Department of Random Fridays
I have Things to Say about the end of Babylon 5 Season 4 and all of Deadwood Season 1. In the case of Deadwood, they can be summed up by: SQUEEEEEEEEE + *flappy hands*. But instead, I have been sucked into something that's just the wrong combination of mind-numbing tedium and important detail at work, and have misplaced my ability to write about TV. Instead, let's talk about what I had for lunch!
Cheater's Merguez (Spicy North African Lamb Sausage)
Otherwise known as: no, my butcher does not sell lamb shoulder and lamb fat; moreover, though I do have a stand mixer, I do not happen to own the sausage-stuffing attachment (!!!), nor do I feel motivated to acquire one. Adapted from Joanne Weir's wonderful From Tapas to Meze, a cookbook I cannot recommend highly enough if you like Mediterranean food.
Groceries that tilt toward the gourmet end of the spectrum and those that carry a decent selection of Middle Eastern food often sell tubes of prepared harissa. Cayenne pepper also works.
Serves 3-6, depending on how much meat you eat with your meals.
* 1 1/4 pounds ground lamb
* 4 garlic cloves, minced
* 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
* 1/2 teaspoon harissa paste or cayenne pepper, or to taste
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* Salt and freshly ground pepper
* 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or coriander
* 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley
* 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
* 2 tablespoons olive oil.
Put the ground lamb, garlic, paprika, harissa, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade. Pulse 20 or so times, until the mixture is well-combined but the lamb has not been reduced to a paste. Add the cilantro, parsley, and thyme and pulse a few more times until they are mixed in thoroughly. The lamb should be pretty finely ground, but still have some texture.
Refrigerate the mixture for 20-30 minutes. Oil a plate or a container and form the mixture into 12 narrow, oblong rounds. You can lace the sausages on skewers if you plan to grill them. Place on the oiled plate or in the container and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
When you're ready to cook the sausages, either brush them with the olive oil and grill or broil them, or heat the oil in a wide skillet and pan-fry them until well-browned on all sides and just beginning to turn color through the middle, 2-3 minutes per side. I used a grill pan for the batch last night, and covering them with a lid for the last few minutes of cooking to let them steam a little. They cooked through quickly without the cover when I pan-fried more of them today.
I served them with this salad, minus the goat cheese.
* * * * *
So San Francisco is a city of mixed housing stock--everything from ornate wood Victorians and Edwardians to Craftsman-style row houses to art deco buildings to postwar stucco to dowdy 70s monstrosities to sleek, modern steel and glass. One of the Victorian houses on my street was a victim of the housing crash--someone bought it, shepherded renovation plans all the way through the Planning Commission (no mean feat!), and gutted it, and then something happened--some collapse of a financial house of cards, one assumes--and suddenly it was for sale again. Then the for-sale sign disappeared and the construction notifications appeared, meaning someone had bought it, and since I'd seen the renovation plans when they were sent to all of the neighbors during the Planning Commission review, I knew what was about to happen next.
It's an interesting process to watch. The slope of the hill means that they don't have to actually lift the house--some people do--but it looks like they've done a lot of bracing to prepare for tearing into the front foundation.
I'm trying to focus on the interesting portion of this project, rather than the ARRRRRGH portion, which is that that fucking miniature bulldozer--which goes BEEP BEEP BEEP when it backs up--starts up at 7am these days, Monday through Saturday. Not an issue Monday through Thursday, but whatever small chance I had of sleeping in on Friday or Saturday is now officially done until they're finished. Bleah.
* * * * *
While I'm talking about San Francisco, which is, I'm reminded daily, an amazing, amazing place, and one which I'm lucky to have found:
And in fandom news, John Rogers posted some pictures that prove, as if there was any doubt, that Wil Wheaton is awesome, and Aldis Hodge and Beth Riesgraf are adorable.
On the other hand, Smallville's casting people are on crack. OH MASON NO. Is this the season that Brian Austin Green will also be joining? Because WHAT.
Okay, time to take a break and get something notarized at the bar down the street. Which is where the neighborhood notary works. Strange but true.
[X-posted to Dreamwidth and Livejournal.]
Cheater's Merguez (Spicy North African Lamb Sausage)
Otherwise known as: no, my butcher does not sell lamb shoulder and lamb fat; moreover, though I do have a stand mixer, I do not happen to own the sausage-stuffing attachment (!!!), nor do I feel motivated to acquire one. Adapted from Joanne Weir's wonderful From Tapas to Meze, a cookbook I cannot recommend highly enough if you like Mediterranean food.
