Monday, September 27, 2004
The Goose Way path as instruction
What do Animal Farm, Watership Down and The Handmaid's Tale have in common? They were all, most likely, devoured by John Barlow British author of Eating Mammals. In his new collection of 3 novella's Barlow uses a Wives Tale strategy to instruct through motif the ways of man in crafting his complex relationship to animals.
Sometimes political, at other times with child-like wonder Barlow confuses our senses, already atrophied by a potent disinformation campaign regarding human as animal, with three tales of human/animal interaction. The author uses a mirror of mysticism and folklore to lead us to a bizarre conclusion; we are what we eat.
In his first offering of the trilogy Eating Mammals Barlow sends us chasing after a post war, 20th century quest for fame and fortune ala Barnum Baily and the age of man as moral imperator regarding all that is base, shocking and sub-human. Human, after all, is politic and politic is social; it is not who you are in life but rather what you do that defines our humanity.
The Possession of Thomas-Bessie is the second tale in which a kitten is born with a magical accessory, wings and the community of pious and easily led turn to self destructive behavior denying any kinship with the kitten and each other yet craving it more than the anonymity they so wearily eschew. Barlow reminds our mythic side of the shared experience we have with all other creatures.
The last of Barlow's triptych is The Donkey Wedding at Gomersal a fable of instruction and a far reach to understanding in the sense that the goose way is our folkloric path to the fair. We follow the footsteps of those who go before us and the festival is sure to astonish.
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Thursday, September 23, 2004
Martha Stewart Chili Pot Pie
We created this vegan pie after Martha's take on Joseph Bonanno Jr's False Alarm Vegetable Chili, just because Martha always keeps her "t".
Ingredients
1 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium carrot cut into chunks
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 15-ounce can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 16-ounce can coarsely chunked tomatoes
1 tin Pillsbury original crescent rolls
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red-pepper flakes
Preparation
Heat oil over medium flame add onion, green and red peppers, carrot, jalapeño pepper, and garlic. Cook until the vegetables soften, about 5 minutes. Add kidney beans tomato and cover. Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to medium-low, add red pepper flakes and cumin. Simmer covered for about 30 minutes. If the chili starts to dry out, add hot water as needed.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spoon prepared chili into 2 oven safe casserole pots and cover with crescent dough. Trim the edges, make a 1/2" vent in the crust and cook for approximately 30 minutes or until top browns. Let the pies cool for ten minutes before serving.
serves 2
vegan
Serve with blue corn chips and soy sour cream.
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Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Southern Blogs
Detail from: To Have and Have Not
...are back. Thanks to Adam at A Single Southern Guy In America we who blog in the warm, sunny and sometimes tempestuous south have a soap box once more.
To celebrate the occasion we're reprising this most antebellum of desserts the
Magnolia Pie
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups unbleached cane sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup soy spread, softened
3 large eggs
1 cup soy creamer
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1 tin Pillsbury original crescent roll dough, form into 9" pie shell
Preparation
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Combine sugar, flour, and softened soy spread; beat with an electric mixer until blended.
Add eggs, soy creamer, vanilla, and lemon extract. Beat at low speed until blended.
Pour into unbaked pie shell.
Bake for 1 hour, or until the center is set. Cool.
serves 8
ovo-vegetarian
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Wednesday, September 15, 2004
Southern Food Blogs, southern comfort
Those of us that live under the eternal warmth and comfort of the southern sun have few concerns beyond this, we live surrounded by the sea and endure her occasional petulance.
Six hours to landfall and Ivan rages toward the coast. The third major hurricane this season now threatens the "catcher's mitt" from New Orleans to Tallahassee. Two hundred miles west, out in the Gulf, Ivan kicks up our surf and sends us his warning, "Please be safe from me and when the storm has passed return to this extraordinary place in which you have chosen to live."
Two southern comfort recipes to come home to;
Cuban Sandwich and...
Black Bean Soup
Ingredients
1 16 oz can black beans
1/3 cup dices fresh onion
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp lemon juice
Preparation
Mix all the ingredients in a pot and bring to boil covered. Remove from the heat, stir and serve.
serves two
vegan
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Saturday, September 11, 2004
Hurricane Cinnamon Buns
Looking at these satellite images of swirled cloud masses for a solid month now we have finally yielded to subliminal suggestion and storm fatigue.
The result, The Green Cutting Board's version of cinnamon buns; "Hurricane Twists" and coffee over the morning news.
Ingredients
1 tin of Pillsbury's original crescent rolls
1/2 cup walnuts roughly chopped
1/4 cup vegan spread
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
Preparation
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. On the stove melt vegan spread and 1/2 the brown sugar together in a non-stick pan over medium heat until a thick caramel starts to form, remove from heat. Add the chopped walnuts, stir and set aside.
Unroll the dough and coat evenly with remaining spread and brown sugar, dust with cinnamon. Roll the dough into a log and cut it into 1 inch thick slices.
Place the slices on a non-stick baking pan and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the rolls from the oven, drizzle with caramel sauce and chopped walnuts, bake for another ten minutes or until the topping has begun to bubble.
serve with black coffee, a morning paper and the weather channel.
vegan
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