Tuesday O’Megalinks

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all my blarney-kissin’, rainbow-chasin’, leprechaun-swattin’ brethren out there. In the immortal words of Jack Donaghy: “Passing out and cursing? On St Patrick's Day? Is nothing sacred?”

Casual Kitchen: The Problem with Government Food Safety Regulation
If you don’t quite understand the problems within the FDA, this is an excellent place to start. Dan explains it clearly and concisely, and even offers solutions. Nice.

Consumerist: Country Of Origin Labeling Officially Begins Today
It’s COOL time, folks! Now you’ll know where all … okay, less than half … of your food comes from! It’s a step!

Culinate: What is householding? Making the choice to stay home
Post of the week, here folks. It’s the best argument for staying at home I’ve ever read, not least because it’s equitable, logical, reasonable, and forward-looking. Fantastic.

“Inside [Irish] pubs, you will usually find Irish people, who are very friendly to strangers, especially compared with the British, who as a rule will not voluntarily speak to you until you have lived in Britain for a minimum of 850 years. The Irish, on the other hand, will quickly start a conversation with you, and cheerfully carry it on at great length, with or without your help.” – Dave Barry

E!: George Clooney: The Other White Meat (like Product)
This is not a joke: PETA is seeking to harvest some of Dr. Ross’ sweat to create George Clooney-flavored tofu, a.k.a. CLOFU. They say: “Cheese-scented CloFu could be used as pizza topping and in lasagna…CloFu will help people be healthier and more environmentally friendly and will spare animals from being killed for the table.” My world has finally collapsed on itself. (Thanks to Eater for the link.)

The Epi-Log: Frugal Eating: Acceptable in Public?
Regina Schrambling went out for dinner, and was shamed by a waiter into buying much more than she was hungry for. Was he angling for a bigger tip? Was she wrong in wanting to cut costs? Is it implicit, when you eat at a particular type of restaurant, that you’ll order more expensive meals? You decide.

Frugal Dad: A Frugal Diet, Or a Frugal Lifestyle
FD notes the similarities between the maintenance phases of budgeting and dieting. Namely, that they're often the hardest parts of either.

“Why are we roasting you? You're Irish, shouldn't we be boiling you?” - Nick DiPaolo at Denis Leary’s Comedy Central Roast

Guardian UK: Naughty and not so nice: celebrity chefs in firing line
Gordon Ramsey and Nigella Lawson are being targeted for having too much saturated fat in their recipes. There’s no mention of Paula Deen, presumably because she’s an American and/or her bacon-wrapped macaroni and cheese would melt the author’s brain.

Jezebel: We Are Totally Over Our Issues With Rachael Ray
Dude, I think the public is easing up on Ray-Ray. Even Tony Bourdain recently called her a nice lady. Of course, in a world where Sandra Lee exists, Rachael comes off like Julia Child in comparison.

The Kitchn: Vegetarians, When Did You Stop Eating Meat?
Ever wonder why and when folks slide into vegetarianism? This huge comment thread will explain everything you need to know, without the anti-meat proselytizing occasionally found within these types of articles.

"Do you not get it, lads? The Irish are the blacks of Europe. And Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland. And the Northside Dubliners are the blacks of Dublin. So say it once, say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud." – The Commitments

New York Times: Bipartisan Call for Food Safety Fixes
If there’s one thing Democrats and Republicans can agree on, it’s what goes into their enormous gullets. Also, that Ann Coulter should be deported.

New York Times: Michelle Obama’s Agenda Includes Healthful Eating
Pardon my politics (again), but how can anyone in the world NOT be in love with Michelle Obama? I want to have a mojito with her. Maybe two.

Serious Eats: Spousal Cooking: Am I a bad person?
Do you hate your S.O.’s cuisine? These people – all 54 of them – can relate.

“Why did the Irish farmer pour alcohol on his vegetable crop? Because he wanted to have stewed tomatoes”- Archie Bunker (Carroll O’Connor), All in the Family

Serious Eats: What are your strange, secret and personal cooking tips?
Answers range from “brine everything” to “use PAM baking spray” to “Mistakes happen. [Get] a dog.” Cute, funny, informative.

