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From gay goy gourmet

From gay goy gourmet

parameter expansion yay!

I was aware that the subject covariates in my hierarchical 1-dimensional ideal point model induced greater dependence in the chain. The reason is obvious – the full conditional update of the subject parameters θ now incorporates two pieces of information from the previous iteration (both η and β). This means much slower mixing chains.

Parameter expansion (px-da) actually improves mixing over the standard data augmentation scheme. Liu and Wu (1999) prove that convergence is always faster, but it still seems like magic. The method is nearly identical to the Marginal Data Augmentation of Meng & van Dyk that Simon Jackman just added to ideal, except that I sample the expansion parameter α on the residual variance of the latent data from an inverse-Gamma distribution whose prior parameters you can change. MDA fixes the prior value of the expansion parameter at 1 (equivalent to IG(a,b) as a→0).

I'm not sure when ADM and KQ plan the next MCMCpack release, but the default in MCMCirtHier1d is px=TRUE. The figure below shows the improvement in autocorrelation: for two chains of 10k iterations thinned every 20 samples, after a burnin of 50k iterations, the autocorrelation (which drops of really, really slowly for some subjects) drops below that even of the naïve model without PX (not shown). The black line is with PX, the red line without.

this week

From CSA 2k8

• nappa
• red bok choi
• beets (big red ones, and tiny white ones with great greens)
• baby black kale
• dumpling squashes
• radishes
• apples
• onion
• hot peppers

last week

From CSA 2k8

• chickens
• turnips
• parsley root with some parsley
• carrots
• collards
• green cabbage
• mesclun
• apples
• brussels sprouties!

what to do with all this food…

• [660] black chick peas, kala chana masala
• [660] saag of collard, radish, beet greens
• stir fried bok choi and celery with ‘brown sauce’
• beet soup in acorn squashes
• perhaps an apple pie?
• saag paneer
• [660] rajma with turnips
• turnip and sweet potato gratin
• salad with cold noodles, ginger-sesame sauce

fall box 2

From CSA 2k8

• pumpkin
• baby white beets (mostly for their delicious greens)
• heirloom celery
• radishes
• red bok choi
• more fucking collard greens
• apples
• red lettuce
• onion
• (three sisters) green garlic
• (smits) mint
• thyme
• eggies
• apples
• sweet potatoes

last week (fall csa 1)

From CSA 2k8

• carrots
• collard greens
• cabbage
• apples
• mesclun
• brussels sprouts
• eggs
• daikons
• parsley root
• turnips
• onion
• acorn squash

box

From CSA 2k8

• lots of peppers!
• celery
• turnips
• broccoli
• apples
• pears
• carrots
• onion
• radishes
• eggs
• mesclun

so we went to the indian grocery store…

• caramel-apple ice cream with toasted oat bits
• kerala-style avocado relish, which I shall call indian guacamole [660]
• braised lamb with turnip greens [660]
• one of two dishes that involve cabbage and plantain, or more brussery (Scott’s vote is for the latter) [660]
• bell peppers with onions, potatoes, and mustard seeds [660]
• collard greens in moong palak [660]
• methi roti for the freezer

lots to do

we used half the pumpkin for pumpkin flan, we devoured the delicious beans, and the beef went in the delicious chichilo negro mentioned below. That leaves a lot of vegetable though. Here are some ideas.

• [660] coconut-smothered pigeon peas with pumpkin, arrachay uttu sambhar
• broiled eggplant with polenta
• eggplant confit, or maybe a lasagne? Hm.
• [660] nutty-tart bell peppers with peanuts, mirchi nu shaak (two peppers still get chopped up for the freezer)
• macaroni and cheese with salami; braised collard greens
• we have lots of beets. ice cream? ravioli? risotto?
• roasted beet and bekana salad
• cabbage, apple, and caraway soup

csa week 20

From CSA 2k8

• pumpkin (not in box)
• onion
• [three sisters] black beans
• garlic
• onions
• 2 eggplants
• concord grapes
• red cabbage
• turnips
• collard greens
• green peppers
• bekana
• carrots
• 2 acorn squashes
• beef

diana kennedy on avocado leaves

The dried leaves are quickly toasted over a bare flame — they send off a wonderful fragrance. If you don’t have any available, you can always prevail upon friends who do in other parts of the country to send them, as they will keep for several months dried.

patatas a la riojana

my very favorite potato chorizo soup, recipe given before (in 2005) probably made once every month or two… now has a picture.

chichilo negro

While paging independently at different times through Kennedy’s Art, Alex, Nick, and Sebastian – at least in my memory – all noted with interest this recipe for Oaxacan Black Beef Stew.

