Let's see... tomorrow is my friend Maurice's birthday. Happy Birthday Maurice! Hmm, in other news in my ESL night classes I am starting a new session, with some of my favorite students from the previous class, as well as some new ones. This looks to be an exciting new class!
I also got an invitation from a friend to attend one of the local Socialist party meetings he goes to. Now, those of you who know me know I am an extremely political person. In my opinion, as empowered citizens of our society it would be self-indulgent NOT to be active in politics. After all people, it is YOUR lives and futures being decided for you. And without getting on my Marxist soapbox, I don't appreciate having the decsions that affect the working class made by upper-class bourgeois politicians. Even the rich ones that pander to the lower classes (John Kerry, for example) Of course I voted for Kerry because he was lesser of two evils, but I'm talking about principles here. Anyway, I'm interested in going, except I'm not sure if this meeting is for the American Socialist Party or the Communist Party of the United States. May sound like splitting hairs to some people, but there are subtle differences. It would be like saying the Republicans and the Democrats are the same. Of course, even the words "socialism" and "communism" scare or turn-off people because we've been raised to feel that way. But if you ask the average person onthe street to define exactly what socialism and communism are...you tend to get blank stares and answers like "Uh, I don't know dude, like bad and oppressive and stuff." Well, if you want to know, I won't waste anymore time trying to explain them, just read up about Karl Marx and find out for yourself.
Ok, normally I don't get all "serious" on you guys like that!. So now I figured I'd do something a little different today and start merging one of my hobbies (cooking) with my blog. So each week I am going to have my Recipe of the Week, tried and tested in Adam's Kitchen. I know! How very Martha Stewart of me!
This week's recipe comes from my French cookbook by Carole Clements and Elizabeht Wolf-Cohen. (The book is published in the UK, but some places sell it online, one of my best cookbooks). Anyway it's actually very simple, but impresses everyone who's tasted it. Also note I've made a few changes based on my experiences to the instructions. I present...
Cotes de Porc Sauce Nenette
(basically Pork Chops in a rich sauce...but you can subst. with veal or chicken if you wish)
Serves 4
1 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp olive oil, 4 large pork chops 1-inch thick, salt anf fresh ground pepper, 4 tbsp white wine, 1/2 tsp dried thyme, 1 cup heavy cream, 1 tsp tomato paste, 1 tbsp dijon mustard, 1 tomato peeled seeded and chopped, 1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon or parsley. Reccomended serving with French style potato cakes (I serve with rice pilaf)
-Melt butter with the oil in a lagre heavy frying pan over high heat. Season the pork with salt and pepper, then add to pan and reduce heat to medium-high. Cook for 2-3 mins on each side (may take longer...it always does for me) and then transfer to a plate and pour off fat. Add the wine and thyme to the pan and bring to a boil. Add the cream, dijon mustard and tomato paste and simmer for 2 mins, stirring frequently, then return the pork chops to the sauce and cook for 4-5 minutes over med-low heat. Add the chopped tomato and herbs, and cook for one more minute.
And that's it!
Goes best with a white wine, in my opinion. I like my wines very sweet, like Rieslings and other Rhine Valley wines. But many people like their white wines sweet, so you be the judge. And that's another thing about me. I LOVE wine. I used to think people into wine were pretentious and snobby. But I have come to learn a good wine can be...well, orgasmic. Perhaps in future posts I will review some wines I've had (believe me, I cook and have wine with meals a lot). Is this blog getting too stuffy or what! Lol. Well, Ok. I will leave you with a short list of some wines I've had over the holidays that were memorable.
Chianti by Piccini- I figured, hey, an Italian imported Chianti has got to be good right? Wrong. Dont waste your money on this one folks. Avoid the tacky orange bottle!!!
Kindzmarauli from Georgia.- Not the U.S. state Georgia, the country Georgia on the Black Sea! Their wines have an exotic reputation, and well deserved. I never had a Georgian wine I didn't like. I reccomend this one highly!
Louis Jadot Beaujolais- Reasonably priced and very good. I liked it.
Well those are the only ones that stand out in my head right now. More fun stuff to come!
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