Sorcha's Scribblings

On Criticism -- consuming becomes conversation

I've always loved to read criticism. Much of the criticism I've read in my life (and all of what I read in the first 30 years of my life) was read at one remove. That is, it was published somewhere (in a book, a newspaper, or a magazine) and I read it.

The critic encountered something (a play, an opera, a book, a comic book), engaged it and reacted to it, and then sat down and wrote a review of that something. Whether it was a capsule movie review in the San Francisco Chronicle Pink Pages or a novella-length essay, once the writing was done, the review went out into the world, to be picked up by readers like me.

As readers, we read it, reacted to it, pursued the something that had triggered the review (or not), and moved on. Very few readers actually responded to criticism directly. Oh, there were the occasional letters to the editor of serial publications, but even then readers had to compete with those who wished to comment on the latest Congressional antics or the chances that the 49ers would ever in a million years make it to the Super Bowl.

For the most part, criticism was a one-way process. The critic pontificated and the reader read. I don't mean this in a negative way, really. It's simply that the nature of publishing in those days meant that most published material, including cultural criticism, went one way from its author to its reader.

On Criticism -- consuming what is critiqued

In among all the blog-talk about criticism lately, I was very struck by Keith Phipps' comment that "We’re not bullies and we’re not, though this sometimes gets forgotten, consumer guides. We're writers who think what we write about matters."

It is this approach that makes the best critics worth reading: the passion for film, for food, for comic books, for opera, that drives the devoted critic to stand to one side and analyze his reaction to a piece of work, the thrill or the disappointment or the odd mix of the two, and then to explain that to me, the reader. Good criticism is indeed not a consumer guide.

On Criticism -- a consumer's viewpoint

There's a lot of talk in various web locations about the nature of criticism, mostly written by people who engage in it for a living. I thought I'd take a whack at it from the point of view of someone who does a small amount of it as a hobby (see: Amazon reviews), but who most often relates to criticism as a consumer of it.

Here's a critic's take on some of the talk about criticism lately. This whole discussion has made me think about why I like to read good criticism. (Note that to my way of thinking, "good criticism" is not necessarily "criticism I agree with".) It also started me thinking about what criticism really is, and what it's not.

WoW posts: Not Here

I have some things I want to say about WoW. I thought about saying them here, but I'm afraid the WoW content would get drowned out here. Luckily, I have another "blog" that I already use to capture some (but not all) of my WoW-related fiction. I've decided to expand that other "blog" to be an actual blog, and put my WoW-thoughts there, along with the stories.

You can find it here.

Low carb products for trying times

My favorite thing in the world to eat is sandwiches. When I was India, the one thing I craved was a really good chicken salad sandwich, to the point that I think all the Stateside people I was e-corresponding with while I was there probably got tired of hearing it. (The one I had right after walking in the front door and before falling into bed to sleep off jet lag is one of my most vivid food memories. That sucker was every bit as good as I had anticipated.)

Anyway, sandwiches are more or less off the menu, at least in the quantities I liked to consume them. They are also one of the things I miss the most. I include in the category of "sandwiches" things like quesadillas and turnovers, by the way.

I have not yet found a way to replicate what is maybe my favorite food of all time (the turnover made with yeast dough, ground beef, onions, black pepper, and cheese, possibly but by no means necessarily mushrooms). However, there are two good products that make me feel a lot less deprived, at times when my brain hunger threatens to overtake my stomach hunger. Both are bread-like.

First off, Orowheat Light 100% Whole Wheat Bread. This stuff is no panacea -- a standard sandwich will set you back 22g of ECCs. However, when nothing will do but a grilled cheese sandwich or a chicken salad sandwich, this is my go-to saviour. Compared to my previous favorite (Orowheat Oatnut Bread), which clocks in at 40g of ECCs, this is a big enough win that I can justify an occasional sandwich.

More recently, I've discovered Mission Carb Balance Tortillas and Mission Carb Balance Whole Wheat Tortilla, which clock in at 11g and 4g of ECCs, respectively. The whole wheat ones are great for wraps (no soy taste like other low carb wraps I've tried), and the non-whole-wheat ones make a dandy quesadilla. What's more, I only need to use one tortilla to make a meal-sized quesadilla, where I need two slices of bread to make a sandwich.