Chichilo negro is a dramatic stew of meat an vegetables in a fragrant and complex black sauce, redolent of black chiles and toasted avocado leaves. It is one of the more important of the Seven Moles of Oaxaca and prepared in the villages of the Central Valley on festive occasions instead of the much heavier black Oaxacan mole. In the past it was always made with the black, bulbous, thin-skinned chilhuacle negro, which in recent years have become scarcer and very expensive, so chiles guajillos, charred black, are now often used.

This is Mexican food at its most exotic!

Chichilo is best served in shallow bowls—meat, vegetables, and plenty of sauce, with the final touch (as if that were necessary) of rajas con limon (page 359). Some black beans cooked de olla (page 179) and corn tortillas accompany this dish, whichis not, surprisingly, very picante.

The Meat

• 1½ pounds beef ribs or brisket, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 small head of garlic, scored around the middle
• 1 medium white onion, roughly sliced
• sea salt to taste
• 1 pound boneless stewing pork, cut into 2-inch pieces

The Vegetables

• 1 large chayote (about ¾ pound), peeled and cut into strips with core and seed
• 6 ounces green beans, trimmed and cut into halves
• 1 chile pasilla de Mexico
• 18 chiles chilhuacles negros or guajillos
• 3 medium (about ½ lb) tomatoes
• 3 large (about ¼ lb) tomate verde/tomatillo, approximately
• 12 small garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 1 medium white onion, quartered
• the seeds from the chiles
• 2 dried corn tortillas
• 1 scant tablespoon dried oregano, Oaxacan if possible
• 2 whole cloves
• 3 whole allspice
• ¼ teaspoon dried marjoram
• ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
• pinch of cumin seed
• 3 tablespoons lard
• ½ pound prepared corn tortilla masa (page 8)
• 8 fresh or dried avocado leaves
• sea salt to taste

Aside: the Chayote (Sechium edule)

I’ve never cooked one of these before, so I'm excited for it. I bought a big spiky one, you know, just to make life more interesting.

The chayote, sometimes called a vegetable pear, is indegenous to Mexico and has been cultivated by the Indians for centuries; they gave it a Nahuatl name, chayutli.

Several varieties are grown in Mexico: small cream-colored ones, dark and light green ones with porcupinelike prickles, and then the light green, smoother variety, puckered at both ends, that is found in most Latin American markets in the US.

Only when the last variety is very tender and freshly picked can the skin be eaten; otherwise it should be discarded. But the seed, or flat almond, inside is a delicacy.

The chayote is a perennial climbing plant that grows profusely over the tall trees in my orchard, but it can be trained over a wire frame or cama when grown commercially. The tuberous root is edible and delicious, but it should be left to experts to dig it up without disturbing the reproductive part of the root system on which the following year's growth depends. The root, called camote de chayote, chinchayote, or chintestle, depending on the region, is boiled and eaten by itself or made into fritters and has a pleasant, earthy taste rather like that of the Jerusalem artichoke (Kennedy, p.147).

yum,details

• monday: brussery, methi lobhia, radishes+greens, besan roti, ice cream
• tuesday: potato-chorizo soup, bread
• wednesday: halibut with nick and sebastian in stl
• thursday: rajma, delicious kohlrabi

yum

• [660] sweet potato and plaintain in fresh and roasted coconut sauce, brussery
• [660] radishes and greens with ginger and garlic
• delicious kohlrabi
• patatas a la riojana made with volpi chorizo; no-knead bread (the real thing, not Bittman’s latest ‘fast’ version)
• [chez n&s] roasted halibut with grapefruit fennel salsa
• coconut saffron ice cream
• roasted tofu and broccoli, maybe a squash, with brown rice and prepared mole rojo

a box of fall

From CSA 2k8

• kohlrabi
• parlsey root (not a parsnip!)
• concord grapes
• apples
• red onion
• beets
• sweet potatoes
• red peppers
• green peppers

sweet.

Next year should be very exciting for those of us who study the ECJ: 13 appointments!

another jerk chicken place to try

View Larger Map D’s Irie Kitchen. calls itself the best in chicago.

indian jewish pastries

this is so for Scott: golden pastry half-moons filled with coconut, pistachio nuts and raisins, and scented with cardamom and nutmeg.

omelet pan

I was recently frustrated by excessive stickiness and uneven heating of a cheap (part of some dumb set) omelet pan, and managed to score a replacement, a calphalon commercial nonstick one at tj maxx for $30. I haven’t made any eggs on it yet, but my same predicament was had by the excellent food scientist Harold McGee, except he had the funds to experiment.

