Kung Pao Chicken

 Kung Pao Chicken (America's Test Kitchen)

1½ lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into 1/2-” pieces
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Cornstarch
1 Tbsp Chinese Rice Wine
½ tsp White Pepper

Sauce:

1 Tbsp Black Chinese Vinegar
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp packed Dark Brown Sugar
2 tsp Toasted Sesame Oil

Garlic-Ginger Mixture:

1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
2 tsp grated Ginger
1 Tbsp minced Garlic

½ cup dry roasted Peanuts
1 tsp Vegetable Oil

1 tsp Szechuan Peppercorns, coarsely ground (just a few pulses in the grinder)
1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
15 dried Arbol Chilies, split open, seeds removed

2 Celery Stalks, sliced into 1/2-” dice

5 Scallions, sliced into 1/2-” slices

White Rice

Place sliced chicken thighs in a bowl, and stir in the soy sauce, cornstarch, rice wine and white pepper to marinate; set aside.

Mix together the sauce ingredients in a separate bowl.

Mix the Garlic-Ginger mixture together in another bowl.

In a skillet, roast the peanuts in the 1 tsp vegetable oil over medium-low heat for 3-5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Using the same skillet, toast the Szechuan peppercorns, arbol chiles and 1 Tbsp vegetable oil on medium-low heat for 1-2 minutes.

To the skillet stir in the garlic-ginger mixture for 30 seconds. 

Next add the chicken and marinade to the skillet, spreading chicken out evenly. Cover and increase heat to medium-high. Cook for one minute. Remove lid and flip chicken over. Cover and cook the other side for one more minute. 

Stir in celery and cook for 2-3 minutes more, uncovered. 

Stir in the Sauce and let it reduce for 3-5 minutes more. Stir in the scallions and toasted peanuts. 

Serve with white rice. Don't Eat the Arbol Chilies!!

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The Dark Face of Palestinian Terror

A death cult reignites its terror against Israeli civilians.

Wed May 12, 2021 

Joseph Klein

 

The "Israeli-Palestinian conflict" is spinning out of control toward another possible all-out war. Blame should, of course, fall on the Palestinian terrorists operating from Gaza, who have once again fired hundreds of rockets inside Israel against civilian targets. This time, the terrorists deliberately escalated what began as a local fracas over the possible eviction of Palestinians from homes they have been occupying in an area of East Jerusalem known as Sheikh Jarrah. Israeli Jews claim that this land belongs to them. After a barrage of rocket attacks, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) struck back. The Palestinians are complaining. Here we go again.

The pattern is very familiar by now. Palestinians use a pretext to start a riot. The Israeli police and security forces respond proportionately. The Palestinians up the ante, prompting a further Israeli response. Then Palestinian terrorists in Gaza use the territory they control to launch rocket attacks into Israel against civilian targets. Israel warns the terrorists to stop the rocket fire, which the terrorists ignore. After the Israeli military retaliates proportionately in an effort to target the terrorists responsible for the rocket attacks and their facilities, Palestinian government leaders cry foul. They point to unintended Palestinian civilian casualties, which are often caused by the Palestinian terrorists putting the civilians, including women and children, in harm’s way. Then, with their usual crocodile tears, Palestinian diplomats run to the United Nations, the International Criminal Court, and other globalist forums to reprise their false narrative of victimhood at the hands of the “oppressor,” “murderous,” “apartheid” Israeli regime. The Palestinians can count on leftist support for their cause in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere.

In short, Palestinian militants provoke violence to which Israel responds. Palestinian terrorists target innocent civilians deliberately. Israel targets the terrorists and their facilities, with policies and practices in place to minimize civilian casualties. And like the youth who kills his parents and then asks the judge for mercy because he’s an orphan, the Palestinians ask the so-called “international community” to rally around them.

The Israeli Supreme Court had not even ruled yet on the Sheikh Jarrah dispute before Palestinian agitators exploited the situation. They used the dispute, together with a peaceful Jerusalem Day parade celebrating Israel’s reunification of Jerusalem following Israel’s victory in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, as an excuse to riot. Israeli police responded, leading to an outbreak of violence in and around the Temple Mount.

Then Hamas and Islamic Jihad entered the fray by firing hundreds of rockets from Gaza into southern Israel and several rockets into the Jerusalem area. Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, said it had launched “a rocket strike against the enemy in the occupied Jerusalem in response to their crimes and aggression against the holy city and its aggression against our people in Sheikh Jarrah and Al-Aqsa mosque.” This was the first time since the 2014 Gaza War that Hamas has aimed its rockets at Jerusalem.

While Israel’s Iron Dome defense system managed to intercept some of the rockets, others got through and killed at least two Israeli civilians, injured scores of other Israelis, and destroyed homes.

On Tuesday evening, as reported by the Jerusalem Post, Palestinian terrorists launched rockets reaching the Tel Aviv region. One of the rockets hit a bus, causing several injuries, including to a 5-year-old girl.   

"The terrorist organizations in Gaza have crossed a red line," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. "Whoever attacks us will pay a heavy price," he added, warning that the fighting could "continue for some time." As usual, the Palestinian terrorists did not listen.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) made good on Prime Minister Netanyahu’s threat. The IDF responded to the Palestinian terrorist attacks by striking Palestinian terrorists and their facilities in the Gaza Strip. Israel’s airstrikes were deadly to be sure but aimed squarely at killing the terrorists, such as the head of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s special rocket unit, Samah Abed al-Mamluk, and other senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives. The IDF also targeted Hamas military installations, a Hamas tunnel, and rocket launchers.

Israeli forces try to provide warnings where possible to give Palestinian non-combatants, if any, the opportunity to leave before a building believed to be used by terrorists is destroyed. Any Palestinian civilian casualties are the collateral consequences of the decision by Palestinian terrorists to operate or hide among the civilian population. Also, some of the Palestinian civilian deaths reported by the Gaza health ministry could well have been caused by rockets the terrorists launched that landed in Gaza.

The dispute in Sheikh Jarrah, which helped ignite the current conflagration, involves land that two Jewish trusts bought from Arab landowners in 1876. After Jordan captured the area and illegally occupied East Jerusalem, including the Old City, in the Arab-Israeli war of 1948, the Jordanians seized the Jewish-owned lands to build homes for Palestinians. Following Israel’s capture of East Jerusalem from Jordan in 1967, Israel returned ownership of the Sheikh Jarrah homes to the Jewish trusts, which later sold them to Jewish settlers who are trying to evict the Palestinians now living there. The Palestinian residents who signed an agreement in 1982 accepting Jewish ownership of the land in return for which they were allowed to live in the homes there as protected tenants may have had a decent case to remain, except for one thing. They repudiated the agreement, thereby forfeiting their protected status. This protected status does not suddenly return if other Palestinians move in as squatters. In any event, the issue is up to Israel’s Supreme Court to resolve.

Leftwing Democrats have added their own fuel to the fire by reflexively taking the Palestinians’ side rather than waiting for the judicial process to take its course. Democratic-Socialist Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, for example, wrote last week that “We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian residents of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem. Israeli forces are forcing families from their homes during Ramadan and inflicting violence. It is inhumane and the US must show leadership in safeguarding the human rights of Palestinians.” (Emphasis added)

The ”we” includes Senator Elizabeth Warren. The progressive senator said that “the forced removal of long-time Palestinian residents in Sheikh Jarrah is abhorrent and unacceptable. The Administration should make clear to the Israeli government that these evictions are illegal and must stop immediately.” The Israeli government should make clear to Senator Warren that she lacks any understanding of the background of the dispute and should mind her own business.

The Biden administration has reportedly expressed its displeasure to Israeli authorities over the possible Sheikh Jarrah evictions, as well as Israel’s construction plans in other parts of East Jerusalem. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is said to have dismissed the objections. His position is that “Jerusalem is not a settlement, but the capital of Israel.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu no doubt wishes that Donald Trump was still in the White House. President Biden’s attempt to go back to the so-called even-handedness approach of the Obama-Biden administration and to put some distance between the United States and its closest ally in the Middle East has enabled much of what is now happening. Biden's recent decision to restore millions of dollars of funding to the Palestinians has also encouraged the Palestinians to become more aggressive against Israel without fearing a Trump-style response.

The Biden State Department has at least condemned the Palestinian terrorist rocket attacks as “an unacceptable escalation.” The State Department spokesman, Ned Price, called on “all sides” to show restraint, but acknowledged “Israel’s legitimate right to defend itself.”

