PIZZA QUATTRO STAGIONE for 'A VERY PRIVATE GENTLEMAN"

I thought I knew all there was to know about pizza.  After all, I can make really good pizza, and I have been making it for years. (The secret to good pizza is in the dough.  If you have a good dough, chances are you'll have a good pizza). But, surprise, I found out something new about pizza.  here exists a topping I didn't know of. No, it's not ham and pineapple. It's Quatro stagione, or four seasons pizza.

Marinated artichokes for springtime...

Tomato slices and fresh mozzarella for summer.  Sliced basil goes on after the pizza comes out of the oven.  I enjoyed slicing the basil, it gave off such a wonderful aroma...

Autumn, represented by sauteed mushrooms and onions...

Ham, for winter. Or, if you prefer to have no meat on your pizza, choose olives and rosemary as a winter topping. Perhaps some of those pepperoncini peppers or some capers ...  

Make the pizza.  Dough, sauce, cheese. Visually divide the pizza into four sections, and top each section accordingly.  The toppings can vary, as long as each section they are placed on represents one of the four seasons.

Bake it, and enjoy it.  Whoever thought of the concept of a four seasons pizza is a certified genius as far as I am concerned. Scrumptious. A wonderful excuse for having a multi-topping pizza. Except, this way, the toppings are not piled one on top of the other, which truthfully, I find unappetizing. Here, the toppings are artfully arranged on the pizza, giving it an air of sophistication.   And I like sophistication. That's why I really liked reading the thriller A Very Private Gentleman, (1990), written by Martin Booth. As far as thrillers go, it reeks of sophistication. As do I. 

This is my contribution to Novel Food, the literary-culinary event hosted by Simona from Briciole. Read it, and then cook something that the reading has inspired you to prepare.  For this edition of Novel Food I enjoyed reading A Very Private Gentleman.  

In one of my favourite chapters, the main character takes his paramour to an out of the way restaurant where the two enjoy a bottle of wine and a "pizza quatro stagione." I loved the description of the event so very much that I wanted to be a patron at the very same countryside restaurant, ordering along with the protagonists. 

a VERY private gentleman

This is a thinking person's thriller, with an unforgettable protagonist. He is Signor Farfalla, thus called by the locals of the small town where he lives. He is an artist who paints rare butterflies. Or so he pretends. That's his cover.  In actuality, Signor Farfalla leads a life so secretive that even we, the readers, don't know his real name or nationality. He is well educated though, a man of fine tastes. He knows how to appreciate nature, art, architecture, good food and wine, good music and books, and he loves good company. He always moves from place to place, sometimes because of work, sometimes to evade capture. His real work is done in secret: he is a gunsmith who crafts made-to-order weapons. They carry a very high price tag because they are used for high level assassinations. And Signor Farfalla feels that he has helped to shape history. However, he is getting old and would like to retire. When we meet him, he is promising that he's working on his last commission. He likes the small Italian town where he's taken up residence, and he would like to settle there, in the company of Clara, a young student who moonlights as a prostitute in order to make ends meet. Unfortunately, just as Signor Farfalla makes up his mind to settle down, he becomes aware that someone is after him. And so the cat and mouse game begins... Booth's writing is clear, intelligent, tense and thought provoking. 

A Very Private Gentleman is a first rate psychological thriller, a book that is hard to put down. 

The movie The American (2010), staring and produced by George Clooney, was based on this novel. The script has some significant differences from the novel, but both movie and book are first rate. With the release of the movie, the novel was republished under the same title as the movie. Therefore, a very private gentleman was forced to become an American. I don't think Martin Booth (who died in 2004), would have liked this change; he didn't give his character a nationality, and I enjoyed trying to guess where Signor Farfalla could have come from.  

And yes, I find George Clooney aesthetically pleasing. 

PEPERONATA IN A LE CREUSET POT FOR ALEXANDRA FULLER

A disturbing and darkly humorous memoir of colonial life in Africa, examining the themes of  love, loss, and reconciliation

We first met them in Let’s Not Go to the Dogs Tonight.  Author Alexandra Fuller continues the story of her family in the sequel called Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness. Both books are my favourites and I recommend both!  

With a narrative that moves skillfully back and forth in time, Fuller introduces us to her ancestors who left Great Britain for Kenya. Her memoir tells of the love her family came to experience for Africa: a love of the wild, a love of adventure, a love of land and nature. Many people tell you that Africa can possess the soul. It must be true, but why?  

When we experience Africa's abundant primordial landscape, the presence of wildlife, and the freedom from conformity that can exist in this beautiful continent, these things strike a fundamental chord within us; they cannot be exiled from memory. Instead, they create a permanent love and longing for Africa. It’s a perilous love because along with beauty a danger abides there. It manifests itself in terms of poverty, war, absence of medical care, needless death. This dangerous love took hold of Fuller’s family. 

The author's mother, Nicola Fuller, and Nicola's pet chimpanzee at home in Kenya

Author Alexandra Fuller

The memoir focuses on Fuller’s parents, concentrating on the girlhood and adult life of her romantic, adventurous, eccentric, probably bipolar, certainly courageous and always loving and entertaining mother, Nicola Fuller. The product of British colonial Africa, Nicola along with her husband Tim, leave Kenya for the West, but cannot become accustomed to it. Before long they return to Africa determined to stay forever.  It is a decision that will cost them dearly. Low in funds, they choose to settle and farm in politically turbulent Rhodesia, where land can be had for less.

This was in the early 1970s, when the brutally oppressive Rhodesian government led by Ian Smith had forced most of the six million black Rhodesians into Tribal Trust Lands, where their actions could be monitored and controlled. Fuller admits that the white colonialists, numbering at about 250,000, did not question the treatment of blacks. They prefered "to believe that theirs was a just life of privilege. Critics accused these whites of belonging to the Mushroom Club: kept in the dark and fed horseshit." 

A guerrilla war broke out, during which white South Africa offered help to Rhodesia through the use of chemical weapons. Rhodesia was eventually turned over to the black majority and was renamed Zimbabwe. The Fullers lost their farm, but more severe in scope was the death of three children and the psychological breakdown of Nicola.  Through it all, however, to quote Nicola Fuller, "it didn’t occur to us to leave … we came to see our lives fraught and exciting, terrible and blessed, wild and ensnaring … (we saw) our lives as Rhodesian, and it’s not easy to leave a life as arduously rich and difficult as all that." So they stayed on, moving to neighbouring countries, trying to find work, looking for a home. Several years later, they settled in Zambia, eventually building a fish and banana farm, finally being able to savour their love of Africa in relative peace. They built their new home close to a tree called "the tree of forgetfulness," which according to legend possesses magical powers: by sitting underneath the tree of forgetfulness all troubles and arguments are resolved. And "Nicola Fuller of Central Africa," as she likes to call herself, believes this "2 million percent." After her daily work tending her fish ponds at the farm, you will find her sitting under the tree of forgetfulness, pouring herself a cocktail. Actually, her husband Tim (who oversees the banana part of the operation), pours the cocktails, Nicola, along with Tim, of course, enjoys. 

The author's mother, Nicola Fuller, likes to cook flavorful stews in her treasured Le Creuset cooking pots. I think she will enjoy my red pepper stew. 

Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness is an extremely engaging book, one that's difficult to put down. Alexandra Fuller writes with honesty, sensitivity, and where it fits in, with humour. She understands her mother’s viewpoint (which has undergone improvement throughout the years), and she is also clear about the suffering black Africans endured under colonial oppression. One cannot help but be disturbed by the history of colonial Africa, poignantly described here.  However, the book is also populated by a plethora of eccentric characters, be they human, simian, equestrian or canine. They are entertaining and unforgettable. Plus there are those Le Creuset pots. A set of orange Le Creuset pots that move along with Nicola Fuller all the many times she pulls up stakes. Thousands of delicious, flavorful stews were created in them! The pots, over 40 years old now, are displayed in her kitchen, and they still see regular use. (Buy something of quality, and you will have it forever).

Author Alexandra Fuller, now an American citizen residing in Wyoming, writes lovingly both about her family and about Africa. Her prose shines. After all, she is describing her beloved mother and her beloved Africa.  

This is my contribution to Novel Food, the literary/culinary event hosted by Simona from Briciole.  Read it, cook something inspired by it, and then write a post about it.  For this round, I made a lovely pepper stew, a peperonata!

A peperonata in honour of Alexandra Fuller, cooked in a Le Creuset pot! Problem is, my Le Creuset is green and not orange like Nicola's ...  But it's the standby cooking cauldron in my kitchen, therefore I get a pass, right? In it went chopped onions, fresh tomatoes, a sweet potato, some lovely herbs ... A very pleasing and easy to make stew on a hot summer day!