Linux-Based E-Voting In Brazil

from /. … what I don’t get is why even the netherlands goes to the crazy step of banning electronic voting instead of requiring an open-source device. It seems like “cheap” for Brazil required a free OS, a nice market-based approach for a giant developing country.

a wine to remember

The Vesevo 2004 Aglianico Beneventano is a dark ruby purple and offers a complex nose of black cherry, spice and cassis aromas. On the palate it exhibits rich extracted black fruit flavors, with smoke, leather, and mushrooms notes. Aged in barrique for six months, the big and seductive beauty has all the assets of a superb wine with great balance and ripe gripping tannins. A terrific wine at a great price.

I had the 2005 on a recommandation at the Wine Merchant in St Louis (we walked around the store looking at the $10–15 range and he hit all my usual favorites like Luzón and Juan Gil from Spain and NQN from Argentina). Perhaps more leather than mushroom but definitely my kind of earthiness and still a lot of concentrated fruit. I had it with beet ravioli, which played nicely off the earthy qualities. The first sip is a big burst of Italian-ness. I’ll be finishing it tomorrow at lunch with my favorite tuscan beans and tomatoes.

• beet ravioli
• some dal with kala chana, and south indian cabbage poriyal
• red pepper risotto
• beans&tomatoes for lunch

varieties of capitalism

a naming exercise

two bits on trains

amtrak authorization; metaphor for candidates. According to Wikipedia, “During the Shinkansen's 44-year, nearly 7 billion passenger history, there have been no passenger fatalities due to derailments or collisions (including earthquakes and typhoons).”

fall

From CSA 2k8

• two enormous red bell peppers (risotto!)
• parsnips (not in box, but I am really craving this)
• spaghetti squash (Scott: “The texture is more like rice noodles or bean thread noodles than spaghetti…”)
• celery root
• cabbage
• sweet potatoes (not in box)
• [Nichols] garlic
• pears
• tomatoes (not in box)
• onions
• $1 of river valley mushrooms
• radishes

What, no RR?

I am surprised Republican politicians here don’t just rename themselves “Ronald Reagan.” In Brazil, no fewer than six have changed their names to Barack Obama.

closeness of presidential elections

via /.

csa week 17

From CSA 2k8

• beets with greens
• delicata (“sweet potato”) squash
• butternut squashes
• another eggplant
• red peppers
• apples
• carrots
• cranberry beans

• pasta tossed with roasted squash and volpi salame
• baba ganoush for the freezer (?)
• beet greens instead of spinach with some indian potato thing from 660
• pad kee mao carrot and red pepper and tofu

paris honey

miel à paris via lebovitz

fake chocolate

Hershey has taken the next step in the process, replacing the cocoa butter in some of its chocolate with far less expensive vegetable oil. Of course, they can no longer call it chocolate or even milk chocolate, but they can call it "chocolate candy," or "chocolatey," or the even more obtuse and deliberately misleading: "made with chocolate."

wine

Here are Eric Asimov’s French treasures under $20, listed alphabetically.

tom kha

tom kha Originally uploaded by gay.goy.gourmet

So I thought I would make a bunch of corn chowder to put away in the freezer, and managed instead to improvise a tom kha soup full of corn and other vegetables, that is just as good as the puréed version I set out to make.

• 1 shallot
• 3 scallions, green tops and white stalks chopped separately
• lots of ginger
• 2–3 cloves garlic
• a stalk or two of lemongrass
• 4 ears of corn
• 2 roma tomatoes
• handful of mushrooms
• 3 small potatoes
• 1 jalapeño, sliced
• about 5 cups of chicken stock
• coconut milk (I used a small can, but a large one would be fine)

Cut the corn from the cob and simmer the cobs in chicken stock with lemongrass. Meanwhile, sauté the shallot, white part of scallions, ginger, garlic until soft. Add the scallion and mushroom and sweat until soft and gooey. Add potatoes, jalapeño, and tomato and some salt. Strain the corn-lemongrass chicken stock and simmer until potatoes are soft. Add the corn and coconut milk, and warm through. Serve with lime juice and fish sauce.

rainy day, but market anyway

From CSA 2k8

• cabbage
• lots of green onions
• spinach
• green beans
• carrots ($3 from vicki / not in the box)
• assorted heirloom tomatoes
• garlics (5/$2 from nichols)
• red pepper
• baby lettuce
• apples
• corn

