Gumbo

So being that "cooking" is the first subject in the blog subtitle, I guess I should write about it at some point or another. Now is as good a time as any.

The little Mrs. and I make a Sunday pot meal and pack it up for lunches for the work week. Saves a crap load of time in the morning, a ton of money and is usually better tasting than another round of Cosi or Quizno's. This week it was gumbo, no particular reason why, it just was. So here it is in paragraph form, cuz thats how I roll.

Cut in to chunks and brown 4 boneless chicken breasts in a large heavy pot. (I *heart* le crueset). While that is cooking chop up a green and/or red pepper, a good sized onion, a couple of ribs of celery and of course a good sized pile of okra (at least 1.5 lbs.)into large chunks as well. You'll also want to chop up a cup or so of either taso (spicy cajun ham) or country ham, I use Turner Ham. A finer chop would be a better idea here, pea-sized or slightly smaller. You can add any sort of extra veg you like it *is* soup after all, my wife doesnt necessarily agree with me on this particular point, I had some mushrooms that needed to be used. Remove the chicken and set aside. In the same pot, saute your vegetables. Chop and add a couple of cloves of chopped garlic. A couple of teaspoons of thyme, some hot sauce or dried chili at this point too. Once the vegetables start to become translucent or shiny (pepper will never be translucent) re-add the chicken. Throw in a 1/2 lb or so of sliced Andouille. Pour in a bottle of reasonable beer (miller lite is not a reasonable beer, Samuel Adams is), a can of chopped tomatoes, and enough chicken stock to cover by about an inch to an inch and a half. Simmer and adjust seasoning. Dont worry about the thickening, that what the okra is for. Serve over rice, or add the rice in and serve as soup.

MMmmmm good

269 days left.

Astana is out (so far)

So, did anyone really *not* see the chances of this coming??? ASO which owns the Tour De France and most of the other important races in France has banned or rather summarily not invited Astana to any of their parties this year. Its a huge blow. Especially in light of the fact that other teams who have also been naughty in years not so far past, have been invited to at least the first of the major ASO races, Paris Nice.

I think a good part of ASO shutting out Astana is political as much as anything else. The major tour operators have been battling with the UCI for a couple of years now over invitation lists and wild cards in their events. UCI wants to dictate that the organizers have to have the 20 UCI Pro-tour teams. While the 3 different tour organizers want to have more control over who races in their events.

Dont get me wrong, Astana has alot going against it. It was born out of scandal. When Operation Puerto broke just days before the '06 tour, Liberty Seguros had 4 riders eliminated, leaving just 5 and not enough to start as a team. Alexander Vinokorov went to his homeland and drummed up enough support to buy the Liberty Seguros license and started Astana. Since then no fewer than 4 of Astana's biggest names have been busted for doping, most notoriously Vino himself during last years tour, after proclaiming that all the cheats left with the previous management team.

This year they hire John Bruyneel of Postal/Discovery team fame. Johan is not the most outspoken critic of doping. Some might say that he is actually a bit cavalier in his attitude towards doping as a matter of fact. Tho to his credit he has developed a team policy and policing practice that is certainly as thorough as anybody else's at this point. But history being what it is; and the cries of "but were different now", doesnt helps things any.

So, Astana is out. Partially due to history, partially due to politics. And for all those conspiracy freaks out there, saying that the French are just doing this so they can actually win their own tour; I point out that of the highest placed French rider from last year was Michael Boogard in 12th.

Now enough but bike racing. I've written on it almost exclusively for a while now. Sorry. I didnt intend for this to become a bike racing blog only.

I've started at a gym for really the first time. A bunch of years ago I tried for about 2 months and quit. This time has a better chance of taking. Mostly because both Mrs Culimerc and I have friends to work out with. Makes the whole thing a bunch different. So hopefully, I'll turn my flabby, pasty, white butt into a tone, pasty white butt. Good luck to Me.

