Second Breakfast

Guy Gavriel Kay has been writing a style of historical fantasy-fiction that I consistently find to be well-crafted and thoroughly enjoyable. His published writings break down into three groupings: the trilogy of “The Finoavar Tapestry”, a series of related but independent historical fictions that are set in and among various European analog locales and peoples, and as an extension of this a pair of beautiful books grouped as “The Sarantine Mosaic”. This book is set in a locale strongly tied to and evocative of the Viking, Anglo-Saxon, and Celtic peoples and places of Northern Europe and fits into the second grouping.

Kay is a Canadian who lives in Toronto, and he came to some early notoriety in his early career after Christopher Tolkien, who became the executor of his father’s literary estate after his death, asked Kay to help him edit and assemble some of his father’s unpublished works. The result of this collaboration was the publishing of The Silmarillion in 1977. Wikipedia has a good entry on this.

Kay’s first books, The Fionavar Tapestry, were of a genre of fantasy fiction that has become quite common since the development of the popular fantasy genre — a group of young people in our world meet a wise, older man who whisks them away to a parallel fantasy world embroiled in an epic struggle between good and evil. One can certainly accuse Kay of copying from Tolkien in these three books, as many of the same elements from Tolkien’s fantasy are present, but Kay acknowledges directly that these were intended as homage to Tolkien, and were intended to overcome what he saw as the “debasing of the genre” by other authors. Kay’s writing is also far more focused on character than plot and ideas.

In this second grouping of standalone books, which includes Tigana, The Lions of Al-Rassan, and A Song for Arbonne, I don’t think this is the strongest book in some respects, but it may be the most beautiful in terms of Kay’s empathy for both his characters and his readers. This is a book full of relatively small events — the fate of the world isn’t at stake, just the fates of the peoples who come together in the story — and characters who are both heroic and flawed. In this respect the book feels very modern, and one can easily place oneself in the book.

On the other hand, like all of Kay’s writings of this type, the book is completely infused with a deep sense of a very specific time and place (something also very important to Tolkien), and Kay has a deep respect for the culture and peoples that he writes about. In this book we have three key cultures represented: the Vikings (called Erlings), the Anglo-Saxons (called Anglcyns), and the Celts (called Cyngaels). I wonder if this was difficult for Kay to write given Tolkien’s deep love for these same peoples and their languages, and his desire to create the Middle-Earth legendarium as an authentic and native mythology for a people who he felt had none of their own. But Kay’s purpose in his writing is very different from Tolkien’s and there is no sense of derivation or imitation here.

What I also like is the way that Kay treats the element of magic or the fantastic in his writings. Unlike the “Dungeons and Dragons” approach to magic, where under every rock it seems one can find an enchanted sword or book of ancient wisdom, in Kay’s worlds (like ours) real magic is vanishingly rare, and only accomplished through great sacrifice. His characters’ encounters with the fantastic, with the “half-world” as he calls it here, always leaves them changed, and the powers they encounter aren’t always understandable by mortal humans, or even particularly concerned with them. Some of his mysteries stay mysterious. If anything, sometimes it feels like Kay is a little too judicious with his use of these forces in his writings, and at times his can feel a little less like historical fantasy and a little more like historical fiction.

Regardless, Kay is definitely the master of this style he has helped create and popularize, and this book is a veritable paean to a heroic, beautiful, and vanished world.

Our old friend Pat, whose prayer life includes asking God to strike down those he doesn’t like, is at it again. This time its against the citizens of Dover, PA. According to CNN Robertson included Dover in a rant on his 700 Club show. He said:

“I’d like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a disaster in your area, don’t turn to God, you just rejected Him from your city,” Robertson said on his daily television show broadcast from Virginia, “The 700 Club.”

“And don’t wonder why He hasn’t helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I’m not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that’s the case, don’t ask for His help because he might not be there,” he said.

So this raises some interesting questions. If 51% of the voters in Dover, PA voted to oust the school board members does that mean that God is going to strike down 100% of the citizens? Or only those who voted incorrectly? What about those who stayed home? They should have voted. Was not voting more or less of a sin that voting the wrong way? What about those who didn’t understand the ballot, or punched the ballot incorrectly? Maybe God won’t strike them down, just give then a serious case of the gout, or measles, or something.

I like Pat because he makes rational people look so, well, rational by comparsion.

I saw this image in someone’s personal profile pics today. I wonder how many other easter eggs are out there…

This is my favorite dish from Palio, my favorite Italian restaurant in Ann Arbor. The name of the dish “strascicate” means “mixed up”, and its a hearty dish which evokes the countryside of the Lucca region of Tuscany. I’ve never seen it in a cookbook (although I saw at least one online), and its probably not a dish that you’ll see often on a typical restaurant menu. This is another reason why Ann Arbor is a fabulous place to live in the midwest — we have a lot of really good restaurants.

I’ve made a couple of adjustments from restaurant version (based on my guesses) to lighten it up and to use herbs that I have on hand.

