Author Archives: D.R. Slaten

Einkorn Experiment

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Or E2, however one gets the squared symbol to show up after the the E, or the double E. Call it what you’d like. Whatever this rose is named, I’m gonna be taking a little foray into cutting out modern wheat and replacing it with Einkorn. All this should be vastly interring as I try to make homemade bread and pasta and tortillas from Einkorn flour. Primitive flour has some different properties, namely sticky ones, and should turn my kitchen into a hot mess. Just the way I like it.

I have some health issues that need to be addressed. One of the ways in which I am doing so is taking a few supplements. Another way is changing the way I eat. I’ve decided to switch from mostly meats to fish and seafood. And to cut all modern wheat from my diet, instead using Einkorn for all my flour-y needs. I’m hoping these changes have a positive impact on my health and my life.

As part of the diet, my next few recipe shares will showcase some of my eating choices. Tomorrow, I’m getting a huge box of Alaskan seafood from New Sagaya in Anchorage. King crab legs, salmon, halibut, reindeer sausage all in one jumbo box of goodness. I’ll probably just eat the king crab legs steamed with butter and lemon. The salmon will be barbecued in herbs and sauce. But the rest, well, some of it will be chunked to put into a cioppino. To sop it all up, I’ll be making a homemade, rustic Einkorn bread.

Cioppino

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1 onion, chopped
3 large shallots, chopped
2 teaspoons salt
4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
3/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes, plus more to taste
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes in juice
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
5 cups fish/seafood stock
1 bay leaf
2 corn cobs, cut in small pieces
1/2 pound sausage, half-mooned (I use reindeer)
1 pound manila clams, scrubbed
1 pound mussels, scrubbed, debearded
1 pound uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined
4-6 large scallops
Some crab, either pieces of king crab or smaller crabs halved
1 1/2 pounds assorted halibut and/or salmon filets, cut into 2-inch chunks

Directions

Heat the oil in a very large pot over medium heat. Add the fennel, onion, shallots, and salt and saute until the onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and 3/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes, and saute 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste. Add tomatoes with their juices, wine, fish stock and bay leaf. Cover and bring to a simmer. Add corn and sausage. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until the flavors blend, about 30 minutes.

Add the clams and mussels to the cooking liquid. Cover and cook until the clams and mussels begin to open, about 5 minutes. Add the shrimp, crab, scallops and fish. Simmer gently until the fish and shrimp are just cooked through, and the clams are completely open, stirring gently, about 5 minutes longer (discard any clams and mussels that do not open). Season the soup, to taste, with more salt and red pepper flakes.

Ladle the soup into bowls and serve.

Slow Rise Rustic Einkorn Bread

5 cups (600g) of jovial einkorn flour
3 cups (600g) of jovial wheat berries
1¾ cup (410g) of warm water
¼ tsp. (1g) dry active yeast
1 tsp. (6g) sea salt

Directions

Mix flour, salt and yeast together in a large mixing bowl.

Add water and combine with your hands until all ingredients are mixed well. Your hands will be a sticky mess at this point, but that is normal with einkorn.

With a spatula, push down the sides of the dough and flatten the top.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a dark place for 12-14 hours. Here is what the doughs should look like when ready to bake. Depending on the weather, the time it takes to proof the dough may vary.

Remember, einkorn flour contains carotenoids that can oxidize if exposed to water and light for a long period of time. Just like a carrot peel can darken, einkorn dough will when exposed to light. Therefore, either store the bowl in a dark space or use a ceramic bowl and put a plate on top to protect the dough from light.

When the dough is ready, place a ceramic or cast iron pot that is oven-safe and has a lid in the oven and heat for 30 minutes to the maximum temperature setting, or at least 500°F then lower the temperature to 450°F.

Turn out the dough on a heavily floured work surface. Pat the dough flat, and using a dough scraper or your hands, fold each of the four sides toward the center, using added flour to make a rounded shape. This is not like forming a typical loaf since the dough is quite soft. Don’t worry yourself too much about the shape because the dough will have a quick rise in the oven and will correct itself, leaving you with a beautifully rustic bread.

The rounded dough can be proofed for one more hour before baking, but we found in our testing it did not make a difference in the finished loaf. Therefore, we turned the dough right into the pot and baked covered for 40 minutes. We also baked the loaf for 30 minutes covered and 10 uncovered, but in the end, found the best results at 40 minutes with a cover for the entire baking time.

If you like a dark crust, return the loaf to the oven for 5-10 minutes more uncovered.

Lift the loaf out of the dish and place on a cooling rack.

You may also try this cooking method on a firmer dough.

Let cool for at least one hour before slicing.

