Text 17201, 142 rader
Skriven 2014-09-20 10:35:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av NANCY BACKUS
Ärende: running around 981
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 NB> After I was more or less settled here in NYS, going elsewhere, even
 NB> for just short trips, made me feel less restless...

If I were to be, heaven forfend, cut off from travel, I'd
still want substantial changes of venue, even if it meant
being wheeled down the road: it would make me feel less
restless as well.

 Back when we had
 NB> more money coming in, Richard gladly bankrolled my trips, especially
 NB> the ones with his mother for genealogy... made everyone happy,
 NB> especially as he had no interest in traveling, and didn't mind being
 NB> left alone...  :) 

Good when one's partner has complementary needs to on -
probably much better than when he has supplementary ones.

 ML> saying that my grandfather was a ne'er do well and
 ML> survived only on loans from Sy's father (my grandfather's
 ML> brother), who worked hard and made an incredible amount
 ML> of money. 
 NB> I take it that the travel continued on his own agenda after retiring,
 NB> perhaps, from being a diplomat...?  Or was he an informal diplomat,
 NB> not on anyone else's payroll...?  And perhaps Sy's father had a more
 NB> favorable outlook on his brother's travel....?

Retiring? His retirement job was deputy chairman of the
Central Bank of China, and when he retired from that,
they sent him to be the Taiwanese observer delegate to
OPEC. Sy's father probably had a better attitude, probably, 
and it isn't clear what degree or type of assistance my
grandfather got from him anyway. I'm guessing that Sy's
father would vent about whatever situation it was around
the dinner table, and Sy got the idea (perhaps unjustified)
that my grandfather was soaking him of millions that would
otherwise have gone to Sy and his brother. 

My grandfather had the reputation of being the only honest
guy in Chiang's government. Perhaps it's true - he certainly
didn't amass huge sums the way many of his friends did. The
smallness of my inheritance (he had at least a dozen grandkids,
anyway) is a partial testament to that.

 ML> In my case, it's a string of small inheritances,
 ML> but the concept is the same.
 NB> And with no one you have to leave it to, you might as well use it
 NB> yourself... makes a lot of sense to me.

I used to give to charity; this latest tendency of mine
may reflect an idea that charities don't do a whole lot
of good.

 NB>> I can understand the ambivalence... even with the outward aspects of
 NB>> enjoying the whole travel thing... I've never been a world traveler in
 NB>> the sense you've been... only been to GB multiple times, and any other
 NB>> trips have only been pipedreams... but there's both the allure and
 NB>> also the lack thereof...  ;)
 ML> For me not an allure and the lack thereof but rather an allure
 ML> and an anti-allure.
 NB> Anti-allure..?  Yes....??

An active dislike rather than a blah nonfeeling. Opposites are
not absolutes, despite the terminology. One can formulate
comparisons where what is usually considered opposite is not
the extreme at all. 

 ML> tested for chemicals. I figure it couldn't be an explosives
 ML> check but rather a drug check, as in recent months I have been
 ML> visiting places famous for psychotropic substances. I am quite
 NB> Might have been explosives

Neh. The procedure was all wrong. This guy did a detailed and
(to a normal person) embarrassing body check and then tested
his gloves using the chemical sniffer - an action that would
not make sense for explosives but might for other kinds of
contraband.

Braised beef with potato puree and foie gras
Categories: stew, main, fancy
Serves: 4

h - For the braised beef
2 3/4 lb beef cheek
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
1 c carrots
1 c celery
1 1/2 c onions
1/2 Tb rosemary
4 bay leaves
2 ts thyme
2 c red wine
4 1/4 c vegetable stock
h - For the potato puree
1 c boiled potato
1/3 c milk
6 1/2 Tb butter
Salt to taste
h - For the presentation
4 escalopes (1 1/2 oz each) foie gras
1/2 c shallots
Flour
Oil

Cut the meat in four pieces, sprinkle with salt and pepper,
and fry in a pan on high heat until golden brown. Cut all
vegetables into 1" cubes. Add vegetables and herbs to the
pan and continue to cook on medium heat. Put everything
into a baking tray; add red wine and vegetable stock and
cover the tray (with foil or cover) and cook in the oven
for 7 hr (or until nice and tender) at 200F.

When finished cooking, remove the pan from the oven and
remove the meat. Filter the remaining sauce into a pan and
reduce until it reaches your desired consistency.

Boil whole potato with skin until soft. Peel the potato
as soon as it can be handled. Mash the potato using a
ricer (smallest hole) into a large mixing bowl.

In a small pot, heat milk and butter on medium heat just
until the milk starts to boil, then pour into the bowl of
mashed potato in small quantities and mix with a wooden
spoon. Continue adding milk mixture until potatoes are
smooth and creamy. Finish with salt to taste.

Pan-fry the foie gras in a non-stick pan at a high
temperature until browned on the outside. Be careful not
to cook too long. The inside should be soft and melt in
your mouth.

Slice the shallots into thin slices. Powder with flour.
Deep-fry in hot oil until golden brown.

Onto each of four deep plates, place two spoons of potato
puree, then stack the meat, then the foie gras. Finish
with a generous spoon of sauce and fried shallot.

Roberto Conrad, Outrigger Laguna Phuket Beach Resort
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