Items

• 1/2 lb sweet (not hot) fresh Italian sausage (about 3 links)
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 TB butter
• 2 medium stalks (3″-4″) fresh rosemary
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 lb rigatoni pasta
• 2 cups fresh or frozen sweet peas (not canned! yuck!)
• 1 cup vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 cup cream or half and half
• 1/2 cup finely grated Romano or Parmaggiano-Reggiano cheese (both stand up well in this dish)
• 2 roma tomatoes, chopped, or 1 cup of cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 cup scallions, chopped (optional)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method

1. Remove sausage from casing and fry over medium-heat in a nonstick skillet until completely cooked at least 10 minutes. While the sausage is cooking add one of the stalks of rosemary, and using a spatula chop the sausage until it is in small pieces. Season with freshly-ground black pepper. Set aside covered with the rosemary still in the pan and keep warm.
2. Remove the leaves from the remaining stalk of rosemary and chop very finely.
3. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When the butter has melted add the garlic and fry for a minute. Add the rosemary, and continue to cook another 4-5 minutes. Don’t let the garlic burn, and stir often.
4. Add the broth and cream (or half and half) and the thyme sprigs and bring to a boil, stirring often. When it boils, turn the heat down to low and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally.
5. Cook the pasta according to the packet directions, about 13 minutes.
6. While the pasta is cooking, thaw/heat the peas in a small strainer in the pasta water. You don’t want to cook the peas, just warm them through.
7. When the pasta is done, drain and put back in the pot.
8. Remove the thyme sprig from the sauce and discard. Add the cheese to the sauce, stirring constantly. Check the salt of the sauce and adjust if needed.
9. Add the sausage (discard the rosemary stalk) and tomatoes, to the sauce and turn the heat up to medium to heat through and soften the tomatoes slightly.
10. Add sauce to pasta, stirring well to combine.
11. Serve topped with additional cheese if desired, and a handful of scallions if you like them.

Serves 4 very well. It pairs well with a nice dry white wine. We had a good Aussie Chardonnay.

Or literally, “Peas and cheese”. This is a basic dish common at a lot of Indian restaurants. Its also pretty easy to make at home, and the basic “vegetables in gravy” theme can be varied endlessly.

Indian food seems hard because a lot of the basics are not ones that many American cooks have handy. But if you stock up on good spices, and keep a few things in your pantry, its as easy to make good Indian as anything else.

The “cheese” in this case is homemade “farmers cheese”. Its quite simple to make though, and is a great alternative to tofu (which I don’t like very much). This takes about 10 minutes to make, and then you need to chill it for 30 minutes or so. I also suggest below making a simple garlic, chili, onion, and ginger paste, which you can freeze and keep on hand. This speeds things along.

The way I would make this meal is as follows: 1) Make the paneer and let it chill, 2) start the rice in a rice-cooker (3cups basmati rice, 3 1/2 cups water, 1 tsp salt) , 3) make the gravy, 4) fry the paneer, and 5) put it together and serve. This takes about an hour of your time, although you’re not constantly busy.

Paneer

Items

• 1 Gallon whole milk (it has to be whole milk)
• 1 2′x3′ piece of cheesecloth (your grocery store should carry it, probably in the baking aisle), folded in half and placed in a colander. You’re going to strain the cheese through this.
• 6-8 Tbsp white vinegar
• 2tsp salt
• Fresh black pepper, 1/4tsp turmeric, 1/2tsp cumin, or 1/2tsp ground coriander (optional)

Method

1. Heat milk in a large pot over medium heat. While heating, add the salt and any spices you want to add. The spices are optional, but don’t hurt the cheese. Be sure not to let the milk boil, and keep an eye on the bottom of the pot. The milk will want to burn if you heat it too fast.
2. When the milk is almost at the boil, turn the heat off and add the vinegar 1Tbsp at a time, stirring. You’ll probably need 6Tbsp, and may need more (depends on the milk). When there’s enough acid in the milk it will curdle it, and the protein in the milk will separate into very fine curds and whey (which I find to be a mild greenish color). Stir a bit more until the milk is completely curdled.
3. Pour the curds into the cheesecloth and let them drain completely. Wrap them up in the cheesecloth and twist the cloth a couple of times on top. Carefully squeeze out as much moisture as you can (it will be hot!). You’ll have a cheese patty now.
4. Place the cheese patty between two plates and put it in your fridge. Put something heavy on top to continue to squeeze out moisture. Let rest and cool in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Ginger Garlic Paste

Items

• 1 2″x2″ piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 or 2 fresh green chili peppers, halved, seeded, and chopped (depends on how hot you like stuff)
• 1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped

Method

1. Combine ingredients in a food processor or blender.
2. Process until in a smooth paste.
3. Freeze the leftovers, and thaw when needed.

Mattar Paneer

Items

• Paneer from recipe above, cut into 1″ cubes. Optionally you can fry the paneer in a little oil over medium-high heat to give it a nice browned texture.
• 3/4 cup of ginger-garlic paste from recipe above.
• 1 28oz can of chopped tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp ghee (clarified butter) or 2 Tbsp oil
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• salt
• 2 cups of frozen peas
• 1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 cup half and half (optional)
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt

Method

1. Heat a chef’s pan or medium pot over medium heat. Add the oil and spices, and let the spices cook for a minute.
2. Add the ginger-garlic paste, and fry for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes and cook 12-15 minutes until tomatoes are cooked into a sauce.
4. Add the half and half and yogurt and stir to combine.
5. Adjust the salt, and add more spices if desired.
6. Stir in peas. If they’re frozen let them thaw in the sauce until hot.
7. Add paneer. Top with cilantro.

Serves 4-6. Can easily be halved.

Variations: Cauliflower, broccoli, potatoes, and spinach are all good in this same basic “tomato gravy”.