11.06.08
Yma Sumac, 1922-2008
I hadn’t realized that Yma Sumac had died until I received an email just now from Josh. I vividly remember listening to one of her LPs in college (1957-61). Her obit in the NY Times.
Grilled steak with Roquefort sauce
This sounds like a good idea for the upcoming weekend:
Grilled Steak With Roquefort Sauce
Yield 4 servings
Time 20 minutesMy favorite blue cheese for this sauce is Roquefort, but Stilton, Gorgonzola, Maytag blue or any high-quality, fairly soft blue cheese will work equally well. Don’t try to make this sauce with commercially produced domestic blue cheeses like those sold precrumbled for salads — it will not provide enough creaminess. As for the steak, the usually too-lean and mildly flavored tenderloin (filet mignon) will do fine. A good strip steak or rib-eye would be chewier and more flavorful, but also fattier [whence the flavor; my favorite steak is the rib-eye. - LG].
- 1 tablespoon butter or neutral oil, like canola
- 4 tablespoons minced shallots
- 2 tablespoons white wine or cider vinegar
- 6 ounces crumbled Roquefort or other blue cheese
- Pinch of cayenne
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 to 2 pounds strip or rib-eye steaks, or filet mignon
- Minced fresh parsley or chives for garnish, optional
1. Start a charcoal or wood fire or preheat a gas grill or broiler; the fire should be quite hot, and grill rack no more than 4 inches from heat source.
2. Place butter in a small saucepan over medium heat; when butter melts and its foam begins to subside, add shallots and cook until soft, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add vinegar, stir, and cook until it is just about evaporated, 1 or 2 minutes. Turn heat to low and stir in cheese, cayenne and a few grindings of pepper. Stir occasionally until cheese melts, then taste and adjust seasoning. Keep warm while you grill steaks.
3. Season steaks well with salt and pepper, then grill or broil about 3 to 4 minutes a side for medium-rare, longer or shorter according to your taste. Serve steaks with 1 or 2 spoonfuls of sauce over each, garnished with parsley or chives if you like.
Another NaNoWriMo interview
Useful reading for those participating in National Novel-Writing Month.
Songbird 1.0 RC1 available
Songbird is the Mozilla of media players, and it works like a charm, with all the usual Mozilla benefits: free, open source, lots of add-ons, etc. Take a look.
Busybody influence
Religious sects are of various types, some quietly contemplative, some focused on charitable works, and some seem to consist of busybodies—-nosy-parkers with lots of advice for others. The worst of these work to get their own religious requirements into law so that everyone must obey them. We saw this at work in the passing of California’s Proposition 8 (which makes gay marriage unconstitutional in California), when millions of dollars were poured into California from Utah because the Mormon Church does not allow gay marriage—which is fine, but why do they want to impose their beliefs on others? It is as though Jews and Muslims were funding a massive effort to make pork illegal (which they don’t do, you know?).
Not so long ago, contraception was illegal because some nosy-parker religious types belonged to a religion that forbade the use of contraception, so they made it illegal for everyone. And, of course, we see a continuing effort on the part of some to force everyone to learn one particular creation myth (the one without the thetans) as part of public instruction in science.
It were best if these religious nosy parkers and busybodies would focus on their own spiritual development and not be so aggressive in their efforts to force their religious requirements on others.
Proposition 8 is already being challenged as being unconstitutional, and I hope the court finds that it is. Why shouldn’t gays be allowed to marry? What harm does that do to anyone else? Marriage itself is a continually changing institution. (For example, nowadays the bride is no longer considered the groom’s property, though I’m sure that change, too, was resisted as “destroying the institution of marriage”.)
Terrific movie: The Oh! in Ohio
Just saw The Oh! in Ohio last night, a movie that finds the “fun” in sexual dysfunction. Parker Posey does a wonderful job, especially in her hilarious orgasmic fit during a business presentation. The entire movie is enjoyable: an unusual sex comedy in that it’s aimed at adults instead of the sophomores who constitute the main audience for the no-taste raunchy movies (American Pie and its numerous clones). Well worth viewing. I
A peach of a shave
Honeybee Spa Peach shaving soap, which I melted and poured into my own jar. Terrific fragrance. The brush is a Plisson No. 12 High Mountain White with bone handle. The Edwin Jagger lined Chatsworth holds a new Feather blade, and of course Thayers Peach is the logical aftershave. An exceptional shave with a fine summer fragrance.