That’s a You Problem, Not a Me Problem

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If the studies showing the decrease in empathy over the last several decades is in doubt, just go to FaceBook and you will see clear evidence of just how much we don’t give a shit about anybody but ourselves.

The current immigration situation nicely illustrates this point. So many people wanting to just make “those” people go back to where they came from. Umm, most of “those” people are of the brown persuasion. And I can’t help but wonder if the influx was of say blonde haired, blue eyed amazonion looking women, if we would have the same or similar outcry. Oh wait, we had HUGE influxes of Serbo-Crotian immigrants and no one said a word. We’ve granted asylum to numerous people from the middle east with nary a sound of protest. So yeah, umm, we just have problems with our brothers and sisters from south of the border.

Now, I’m not gonna tell you what to think. But immigration is a complex issue. Not only should we be concerned about lower level workers. You know, like migrants farmers so I can have my table grapes in the summer with my wine. Or housekeepers and nannies. But we should be concerned with what’s called the replacement rate. This is the number of babies that each woman needs to have to keep the population at zero. Just as an FYI, the United States is WAY below the needed replacement rate.

Now, lets think this through. Many countries are being over run with people from other countries. Most notably, those countries that are dangerous to live are experiencing mass exodus. And guess where they are going? Lots go to Europe. But MANY come to the United States. So, lets do some simple math peeps. Americans AREN’T replacing their population, we are declining. So those who are raised with our values are a diminishing number. Do you want them replaced by hard-working Catholic conservatives or crazy-assed other religions and cultures? Love Sharia Law? Then keep whining about Latino Catholics “invading” America. Umm, just no. And to be clear, I’m NOT advocating that we cut off all other religious people from immigrating to our country. But we should be really careful about demographics because WE ARE REPLACING our population with immigrants RIGHT NOW. What values do you want those immigrants to have? And I don’t want to hear that all Latinos are drug dealers. Cause that’s like saying all Americans are millionaires or we all get naked to survive in the wild. TV isn’t a good basis for basing racial and ethnic prejudices. Go talk to some Latinos in your community. Go talk to others of differing values. Make an informed decision. You’ll be surprised.

I find it mildly ironic that current US citizens are pissed about people coming to our country to have a better life. Like a better life can be divided up into small slices. Again, umm… just no. Having MORE workers contribute is a good thing. Because many Americans ancestors didn’t immigrate “properly” to the US in the first place. In fact, I bet there are several First American groups who would have several things to say about the first Europeans invaders to US soil and how those peeps NEVER “properly” stepped their toes on US soil. Now, in case you’ve wondered. I can trace one of my parents to “proper” immigration, and it ain’t my white parent. It was my Asian mother. My dad’s side is sketchy on how “legally” they “immigrated.” I put the word immigrated in quotes because many came to this country against their will back in the day. And not just outright slaves, but indentured servants, people who got left behind, who’d been shipped here as convicts, etc. I can’t tell from our family records on my caucasian side if and when and how we came to have US citizenship. And quite frankly, given the number of treaties we’ve failed to honor and enforce, any continued occupation by those not of First American descent might not be quite legal or proper. But good luck trying to dig out those here now. All we can hope for is that those with guilty consciouses to voluntarily give up their citizenship and go back to their motherlands. I’m waiting with baited breathe, y’all.

And here’s the thing, many of those “Mexican bastards” that many in our Southern states are working to keep out came from the First Americans who ROAMED the shit out of this land long before the white, yellow and black peeps stepped a toe on our hallowed ground. So our brown brothers and sisters have and ANCESTRAL claim and right to come back to those very lands. Just look at how often Texas and Southern California changed hands between the Spanish and the Not Spanish. lol Somebody’s claim in this mix in primary and it’s not those with colors that aren’t brown in their skin.

Now you might wonder about how empathy ties into this. Well, can you put yourself into their shoes? Wanting better for your family, work so you can buy food, and not so much crime and lawlessness? I can. My heart goes out to anyone who wants better for themselves and their families. Of course, I can understand that. I won’t touch the whole welfare aspect of these arguments because again, it just underscores the lack of empathy. Seriously, I get that many in our society don’t want to help our fellow Americans. I can’t imagine those same people being overly excited about helping out those who aren’t Americans yet. I get it. But, getting them in, having immigrants work AND pay into our system isn’t that hard to do. Or instituting a waiting period while paying into the system like Canada does wouldn’t be hard to do.

