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by Salman Hameed
I think the idea is fantastic and would make a fascinating film. Here is a novel by Rebecca Miller, Jacob's Folly, where an 18th century Parisian Jew is reincarnated as a housefly on Long Island in the 21st century in the home of a Orthodox Jewish family. He initially thinks he is an angel - and then is a bit upset about being a housefly and wants to punish God for his fate. Great cover for the novel as well.
Listen to a short interview with Rebecca Miller on NPR. The perspective is different, but if interested, you should also check out Shalom Auslander's book, The Foreskin's Lament: A Memoir. It is funny, poignant, and provides a fascinating account of struggling with faith (and the relation with God) in an Orthodox world (also see this earlier post: God out to get Shalom Auslander). This genre reminds me a bit of Ghalib's poetry. But I was wondering if there are novels by Muslim authors which explore a similar territory?
I think the idea is fantastic and would make a fascinating film. Here is a novel by Rebecca Miller, Jacob's Folly, where an 18th century Parisian Jew is reincarnated as a housefly on Long Island in the 21st century in the home of a Orthodox Jewish family. He initially thinks he is an angel - and then is a bit upset about being a housefly and wants to punish God for his fate. Great cover for the novel as well.
A Parisian Jew who dies in 1773 reappears in the 21st century as an angel, fluttering gently down to Earth — or, so he thinks. He imagines himself as "a fully formed Christian seraph, a Viking with blond hair, a beautiful chiseled torso, hairless feet, and eyes the color of whiskey." So imagine his shock when he realizes he's no angel — he's actually been reincarnated as a common housefly.
...
The fly, formerly Parisian Jewish peddler Jacob Cerf, has supernatural powers. He can read minds and can actually will people to do what he wants them to do.
"He realizes the scope of his powers gradually in the narrative," Miller tells NPR's Melissa Block. "And then, once he realizes he's a fly, he's so angry at the form of his reincarnation that he decides to sort of get back at God."
Jacob wants to punish God by taking good people and turning them bad. But Miller says she wouldn't call her protagonist an "evil character": "He's mischievous and sometimes malevolent, but he has his own transformation through the arc of this story."
Listen to a short interview with Rebecca Miller on NPR. The perspective is different, but if interested, you should also check out Shalom Auslander's book, The Foreskin's Lament: A Memoir. It is funny, poignant, and provides a fascinating account of struggling with faith (and the relation with God) in an Orthodox world (also see this earlier post: God out to get Shalom Auslander). This genre reminds me a bit of Ghalib's poetry. But I was wondering if there are novels by Muslim authors which explore a similar territory?
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I was playing around with a baked paella recipe, and began wondering what would happen if I used a similar method for doing risotto. As you’ll see, the beginning and the end of the recipe are pretty standard, but we’ve taken the middle 15 minutes and moved it into the oven, in an attempt to eliminate those dreaded “variables.”
The size, shape, and thickness of your pan, how fast you add the liquid, and how high your heat is are factors that can wildly affect the outcome when done on the stovetop. By using the oven for the majority of the cooking, we don’t have as many things to worry about.
Of course, you still need to finish this thing off yourself, and taste and test for doneness and seasoning, but that goes for any recipe. The goal is to have the rice come out of the oven between 80-90% cooked, so that all it takes is a final addition of liquid, and a few minutes of stirring to recreate that signature “sauce” that makes this dish so famous.
If you end up using Arborio rice, the most popular variety sold for risotto, I’d suggest checking this after 10 minutes in the oven, as I suspect it will cook slightly quicker than the Carnaroli. Besides, you can always cook it an extra few minutes at the end. As many of us have learned the hard way, you can’t un-cook something.
Besides being easier and more repeatable, this method produced a risotto that was identical in looks, taste, and texture to anything I can do on the stove. Having said that, I enjoy standing at the stove making risotto the traditional way, as it’s one of the best meditations ever, so it will be interesting to see which method I use the next time I’m craving the dish.
Anyway, whether you’ve always been afraid to try risotto, or you’ve mastered it and are just curious, I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for 4 portions:
3 tbsp butter
3 cups diced mushrooms
1/2 yellow onion, diced
salt and pepper to taste
cayenne to taste
1 cup Carnaroli or Arborio rice
2 1/2 cups chicken broth, plus more if desired
1/2 cup cream, plus a few tablespoons to finish
1/2 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (don’t use that fake crap)
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To view the content of this post, please click on the link below:
http://www.inspiremeasap.blogspot.com/2013/03/snow-day-snow-day.html
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http://www.inspiremeasap.blogspot.com/2013/03/snow-day-snow-day.html
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by Salman Hameed
The spiral of violence is continuing in Pakistan. This time there is a car bomb that leveled off two buildings in a shia-dominated neighborhood in Karachi, killing 45 people and injuring 150. It is increasingly becoming an open season on minorities, but shias have been bearing most of the brunt for the past few months. All of this is sad and painful and these kinds of attacks are reminding me more and of Iraq (see this earlier post: Is Pakistan Spiraling Down the Way of Iraq?).
Interestingly, we had Darrin McMahon as our speaker just this past Thursday and he gave an fascinating talk on the history of happiness. But at dinner, he mentioned that he had visited Karachi in 1991 - and absolutely loved it. In fact, he said that it reminded him a bit of the culture in southern Spain, where he has spent a considerable amount of time. What he remembered most was the warmth of people welcoming him in Karachi and his visits to a number of mosques in the city. And then he said that he misses that Karachi. Me too.
