Found on Twitter, Howard Zinn's full text.

Rick Santorum is a punk. The anarchist is him. I agree. Enough with monkeys.

Thanks, Bal! I really dig your art for Vol. 7, btw.

Alex that is sick as fuck mate!!

Beasts of the garage or something has a nice ring to it. Can't wait to see this done if you get the gig

Ok, took me a while, had a bunch of illo work these last few weeks, but here's a sketchfor Vol. 8. It's just a rough thumbnail from my sketchbook, the final art would be as clean as any of the artwork I have posted on my profile. For the title, I was thinking "Garage Monsters", but I just realized that there is already a band by that name. So, maybe "Teenage Mutant Garage Monsters" or "Garage Beasts" or something? Also, I plan on drawing a lot of stuff in the background: tires, pin-ups, spiderwebs, etc.

Let me know what you think!

This is more of a question than anything else:

Can you cook up a whole sh*t-load of spuds in the oven at once, for convenience?

Then freeze most of them, but 1 or 2 left for today and tomorrow.

Do cooked potatoes un-freeze well?

Anyone?

Cool, that egg sounds Korean, like the egg cooking in Bibimbap. All hail the humble potato! :)

Uh, yummy! I basically live off potatoes, esp. mash in different varieties (plain potato, potato & carrot, potato & sweet potato).

Not a fan of much fuss so the basic receipe consists of:

• potatoes
• butter or margarine
• milk
• salt
• nutmeg

Boil potatoes and once soft simply add the above ingredients one by one while mashing. If I make more than two portions of mash then I may opt for a bit less milk and butter/marge and instead add a raw egg after everything has been mashed and quickly stirr the mess again until the egg has been amalgamated.

Home-Fries Tips!

Hokay, thanks to a library cookbook, I've found some guidelines for stove-top french fries.

First, use an iron skillet and a metal spatula, you'll need its strength.

Next, fat is essential, not oil. Bacon fat, goose fat, lard, even butter.

We're not deep-frying, so we'll only need about 2 Tablespoons of [bacon fat]...

Because of that, keep the skillet on med. heat for most of the process. This means your fries will be taking a bit over an hour to make.

The potatoes will stick, making their exterior caramelized. You want that, it's sweetness, but don't let them stick too long, or they'll become burned. Use that metal spatula to un-stick 'em.

About 30 minutes into this, feel free to add garlic and thinly-sliced onion, which will caramelize by the end of the cooking. Yum!

When it's time to dish 'em up, put some cracked black pepper, and your favorite grated cheese on top. Presto!

Czech Bramboracky (Potato Pancakes)

Ingredients

4 large potatoes
3 cloves garlic, crushed
salt and black pepper to taste
1 pinch dried marjoram (optional)
2 teaspoons caraway seeds (optional)
2 eggs
1 tablespoon milk
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
oil for frying

Directions

Peel and coarsely grate the potatoes, squeezing out as much liquid as you can. Transfer the shredded potatoes to a mixing bowl. Stir in the crushed garlic, salt, pepper, marjoram, and caraway seeds.

Beat the eggs with the milk. Add the egg mixture to the potatoes and stir well to combine. Gradually mix in the flour to form a thick but still pourable batter.
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat; the oil should be about 1/4-inch deep. Spoon about 1/4 cup of batter into the hot oil, flattening it slightly. Fry the pancake until golden brown, about 3 minutes on each side. Drain on paper towels. Taste the first pancake and adjust the seasoning if necessary; repeat with remaining batter.

Cook's Note
You can add ham, bacon, or cheese to the pancakes before frying them, if desired. Substitute oregano for the marjoram and cumin seed for the caraway if you prefer. Enjoy them plain, with beer, topped with cheese, or with ketchup or mustard.

Fried Mashed Potato Balls

Ingredients

2 cups cold mashed potatoes
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup real bacon bits
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
Oil for frying

Directions

Place mashed potatoes in a large bowl; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Stir in the egg, cheese, onions and bacon bits. Shape into 1-in. balls; roll in bread crumbs. Let stand for 15 minutes.
In an electric skillet, heat 1 in. of oil to 375°. Fry potato balls, a few at a time, for 2-1/2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Serve warm. Yield: 6 servings.

This is just a tip for you meat lovers:

If you're using a fatty meat like chorizo, make lotsa little cuts in it, then put it in a microwave-safe deep-dish. Pop it in the micro-wave, covered w/ a paper towel to catch splatters, for about 2 minutes. Take it out and drain the fat, then repeat.

When its cool enough to handle, cut the meat up into chunks. I've used this for crock-pot cooking, and it's still flavorful, and healthy to boot!

Ah, yes, grease=goodness! A good boigah with fries for me.

Greasy fry-up would be right up my street (if able to concentrate for long enough to make it). Otherwise, a fishfinger sandwich with cheese and mayo is just the thing, only takes a few minutes to assemble and can be eaten in bed without much spillage.