That’s helpful, but it's just words. What will the Biden administration do if another one-sided, anti-Israel resolution pushed by the Palestinians and their friends comes before the UN Security Council? The Security Council has already met behind closed doors to discuss the current crisis.

Will the Biden administration abstain like the Obama-Biden administration did in 2016, allowing the infamous Security Council Resolution 2334 to pass?  Probably it will, under pressure to go along with the globalist "consensus." Resolution 2334 declared that Israel’s establishment of settlements in Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, “has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law…” The Biden administration would have no problem allowing another resolution to pass that reaffirms Resolution 2334's proclamation and declares that any Israeli evictions of Palestinians in East Jerusalem are also illegal under international law. 

As usual, the current crisis should not be considered in a vacuum. Palestinian leaders are hoping that the escalation of violence in Israel and Gaza puts the Israeli-Palestinian conflict back on the front pages. They are hoping that Israel’s forceful response to the terrorists’ rocket attacks will create a major split between Israel and the Arab countries seeking better relations with the Jewish state.

This strategy may be succeeding. The back-and-forth of terrorist rocket attacks and Israeli retaliatory airstrikes is dominating the news. An Arab League meeting of foreign ministers was convened to discuss the situation, resulting in a statement that placed the blame for the violence solely on Israel.

Reuters has reported that at the conclusion of the Arab League meeting, the foreign ministers issued a statement holding Israel "fully responsible for whatever follows due to its crimes, which constitute glaring violations of U.N. decrees, international law and human rights law." The statement called on international organizations including the UN Security Council to "immediately stop the Israeli aggression and provide the necessary protection for the Palestinian people and uphold their right to worship freely and safely."

The Palestinian terrorists’ current escalation also reflects in part the ongoing power struggle within Palestinian leadership ranks. Hamas wants to show Palestinians that it is best equipped to look after their interests after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas decided to postpone indefinitely the first Palestinian elections in 15 years, scheduled for May 22^nd. Abbas reportedly feared that Hamas would not only hold onto its power in Gaza but would also fare better than the Fatah Party factions still supporting him would in the West Bank. Hamas called the election postponement a “coup.” It is trying to force Abbas’s hand by showing him up as an ineffectual, out-of-touch bureaucrat.

Hamas may also be trying to destabilize Israel politically as Israel tries to put together a working governing coalition. However, the terrorists’ attacks are more likely to have the opposite effect.

If the past is prologue, some combination of Egypt, Qatar and UN officials will try to mediate a ceasefire in return for which Israel will have to make one or more concessions. The Palestinians may get to stay put in homes on land they do not own without the owners’ consent after all. 

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/05/dark-face-palestinian-terror-joseph-klein/

Cardamom ice cream & turmeric tuiles

 

Cool! Cardamom ice cream & turmeric tuiles

by Tony Jackman

This recipe was devised as a dessert to follow a curry; cool, crisp and refreshing but nicely spicy too.

The turmeric tuiles:

Ingredients 

1/3 cup/ 80 ml flour 

½ cup/ 125 ml castor sugar + 2 Tbsp 

Pinch of salt 

1 scant tsp turmeric powder 

½ tsp cumin seeds 

½ tsp fennel seeds 

Whites of 3 large eggs 

2.5 Tbsp/ 37.5 ml butter, melted 

Parchment paper 

3 extra Tbsp melted butter for the parchment paper 

A little milk, as needed 

Method 

Allow yourself time for the batter to rest (see below).

Sift the flour twice in a large bowl, or even a third time. This is key to having a light batter which spreads effortlessly when baking. 

Stir the sugar and salt into the flour, then whisk in the egg whites (be very careful not to allow any drops of yolk in) and the 2 ½ Tbsp of melted butter, quickly. Stir in the turmeric and seeds. 

Leave the batter aside to rest for 90 minutes. 

You want the mixture to be fairly runny, not stiff. 

Preheat the oven to 180℃. 

With the remaining butter, generously grease 3 or 4 sheets of parchment paper (on separate baking sheets if you have enough, or repeatedly use the same pan but with clean and freshly buttered parchment). Use more butter if you like. 

Roughly 1 heaped Tbsp should make one tuile. Drip 1 Tbsp of the batter onto one part of the buttered parchment (which is now lining a baking tray), using your eye to estimate how widely it will spread. 