The Simple Dollar: A Guide to Making Inexpensive and Delicious Homemade Pizza
Trent is the latest and lastest in a recent rash of home-cooked pizza posts. Witness!

“Seems there are Irish people everywhere, or people who want to be.” – Eddie “Scrap-Iron” Dupris (Morgan Freeman), Million Dollar Baby

Washington Post: New Cooking Schools Are Pitching Classes as an Alternative to Dining Out
Ahhh … young love. Couples are opting for cooking classes over overly-fancy dinners, since A) they learn something, B) there’s often booze, C) it’s less expensive, D) there’s often booze, and E) there’s often booze. (Thanks to Serious Eats for the link.)

Wise Bread: Thirteen Convenience Foods I Think Are Worth the Money
On one hand, herb pastes and frozen pizza. On the other, snow peas and asparagus. It takes all types, yo.

(Photos courtesy of All in One Automotive, Bottoms Up, and Joe's Ramblings.)

Sweet Crespelles and a Stream of Consciousness

Saturday morning. Warmer than yesterday. Boyfriend’s in Queens shooting a sketch. Roommates at brunch. Roommates’ dog … also at brunch? House to myself. Sweet. Turn 101.9 up loud. Wear eyeglasses instead of contacts. Forgo makeup (for now). Contemplate pantslessness. Decide on pants, should roommates come home early.

Make coffee. Ponder breakfast. No cereal. Out of syrup. Need a break from omelets. Have about 2 cups of flour left in the pantry. What to do … what to do …

Ahhhhhh. Crespelles. Italian crepes. Found recipe on Serious Eats earlier in the week. Came from Gina DePalma, the pastry chef at Babbo. That means it’s gotta be good, right? 14,000 versions of dish on the post. Will use the club soda/vanilla extract
combination. Good times.

Combine ingredients. Heat pan. Pour batter in. Wow, I’m terrible at this swirling thing. (Example at right). Need to thin batter with a little club soda and try again. Okay, that’s better. Make second crespelle. And third. And fourth. And … etcetera, etcetera, all the way up to nine. Supposed to make 11 to 13, but chalk it up to being a first-timer.

Okay, now what? What do I fill these things with? Fruit, probably. Maybe strawberry topping? Or blueberry? Or … BANANA. That’s it. And easy. Drop tablespoon of butter in a pan. Melt tablespoon of brown sugar in it. Add one chopped banana. Saute 2 minutes. Add dash of cinnamon, splash of rum. We’re good to go.

Sit down. Pour coffee. Pick up O Magazine (because I’m 50). Read Michelle Obama interview in entirety. Fall in love with her a little more. Eat crespelle. Tastes not unlike super-subtle fortune cookies filled with bananas. I can get with this. Delicious.

Store remaining crespelle in plastic bag between sheets of parchment paper. Will probably stay for a day or two. Briefly wonder where dog is. Forget and enjoy several successive minutes of silence/non-barking.

Get started on post. Do calculations. 84 calories, 3.4 grams of fat per crespelle. Nice. And … what’s this? SEVEN CENTS PER SERVING? Sweet. Will make this again.

Finish post. Listen to Beyonce’s “Halo.” Make decision that I prefer her lower register. Remember crespelle fondly. Fart.

Basic Sweet Crespelle
Makes about 11 crespelles
Adapted from Gina DePalma's recipe on Serious Eats.

1/2 cup 2% milk
1/2 cup club soda
1 large egg
2 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour

1) Get out a blender. Add everything but the flour. Blend briefly to mix the ingredients. Add flour. Blend again, until batter is smooth and lumpless. Scrape the sides if necessary. Set aside, and scoop out any lumps that rise to the surface.

2) Grease a medium pan. Preheat over medium-high. Once it's pretty hot, add just enough batter to cover the pan's bottom, and swirl it around. (If it's too thick, add a little OJ.) Cook a few minutes, until edges are set and start to lightly brown. Using a spatula, carefully flip the crespella. Cook only 30 more seconds, until it's totally cooked. Do the same with the rest of the batter. (You will get better at it as you go along; it's okay to dump the mistakes.)