Groceries that tilt toward the gourmet end of the spectrum and those that carry a decent selection of Middle Eastern food often sell tubes of prepared harissa. Cayenne pepper also works.
Serves 3-6, depending on how much meat you eat with your meals.
* 1 1/4 pounds ground lamb
* 4 garlic cloves, minced
* 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
* 1/2 teaspoon harissa paste or cayenne pepper, or to taste
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* Salt and freshly ground pepper
* 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or coriander
* 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley
* 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
* 2 tablespoons olive oil.
Put the ground lamb, garlic, paprika, harissa, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade. Pulse 20 or so times, until the mixture is well-combined but the lamb has not been reduced to a paste. Add the cilantro, parsley, and thyme and pulse a few more times until they are mixed in thoroughly. The lamb should be pretty finely ground, but still have some texture.
Refrigerate the mixture for 20-30 minutes. Oil a plate or a container and form the mixture into 12 narrow, oblong rounds. You can lace the sausages on skewers if you plan to grill them. Place on the oiled plate or in the container and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
When you're ready to cook the sausages, either brush them with the olive oil and grill or broil them, or heat the oil in a wide skillet and pan-fry them until well-browned on all sides and just beginning to turn color through the middle, 2-3 minutes per side. I used a grill pan for the batch last night, and covering them with a lid for the last few minutes of cooking to let them steam a little. They cooked through quickly without the cover when I pan-fried more of them today.
I served them with this salad, minus the goat cheese.
* * * * *
So San Francisco is a city of mixed housing stock--everything from ornate wood Victorians and Edwardians to Craftsman-style row houses to art deco buildings to postwar stucco to dowdy 70s monstrosities to sleek, modern steel and glass. One of the Victorian houses on my street was a victim of the housing crash--someone bought it, shepherded renovation plans all the way through the Planning Commission (no mean feat!), and gutted it, and then something happened--some collapse of a financial house of cards, one assumes--and suddenly it was for sale again. Then the for-sale sign disappeared and the construction notifications appeared, meaning someone had bought it, and since I'd seen the renovation plans when they were sent to all of the neighbors during the Planning Commission review, I knew what was about to happen next.
It's an interesting process to watch. The slope of the hill means that they don't have to actually lift the house--some people do--but it looks like they've done a lot of bracing to prepare for tearing into the front foundation.
I'm trying to focus on the interesting portion of this project, rather than the ARRRRRGH portion, which is that that fucking miniature bulldozer--which goes BEEP BEEP BEEP when it backs up--starts up at 7am these days, Monday through Saturday. Not an issue Monday through Thursday, but whatever small chance I had of sleeping in on Friday or Saturday is now officially done until they're finished. Bleah.
* * * * *
While I'm talking about San Francisco, which is, I'm reminded daily, an amazing, amazing place, and one which I'm lucky to have found:
- This topographic sculpture of the tip of the peninsula is interesting, but probably not something that would go with my decor.
- There is just a LOT going on in this house--and a disturbing amount of it seems to involve animals from the African savannah.
- Mission District sugar trail! Mmmmm, Mitchell's ice cream. (I swear, I never ate desserts before I started running regularly. All of a sudden, I have a sweet tooth again!)
- Outdated but still cool technical tourist's guide to the Bay Area.
- Although I generally hate broad generalizations (see what I did there?), this made me snorfle a little, especially this: "San Franciscans love to hate on people who try to get on their crowded bus after they have already gotten on the crowded bus."
- This site, although it unfortunately requires registration, has some great photos of San Francisco through time.
- I had no idea that Dutch Crunch is unknown outside the Bay Area. Although I would have if I'd thought about it, since I've never seen it anywhere else. Duh! Y'all are missing out.
- Dear Google, please do not destroy Northern California. (Note: take with the usual Valleywag block of salt, since those guys give sensationalism a bad name.)
And in fandom news, John Rogers posted some pictures that prove, as if there was any doubt, that Wil Wheaton is awesome, and Aldis Hodge and Beth Riesgraf are adorable.
On the other hand, Smallville's casting people are on crack. OH MASON NO. Is this the season that Brian Austin Green will also be joining? Because WHAT.
Okay, time to take a break and get something notarized at the bar down the street. Which is where the neighborhood notary works. Strange but true.
[X-posted to Dreamwidth and Livejournal.]