I normally regard anything written by Dan Wetzel to be the opposite of the truth, but he brings out a subtle point: the College Playoff System is a disaster in only its second year.
College Football Playoff executives said they were going to change the paradigm of New Year's Eve in America and instead Americans changed the paradigm of the College Football Playoff.
#3
Swirling around the bowl. There - someone had to say it...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/03/2016 11:26 Comments ||
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#4
MLB and NBA ruined themselves by diluting the season and now the NFL is headed the same way. The money machine keeps spinning nevertheless.
Posted by: regular joe ||
01/03/2016 11:48 Comments ||
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#5
#1 and #2 are on it - too many bowl games and at unwatchable times if you have a job
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/03/2016 11:58 Comments ||
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#6
#1 and #2 are on it - too many bowl games and at unwatchable times if you have a job
There's another dimension to this as well. 85 percent of bowl games this year are on ESPN or ESPN 2 cable channels. That is cutting out a large portion of your potential audience.
It seems to me that ABC is trying to up its carry fees for cable operators by restricting good/pivotal games to cable and lesser games on broadcast. Seems to me you can screw your audience for so long until they find something else to watch.
Even if bowl games were on during the week, which they have been in the run up to the BCS showing them on cable is a losing deal.
I thought I was going to get a four hour bloc of reading this week. Didn't happen, in the fortunate sense, but that means I didn't finish Roger Crowley's The Conquerors. Besides, the Surprise! guests would probably have prevented me from a worthwhile write-up. So Food for You! Charcuterie - The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing
Michael Ruhlman & Brian Polcyn
W. W. Norton and Company, revised 2013
Corned Beef
Page 67 OK, I give, another Surprise! guest. Open thread, link is to Amazon's Charcuterie page, will try this book again sometime, and Happy New Year!
#1
I know nothing about charcouterie, and the subject rather intimidates me, being as I am an end user. Instead, since this is an open thread, I give you Goulash two ways: as the proper Hungarian beef-paprika stew, and a quick ersatz version my darling mother-in-law invented in her youth. Mr. Wife and the trailing daughters adore the former, but whenever I make the latter their hearts melt. Also, it takes precisely as long to make it as it takes for the noodles to cook, perfect for a weeknight dinner or when the children need to be fed.
Goulash (Hungarian Beef Stew) Serves 6-8. Based on a recipe in Cook's Illustrated 11/08.
Prep time 30-45 minutes, cooking time ~3 hours. Make up to two days before serving.
Do not substitute hot, half-sharp, or smoked Spanish paprika for the sweet paprika. Since paprika is vital to this recipe, it is best to use a fresh container. Chuck-eye roast is preferred, but any boneless chuck will do. Cook stew in a 6-qt. Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid. (Alternatively, to ensure a tight seal, place a sheet of foil over the pot before adding the lid.) The stew is best when cooled, covered tightly, and refrigerated 1-2 days before serving; wait to add the sour cream until after reheating. Can be frozen up to six months.
Ingredients
3 1/2 - to 4-pound boneless beef chuck-eye roast, trimmed of excess fat and cut into žâ cubes (do not get pre-cut, as the pieces are irregular, therefore cook irregularly)
1 1/2 tsp.salt
1/3 cup (2 oz.) sweet paprika powder
12-ounce (about 1 cup) jar roasted red peppers, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons tomato paste (get in tube rather than can, if possible -- it tastes less tinny)
2 tsp white vinegar
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
4 large onions, diced (about 6 cups = 840g = scant 2 lb)
4 large cloves garlic
4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 3/4" thick rounds (about 2 cups) or more, to taste
1 bay leaf
1 tsp black peppercorns, crushed
1/2 cup red wine
2 cups low sodium beef broth (any brand with first ingredients listed as beef plus yeast extract)
1 cup sour cream or drained plain Greek yoghurt
1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Sprinkle meat evenly with 1 teaspoon salt and set aside. Process paprika, roasted peppers, tomato paste, and 2 teaspoons vinegar in food processor until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down sides as needed.
