Drunken Beans

This is a good summer recipe as well when cooked in the slow cooker. A nice addition to any potluck or BBQ. Mangia!

Drunken Beans

1/2 pound bacon, chopped
1 large ham hock or two small ones

1 large white onion, chopped

1 tablespoon dried Mexican oregano

1 garlic clove, chopped fine

2 cups dried pinto beans, picked over, soaked in cold water at least 4 hours and up to 12, and drained

1 quart water plus additional if necessary

3 chopped chipotle peppers

2 12-ounce bottles dark Mexican beer such as Negra Modelo

2 teaspoons salt plus 1/2 teaspoon if necessary

Tajin seasoning to taste

                                          

Fry bacon until browned but not crisp. Add all ingredients except salt to slow cooker. Cook on high for about 4 hours or until beans are tender but not falling apart. It could take a little longer depending on the age of teh beans.

Emeril Lagasse's Jicama Slaw

This is a great summer slaw. I get so tired of cabbage slaws. And jicama is light and refreshing. I add corn to this and use some Tajin seasoning in the dressing. Mangia!

Ingredients

• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 cups shredded or julienned jicama
• 1/2 bunch green onions, sliced thinly on the bias
• 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

Directions

Combine the yogurt, lime juice, cider vinegar, sugar, cilantro, cumin, salt and pepper and whisk to combine. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to develop.

When ready to serve, combine the jicama, green onions, and red bell pepper in a large bowl and add the dressing. Toss gently but thoroughly to combine. Season with additional salt and pepper, if necessary. Serve immediately.

Seared Shrimp with Chard, Chiles and Ginger and A Ramble About Chard, Clam and Bacon Pizza

I love love love chard. Most farmer's markets and the better grocery stores (meaning the ones that have a decently diverse produce department) will carry rainbow chard which includes stalks of beautiful yellow, red, pink and white. I occasionally make pizza with rainbow chard, clams, bacon and garlic. I don't make my own dough, being fairly apathetic about anything baking-related, which by extension of definition means anything involving flour as a major ingredient, so I use dough from the deli, the kind you buy in the bags. Whole wheat, so I can feel virtuously healthy although I about to eat more bacon than is considered good for me. I chop up and fry the bacon, reserving a little bacon fat, and set it aside to drain on paper towels. Then I saute the stalks in the bacon fat, sliced thin, with garlic, then add canned clams, liquid from the clams and chard leaves. Simmer until leaves are tender, add a splash of sherry vinegar. I start the crust in a cast iron skillet sprinkled with corn meal and top it with the chard mixture, sprinkle with bacon and some parmesan and into the oven to finish cooking (not baking!) the crust.

Ok, but we're here to try out this new recipe from Melissa Clark, a frequent contributor to the NY Times. This was very yummy, although my Go To Ralphs was out of rainbow chard. Something about the shopping list caused everyone from the butcher to the check out staff to ask what was for dinner. Good discussion at check out about people's favorite stir fries! I made Rice Select's Royal Blend rice to go with. It's a fun blend of white, brown, wild and Thai red rice. The brown rice is pre-cooked so it only takes about 15 minutes to prepare.Mangia!





Melissa Clark
The New York Times

Seared Shrimp With Chard, Chiles and Ginger

Time: 20 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

1 1/2 pounds cleaned extra-large shrimp

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, more for seasoning the shrimp

2 bunches red or rainbow chard, rinsed (about 1 pound)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 hot chile like Thai or Hungarian wax, seeded if desired and thinly sliced

1 long mild or sweet chile like Italian frying, thinly sliced

1 shallot, chopped

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root

2 teaspoons light brown sugar

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 to 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar, to taste

1/2 cup cilantro leaves

1. Season shrimp generously with salt. Wash and trim chard, thinly slicing the stems.

2. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil, then add shrimp and sear until lightly browned, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer shrimp to a plate. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil to the skillet, let heat for a few seconds, then add garlic, chile peppers, shallot and ginger and sauté until slightly browned, about 3 minutes. Stir in sugar, pepper and salt and cook for 1 minute longer. Stir in chard stems and sauté until they start to soften, about 2 minutes.

3. Add the greens to the skillet along with 2 tablespoons water and immediately cover the pan. Keep it covered for 2 to 3 minutes to allow the greens to wilt. Once the greens have cooked down, remove the lid and continue cooking for a few more minutes to allow the water to evaporate. Add the shrimp and any liquid accumulated on the plate and cook just until the shrimp are heated through, about 1 minute longer. Drizzle with the sherry vinegar and gently toss to coat. Serve hot, garnished with the cilantro.

Asian Weekend Continues...Green Curry Pork with Cumin-Spiced Pepitas

Credit Bon Appetit magazine for this yummy honey, from Root Down, a restaurant in Denver. The pepitas (pumpkin seeds, just the insides, with the tougher outer white portion shelled, they're usually found in those racks on endcaps at stores with all the dried fuit and nuts in cellophane packages hanging on j-hooks) add a nice spicy-sweet crunchy touch. Mangia!

Pork and Marinade

1/2 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup (I was out. I used molasses instead) 

2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

2 pork tenderloins (about 2 1/4 pounds total)

Spiced Pepitas

Cumin-Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3/4 cup shelled pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Kosher salt

Curry Sauce and Assembly

3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided

1 small shallot, chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped

1/4 cup green Thai curry paste

1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest

1 14-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk

1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon (packed) light brown sugar

Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

Finished dish!

8 servings

Pork and Marinade  

Combine soy sauce, orange juice, maple syrup, and sesame oil in a large resealable plastic bag. Add pork and seal bag. Chill, turning occasionally, at least 8 hours or up to 1 day.

Cumin-Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pumpkin seeds and toast, shaking pan often, until seeds are brown, about 4 minutes. Add cumin seeds, then gradually add sugar, then lime juice, tossing constantly to coat seeds with melted sugar and juice. Transfer pumpkin seed mixture to a foil-lined baking sheet; spread out and let cool. Season with salt.