3) Stack finished crespelle between sheets of parchment paper, "keeping them warm in a low oven."  Serve with fruit and powdered sugar.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price Per Serving
86 calories, 3.4 g fat, $0.07

Calculations
1/2 cup 2% milk: 61 calories, 2.5 g fat, $0.13
1/2 cup club soda: negligible calories and fat, $0.09
1 large egg: 74 calories, 5 g fat, $0.13
2 1/2 tablespoons butter: 255 calories, 28.8 g fat, $0.15
2 tablespoons sugar: 93 calories, 0 g fat, $0.04
1/4 teaspoon salt: negligible calories and fat, $0.01
1 teaspoons vanilla extract: 12 calories, 0 g fat, $0.12
1 cup all-purpose flour: 455 calories, 1.3 g fat, $0.10
TOTAL: 950 calories, 37.6 g fat, $0.77
PER SERVING (TOTAL/11): 86 calories, 3.4 g fat, $0.07

Black Bean Soup and The Daily Show: Delicious! Angry!

I usually write these posts well in advance. Today’s was to be about a recent dream in which Al Pacino stopped by to deliver cake to my sister. (“Everyday at 4:30, she passes my HOUSE, and she LOVES my CAKE! So I thought I’d bring her some HERE.”)

Then, this morning, I caught wind of last night’s Daily Show, where Jon Stewart’s sat down with CNBC’s Jim Cramer. And … whoa.

Backstory: Jon and Jim have been feuding all week, after a cohort of Cramer’s skipped a Daily Show interview. In response, TDS produced a blistering takedown of CNBC, essentially calling the channel a fraud. Cramer fired back, Jon fired back again, and it came to a head yesterday, when Cramer appeared on TDS for his own interview.

And by “interview,” I mean “public slaughter.” Just to give you an idea, here are a few choice quotes from Stewart:

“You know, we're both snake oil salesman to a certain extent, but we do label this show as snake oil here.”

“I got to tell you, I understand you want to make finance entertaining, but it's not a [expletive] game.”

And finally:

“What we are getting is, listen you knew what the banks were doing. And yet we're touting it for months and months. The entire network was. And so now to pretend that this was some sort of crazy, once in a lifetime tsunami that nobody could have seen coming is disingenuous at best and criminal at worst.”

Again, whoa.

Here’s the thing - Jon’s not blaming Cramer for the crash, nor is he attacking Cramer’s personal ethics. (Well, maybe a little) He’s attacking the competence of televised financial news, and Cramer was the only one to sack up and attempt to defend it. (Poorly. Oh-so-very poorly.)

Ideally, the prime responsibility of news organizations is to act as a watchdog for the public – to strive for objectivity (which doesn’t truly exist, but still), to be the fourth estate that Thomas Jefferson so eagerly promoted as a check/balance for government. Financial news, in particular, has to be extra-vigilant, as it ostensibly affects the well-being of millions.

CNBC failed at that. Really, it didn’t even try. Part of it is the nature of television. CNBC survives on ad dollars generated by ratings, and the easiest way for most cable TV channels to garner those ratings (Nickelodeon and ESPN aside) is through celebrity and shock value. So CNBC brings on the CEOs and the loud, flashy financial bigwigs. And they lob softball interview questions so they'll come back. And they tell the public, who has much less experience in economics, that these people are trustworthy, EVEN THOUGH CNBC KNOWS BETTER.

Stewart’s takedown is a few months (years) too late, and it's tinged with blamegame-ism, but it’s merited. Where were these guys when bad stuff was going down? Why didn’t they investigate? Why did they sidle up to industry bigwigs when they knew they were charlatans? It’s the same damn questions we asked of the news a few years ago when Hurricane Katrina hit, and it’s frustrating as hell to see it happen again.

So that’s my two cents. Readers, how about you?

Oh! Wait! But don’t go yet! There’s food. Namely, this black bean soup from Mark Bittman. It’s delicious! With a fried egg on top, it’s even better! Eat it! Happy weekend!

