Useless really...
so this post is pretty pointless but realizing that EVERYONE seemed to have gotten the “mensa word awards” forward, it seemed lame for me to have put it up there at all. i’m just a sucker for all things smart though and you have to admit, those were pretty clever. Also, mensa has bad stigma attached to it for me…my father, who I hate, is in mensa so i can’t help but think of him a little whenever I see the word. boo! So this is a post to bump the mensa post of the top of the page.
Bump!
Many people have asked me about the title of my blog.* in high school, this guy andy (a brilliant jazz tenor sax player) made this magnet out of magazine scraps (don’t ask why there was magnet making, some lame fair of some sort going on in the cafeteria). It was a purple triangle with the words “Jazz…in Strange places” on it. it had glitter on it. He wouldn’t give it to me. I said I must own it since it was talking about me. He said he wasn’t talking about me at all, to stop being so egocentric (he can be a real ass), but he had a point. When I was little and would see jasmine tea, jasmine rice, jasmine flowers, jasmine candles…I used to run around and say, “look mom, there’s me tea!” “there’s me rice!” because, I’m pretty sure I thought that they had all been named after me. An innocent mistake for a 7 year old I think!** Although, i'm not going to lie to you, i still do it to this day. actually my friends do it more, "hey jazz, there's you incense!" we're losers, you don't have to say it...
Since this is all about nothingness really, I’ll cut it short. You know, people actually read this. It baffles me. It actually puts a little*** more pressure on me to be really smart or really funny or really insightful.
I can’t promise any of that but stay tuned for my recount of last year’s Fleet Week debauchery, in honor of the return of that wondrous holiday to gotham city in a month (and there will be plenty of good stories to be had when it comes, I GUARANTEE it). Also, when I stress (I have exams in a week and a half, ick), I find it therapeutic to cook. I’ll try something new and take you on the ride with me a la “Julie/Julia Project” Feel free to send along any suggestions (just don’t make it too expensive, okay? I’m not going to go buy quail eggs and caviar for this).
*this is a lie. I’m just practicing the art of the asterisk.
**feel free to join me in coming to my defense.
***okay, a lot.
posted by jazz @ 6:28 PM
13 people who played with me:
* I just thought it was your name, coupled with the fact that NY is probably full of strange places.
** 7 year olds think that climbing trees is the best thing ever, even if they fall out. I think you can get away with thinking "me tea!"
*** Don't worry about the pressure. You just, like, have to lose yourself in the moment, man!
That is a perfect example of why I fear posting about anything real… I’m sure everyone will have already heard it and be like, “thanks for updating us on the past… loser.” I’m much more comfortable making stuff up.
And on another Mensa related note… awhile ago, I was talking about Mensa, and what that group represents, and my friend Linda couldn’t stop laughing every time I said it. When I asked her about this, she informed me that Mensa means “Stupid” in Spanish. I find that amusing too. (little not about my friend Linda, she was raised by Spanish speaking parents, but went to a public school in the valley, making her a valley girl Mexican, which I think is an awesome combination. She speaks both Spanish and English flawlessly, and her valley girl accent is so convincing that when we go to various fast food restaurants (I won’t name any names ‘caughsubwaycough’) and she is very particular about what she wants, so the guys behind the counter start talking crap about her in Spanish, thinking she doesn’t speak it because she sounds way too white, and then she finishes her order in Spanish… the looks on their faces are priceless… it’s one of my favorite things to watch… I’m kind of sick like that. Um… I, uh, don’t really know where I was going with this comment… I think some times I just like to watch myself type…
I thought about asking about the title, I just hadn't gotten around to it yet. That should count.
Cooking rocks. I came very close to pursuing professional chefdom.
And then I realized it would be 60hour weeks and boiling-hot kitchens the whole time. So. No.
Now, I have an awesome recipe for this dish, but I'm not typing it out for you. This looks decent.
It's a Moroccan chicken pie with things like almonds, currants, etc inside filo pastry. It's sweet yet really savoury in that classical North African way -- cinnamon, saffron, et al. Phenomenal stuff.
I serve it once, maybe twice a year, but if people know it's in the plans, they will CANCEL ENGAGEMENTS to be here. Yeah. Damn rights they will. :)
Now this recipe has it LAYERED... I've never done that. I've always wrapped it up in the filo, like a pie or something. If you want to know how to do that, lemme know, and I don't know if this has the cinnamon-icing sugar sprinkled on top but that's fucking awesome, too. And mine has currants in it. Hmm.
Anyhow:
http://www.epicureanodyssey.com/jpages/recipes/featuredrecipe.html
I'm a big fan of retro vegetarian food, you know, the sort that replaces meat with every other animal derived ingredient (a la Sarah Brown).
SO, here is "Cheese and Red Lentil Bake"
175g red lentils
350ml water
110g grated Cheddar cheese
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (or sage)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
a little lemon juice
1 large egg
3 tbsp cream or milk
salt and pepper
1 tbsp butter
Preheat oven to 190 celsius
Cook cleaned lentils in a tightly covered pan for 10-15 minutes. The mixture should cook to a stiff puree (you may need to add more water). Remove the pan from the heat and mix in the grated cheese, chopped onion, parsley, cayenne pepper and lemon juice. Season to taste.
In a separate bowl lightly beat the egg, stir in the cream or milk and then pour this mixture over the lentils. Grease a loaf tin with the butter and press in the mixture. Bake for 45-50 minutes until GOLDEN BROWN.
Retro veggie goodness.
steff: may take you up on that. filo dough is always a little fussy. i'm looking for a real challenge so that might be it. was considering some kind of souffle but my oven is a bit tempermental (an its 15 degrees off! i recently got my own thermometer for the oven b/c my custards were off, now i know why).
The secret to using phyllo/filo?
You have 2 tea towels: One soaked and then wrung as dry as you can get it, and another one that is completely dry.
Lay the damp one down on the table, spread it out so there's no wrinkles. Lay the dry one precisely on top of it.
Take your filo out. Unwrap it, but leave the plastic sheet in place at the bottom of the stack. Lay it in the center, on top of the dry tea towel. Take your first sheet off, and fold the tea towel/filo in half, so it stays protected from the air.
And now you need to very lightly brush your sheet with melted butter. And you do your work with it, quickly, and continue like that, always covering the reserved sheets back up with the towels.
Keep 'em from drying out, they're easy to work with.
Well... easy-ish. :)
www.thelastditch.blogspot.com
mmm. the julie/julia project sounds delicious. when i was young, i followed along with julia's show with my kiddie pots and pans. hey, i was easily entertained. still am.
my college roommate is mexican; i totally think the same thing when i hear mensa. i love that spanish trick. the look on people's faces when you catch them smack talking is priceless.
Apparently, the mensa post hadn't made it to the west coast because I hadn't seen it before. Either that or I no longer have friends who email me this sort of thing . . . anyway, I enjoyed it.
I find exam time really stressful too, so I clean. Cooking is a good idea too though--maybe I will cook after my deadline. I like to make desserts so there will have to be other people involved so that I don't eat them all myself and that takes planning. . .
Ah, love the asterisk. Nice post, again.
I am so suprised I thought of this and Luntastic didn't:
So is a week with you "Jazzfest"? (7 more days!)
Is great blog...feel reassured :)
Hmm, I was listening to a song about YOU the other day and I didn't even realize it until now, "Jazz in a mellow mood." Weird.
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