• more mouhamara (we didn’t get enough when we made it for our party!)
• thai corn chowder for the freezer
• green beans to blanch and freeze
• apple turnovers / tarts?
• something indian with chicken
• salad with carrots
• omelet this morning of bacon, mushrooms, spinach, oregano, and parsley
• tomato preserves?

party food & drink recap

• thai corn chowder (lemongrass, ginger, coconut milk)
• watermelon gazpacho
• mouhamara
• 3 salsas: the smoky Oaxacan one I always make, a tomato one with a grilled jalapeño, and the not-spicy green one
• pita, lavash, tortilla chips
• chocolate N2O mousse
• crêpes rolled up with nutella, apricot preserves, or delicious mora-café jelly from Colombia

• bacon old fashioned
• subcontinental (9 large cucumbers → 1.75L of juice)
• kalamansi mint cooler (vodka, limoncello, mint, fresh lime juice, kalamansi soda)
• pomegranate martini
• unnamed sungold + jalapeño tequila drink (a huge improvement on the sungold zinger)
• dark and stormy – cachaça, ginger-lemongrass syrup, ginger ale, dark rum, mint

to make: an italian week, it seems

• sicilian bucatini with cauliflower, raisins, and pine nuts
• cianfotta (chez n&s)
• ragù alla bolognese

two boxes, one picture :(

Somehow I managed to delete the picture of this week’s box. But, I do have last week’s. I have given up on timeliness. Next week, more chicken!

From CSA 2k8

• cauliflower
• yellow beans
• bell peppers
• lots of cucumbers
• red onion
• assorted tomatoes
• cabbage sprouts
• peaches
• Watermelon ( a small Sugar Doll)
• Sweet corn
• Eggplant
• Spaghetti squash
• Peaches
• Tomatoes
• Jalapenos
• Beets
• Cucumber

boston food today

lunch @ orinoco, ice cream @ toscanini’s, dinner @ red fez

Arieff is Awesome

Allison Arieff writes,

If you live in a subdivision, condominium or co-op, it’s more than likely you’re part of a homeowners association (HOA). Used to be HOA focused on rather straightforward issues, like maintenance and repairs or landscaping of common areas. But they’ve expanded significantly since the mid-’60s and not necessarily for the good. … Some 54 percent [of homeowners surveyed] said they’d rather live with a “sloppy neighbor” than deal with an HOA.

Count me among the majority. I once suggested in a social setting to Ryan, then just an aspirant to the esteemed title of condo association president that he now holds, that I and most people probably thought this way. I cited some of the absurd restrictions of Scott’s parents’ so-called community. Ryan seemed to view the association as a purely benign entity – countering that most if not all restrictions were “necessary” for “property values.” The problem is that people like him dominate the boards and people like me can’t tolerate the meetings they chair without wanting to blurt out (without Recognition from the Chair, of course), “you've got to be fucking kidding.”

VeryGoodTaste Omnivore’s Hundred

Seems like fun. Via Josh. The linked page has wikipedia links to many of the items.

• Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
• Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
• Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
• Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses (cheese)
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal (next time in nyc?)
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin (probably in toothpaste)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian (only the frozen kind in the US)
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

new prints

avant de partir

Objective: to use up 100% of last week's box and start in on this week’s on Wednesday before going to Boston Thurs–Sun.

• challah
• collards and bacon
• salad
• cantaloupe basil sorbet
• jalapeño → tequila
• eat the rest of the peaches (bake / mini cobbler?)

tango sur wines

That doesn't mean that you should never spend more than $20 on a bottle of wine. One of the reasons to be budget-conscious most days is precisely so that you can afford to splurge every now and then on a wine that you absolutely love, even if it carries a relatively hefty price tag.

Veneration: August Lunch

In general, I am bad a ranking things, especially in the upper tail of their distributions. This is an exception. It is the essence of summer, made with strictly fresh ingredients at the peak of their seasons, and deeply, deeply satisfying. I submit that there could not possibly be any better midday meal than this tuscan-style bean and tomato stew served with red wine and good crusty bread.

There are a few rules to assert from the outset. First, this dish is to be served with red wine and crusty bread. No spoons, no soggy bread, no white wine, nor any other beverage. Second, I love bean and tomato stew even when it is made in the winter with dried or canned beans and canned tomatoes; however, that is simply bean and tomato stew. This is August stew and will allow no substitutions of these ingredients: fresh beans, fresh heirloom tomatoes, fresh garlic, and fresh herbs. By heirloom tomatoes I mean you either grew them yourself, or you talked to the farmer who did. Choose a variety like these Black Cherokees or even more acidic Green Zebras. Yellow tomatoes are generally low in acid, and I think a bad choice for this dish. Some of the marbley looking yellow-red ones are beautiful on the plate or in a salad, and should be saved for those uses. The herbs can be anything you have or grow or find. I've focused on basil today, but rosemary and thyme and sage and parsley are all good. I especially like sage in the winter version of the dish. Late August is also when the first juicy heads of mature garlic are coming to market. Common rubbery grocery-store stuff is not appropriate for this dish. Good crusty bread comes from an artisan bakery or your oven, ferments and rises for many hours, and contains no fat, only yeast, flour, water, and salt.

