Saturday 7 December 2019

Recipes - Bukharian chicken and herbed rice

Bukharian chicken and herbed rice: A fragrant one-pot meal 


By Leanne Shor, the Jerusalem Post , December 5, 2019
https://www.jpost.com/israeli%20Food%20and%20Jewish%20Recipes/Bukharian-chicken-and-herbed-rice-A-fragrant-one-pot-meal-609936

Bukharian chicken and herbed rice (photo credit: LEANNE SHOR)

This recipe originally appeared on: The Nosher. 
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/the-nosher/bukharian-chicken-and-herbed-rice-recipe/


Why use several different pots and pans when you can fit a full meal into one?
Bachsh is a traditional Bukharian rice and meat dish that is loaded with aromatic onions and fresh herbs. Bukharian Jews originate from central Asia, in modern day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. They have an incredibly rich, insular culture. Their cuisine doesn’t use many vibrant spices, but focuses on subtle aromatics like carrots, onions, garlic, and meats to infuse flavor. Bukharians are the champions of the one-pot meal, and many dishes are focused around the round, short grain rice that they had access to, along with lamb, beef, and chicken.
My husband grew up in a very traditional Bukharian home, and this recipe is straight from my mother-in-law, who is an amazing cook and incredible hostess. She prefers to use chopped chicken breast here, but some choose to make bachsh with chopped lamb and beef. When we first got married, she gave me some wise advice for hosting guests: “Make bachsh — it’s all in one pot and you’ve satisfied every guest!” She meant that a great way to make your life easier but still make everyone happy is by preparing a deeply satisfying meal like bachsh.
Bachsh is a perfect simple weeknight meal as it comes together in about 45 minutes, and is a huge family favorite. It’s usually served with a chopped salad of tomatoes, red onions, cucumbers, and bell peppers, dressed with lemon and olive oil. On your plate, the tart lemony dressing mixes with the savory rice and meat for a delicious balance of flavors.

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup olive or vegetable oil
  • 2 cups round, short grain rice
  • 2 chicken breasts, chopped finely into small cubes
  • 1 bunch of parsley, minced finely
  • 1 bunch of cilantro, minced finely
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 1/2 cups water
  • 2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions

1. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the chopped chicken breast, 1 tsp salt, and half the chopped parsley and cilantro. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add 1 1/2 cups water, cover the pot, and cook for 7-8 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, place the rice in a fine mesh sieve and rinse with cold water until the water runs clear. This removes any dust and excess starch from the rice. This step is essential to prevent the rice from becoming sticky and mushy.
4. Add the rinsed rice to the pot, along with the rest of the chopped herbs, remaining salt, black pepper, and water. Stir to combine, and bring the mixture back to a simmer over medium heat. Stir gently and reduce the heat to low.
5.  Cover the pot and cook for another 12-15 minutes until the rice is fully cooked. Stir again gently, turn off heat, and allow the rice to steam for another 5 minutes.
Serve with a chopped salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, and bell peppers dressed with fresh lemon juice and olive oil.
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Most of America's national parks are facing a grave and immediate threat

Date:                          December 3, 2019
Source:                     Virginia Tech
Summary:                 More than half of America's national parks are facing a grave and immediate threat: the ongoing presence and spread of invasive animal species. The National Park Service has taken the first step in combating this invasion by asking a group of experts to help chart a course that will ensure the survival of these national treasures.

Added by CiC from invasive species google search

The experts' findings were recently published in the journal Biological Invasions. According to lead author Ashley Dayer, assistant professor of wildlife conservation in the College of Natural Resources and Environment, "As Americans, we value national parks for the natural habitats and wildlife they protect, but because of invasive species, some of our native species are struggling or unable to survive, even with the protection of our park system."

More invaders are likely to arrive and flourish because, currently, the National Park Service has no comprehensive program to reverse or halt the trend. Coordinated action and a financial commitment by the NPS and others will be critical. According to Dayer, "If we don't take action, native species will continue to struggle due to the invasives. But taking action is no small feat; it requires the commitment and resources of the National Park Service, neighboring lands, and the public."

Dayer received the opportunity to address this complex problem when she accepted an invitation from the National Park Service to serve on a panel of experts to address the threat of invasive animal species and suggest solutions. As a conservation social scientist, her work in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation focuses on understanding how to best engage people in wildlife conservation issues. Other panelists were selected for their expertise in such areas as parks management, invasive species management, emerging technologies, economics, or decision support.

As to why the agency chose this particular time to act and form the panel, Elaine Leslie, former chief of the NPS Biological Resource Management Division, said, "The NPS is very concerned about non native and invasive species across the landscape within and outside of national park units and their impacts on native biodiversity, especially at-risk species and their habitats. . . . Nationally and internationally, the world is losing native biodiversity at an alarming rate. Threats from invasive species play a critical part in this loss."