Curry Sauce and Assembly

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add shallot and garlic and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add curry paste and lime zest and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute.

 

Add coconut milk and bring just to a boil, stirring and scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pan; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture is reduced by half, 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

 

Transfer coconut milk mixture to a blender. Add cilantro, lime juice, brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons water and blend until smooth. With motor running, drizzle in remaining 2 tablespoons oil and blend until creamy. Season curry sauce with salt and pepper, return to pan, and cover to keep warm.

 

Prepare grill for medium-high heat. Remove pork from marinade; pat dry. Grill pork, turning often, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 140°, 15-20 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes.

 

Slice pork and serve with curry sauce and cumin-spiced pumpkin seeds.

 

DO AHEAD:Cumin-spiced pumpkin seeds and curry sauce can be made 1 day ahead. Store pumpkin seeds airtight at room temperature. Cover and chill curry sauce.

A Dangerous-Looking Fruit - Carlos Dragon.....fruit

Sorry, failed at attempt to tie this recipe into the Anthony Weiner debacle, which has absolutely nothing to do with this fruit or the recipe. Ok? Let's move on!

The store had these beautifully odd-looking specimens, Dragonfruit. Who doesn't like a fruit that looks like it could kill you by flinging one of its pokey sharp-y thingies at you, like Oddjob throwing his lethal hat, or Rosa Klebb with her venom-laced shoe blade. Hold it. We went from Weiner to James Bond? Get on with it, already! 

So, to work with these beauties, you slice them in half lengthwise and then scoop out the flesh like you would with an avocado. Be sure to trim off all the pretty orange-pink skin. The flesh is firm enough to cube or slice. The texture is similar to Kiwi fruit.  Let's make a salad. This is based on a recipe from Thaifood.about.com. Mangia! 


Asian Fruit Salad

 

YIELD: 1 large bowl of fruit salad

 

1 fresh dragonfruit, cubed

1 cup fresh pineapple chunks

1 banana, sliced

1 cup mango, cubed

1 cup strawberries, sliced or cut into quarters

1 cup Kiwi fruit, cubed

1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
6 or 7 basil leaves sliced into a chiffonade
Small handful of mint leaves

 

FRUIT SALAD DRESSING:

1/4 cup coconut milk

1 Tbsp. freshly-squeezed lime juice

2 Tbsp. brown sugar OR palm sugar

Preparation:

1. Stir fruit salad dressing ingredients together in a cup until sugar dissolves. Set aside.
2. Place all the fresh fruit in a mixing bowl.
3. Pour the dressing over and toss well to mix.
4. Pour or scoop the fruit salad into a serving bowl

It's Salad...It's Asian-style Salad...With Steak!

Skip to next paragraph It's been a busy and sad couple of weeks, centered around a pet's declining health and a difficult decision to help it out of its suffering. But I was ready to cook yesterday and felt like Asian.

This is a Mark Bittman recipe, part of his series of Almost Meatless recipes, but I added the step of marinating the flank steak. Mangia!

Thai Beef Salad

8 ounces skirt or flank steak

Marinade

2 tablespoons Tamari

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon each minced garlic and ginger

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

2 teaspoons honey

1 teaspoon sriracha

Salad

6 cups torn salad greens (mixed is nice)

1 cup torn fresh herb leaves (mint, cilantro and basil)

1/4 cup red onion, sliced thinly 

1 medium cucumber, peeled if skin is tough, cut in half lengthwise, seeded and diced

Small red bell pepper, sliced thinly

Dressing

1 small fresh hot red chili, like Thai, or to taste, minced

Juice of 2 limes

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon fish sauce (nam pla, available at Asian markets) or soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon sugar.

Combine marinade ingredients and marinate steak for 1 hour.

Start a gas or charcoal grill or heat a broiler; rack should be about 4 inches from heat source. Grill or broil beef until medium rare, turning once or twice, 5 to 10 minutes, depending on thickness; set it aside to cool.

Toss greens with herbs, onion, bell pepper and cucumber. In a bowl, combine all remaining ingredients with 1 tablespoon water; dressing will be thin. Use half of this mixture to toss with greens. Remove greens to a platter.

Slice beef thinly, reserving its juice; combine juice with remaining dressing. Lay slices of beef over salad, drizzle remaining dressing over all, and serve.

Yield: 4 servings.

Stir Fry Eggplant and Pork with Black Bean Garlic Sauce and a Side of Spicy Okra with Leeks

Tempting little adorable Thai eggplants and baby purple globe eggplants proved irresistible, as did the mounds of okra at the Linda Vista Farmers Market this week. Alas, no zucchini blossoms but Rodriguez Farms will bring some next week (I have dibs on the first dozen, so fugeddaboutit).
 

A stir fry was called for. I recalled a grilled pork and baby bok choy dish I have made in the past, one with a black bean garlic sauce marinade. The baby bok choy brushed with the marinade and thrown on the grill is to die for.
 

So, I threw together black bean garlic sauce, Tamari, Szechuan peppercorns, more garlic, ginger and other delights (below), reserved a bit of the marinade, gave the pork a beautiful bath in it and voila!

The side is simple: a Sriracha-based sauce that I use frequently, okra and sliced leeks. I cooked the side first, then wiped out the wok and did the pork dish.

 

Mangia!

 

Stir Fry Eggplant and Pork with Black Bean Garlic Sauce

 

Eggplant and Pork

1 lb. pork tenderloin

4 Thai eggplants

2 baby purple globe eggplants or Japanese eggplants

6 green onions

2 cloves garlic, minced

 

Marinade

3 tbsp. black bean garlic sauce

2 tbsp. Tamari

1 tbsp. rice vinegar

1 tbsp. Szechuan peppercorns

1 tbsp. each sesame oil

1” piece ginger minced

2 garlic cloves minced

 

Good sized handful of cilantro

 

Slice the pork into 2" long thin strips. Mix the marinade ingredients and reserve 1/4 cup. Toss with the pork and allow to marinate for about 30 minutes.

