The Tea Party

When I was in Grade School and first learned about the Boston Tea Party, I was confused. Why did the patriots fighting for liberty and representation dress up like Mohawk Indians to do their civil disobedience? If you are protesting doesn't it make sense to let it be known who you are so a point is made? I asked many teachers and never got a good answer, no one could explain this. I found the answer long after I had finished school in an essay written by Robert Graves. He states that Samuel Adams was a tea smuggler and the British Tea Act cut the tax on the East India Company so it could sell its tea cheaper than smuggled tea. The "destruction of the tea" ( it was not called the Boston Tea Party until 1834) occurred in the evening, at low tide, the 342 tea chests were sealed and waterproof. While some of the "patriots" did hack the chests open, many chests were thrown overboard and bobbed in the shallow water until they could be retrieved later. The value of the tea was £90,000, according to Ben Franklin, who argued that it should should be repaid, but any tea that was recovered was free and hugely profitable.
Sam Adams was a bad businessman and worked for a time in his family's business as a maltster, a man who malts grain to be made into beer. He did not make beer.
The 16th amendment allows for the Federal Income Tax and the 17th allows for the election of Senators--they used to be appointed. Jeff Landry wants to abolish Federal Income Tax and replace it with a National Sales Tax of 28 to 32%!
So watch this idiot below, the video is poor but the sound is clear.

Stupid Commercials

This stuff drives me nuts, are the ad men so stupid that they don't know Dr Jekyll was the good side of his nature? Mr Hyde was the evil side. Also that concoction looks a lot like absinthe, which I love.

Vitter makes me sick

Yeah, Vitter will win, only because we are idiots. But a good slap in the face.

Tax the Cheating Bastard Banks

Legalize Marijuana

Hemp has been grown for 12,000 years for fiber and food. It has been effectively prohibited in the United States since the 1950s because Randolph Hearst owned vast acres of forest that he used to make paper and he didn't like competition.
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew hemp. Ben Franklin owned a mill that made hemp paper. Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence on hemp paper.
Because of its importance for sails (the word "canvass" comes from "cannabis") and rope for ships, hemp was a required crop in the American colonies.
Hemp can yield 3-8 dry tons of fiber per acre, 4 times what an average forest yields and it is an annual harvest. Trees take 20 years to become ready to harvest. Processing hemp into paper uses fewer chemicals than wood and the paper made from hemp does not yellow with age. Hemp paper recycles easier than wood pulp paper.

Crabby Crab Cakes with Lime Beurre Blanc

1 pound fresh lump crab meat (can be claw)

1 egg 

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 scallions, chopped, some green parts reserved for garnish

1 large toe garlic minced

juice of half a lime

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons flour, more for dredging 

2 tablespoons bread crumbs--panko is great

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 

4 tablespoons butter 

Beurre Blanc

6 tablespoons butter

1 scallion, chopped

1 toe garlic, minced

1/2 cup fruity white wine

juice of half a lime

1/4 teaspoon Sriracha or other hot sauce

salt and pepper to taste

1. Gently combine crab, egg, mustard, salt, pepper, 2 tablespoons flour, and breadcrumbs. Cover, and put in freezer for 5 minutes. Shape mixture into 8 patties, wrap each with plastic, place on a plate and freeze for 15 minutes. 

2. Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a small skillet over medium heat, add scallion and garlic and cook 5 minutes. Add wine, juice and Sriracha, turn heat to high and reduce to 2 tablespoon, just enough to cover the bottom of a pan. Remove from the heat and whisk in 5 tablespoons of butter, one at a time. Correct seasonings.

3. Put flour on a plate. Combine oil and butter in 12-inch skillet, and turn heat to medium. When butter melts and its foam subsides, gently dredge a crab cake in flour. Gently tap off excess flour, and add crab cake to pan; repeat with remaining crab cakes, and then turn heat to medium-high. 

4. Cook, rotating cakes in pan as necessary to brown first side, 5 to 8 minutes. Turn and brown other side. Sprinkle with reserved scallion tops. 

Yields 8 crab cakes.

¡¡¡¡VOTE!!!!!

Click on the link, sign in to Facebook and allow moveon to access your info, it is worth it.

Lunch at Brocato's Eat Dat

Brocato's Eat Dat, 8480 Morrison Road, 309-3465, is a brillant restaurant in New Orleans East. It is in a what looks like an office strip mall and the decor is minimal--stark-- but clean and comfortable. They serve po'boys and Cajun food. I had lunch there Friday with 2 lovely friends and we were all stunned by the food. We chose 3 daily specials, all under 15 bucks: Smothered Pork Chop with turnip greens, rice and cornbread, Crab Cakes (2) on Fried Green Tomatoes with Rémoulade Sauce, sautéed fresh broccoli and string beans, and Fried Catfish with Crawfish Étouffée with delicious rice. The seafood dishes came with house salad--made with mixed lettuces (no iceberg!) raddichio, radish, cucumbers, grape tomatoes and served with homemade dressings and croûtons. No liquor license yet, so BYOB. The chef/owner, Tony Brocato, no relation the Brocatos of ice cream fame, is from Opelousas and related to Paul Prudhomme and worked 13 years at K-Paul's.

London Broil with Kim Chi

Not the best photo, I shall have to work on that.

I first encountered Kim Chi at a restaurant in New Orleans called Genghis Khan back in the 1970's. It was a delightful place (I still dream of the fried whole fish) and it hooked me on Kim Chi

Grilled London Broil with Kim Chee and Parslied Potatoes

Grilled London Broil with Kimchi

I served this with parslied potatoes

1 small head Napa cabbage, or Bok Choy, about 1 1/2 pounds 

Coarse salt 

6 large scallions, trimmed and chopped 

6 cloves garlic, minced, or to taste 

1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste 

2 inches ginger, peeled and minced 

3 tablespoons fish sauce 

2 tablespoons plum vinegar 

1 tsp Black pepper

Shred cabbage crosswise into ½ inch strips and separate the strips. Toss with 1 tablespoon salt and the remaining ingredients. Weigh down with a plate, cover with a cloth and let ferment 1 day or up to a week.  

1 London Broil, about 1 1/2 pounds 

¼ cup soy sauce

1 Tb olive oil

1 tsp chopped rosemary

1 tsp black pepper

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 lime, juiced 

1. Place ingredients, except lime juice, in a pan or bag and marinate 1 to 6 hours.

2. Remove steak from marinade and wipe dry. Place on a heated grill and cook 4 minutes per side. Remove, tent with foil and let it rest. Heat marinade to a boil for 1 minute and add lime juice. Carve against the grain on a 45° angle. Place a portion of Kim Chi on a plate and top with steak. Spoon a little marinade over steak and serve. 

Yields 4 servings. 

Is the Public Tipping?

Are American Religious, i.e. 'wackos', becoming more tolerant of those they dislike? I think not, but there is always hope.

Mis-Informate, Mate

Get Out and Vote!

Good News Through Statistics

Homophobes Need Not Apply

No one reads me so: