Chicken mole a la Tzipporah

Tzipporah ( Midianite Manna )has a post about chicken with chocolate. It's like a kind of mole, which is chicken with chocolate, almonds, pumpkin seeds, raisins. And various dried chiles. Very complicated.
So it's sort of like spicy peanut butter chicken made with chocolate.

This is her post:
http://midianitemanna.blogspot.com/2009/01/chocolate-chicken.html

Mole poblano would use many chiles I am not familiar with - ancho, mulatto, chipotli, and others. The difference between them seems one of heat level and sweet meatiness.
The chicken (or scragg turkey!), is first clean boiled, then fried in animal fat. The chiles, seeds and nuts, and spices are roasted and or fried, then ground up and added to a cooking mulch of onian, tomatilloes, tomatoes, and garlic, with stock. It is cooked thick, the taste is sweet, tangy, spicy, and a little bitter. I guess the cocolate adds more color than real taste with all those other ingredients. The sauce is then poured over the meat and served with rice and toasted sesame seeds sprinkled on top. I have never had it, but it sounds good.

Tzipporah's version added raisins for more sweetness(I think?) and deglazed with white wine, but is simpler and easier and looks very tasty.

Mole is sauce.

Wikipedia:
"In Mexico, the term is used for a number of sauces, some quite dissimilar to each other and include black, red, yellow, colorado, green, almendrado, pipián.
Mole poblano, whose name comes from the Mexican state of Puebla, is a popular sauce in Mexican cuisine and is the mole that most people in the U.S. think of when they think of mole. Mole poblano is prepared with dried chili peppers (commonly ancho, pasilla, mulato and chipotle), ground nuts and/or seeds (almonds, indigenous peanuts, and/or sesame seeds), spices, Mexican chocolate (cacao ground with sugar and cinnamon and occasionally nuts), salt, and a variety of other ingredients including charred avocado leaves, onions, and garlic. Dried seasonings such as ground oregano are also used. In order to provide a rich thickness to the sauce, bread crumbs or crackers are added to the mix."

There are recipes for chocolate moles on the internet, but many are very complicated, ask for breadcrumbs (panko?) to add thickness, and most of them look like an awful lot of work. So probably not good for family, especially if your family expects two stirfries, a soup, a mixed meat and vegetable dish, and chicken or fish steamed, at least. Plus white rice. I don't think my mom would anyhow know what to do with a dark chocolate mole - 'do I eat it? Do I polish my shoes with it?' Food for her needs to glisten and steam - cooking juices made silky with cornstarch and a little added chicken fat or sesame oil for gloss and smell.
And Granny won't touch anything that she can't pronounce, anyway.

Besides, without nuns to grind everything, a complicated mole is moot.

I'll cook Tzipporah's version for myself sometime. I like Mexican food. I don't have any cumin or oregano though, I guess I'll have to buy some.
For the cloves, cinnamon, and coriander, I can probably use five spice.
It probably works just as well with duck.

Grant Patel is a republican!

I can't believe it! I got an e-mail from a dating site! And I very strongly suspect KNOW !!! that the instigator is Grant Patel getting even with me.


Here's what it is:
R6JUDD - has invited you to join the worlds largest casual online dating site!
Your friend "hello" wants you to join them at Online Booty Call (OBC), the hottest dating site for singles who enjoy being single. Millions have already registered and thousands join daily.



Grant, you are disgusting. Online Booty Call Indeed! What ARE YOU THINKING!!!?!??!??!
Don'tEVER send me anything like that again. Even if I was an adult yet, I would NOT WANT TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT!
Dating and staying single are contradictory, they do NOT GO TOGETHER! They are at cross-purpose!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What possessed you, Grant, to send me spam from a claering house of perverts and fiends!?!??!
I live in San Francisco!!! I can find all the perverts I want without the internet right on Broadway. Wihtout even trying!

PANTIES!

There. That ought to get Grant Patel's attention. Seeing as panties are his FAVORITE SUBJECT!