Use a finger dipped in a little cold milk to spread them around into a circle about the diameter of a small saucer, as evenly as you can. 

Leave enough space between each one for them to spread in the oven. Four to five tuiles is the most you want in one batch. 

Have a cylindrical object to hand such as the handle of a wooden spoon or a slim rolling pin. 

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. On removing them from the oven, wrap a tuile around the handle of the wooden spoon or other object, pressing the edge in lightly and holding it down on a board. Leave it to rest and harden while you repeat that with the rest of them. Slip the spoon out of them for repeated use. You can use several wooden spoons/ objects or drape tuiles over upturned small bowls or glasses, to make little tuile “bowls” in which to serve ice cream or a cold pudding. 

Repeat this process with the remaining batter; it should take three batches. 

Sometimes the cool of the kitchen air will harden some of the flat tuiles in the pan before you can turn them out. If this happens, pop it back in the oven for a minute to soften it again.

 

The cardamom ice cream 

Ingredients

Yolks of 6 large eggs 

¾ cup/ 180 ml castor sugar 

1 and ¼ cups/ 310 ml full cream milk 

1 and ¾ cups/ 430 ml cream, not whipped 

¼ tsp salt 

16 cardamom pods

Method

Whisk the egg yolks in a metal bowl with ½ cup of the sugar until creamy and pale yellow. Set aside. 

In a saucepan, heat the cream, milk and the remaining castor sugar with a hint of salt, on a very low heat. Add the whole cardamom pods. Stir until the sugar is dissolved, then leave on the lowest possible heat, or off the heat, for 10 minutes, stirring now and then, for the cardamom to infuse the milk. Taste it now and then until the cardamom flavour is to your satisfaction. Remove and discard the pods, counting them so that you know there are none remaining. 

In a fine stream, pour the milk mixture into the bowl with the creamed egg and sugar mixture, stirring constantly, until all combined. Pour this back into the saucepan and put it on a low heat again, stirring or whisking all the while, until it thickens into a custard resembling a crème Anglaise and coats the back of a dessert spoon. 

Pour it into a metal bowl (I use the same stainless steel one I used to mix the egg yolks and sugar) and put it in the freezer. I find that this recipe freezes perfectly, with no need for stirring after every couple of hours. 

Remove it from the freezer about 10 minutes before serving, so that it softens slightly. 

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-05-12-whats-cooking-today-cardamom-ice-cream-turmeric-tuiles/

 

Biden Put Past Life Healer in Charge of School Reopenings

Betraying parents while working out “karma and deeply seated issues on the cellular level.”

Tue May 11, 2021 

Daniel Greenfield

In November, the American Federation of Teachers was touting Kelly Trautner's views on safe school reopenings. Earlier in the pandemic year, Trautner had promoted a webinar on a safe return to schools. By 2021, the AFT's Director of Healthcare, was offering her own lessons on "yoga and pranayama practices" and "meditation and mindfulness".

As a certified yoga teacher and "Registered Karuna Reiki Master" (meaning she had mastered Stage III of Holy Fire of the pseudoscience which includes "healing past life issues" and "clearing cellular memories from the DNA"), this was something Trautner was qualified to do.

But the AFT’s Director of Healthcare, occasional yoga teacher, executive coach, and master of the secret energy arts was telling the CDC under what conditions schools could be reopened.

And she was doing it with the backing of the Biden administration.

Biden had run for office promising to “listen to the science” and “follow the science” especially when it came to reopening schools. While desperate parents clamored to reopen schools and save their children from depression and suicide, he promised them that he would only allow it if the science said he could.

“I set an ambitious but achievable goal of opening most K-8 schools by the end of my first 100 days,” Biden declared. “It is also a goal we can meet if we follow the science.”

Then he redefined reopening most schools as being ‘open’ for at least one day a week.

Biden hasn’t achieved his goal because he didn’t really try. The American Federation of Teachers, the greedy and powerful union, and its local affiliates, had fought school reopenings. When CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said that schools could reopen, the Biden administration quickly claimed that she had only spoken "in her personal capacity".

Biden promised that there would be "science-based judgment" on reopening schools coming.