 

Slice the eggplants into 1/2" wide slices and cut the slices in half. Slice the green onions into 2" long pieces. Heat the work and add some peanut oil and a dash of sesame oil. Stir fry the garloc and green onion for a few seconds to soften and add the eggplant. Fry for a few minutes then add the pork. Continue stir frying until eggplants are softened but still have some bite to them and the pork is just cooked through. There is no need to cook today's pork to death. Just to medium leaves it juicy.

 

 

Spicy Okra with Leeks

1 lb. fresh okra

2 leeks

2 tbsp. Sriracha

2 tbsp. Tamari

1” piece ginger minced

2 garlic cloves minced

1 tbsp. each sesame oil and rice vinegar

 

  Slice the okra in half lengthwise. You can top and tail them if you like, but I don’t. Thoroughly clean the leeks (sandy little buggers!) and cut off root ends and dark green part. Slice the leeks in half lengthwise and slice them into 1/2” pieces.

Mix the other ingredients and toss the okra in it. Heat the wok and add some peanut oil and a dash of spicy sesame oil, if you have it. If you don’t, use regular sesame oil. Add the leeks and stir fry for a couple of minutes until starting to brown a little. Add the okra and continue stir frying until the okra is softened a bit but still has some bite.

Enjoy both dishes with some rice.

Grilled Salmon with Watermelon Panzanella

Watermelon is the wonder food. One of the most nutritious fruits, it is versatile in sweet and savory dishes. This was inspired by a meal at The Chart House, where Alaskan salmon was grilled and served on a bed of watermelon panzanella. I am still trying (quickly) to work through an abundance of basil (grilled corn, tomato and basil salad tomorrow, maybe?). Watermelon, cucumber, basil chiffonade, feta, garlic, balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

There was a spice in the dish that I could not place. It was reminiscent of Indian spices. Maybe cardomom? Maybe coriander? I attempted to ask but the server returned from the kitchen and stated that the salmon is simply seasoned, with only salt and pepper. No, I asked about the panzanella....I've had two glasses of wine...forget it...not very motivated to follow up.

I've tried this with both. I think I prefer the coriander. The  ground seed adds a little something without the over-the-topness of fresh cilantro. Mangia!

Grilled Salmon with Watermelon Panzanella


You could add Kalamata olives and red onion
if you'd like.

 Salmon fillets (I detest farm-raised, they are environmentally nuclear, and just not right)

3 cups cubed seedless watermelon

1 cup cubed, seeded, peeled cucumbers

2 cloves garlic

Good sized handful basil leaves, sliced into a chiffonade

2 cups croutons made from good Italian bread, toasted in oven

1/4 cup feta cheese crumbles

3 tbsp. good olive oil

2 tbsp. good balsamic vinegar

1/4 tsp. ground cardomom or coriander

Toss the salad ingredients. Grill the salmon. Place salmon on top of salad. Eat!

I Couldn't Find Icicle Radishes But Boy Was This Yummy!

Tried this out over the weekend. I only tossed the amount I planned to eat at the time with the dressing so the parsley wouldn't get soggy. It made a lovely lunch today at work. I put in extra anchovies and added a couple of cloves of garlic to the dressing as well. Lovelovelove anchovies! Mangia!

White Bean and Radish Salad

Bon Appétit  | May 2013

by The Bon Appétit Test Kitchen

White Bean and Radish Salad

photo by Hirsheimer & Hamilton

This satisfying salad is great alongside broiled fish, roast chicken, or a simple steak. To turn it into a vegetarian meal, fold in sliced hard-boiled eggs.

Ingredients

• 2 anchovy fillets packed in oil, drained
• 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons drained capers
• 2 1/2 cups (packed) fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, divided
• 1/4 cup (or more) white wine vinegar
• Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
• 1 bunch radishes, trimmed, cut into thin wedges
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• 3 15-ounce cans cannellini (white kidney) beans, rinsed
• 3/4 cup oil-cured black olives, pitted, quartered

Preparation

Blend anchovies, oil, capers, and 1 cup parsley in a blender until a coarse purée forms. Transfer to a large bowl, mix in 1/4 cup vinegar, and season with salt, pepper, and more vinegar, if desired.

Add radishes, scallions, beans, olives, and remaining 1 1/2 cups parsley to bowl and toss to combine.

Heirloom Tomatoes Are Hard To Resist



That's one hot tomato!



Especially when they are all bumpy and green and yellow and orange-streaked, all gorgeous in their utter lack of perfection in appearance.

 I ended up with a large amount of basil left over from an ambitious plan to turn out two dishes requiring the sweet, fragrant herb. Got lazy and managed just the insalate caprese.

I was surfing the web looking for my Royal Baby update (ok, that's not really high brow, but I admit to being hooked) and wandered over to the New York Times and the Dining section.

From Martha Rose Shulman, author of several wonderful cookbooks on Mediterranean and Provecal cuisine. I sauteed shrimp, and de-glazed the pan with white wine, chopped garlic, crushed red pepper and some oregano to go with this. Mangia!



Aww, the shrimp are spooning!



Tomato and Basil Risotto

By MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN

This is a luxurious summer risotto, with tomatoes both cooked along with the rice and added uncooked to the finished risotto.

7 cups well seasoned vegetable stock, garlic stock or chicken stock

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup minced onion

Salt to taste

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 pound tomatoes, grated

Pinch of sugar

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1 1/2 cups Arborio rice

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1/2 cup dry white or rosé wine, such as Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc

1/2 pound additional sweet ripe tomatoes, finely diced (about ¾ cup)

1/4 cup slivered fresh basil

1/4 to 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (1 to 2 ounces)

1. Put your stock or broth into a saucepan and bring it to a simmer over low heat, with a ladle nearby or in the pot. Make sure that it is well seasoned.

2. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a wide, heavy skillet or a wide, heavy saucepan. Add the onion and a generous pinch of salt, and cook gently until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the rice and garlic and cook, stirring, until the grains of rice are separate and beginning to crackle. Stir in the grated tomatoes, sugar, thyme, and salt to taste and cook, stirring often, until the tomatoes have cooked down slightly and coat the rice, 5 to 10 minutes.