For two lunch servings, I used about half to three-quarters of a pound of beans, a pound of tomato (two large ones), four cloves of fresh garlic, chopped as large or as small as you like, and a quarter cup of olive oil. The quantities are flexible; if you like garlic, by all means add more.

Start by heating olive oil gently in a heavy pot; chop the garlic and add it. An enameled cast-iron pot heats slowly but retains heat well. I start with a cold pan over medium heat and that seems to work perfectly for the quantities and timings discussed here.

While it continues to heat, large-dice the tomatoes.

When the garlic is barely golden at the edges – that is, the same color at which you would add the shrimp in gambas al ajillo – add the tomatoes.

Shell the beans, and by the time you’re done,

the tomatoes will have broken down.

Add the beans, adjust the heat as you see fit, cover or don't cover, stir, and then walk away. I took a shower, because I started right after having gone running. Twenty minutes or so later, the beans will be soft, and it's time to add some salt and pepper and any of the tougher herbs like sage or rosemary, stir, and stew ten minutes more.

Finally, I added some basil cut in chiffonade (without any finger this year), though most of the basil I reserved to top the finished stew with. Finish with a sliced cherry tomato or diced fresh tomato, more basil, a drizzle of good olive oil, and some salt and pepper.

Eat. I like to start with the crustiest part of the bread. Any crumbs fall in, making it thicker; at the end, use the soft inside bread to mop up the bowl. If you run out of bread, get more. Do not use a spoon.

summer csa week 12

• tomatoes (and cherry and sungold, hiding)
• corn
• cucumber
• collards
• cantaloupe
• [seedling] peaches
• potatoes
• leeks!
• green peppers
• celery

apsrtable package!

So I finally wrote documentation for apsrtable() and have submitted the package to CRAN.

Watermelon Alert!

This week's box resulted in probably the heaviest and fullest my bag has ever been.

Subject: Watermelon alert
Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2008

For those of you who ride bikes, walk, take the bus, etc., 
please note that if all goes as planned I will be delivering 
watermlons this week in addition to your regular boxes. They
do make a heavier load so please plan accordingly.  

--
Thanks, Vicki 

Nice of her to warn us! But the rest was insane! In addition to the watermelon – none sold, only for CSAers – there was a massive eggplant and a cauliflower and apples. See below.

• watermelon
• eggplant
• arugula
• cauliflower
• two things of cherry tomatoes
• onion
• kinnikinnick green zebra tomato and garlic
• cucumber
  
• hungarian peppers (lecsó!)
• granny smith (or similar) tart green apples
• giant bunch of green onions
• and, of course, eggs.
  

things to make

• thai red curry chicken [need okra]
• cucumber salad
• fajitas with yellow squash
• more empanadas with greenbeans and cabbage (ack! no picture from before!)
• cantaloupe-basil sorbet
• white chocolate mousse with blueberries
• braised collard & beet greens with bacon, roasted beets

I love summer

• blueberries
• cucumbers
• squash
• green peppers
• collard greens
• beets
• corn
• mesclun
• mini onions

last week (argh! must get back on schedule!)

• [tomato mountain] tomatoes]
• [river valley] mushrooms
• zucchini
• cucumber
• apricots
• vicki tomatoes
• fennel
• [smits] basil
• big red cabbage
• cantaloupe
• jalapeños
• yellow beans

pure awesome

Bacon alarm clock

Summer CSA Week 8

Yikes. Week 8.

• another “not for storage” onion and its top
• 4 ears of fresh sweet corn
• 2 zucchini
• cucumber
• green bell peppers
• green beans
• kale
• (Hillside orchard) apricots
• peaches
• tomato mountain beefsteak and juliet tomatoes (these guys grow basically two things: tomatoes, and garlic.)

last week's box

I was remiss last week because we were busy dealing with Scott’s parents visiting – so here is last week’s box + other stuff from the market on Wednesday…

• peaches & apricots (I forget which farm)
• blueberries
• mizuna
• beets!
• onion “not for storage”
• cucumber
• collard greens
• daikon
• red bok choi
• (Smits) cherry tomatoes
• (Smits) cilantro
• basil
• (Iron Creek) tomatoes

to make

• corn pudding with basil; to go with broiled or poached fish and some thai-like sauce
• last week’s bok choy, with tofu
• green pepper, summer squash, and mushroom fajitas
• moong dal with zucchini; methi roti
• prik khing with crispy ground pork; cucumber and tomato salad

Last week's box, and now preparing for scott's parents.

