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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.