THE BLOGGERS COOKBOOK- DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY EDITION

OBAMA SALAD

This simple salad is ideal for summer patio dining and great with grilled meat. The arugula keeps it bitter and the tomatoes add suspicious red undertones.

Ingredients:

3 ripe tomatoes
1 cup arugula, rinsed
1 tbsp coarse salt
1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil

Cut tomatoes into thick slices. Toss in a bowl with arugula and salt. Plate and drizzle with olive oil.

Serve with CRACKERS. Hit the link for a suggestion.

The Blogger's Cookbook II

Iceberg Salad

Holy crap is this good! And simple? Don't get me started! The dressing is powerful and the sturdy Iceberg lettuce is robust enough structurally to take the hit.

If you're making dinner for the first time for a new or potential love interest, this is slam dunk material. Trust your Uncle Caliban.

The excellent dressing recipe is from chef Karen Barnaby at the Fish House Restaurant in Vancouver.

Ingredients:

Dressing

4 oz. blue, Roquefort or Gorgonzola cheese
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Salad:

1 head Iceberg lettuce

Prepare the dressing: Mix sour cream, mayonnaise, vinegar and garlic in a bowl. Add crumbled cheese and stir. Check for taste and add salt and pepper as necessary. Refrigerate (will keep for up to one week).

Prepare the salad: Remove core from lettuce. Strip off outer leaves. Quarter lettuce into wedges (1 per serving), top with dressing and serve.

Slam dunk? Dunk slammed.

You're welcome.

The Blogger's Cookbook I

Suppose for a moment that your schedule has cleared and you can blog away to your heart's content. As you prepare to settle down for hours at the keyboard, remember one thing: You must eat to maintain consciousness.

Here is a recipe I threw together that has a number of benefits:

-It's fast
-It's inexpensive
-Works on ovens, hot plates, open fires, and over flaming corpses.
-Makes more than one serving
-Actually good for you
-Can be grazed while you blog
-It's exotic. If someone else has some they will say 'Hey, cool! What is it?' Which allows you to make up whatever story you like about...say, an Ashram, your assault on Everest, or the Dalai Lama (don't get me started on the f-in Dalai Lama).
-Point is, you can customize the recipe and it serves as a focal point for storytelling in person or online, and isn't that a wonderful thing?
-You can even tell the truth!

SHIN HUA SOUP

Shopping list:

You will need-

1 head bok choy or 1/4 cabbage
3 boneless chicken thighs, skin on
12 oz. can chicken stock
12 oz. can Romano or other beans
6 oz. dry chow mien noodles
1 cup frozen vegetables
1 tbsp. hot sauce
2 tbsp. curry powder
1 tbsp. dark soy sauce
2 tbs. olive/peanut oil

(+ anything else you feel like tossing in.)

Here's what I do:

1. Check you blog for comments. There are none.

2. Go to FARK. See what's up.

3. Windows Vista crashes system.

4. Re-boot.

5. While you are waiting, open chicken stock and pour into medium-large saucepan. Set temperature at medium-high.

6. Shred bok choy/cabbage with knife, food processor, blender or fingers

7. Add to chicken stock with frozen vegetables. Turn temperature to medium and simmer.

8. Windows Vista is flashing an unrecognizable screen.

9. Re-reboot.

10. Heat oil in small frying pan (medium high heat) and put in chicken thighs skin down. Saute for 3 minutes a side then put aside to rest- 5 mins.

11. Add beans to stock/bok choy mix. Put in curry powder and hot sauce. Cover and simmer.

12. Your password has been corrupted. Email help desk.

13. Add chow mien noodles to stock/bean mixture. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes.

14. Help desk unavailable.

15. Slice chicken thighs into 1/4 inch strips. Add to stock.

16. Simmer 5 minutes.

17. Check computer. You're screwed.

18. Serve soup in large bowl with shot of soy sauce on top.

19. Turn on TV.

20. Watch Matlock.

See? Easy.