PORRIDGE or OATMEAL with RAISINS and FRUIT

PORRIDGE!!!  A dish made by cooking oats in boiling water and milk. 

Add some type of sweetener, maybe a little fruit as well, and you're in business.  You have a super breakfast.  In England this is porridge. In the US, it's oatmeal.  

Here are some quick facts about porridge or oatmeal: eating a bowl of oatmeal every day can lower blood cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. That's because oats are high in complex carbohydrates and water-soluble fibre. They also contain more protein than any other cereal.  

Oats ready for harvesting

Oats are processed by de-husking oat grains to get to the oat groats, the seed inside the husk. The groats are then milled to produce oatmeal. 

To make rolled oats (also called old-fashioned oats), whole oat groats are steamed and flattened.  

Quick oats are rolled oats that have been cut into small pieces. 

Instant oatmeal is oatmeal that is pre-cooked and dried. 

Steel-cut oats are whole grain groats that have been cut into pieces or have been broken during the de-husking process. They are chewier and have a nuttier flavour.  

Gruel is a thinned-out porridge made by mixing oatmeal (or other cereals) with cold water. The oatmeal is then strained out and the water is heated and sipped. Once upon a time gruel was used for medicinal purposes and was also a staple food during hard times.    

 

Here, Charles Dicken's character, the orphan Oliver Twist, who is starving, dares to ask for some more watery gruel. A famous scene from the movie "Oliver!" 1968, Columbia Pictures. 

I have oatmeal for breakfast several times a week.  I prepare it much the same way as in the recipe below. The difference is that time doesn't permit me to add the apple topping every day. Instead, I mash a banana and mix it into the oatmeal to make a perfect, warm, and delicious weekday breakfast. 

 
Recently, I read a study that convinced me of the importance of breakfast. Research presented at a scientific session of the American Diabetes Association showed that there is a relationship between morning eating habits and the development of type II diabetes. The research revealed that people who ate breakfast 5 times or more per week had a 31% reduction in type II diabetes risk. They also gained less weight. So make sure you eat breakfast and choose oatmeal often. Breakfast, and oatmeal for breakfast, have too many health benefits to pass up. 

 
Here's my recipe for PORRIDGE or OATMEAL with RAISINS and FRUIT:

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup milk of your choice

2 cups water

a little salt to taste

1/2 cup steel-cut oats

3/4 cup rolled oats (not quick-cooking oats)

1 tablespoon honey (or how about 1 tablespoon of maple syrup? That would also be perfect) 

1 banana, chopped into small pieces

If it's the weekend, make stewed apples!

Directions:

Make the stewed apples:

1 or 2 apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1/4 cup water
a pinch of cinnamon
a few raisins 

a few blueberries (they will give a pink colour to the apples)

the juice of half a lemon

The apples get a lovely pink hue that's imparted from the blueberries as they cook.

Mix all the ingredients except the blueberries into a medium saucepan. Cook on low heat stirring frequently. In about 20 to 30 minutes the liquid should be absorbed, the raisins will be plump, and the apples will be soft. Your oatmeal topping will be ready. No sweeteners are needed here because the fruits themselves are plenty sweet. How about the blueberries? Add those at the last minute, otherwise, they will dissolve as they cook. 

Cooking the oats:

Into a medium saucepan, add the water, milk, and salt to taste. Bring to a simmer. 

Add all the oats and lower the heat. Cook the oatmeal for 20 minutes, maintaining a slow simmer and stirring frequently. Near the end of cooking the oatmeal will start to thicken and bubble. That's the time to add the banana. Throw it in there and mash it up. Stir until the oatmeal is cooked, and turn off the heat. 

Add the honey and mix again. Spoon the porridge into bowls and let it sit for about a minute. 

Rolled oats, steel-cut oats, and a mashed banana. This is oatmeal perfection!!!

If it's one of those days when the stewed apples have been made, use them as a topping.

Drizzle with a little more milk.  Ready to eat! 

SRI LANKAN VEGETABLE AND CASHEW CURRY

I've read a considerable amount about Sri Lankan cooking and Sri Lankan ingredients. I feel comfortable enough to call this recipe my own, although I borrowed ideas from about a dozen sources. However, the final combinations are mine, and I am so happy I was able to do this. I loved the way it tasted. The key here is not to overcook the vegetables. 