Dayer and the team of experts have been grappling with this complex issue for three years. Their primary finding is that the presence of invasive animals undermines the mission of the NPS. These invaders can cause the loss of park wildlife, lessen visitors' enjoyment of parks, introduce diseases, and have huge economic impacts due to the cost of control measures.

Yet invasive animal species can be found in more than half of all national parks. Of the 1,409 reported populations of 311 invasive animal species in national parks, there are management plans for 23 percent and only 11 percent are being contained. The invaders include mammals, such as rats, cats, and feral pigs; aquatic species like lake trout and the quagga mussel; and reptiles, including the Burmese python.

Everglades National Park has been well-known for its invasive animal issues since pythons were found to be thriving and reproducing there in 2000. Local and national media, as well as documentary producers, quickly found an audience in the general public for their works featuring these snakes, which can reach up to 23 feet in length. Researchers have also been attentive to what is happening in the Everglades, reporting huge declines in native mammals like raccoons and opossums.

In Virginia, the hemlock woolly adelgid has infested hemlocks along the Blue Ridge Parkway and in Shenandoah National Park. Hemlocks help maintain the cool habitats needed by other species to thrive, such as native trout. Although hemlocks can live up to 600 years, a woolly adelgid infestation can kill a tree in just three to 10 years.

The second finding of the panel is that coordinated action is required to meet the challenge of invasive species. The four additional findings carry the same mandate for collaboration: partnering is essential for success; public engagement, cooperation, and support are critical; decision support across all levels must be strategic; and emerging technologies, when appropriately used, would be beneficial.

According to Mark Schwartz, a fellow panelist and professor of conservation science at the University of California-Davis, it is the complex nature of this problem that calls for such a coordinated and widespread effort. "Our national parks face a suite of wicked management problems, with the invasive species standing out for the sheer diversity of species, the geographic spread of their impact, the magnitude of the threat, and the complexity of solutions."

Both Schwartz and Dayer, as well as their other panelists, agree not only that national coordination is the way forward, but also that this will be a major challenge, an idea that is expressed in their findings. Schwartz said, "In addition to national coordination on invasive animals, a better means to fully integrate managing invasive animals across the full suite of challenges facing individual parks is needed."

Organizational change is possible, Dayer believes. As an affiliate of the Global Change Center housed in Virginia Tech's Fralin Life Sciences Institute, she sees good examples of progress through cross-jurisdictional efforts like the National Invasive Species Council and the Invasive Species Advisory Committee, as well as through regional collaborations that have engaged national park units.

Schwartz also sees promise in some recent park successes: "After a false start, Yellowstone regrouped, sought broad public input, and now has an effective program to manage invasive lake trout. Working with the Everglades Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area, the NPS has coordinated with other agencies, tribes, and private parties to control the invasive sacred ibis. More such collaborative efforts are needed."

Elaine Leslie believes that a coordinated effort as well as additional funding will be critical to success. "This issue is also one of economic importance," she stressed. "If we can take national steps, as other countries have, to prevent and eradicate invasive species, we can make a difference -- but it has to be a priority and well-coordinated."

Another important group of people that is referenced in the findings and could pave the way for long-lasting change is the public. "The public can play a key role in helping the parks detect or remove invasive species, pushing for new governmental policies and funding allocations, or assisting through philanthropy efforts," Dayer said. "In order to make headway, it is critical that the people of the U.S. are engaged fully in determining and implementing the solution to this challenge."

Along with the other panelists, Dayer will continue to tackle this complex issue by making sure that the findings are disseminated, promoting action from the NPS, and encouraging people to buy into and participate in efforts to protect our national parks. All of this matters because, as she firmly states, "The national parks are not the National Park Service's parks; they belong to the U.S. public and serve as conservation models nationally and internationally."


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Buttigieg calls on McKinsey to release him from NDA amid mounting scrutiny

https://www.foxbusiness.com/money/buttigieg-calls-on-mckinsey-to-release-him-from-nda-amid-mounting-scrutiny


Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg on Friday urged McKinsey & Company, the famously secret international consulting firm where he worked for nearly three years, to release his list of clients at the company.
Buttigieg’s request for his former employer to release the list, or lift a nondisclosure agreement that he’s still bound by, comes amid a ProPublica report this week that McKinsey helped the Trump administration execute its crackdown on undocumented immigrants with “detention savings opportunites, including cuts in food and medical care for detainees, that made some of the agency’s staff uncomfortable." Buttigieg called McKinsey’s "decision to do what was reported" “disgusting.”
A campaign spokesperson told FOX Business that McKinsey has not agreed to release Buttigieg from his NDA nor to publish his client list. “We will continue to ask, and are eager to share more about his work soon,” the spokesperson said.
In an interview with New Hampshire Public Radio on Friday, Buttigieg said he believed that “McKinsey should release the client list of the clients that I served." Buttigieg worked at McKinsey from 2007 to 2010.