3. Add the wine and stir until it has evaporated and been absorbed by the rice. Begin adding the simmering stock, a couple of ladlefuls (about 1/2 cup) at a time. The stock should just cover the rice, and should be bubbling, not too slowly but not too quickly. Cook, stirring often, until it is just about absorbed. Add another ladleful or two of the stock and continue to cook in this fashion, adding more stock and stirring when the rice is almost dry. You do not have to stir constantly, but stir often and when you do, stir vigorously. When the rice is just tender all the way through but still chewy (al dente), in 20 to 25 minutes, it is done. Taste now and adjust seasoning.

4. Add another ladleful of stock to the rice. Stir in the additional finely diced tomatoes, basil and Parmesan and remove from the heat. The mixture should be creamy (add more stock if it isn’t). Serve right away in wide soup bowls or on plates, spreading the risotto in a thin layer rather than a mound.

Yield: Serves 4 to 6

.”

That's A Beautiful Vegetable, uh, I Mean Fruit

Pasta alla Norma is coming soon....mangia!

The Flexitarian

Meaty and Mighty

Praising the Versatile Eggplant

Sabra Krock for The New York Times

By MARK BITTMAN

Published: June 25, 2013 123 Comments

Eggplant is often called “meaty,” by which we mean what, exactly? Substantial? Versatile? Flavorful?

Sabra Krock for The New York Times

Pasta alla norma.

Sabra Krock for The New York Times

Eggplant salad with mustard-miso dressing.

Sabra Krock for The New York Times

All of the above, for sure (as well as tough and chewy on occasion; not necessarily a bad thing). But the comparison is no more fair to the aubergine than it would be to call a piece of beef “eggplanty.”

Eggplant stands alone, a vegetable like no other. Actually, because eggplant is a fruit, like the tomato, to which it’s closely related, it’s safer to label it a food like no other, beloved and appreciated worldwide and deserving of respect, not as a meat substitute but as a treasure in itself.

It isn’t a competition, but if you asked me the old desert-island question, I’d take eggplant before any meat I could think of (and, yes, that includes bacon). It would be ridiculous to claim that eggplant can outperform meat, but it’s not a stretch to see it as useful as any one cut of meat.

It can take myriad forms, as appetizer, side dish or sauce. It can fill the center of the plate as nicely as anything.

This isn’t the place to discuss health effects, but ever since people stopped believing that the nightshade family, of which it is a member, was poisonous, it’s been considered nothing but beneficial.

You can eat eggplant every day, in season at least, and all it’s going to do is make you happy.

This was reinforced for me three times this spring when I spent a little time in Sicily, where a warmer climate produces an earlier eggplant season.

On the first occasion, I had the key ingredients for a mashed eggplant dish akin to baba ghanouj (eggplant, garlic and a wood fire) but no others.

I propped those eggplants against the coals and allowed them to blister, blacken and soften; I did pretty much the same with the garlic. As I was once taught in India, where eggplant is indigenous, I held the shriveled fruits up by their stems with one hand and peeled them with the other. The flesh I mashed with that of the softened garlic, lemon and salt for a dish nothing short of glorious.

You cannot achieve the same flavor without a wood fire (even real charcoal is only second best), but roasting in a hot oven results in perfectly tender eggplant, which you can use for an ad hoc dish like the one I just described, or for classic baba ghanouj.

This treatment addresses the most common question about eggplant, which is, “Should I salt it?” There is more than one answer: If you’re slicing eggplant and you’re looking for an ultra-firm (O.K., meaty) texture, salt the slices and after 30 to 60 minutes, press them between paper towels before cooking. This technique works with many vegetables, because the salt draws out moisture.

But if you imagine that you’re salting to draw out what used to be called “the bitter principle,” don’t bother. Eggplant isn’t bitter. That mashed wood-grilled eggplant was quite sweet, needing a lot of lemon. And if you’re salting because you think the eggplant will absorb less oil when it cooks, that’s a mistaken notion also. Eggplant is a sponge, and as long as you’re using good-tasting oil, it isn’t a problem. (As for the question “Should I peel it?” I think that with the exception of that blistered black skin in Sicily, I can unequivocally answer: never.)

A couple of nights later, a friend made pasta alla Norma, a dish that is Sicilian. It’s really no more than lovingly sautéed eggplant finished in tomato sauce, tossed with pasta and topped with ricotta salata. Dry feta isn’t a bad substitute, and pecorino Romano and Parmesan are fine as well.

While frying the eggplant, one of those leisurely kitchen tasks that takes a while but is nevertheless a pleasure, I was reminded of a variety of eggplant dishes I’ve eaten and made and savored over the years.

One was a version of Parmesan made at the sadly-now-closed Shiek’s in Torrington, Conn., in which the eggplant was salted and pressed into thin, tough slices before layering with way too much mozzarella, in true Italian-American style. Also memorable were the various versions of boiled eggplant you see in Japan, one of which I’ve replicated here. (If you have never boiled eggplant, you must try this one.)

There was the incomparable dish of mostly eggplant skin, it seemed to me, along with cherry tomatoes and loads of basil and oil, highly unusual and incredibly enjoyable, at La Tavernetta, in Naples.

And there were the various “why is this so good?” Sichuan eggplant recipes (answer: they’re fried) as well as the perhaps overrated Turkish classic imam biyaldi, which translated means “the priest fainted,” and my first baingan bharta, which I made myself at home, from a Julie Sahni recipe, and in which the eggplant is roasted in precisely the same way as it is for baba ghanouj.

My final Sicilian eggplant dish was at Ardigna, a restaurant in the remote, nearly deserted hills east of Marsala, where the antipasti was varied and sensational. A friend had told me this was “the only restaurant that matters,” which was perhaps a bit extreme. But among the dishes was a caponata so inspiring that, back home, I searched for and found in Chinatown, naturally, a few of those long, slender, lavender eggplants, and made a caponata of my own.

