“We see that the theory of probability is at bottom only common sense reduced to calculation; it makes us appreciate with exactitude what reasonable minds feel by a sort of instinct, often without being able to account for it…The most important questions of life are, for the most part, really only problems of probability.”
-Pierre Simon, Marquis de Laplace
Here is a roundup of my recent vacation in Phoenix. It was a pretty impressive city, although I couldn’t tell why. Honestly, there wasn’t a central financial or business district, nor did I see any significant industries. There were a bunch of strip malls and ghost towns, and apparently the inhabitants can make that work.
Still, Phoenix was a great outdoor city. The landscape looks incredible with its giant canyons and arid red rock. It’s also a very relaxing place and I would recommend it for a long weekend.
Here are my pros and cons from my trip there:
+ Mexican food. If you like enchiladas and burritos, you will love the food in Arizona. The benefit is that your food budget for a Phoenix trip can be quite low and you can still eat like a king.
+ Sun. The climate is warm and dry, every building in Arizona is air conditioned, and there are tons of pools and water sports. All of this adds up to a fun outdoorsy vacation, which can either be active on jet skis or relaxing in the pool.
+ Cacti. I loved the cacti and their arms sticking out. It adds a lot of character to the state.
+ Landscape. Arizona is a beautiful state and there’s a good boundary between the city and the surrounding area. There’s nothing better than hitting the road with huge rock formations in the distance.
- Radio DJs. Phoenix has some of the most incompetent DJs ever. I listened to one interviewing an eight year old boy about his first day at school and it was every bit as bad as you would expect. All of the music seems stuck in the early 1990s.
- Diversity. In the four days that I was in Phoenix, I could count on one hand the number of non-white people that I saw. While there’s nothing wrong with white people, you would expect to see a lot of Latinos in Arizona and it just isn’t so. It felt a little uncomfortable when compared to the mass diversity of San Francisco. Phoenix is the fifth largest city in the US.
- Fast food. On the flip side of all the Mexican food, there isn’t much to eat in Phoenix if you want to eat something that takes more than two minutes to prepare. In conjunction with the lack of diversity, all but one of the Asian restaurants that I saw in Phoenix was called “Super Buffet”.
+- Slow pace. People in Phoenix don’t seem to be in any particular hurry to get wherever they’re going. Traffic consistently flowed 5 mph below the speed limit, a contrast to my style of speeding 20 mph faster. While it was refreshing to not share the road with pushy idiots and super aggressive drivers, I was pretty outraged most of the time that traffic was so slow.
One of my favorite catchphrases ever:
油断せずに行こう
(Don’t let your guard down)
And a bonus motivational quote:
お前の覚悟はそんなものか
(Is your conviction only this much?)
-Tezuka Kunimitsu
During the first period of a man’s life the greatest danger is: not to take the risk. When once the risk has really been taken, then the greatest danger is to risk too much.
-Soren Kierkegaard
The Greatest Happiness is to scatter your enemy and drive him before you. To see his cities reduced to ashes. To see those who love him shrouded and in tears. And to gather to your bosom his wives and daughters.
-Genghis Khan
I really liked the Gym Douchebag test that I had in my last post, so today I will tell you how to identify a Facebook ‘bag. I’ve become very angry about the pollution on my news feed page.
If you have to tell people what you’re doing on Facebook, chances are nobody cares about you enough in real life to ask you. I was just too nice to ignore your friend request for the fourth time, but now I wish I could unfriend you.
With that, here are your quick steps to identifying a douche:
-status is updated more than three times per week
-changes their status to a complaint or non-problem
-bonus points for being tired, sore, busy, or hurt
-a guy comments on every girl’s hot pictures (I freaking hate this guy because he has ruined drunken slutty pictures for us all)
-has more than five favorites - twenty interests just means you have zero interests
-tries to make themselves seem cool with douche events like trips to Europe, extreme sports, or proclamations that they have fun (rule of thumb: if nobody wants to hear about it in real life, nobody wants to read about it on Facebook)
-Americans who write crap in a foreign language, especially a romanized version of it
-uses “woot”
It’s time to plan out another Family Dinner. Since the last one cost me quite a lot, I’m going to have to make the next few dinners significantly smaller and cheaper than normal. It will be a relief to only cook for 4-5 people, because cooking for 8-10 people is really straining for a simple amateur like myself. I want to concentrate and really sharpen my cooking technique, making the dinners smaller but more exquisite.