2. Combine oil, onions, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in large Dutch oven or two 3 quart pots; cover and set over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions soften but have not yet begun to brown, 8 to 10 minutes. (If onions begin to brown, reduce heat to medium-low and stir in 1 tablespoon water.) Crush garlic, add to pot, sauteâ for 30 seconds until perfume is released.
3. Stir in paprika mixture; cook, stirring occasionally, until onions stick to bottom of pot, about 2 minutes. Scrape onion mixture over beef, set aside. Turn heat up to high, then deglaze pot with red wine, scraping up browned bits while boiling rapidly to reduce. Add beef broth, continuing to boil rapidly to reduce to about half a cup. Add onion mixture, beef, carrots, bay leaf and pepper; stir until beef is well coated. Scrape down sides of pot, then cover pot and transfer to oven. Cook until meat is almost tender, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. If needed add water until the surface of the liquid is 1/4" from top of meat (beef should not be fully submerged). Return covered pot to oven and continue to cook until fork slips easily in and out of beef, about 30 minutes longer. Remove from oven and let cool. While cooling, remove a cup or two of liquid and boil until reduced by half, then return to pot and continue cooling. (Reducing the sauce really concentrates the flavours.) Refrigerate up to two days.
4. To serve: skim fat off surface of goulash, remove bay leaf, then reheat over medium heat. Meanwhile, boil 1 lb.egg noodles or small, red-skinned potatoes. Stir sour cream into goulash, then adjust salt and pepper to taste. Drain potatoes/noodles. Quarter potatoes, if using, then toss potatoes/noodles with 2-4 Tbsp. butter.
5. Serve stew over potatoes or egg noodles, with green salad on the side and a good, crusty bread, if desired. Nice with a sturdy young red wine: Zinfadel, an Australian Shiraz or a Napa Valley Cabernet, Beaujolais Villages or Chianti Classico.
Huguette's Quick Goulash
Set a pot of water to boil for noodles (I like elbow macaroni). Brown 1 lb. of ground beef (I prefer chuck) and drain fat. Set aside. Add 1 tbsp. of beef fat to to pan, then saute 1 medium chopped onion and 1 green pepper until tender. Add 1 minced clove of garlic, stirring until fragrant. Set aside with beef. Add salt and noodles to boiling water. Add red wine to pan to deglaze, then stir in 1 can of tomato soup, salt and pepper to taste, Tabasco sauce, 1 bay leaf, 1 oz. sweet paprika powder, and a bit of chicken boullion. Stir in beef and vegetables, and a heaping tbsp. of sour cream or Greek yoghurt if desired. Drain noodles, toss with a bit of butter or oil, then serve with grated Parmesan cheese.
#2
I generally double the Hungarian goulash recipe when I make it, because it is a bit of work. Sometimes it lasts long enough for some portions to make their way into the freezer. I always triple my mother-in-law's version. If I really want some for the freezer, I double it again.
I therefore buy paprika powder in bulk. I used to get it from Penzeys, but I got tired of Bill Penzey filling my email in-box with his political screeds, and therefore switched to the [happily apolitical] original spice business his sister took over from their parents: The Spice House. Thus far I've been very pleased with their products and their prices.
I too was a bit hesitant about charcuterie, but it does fill in a gap about the question about food preservation. The age old question, how to store food.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Generations after political emancipation from direct colonial rule and overt western influence, the quest for genuine political independence, democratization and cultural authenticity in many majority Arab states is still unfulfilled. The abject failures of decades of experimentation with controlled liberalization, Arab and local nationalisms, and Arab socialism in the 1950's and 60's and with Political Islam in its various forms since the 1967 defeat in the war with Israel, were shockingly confirmed by the Arab uprisings of recent years.
The end of colonial rule was the beginning of the era of strong men, usually lower ranking military officers (Nasser in Egypt, Qadaffy in Libya), and the rise of repressive, chauvinistic nationalisms (especially the Baath in Syria and Iraq). The Islamist movements, beginning with the oldest one, the Moslem Brüderbund (established in Egypt in 1928) and the movements it spawned in subsequent decades shared the same illiberal characteristics of the Arab Nationalists and Socialists. In fact illiberal governance is the thread that connects that amorphous universe we call the Arab world.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/03/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
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#1
"...The German Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche who had strong negative views of Judaism and Christianity and contradictory views of Islam, nonetheless made a striking comment about the 'wonderful world of the Moorish culture of Spain', and he found it admirable that Islam 'said Yes to life even with the rare and refined luxuries of Moorish life.' From this perspective, there is no greatness is asceticism, or in fake religious puritanism or in fear of the material world. Yes to life."
Nietzche was impressed with how he thought the high culture of 11th and 12th century Cordova enjoyed the luxuries without worrying about compliance with religious dos and don'ts. I think Al Arabiya doesn't understand that.
Posted by: lord garth ||
01/03/2016 0:48 Comments ||
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#2
The mistake starts by calling it Arab World when there are dozen of different Peoples there.
#3
Latrine or open dumpster would have been the first metaphors to my mind. I guess they had to class it up to get it taken seriously by thinking people.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/03/2016 1:32 Comments ||
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#4
The mistake starts by calling it Arab World
Overflowing toxic waste dump? Snake-pit? A habit of the only eusocial primates? A place I would most like to nuke?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/03/2016 14:11 Comments ||
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#10
Sandy and shitty...cat box.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
01/03/2016 15:27 Comments ||
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#11
The mistake starts by calling it Arab World
They conquered it, Lionel Thoth9784, and imposed their language, culture, and religion on the native peoples, so it's named after them. We conquered the majority of North America, though considerably less viciously, so we call it The United States of America. Everybody who lives here is part of that, regardless what they might have been before they came here.
The short summary is: in an effort to draw attention to a ridiculous arrest of a father and son pair of Oregon Ranchers (“Dwight Lincoln Hammond, Jr., 73, and his son, Steven Dwight Hammond, 46,) who are scheduled to begin five year prison sentences (turning themselves in tomorrow January 4th 2016), three brothers from the Cliven Bundy family and approximately 100/150 (and growing) heavily armed militia (former U.S. service members) have taken control of Malheur Wildlife Refuge Headquarters in the wildlife reserve. They are prepared to stay there indefinitely.
A much more detailed history of government perfidy at the link
#3
The coppers said they broke the law. They had their day in court - they lost. They appealed their conviction - they lost again. Sorry bubs...dem da breaks.
#4
The way I hear it is that the were convicted, sentenced, served their time, and only after all that someone decided the sentence wasn't enough so changed it.
#5
The way I hear it is that the were convicted, sentenced, served their time, and only after all that someone decided the sentence wasn't enough so changed it.
Federal prosecutors said the act of a controlled burn was a terrorist act which demanded the Hammond serve out the whole 5 years.
I'd be angry as hell over this as well.
Which is, in my tiny mind, another reminder why Patriot Act era laws must be repealed.
#6
The fact the feds keep changing the rules to benefit them and then go after these ranchers again for their land is pure tyranny. I don't know what the occupation of the refuge is the right idea, but someone needs to stand up to the feds in the west and force them to back down, or double down and shoot it out.
#7
DOJ, FBI and the entire federal criminal justice apparatus are corrupt. This conviction is about as convincing as a Soviet puppet trial. Sorry - but the notion that they 'had their day in court' is about 30 years expired.
Moved to Opinion because of all the adjectives. The naked hands flaunted by the hussies in the photo accompanying the piece are only what should be expected.
[SenseOfEvents] Michael Yon and I had a short but to the point discussion about this on FB back when the mass migration of Syrians and others started overland, by now a few months ago. We concluded that there was a real chance of civil war if the Euro governments didn't start listening to the European people,
And now this:
Society in western Europe is on the verge of breaking down amid chaotic violence caused by economic dislocation, mass immigration and terrorism. This is not the view of some 'crazy survivalist' but of the head of the Swiss Armed Forces.
Lieutenant-General Andreas Blattmann has issued a warning to the Swiss people that society is dangerously close to collapse and advised those not already armed as part of the Swiss Army reserve to take steps to arm themselves. Blattmann has been head of the Armed Forces since, 1 March 2009 and his words carry very significant weight in a country in which several Citizens' Initiative referenda against burqas and mosques have proven enormously popular as concerns grow about immigration and Islamisation.
O lucky country, that has only six problems to face!
[Hurriyet] 2015 has been a problematic year for The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... both in domestic and international politics. Two general elections, the changing mood of the Kurdish problem and the spillover of Syrian war in the form of jihadi terrorism were major problems inside Turkey. The Syrian war with the worsening situation with the downing of the Russian plane, the changing nature of the fight in cooperation with the U.S. against the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) and the possibility of reactivating relations with the European Union
Continued on Page 49
#1
Things can go many different ways in 2016 for Turkey, but all the paths end up in the basement apartment of a Port-A-John. They are lead by idiots so you can rule out sensible action to serve their true interests. The end result of all potential scenarios will be the same; only the bombardier perched on the throne will be different based on which stupid path is chosen. Good news, though. If Hillary gets elected, 2017 going forward will not be dramatically worse for Turkey.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/03/2016 1:01 Comments ||
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[DAWN] SUCCESSFUL as 2015 was on many fronts in the fight to stabilise the country and restore internal peace, there was one especially grim statistic: following first the partial and then the complete lifting of the moratorium on the death penalty, 333 individuals were hanged to death last year. As a report compiled by Dawn.com has shown, the record executions in Pakistain were only exceeded by Iran and China. None of the three countries, and Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... , which executed the fourth highest number of people, has a judicial system that inspires confidence or is a model that other states want to emulate. From the standpoint of justice, it is not an enviable company of nations. Yet, the state here appears to show no intention of slowing down. The new year has begun with the ISPR announcing that the army chief has ratified the death sentences of nine more individuals convicted by the military. The crimes that the men allegedly belonging to various Death Eater groups have been convicted of are clearly of a very serious nature. But the opaqueness of the trials and the sentences handed down do not meet the standards of justice -- the fight against militancy can and should be won without the dubious crutch that is the death penalty.
As documented over the course of the last year, the reinstatement of the death penalty in the country had little to do with terrorism -- the overwhelming majority of the men hanged had no Death Eater, terrorist or bully boy affiliation. Moreover, there is no evidence whatsoever that the reinstatement of the death penalty has acted as a deterrent. While militancy and terrorism were markedly lower last year, military and government officials themselves routinely credited the reduction to military operations in Fata and counterterrorism actions across the country. It is not just the direct effect -- while more than 30 individuals have been sentenced to die by military courts, the high-profile nature of those cases has drawn virtually all attention away from the death sentences that continue to be handed down by the regular courts and made even more difficult scrutiny of the non-military cases that have been sent to the gallows.
While wide-ranging judicial reforms remain a distant priority for the government, there are two interventions that could help slow down the frantic rate of executions. Firstly, the government could form a special high-powered committee consisting of judicial and human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. experts to review the cases that are set for execution rather than leaving it to the normal channels of review via the courts and the interior ministry. Secondly, the unacceptably wide range of crimes that the death penalty can be handed down for should be urgently reviewed. If the political will exists, the legalities of both steps could surely be worked out in reasonable time. The shameful record of executions last year should be not exceeded in 2016.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/03/2016 00:00 ||
Comments ||
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[1 views]
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#1
the fight against militancy can and should be won without the dubious crutch that is the death penalty.
Hand-wringing p*ssy. I'd say they haven't done it enough
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/03/2016 10:52 Comments ||
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#2
Doesn't Islam require the death penalty for a wide variety of "Crimes", including being raped?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/03/2016 11:32 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