Over fairly high heat, I softened sliced onions and green bell pepper in plenty of olive oil. As they cooked, I chopped and added the eggplant, along with crushed dried red peppers, capers, pine nuts, chopped green olives, raisins and a bit of sugar. After that had all cooked down, I stirred in tomato paste and vinegar.

I then ate a bit, packed up the rest, hit the road and proceeded to virtually live on it for two days. Show me a meat dish you can say that about.

Couscous on Steroids

Israeli Couscous Tabbouleh

That's what Israeli couscous looks like to me. Super cous! During the ongoing assault on the grain and bean inventory, this week's work will include a fava bean puree of dried beans atop sauteed broccoli rabe and a yellow split pea dish. Yesterday's offering was this yummy recipe from this month's Bon Appetit. I cooked the couscous in vegetable broth (good old Better Than Bouillon) and sauteed  chicken thighs to be cut up and toss with it. Mangia!

Bon Appétit  | July 2013

by Eric Ripert

yield
Makes 8 servings

Rinsing the cooked couscous stops the cooking and prevents it from sticking together as it cools.

Ingredients

add to shopping list

• 1 1/2 cups Israeli couscous
• 1 small shallot, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons (or more) fresh lemon juice
• 1 English hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, finely chopped
• 3 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
• Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

Preparation

Cook couscous according to package directions; drain. Rinse with cold water and drain well.

Whisk shallot, oil, and 2 tablespoons lemon juice in a large bowl. Add couscous, cucumber, tomatoes, parsley, and mint; season with salt, pepper, and more lemon juice, if desired, and toss to combine.

DO AHEAD: Israeli Couscous Tabbouleh can be made 1 day ahead (omit herbs). Cover and chill. Fold in herbs just before serving.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Israeli-Couscous-Tabbouleh-51175480#ixzz2Y5AaxwJ7

Those Which Would Become Grilled Mediterranean Veggies Meet Penne

Ahhhhh, those lovely grilled veggies. Meaty eggplant, shiny red bell peppers, yellow and red grape tomatoes, quick carmelized red onions, briny luscious Kalamata olives and basil chiffonade. Yes, good on the first round, but in the afterlife? The next day, married to penne pasta? Soooo glad I stocked up during the .88 Barilla sale at Ralphs.

People who say they don't like leftovers should really try transforming the dish for its second debut. Then they are no longer leftovers! So, looking at the bounty of grilled, marinated veggies, and the inventory of Barilla, the inspiration appears. Mangia!

Penne with Grilled Mediterranean Vegetables

1 container leftover grilled veggies.....kidding!

1 medium eggplant
2 red bell peppers
1 large red onion
1/2 pint each yellow and red grape tomatoes
1/4 cup sliced Kalamata olives
1 dozen or so good-sized basil leaves
2 tbsp. pinot noir vinegar
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp. olive oil plus some for brushing veggies
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pound penne

Slice the eggplant and onion into 3/4" wide slices. Halve and seed the peppers. Leave the tomatoes whole. Brush all veggies with olive oil and season with S and P. Grill until lovely deep grill marks appear  and onions and peppers are tender but leave the eggplant and tomatoes with some bite to them. While veggies are grilling, bring a pot of water for the pasta to a boil.

Slice the basil into a chiffonade. Reserve a small amount for topping the finished dish. Combine the vinegars, olive oil and garlic. Season with S and P. Chop the veggies (except for tomatoes) into large (1/2 to 3/4") chunks. Cook penne according to package directions. Drain but reserve scan 1/4 cup cooking water. Toss with the veggies, dressing, olives, basil and reserved pasta water.

O Treviso, O Babbino



Treviso innamorata



Oh Daddy!

The radicchio treviso at the store was gorgeous, seductively cranberry and ivory in color like it's small, cabbage-shaped sister, but open and inviting as your lover's arms unfolding to welcome you in....wait, we were talking about vegetables, right?

Ah, yes, it was a veggie night, and I was picking up some good wholesome representatives of the Stuff We Should Eat More Of, but although the plan was to grill* up a bunch of veggies and separate them into Those Which Would Become Mexican Grilled Veggies (red onion, bell peppers, zukes, corn, radishes, scallions, Anaheim peppers, Tajin seasoning, lime garlic cilantro dressing) and Those Which Would Become Mediterranean Grilled Veggies (eggplant, tomatoes, red onion, yellow and red bells, fresh basil, pinot noir vinegar and olive oil), I was sucked in by the treviso.

And suddenly: I craved pork. Boneless, thick cut chops. Grilled, simply seasoned. So much for Veggie Night.

Radicchio is heavenly on the grill. It loses its beautiful deep blush color and turns a muddy brown, but it is all peppery and bitter and smoky goodness by the end of the process. I threw in some asparagus and figured I'd use some of the scallions as well, and maybe crack open that jar of roasted yellow peppers and slice some of those to join it. Grilled is one of the most delightful ways to serve asparagus. My cousin turned me on to that trick decades ago. It all came together with some pinot grigio vinegar and good olive oil. Mangia!

* the term "grill" is used loosely here. Stove top grill pan.

Grilled Treviso, Asparagus and Scallions with Grilled Pork Loin Chops

2 heads treviso

1 bunch thin asparagus

1 bunch scallions

2 roasted yellow peppers from a jar, chopped

2 tbsp pinot grigio vinegar

3 tbsp olive oil

1 pound thick cut boneless pork loin chops

Cut treviso in two lengthwise, leaving core attached. Trim tough ends of asparagus. Top and tail scallions. Heat grill until very hot. Brush all veggies with olive oil, and season with S and P. Grill all veggies until they have lovely grill marks and start to soften but still have some bite to them. Roughly chop all veggies and toss with vinegar, oil and S and P.

Grill chops until cooked just a bit past the medium rare stage: not tough as leather but barely rosy pink in the very center (forget what you heard in the 60s and 70s. You can eat pork that doesn't resemble shoe leather in both taste and texture and live to tell the tale). Thinly slice the pork at a diagonal. Plate the veggies and lay several slices of pork across the top.