Most of the time, being low carb is mostly a matter of getting into the habit, and stocking the pantry right, but every once in awhile, the brain hunger part of me starts screaming for BREAD! When it does, I can't hand it a beef turnover, but I can hand it a sandwich. Meeting it halfway is better for me than falling off that low carb wagon altogether.

Meatloaf: more musing than recipe

I love old fashioned meatloaf. My mother makes a great version, and I've been making variations on it since I was about 13. Unfortunately, it's untenable for a low carb diet. Her ratio is 1 cup breadcrumbs to bind 1 lb ground beef. No can do.

So I started playing around with meat loaf, and I learned some stuff. This post is about what I learned finding a pattern for making a great loaf out of meat that doesn't leave me all saggy and craving mashed potatoes an hour later.

Typepad's Question of the Day

((Disclaimer: I never really thought I would answer one of these questions, but this one made me think quite a bit, so I suppose it's only fair to record the answer . . . ))

If you could go back in time and undo one mistake from your past, what mistake would you undo?
Submitted by Los Angeles Style Salope.

This question is really about regrets, and for the most part, I choose not to indulge regrets. Things I did that I would not do now, choices I would not make again, decisions I would reconsider . . . all those things and the consequences of them are a large part of why I can sit here and say stuff like "things I did that I would not do now" and so on.

As a result, I generally don't have much to do with thinking "if only I could go back there with the knowledge I have now". After all, if the knowledge I have now is so valuable (and it mostly is), I'm okay with whatever I had to do to get it.

There is one exception. In 1978, I met someone who said to me within the first hour or so of our acquaintance, "I and X person over there are really going to hurt you. We are going to be manipulative, passive-aggressive, and dishonest in ways you cannot imagine. I don't think you understand just what we are going to be able to do, and it's going to hurt a lot." Seriously. That's pretty much a direct quote. I was struck by the certainty, so I wrote it down in my journal. I also didn't believe one single word of it.

I should have.

There are times when it's not a good idea to accept someone at their own valuation, but this was not one of them. Realistically, who describes themselves this way who is not, at base, the person she is describing? The thing I did not know, that I wish I had known, was that regardless of all the havoc she was willing to wreak in other people's lives, she valued her view of herself as an honest person, so she told the truth about who she was.

Nine years later, when I was standing in the detritus of a relationship, and sucking up more emotional pain than I had understood was possible, I said, as so many people do in such situations, "How could you do this to another person?"

She said, "But I warned you! I told you exactly who I am." These words reminded me that I had written down something she'd said at the beginning, so I went and dug out that old journal. And sure enough, she had warned me.

I wish I'd listened and believed. It's the closest I ever got to real evil, and it's a lot closer than I wish I had gotten.

The most interesting thing about this is I am not at all convinced it matters what I might have done differently. What I wish I could undo was the failure to believe what I was told.

Peanut Butter Crisps

Here'a recipe that makes great Peanut Butter cookies (thin and crisp, not thick and chewy like traditional ones, but they taste really good, and they are only about 1.5g each):

Makes 40 cookies

1/2 c chunky, no sugar PB
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 c coarsely chopped peanuts
2 Tbsp egg protein powder
2 tsp vanilla
6 crushed cyclamate tablets (or, if you don't live in Canada where this is legal, 6 tsp-equivalents of sweetner)
1 tsp baking powder

Mix everything together. Beat with a wooden spoon for about 5 minutes. It will get really thick (at first, it will be really runny, and you will wonder how it can even be dropped onto a cookie sheet). Use a NONSTICK cookie sheet and lightly oil it before each batch. Drop by teaspoons (scant ones;  the dough spreads as it cooks and you need to get 40 cookies  in order to make the carb count be 1.5g).

Bake 10 minutes or until the edges are crispy brown. Place the sheet on a cookie rack and let it cool for about 3-5 minutes, until  the cookies will come off without falling apart.

Orange-Peel Chicken

When I first stopped eating carbs in "normal" amounts, I found there were a few things I really missed. Oddly, desserts were not among them (the cakes and ice cream recipes I developed to assuage other sweet tooths -- sweet teeth? -- in my life). What I really missed was Chinese food.