There are many solutions that can work to make these issues not be so important. Sticking kids in concentration-like camps, having military based enforcement, having random US citizenship stops NOT AT A BORDER, and many of the other CRAZY-ASSED actions we’ve been taking isn’t the way. Not at all. A little compassion, a lot of reasonable discourse, and picking and choosing the best of what others are doing are ingredients in the recipe to not looking like those of us who have the coveted US citizenship are hoarders preventing others from having the same opportunities. In other words, stop being dicks.

Manday Monday

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I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted. But I thought that a some man candy would help y’all forgive me, or at least get over it. 😉

Just take a look at that profile of a most awesome side view of a man abs. Yummo!

A Tale of Two Pies

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It’s summer. So it’s hot. And it might not seem like the time to bake, getting your kitchen all steamy and what not. But with all the delicious fruit available at farmer’s markets and grocery stores, well, pies are really the answer to a mid-summer dilemma.

Pies have always had an old-fashioned connotation. A cook’s staple. There’s a reason they’ve been around so long. They’re fucking yummy. Add ice cream and viola… sweet warm fruit pares with frozen cream to make something fab, y’all.

One of my fondest memories is of my Aunt Jessie’s rhubarb pie. The tartness combined with fresh from the cow that morning cream adding just that right touch of sweetness t make the tart stand out. I’ve tried to recreate that pie. To no avail. They either come out too sweet or not sweet enough. So I moved on and discovered strawberries in my rhubarb go together just fine. Those pies never seem to come out too sweet or not sweet enough. They one out just right.

The tale of the second pie stems from how great the strawberry rhubarb version came out. I liked the tartness of one thing melding together with the sweetness of another. So I looked. And looked. High and low, I looked. Nothing seemed to catch my fancy. Until I stumbled onto a recipe for peach raspberry pie. Holy Smokes, Batman. That combo sounded fab-u-lous. Raspberry with their tart and tangy taste. And peaches. Oh my goodness. I used to live in Georgia. Back in the day. Way back, yo. If you’ve EVER lived in or near Georgia in the summer, peaches became your best friend. I love them. Off the vine, cut up, in Bellinis, in cobblers and in pies. So I made magic in the kitchen.

So ends my tale of two pies.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

1¼ cups plus 2 tsp. sugar

By: Brandy

⅓ cup all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
2 cups thinly sliced rhubarb
3 cups halved and hulled strawberries
2 tbsp. butter, cut into small pieces
2 tsp. milk

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 400°.  Mix together 1¼ cups of the sugar, flour, nutmeg, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl, then add rhubarb and strawberries, tossing well to coat evenly.

2. Fill bottom crust with rhubarb–strawberry mixture and scatter butter on top. Cover with remaining pastry round (discarding wax paper) and crimp edges together to seal. Score top to allow steam to escape, brush with milk, and sprinkle with remaining 2 tsp. sugar. Place pie on a baking sheet and bake until crust is golden and filling is bubbling, about 50 minutes. If edge of crust browns too quickly, cover edge with a strip of aluminum foil to prevent burning. Allow pie to cool for 1 hour before serving.

 

Peach Raspberry Pie

⅔ cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling

By: Laura

⅓ cup flour
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp. peach schnapps
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp. kosher salt
¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
6 large peaches (about 1 ¾ lb.), peeled and cut into ½″-thick slices
1 cup mashed fresh raspberries
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 425°. In a large bowl, toss together sugar, flour, brown sugar, juice, schnapps, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, salt, nutmeg, and peaches; set aside.

2. Roll one dough disk into a 12″ circle; fit into a 9″ pie plate. Pour half the filling into pie shell and cover with raspberries. Pour in remaining peach filling, and then dot filling with butter. Roll the remaining dough disk into a 12″ circle, place over filling, and trim dough, leaving a ½″ overhang. Lift edges and fold under to form a thick rim around the pie. Cut 4 slits in top of pie crust, brush with milk or melted butter, and sprinkle with more sugar. Bake until golden brown and filling is bubbling in the center, about 45 minutes. Let cool for about 20 minutes before serving.

Music Monday: Love Runs Out

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I’ve been digging on OneRepublic A LOT lately. They’ve just been coming out with some spectacular music. Love Runs Out has a bluesy sound that ROCKS. Seriously.

And although the song is about love and being there until the loves runs out–sounds like HEA, no?–and all the angst that comes with being in love with someone, I love it because the SOUND is awesome. That it is a song about the shit I write is all bonus.

Chicken Madeira

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Coming off Memorial Day weekend, the last thing–the VERY LAST THING–I need is more calorie laden food. Umm, not. But a small part of me was craving, y’all. I got to cravin’ Cheesecake Factory’s Chicken Madeira. So I set about to getting the recipe. And there are lots of them, both for Cheesecake Factory’s version as well as for the sauce itself. Here is my not so off-the-cuff rendition of this fav.