Grant Patel, under whatever nom de pleume he writes, is an utter pervert. As these comments make ab-so-lutely clear:

I, on the other hand, love the idea of sweaty boys and girls. I will be your proxy for basket-watching any day.---Green Punt

I'm melting. I'm melting!---Prudence Grantipinks

Two of my favourite subjects - bribes and red panties. In one post too. Oh happy day!!!!---Pervais Garuntollocks

Hi there, little firecracker. You can't scare me away, I'm built of sterner stuff.Happy new year.---Grant Pervert

It was probably the degenerate newt-boy. He's like that, you know. He LIKES little Japanese High-school girls. Like Osaka-san. Of which you are not one, and who you are not like.You are too spicy for him. I guess.---Grant Poondarbong

Yes mommy. I hasten to obey. I quake and quiver in abject obedience.Now, please grind that spikey heel into the soft flesh. Oooooh....!---Grant Persiflageous

Deviance. Dysfunctionality. Idol worship. And utter bladerdash.Black magic. Eric Idol. Palmistry. Heresy. And whips.---Grant the Protestant Puritan

My hands are silky and warm. And NOT greasy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!---Pattidev Garhawal

And let us instead talk of YOUR greasy hands. I am quite fascinated, really I am.---Pattidev Garhawal

Any size. Girls look divine in baggy pajamas.---Pattidev Garhawal


Okay.
I guess that is enough to establish that any commenter with a first name starting with G, and a last name that either is a ridiculous self-description OR begins with P, is depraved.
And probably very Catholic.

Despite his own denial:

I am not a pervert. I'm just big boned.---Grant Patel


What a sad little man. And what an object lesson for anybody thinking of studying psychology. Comments elsewhere indicate that he may be on medication, and might be a lawyer.
Another blogger thinks that mr. Patel (esq., & perv.) is from Bombay. None of which is here nor there.

Grant, if you are reading this (as I know you are!!!), here are some links for you:

HER ROOM LINGERIE

PETITE LINGERIE

HELLO KITTY LINGERIE

DREAMING OF LINGERIE

Have fun, dear man. It's all for you. Enjoy the links, melt copiously, and report back to me in the morning. Love and kisses.

Sincerely,


---Little Firecracker

Vorticist. What?!?

I have been reading The Apes of God, by Percy Wyndham Lewis (November 18, 1882 – March 7, 1957).
When he was alive, he stopped using the name Percy because he hated it. He's dead now, but because he was an unpleasant fellow I shall call him Percy anyway.

The Apes of God is bitchy. Horrid wordportraits at top-speed with a dense vocabulary. Written like he really wanted to chop up puppies with an axe instead of write.

He didn't like gays, other writers, communists, or Jews. But he did write an attack on antisemitism called The Jews, Are They Human?, in which his nasty talent for sarcasm and verbal violence is put to good use. Or so I hear. Like many of his works, it is just not available at the library.
Vorticism is a painting style. Percy was both an author and a painter. I think his paintings are a load of bollocks. He was a better writer.

Next book by Percy I'm looking for is Tarr. It's supposed to be a cracking read.

I'm rich!

Laysee (利是 also 利事) in bucket loads. To quote Dave Chapell, "I'm rich, beeyatch!"
More or less. Made out like a bandit.
It pays to be the youngest.
Thanks Wah, Booboo, Fatty, Granny, Mom, Dad, Bros, and everybody!

I guess I can afford all the nice cotton panties my little heart desires.
Except I'll probably outgrow them (I hope!).
I wish I could buy a couple of extra inches height with my new year's money. Now that would be real cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gung hay to all of you!

Cheng yuet (正月) happens this year on January 26. So happy New Year!!!!!!!!
If you walk up Pacific Street that evening, you will hear firecrackers. We will be scaring away the evil spirits to assure prosperity this year.
We always do that; fireworks scare away the ghost-devils.

When I was little I told my mom it wasn't working!!!!!!!!!, because ALL of the caucasians were still there!!!!!!!!
She told me that NORMAL ghost-devils scare away easily, but WHITE ghost-devils are tougher and stupid or maybe deafer (which is why they don't seem to understand anything when you talk to them).

I have since grasped that this is not entirely true.

But, sometimes I wish it was. Then I could pretend that I didn't understand them either.

Specially when they ask idiot questions like "you're Chinese, what does that sign say?"
Like I would know? I read Chinese? Mister, I am from here and I speak English. But go ahead, take a wild guess - it's on a Wells Fargo Bank, under the English name Wells Fargo Bank. That location could be very significant..... Wells Fargo Bank. Do you suppose it might, possibly, conceivably, say "Wells Fargo Bank"? Hm?
It's by all means not a remote or even unlikely possibility, no?