When having dinner, Sri Lankans set the table with a variety of dishes that range from mild to really spicy. Usually, vegetable curries are mild but they do provide another type of heat; the combination of spices tends to raise the body's metabolism. Vegetable and Cashew Curry is a nice accompaniment to Aromatic Sri Lankan Rice. Or vice versa. 

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons avocado oil
5 curry leaves
2 cloves garlic, chopped well
1/8 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 cup water or vegetable broth

1/3 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup cashew nuts
1/4 teaspoon turmeric

2 carrots, cut up

1/2 cup string beans cut in half
1/2 medium head cauliflower, cut into florets 
1 cup of frozen peas (or fresh peas if available)

1 red onion, chopped

Sri Lankan Garam Masala: what follows is a basic combination. 

This Garam Masala is not roasted so it can be prepared on the spot, no need to make it way ahead of time (unless you want to): 

1 stick of cinnamon, cut into about 4 pieces, a few ground-up black peppercorns, 1 ground up clove, 1 ground cardamom pod, a pinch of cumin.

2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped, or use Italian parsley (sorry) if you are (as I am) allergic to cilantro (for life). 
Juice of one lime
Rind from one lime
  

Directions:

• In a medium saucepan add about one tablespoon oil and saute the curry leaves, garlic and mustard seeds. Sauté until the mustard seeds begin to pop.  
• Add the water or vegetable broth, coconut milk, turmeric, and cashews. Mix and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat and cook for 15 minutes until the cashews are soft. 
• Add the carrots and string beans. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the cauliflower and cook until it starts to soften. Last, but not least, add the peas; they will not require a long cooking time.
• Don't overcook the vegetables. Remove from the heat.  
• Meanwhile, as the vegetables are cooking, get a large saucepan and add the rest of the oil to it. Place it over medium-high heat, and when the oil gets hot add the onions. Sauté, mixing occasionally, until the onions are soft.
• Add some all or all of the Sri Lankan Garam Masala.  
• Add the cauliflower mixture and shake to combine. 
• Add the cilantro (or parsley), lime rind and lime juice, and fold gently. 
• Ready!!!

SRI LANKAN AROMATIC RICE

This Sri Lankan Aromatic Rice is one of the best rice dishes I have ever made or tasted! Highly recommended! It is truly fragrant, and truly delicious. The stars of the dish are coconut milk and curry leaves. These two ingredients are also the stars of Sri Lankan cuisine. They are used in most dishes and contribute excellent flavours.

 A curry tree with its beautiful leaves.  The area around these trees must be really fragrant!  (picture from Wikipedia).

Curry leaves should not be confused with curry powder. Curry leaves grow on curry trees and are used as an ingredient in curries. Their flavour is unique and citrusy, a little bit reminiscent of limes. Some people say we can substitute bay leaves for them, but I don't think the tastes are even close.  

Curry leaves are available in Indian markets. Since I live in one of Philadelphia's western suburbs, I visit the nearby township of Upper Darby and buy my curry leaves at a very nice shop called "Indian Super Market and Grocery." It's located on Market Street, near the 69th Street Terminal. 

Let me digress for a minute: Below I have some pictures of the historic 69th Street area. This topic needs its own post; there is so much to say about the area, how it came to be, the shops from Saks to Lit Brother's that once inhabited the buildings, all the traffic to and from Philadelphia and its suburbs, and the neighbourhoods that sprouted around 69th and Market! But since I recently visited, let me talk a little about it:

That's a newer pedestrian walkway bridge at 69th street, and behind it is the McClatchy building, built in 1926. This building is the cornerstone to a large open shopping area constructed around the same time; It was the first shopping area of its kind in the US.  

The walkway bridge leads to the 69th street terminal building where the Market-Frankford Elevated Train finishes its run. There are also trolley routes that leave from this terminal. 

A very fine example of art deco architecture: views of the McClatchy building. The building was named for the developer of the shopping area. 

The 69th street terminal (constructed in 1908).  It was known as the gateway to Philadelphia's western suburbs, which saw a great surge in development after the terminal was built. The Philadelphia El, or Elevated Railway, the interurbans, trolleys and streetcars all passed by here. The nearby shopping area was a convenient stop for those passengers changing trains. Today most all trolley routes are gone. Only two remain: 69th Street to Media, Pa, and 69th Street to Norristown, PA. The El also remains. Buses are abundant. The façade of the Terminal looks the same as when it was first built but the interior has been renovated numerous times. 