“I am calling on McKinsey to release that information. Maybe they’re not used to doing that, but they’re not used to having somebody who used to work there be seriously considered for the American presidency,” he said. “This information should come out, and I’m happy to speak to it when it does.”
Democratic presidential candidate South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg speaks during a Democratic presidential primary debate hosted by CNN/New York Times at Otterbein University, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in Westerville, Ohio. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
The mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has faced mounting pressure from political rivals to be more transparent about his stint at McKinsey. On Thursday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren admonished Buttigieg to disclose the names of his consulting clients.
“I think that voters want to know about possible conflicts of interest,” Warren said.
His comments also came one day after The New York Times editorial board called on him to reveal more information about his time at McKinsey, either by the firm releasing him from his NDA or “at least to substitute a significantly more permissive agreement.”

Buttigieg hinted in his memoir that his work at McKinsey included studying prices for a Canadian grocer, “war-zone economic development” to help grow private sector employment in Iraq and Afghanistan and “energy efficiency research” intended to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.
“My classroom was everywhere— a conference room, a serene corporate office, the break room of a retail store, a safe house in Iraq, or an air- plane seat— any place that could accommodate me and my laptop,” he wrote in “Shortest Way Home.”
McKinsey has also faced criticism for advising Purdue Pharma, a pharmaceutical company accused of fanning the flames of the opioid crisis, selling OxyContin and working with authoritarian governments in China, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
But Buttigieg has tried to distance himself from McKinsey and has said the company has changed from the one he knew.
“I don’t regret the work that I did there, because I did good work,” Buttigieg told reporters on his campaign bus in November. “I am upset about decisions that they made that I think are, first of all, wrong, and secondly, for anybody who has worked there, it’s upsetting to be associated with a company that went on and made those decisions.”

AOC blasted for 'misleading' tweet taking 'victory lap' over new Amazon jobs in New York City

https://www.foxnews.com/media/aoc-blasted-for-misleading-tweet-taking-victory-lap-over-new-amazon-jobs-in-nyc


Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., was slammed on Friday night over what critics say is a "misleading" tweet touting a new report about Amazon bringing jobs to New York City.
Last summer, Ocasio-Cortez waged war against Amazon after the retail giant struck a deal with the state of New York to open a second headquarters in New York City, which would have brought 25,000 jobs to the city, in exchange for $3 billion in state and local subsidies. Ultimately, Amazon backed out of the deal.
However, it was reported Friday that Amazon was leasing a 335,000-square-foot office space in Manhattan that is set to bring more than 1,500 jobs into the city.
Ocasio-Cortez celebrated the news on Twitter.
"Won’t you look at that: Amazon is coming to NYC anyway - *without* requiring the public to finance shady deals, helipad handouts for Jeff Bezos, & corporate giveaways," Ocasio-Cortez said. "Maybe the Trump admin should focus more on cutting public assistance to billionaires instead of poor families."
She also posted a picture of herself sitting on the couch with the caption: "Me waiting on the haters to apologize after we were proven right on Amazon and saved the public billions."

Many took exception to the "victory lap" the freshman congresswoman made and pointed to the math of the jobs that were still lost from her battle with Amazon.
"Another day, another viral misleading tweet from AOC. Amazon is leasing office space in Manhattan for 1,500 employees, which is 6% of the 25,000 jobs its HQ2 in Queens (her district) was supposed to add," The Daily Caller's Peter Hasson said.
"AOC could have had 25,000 jobs in her district from Amazon, but now, Amazon is only offering 1,500 jobs using rental space OUTSIDE her district. She's taking a victory lap for a 94% loss in jobs in NYC and 25,000 job loss in her district. Socialist logic is incredible," political strategist Caleb Hull wrote.
This isn't the first controversy Ocasio-Cortez stirred up on Twitter this week.
The Democratic "Squad" member received pushback Thursday after claiming her family "might've just starved" had the Trump administration's tightened requirements for food stamp recipients been in place when her father died in 2008.
Critics claimed the freshman congresswoman misrepresented the new rule, pointing out that it applies only to childless, able-bodied adults under 50.

The U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA) finalized the first of three proposed rules targeting the Supplemental Nutrition Program, known as SNAP. The plan announced Wednesday will limit states from exempting work-eligible adults from having to maintain steady employment in order to receive benefits.
Ocasio-Cortez, 30, responded to the announcement on Twitter on Thursday.
“My family relied on food stamps (EBT) when my dad died at 48. I was a student. If this happened then, we might’ve just starved. Now, many people will,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “It’s shameful how the GOP works overtime to create freebies for the rich while dissolving lifelines of those who need it most.”
The New York Democrat was 19 and about to begin her sophomore year at Boston University when her father, Sergio Ocasio, died of lung cancer. It is likely her mother still would have claimed her as a dependent at that time.

Several critics challenged the congresswoman, including The Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington-based think tank, writing: “The rule applies to able-bodied adults between the ages of 18 and 49 who do not have dependents. The rule wouldn’t apply to parents with minor children, the elderly, or disabled people.”