Well, you can simulate a lot of stuff, by using reduction methods to make silky smooth sauces (remove the food from the wok when it's just cooked, make the sauce, reduce it, then toss the food in the reduced sauce), but that doesn't help with my craving for those fried-chewy sauced dishes like sesame beef and orange peel chicken. I knew I had to give up dumplings and rice (and congee!), but I wanted to see if I could find a way to achieve a decent effect with the orange peel chicken. This is pretty good, and not too hard to do.

Normally, the meat for this kind of dish is prepped by mixing egg white and cornstarch. To eliminate the cornstarch and still get a decent crispy-chewy texture, you can whip the egg whites. It still doesn't do quite the right thing unless you also pound the chicken very thin. Doing both gives a similar effect to the traditional method without the use of cornstarch.

Orange Peel Chicken

1 1/2 pounds chicken (use boneless thighs if you possibly can)
6 scallions, cut in 1-inch pieces (about 1/2 cup)               3.5

Marinade:
 2 egg whites, beaten to soft peaks                                    0.6
 2 T soy sauce                                                                         3
 2 T pale dry sherry                                                               1.2
 1 clove garlic, minced                                                          1
 1 Tbsp ginger, grated                                                          0.9
 1 tsp sesame oil                                                                    0
 chile oil to taste                                                                   trace
 couple grinds black pepper                                               trace

Seasoning:
 2 Tbsp fresh orange zest                                                   3
 3 dried chile peppers                                                         0
 1 clove garlic, minced                                                        1  

Sauce:
 1 cup chicken broth                                                           3
 2 T soy souce                                                                      3
 1 T pale dry sherry                                                            0.6
 1 t black Chinese vinegar                                                 0.5
 1 tsp sesame oil                                                                 0
 1/8 cup orange juice                                                       3.4
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                                                                                   21.7

Pound the chicken until it is about 1/8" thick. (This is a crucial step for getting the texture right.) Cut the pounded chicken into pieces about 1"x1". Toss with the beaten egg whites. Add the rest of the marinade ingredients then let rest for 30-45 minutes in the fridge.

Deep fry the chicken and set aside. (It should be dark golden brown and crispy on the outside.)

In a little tiny bit of peanut oil, fry the seasonings for 30 seconds. Add the six scallions and toss for another minute. Add the sauce ingredients and boil until greatly reduced and nearly syrupy. Toss the chicken in the sauce.

I ended up adding one tsp-eq of cyclamates to the sauce because I had quite a sour orange.

Four 5.4g servings.

Chocolate Cake

Warning!!!! You must use good chocolate for this.

Carbs are ECC.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

5 oz baking chocolate, coarsely chopped                           20.0g
8 Tbsp unsalted butter, chopped into pieces                  
1 Tbsp cognac                                                                             1.2g
6 large eggs, room temperature, separated                         3.6g
1/4 c Splenda                                                                             4.0g
enough other sweeteners to provide the relative sweetness of 1/2c sugar
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total carbs: 28.8g (+ whatever your other sweetener costs)

Preheat over to 350F. Butter the bottom and sides of 9"cake or springform pan. Line the bottom with a round of parchment paper and butter the paper.

Melt the butter and chocolate in the microwave, stirring to make smooth. Add the equivalent of 2Tbsp sweetener and the Cognac and stir to blend.

Beat together the egg yolks and Splenda until the yolks are lemony yellow and thick. Stir in all the rest of the sweetener, except for the equivalent of 2 Tbsp. Stir in the melted chocolate mixture.

Whip the egg whites until softly peaked. Add the remaining sweetener and whip to stiff peaks. Whisk 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then gently fold in the remainder of the whites.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake until a tester inserted in the middle of the cake comes out with moist crumbs attached to it. This should take no more than 30 minutes. If you bake it until the tester comes out clean, the cake will be *way* too dry.

Cool 10 minutes on a wire rack. Remove the cake from the pan  and cool completely. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours.

You can sprinkle a mixture of Splenda and cocoa over the cooled cake, or you can place a doily on it and sprinkle a cyclamate-based equal-volume sugar substitute over the cake and doily and then carefully remove the doily. Personally, I like the cake plain with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream on it.

This cake makes about 10 generous servings, at less than 3 grams carbs each.

Note that for the cake to work, you really do need to use Splenda or some other equal volume sugar substitute with the yolks. They won't get the same texture or volume without the bulk of the sweetener. It's worth it.

I have fed this to non-LC eaters and they never even knew it was LC.