's Cups, saying that not only did he hate the ones that are made at Napoleon House, but that he was actually offended by them. Wes might have to rememberize for us in the comments. Oh well. 26th place in that contest thingy. Thanks for all your votes; considering I was something like 79th when I started, that ain't bad. Screw 'em, maybe we'll go to Napa anyway. Cheney's latest outrage. I know, it's been a while. The joy of food filled in where my outrage overload burned a hole, but ... for fuck's sake.
Let's hear that again. Vice President Dick Cheney has asserted his office is not a part of the executive branch of the U.S. government, and therefore not bound by a presidential order governing the protection of classified information by government agencies. Well, exactly what branch of government does he think his office is a part of? The secrecy branch? The ignore-the-law branch? The go-fuck-yourself branch? The hippopotamus umbrella branch? Oh, he claims that since his only real job is to be the president of the Senate, that makes him a member of the legislative branch. Horseshit, especially for this vice president. The other 42 of them might have been lapdogs presiding over the senate, but this vice president is most assuredly doing the vast majority of his deeds through the powers of the executive branch. And indeed, he claims executive privilege for things like his energy deal, but is not a member of the executive branch?
Let's hear that again. The head of the government's Information Security Oversight Office twice questioned Cheney's office on its assertion that it was exempt from the rules. He received no reply other than the fact that the Vice President then tried to abolish his office. AmericaBlog points to a Washington Post story that tells us how Cheney is quite literally risking the security of classified documents:
John Aravosis:
This man is dangerous. What is it about the people in this country that keeps them from where they should be, which is out in the streets mobbing the White House (although not Cheney's actual office, because undoubtedly he's in An Undisclosed Location), demanding his resignation or impeachment? Laziness? Apathy? Self-entitlement? I'd be out there myself, except I fear I'd be the only one, and I'd end up under Guantánamo Bay. I won't ask what is wrong with Cheney. He's a power-mad would-be despot who cares nothing for the law, the Constitution or the American people but only in his own power. The question is, why don't they impeach over the long list of crimes, the long list of constitutional violations, perpetrated by this corrupt administration, yet they tried to impeach Clinton for lying about a blow job? The biggest question is, what is wrong with us? How low can he go? Astonishingly, his current approval rating is even lower than Cheney's.
I think he can beat Dick. Go, George, go! We're rootin' for ya! [ Link to today's entries ]
Whoring for votes. Last night I got the following email:
Welcome news? Well, sure! First off, whoever nominated me ... thanks! Second, I must confess that I've never heard of Culinate, but hey ... I'll still take a prize from 'em, what the hell. Thirdly, and here's where the "whoring" part comes in ... 
Vote for me, and send my ass to Napa! (Click the image to do so.) Can you imagine the food porn if I manage to score a reservation at The French Laundry? It's been ten years since I've been, and it's about time for a return visit. (Incidentally, the prices have changed slightly since then. In 1997 the five-course dinners were $65, and the nine-course "Chef's Tasting Menu" was a whopping $90. Nowadays it's just the nine, and it'll set you back a cool $225, plus all the "freebie" little bites you get in between courses. It's still a deal.) See, it's all about providing food porn for YOU! So whichever of you was kind enough to nominate, me, I accept. Everybody, call and email your friends and your momma and your Aunt Hazel and all your relatives, including those cousins you never see (even the drunk one and the one you thought was creepy at the family reunion) and tell them to vote for Looka! so that you can get more cool food porn. Also, and so that Wes and I can get a free vacation to Napa. (Oh, and there's apparently some class too, which I guess I'd go to as long as it didn't interfere with our