Sat, 23 December 2006
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Tue, 19 December 2006
MA PO DOFU Ingredients: 3 tablespoons peanut oil 1/4 pound ground pork 1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger 1 tablespoon chopped garlic or to taste 3 teaspoons hot bean sauce (or chili garlic sauce) 3 teaspoons black bean sauce 1 tablespoon rice wine 3/4 cup chicken stock 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup water 1 pound fresh soft bean curd (or medium or firm) cut into 1/2 inch cubes 1/2 cup chopped scallions, including half of the green tops Salt and ground Szechwan pepper to taste (IMPORTANT NOTE: the Szechwan pepper tree, in China, has, in recent years, been infected with a canker of some kind, and the ban on importation of this beautiful spice has only recently been lifted. As a result, do NOT roast the pepper, as is required in many recipes (because the pepper now has to be heat-treated before it leaves China.). It can be added (and should be finely ground) to recipes, but usually near the end, or, at the very least, unroasted.) Directions: In wok over high heat, heat the oil. When hot, add meat, stir fry until lightly brown (2 minutes). Add ginger, garlic, hot bean sauce and black bean sauce to taste. Add rice wine and stir fry for 20 seconds. Pour in stock, bring to boil. Simmer, stirring frequently 3 to 4 minutes to blend flavors. Add cornstarch and cook, stirring slowly until thickened (about a minute.) Fold in bean curd and green onions. Heat gently, seasoning with salt. Transfer to warm bowl, season generously with Szechwan pepper and serve immediately.
Category:Battersea Confidential
-- posted at: 8:47am PDT
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Mon, 18 December 2006
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Fri, 15 December 2006
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Thu, 14 December 2006
But that's neither here nor there. What is germane is that I sought out and found, in the city of Artesia, southern California's Little India, a neighborhood cinema that showed only movies of Bollywood. Finding my seat, I experienced the dimming of the lights with a somewhat skeptical outsider's perspective, and began to make the acquaintance of the heroes on the screen: the Big B himself, Amitabh Bachchan, the suave rogue and trickster Shahrukh Khan, the boyishly earnest Hrithik Roshan. Caught up in the heady and somewhat arrogant rush of the cultural explorer, I unwrapped a tinfoil packet I had purchased at the snack bar, and found an intensely green leaf folded into a triangle, stuffed with sweet spices and seeds labeled "mitha paan: Fresh!" Imagine my surprise when, in the very act of sampling the exotic treat, I witnessed Shahrukh Khan on the screen, pop one of the very same delicacies into his mouth and start acting goofy, dancing with wild abandon, rolling his eyes, winking knowingly as he addictively consumed the little green triangles, his gyrations becoming absolutely manic and hysterical. I froze and stared at the treat in my own hand. Had my tongue suddenly become numb and tingling at the same time? Were the colors of the saris on the screen just a little brighter and more intriguing? Had everything in my immediate vicinity just become far more profound or at least hilarious than it had been just moments before? With a gasp, I fled the theater in horror, images flooding my mind of myself as a lone dope-crazed dancer, running wild down the aisle, prancing and cavorting in front of the screen, to the complete cultural and personal embarrassment of all involved, being asked politely by the management to leave, possibly leading to my arrest and subsequent vilification in the press, and blacklisting by the podcasting community. As I dried my tears in the alley behind the theater, and tried to steady the spinning world, a profound depression settled upon my reeling frontal lobes, which pervades still. Seduced by the illusion I could remain an impartial outsider, I am now trapped by the span of my lifetime. Shahrukh or Amitabh will never lay a hand on my shoulder and call me brother. I will stare at them across a cultural divide as wide as the world and as deep as the bottom of our souls, and wish that I could stand with them on the other side, in that colorful, vibrant land of adventure, music and life.
Category:Armbruster's Musings
-- posted at: 10:20am PDT
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Mon, 11 December 2006
Category:Battersea Confidential
-- posted at: 11:00am PDT
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Mon, 11 December 2006
Category:Armbruster's Musings
-- posted at: 10:57am PDT
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Sun, 10 December 2006
To contact Gerard Armbruster or Stetson Tudd, or for behind-the-scenes information: ExtrudingAmerica@gmail.com
Category:Contact Info
-- posted at: 4:19pm PDT
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Sat, 9 December 2006
Eric Luke (Gerard Armbruster) and Stetson Tudd (not at liberty to reveal identity at this time) have enjoyed a long and hardy acquaintance. Their collaborations include the seminal storefront performance group The Meat and Soap Theatre (with Christopher Mills) which played to sold-out houses for one summer in San Francisco's North Beach, but ended in a New Year's Eve show for Singles Over 40 that they still consider one of the most disturbing events of their formative years. Their times in Mar Vista with the inestimable Ken Sailor continue to inform their lives and creative efforts.
Category:Behind the Scenes
-- posted at: 3:28pm PDT
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