Anyhow, we're cleaning the house and getting our hair cut, so that we won't sweep away good luck or cut away sustenants at the beginning of the year. You should do the same, and buy lots of oranges and tangerines, which are also good luck. Also flowering plum, and something with fresh green leaves.
I hope you get lots of red envelopes this year.
San Neen Fai Low! Man See Yu Yee!

Holy moly, he sounds exactly like my history teacher

This is incredible! And, as they say, OMG!!!!!!!

So I was looking at a blog that I found listed on the other side of the hill (yeah, transparent reference), and I found a youtube link to something fabulous!

HERE!
http://boroparkpyro.blogspot.com/2008/12/we-count-up-vayeishev-shuldrasha.html

If I didn't know any better, I would swear that's my history teacher. He talks the same. He looks the same. And half the time I don't have a clue what he's on about either.
Make that 'most of the time'. Like ninety percent. Or something.

But that cute thing with the eyelids (comma comma comma ponder) and the eyebrows (flare or flutter for emphasis, wiggling at the heavy words) is like totally unique. And then, after each thought unit, a pause, and the comtemplative 'mmmph' expression on his face - "there, I said it" - mmmph!
A total intellectual stud. Un vrai muffin. Emes.


There must be many muppets in New York. I wonder if he's ever read Lord of the Rings for audio books. He SO shooooould! Really!

Maxim Gorky

Pseudonym of Aleksei Maximovitch Pshkov (Nizhni Novgorod 03/28/1868 to Moskvo 06/18/1936). A protégé of Stalin, though that should not count against him. Being a protégé was anyway better than being a victim.

The pseudonym means 'bitter Max'.


E-kvetcher gave me a link to a translation he made of one of Gorky's stories.
http://search-for-emes.blogspot.com/2006/03/traduttore-traditore.html


Notes:
Black hair and blue eyes? I have NEVER seen that. But I have seen Arabs and Persians with blue eyes. Maybe Moldovians are related to Arabs? But maps show their country being nowhere near any Arab countries. What does Bessarabia mean? Not Arab, but a local dynasty, the Basarab. It is within Moldova.
Black hair and blue eyes.

'Greasy earth evaporations'? This in a passage that starts with music and ends with a painting of the sky.

'Old men are you Russians'? No wonder I then read "all dark, like lemons".

Part one: Pride, eagle son, arrows, murder, theft, immortality while waiting for death. Painful song.

Part two: Life, love, kisses. Dry cracked lips. Wine and boiled pork. A love life that reads like a travelogue. Polish is a hissing snake tongue. A long rant about her lovers. Of whom she had very many.

Part three: The handsome ones are always brave. But in the faces of those who follow is no nobility, no bravery, no balls. A ripped heart like a burning orb leads scared people through a dark forest to a river and the open steppes (prairies), which are freedom and release. A leader glowingly (gloriously) sacrifices himself for others, they do not notice. But maybe not. It is an old woman speaking to a young man, about an ideal of young men, and her ideal young men.


There is a river of images in the story, like series of connected rocks that each look different, some in the shade, some in bright sunlight. Many words to set atmosphere, less actual action. Which, in speech, is not so usual. The woman who speaks paints a shimmering picture of memories for the man who listens. Then she sleeps, and he looks at her, and notices the dark clouds scooting over the landscape.

Ten whole days!!!!

School started again and I'm swamped! AND I HAD TO WATCH A STUPID BASKETBALL GAME TODAY!

Can I just say that in the great scheme of things, boys playing basketball is just not up there?
I mean, even if you LIKE sweaty boys, which is not entirely unlikely, some people do, especially in this city, I could mention names (but I probably shouldn't), this just isn't the best show on earth. School spirit has sunk to a new low.
At least I got out of girls basketball yesterday.

Too many text books, too many classes. Too many basketballs.

Not enough Hello Kitty.

Unprintable exclamation left to the readers imagination here.
And a frowny face.

More angry people!

Went down to the main library today, where there were more angry people. The same two sides as several other days in the last two weeks. Plus weirdoes. Also the same.

One side, angry people with checkered rags.
Other side, blue and white flags.