Coupe of items. Here is a song Khoon (Blood) by the band Topi Drama about the recent killings of shias in Pakistan (tip from Faisal Irshad):
Topi Drama - Khoon Hai from Topi Drama on Vimeo.
Also, if you are in Karachi, there is a protest gathering on Monday at 1:00pm:
Interestingly, we had Darrin McMahon as our speaker just this past Thursday and he gave an fascinating talk on the history of happiness. But at dinner, he mentioned that he had visited Karachi in 1991 - and absolutely loved it. In fact, he said that it reminded him a bit of the culture in southern Spain, where he has spent a considerable amount of time. What he remembered most was the warmth of people welcoming him in Karachi and his visits to a number of mosques in the city. And then he said that he misses that Karachi. Me too.
Coupe of items. Here is a song Khoon (Blood) by the band Topi Drama about the recent killings of shias in Pakistan (tip from Faisal Irshad):
Topi Drama - Khoon Hai from Topi Drama on Vimeo.
Also, if you are in Karachi, there is a protest gathering on Monday at 1:00pm:
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I was playing around with some pulled sugar for an upcoming dessert video, and it reminded me just how much I dislike those ever-popular, themed cake battles on the food networks. In case you've never seen one, I thought I'd take a little break and describe what happens...in every episode: "Contestants, please make a cake that looks like a working Victorian merry-go-round... if his pulled sugar breaks, the entire design will collapse... he's almost to the judge's table... it's starting to wobble... [BEEP]... well, that's a real shame."
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by Salman Hameed
Sometimes it is best to just sit back and admire how much we can know simply by observing light! This is from a couple of years ago, but it is still very cool that we have confirmed detection of methane in the atmosphere of one of the extrasolar planets (though not because of cows...). It is too hot on this planet to have much hope for life, at the kind we are familiar with. Nevertheless, it is cool that astronomers can measure composition of these extrasolar planets. Here is a short 5-minute Hubblecast:
Hubblecast 14: Hubble finds first organic molecule on extrasolar planet from HubbleESA on Vimeo.
Sometimes it is best to just sit back and admire how much we can know simply by observing light! This is from a couple of years ago, but it is still very cool that we have confirmed detection of methane in the atmosphere of one of the extrasolar planets (though not because of cows...). It is too hot on this planet to have much hope for life, at the kind we are familiar with. Nevertheless, it is cool that astronomers can measure composition of these extrasolar planets. Here is a short 5-minute Hubblecast:
Hubblecast 14: Hubble finds first organic molecule on extrasolar planet from HubbleESA on Vimeo.
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by Salman Hameed
Two quick things:
First, here is the latest issue of The Rationalist Pakistan - the e-Magazine of the Rationalist Society of Pakistan (RSoP).
And here is a fantastic effort of getting kids interested in reading in and around Islamabad. In the absence of school libraries, this Bright Star Mobile Library is trying to revive the tradition of reading.Two quick things:
First, here is the latest issue of The Rationalist Pakistan - the e-Magazine of the Rationalist Society of Pakistan (RSoP).
You can listen to the full story here, and here is a short excerpt:
A few years ago, Saeed Malik returned to Pakistan after 35 years living in the U.S., Italy and elsewhere, mostly working for the U.N.'s World Food Program.
"I found [Pakistan] had changed a lot. Unfortunately, not for the better," he says. "The education had really tanked, gone down the tubes, in elementary education."
Malik says the poor quality of education is having a ripple effect on the lives of children. He remembers talking to a group of boys, 9 to 16 years old.
...
So Malik decided to take books to the children. He says the idea of creating a mobile library came to him after seeing a similar project at the San Francisco Public Library. But Malik says he soon encountered the type of bureaucracy that can choke the life out of a project — even from Pakistan's Education Department.
He waited six months just to get a single letter from the department, granting access to schools
You can listen to the full story here and you can check out (and donate) the site of Bright Star Mobile Library here.
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Such is cooking. Live, learn, and occasionally eat too tart and peppery salmon. Anyway, every time we’d post one of our broiled salmon recipes, I’d get emails from people without broilers asking how they can get the same results, so I figured my little trial by acid would make for a good excuse to show how easy baked salmon is.
As long as you get your oven nice and hot, and aren’t afraid to poke the fish with a fork to check, you should be enjoying tender, moist, flaky meat every time. You can always cook it more, so check after 10 minutes and go from there. If you test in the filet's natural seams, the evidence of your breaking and entering will hardly be noticeable, and easily covered by a sauce or slice of lemon.
If you use my recipe, you may want to adjust the pepper and acidity of the lemon with something on the sweet side. Pretty much any kind of glaze or marinade will work with this easy technique, and many of them (most of them) will look better than this. I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for 2:
two 8-10 oz center-cut salmon filets, boned, skin on
two 8-10 oz center-cut salmon filets, boned, skin on
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tsp miso paste
2 tsp mustard
1 1/2 tbsp mayo
cayenne to taste
salt to taste
*Next time I’ll add some Hoisin sauce or something sweet to balance the flavors better.
Bake at 450 degrees F. 10-15 min or until done.
View the complete recipe
Bake at 450 degrees F. 10-15 min or until done.
View the complete recipe
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