dining and wine drinking.) In the long and glorious Louisiana tradition, I say vote early and vote often! Get your dead relatives to vote too! (Okay, just kidding, 'cause all those politicians are pond scum.) Vote Chuck! My platform ... um, bacon forever! Badly made cocktails outlawed! Barq's is ubiquitous AND it's root beer! I've debased myself enough now. Thank you for your indulgence. Bayona. Wednesday midweek of Jazzfest, meeting my Uncle Mike for a nice long lunch at a longtime favorite. We started off with a round of Sazeracs, and the Sazeracs at Bayona have been longtime favorites of ours, especially Wes. He's also always appreciated the fact that they break from tradition by serving the drink in a cocktail glass rathe than a rocks glass; not that we don't follow that tradition at home ourselves (in vintage Roosevelt Hotel Sazerac glasses from the 1940s, no less), but it's nice to see someoen putting their own stamp on a traditional tipple. Oddly enough though, this time the drinks, while still excellent, came in the standard rocks glass. Apparently Bayona has a new bartender who's a firm believer in tradition. Well, bless his heart too. Lunch was lovely, as I expected, although there had to be a quick change of plans from the very beginning. I zeroed in on two dishes that looked really great -- Eggplant Parmesan Soup with Tomato and Tomato Croutons for a starter, and Lemongrass Scallops with Coconut-Lime Broth and Roasted Eggplant for my entrée. I was in the mood for soup, and the scallop dish sounded light and bright and Vietnamesey, with the roasted eggplant tying it in to the starter. How perfect, and the decision took me all of ten seconds. Then our server arrived to take our drink orders and said, "Just a couple of changes on the menu today, gentlemen ... we have almost everything but unfortunately we've run out of the eggplant soup and the scallops." Sigh. "Um, could you take their orders first, please?" Eek! After a few moments of wrestling with indecision, I managed to settle on two dishes, and we were off to the races. For some reason I managed not to get a picture of Wesly's starter, but I've got one of Mike's: 
Goat Cheese Croutons with Mushrooms in Madeira Cream, simple but delicious and satisfying. 
Grouper Ceviche on a chiffonade of Iceberg Lettuce with Guacamole and Corn Relish. Odd that I'd get this in New Orleans, as it's the kind of dish I can get in California all the time, but ... 1) I like that Bayona thinks outside the Creole box, and B) I've never had ceviche made with grouper, and III) it was cool and light and fat-free (well, except for the guacamole ... and the chips ... but there were only five of 'em) and given what I had been eating and would be eating, it probably wasn't a bad thing. Nicely done, well seasoned. And who knew that iceberg lettuce would end up being one of the trendy new ingredients among chefs for the last couple of years? It's all for the texture, not so much the flavor, but the texture suited this dish well. 
We got this for the table, and I kinda wish I had gotten one all to myself. Sautéed Sweetbreads with Potatoes, Mushrooms and Sherry-Mustard Sauce, a signature starter at Bayona. I had sweetbreads for the first time in my life at Bayona many years ago, and became an instant convert and sweetbreads lover. I should get a t-shirt feating Homer Simpson saying, "Mmmmmm ... thyyyyymus glaaaands ..." Come on baby, don't fear the gland. The flavor is deep and rich and creamy and satisfying. If you haven't tried them, do so -- I'll bet you'll fall for 'em just as hard as I did. 
My main course was Crispy Skin Redfish with Moroccan Grilled Onion Salad and Yogurt Sauce, an excellent piece of fish atop some sautéed spinach. Mike got this also, and ordered a third one to bring home (Rhonda wasn't able to join us, unfortunately). It's a long-loved Louisiana ingredient, but given a really interesting non-Louisiana treatment. Wes got another favorite of mine from here, and a longtime staple of the lunch menu -- Smoked Duck, Cashew-Peanut Butter and Pepper Jelly Sandwich, grilled on multigrain bread, which I last had here about a year ago. Slight difference to the usual, as the pure cashew butter became cashew-peanut. I'm sure it was good, and perhaps a bit less rich, but I wouldn't know, as I didn't get a bite. Ahem. 