Both sides shouting and jumping up and down waving fists.


Good thing I'm NOT looking for a boy-friend. Many of the angry people on either side were good looking. Or would be, if they didn't twist their faces into furious scowling.


I don't think I'd want the younger checkered ones, though. Far too angry, and too unshaven. I've never liked stubble, it looks so Hollywood trashy.
But some of the older men on the blue and white flag side looked nice. Pinker, too.
They are cute with their little colored beanies.

I didn't bother taking anybodies flyers or listening to the shouting. It was all a big mess. I'm still trying to read up on the situation.
I borrowed a book about raccoons instead, along with three vampire novels. Lots of dead bodies, and some English men. So very very good.

Friday fish

Not really. We eat fish whenever we feel like it. Meaning, actually, when the stores on Stockton street have something so fresh it snaps its way out of the tub. You must buy fish alive, else it is that cardboard supermarket fish which has not been near water in a decade.
And fresh fish tastes much better.


Poached Fish, family style

One fish large enough for as many people as are eating.
A pot of water much larger than the fish.
Soy sauce.
Hsiao Shing rice wine.
Ginger.
Green onions.
Sugar.
Fragrant vinegar.


Kill and clean the fish (scrape the scales off, and gut and rinse him). make a few hacks into each side to let heat penetrate.
Bring the pot of water to a boil. Dump the fish into it, jamming the lid on and turning off the heat. Let it sit for five minutes for a small fish, ten for a large one, or something in between for a fish that is in between. Maybe a few seconds longer than that. The heat of thw ater will gently cook the fish, especially if it is a fish with white flesh.

Pour a cup of soy sauce into a sauce pan, add some rice wine and a little vinegar. Heat to a boil. Put in chopped green onions and ginger, plus sugar. Cook a little longer, then pour over the fish - which you've put on a plate by now.

Serve. With rice.

Funny piece by e-kvetcher

So another blogger sent me a letter.

This is what I received:

________________________________
From: Baruch HaMavdil
Sent: Thursday, January 08, 2009 1:23 PM
To: Snooky B. Wong
Subject: Great post at Search for Emes.

Hello Snooky,

I know that you are trying to understand the conflict, and are reading books and articles in order to get a broader, perhaps better view. To that end, you might also want to read a rather snarky piece on e-kvetcher's blog:
http://search-for-emes.blogspot.com/2009/01/prostration-of-prince-of-denmark.html
The Prostration of the Prince of Denmark
by Reuben Pyatigorsky, translated from Russian by e-kvetcher.

I found it very entertaining, but I do not wish to cite it on my own blog at present; several of my recent visitors have been trolls, and I do not wish my friend's blogs to be invaded by angry nutballs who crap all over the comments. That probably isn't why they blog (it isn't really why I blog either, but I honestly do not mind irritating the spit out of some people).

Regards,


ATBOTH / Baruch

---------------------------

Well, it is an amusing piece. Thanks for sending me the link, Baruch. E-kvetcher writes well, and I think I'll add his blog to my own roll, even though I don't know what half the things are that he writes about.
I don't know why he's searching for emes either. What is it, and where did he lose it? Is it edible?

Angry people, tribes with flags

The last ten days have been very un-christmassy. Downtown San Francisco has been filled with shoppers, travellers, and very angry people. Ever since Israel started hitting back at Gaza for firing rockets at civilians, crowds of angry young men have gathered at Powell and Market to scream and shout.

I really cannot understand what they're on about. They're here, aren't they? The bombs are not falling on them. But they seem to want to kill people in revenge here in the Bay Area.

Back of the hill writes about them in this post:
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2008/12/jew-hate-in-sf-demonstration-in-front.html
and mentions that he was at a dangerous protest here:
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2009/01/sabbath-off-to-rocky-start.html

Go ahead, read him. He's got it good. He's ranting. He's not been entertaining at all for over a week.

So instead I have been reading Tribes With Flags by Charles Glass. Because I'm trying to understand what the heck is going on over there.

The book stinks. The author is an egomaniac who can't write.... but does his non-writing very well, and at a fast clip. He doesn't make the whole thing any easier to understand, but I now know more about him than I want to. If any one knows a better and shorter book that explains the Middle-East, please let me know.
I've also been looking up things on wikipedia, but really, some of those entries are nonsense.