We're having a wine tasting here this weekend. Should be a good time, its kind of like a tupperware party with alcohol. We'll see how it goes. My brother had no last week (that he didnt invited me to crash.....hmmm). He said it was a good time, s much because it was an adult party as much as anything else. Not having chosen a life of servitude to children, all our parties are adult parties. Take your diaper talk somewhere else breeder. Anyway, should be fun, wine, cheese, pate and all that other good stuff. (read bad for your heart).

Go Slipstream

340 days and counting.

An Evening to Remember

So my wife and I celebrated the 10th anniversary of our meeting by going to Restaurant Eve in Alexandria VA. For those of you who dont know, the chef there is named Cathal Armstrong. A native born Irishman, he has been making news right and left here in DC. Restaurant Eve has a bistro, and "The Tasting Room". Probably needless to say; we had reservations for the tasting room.

Now, I am a firm believer the much "Haute" cuisine really relies as much on an air of exclusivity as anything else. There are precious few chefs who truly are doing something all the others aren't. Cathal Armstrong is definitely doing something different.

Starting with cocktails in the bar, (they have their own bar master in charge of developing their own drinks), the evening was just non-stop. One new thing after another. A gentle mix of good solid traditional technique with flair and style. Dont get me wrong there was a little "lets use the fancy name instead" going on, but this was truly a meal that was beyond the skill or imagination of 99.9% of the chefs out there.

There was pureed salted cod quinelles, yellow tail snapper tartar (yeah I know, not that special, but I like it), fresh water eel, skate wing with ox tongue and bone marrow, butter poached lobster (med. rare), blue foot mushrooms and grass fed steak, partridge with duck confit. It just went on and on. All of it beautifully prepared (partridge was a little dry, but hey life is hard). Taken separately the components of each dish were very good, but eaten together; it was a whole different experience. At one point my wife was laughing at me, apparently I had lost the ability to speak coherently.

Throughout the meal everything was at its appearance simple and straight forward, but the execution, the combinations and subtle flavor accent was truly masterful and unique. Most chefs charge ahead with big bold flavors, which is not a bad thing. I like big bold flavors. But in big and bold there is a whole other level that is simple to miss. Balance and subtly is often overlooked or forgotten. Last night was all about detail and subtly. It takes a light hand and immense patience to balance flavors like they did last night. Armstrong reminds us of why European and more specifically French cuisine is regarded as the mother cuisine.

It was an evening I wont soon forget. It was everything I expected and even more.

Thank You Mrs Culimerc, I love you.

In the Beginning.........

So here it is the obligatory mental masturbation that is anonymous blogging. The question at this point is really three fold.

1) Will anything I say or think make sense and if it does will anyone give a rats ass.

2) Will I update this thing on any kind of regular basis, or will it become what most blogs do; a timeless electronic billboard of misplaced ambition and neglect.

3)Will I end up on some FBI/Homeland Security watch list or hunted by fanatical right wing conservative jihadists.

So let's set some basic expectations down. First, I am a cyclist. I'm not completely around the bend about it, I actually own and use a car everyday. I don't race but I like to spend time outside riding my bike around in circles. I've been at it since college. I've never really understood riding indoors, but then I didnt understand road riding earlier when I was a mountain biker earlier either.

I spent a good deal of my professional life in kitchens as a line cook and sous chef. I've worked in some really nice places and some really bad places. I like food. I like to cook food. I absolutely dont understand those who spend so much of their life never learning to one of the most basic aspects of our lives at least enjoyable. I do occasionally eat fast food, I'm not saying that you've got to eat only haute cuisine or your crap. I love a good chili dog as much as the next guy, just use good chili and a good dog. 7/11 doesnt have either.

And I'm a life long democrat. LIBERAL! The only reason I still vote democrat is that there isnt a viable more liberal party available. I'm an atheist. Just because I dont believe in God doesnt mean that you shouldnt, just please respect my religion or lack thereof. Government should provide services to its people and protect them from injury from others. It should work hardest for the poorest, because they have the least ability to protect themselves from others taking advantage of them. It should not dictate morality. It should provide education all the way thru college. It should provide roads. It should provide police. It should provide a standing army to protect us from foreign aggression. And Yes, it should also provide some sort of basic health care to EVERYONE, just like, literally, every other civilized country in the world.