The Philadelphia El! 

If you don't live near an area where you can find an Indian supermarket, do an internet search. I found a nice site with very reasonable prices that will ship spices and curry leaves from Hawaii. 

How to make Sri Lankan Aromatic Rice

Ingredients:

2 cups white basmati rice
10 curry leaves
1 cinnamon stick, cut in half
5 cloves
1 onion chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated
4 tablespoons avocado oil
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 can of coconut milk
3 cups water 

a touch of salt
a few cashews, some curry leaves and some peas for decoration

Directions:

Tear up some of the curry leaves. During cooking this will readily release their oils, allowing them to better perfume the rice. 

Place the rice in a strainer and wash it well. Allow it to drain for about 20 minutes so that it can dry. While the rice is draining prepare the mise en place. 

In a large pot heat the oil and add the curry leaves, cinnamon stick and cloves. Cook for about a minute until fragrant.

Add the onions, ginger and garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes. 

Add the rice, turmeric and cardamom.

Sauté for about 3-4 minutes until the rice turns opaque in colour. Stir frequently so that it does not burn but rather has a chance to become toasted. 

Add the water, salt, and coconut milk, bring to a boil, cover and lower the heat to simmer.

Cook until the liquid evaporates and the rice is soft. 

You may need to adjust the amount of liquid that is used. 

It all depends on the rice, I suppose. Taste it and make sure it's soft. You don't want crunchy rice, therefore, if it's crunchy add more liquid. Also, make sure the cooking setting is on medium heat. Not too high, not too low.

When done, fish out the cinnamon stick pieces and the cloves. However, you may not be able to find all of those tiny cloves. No worries, just leave them in and eat your way around them because they look kind of pretty and decorative in the rice. 

This rice will serve about six hungry people. You can serve it just as is, or garnish it further with sautéed onions, cashews, and peas, and a few curry leaves. I served it with a Vegetable and Cashew Curry.

THE CAT'S TABLE AND COOKING SRI LANKAN: NOVEL FOOD # 15

This is my contribution to Novel Food, a quarterly literary/culinary event hosted by Simone from Briciole.  We prepare a dish of our choosing that has a connection to a published literary work, and then we publish a post about it. Show the food, talk about what we have read. Simple as that. Well, I went outside of my comfort zone this time. No, not where the reading was concerned. I read Michael Ondaatje’s beautiful novel “The Cat’s Table,” a subtly powerful work conveyed in language that reached into the core of me, there to stay.
   

Michael Ondaatje 

The author, made famous when he published “The English Patient,” is a native of Sri Lanka. So I thought I would try to cook a few dishes of Sri Lankan origin. Sorry to say, I had never before tasted nor cooked Sri Lankan. I went on a culinary adventure, one outside my comfort zone, and I am glad I did. I learned quite a bit about southern Indian cooking ingredients and cuisine. 

“The Cat’s Table” is about an 11-year-old boy, “green as he could be about the world,” who takes an indelible sea voyage in the early 1950s.  If the captain's table is the sought after place to sit on a sea voyage, then Ondaatje's cat's table is just the opposite: one of the least privileged dining assignments aboard the cruise ship Oronsay. The table is populated by an assortment of eccentric characters, and the invisibility that the cat's table bestows upon them allows them to behave more or less as they wish. The ship is sailing from Colombo, Sri Lanka, to England, a twenty-one day journey by way of the Suez Canal. Among the nine passengers at the cat's table sit three dissimilar boys sailing toward a reunion with parents they have not seen in years.  The young "Mynah" or Michael, is the narrator, Cassius, is a seemingly tough guy, and Ramadhin, is a frail and thoughtful type. The three become fast friends and join together to form a feral group that becomes the terror of the ship. They seem to be everywhere; they can be found having breakfast in a lifeboat or wandering around the furnace rooms. Somehow they know everything that goes on in the ship, and they slip in and out of adventures and dangerous situations. They snoop, they eavesdrop, and whatever they cannot understand due to lack of maturity, they store in their imagination and allow it to come to fruition there. What they see and learn on the Oronsay shapes their adult lives. The Cat's table is a novel of painful journeys and passages: Away from childhood into an adult world, and away from home into a strange country. Highly recommended!

I made three dishes to celebrate this wonderful novel, and they are as follows:

Sri Lankan aromatic rice!