Yellow Rice

Ingredients

* 3/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon curry powder
* Pinch cinnamon
* 3 cups water
* 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 cups long grain or basmati rice
* 2 tablespoons sliced scallions

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 med. onions, finely chopped

For the Furqa (topping)

5 Tablespoons oil

2 onions peeled and thinly sliced

Heat oil until sizzling, and fry onion til crispy and golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Directions

In a medium saucepan, heat oil, add garlic, then onions, cook for about 1 minute. Add rice, or rice/lentils, then add the turmeric, cumin, and cinnamon over low heat until fragrant, stirring, about 30 seconds. Add the water, salt, and butter and bring to a boil. Add the rice and stir well. Cover and reduce heat to a bare simmer. Cook, covered, without stirring until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender, about 20 minutes.

Remove from the heat and let sit, covered, without stirring, for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork, add scallions, and serve.

Note: You can add 7oz. of lentils  as well.

South Indian Lemon Rice

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked Basmati rice (or leftover rice)
2 tbsps vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cooking oil
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
3-4 curry leaves
2 green chillies slit lengthwise
1" piece of ginger grated
1/2 cup peanuts (roasted and unsalted)
1 tsp turmeric powder
Juice of 2 lemons
Salt to taste

2-3 teaspoons sesame oil (optional)

Preparation:

Gently roast and then coarsely powder the coriander seeds. Keep aside.
Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds, curry leaves and green chillies. Fry till the spluttering stops and add the ginger and peanuts. Fry for another minute. Add the turmeric powder and turn off the fire.

Add the lemon juice and mix well.

Add the rice, roasted coriander powder and salt to taste and mix thoroughly.
Serve with a Raita and Poppadums.

Recipes of Burma- 'Nuff Said, True Believer!

Easy Tofu Hot-And-Sour Soup

Ingredients

4 cups vegetable broth
1 (12 ounce) package silken tofu, diced
2 green onions, chopped
1 eggs, beaten
1 portobello mushroom, halved and sliced
2 cups chopped cabbage
1 tablespoon Thai chile sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon citric acid powder (optional)

Directions

Measure broth into a saucepan, and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Add tofu and green onions. Slowly drizzle in the beaten egg to make long strands of egg. Add mushrooms and cabbage, and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and season with chili sauce, vinegar and soy sauce. Stir in citric acid if using.

Carrot Ginger Chicken Soup

Ingredients 10 carrots
1 Tbs poultry seasoning
1 onion
2 cups pulled chicken
4 cups chicken broth made fresh from stewing the chicken
2 Tbs grated/minced ginger
3 bay leaves
3 cloves garlic

Perparation Chop carrot into chunks and bring to boil in chicken broth and ginger. Boil until carrots are tender.

Remove carrot and ginger with slotted spoon and place in blender with 1 cup of broth. Blend until smooth.

Chop onion and saute with garlic until translucent. Add onions, garlic, bay leaves and poultry seasoning to chicken broth and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add blended carrot and ginger mixture and pulled chicken to broth. Stir and simmer for 5 minutes.

Salt to taste.

Serve!

Notes We ate this for dinner the evening my sister and Sean came for New Year's 2006. We were all mmm-ing and ooo-ing the soup so much I had to put it on-line.

The chicken came from the left-overs of a pan-fried chicken meal we made the night before. We simmered all the left-overs (bones and all) in about 4 cups of water for approximately one hour to make a delicious chicken soup broth. We refrigerated the broth with all the chicken still in it until we made this soup.

When making the soup, we took the chicken stuff out of the pot (after the broth liquified with a little heat) and pulled all the chicken meat off the bones. The bones, fat and gristle were discarded at this point. The pulled chicken was added as described in the recipe for this soup.

Enjoy!

Tamarind Chutney
This tangy and sweet sauce just makes everything it touched a 10 times better. This chutney unfortunately cannot be bound to a single fixed recipe. It varies and it does vary crazily, depending on the taste buds on your mouth. This chutney is made more like "a drop in your mouth","taste","add/reduce ingredient" - if you know what I mean.

I have given a rough estimate of the ingredients involved which I would request your discretion and taste to take over once you start making. For a rough guideline this is it below
Ingredients

1/2 packet of dry tamarind pulp (about 100gms) or you can use about 4-5 tbsp of tamarind paste
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (optional)
salt to taste ( for authentic taste, use Black salt or "sanchal" available in Indian stores)
1-2 tbsp jaggery [substitute brown sugar or maple syrup if unavailable] (use as per taste while cooking)
1-2 tsp chilli powder (as per taste)
1-2 tsp roasted cumin powder ( to make this: dry roast cumin and powder)
1-2 tsp Garam masala
a little more than a pinch of asafoetida

Tips
** As mentioned earlier, pls vary the measurements during cooking as per taste

Method
1
Dissolve the dry tamarind in hot water - about a litre or so and dissolve well.Then strain this mixture to remove seeds etc. If using the paste, just dissolve the tamarind paste in 3-4 cups of water.
2
Heat a pan and in 1/2 tsp of oil, add the cumin seeds. This is optional. Once the seeds start changing color, add rest of the ingredients to the pan. bring to a boil.
3
The chutney is done when the raw smell of tamarind leaves and the sauce reduces to almost half and thickens up well to a coating consistancy. Serve this yummy chutney with any snacks like Samosas.