I zipped up to the market last Wednesday morning at 7 before heading off to the Political Methodology summer meeting on the 8:30 train, but we did manage to take a picture and I didn't get around to posting it before.

• orange and white carrots
• [smits herbs] basil
• chives
• scallions
• [smits herbs] fennel
• squashes
• cherries
• potatoes
• eggs (I usually don't include them since we get them every week)
• [klug] apricots
• and the bag at the left is two chickens (about 3.5lb each)!

• We made an awesome salad Tim and Steve’s last night: baby lettuce, arugula, spinach, fennel, basil, parsley, chives, fresh and dried apricots, dried cranberries, and pine nuts, with pomegranate molasses and orange olive oil vinaigrette
• Some basil and scallion and a nectarine also went on some broiled chicken with trader joe’s red thai sauce. Also very tasty but we filled up on bread and cheese and salad.
• The squashes will become something Indian most likely. We also went up to Patel Brothers on Devon yesterday and got just about everything we wanted (many pounds of dal, nigella seeds, etc.)
• The cherries and apricots were gone toute de suite.
• One of the chickens will be used in a dish from 660 Curries: kori gassi, “Mangalorean chicken curry with tamarind and coconut milk,” of which Iyer writes,

  Thick, coconut milk-based curries from Mangalore, in southwestern India are called gassis. They are made tart with tamarind and are spiced with roasted assertive spices like chiles, fenugreek, and peppercorns. This classic curry incorporates pourltry, but fish and other meats are also fair game. Two forms of coconut, one as shreds, the other as milk, surprisingly do not overpower the curry, so any of you coconut-phobes out there, go ahead and indulge in this. Mound it over red or white rice.

  Among its ingredients: coriander, white poppy seeds, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, 4–6 thai dried chiles, tamarind paste.
• Among other curries to make soon that now we are prepared for is gujurati-style black and yellow chickpeas, and black chickpeas (kala chana) with coconut-chile sauce. His head notes for the latter are also excellent:

  A robust legume like this one needs assertive spices, and I usually find myself looking to the south (india, that is) for its dried red chiles, coconut, and coriander seeds. Serve this with the other southern (USA, that is) delicacy: warm, jalapeño-kissed corn bread. You’ll rethink your traditional chili–cornbread strategy for dinner.

• Scott’s mother has requested that I make a “spaghetti and meat sauce” for them / with her. I really like my bolognese (informed by the likes of Marcella Hazan and Mario Batali, but bending obviously to what is on hand; improvisation is a must). Somehow I don’t think they’re anticipating a sauce of 4–5 meats (ground beef, pork, veal, prosciutto ends, pancetta), a bottle of wine, and finsihed with cream.
• One of the things I was excited to get at Zingerman’s last week in Ann Arbor that I have not been able to find (admittedly I could look harder) was La Quercia (Iowa) guanciale. I will not be sharing any of this dish with Scott’s parents. Scott indeed is lucky to get any, especially because along the lines of “brown sauce” and “scallop vegetables” guanciale for him is “special pancetta.” Kind of like Batali saying prosciutto bianco for Americans when serving them lardo.

apsrTable

I have needed to do this for a very long time: apsrtable is now completely rewritten. It is temporarily called apsrTable to avoid much confusion with the old one, does things that the old one didn't, and is on its way to being more extensible. It handles lm and glm objects for now. Documentation and formal packaging I will wrap up in the next week.

Its latex code is now much readable, still uses dcolumn, still handles user-supplied standard errors, and it adds a host of features like omitting some rows of like controls, and model naming is flexible. Most importantly it matches variable names across models and leaves holes where they belong. Here's a snippet of sample output:
apsrTable(m1,m2,m3,omitcoef=4:17,lev=.1,align="c",model.counter=6,se="robust")

