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| Olde Tyme Religion | |
| Ramadamadingdong month begins | |
| 2007-09-12 | |
Jihadi season has begun. Lots of sermons whipping up the crowds often produces jihadi activity this time of year. Tis the season to be worried The start of Ramadan, the ninth and holiest month of the Muslim calendar, is traditionally determined by the sighting of a new moon, often dividing rival Islamic countries and sects over the exact date. Libya is one Muslim country that does not look to the moon. Its centre for astronomical studies announced yesterday that it had fixed the start of Ramadan for today based on astronomical calculations. Countries such as Egypt which determine the holy month in the traditional way will begin Ramadan tomorrow. Sheikh Ali Gomaa, the Mufti or official interpreter of Islamic law, announced the September 13 date in a live television address. Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, declared tomorrow to be the first day of Ramadan, in an announcement from the kingdom's royal court. Other Middle East states including Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will also begin Ramadan tomorrow. During the holy month, Muslims are required to abstain from food, drink and sex from dawn until dusk as life slips into a lower gear during the day, and activity peaks between "iftar", the breaking of the fast at sunset, and "suhur", the last meal of the day before sunrise. In Iraq a top security official announced this week that the nightly curfew in Baghdad and a vehicle curfew will be eased during Ramadan. Baghdad's 400-year-old Shorja market has been bustling with activity with war-weary residents stocking up on spices, sugar, tea and nuts - these days imported from neighbouring Syria. The US military, which has deployed thousands of troops in the capital, said levels of pre-Ramadan violence are lower this year, and Saudi Arabia, home of Islam's holiest shrines, is this year preparing to receive around one million pilgrims expected to perform "umrah", or a smaller pilgrimage, to Mecca. As generosity peaks during this month of charity, Kuwait is monitoring fund-raising activities by Islamic charities and has banned any cash donations to make sure that charity money does not reach extremist organisations. Shi'ite Iran, which is due to begin fasting tomorrow, continues to ban restaurants from operating during the day during Ramadan. In south Asia, Kashmiri politicians have called on New Delhi to declare a ceasefire in the revolt-hit state for the holy month of Ramadan, and said they hoped militants would match the move. In Asia, Thailand's Muslim-majority south, where security forces seek to contain a bloody separatist insurgency, will start Ramadan today and the army has announced the suspension of a night curfew. | |
| Posted by:anon1 |
| #19 Yes, thank you TW for the roundup. Stinks to high heaven that I did NOT find out about this until after I ate at church tonight. We had a choice of a pork chop or fried catfish. I chose the fish. If'n I'd only known..... |
| Posted by: BA 2007-09-12 22:50 |
| #18 Kinda hopin for something more bachelor friendly (read: easy) this year. Here's one for you, Mike N. This recipe is my latest invention and really delivers some intense flavor at the morning table. The only difficult part is locating a Japanese or Asian market that sells sukiyaki cut beef. The rest is dead-nuts simple. Breakfast Cigars Ingredients: 4-6 oz. Sukiyaki cut rib eye or New York strip beef (~8 pieces) 12 oz. Package of regular Johnsonville breakfast links 12 oz. Package of Jimmy Dean sage recipe ground sausage A few pats of salted butter Preparation: Keep the sliced beef chilled until time of use. If the cuts are large in size, divide them in half. Make sure they are big enough to wrap around the filling with a good bit of overlap, as they will shrink during cooking. Depending upon the available preparation time and personal patience, the breakfast links can be precooked over relatively high heat until lightly browned. Drain and reserve for later assembly. Leave any rendered grease in the pan for maximum flavor during the final cooking. Lay out one ounce or less of ground pork sausage near the end of some waxed paper. Fold over the waxed paper and press the ground sausage into a rectangular shape large enough to roll around one of the breakfast links. Open the wax paper and use your fingers to adjust the shape into a rectangle. Press the ground sausage into a panel of even thickness, then gently peel away the waxed paper from both sides of the patty. Repeat this operation for the number of cigars you wish to prepare. Store the ground sausage pages in a single layer on a chilled plate covered with waxed paper. Preheat a skillet over low flame. Cast iron or enamelware work best to avoid any sticking. Wrap the flattened ground sausage around a breakfast link and then roll this inside of the thin cut beef. Repeat as needed. Melt a pat or two of butter in the heated skillet to prevent any sticking of the thin cut beef. Increase heat if needed and wait for butter to begin foaming. Swirl the melted butter to evenly coat the pan's interior. Gently place each cigar into the skillet. As each one is brought into contact with the pan, gently move the cigar back and forth slightly to prevent any stick-down upon contact. Avoid crowding in order to obtain best browning. Place all of the cigars in the pan and adjust heat to medium low. For best results, do not cover the pan. Wait for the exterior beef wrapper to become quite crisp before turning to a new side. The beef should become rather dark brown in color. Add another pat of butter if the pan goes dry. Continue frying until all of the various meats are cooked through. If the breakfast links are not pre-cooked use a much lower heat and longer cooking time. Brown on all sides then remove and drain on paper towels. Serve immediately. Notes: Most large Asian markets will usually have thin sliced sukiyaki beef. It also may be called shabu-shabu (Japanese) or shin sul ro (Korean) beef. While pancetta, thin sliced bacon or even deli-sliced beef lunchmeat can be substituted, this recipe benefits from a very thin wrapper made of well-marbled raw beef. Rib eye is the best cut to use as it has a high amount of fatty streaking. This fat imparts a truly rich flavor and aids in the browning process. If you own a cheese and meat slicing machine, the beef can be made at home. A chef's knife simply cannot yield up the paper-thin cuts needed. The trick is to lightly freeze the meat in order to stiffen it before cutting. This is also the secret to making the famous Italian dish, carpaccio. When slicing, allow the cut piece to drop into your hand, then lay each one out flat on cling film and cover with more plastic wrap. Finish slicing the beef and then chill well before use. Avoid substituting any of the ingredients. I recently discovered the Johnsonville brand of link sausage and is some of the very finest I have ever had. Unless you are really fond of maple-flavored pork I recommend using their regular recipe. Look for their European-style ring bologna as well. This is a classic old-world smoked sausage ring that is simply fabulous. The same also goes for Jimmy Dean sage recipe ground sausage. No other ground breakfast sausage I’ve tasted has quite the right balance of seasoning or uses such high quality pork cuts. Variations: Cover a two-inch diameter and half inch thick coin of ground sausage in the thin cut beef. Lay the page of beef out flat, place the sausage coin in the middle and bring up all edges of the beef around the filling. Fry face down in a hot buttered pan and finish cooking on the folded side last. Wrap the edge of a two-inch diameter and half inch thick coin of ground sausage with smoked bacon and fry over medium high heat in a hot buttered pan. Roll a breakfast link up in the beef or bacon without the ground sausage interlayer. Roll a cigar shaped cylinder of the ground sausage in a page of the thin cut beef. The variations are as endless as they are tasty. For kosher versions, use Shenson’s beef bacon or hamburger meat seasoned with garlic and onion powder plus some salt, pepper and ground sage. Turkey breakfast sausage or even chicken and apple links could be used for kosher recipes. For a dramatic dinner appetizer, smear a little wasabi and soy sauce paste (recipe to follow) on the inside face of some thin cut beef and then wrap a finger of raw tuna inside of it. Cook over high heat on a well-oiled grill to lightly sear the beef and tuna. Or fry the beef and tuna cigars over low heat in a lightly oiled skillet until well done. Wasabi Soy Paste Mix wasabi powder with a small amount of water until just moistened all the way through. Cover the bowl and let wasabi hydrate for at least ten minutes. Mix the moistened wasabi with a spoonful of dark soy sauce or tamari until well blended. Thin any unused paste with more soy sauce for use as a dipping mixture with the final product. Minced scallions, crushed garlic and sesame chili oil may all be added to the dipping sauce for extra flavor. PS: Thank you, trailing wife, for linking to the Rantburg Ramadan Recipe Roundup™ |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-09-12 18:30 |