Black Bean Soup with Fried Egg
Adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman
Serves 4

1-1/2 tablespoons canola or olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder, or more to taste
2 15-ounce cans black beans (or 3 cups cooked from dry), drained and rinsed
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
Juice of 1 lime, or to taste
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

For garnish:
Sour cream or plain yogurt, or 4 eggs (1 egg per bowl)
If using eggs, 1 tablespoon olive oil

1) Heat 1-1/2 tablespoons of the oil in a heavy soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until softened, about 6 or 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic and chili powder and cook, stirring constantly, for an additional minute.

2) Add the beans, stock, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a gentle boil, then simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes.

3) If using eggs, heat an additional 1 tablespoon of oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-low heat in the meantime. Add the eggs, cover, and fry slowly until the whites are completely set and the yolk is to your liking.

4) To thicken the soup, purée it briefly with a stick blender, transfer half through food mill or into a blender, or just mash it by hand. Remove from the heat and add the lime juice. Adjust seasoning as necessary, garnish with cilantro and egg or yogurt or sour cream. Serve immediately.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price Per Serving
Plain soup: 258.5 calories, 6.3 g fat, $1.10
With one fried egg on top: 362 calories, 15 g fat, $1.25

Calculations for Plain Soup
1-1/2 tablespoons canola or olive oil: 179 calories, 20.2 g fat, $0.23
2 medium onions, chopped: 92 calories, 0.2 g fat, $0.53
2 cloves garlic, minced: 9 calories, 0 g fat, $0.09
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder, or more to taste: 35 calories, 1.5 g fat, $0.06
2 15-ounce cans black beans, or 3 cups cooked from dry: 641 calories, 3.2 g fat, $1.50
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock: 67 calories, 0 g fat, $1.33
Juice of 1 lime, or to taste: 10 calories, 0 g fat, $0.33
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped: 1 calories, 0 g fat, $0.33
TOTAL: 1034 calories, 25.1 g fat, $4.40
PER SERVING (TOTAL/4): 258.5 calories, 6.3 g fat, $1.10

Calculations for Soup Plus Fried Egg
1 tablespoon olive oil: 119 calories, 13.5 g fat, $0.11
4 eggs: 296 calories calories, 20 g fat, $0.50
TOTAL: 415 calories, 33.5 g fat, $0.61
TOTAL PLUS SOUP: 1449 calories, 58.6 g fat, $5.01
PER SERVING WITH SOUP (TOTAL/4): 362 calories, 15 g fat, $1.25

CHG Favorites of the Week

Food Blog of the Week
Tammy’s Recipes
Don’t be fooled by the simple, uncomplicated layout – this extensive collection of creative, homey recipes is guaranteed to keep you busy for the rest of the year. Nice tips and rating abound, with special attention paid to frugality in the kitchen.

Food Comedy of the Week
Orange Mocha Frappucino scene from Zoolander
Male models are more than just really, really good-looking; they’re also somewhat destructive.



Food Organization of the Week
BedStuy Campaign Against Hunger
Fellow Brooklynites! BCAH is having a serious problem making rent lately (something we’re all familiar with). Check this Daily News article for details, and then learn more about the nonprofit here.

Food Quote of the Week
While we’re on the subject, here are a few choice words from Zoolander:

Maury Ballstein: I've got a prostate the size of a honeydew and a head full of bad memories.

Matilda: I became...
Hansel: What?
Matilda: Bulimic.
Derek Zoolander: You can read minds?

Mugatu: Todd, are you not aware that I get farty and bloated with a foamy latte?

Food Movie Clip of the Week
Royale with Cheese scene from Pulp Fiction
Get the kids out of the room for this one, folks. (Rated R for language.)



Totally Unrelated Extra Special Bonus of the Week
40 Inspirational Speeches in 2 Minutes
Bring the kids back in the room for this one, folks. Then, blast your speakers! Raise your eyes! Salute the glorious day! (Thanks to Frugal Dad for the link.)