%Latex table generated by Mike Malecki's apsrTable()
%Uncomment the following line and the end one to change figure versions
%if you are using a full-featured family such as Minion Pro.
\figureversion{tabular}
\begin{tabular}{cD{.}{.}{-1}D{.}{.}{-1}D{.}{.}{-1}}\hline
 & \multicolumn{1}{c}{Model 6} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{Model 7} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{Model 8}\\ 
%                   & Model 6  & Model 7  & Model 8 \\ 
(Intercept)         & 71.95    & 35.95    & 38.83   \\ 
                    & (44.44)  & (38.63)  & (45.81) \\ 
maj.parl            & -2.03    & -4.81    & -0.86   \\ 
                    & (3.38)   & (3.52)   & (3.98)  \\ 
maj.pres            & -10.50   & -14.45 * &         \\ 
                    & (6.32)   & (5.42)   &         \\ 
lrCentered          & -1.26    &          & 3.71    \\ 
                    & (5.07)   &          & (5.52)  \\ 
pro.pres:lrCentered & -3.59    &          & -6.27   \\ 
                    & (6.61)   &          & (6.34)  \\ 
maj.parl:lrCentered & -4.46    &          & -8.52   \\ 
                    & (5.78)   &          & (6.73)  \\ 
pro.pres            &          & -8.81 *  & -3.36   \\ 
                    &          & (4.99)   & (5.46)  \\ 
N                   & 46       & 46       & 46      \\ 
$R^2$               & 0.82     &          & 0.81    \\ 
adj. $R^2$          & 0.70     &          & 0.67    \\ 
AIC                 &          & 310.38   &         \\ 
BIC                 &          & 434.72   &         \\ 
$\log L$           &          & -87.19   &         \\\hline
\multicolumn{ 4 }{l}{ Robust standard errors in parentheses} \\
\end{tabular}

\figureversion{proportional}

bikes v cars

from will wilkinson:

For example, I ride home almost every day the wrong way up a one way street, and nobody coming the other way gives a damn. Why should they? I honestly don’t give a fig about my carbon footprint (and anyway, since I’m not a breeder, I really should get carbon carte blanche).

It’s like the August 2001 PDB

I can just hear the cries of, “no one could have predicted this!” American car companies are just bloody stupid. I will give some credit to GM, though its effort with the Chevrolet Volt is probably too little too late for it. It spent most of the past decade making Hummers.

The seismic shift by consumers to small cars from large vehicles has blindsided virtually every automaker. Only Honda Motor, where sales rose 1 percent in June, appears to have been prepared. The Japanese automaker’s Fit subcompact nearly doubled its sales during the month, and its Civic sedan set a June record.

By contrast, Toyota executives said they could not meet demand for its Prius hybrid-electric car or its small, fuel-efficient Corolla and Yaris models.

lists

indian store

• kala chana (black chickpeas)
• toovar (pigeon peas), whole and split
• rajma
• lobhia (black eyed peas) – curiously absent from both jewel and wholefoods!
• urad (black lentil)
• mung
• besan (chickpea flour)
• prepared kala masala?
• methi, fresh and frozen
• kokum if possible
• tamarind paste

thai|viet store

• coconut milk
• lotus root
• red curry paste
• lemongrass
• chilis!

chinese store (one with japanese stuff)

• sesame oil
• furikake!
• sushi nori
• mirin

interrupted week

We are going down to St Louis this weekend, so I can do some stuff before the methods meeting next week, and for Sebastian’s birthday and party. This affects food planning in two ways: we might bring one or two things down with us (in addition to the beautiful berries purchased for a sauce to go with his cake), and other stuff it would be nice to make a lot and freeze for next week. The box this week is extremely green and leafy, making that task a little trickier.

• massive nappa cabbage
• a giant kohlrabi
• bekana
• lettuce
• spinach
• arugula
• cherries and raspberries from a MI farm whose name I forget
• black raspberries from Klug

• calzones with spinach and ricotta
• macaroni and cheese with chorizo
• collard greens with bacon
• bekana and some nappa stir fried somehow, perhaps with noodles, and oysterbrown sauce
• lettuce salad with trader joes flax pasta, egg (for me), maybe lentil patties
• thai salad with nappa (much fish sauce, basil, cilantro, lime, toasted rice, maybe chicken or beef)
• swordfish with arugula and basil sauce

Frustrating

OK, custom type is cool. But the NYT’s presentation of the alternative – widely available commercial type – is incredibly irritating. There are two headlines to the article, one the real version and one in the web page title:

Down With Helvetica: Design Your Own Font

When Comic Sans Isn’t Enough

<rant>First, Helvetica is beautiful. Up with Helvetica, damnit! Yes, it is probably overused, but it is more than iconic – it’s the type foundation of innumerable icons, from the NYC Subway (and Chicago CTA, tracked tight and often lovingly kerned) to Panasonic, 3M, and even Microsoft.