Grilled Vegetables and Steak with Tortillas

Mark Bittman is a food god. I follow his work religiously and most Sundays, I gain inspiration from his column in the Sunday New York Times magazine. He has become more health-conscious as a result of trying to ward off high cholesterol and diabetes, and has been writing quite a bit about going vegan before 6 PM, and about grains and about reducing the amount of meat in his diet. I share his love for grains, and also follow Martha Rose Shulman, a lifelong advocate of eating a Mediterranean and Middle Eastern diet which is vegetable- and grain-based. Some of the recipes in the queue: Middle Eastern Lentils with Pasta and White Beans with Celery (Shulman), Lamb Meatballs and Collard Domades, Polenta "Pizza" with Pancetta and Spinach (Bittman). But yesterday? Bittman's Grilled Vegetables and Steak with Tortillas. Mangia!

By MARK BITTMAN

TOTAL TIME

1 hour 

 

 Ingredients

• 2 ears of corn, shucked
• 1 avocado, halved and pitted
• 8 radishes, trimmed
• 1 fairly firm mango, peeled and halved
• 4 limes, halved
• 1 large zucchini, sliced lengthwise
• 2 large bell peppers or poblanos, cored and halved
• 1 bunch scallions, trimmed
• 1 head romaine lettuce, outer leaves removed, but left whole
• Olive oil
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 1 to 1 1/4 pounds rib-eye or strip steak (about an inch thick)
• 8 to 12 small flour tortillas

Preparation

1.

Prepare a gas or charcoal grill for direct cooking; the heat should be high on one side and medium on the other, with the rack about 4 inches from the flame. Have 2 platters handy; one so you can remove the vegetables as they begin to char, and another smaller one for the steak. Get a towel or foil ready for wrapping the tortillas.

2.

Once you have the vegetables prepped, toss or rub them all with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. (You will grill even the limes for squeezing on top of everything else.) Blot the steak dry with paper towels and set aside.

3.

On the hottest part of the grill, put the corn, avocado, radishes, mango and limes and char lightly, turning as necessary, for no more than 5 minutes. Start the zucchini, peppers, scallions and lettuce on the cooler side; they should be cooked until just tender and browned, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer the vegetables to the platter as they finish cooking.

4.

Season the steak with salt and pepper. Score the outer fat, if necessary. If using charcoal, consolidate the coals so that the heat is high again. Put the steak on the hot grill; cook, leaving it alone until the bottom is nicely charred and the steak releases easily, 2 to 4 minutes. Turn and cook for another 3 minutes, more or less, for medium-rare.

5.

Remove steak from the grill and let it rest for at least 5 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the tortillas on the grill, turning once or twice until lightly charred and stack in a towel or foil, wrapping loosely. Prepare the vegetables for serving: Strip the corn kernels off the cob and scoop out and slice the avocado; the rest of the vegetables you can chop or slice however you like, keeping in mind that you’ll be putting them in tortillas.

6.

Slice the steak crosswise, sprinkle with more salt and pepper if you like and return to the platter. Serve the steak and vegetables with the tortillas.

YIELD

4 servings

Pure Pantry - Almost - Barley Salad With Tomatoes and Beans

I've been diligently eating leftovers and drawing down the freezer inventory, but I really needed a break. I needed to make something. And there was the big pile of grain containers staring me in the face. Ah, good old barley! I love the chewy tenderness of barley. And it takes on flavors so well, be they cooking liquid or dressings.

The cupboard had several options, the fridge others, and then there were fresh grape tomatoes, red and yellow, and a yellow bell pepper left over from a tri-pack of red/yellow/green. Yes, I can do something with this!

I cooked the barley in water with Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Base (BTB is my go to stock substitute when homemade is not available...which is pretty much all the time). I chopped up an onion, bell pepper, and sliced the tomatoes in half. I added a can of canneloni and a can of red kidney beans. I made a dressing of pinot grigio vinegar, olive oil, capers, oregano and some jarred olive paste (olivada).

I have some Barilla tricolor penne (all Barilla .88 at Ralphs! Got mini penne, whole grain penne, tricolor, farfalle, rotini, spaghetti) and thought about adding it. Not now but maybe in 4 days when it needs a change for lunch at work.  And maybe some feta?

Mangia!


It sort of looks like this but the beans were kidney and the onion yellow.


Barley Salad with Tomatoes and Beans

1 cup pearl barley
4 cups water
1 Tbsp. BTB Veggie Base
Large onion
Yellow bell pepper
2 cups sliced yellow and red grape tomatoes
1 can kidney beans
1 can large white beans (canneloni)
1/4 cup olive oil
4 Tbsp. pinot grigio vinegar
2 Tbsp. capers
1 Tbsp. dried oregano
2 Tbsp. jarred olivada
S and P to taste

Cook the barley per instructions on bag. Add the stock base to the water. Let cool.

Chop onion, bell pepper and slice tomatoes and add to barley. Drain cans of beans and rinse beans. Add to barley. Make a dressing with remaining ingredients and toss together.

Leftovers On A Grand Scale, or, This Week In Food History

I do love presidential history. A good friend and I were talking about the inaugural luncheon for Obama's Second not too long back, and he commented about Andrew Jackson's raucous shindig. I said, yeah, he threw a kegger! Because I have a tendancy toward being a pedant at times, I had to rattle off some tidbits about the cooking during one of my favorite administrations: Millard Fillmore.

Kidding. I mean FDR. Mrs. Nesbitt, the owner of a bakery that Eleanor frequented, was hired by the First Lady to be the Head Housekeeper, a position at the time that also had purview over the kitchen. She was widely regarded as the single worst White House "chef". She was accustomed to working with upper class families....especially those with no sense of culinary taste apparently. I dug up these tidbits about Henrietta and some other menus. I love the "passive aggressive" comment at the end, but the truth was that Eleanor just didn't pay a lot of attention to him unless she was lobbying for an important social cause that was getting lost in the maelstrom of war and really couldn't care less about food.