Chicken Madeira

Ingredients:

4-6 pieces of chicken, pounded thin (I use a mix of breasts and thighs)
3 pieces of garlic, minced
1-2 medium onions, diced
2-3 cups of mushrooms, sliced
2-3 tbsps butter
3 cups madeira wine
1 cup beef broth ( I use a cup of water and Knorr’s beef jelly thing-a-ma-bobs)
2-3 tbsp flour
mozzarella slices
1 tsp thyme
salt
pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Heat skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Fry each piece in oil until golden brown on both sides. Place in oven casserole dish as they finish cooking.

2. Add more oil to the skillet. Add onions and cook for a few minutes. Add garlic and cook for another minute or two. Add mushrooms and cook for a few minutes.  Add flour and cook until it pastes. Add thyme and salt and pepper. Cook for a minute. Add wine and broth and cook until thick and reduced in half.

3. Place mozzarella slices on each piece of chicken. When sauce if thick and reduced in half, pour over chicken. Bake until cheese bubbles, or longer.

The Cheesecake Factory serves their chicken with asparagus and a heaping mound of mashed potatoes. I can attest that this is an excellent accompaniment choice for this dish. However, I like mine over an argula salad instead of asparagus, although I do really, really like the mashed potatoes to sop up the delicious madeira gravy. For those of you doing the low carb thing, roasted vegetables would be cool instead of the mashed potatoes as would roasted and riced cauliflower. For the Argula salad, I make a lemon/white wine vinaigrette right before I toss the greens and serve it under the chicken to help the argula wilt slightly.

Vinaigrette

1 tbsp dijon mustard
2-3 tbsp lemon juice
1-2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil salt pepper parmesan cheese
– put mustard, juice and wine in a bowl. Whisk together. Keep whisking while adding olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste being sure to under season for salt since the parmesan cheese is salty.  Stir in parmesan cheese. Toss in argula.

I fell in love with “rocket” as argula is called on the continent many moons ago. It is served quite often in many European countries. Plus, it just taste like summer. In any event, slice up some limes and pop open a Corona and eat the chicken. It is delish. Add in some rocket, and this flavor combo is out of this world. 😉

Manday Monday

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10001451_636086179777802_1278718481024318743_n Mondays are fast becoming one of my favorite days. 😉

There is something really sexy about a man in a suit. Seems to me that there is something even more sexy about a man in a suit as he is undressing.

That’s right… take it off. Take if all off. 🙂

#YesAllWomen

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This post will likely contain some triggery shit. You have been warned.

Not all men are dicks. All women have been threatened by those with dicks, however.

Not all men rape. All women live in the fear of being raped.

Not all men are domestically violent. All women are aware that statistically women will have violence done to them in their home.

All women. Everywhere. Live in the shadow of violence done to them by men. No, not all men. But even one can cut a swath through the female population. More than one? Shit, the numbers of women they will touch with violence exponentially increases. Every. Fucking. Woman.  Yes, all women.

My first touch that was inappropriate happened when I was 11 or 12. A much older man laid his body on top of mine while I slept. I woke up to being suffocated by a large male body. He was the husband of one of my mom’s friend. But that isn’t my first experience with having my body, me sexualized. That happened when I was about 8. I was told that his dick would go so far up into me that it would take up the space of most of my torso. And I’m writing this in a much nicer way than it was told to me. Seriously. The words he said shocked me. So much so that I’ve NEVER forgotten it.

An 8 year old girl should never be sexualized. I was. And I know I’m not alone.

Another occurrence that stuck in my mind occurred when I spent a summer in Paris. I was followed for several blocks by a man. I couldn’t go home because I didn’t want to lead him to where I was living. Me, alone in a foreign country, scared shitless. So I kept walking and SCREAMING at the top of my lungs hoping that my noise, my screams would protect me. Even then, I KNEW it wouldn’t be enough. So I stayed in crowded areas until about 45 minutes later, he stopped following me. He stopped. No one stopped him. No one came to my aid. No one.

Every time a women goes out with a man, she takes her life into her hands. Every. Single. Time.

Crazy doesn’t wear itself on the outside. Violent men don’t show their violent faces until they do. And it could be on the first date, the second anniversary, or a post-divorce party. Women don’t know they are going to be the target until they are. Sure, there are signs SOME men put out. We avoided those guys like the plague. It’s the ones that pass as normal. That pass as “normal.”

So, dudes, I get that you don’t want to be painted with a brush of violence that seems to be so pervasive amongst your gender. But when you defend YOURSELF with #notallmen, instead of acknowledging #yesallwomen, in essence you are doing some violence by dismissing, deflecting and defending men and marginalizing women.

