Because you asked

Dear Internet,

As a foodie, I'm faced with a certain dilemma. One the one hand I could stand to eat hunks of cow on a regular basis, yet my vanity isn't down with that and my sense of mortality seconds the motion. The solution is to "stretch" the beef component, so my tastebuds get to groove on all the beefy deliciousosity without needing to wrap myself outside a steak the size of a hubcap.

So, here is one of my fave ways of doing just that. Beef Negamaki.

Start with a fairly small portion of none-too-precious (any member of the "round" family) beef. Tenderness is not an issue, but deeply beefy flavor is.
Wrap the beef in plastic. (Cheapskate that I am, I use the same wrap whence it came.) Whack it with a meat mallet. You want it as thin and flattened as possible without tearing.
Once flattened, put trimmed scallion/green onion/spring onion/these things segments along the length. Roll up tight. You should be able to wrap twice around, otherwise use a toothpick to secure. (figure 1/2 lb. beef for 6 scallions)

Now, make a glaze/dipping sauce.
Let your taste be your guide. I like soy sauce, sesame seeds & peanut oil (w. a dash of sesame oil), TINY bit of fresh garlic and fresh ginger, TINY bit of red pepper flakes, lemon and [not pictured] a smallish spoonful of light brown sugar. Stir to dissolve sugar. Adjust to taste. (In my case the proportions of soy:lemon:oil are 3:1:1, but taste and adjust as you go.)
Coat the beef LIGHTLY with peanut oil -- or whatever you're not allergic to -- for two reasons, so the beef doesn't stick to the grates and so the seasonings don't draw out the juices of the beef. That done, salt and pepper the beef rolls and throw on the grill. (It was raining so we used the indoor grill.)Flip over and brush the TOP SIDE with the glaze/soy thing. You want it to caramelize, not burn. Then you flip over again and glaze the other side. Repeat. You want a deeeeeeeeep brown crust.
Give the remaining glaze a quick boil (microwave is fine) to thicken up and eliminate any microbial interlopers. (A TEENSY bit of cornstarch/water solution will help if you like your glazes the consistency of, say, BBQ sauce.) Plate with some spinach salad on the side and veggie potstickers. (More on that soon. I had some saved up in the freezer.)

The spinach is dressed with a miso-wasabi dressing, note the dipping sauce and the sake cups with the STELLAR Sam Adams Black Lager, because I'm geeky like that. You're supposed to slice the beef into bite-sized rolls, like this.

But it was late.

And we were hungry.

And I forgot.

-J.

Missed me?

Being all Papist and stuff, we observe a fast on Ash Wednesday. Iberic tradition holds the fast to keep until after sunset (or, as it's called in Spain, "lunchtime") and even then, no meat or poultry need apply. So, I made one of TFBIM's faves, Black (i.e. Squid Ink) Spaghetti and Shrimp with Puttanesca Sauce.

First you need garlic (I used 4 big cloves, you non-Mediterraneans'll probably wanna halve that), sliced as finely as your patience your allow. Several of you have emailed me asking what "as finely as your patience your allow" means. It means this:

Take a small yellow onion, and chop it to the limits of your patience, also.Assemble the rest of the ingredients.Anchovy paste (I like Amore, and in this case I prefer the paste over the whole fillets, because these dissolve far better in a sauce), capers, squid in spaghetti, red pepper flakes. [Not pictured: Shrimp, & dried herbs (oregano, thyme & marjoram)] Oh, and also olives (I prefer Gaeta) which I marinated in herbs and EVOO. You'll need both the olives and the marinating EVOO. Oh, and tomatoes. This is my favorite brand. You can use crushed, chopped or strained, depending on your desired chunkiness. I like it medium chunky, hence the "chopped."Put a couple of tablespoonfuls of the marinating EVOO in a skillet over medium heat.

Once it starts shimmering add red pepper flakes to taste. I use 1/4 teaspoon, you might want to start with just a pinch and work on up therefrom. You want the flavor of the flakes to permeate the oil. Throw in the garlic slices, again you want the flavor to be shot through the oil also. However, you don't want it to brown, so after 10-15 seconds... You toss in the onions, stir a bit and then add the anchovy paste (about two inches, and NO it's not a worm...sheesh). Cook over medium-low heat until the onions become translucent. Add the tomatoes. Stir. Taste. Cook until the brightness is muted a little. Adjust salt and pepper. Keep the salt on light side, because the capers (about which, more anon) will also add saltiness. Put a large pot full of water to boil. Once boiling add a good tablespoon of salt and then toss in the pasta. When it's al dente (7-8 minutes, but start tasting at about 5 minutes, because there are a lot of variables at play here) drain the pasta (leaving behind a couple of ounces of the water). And return to the pot, set heat to low, add shrimp.

You may be tempted to get humongous shrimps (or prawns). Don't. Get someting in the "31-40" size, or slightly smaller. You want, ideally, for the shrimp to be half a mouthful, that you may twirl pasta and spear shrimp for the best taste...and still have it fit in your mouth. The ones here are 31-40s, and those were a touch large. 41-50s would be better. However, the smaller the shrimp, the easier it is to overcook. So watch it!

Stir. When the shrimp start changing color, add the sauce, stir and take the pot off-heat. The residual heat will continue to cook the shrimp. You should end up with something like this:

And the capers.If you are allowing yourself some of the fruit of the vine and the work of human hands, open the wine. You want something not too heavily oaked, with decent fruit and acid. This "lightweight" Chardonnay is ideal, with juicy pineapple-ish notes that play off the mild spiciness and good acid to counteract the saltiness.Have

Have a blessed Lent.

