--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb <no_reply@...> wrote: > > Excellent. That's *real*, and a celebration of the > little things in life that make life worth living. No > one had to "change the world," no one had to be all > enlightened, and no one seemed in need of deeper > meaning or importance.
No one had to be in Paris, either. ;-) > Just as you say about a balsamic reduction, the Law > Of Nature of a good "life reduction" seems to be to > just simmer life slowly, without adding all that other > crap like spirituality and self-importance. > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Alex Stanley" <j_alexander_stanley@> > wrote: > > > > Despite being the laziest person on the planet, overeating at Rory and > > Rena's Easter potluck, sleeping like crap, and dragging my sorry carcass > > out of bed at 7am, I actually had a very productive day. > > > > First project: I decided to upgrade the iMac that serves up > > http://alex.natel.net/ from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion. And rather than > > simply running the downloaded upgrade app, I extracted the install data > > from the download and used it to create a bootable USB flash drive. That > > way, I always have bootable media from which to reinstall the OS, even if > > the hard drive shits the bed. > > > > Second project: Putting together an EP-960 Teeter Hang Up inversion table. > > The written instructions that come with it are worthless, and just as I was > > about to call up the company and rip 'em a new one, I remembered the DVD > > that came with it. So, I fired it up, and sure enough, the DVD has a > > chapter that perfectly demonstrates proper assembly. Duh. > > > > Getting back to the potluck... > > > > Law of Nature: The positively absolutely unmistakably *BEST* way to cook > > boneless skinless chicken breast is sous vide at 140 deg F for 3 hours. > > > > My favorite source of external validation is cooking outstanding food for > > potlucks, and potlucks chez Rory and Rena are great because they are a > > meat-friendly household. So, on Saturday morning, I cooked a couple organic > > chicken breasts at 140 deg F for 3 hours and then popped the bag into the > > fridge until Sunday morning. I then made some balsamic vinegar reduction, > > using a recipe I found online that called for balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, > > and brown sugar. Big mistake. > > > > Law of Nature: The *ONLY* ingredient in a balsamic vinegar reduction is > > balsamic vinegar. > > > > The soy sauce and sugar ruined it, so I tossed it down the drain and made a > > fresh batch in accord with Natural Law. > > > > Rena was going to make roast lamb, and I suggested she buy some Crosse & > > Blackwell mint sauce, which is a vinegar based mint sauce, instead of that > > godawful, radioactive green, jelly crap. She couldn't find any, so I made > > my own version of it. I made a cider vinegar reduction, sweetened it with > > jaggery, and infused mint leaves in the hot reduction. > > > > I woke up Sunday morning and did my usual Sunday ritual: had my coffee, > > turned on the far infrared sauna, and watched CBS Sunday Morning from > > inside the sauna. After that, I hit the kitchen. First task: make > > lime-ginger flash pickles. Inspired by this video: > > > > http://youtu.be/yuDFFJ2mazg > > > > I make a pickling liquid from either fresh squeezed lemons or limes and > > then use a vacuum canister and the vacuum port on my foodvac to vacuum > > infuse the liquid into the cucumber slices. This time, I used limes, and > > for the first time, used the single-gear juicer to make fresh ginger juice > > to add to the citrus. In the future, I won't add quite so much ginger, as > > the pickles were a bit medicinally bitter. I almost didn't bring them to > > the potluck, but I'm glad I did because people LOVED them. > > > > Second task: make the chicken breast hors d'oeuvres. I cut the chicken > > breast into neat little rectangles and topped them with fresh basil and/or > > fresh tarragon and half a cherry tomato, with a toothpick holding them > > together. Then I drizzled them with the balsamic vinegar reduction. I tried > > one and was totally blown away... unbelievably delicious. What's great > > about cooking chicken at 140 degrees is that very little liquid separates > > out; it's fully cooked, and any microorganisms are destroyed, but the meat > > is not subject to higher temperatures where the proteins contract and > > express out all the moisture. At the potluck, the chicken breast was a HUGE > > hit; people raved about it, and they polished off the entire platter. > > >
