Sweet Potato or any Winter Squash Puree

From The New Making of a Cook: The Art, Techniques, And Science Of Good Cooking by Madeleine Kamman.

6 servings


6 large sweet potatoes or yams or 2 large winter squash such as butternut or kabocha
1/4 cup heavy cream, scalded
2 to 3 tablespoons dry sherry or to your personal taste
3 to 8 tablespoons unsalted butter or to your personal taste
Salt
Pepper from the mill
Scalded milk, if and as needed

Bake the sweet potatoes, yams, or squash in a preheated 375 degree to 400 degree Fahrenheit oven until tender, about 1 1/4 hours (or just until very tender in the center).  Place the cream in a food processor or blender with the sherry and butter.  Scoop put the meat of the vegetables and add to the food processor or blender.  Process together until the mixture is smooth and homogeneous.  Season with salt and pepper.  If too stiff, add a few tablespoons of hot milk as needed.  If too soft, reduce over gentle heat until thickened.

(Tip from the Elizabeth Schneider book mentioned below:
For intense sweetness, according to Stanley Kays, "begin in a cold oven, which maximizes the time for hydrolysis of starch and formation of sugar before the enzymes required to produce sugar are denatured."  Increase baking time accordingly.)
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Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes such as Jewel, Garnet, and the Beauregard (the primary commercial type in the USA), pictured below, are sometimes called "yams" in the USA.  These are not true yams.  True yams and sweet potatoes are not related.  Do not use true yams in this recipe.

Here's a short discussion from Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini: The Essential Reference: 500 Recipes, 275 Photographs
by Elizabeth Schneider:

Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, however cooked, have a soft, sometimes squishy feel in the mouth and a pumpkin flavor.  They are always decidedly sweet, but the degree of sweetness "varies with the cultivar, how they are handled after harvest, and the length of time after harvest.  As a consequence, sweetness can be quite variable---and a major frustration for consumers," says Stanley Kays.

The sweet potatoes preferred outside the United States and Canada are white-fleshed and not usually as sweet or soft as those above---but, like them, they are all highly variable.  It is reasonable to generalize about these burly boniato types....  A staple in countries from Mexico to Vietnam, they are more versatile than the orange types, fitting as easily as potatoes into savory meals.  Aromatic (freshly cut, they suggest violets), less sweet than our orange varieties, they are fluffier and drier---like a blend of "traditional" sweet potato, chestnut, and a baking potato.  They may be rugged and rosy-skinned, or pale and rounded.
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Other kinds discussed in the book:   
- Oriental or Japanese or Korean sweet potatoes, which are market catchall terms for various rose-skinned, ivory fleshed cultivars developed in the Far East.
- Pale, moist, soft sweets are generally close to traditionals in texture and sugar but have beige skin and white-to-yellow flesh.

Why do civilized people behave in primitive ways?

Excerpted from the short story Memento Mori by Jonathan Nolan.  This story was the basis for the movie Memento, directed by Jonathan's brother Christopher.


Here’s the truth: People, even regular people, are never just any one person with one set of attributes. It’s not that simple. We’re all at the mercy of the limbic system, clouds of electricity drifting through the brain. Every man is broken into twenty-four-hour fractions, and then again within those twenty-four hours. It’s a daily pantomime, one man yielding control to the next: a backstage crowded with old hacks clamoring for their turn in the spotlight. Every week, every day. The angry man hands the baton over to the sulking man, and in turn to the sex addict, the introvert, the conversationalist. Every man is a mob, a chain gang of idiots.

This is the tragedy of life. Because for a few minutes of every day, every man becomes a genius. Moments of clarity, insight, whatever you want to call them. The clouds part, the planets get in a neat little line, and everything becomes obvious. I should quit smoking, maybe, or here’s how I could make a fast million, or such and such is the key to eternal happiness. That’s the miserable truth. For a few moments, the secrets of the universe are opened to us. Life is a cheap parlor trick.

But then the genius, the savant, has to hand over the controls to the next guy down the pike, most likely the guy who just wants to eat potato chips, and insight and brilliance and salvation are all entrusted to a moron or a hedonist or a narcoleptic.

