As soon as I commit to the boat delivery, Dunlap calls me for a job, which I have to turn down because I am already committed. Of course I would make in one day what I am making in 2 weeks on the delivery.
Archive for November, 2006
I am taking a last minute crew job delivering a Tayana 48 sailboat from Cabo to SF - that’s why I keep my sea bag packed. I’ll be gone for about 16 days, so expect to see me in SF around the middle of December!
I am going with Arnstein Mustad who I sailed with last year on a delivery from SF to San Diego.
Happy Thanksgiving!
For last nights dinner, A. and I put together a harvest bouquet. We included wheat and millet grain, because they were in her flower shop. She used to live in Niger with the Tuareg (not a car, but a ancient culture of people). Millet is so central to the Tuaregs, it’s on the Niger coat of arms. She said said “I used to feel bad that I couldn’t tell the people in my village that their stable food was what we fed birds. But I’ve heard now we aren’t supposed to feed birds millet to birds because it’s too fattening…. and now we use the food that is the cornerstone of their civilization for…. decoration.”
In other news….
Scientist have worked out a way to genetically manipulate cottonseed so that it’s not toxic to humans. Keerti Rathore of Texas A & M University stated goal is for the seed to be “used to fight food shortages”.
Danny Llewellyn, a plant biologist at CSIRO in Australia who has also been trying to remove gossypol from cottonseed, says the research will “allow cottonseed to be used more widely as an animal feed…and extend its uses as a substitute for other high-value oils, like canola (rapeseed) oil.”
Now…. I hope we are all on the same page and recognize this as unadulterated bullshit. Both of these twits, and the money behind them, are seeking high profits from the seeds, that are efficient money makers, even though they are high impact crops requiring heavy use of pesticides and water. They are thinking that we can get textiles and food from the same crop, not - hey there are starving children in India.
I guess I would be more understanding if they weren’t so fucking smug about “solving world hunger” which is well understood to be caused by poverty and social unrest — not production. More food production will not solve this complex economic/social problem.
This is about profit. Hey… I am not against profit. But profit disguised as philanthropy is….well disgusting. Also, I am disturbed by the arrogance pervasive in this race to fix cottonseed. Using science to improve on our most fundamental human activity…the production of food…is admirable…but new ideas need to be done with respect of how things got done in the last 5 thousand years, before inventing problems to fit solutions.
I am experimenting with a different format for recipies. The idea is to treat the recipie as a project, with times and an orderly instruction, to incorporate into a larger menu. I want to develop a system for making more complex menus and hitting a consistent completion time. I made these last night, they were pretty tastey.
Makes 24
3-6 hours total time needed
Options for make ahead:
Save frying till last minute
par fry and fry again
cook, refridgerate or freeze and reheat
PANTRY:
4-5 Medium Potatoes
Cumin Seeds
Fenugreek Seeds Coursley Ground
Ginger Peeled and Minced
1-3 Serrano Peppers Minced
Coriander Ground
Garam Masala
Cilantro Finely Chopped
Mango Powder
Self Rising Flour
Vegitable Oil
Coursley Ground Ajwain Seeds
Salt
Peanut Oil
EQUIPMENT:
Pot
Mixer and Bowl
Medium Bowl
Aluminum Foil
Rolling Pin
Knife
Counter Space
FILLING
- <1 hour total
- 5 minutes work
- 20 minutes boil
- 20 minutes work simultaneous
- 25 minutes active cooking
- Peel
4-5 Medium potatoes
then….
- Boil in lightly salted water (20 Minutes) then…
- Finely chop
- Heat in a wok medium heat
2 tablespoons peanut oil
- add
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
- when popping stops…add
1/2 teaspoons coursley ground fenugreek seeds
Potatoes - peeled, boiled and minced
- Stir for 2 minutes then…
- Add
2 tablespoons peeled and minced ginger
1-3 serrano peppers minced
1 1/2 tablespoons ground coriander
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
- Stir until potatoes are golden (10 minutes) then…
- Add
1/4 cup cilantro finely chopped
1 teaspoon mango powder
- Cook 10 minutes then…
- Set aside to cool
PASTRY
- 2-5 hours total
- 5 minutes work
- 1-4 hours rest
- 20 minutes work
- 20 minutes active cooking
- MIXING 5 Minutes + 1-4 hours rest
- Mix in mixer:
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon coursely ground ajwain seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- Mix in gradually (with moter running):
about 1/3 cup water
until dough forms a ball that doesn’t stick to the sides of the bowl
- Cover and let dough rest for 1-4 hours
- ASSEMBLY (20 Minutes)
- Lightly oil hands and divide dough into twelve (12) - 1 1/2-inch balls
- cover with foil and work with one at a time
- flatten ball into a disc
- coat with dry flour
- roll out to 6-7″ disk of about 1/8″ uniform thickness
- cut circle in half
- brush water on 1/2″ of straight edge
- pick up corners - bring together and stick straight edges together - making a cone
- fill cone with 2-3 tablespoons of filling
- brush edges of cone mouth and press closed
- cover with foil and complete the other pieces
- FRYING
- heat oil to 350Ëš (when a peice of dough rises to surface in 15-20 sec)
- place samosas in wok without crowding
- turn a couple times to even browning
- should take 4-5 minutes - turn down heat if quicker
1 cup all purpose flour in a medium bowl for coating and dusting
1 1/2 cups peanut oil for frying
She rang under my feet like an empty Huntley & Palmer biscuit-tin kicked along a gutter; she was nothing so solid in make, and rather less pretty in shape, but I had expended enough hard work on her to make me love her. No influential friend would have served me better. She had given me a chance to come out a bit–to find out what I could do. No, I don’t like work. I had rather laze about and think of all the fine things that can be done. I don’t like work–no man does–but I like what is in the work–the chance to find yourself. Your own reality–for yourself, not for others–what no other man can ever know. They can only see the mere show, and never can tell what it really means.
Seems that the weather is settling down in Seattle, but it looks a little snotty in Alaska. Havn’t heard back from Dunlap about getting on a boat. Nor UCSD for that matter. If nothing develops soon, I need think about a NOAA boat or something.
PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND 400 AM AST FRI NOV 17 2006
…HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY WARNING THROUGH SATURDAY…
.TODAY…NE WIND 25 KT. GUSTS TO 40 KT OUT OF BAYS AND PASSES.
SEAS 6 FT. HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY.
2:37
©2000
We all want to have what someone else has ….at some point.
6 minutes
©2002
DIVE is a film that I made with Renata Foucre for the SlowMo Film Festival in 2006. It was made using the JFDI methodology in relatively few hours.
1 minute
©creative commons 2005