Anyways, the tiny theme has a tiny bird in mind, the cornish game hen. It will be somewhat difficult because I’ve never cooked nor eaten a cornish game hen, but tasting “good” is really all that matters. At least I’m working off the success of my pot-roasted chicken, which was a huge success.
Pot-Roasted Cornish Game Hens With Porcini Mushroom Cream Sauce
Yields: 4 servings
1/2 cup olive oil
4 Cornish game hens, innards removed, wing tips trimmed and reserved, and trussed
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 celery ribs, coarsely chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled
2 or 3 thyme sprigs
3 cups dry white wine
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound fresh porcini mushrooms, wiped clean and sliced 1/2 inch thick
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
• Heat 1/3 cup of the oil in a French oven or other ovenproof casserole with a tight-fitting lid that is large enough to hold the hens with a little room between them over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Place two of the hens in the casserole and brown them on all sides, turning them with tongs but being careful to not tear the skin, about 8 minutes total. Transfer the browned hens to a large plate. Repeat with the other two hens.
• Discard all but 2 tablespoons of the oil from the casserole and add the onions, celery, garlic, thyme and reserved wing tips. Sauté the vegetables and wing tips for about 5 minutes, or until the vegetables have softened and are beginning to color. Add the wine, increase heat to high, and reduce the liquid to 11/2 cups, about 15 minutes. Add the chicken stock and hens and cover the casserole.
• Place in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.
• Uncover the casserole dish and increase the oven temperature to 500 degrees. Roast for 15 minutes more, and then check the internal temperature of the hens in the thickest part of the leg with an instant-read thermometer; it should read 155-160 degrees.
• Transfer the hens to a cutting board or platter and let rest for 10 minutes. Strain the liquid in the casserole dish through a fine-mesh sieve into a saucepan. Skim off the fat and add the cream, reduce over high heat until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and about 11/2 cups of liquid remain, 10 to 12 minutes. Cover and set aside.
• While the sauce is reducing, prepare the mushrooms. Working in 2 batches if necessary, heat the remaining olive oil in a large nonstick sauté pan over medium-high heat and sauté the mushrooms until golden brown on both sides and cooked through, 3-4 minutes per batch.
• Add the mushrooms to the sauce and season with salt and pepper. Serve hens on a bed of wild rice, spoon the sauce and mushrooms over the hens and serve immediately.
Endive and Heirloom Pear Salad With Blue Cheese
Yield: 8 cups
The vinaigrette:
1 ½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon full-flavored honey, such as Acacia or wildflower
1 ½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 ½ teaspoons whole grain mustard
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
The salad:
26 Red Flame or other seedless red grapes
1 Warren pear or other heirloom variety
1 medium head fennel
4 Belgian endive heads
5 ounces high-quality blue cheese, crumbled (about 1 ½ cups)
• For the vinaigrette: Whisk the vinegar, honey and mustards together in a medium bowl. Whisk in the olive oil slowly to create an emulsion and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. (Yields about 1/3 cup.)
• For the salad: Using a sharp paring knife, slice the grapes very thinly. Core the pear and then slice very thinly, preferably using a mandoline. Divide the pears, grapes and cheese between four chilled salad plates.
• Trim the fronds and stem end of the fennel bulb and quarter lengthwise. Remove the core. Slice fennel very thinly, preferably using a mandoline. Place fennel into a large mixing bowl.
• Separate the endive into individual leaves by cutting about ½ inch from the bottoms of the endive. Peel as many leaves off as possible and then repeat cutting the bottom to separate more leaves until all leaves are separated. Add endive to fennel. Add the vinaigrette and toss until salad is well coated.
• Place the dressed endive and fennel on top of each plate and serve.
Seared Scallops With Potato-Chive Mousseline
Yield: 6 scallops
For the potato-chive mousseline:
3/4 pound (about 2 medium) Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
Kosher salt
3 tablespoons softened butter
3 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
Salt and freshly ground white pepper
For the scallops:
6 (U-10 or colossal) day boat scallops (21/2 to 3 ounces each); tough muscles removed
Freshly ground white pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon (about 3 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon butter
• To prepare the mousseline: Put the potatoes in a saucepan, cover with cold water and add 2 teaspoons of kosher salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until soft when pierced with a fork, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain the potatoes well, using a fine-mesh sieve. Set the sieve over the saucepan and smash the potatoes with a fork, then press them through the sieve back into the pot with the back of a wooden spoon or spatula.