So, shut the fuck up. And listen.

No, not all men. But one is too many. Because yes, ALL WOMEN.

Road Trips Rock, Gas Prices Suck

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Went on a road trip this past week. It’s been a LONG time since I got in a car and drove across the country, or even a small part thereof. I’d forgotten how cool it was to travel on the highways. Not the steering wheel grabbing part as I cuss out other drivers on the road, but the see the country and explore at a leisurely pace kinda of way.

It helped that I stopped in on family and friends. So without real solid dates, I endeavored to make a few stops and enjoy being the captain of my own ship, so to speak.

My road trip was preceded by a week of an awesome stay in New Orleans. Sheesh, I’d forgotten how much I  love that city. I haven’t been back since Katrina hit. And I was expecting more devastation than I saw. Which was good. But I suspect I just hadn’t driven into the parts that had been hardest hit. One of these days, I’ll go back and explore the more hidden parts, the less touristy ones.

I used to live in New Orleans. It was awesome. New Orleans is THE place to be if you’re a college student of any level. There’s lots to do and lots to see. Plus, the atmosphere of laissez le bon temps roulez was most excellent to help a person come into their own, albeit in a circuitous route that led down Bourbon Street on many a night. Still, I couldn’t have asked for a more relaxed community. Not to say there aren’t some under layers to the city. There are. Lots.

N’awlins was a mid-way point in my trek. A long resting spot that proved to be less than restful. Not that I’m complaining. I’m not. Just saying. 🙂 Instead of going west, I headed east from there. And not a little south. Florida was my next destination. I spent  four days there. I hadn’t really explored Florida, except right along the south beaches off I-10. Going down into the boot was vastly different. For one thing, the plants ROCK. It smelled so good. All those tropical and sub-tropical flora made the air redolent with sensuous scents. Hah, now I’m all waxing poetic and shit. Seriously, though, I hadn’t smelled air that sweet since I’d last visited Hawaii. Yum!

To say I really enjoyed the trip would be an understatement. I think I might plan a road trip every summer. I know. I know. That is totally not green. But whatever, dude. I did drive a hybrid car on this road trip and probably will plan to do so again. But no matter how imminent the shortage of petroleum might be, I am so willing to burn up a week or three in giving myself the happies. Ya know?

Smutty Sunday: The Will

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Just doing one book today I’ve been uber busy and haven’t gotten around to reading a lot. But when Kristen Ashley’s The Will came out, well… I bought it immediately and carved some time out, yeah?

I usually wait to do a review because I need time to process what I’ve read. So many times, my reviews come days, sometimes weeks, after I’ve finished a book.

I couldn’t do that for this book.

I had also highly anticipated this book, ummm, because getting some KA without New York City editing (yes, I AM saying that as if I were in a Pace commercial) is the FREAKING bomb, yo. I tried to read it slow. Before I opened the book, I was worried it wouldn’t be as good. Then once I cracked it open, I was worried it would be over too fast. None of my worries mattered. Once I started, I couldn’t go slow. I tried, y’all. I really, really did.

I couldn’t do that for this book.

I’m also burnt out on NA books and just young acting people in books lately. So I got super excited when I learned these main characters would be older. Not much is new about that. Many of KA’s protagonists are older than the “norm.” I sighed with relief when I read these characters behaving not just like adults, but adults who aren’t irrational, shrewish or complete dicks.

This is VINTAGE Kristen Ashley. All the reasons I LOVED Sweet Dreams and several others were present in this book. I can’t lie to you though, her storyline is tighter than before she mingled with NYC. Her plotting is better. Overall, hanging with the NYC crowd has given VINTAGE KA polish, but what it didn’t do was gut the story and emotions and all the drama and clipped speaking and chin tilting that I have come to know and LOVE about her books.

And don’t get me started on the kids. Dude, very few authors can make so many secondary characters not just come to life, but do in LIVING FUCKING COLOR. It’s a gift. And she has it in abundance. I can’t tell you how many times, I have come to “know” the secondary characters almost as well as the primary ones. And in this book, it just started with the kids. The rest of the cast was just as brilliantly fleshed out.

Did KA stop there? No, boys and girls, she did not. Not only was the story about Jake and Josie a compelling one, there are underlying messages in her books. Here, there are threads of unselfishly loving someone, the redemptive power of love, AND don’t sit around and wait for good shit to happen to you, sometimes a lot of time is wasted when you do. Babies aren’t made, people die, love goes unrequited. All of that. In this book.

So hell yeah. RUN don’t walk to your computer and download this puppy like yesterday.