Vegetarian Lentil Soup

From Donna Deane's Low Fat Kitchen.

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Vegetarian Lentil Soup
Active Work Time:  20 minutes
Total Preparation Time:  1 hour 20 minutes
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1 cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped celery
Nonstick cooking spray (or just wipe a bit of oil on the pot bottom)
16 ounces (1 pound) lentils
10 cups water
6 sprigs thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried leaves)
2 1/2 teaspoons salt  (I only use 2 teaspoons)
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Freshly ground pepper

. Saute onion, garlic, carrots and celery over medium heat in 5-quart sauce pot sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.  Cook about 2 minutes, stirring, then reduce heat to low, cover and let vegetables steam until softened, 8 minutes.  Stir occasionally.

. Add lentils and water, then thyme sprigs and salt.  Bring to boil over high heat, then reduce heat and simmer until lentils are tender, about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

. Remove thyme sprigs.  Puree half soup in blender until smooth (or for a short cut and fewer items to clean, I just insert an immersion blender in the pot and run it until about half the soup is pureed).  Return to pot.  Stir in vinegar and pepper to taste.  (Or you can offer the wine vinegar plus chopped red onion on the side.  The soup is also good topped with a dollop of low-fat sour cream.  (I use yogurt.))

8 (1-cup servings).  Each serving:  206 calories; 753 mg. sodium; 0 cholesterol; 1 gram fat; 36 grams carbohydrates; 16 grams protein; 3.23 grams fiber.

What is the best way to propose to a woman?

From Jefferey Goldberg's What's Your Problem section in The Atlantic Magazine.

Can you tell me the best way to propose to a woman?
C.F., Madison, Wis. 

Dear C.F.,

Honestly, quickly, privately. First rule, no spectacle: no offers of matrimony during halftime at Giants Stadium, and no pretend-spontaneous proposals on the Today show or anything hosted by Howie Mandel. It is best to avoid putting a woman in a position in which she finds herself too embarrassed, or overcome by television studio lights, to say no. Second rule, spit it out. You will be acting strangely, and possibly sweating uncontrollably, in the hours before you propose. This behavior could, over time, alienate her, so it is best to propose well before dessert. Third rule, verbosity is not a sin. Outline for her, at great length if necessary, her various extraordinary attributes, and why you cannot live without them. Fourth rule, do not be too honest. As you hand her the ring, do not say, for example, “You win” or “Okay, I give up.”

Banana and Coconut Milk Ice Cream

 

From A New Way to Cook by Sally Schneider.

Very ripe bananas frozen and then pureed in a food processor achieve the texture of light ice cream.  It makes a delightful dessert on its own, but the addition of some coconut milk gives it an extraordinarily lush flavor and the texture of a full-fat ice cream.  Sometimes I top it with a sprinkling of toasted shredded coconut.

You can make this with other creamy tropical fruits, such as papaya, mango, and golden pineapple.

      2 very ripe large bananas
      1/4 cup shredded sweetened coconut (optional)
      1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
      1 tablespoon superfine sugar
      Squeeze of lime juice
      A few drops of dark rum
 
Peel the bananas.  Slice crosswise 1/2 inch thick and place on a rimmed baking sheet. (I just put mine on a plate.)  Freeze until solid, about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, if using the coconut, preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (approx. 191 degrees Celsius).

Place the coconut in a pie plate, and toast in the oven, tossing occasionally, until golden, about 4 minutes; watch carefully so it does not burn.  (In my oven it took nearly 10 minutes.)  Set aside to cool.

In a food processor, puree the frozen banana slices for about 2 minutes, scraping the sides down occasionally.  Although at first the mixture will be very granular, as the bananas thaw slightly, it will become very creamy.  Drizzle in the coconut milk, sugar, lime juice, and rum and process until it is the consistency of soft ice cream.  Serve at once, or transfer to an airtight container and freeze for up to 30 minutes before serving.  Garnish with the toasted coconut, if using.