• Stir in the butter and milk and reheat the potato mixture over low heat. Add the chives, and salt and pepper to taste. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the potatoes, cover the saucepan, and keep in a warm place on the stove (or over a hot water bath) until ready to serve.
• To prepare the scallops: Pat the scallops dry and season with salt and pepper. Pour the oil into a heavy medium skillet and set over high heat until the oil is shimmering. Carefully add the scallops to the hot skillet and sauté until golden brown, about 6 minutes on the first side. Turn the scallops and sear the other side until just cooked through, another 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the scallops and transfer, first seared side up, to a warm plate.
• Remove the skillet from the heat and immediately add the lemon juice and butter to the skillet. Scrape the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon to dissolve any brown bits. Pour the liquid through a fine-mesh strainer into a small bowl.
• To serve: Divide the potato puree between 6 small warm plates, placing the potatoes in a mound in the center of each plate (or use scallop shells if available). Place each scallop in the center of the puree and evenly distribute the caviar on top. Drizzle the lemon sauce around the potato puree.
Peanut-Caramel Sundae With Tapioca
Yield: 6 servings
For the peanut butter ice cream:
1 pint vanilla or peanut-butter ice cream, slightly softened
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter (omit if substituting a favorite store-bought peanut butter ice cream)
For the tapioca:
21/2 cups milk
1/3 cup quick-cooking small tapioca pearls
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the caramel sauce:
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup plus 11/2 tablespoon heavy cream
2 teaspoons sea salt
For the caramel Rice Krispies:
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup Rice Krispies or other crisped rice cereal
• To flavor the ice cream (if using vanilla ice cream): Transfer the vanilla ice cream to a medium mixing bowl, reserving the pint container. Drop spoonfuls of the peanut butter on top and then, working quickly, cut and fold the peanut butter into the ice cream with a spatula. Immediately return the ice cream to its container and freeze until firm enough to scoop.
• To prepare the tapioca: Pour 21/4 cups of the milk into a small saucepan and stir in the tapioca pearls. Set over medium-high heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer the tapioca, stirring constantly, until soft, about 5 minutes. Transfer the pudding to a bowl, stir in the vanilla, and let cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. When the tapioca has cooled, stir in the remaining 1/4 cup of milk to give the pudding a creamy consistency. Refrigerate.
• Prepare the caramel sauce: Pour the corn syrup and sugar into a heavy medium saucepan and stir. Set over medium heat and cook, without stirring, until the mixture turns a medium caramel color, about 8 minutes. (While the syrup is cooking, brush the sides of the pot down with water if you notice crystals forming.) Remove the pan from the heat and carefully add the butter, cream and salt. Avoid splashing yourself with the mixture as it will be very hot and will bubble up. Return the mixture to medium heat and bring to a boil, about 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.
• To prepare the caramel Rice Krispies: Butter a cookie sheet and set aside. Set a cup of ice-cold water by the stove. Pour 3 tablespoons of water into a small saucepan, stir in the sugar and set over medium-high heat until the mixture reaches the soft-ball stage, about 235 degrees to 240 degrees on a candy thermometer, after about 5 minutes. You can also test for the soft-ball stage by dropping a small spoonful of the syrup into the cup of cold water. The syrup should form into a soft pliable ball in the water.
• Add the cereal and, stirring constantly, continue cooking the mixture until the sugar has caramelized and the cereal is thoroughly coated, about 1 minute. Pour the mixture onto the cookie sheet and spread out with a spatula. Let cool completely. When ready to serve, carefully crumble any large chunks into small chunks. Set aside.
• To serve: Pour one tablespoon of the caramel sauce into each of 6 tall glasses. Divide the tapioca pudding between the glasses; top each with 2 small scoops of the peanut butter ice cream. Add another tablespoon of the caramel sauce and top with the crumbled, caramelized cereal. (Store leftover caramel sauce, covered, in the refrigerator.)
Advice is judged by results, not by intentions.
-Cicero
That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly. The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.
-Thomas Paine
Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow - that is patience.
-Leo Tolstoy