The dessert was the daily special, and I zeroed right in on the chocolate, unsurprisingly. Chocolate Macamia Nut Bavarian with Roasted Pineapple was the only choice for me, although they all looked good. The pineapple inspired me to accompany it was a glass of Zaya Guatemalan Rum, 12 Years Old, one of our current favorites. Very satisfying and enjoyable, yet not a huge food onslaught, because we had to save room for dinner, ova by my momma's! Eh, là-bas! Crawfish eh-touf-FAY! Later that afternoon Wes and I stopped at The Swizzle Stick Bar at Café Adelaide, where a preliminary event for the upcoming Tales of the Cocktail was being held. Three rum cocktails would be featured in a tasting prepared by their bar chef Lu Brow, some of the Tales folks would be there, plus Wayne Curtis, author of the new book And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails. Unfortunately we wouldn't get to stay for the whole thing, because we had to head up to the Northshore for dinner at my folks' place. We still had time to meet and greet and chat and sip (although not too much to make me wobbly on the Causeway, but just enough to taste). I'm trying to remember the three cocktails that were served, which I can't because it's after midnight as I write, and I'm sleepy, and my memory is as keen as a steel colander even at its best, but I do remember that one was this venerable quaff:
Try to use homemade grenadine if you can (it's easy to make from fresh pomegranates, or just use POM pomegranate juice from the store, mixing equal parts juice and superfine bakers' sugar plus a litle extra sugar, and stir or shake until dissolved), or else find a good one like Monin, something made with actual pomegranates. Don't use the artificial crap; even a dash of it will kill a drink. Recommended rums include Myers Platinum from Jamaica or 10 Cane from Trinidad. We met Wayne and got him to sign a book for us, talked to some Tales people and finally saw Lally Brennan, who runs Café Adelaide (as well as Commander's Palace) with her cousin Ti (hi, Ti!). We chatted for a while, then sadly excused ourselves as we had to leave to make it to dinner on time. "Ooh," Lally said excitedly, "what are y'all having?" My mom's signature Crawfish Étouffée, which is my favorite preparation of that dish anywhere. "Oh, that's wonderful," she said. "You're going to the right place. At the restaurant we couldn't do justice to a New Orleans mother's étouffée." As much as I love Café Adelaide ... 
Lally was right, of course. :-) Thanks Mom! It was fab, as always! [ Link to today's entries ]
Hey, they stole our idea! I have to say that the Fat Pack have been playing with this combination for a while now, although we have never actually enrobed our favorite ingredient in luscious milk chocolate. 
I'm a big fan of Vosges chocolate and bonbons, and especially of their "Exotic Candy Bars"; we keep a selection of those in the house pretty much all the time. I got a tip via email (thanks, Mitch!) that they've just released a new one, obvious yet sheer genius -- Mo's Bacon Bar: Applewood smoked bacon, Alder wood smoked salt, deep milk chocolate (41% cacao). Oh. My. God. It all makes perfect sense, of course. Salt in dessert is the big thing now, and I've been a big fan of fleur de sel caramels and Vosges' own Barcelona bar (hickory smoked almonds, fleur de sel grey sea salt and deep milk chocolate at 41% cacao) for a while now. And we all know bacon's delightfuly desserty potential, from the bacon brittle I made to the cocoa-coated bacon candy Diana made a while back. Bacon in a candy bar was the next logical step. It's also the first Vosges candy bar I've seen to have a shelf life stamped on it -- 8 weeks. Their truffles have a 2-week life, as many of them have fresh cream ganaches and fillings, but the candy bars generally keep for as long as you want, provided they're stored properly. (We have a closet downstairs, where it's 10-15 degrees cooler than the rest of the house anyway, which we call "The Chocolate Closet," where we keep various kinds of chocolate, and our supply of 18-ounce Abbott's Bitters bottles, wrapped in towels to prevent earthquake damage). I just had four bars sent out, at horrific expense, thanks to the automated shipping tool in Vosges' checkout that informed me that "Due to warm weather in your shipping location, your shipping method has been changed to UPS 2 Day Air." *cha-CHING!* Well, feck it, I'm getting them anyway. I hope that after I'm done with this first batch, which in a Veruca Salt-like frenzy I had to have NOW, Daddy!, Surfas, who stock these bars locally, will start to carry the bacon ones too. |