Here's some tidbits on the fearsome Mrs. Nesbitt. Menus from some inaugural luncheons follow....food history! I couldn't find the menu at Jackson's kegger unfortunately. Let's just comfort ourselves by thinking it was wings and nachos! With (commentary). Hang in there, Mrs. Nesbitt gets multiple mentions.

The White House Kitchen

When she toured the White House kitchen in 1933, Henrietta Nesbitt, Eleanor Roosevelt’s housekeeper, found cockroaches crawling about. In her book White House Diary she describes her first inspection of the premises—“I can’t work up any charm for cockroaches. No matter how you scrub it, old wood isn’t clean. This was the ‘first kitchen in America,’ and it wasn’t even sanitary. Mrs. Roosevelt and I poked around, opening doors and expecting hinges to fall off and things to fly out. It was that sort of place. Dark-looking cupboards, a huge old-fashioned gas range, sinks with time-worn wooden drains, one rusty wooden dumb waiter. The refrigerator was wood inside and bad-smelling. Even the electric wiring was old and dangerous. I was afraid to switch things on.” “There is only one solution,” she told Mrs. Roosevelt. “We must have a new kitchen.” (It's truly ironic to think that this incredibly bad cook was so diligent about hygiene. The lack thereof wasn't going to kill FDR...he'd be bored to death by the menus!)

Public Works Project No. 634 was instituted; demolition and new construction on the kitchen began in the summer of 1935. During the Depression, the jobless rate was exceedingly high and Franklin Roosevelt insisted relief workers be employed for the reconstruction whenever possible. The renovation, planned by the White House staff and engineers from General Electric and Westinghouse corporations, reconfigured the working space, replaced rusted pipes, put in a whole new electrical system with all-new electric appliances, and installed more efficient dumbwaiters to transport the food to the State Floor dining rooms above. New equipment included six roasting ovens, a sixteen-foot-long stove, eight refrigerators, five dishwashers, a soup kettle, a meat grinder, waffle irons, multiple mixers, a thirty-gallon ice-cream storage freezer, and a deep fryer that held five gallons of fat. Stainless steel storage and counter tops were installed throughout. (8 refrigerators that were utterly unable to meet the challenge of keeping a lot of cut up chicken cold and safe for their debut as inaugural chicken salad. One attendee later carped about the amount of celery and so little chicken in the "chicken salad". Good rule of thumb: never tell your guests what you're making ahead of time. That way, if it doesn't quite work out, you can call it something else. Celery Du Jour!)

The President and Mrs. Roosevelt were delighted, but Mrs. Nesbitt reported that the staff was overwhelmed by the latest technological innovations. They continued to do things the way they had been done in the past: washing dishes, as well as chopping and slicing food—by hand. And unfortunately for President Roosevelt, a new kitchen did not improve the quality or variety of Mrs. Nesbitt’s menus. Mrs. Nesbitt believed in economical, simple, American fare: cheap cuts of meat including brains, sweetbreads, and beef tongues; mashed potatoes; flavorless canned vegetables; molded gelatin salads dotted with marshmallows; and insipid desserts. Franklin Roosevelt once joked that the only reason he sought a fourth term of office was so that he could return to the White House to fire Mrs. Nesbitt!

Although Roosevelt won his fourth election, Mrs. Nesbitt and her bland menus remained, for Mrs. Roosevelt ran the household staff. In her biography Eleanor Roosevelt: Volume Two, author Blanche Wiesen Cook writes, “ER’s curious disregard for her husband’s tastes suggests an explanation for her persistent defense of Henrietta Nesbitt: The housekeeper was one expression of her passive-aggressive behavior in a marriage of remarkable and labyrinthine complexity.” (The leader of the free world, and they fed him canned veggies. He'd never fire Nesbitt. When it came to those things in the purview of the women, like housekeeping decisions, he was utterly whipped early on by his indomitable mother Sara. He had nothing left to fight with by the time Eleanor escaped daily micromanagement by her mother-in-law by ending up in the White House)

 Menu for the James Buchanan Inaugural Ball—March 4, 1857

400 gallons of oysters
60 saddles of mutton (nothing like old lamb)
4 saddles of venison
125 beef tongues
75 hams
500 quarts of chicken salad (rumor had it there was ACTUAL chicken in this one)
500 quarts of jellies (Jellies had been surprisingly popular for centuries. It was one of Elizabeth I's favorite foods. Kind of like their version of jello. Nowadays they don't make the menus that often, except at Lutheran potluck funerals)
A four-foot cake
$3,000 worth of wine (now we're talking!)



Turtle soup? Good idea!

Abraham Lincoln’s Inaugural Luncheon Menu, March 4, 1861

Mock Turtle Soup
Corned Beef and Cabbage
Parsley Potatoes
Blackberry Pie
Coffee

Not an inaugural event, but American royalty just the same...

Nellie Grant’s Wedding Breakfast Menu, May 21, 1874 State Dining Room

Woodcock and Snipe on Toast (what's a snipe??? Isn't that what they always make the rookie in the hunting party go after?)
Soft Crabs on Toast
Chicken Croquettes with Fresh Peas
Aspic of Beef Tongue (The one section I will never touch in Julia Child's Mastering The Art Of French Cooking is about aspics. I don't mind the idea of arranging food in clear flavored gelatin, not "jello" but actual unflavored Knox with chicken stock instead of water for example, but making gelatin from scratch from calves' feet??? Yuck.)
Lamb Cutlets
Broiled Spring Chicken
Strawberries with Cream
Wedding Cake iced with Doves, Roses, and Wedding Bells
Ice Creams and Ices
Fancy Cakes
Punch
Coffee
Chocolate

President and Mrs. Eisenhower’s Dinner Menu in Honor of King Paul and Queen Frederika of Greece, October 28, 1955

Shrimp Cocktail
Cocktail Sauce
Saltine Crackers
Sherry
Clear Consommé
Sliced Lemmon (Lemmmmmmmon......)
Celery Hearts Assorted Olives (no 50s table could be without these things: clear Consommé and olives/celery plates)
Fairy Toast