Vegetable curry with cashews!

And a Tropical Fruit Salad!

All these recipes appear in separate posts. Just follow the links!

CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE WITH BEETS

Novel Food hosted by Simona from Briciole is an online book club with the following concept: Cook something that has been inspired by a published literary work you've read, then create a post about it. I love to read and I love to cook so there was no doubt that I would join Novel Food as soon as I found out about it! 

I had a month until the posting deadline, plenty of time to prepare, or so I thought. Here I am, rushing to finish. Anyway, I've been reading "Cleopatra, A Life," by Stacy Schiff. Although I am charmed by this book, thinking about it does not give me any culinary inspiration. But which book and which author should I tackle for Novel Food? James Joyce came to mind, and in particular Joyce's "Dubliners," which holds a special place in my heart. Published in 1914, "Dubliners," is a collection of 15 short stories written in realistic detail and filled with everyday scenes of middle-class Dublin, Ireland. The characters live ordinary lives, but as their stories unfold the reader becomes aware of intensely personal and often tragic revelations about them. It’s the glimpse into their emotional lives courtesy of Joyce and his poignant narrative that has always had a profound effect on me. One of the short stories, in particular, moves me to tears every time I read it. The title of that story is “A Painful Case.”

James Joyce as photographed by Berenice Abbott in 1926 (National Portrait Gallery, London). The author had problems with his eyesight throughout his life.

“A Painful Case,” is a story about isolation. It concerns the brief intermingling of the lives of Mrs Sinico, a married woman who feels unfulfilled, and Mr Duffy, a bank cashier who leads a solitary and meticulously orderly life. The two are acquaintances who eventually grow close and develop a deep friendship. One day Mrs Sinico impulsively takes Mr Duffy’s hand and places it on her cheek. He is taken aback by her action and ends their relationship. At a farewell meeting, Mrs Sinico seems distraught and unwilling to say goodbye. Four years go by, during which Mr Duffy resumes his previous orderly routine. One evening, while eating a dinner of corned beef and cabbage at his usual restaurant, he reads a newspaper article entitled “A Painful Case.” The article details the death of Mrs Sinico, who was hit by a train at a Dublin station. A coroner’s inquest revealed that Mrs Sinico had taken to drinking during her last years, and it is inferred from the narrative that her death may have been a suicide. Slowly, Mr Duffy begins to feel remorse. He believes that by having rejected her he condemned her to loneliness and eventual death. He reflects on his own solitary life which has been devoid of her companionship and realises that he has lost his only chance for happiness. He will remain isolated from "life’s feast" because he lacks the courage to pursue happiness. 

Corned beef and cabbage—plain food, not something served at a feast—is briefly mentioned in "A Painful Case," but it's mentioned at the moment when Mr Duffy is about to undergo a significant psychological change. It's the moment when his epiphany begins, that moment when he begins to realise how emotionally paralysed he has become. Joyce's epiphanies are rare and momentous occasions during which an awareness floods a character's conscience and he or she gains a profound understanding of a particular situation. Epiphanies are recurrent themes in the "Dubliners." In part, Joyce uses them to symbolise the colonisation of Ireland: A defeated and powerless nation as Ireland was at the time, is juxtaposed with defeated and powerless individuals. Not much ever changes in Joyce's Dublin, something which has a devastating effect on the human spirit.

Well, we've covered food, literature, politics, emotional isolation ... What should we tackle next? How about if we read some of Joyce's astonishingly beautiful and incisive language in the form of quotes from "A Painful Case?" Here are Mr Duffy and Mrs Sinico together:

"Her companionship was like a warm soil about an exotic. Many times she allowed the dark to fall upon them, refraining from lighting the lamp. The dark discreet room, their isolation, the music that still vibrated in their ears united them. This union exalted him, wore away the rough edges of his character, emotionalised his mental life."

Mr Duffy reads of Mrs Sinico's Death:

"One evening as he was about to put a morsel of corned beef and cabbage into his mouth his hand stopped. His eyes fixed themselves on a paragraph in the evening paper which he had propped against the water-carafe. He replaced the morsel of food on his plate and read the paragraph attentively. Then he drank a glass of water, pushed his plate to one side, doubled the paper down before him between his elbows and read the paragraph over and over again. The cabbage began to deposit a cold white grease on his plate. The girl came over to him to ask was his dinner not properly cooked. He said it was very good and ate a few mouthfuls of it with difficulty. Then he paid his bill and went out."