Potato, Beets and Cauliflower Puree Recipe

Ingredients

½ kg potato
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp thyme
1 Tbsp green onion, finely chopped
2 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese
½ kg cut cauliflower
1 red pepper, finely diced
½ kg beets
1 Tbsp tomato paste
Salt & white pepper

Method

• Wash potatoes, peel and place in a medium pot and add enough water to cover, add a generous amount of salt and turmeric bring to boil.
• Reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes.
• Drain the potatoes and mash them with a masher.
• Season with salt and pepper; add the thyme, chopped onion and the cheese. Mix well.
• Wash the cauliflower, place in a pot, cover with salted water, then bring to a boil until tender.
• Drain the cauliflower and mash it.
• Season with salt and pepper, add chopped pepper and cheese. Mix well.
• Wash beets, place in a pot, cover with water then boil it until tender.
• Drain the beets, peal by rubbing skins and mash them.
• Season with salt and pepper, add tomato paste. Mix well.
• Serve hot as a side dish.

? Aren't you also supposed to puree the mixture now?

Note: I think this would taste great w/ chicken stock added to it, for non-vegetarians.

Imam Bayaldi. (Eggplant)

Ingredients

2 large eggplants
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
pinch cumin
1tbsp of tomato puree
pinch sugar
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
4tbsp olive oil
juice 1/2 lemon
parsley

Preparation

Cut the aubergines in half lengthways, keeping the stalks attached. Score the flesh on the cut side of the aubergine 3 times lengthways, making sure you don’t cut all the way through. Sprinkle with salt and place cut side down in a colander for 30 minutes.

Preheat an over to 180c, 160c fan, gas mark 4. Meanwhile heat 1tbsp of the oil in a pan and cook the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes until beginning to soften. Add the cumin and cook for briefly before stirring in the tomatoes, tomato puree and sugar. Cook for about 10 - 15 minutes, until the mixture is thick.

After 30 minutes wipe any remaining salt from the aubergines. Heat a griddle until hot, brush the aubergines with another tbsp oil and griddle for 5 minutes on each side.

Add the remaining oil and a little water to cover the bottom of a shallow lidded casserole and arrange the aubergine halves cut side up in the pan, they should fit tightly. Spoon the tomato mixture over each aubergine pressing into the slits in the flesh. Put the lid on and cook for 30 minutes. Squeeze over lemon juice and scatter on the parsley before serving.

Mexican Red Chili Sauce Recipe
Ingredients

3 dried Ancho (sometimes called pasilla in the US*) chiles OR 2 Ancho and 2 Guajillo chiles
Water
1 large clove garlic
2 whole cloves, crushed
2 black peppercorns, crushed
1/2 teaspoon of salt, more to taste
Olive oil

* According to Diana Kennedy, Pasilla chilies are a long and skinny variety of chile, while Ancho chilies (dried poblanos) are shorter and wider. However, in certain parts of Mexico, the Ancho chile is called Pasilla, and because of immigration, is commonly known as Pasilla in many parts of the US.

Method

1 Working on one chile at a time, use a paring knife to cut a slit all the way down one side of a chile. Open up the chile and remove the stem and seeds. Remove as much of the veins as you can. Reserve a few of the seeds or veins for adding later if you want added heat. Note when working with chilies, either wear protective gloves or wash your hands very thoroughly with soap and warm water after handling the chilies. Do not touch or rub your eyes if you have been handling chili peppers.

2 Heat a large skillet on medium heat. Flatten out the dried chilies as well as you can and place on the skillet to heat. Press down on the opened chilies and leave for a few seconds. Turn the chilies over and heat a few seconds more. You do not want to toast or burn the chilies, just heat them enough to draw out more of the flavor.

3 Add the chilies to a small saucepan and add enough water so that they are just covered. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes, until the chilies have softened and plumped up. (OR pour place the chilies in a small saucepan and pour boiling water over them to cover. Let sit for 15 minutes, until softened.)

4 Reserving the soaking water, remove the chilies from the pan and place in a blender. Add the garlic, salt, ground pepper, ground cloves, and 1 1/2 cups of the soaking liquid (taste the soaking water first, if it seems bitter, use water instead). Purée for 2 minutes, until the sauce is completely smooth. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning. If you want more heat, add in a few of the seeds or veins and purée some more. Add more salt if needed.

5 Pour the sauce through a sieve into a skillet. Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the sauce. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to maintain the simmer, cook for 10 minutes. Skim off the foam. Remove from heat. Use immediately or pour into a glass jar (plastic will get stained) and refrigerate.

...or you could just leave it on your kitchen table for 4 or 5 weeks.  That way you won't need to mix it with anything.  :)

Jicama-Mango Salsa

1 jicama, peeled and shredded

1/2 ripe mango, cut into 1/8 dice

1/2 red bell pepper, cut into 1/8 dice

1 jalapeno, deseeded and minced

2 teaspoons rice vinegar

1/4 teaspoon salt

This is a light, cool salsa for hot days, or for sea-food.