-J.

Prayers needed for my dad.

Just wanted to bring you up to speed on something and, ask for your prayers. On Sunday, my dad fell out of bed in his sleep and fractured his humerus. He walked into Doctor's Hospital's ER, after 11 hours (!) there he was admitted; surgery was considered and subsequently ruled out.

Since he suffers from both Parkinson's and Alzheimer's the fall, fracture and subsequent hospitalization has seen an exceedingly sharp decline in his condition. He is completely incoherent, disoriented and agitated and not recovering from that state. What seemed like a moderate medical annoyance has now become a potentially grave health crisis.

Tonight my mom, sister and I had to have The Extraordinary Measures Talk. It was saddening and surreal to select from a "menu" of possible actions. "Yes, No, Yes, Yes, No."

Yes, this is pretty bloody awful.

AMDG,

-J.

Fr. Arrupe's 102nd Anniversary

I thought it worth posting this "Golden Oldie."

AMDG,

-J.

Into the lion's den.

What have I gotten myself into?

AMDG,

-J.

Policy change.

UPDATE: The America Magazine blog comment policy has been amended again. Commenters needn't be subscribers, but they MUST register. This strikes us as eminently fair. We will not take credit for this change, nor will be start swanning about smugly, because God hates it when we do that, and often makes His displeasure felt. Commenters here from said magazine will not be required to sign the Mandatum in order to comment. Only those with S.J. appended to their name.
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America Magazine's blog now only allows comments from paid subscribers. A cynical person -- not I, but a cynical person -- might say this is a subtle but exceedingly effective way to sharply curtail dissenting* opinions in the combox discussions appended to each post. America Magazine and its blog has a clear ideological slant, and ideological slant is likely to be subsidized by those whose jib is similarly cut, and therefore, by excluding those whose ideological tilt would preclude them from financially supporting America Magazine with subscription dollars, the cynics might say, America Magazine has managed to institute a chilling effect on commenters who might bring an unwelcome viewpoint to online discussions.

In unrelated news, any commenter on this blog from America Magazine will be required to sign the Mandatum before the comment is posted.

AMDG,

-J.

* No, the irony is not lost on me.

Yeah, sure, you're pro-life, but are you any good at it?

Something's been bouncing around in my head these last few weeks, after the President's address at Notre Dame and having heard, ceaselessly, from those Professional Catholics who made it a point of defending both the university and the President.

There was one refrain which I heard from these folks over and over again. Something to the effect of "...and I'm really, REALLY pro-life, so don't misunderstand me..."

First, it was great to see these folks feeling the need to preemptively explain themselves. After all, those of us on THIS side of the ideological divide have often felt the compulsion to preface half of what we say by stating that, yes, we actually DO care for the poor and the oppressed.

Second, it was fun to see most of their arguments include the dog-eared trope of "Well, when President Bush..." (It seems abundantly clear to me these benighted folks intend to run against Bush for the next 50 years, sort of how they ran against Hoover until 1956.)

Third, I received much not-so-innocent pleasure from watching the exegetical Cirque de Soleil contortions these guys underwent as they tried to explain how President Obama was actually closer to Catholic social teaching than anyone else, ever!

So, other than the very foundational building block from which every single solitary tenet of Catholic social doctrine springs, he's right on board with us, says the Progressive Catholic Guild. Without the merest chemical trace of irony.

The hallmark of the PCG is that yes, one may vote for a candidate who views abortion favorably and has a stellar record as far as NARAL is concerned; provided, natch, that said candidate is simpatico with their interpretation of Catholic social doctrine, preferably one having a strong statist flavor. Then they trot out the aged and venerable "seamless garment" hypothesis which they wish everyone to believe is the only possible way in which the poor and oppressed may achieve prosperity and freedom.

But they remain, they assert, stalwart pro-lifers.

So, in the interest of science, let's take this argument at face value. Let us suppose the entire membership of the PCG is, adamantly, ardently -- to coin the phrase -- pro-life. Close your eye and imagine that, if that helps.

There.

Got that picture in your mind's eye?

Good.

Now ask the following -- and, as is my wont, impertinent -- question: "What has THAT accomplished?"

"Yes, you PCGers are all a pack of raving pro-lifers and no other issue matters more to you than those of life. Your soul aches at the carnage wrought by the abortion industry and all that. But where has THAT gotten us?"

See, the problem is that the PCG has never been able to put more, er, visible issues (poverty, oppression, etc.) in a subsidiary position to that of abortion and other life issues. They are, I firmly believe, congenitally incapable of doing so. Therefore, they vote for the candidates who are adamantly NOT pro-life and who, at most, cast glittering rhetorical pearls of lip-service ("I intend to reduce the number of abortions...") and allow them to assuage their consciences and rationalize their votes.

The fact remains and will remain that there will never be a change in the abortion laws in the USA (or anywhere, really) until a critical mass of legislators, jurists, and executives has been reached and held. Not just a majority because the majority might be enuretic (as we saw from 1994-2006) or the minority might be obstinate (ditto).

So, PCGers, if you're really serious about being pro-life...ask yourself this question:

"Has my voting record helped to overthrow or helped to entrench the culture of abortion?"

AMDG,

-J.