The phrase "the cabbage began to deposit a cold grease on his plate." is rather startling. It prepares one for the upcoming chilling events. Here is the quote where Mr Duffy realizes what Mrs Sinico's death means for him:

"Why had he withheld life from her? Why had he sentenced her to death? He felt his moral nature falling to pieces... He gnawed the rectitude of his life; he felt that he had been outcast from life's feast. One human being had seemed to love him and he had denied her life and happiness: he had sentenced her to ignominy, a death of shame... No one wanted him; he was outcast from life's feast. He turned his eyes to the grey gleaming river, winding along towards Dublin ... He waited for some minutes listening. He could hear nothing: the night was perfectly silent. He listened again: perfectly silent. He felt that he was alone."

Chilling. Insightful. Powerful. Masterful. James Joyce!

Besides the connection with Joyce, why did I decide on corned beef and cabbage? Well, St. Patrick's Day is around the corner, and I have lots of Irish neighbours. Corned beef and cabbage will be on many dinner tables around here. I've never made it, but I have always wanted to. This way I can brag about it to my Irish friends, and especially to Leslie, who lives across the street. No doubt about it, corned beef and cabbage is comfort food and like all such food, it's delicious!  

I made corned beef and cabbage with a recipe based on one I found on the Food Network website. It includes beets served alongside the corned beef, and because I am Greek, and considering that beets are kind of popular in Greek cooking, I thought the beets would introduce a Greek twist to an Irish dish! 

Ingredients:

• A 3-pound piece of corned beef
• 4 bay leaves
• 25 black peppercorns
• 9 garlic cloves peeled
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1-quart chicken broth
• 5 carrots, peeled and cut into 3" pieces
• 2 small turnips peeled and quartered
• 4 shallots peeled and left whole. Ouch! We are having such a bad winter here that shallots cost one shallot for $1.99!
• 4 potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 1/2 head cabbage, cut into wedges
• 3 beets, peeled and sliced
• chopped parsley for garnish
• a little salt and pepper, a little lemon juice, a little olive oil and a negligible amount of oregano and garlic powder

Directions:

• Corned beef is made by brining beef brisket in a mixture of spices. It comes with a thick fat layer that should be trimmed and discarded. Once that job is done, the corned beef should be washed really well so as to remove some of the brine. For this recipe, discard the spice packet that comes with the corned beef.
• In a large heavy pot, combine the corned beef, 2 bay leaves, 15 peppercorns, 6 garlic cloves cut in half, and a pinch of ground cloves.
• Add water to cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 3 hours, low and slow as they say. Remove the meat from the pot and reserve it on a plate, keeping it warm. 
• While the meat is cooking, prepare the beets: Line an ovenproof pot with aluminium foil and place the beets inside. Season them with salt and pepper, a slight amount of olive oil, some lemon juice and just a bit of garlic powder and oregano. Close the aluminium foil around the beets and bake them in a 350° F oven for about 45 minutes, until they are soft.
• You can also boil the beets, but remember not to add them in with the corned beef or vegetables, because they will turn everything red.
• Let's get back to the pot where the meat was cooked: I tasted the liquid and I found that it was very salty. Extremely salty. Now, most recipes call for boiling the vegetables in that liquid, but I couldn't in good conscience submerge my vegetables in what was essentially a brine. So I discarded the liquid, washed the pot and started over. I added a quart of low sodium chicken broth. I added seasonings: 3 garlic cloves cut in half, about 10 peppercorns, 1 bay leaf, and a pinch of ground cloves.
• When the broth came to a boil I added the turnips and carrots, lowered the heat and simmered for 20 minutes.
• Then I added the onions and potatoes. By now I had a layer of vegetables covering the whole surface of the pot. I placed the cabbage on top of the vegetables, covered the pot and cooked for an additional 30 minutes.
• The cabbage was steamed by the aromatic broth, and the turnips absorbed so much flavour that they were the best turnips I had ever tasted. That's saying a lot, because I am not the world's greatest turnip fan!
• If the meat is cold, put it back in the pot next to the cabbage and give it a steam bath until it warms up.
• And that's it. Mission accomplished. Slice the meat and serve warm, accompanied by the broth which is really tasty, and the vegetables.
• You can serve the beets alongside the other vegetables, or better yet, you can present them separately as a salad.

This post is my contribution to the 12th edition of Novel Food.