| #17 I made a pork tenderloin w/raspberry chipotle off last years recipes and I must say, I hate pork that isn't bacon, but it was at least a thousand times better than any ham I have ever eaten and it was well worth it. Kinda hopin for something more bachelor friendly (read: easy) this year. |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2007-09-12 14:42 |
| #16 I do believe ham, sausage and bean soup and stuffed pork tenderloin cutlets are on tonight's menu. |
| Posted by: ed 2007-09-12 14:38 |
| #15 Yes, thank you, Trailing Wife. I think I will leave a recipe a day in the Canteen, bet there's some seething! |
| Posted by: rhodesiafever 2007-09-12 14:26 |
| #14 The start of Ramadan, the ninth and holiest month of the Muslim calendar, is traditionally determined by the sighting of a new moon Must have been looking my direction yesterday. Lunch time here - got some Virginia sliced ham, some good bread, garden tomato, meunster cheese, some real dijon mustard with the coarse seed, and some horseradish sauce that makes a person feel a full inch taller. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2007-09-12 12:55 |
| #13 I read the post caption and came here to request some Ramadan recipes from the past. I see that TW already had it covered. Well done. I know that some readers think our resident Zenster is a bit over the top (he's not, he's just out of patience w/ members of the so-called ROP). I recommend that you take note of his recipes. They're quite appealing. |
| Posted by: Mark Z 2007-09-12 12:10 |
| #12 Funny. No mention that today marks the start of Rosh Hashannah and that leads, of course, to Yom Kippur. Keep that in mind Porky! The last time you tried something then you got your collective butts beat to a pulp. |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2007-09-12 11:14 |
| #11 "During the holy month, Muslims are required to abstain from food, drink and sex from dawn until dusk" Doesn't cover gun sex, though. |
| Posted by: SR-71 2007-09-12 11:10 |
| #10 Ramadan lasts far too long. A one month productivity hit. Another reason Islam destroys an economy. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2007-09-12 10:19 |
| #9 Night attacks, starting at sundown. They can't eat during the day, let's keep their heads down after dark too. |
| Posted by: mojo 2007-09-12 10:07 |
| #8 ROFLMAO, Emily. |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2007-09-12 10:05 |
| #7 What's all this about ram a ham? Goats and pigs? At once? Doesn't that violate some dietary rule? And why would they want to ram a ham when they have so many sheep and camels? And besides that, your have to debone the ham before...Oh, you meant Ramadan. Never mind. |
| Posted by: E. Littella 2007-09-12 09:34 |
| #6 The traditional Rantburg way ;-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-09-12 09:26 |
| #5 Time to pig out! |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-09-12 09:20 |
| #4 tu, I'll put $20 on 200 - gotta be in it to win it. |
| Posted by: Spot 2007-09-12 08:29 |
| #3 Mecca Stampede over/under out yet? Hey, if they ever get an NFL franchise, that'd be a helluva name! |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-09-12 07:56 |
| #2 I too, shall honor Ramadan in the traditional Rantburg way..... Pork products, anyone? ;) |
| Posted by: Swamp Blondie 2007-09-12 07:52 |
| #1 "During the holy month, Muslims are required to abstain from food, drink and sex from dawn until dusk" and then they TOTALLY pig out on all of the aforementioned--and the next day, it all starts again. The funny thing is that they think they're really special because they do this--like they've "arrived" and are superior to the rest of the world. First they feel very sorry for themselves, then they stuff themselves, then they feel very sorry for themselves . . . on and on it goes for a month. |
| Posted by: ex-lib 2007-09-12 07:29 |