(wtf is fairy toast???) Per Wikipedia - "Fairy bread is sliced white bread spread with margarine or butter and covered with sprinkles or nonpareils which stick to the spread. It is typically cut into squares or triangles". OK..................we would have never known, having grown up utterly without white bread at home. Wiki goes on - "Fairy bread is commonly served at children's parties in Australia and New Zealand. The origin of the term is not known, but it may come from the poem 'Fairy Bread' in Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses, published in 1885. "Wait a minute,  Ike and Mamie were feeding ADULTS, right??? Of course, she was always wearing pink and had little girl's bangs until she was, like, 100....who's the Princess?????
White Fish in Cheese Sauce (oh man, this sounds like 1950s Home Ec recipe hell, right up there with anything called "Something SURPRISE" and Mom's Secret Weapon)
Coleslaw
Boston Brown Bread Sandwiches
White Wine
Crown Roast of Lamb Stuffed With Spanish Rice
Mint Jelly
French Peas
Braised Celery
Bread Sticks
Orange and Roquefort Cheese Salad Bowl
French Dressing
Toasted Triscuits (Saltines, Triscuits. Was this the White House, or Auntie Arminta's bridge party?) Champagne
Caramel Cream Mold (Salted caramel???? LOVE!!!!!)
Burnt Caramel Sauce (Burnt salted caramel???)
Lemon Iced Diamond Shaped Cookies
Nuts
Candies
Demitasse


More of the fearsome Mrs. Nesbitt, this time with graphic details of the crimes against the nation's leader.....

The Franklin Roosevelt Administration: Henrietta Nesbitt

When meat was rationed during World War II, the White House had to stretch its meat allotment, too. But Mrs. Nesbitt, Roosevelt’s housekeeper, said that she would not skimp on the president’s food if she could help it; others would have to sacrifice because she did not want to worry him about food. (No, not to worry, just to not be able to eat it...) According to Mrs. Nesbitt, favorite White House meat-stretcher foods were: “stuffed peppers, stew, ham scallop, noodles and mushrooms with chicken scraps, spaghetti with meat-cakes cut down from the ‘good old American size’ to mere marbles (Meatcakes????? WTF???? I'm fairly certain I don't want a "good old American size" meatcake. or a marble-sized one either....CTROSAHGS*, that was a quote! They let the woman talk to the press???), curries or omelets with meat tidbits; croquettes for a sustaining meal in themselves; minestrone soup or fish chowders, ‘both good meals in themselves;’ creamed cheeses (soft ones weren’t rationed) for a satisfying light meal (Here you go, Mr. President, a tub of Philadelphia cream cheese. Bon appetit.); gumbo z’herbes (good light meal for children if less spiced); stuffed eggs (meat bits for stuffing) (What is it with Henrietta and the meatcakes/meat tidbits/meat bits? I guess she just couldn't deal with a whole cut?); baked beans, deviled meats (meats again, in unidentifiable preparations) and casseroles.”

Gumbo Z’Herbes (Cheapest Soup) - 2 tablespoons lard 2 tablespoons flour 1 bunch each of spinach, mustard greens, green cabbage, beet tops, watercress, radishes, chopped onion, parsley, thyme, bay leaf, green onion top, salt, pepper, red pepper pod or drop of Tabasco. Bacon strip, veal or port brisket, or hambone. Wash well the greens, bacon strip, hot water and boil well. Drain off water and save it. Fry meat in one tablespoon lard, chopping up the while with the greens with the onion and seasoning. Take out the meat and fry the greens, stirring. When well fried, all the flour, stir. Season well. Add meat and the treasured water of the boiled greens; leave all to simmer for an hour or so.

Croquettes (Can be Done Day Ahead) - Make thick heavy cream sauce, let it get cold. Use left-over fish made into regular croquettes (just not the fish from the ineffective refrigerators). Dip in fine bread crumbs, then into eggs, and back into bread crumbs. Cover with cloth if you want to keep until next day to cook.

Lismore Stew (Serves Six) -   2 pounds lean chuck cut in cubes 12 onions size of walnut or quarter 2 bunches carrots cut Tops of bunch of celery cut in short lengths. Use Dutch oven or iron pot. Braise meat in some fat until nicely browned on all sides so as to have nice gravy. Add vegetables and water, salt and pepper to taste. Add a clove of garlic, then one-fourth teaspoon of stew herbs. Simmer over low fire several hours, watch and stir. Before serving add teaspoon of Worcester or similar sauce. Simmer few minutes.

At least, these recipes make an attempt at identifying quantities and timeframes. Here's two from Martha Jefferson Randolph, Jefferson's daughter:

Macaroni: Boil as much macaroni as will fill your dish, in milk and water, till quite tender; drain it on a sieve sprinkle a little salt over it, put a layer in your dish then cheese and butter as in the polenta, and bike it in the same manner (bike it?)

To Pitchcock Eels: Skin and wash your eels, then dry them with a cloth, sprinkle them with pepper, salt, and a little dried sage, turn them backward and forward, and skewer them; rub a gridiron with beef suet, broil them a nice brown, put them on a dish with good melted butter, and lay around fried parsley. (I can't tell if she's cooking them or dancing with them)

OK, I looked up Andrew Jackson's inauguration, and found this:

The crowd continued to descend into a drunken mob, only dispersed when bowls of liquor and punch were placed on the front lawn of the White House. So, he didn't need the wings and nachos. He lost his wife Rachel shortly after being elected and never had another reception at the WH. Of course, that could have been because the guests trashed the place.

* Christ the Redeemer of S and H Green Stamps, credit: La Torpille Rose



I've got my Girl Scout uniform on under this.

** Mamie and Ike were drifting apart at one point in their marriage, Ike's many military postings and travel creating long periods of separartion. A girlfriend of Mamie's suggested that she employ a subtle power. You mean I should vamp him?, replied Mamie. She cut the bangs and things started heating up again. Little girl bangs. I wonder what other interests the General had?
                                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                             .