Second, shouldn’t that be “Down with Times New Roman” (the default for the millions of Word users out there, and ugly whenever it’s larger than the 8- or 10-point size it was designed for) or “Down with Fucking Arial,” Microsoft’s incredibly skeezy (and ugly!) ploy to avoid licensing the real thing?

Third, on the web title: comic sans enough for what? Signaling to your readers that you’re a completely unsophisticated moron? Look no further than comic sans!

</rant>

in case i ever deal with the echr

This comprehensive overview in the making compiles the leading cases per Convention article - useful and extremely handy for both academics and practioners (and an authoritative addition to existing books which provide similar overviews). Thusfar Articles 6(1), 8, 34, 35 en Article 1 of the first Protocol have been made available online.

week 4

• collard greens
• chidori red kale
• radishes
• lettuce
• mesclun
• two kohlrabis
• crimson salad turnips
• sugar snap peas

what to make

• strawberry gelato
• somtam-like thai salad with cabbage, tomatoes, dried shrimps
• braised radishes
• kale & radish greens some kind of curry
• mooli parathas
• asaparagus beef
• more salad
• candied bacon ice cream

week 3

• daikon
• baby lettuce
• savoy cabbage
• french breakfast radishes
• asparagus
• strawberries
• Iron Creek black cherokee tomatoes
• Mick Klug shelled peas

painting on scott :)

Chicago World Naked Bike Ride 2008
Originally uploaded by shadows of hyperion

how do you say “early summer” in saladian?

Early Summer Salad
Originally uploaded by gay.goy.gourmet

Pleasantly surprised

The post office apparently ripped the cover of a New Yorker. But then they taped it back together and stuck it in an apologetic bag!

Summer CSA Week 2

We were down in St Louis on Wednesday last week so we got our box on Saturday. The previous week witnessed some pretty awful flooding in Illinois and the farm was, in Vicki's words, in a state of emergency so we'll probably have two or so weeks of pretty lean boxes. She sent two pictures of the situation.

Nevertheless we got a box this week, and still had asparagus from last week. I also picked up some strawberries from Vicki and some shelled peas (one of my favorite things in the world) from Mick Klug.

Note: Many posts and recipes for a while at least will be tagged with a “660” indicating that they come from the new book 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer. I was even more tickled to learn he was gay and has a kid. He writes in the preface, “My partner sowed the idea for a curry book, ‘a big one,’ he said, ‘nothing like any before.’”

I have already dubbed this summer the Summer of Indian Cookery for us, just as last year unofficially was the Summer of Mexican Food. That is not to say we will forgo the temptations of fresh masa nor luscious manteca, only that we are exploring another rich and exciting culinary tradition.

• spinach
• kale
• two lettuces
• baby lettuce
• french breakfast radishes
• green onions

• green curry with peas and asparagus, sticky rice
• patli dal (yellow split peas and spinach in yogurt-peanut sauce) 660
• kala chana masala with cornbread 660
• scallion pancakes
• green garlic chole hummus
• big delicious salad
• rigatoni with lentils and simple canned tomato sauce

echr separate opinions

The possibility to write and attach separate opinions to the Court’s judgments must undoubtedly be one of the more attractive aspects for the judges in Strasbourg – an aspect which may make their ECJ colleagues somewhat envious, for that matter! But possibly even bigger is their appeal to observers of the Court’s work. Often the opinions, whether concurring or dissenting, offer insights in core discussion points in a judgment. Also, they may give clues about developments in the Court’s position.

Summer CSA Week 1

• turnips with greens
• radishes
• a giant lettuce
• bok choy
• amazing mesclun
• lots of asparagus
• green onions
• (green acres) strawberries

• saag gonglu with quick rising fennel seed butter naan
• salad with strawberries, spring onions, balsamic
• braised radishes
• more asparagus and tofu thai curry
• steamed bok choy with oyster sauce

decadence with hedonism sauce

decadence with hedonism sauce
Originally uploaded by gay.goy.gourmet

Yesterday I made pasta for the menu below, and had left over the ragged ends, the maltagliati or badly cut bits.

When I went to the Federal Plaza market this morning to get mushrooms to stuff with bacon and garlic (also see below), the mushroom people had morels of all things, for $60 a pound. I asked for $5 worth and promised that I wouldn't share them with anyone.

So, lunch today is pasta fresca maltagliata, with morels sautéed in butter, tossed with an egg and topped with a flurry of parmigiano. And a glass of wine, naturally.

once every few months

I encounter a shirt that, if I did not buy it, would make me a bad me.