Emails obtained by Americans for Public Trust showed that the CDC’s “science-based judgement” was actually being shaped by the AFT and revealed an email from its Reiki Master slash lawyer slash meditation expert laying out obstacles to reopening schools.

Not only wasn’t Biden following the science, but he was following a literal pseudoscience.

The AFT not only got access to the CDC's guidance but Trautner sent an email providing "possible ways to strengthen the document" by calling for exempting teachers who “who have documented high-risk conditions or who are at increased risk for … COVID-19”, or who have a household member at "increased risk", from having to go back to work teaching students.

Based on CDC materials, the category of increased risk could potentially cover teachers over 65 or even 45 years old, minorities, anyone with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, pregnant teachers, former smokers, alcoholics, or teachers who are overweight or obese.

A 5'2 teacher who weighed 136 pounds would qualify as overweight using the BMI index.

With categories like these, it would be hard to find teachers who weren’t potentially exempt from doing their jobs.

The CDC's guidelines told schools to offer "remote work" options to teachers with "high-risk conditions that place them at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19". A possibly narrower group, but seemingly incorporating the core proposal from Trautner and the AFT.

The CDC also apparently added Trautner's line about revisiting the guidelines, “in the event of high community-transmission results from a new variant of SARS-CoV-2.”

The email from Trautner to the CDC was forwarded by Carole Johnson.

Johnson is one of Biden's three pandemic response coordinators. Forwarding Trautner’s email to the CDC made it very clear that the Biden administration wanted the “science” to be governed by the demands of the AFT through its Director of Healthcare whose medical background was in “healing past life issues” and releasing “karma and deeply seated issues on the cellular level”.

Before becoming a Biden pandemic response coordinator, Johnson had been the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Human Services.Johnson's tenure in the scandal-plagued Murphy administration, which had forced nursing homes to accept infected coronavirus patients, and whose state-run veteran homes had become death factories, had been controversial in her own right. Before that, Johnson had been a senior health policy advisor in the Obama White House, and had worked for assorted lefty non-profits and legislators. What were her scientific qualifications for any of this?

As a New Jersey briefing noted, Carole Johnson "has a Master's degree in government from the University of Virginia. She also has brought on board Andrea Katz, who is her Chief of Staff. Ms. Katz is an attorney by training, and has worked in various capacities for the democratic party."

Katz is currently the chief of staff of the New Jersey Department of Human Services.

Working in various capacities for the Democrats seems to be all the science that’s needed.

That and a law degree.

Kelly Trautner, in addition to her energy healing skills, also has a BA in political science from Marshall University and a JD from Capital University. After graduating from law school, Trautner seemed to have become the deputy executive officer of the Ohio Nurses Association. When the union affiliated with the AFT, Trautner came along for the ride.

Along the way she ran the Center for Balanced Living, practiced executive coaching, was certified in yoga and energy healing, and rose to become the director of AFT Nurses and Health Professionals even though there's no sign in her bio of being a nurse or having any kind of medical degree in anything. This year, she made the leap to Senior Director on Health Issues.

Several years earlier, Trautner had been urging followers to “send Reiki” energy "alone or in a group" because "the world needs our light."

It’s not clear what scientific or medical qualification Trautner has on health issues. It’s one thing to head up a union for medical workers, and another to give the CDC medical guidance.

The AFT could have found an actual doctor to serve as Director of Healthcare, and to negotiate with the CDC, the fact that it didn’t says everything about the legitimacy of its medical concerns.

The CDC and the Biden administration certainly knew whom it was dealing with and didn’t care.

When a Reiki master with a law degree is providing the CDC with school reopening guidance, that’s not science, it’s union politics.

A few years ago, Kelly Trautner was running a center using "trauma-informed yoga programming" to treat eating disorders. And then she was telling the CDC what to do.

Biden claimed that he was going to listen to the scientists. And then he let an energy healer with a background in healing past life issues and clearing cellular memory have more influence over reopening schools than the actual parents desperately fighting for their children.

So much for the science.

The majority of white Democrats are no longer Christian. And lefties love mocking religion, claiming that they’re rationalists who believe in science, not superstition. And then, whether it’s Hillary Clinton’s seance or the Marianne Williamson presidential campaign, they prove to be willing to believe in anything and everything except God and the Bible.

43% of liberals believe that astrology is scientific, 58% of Democrats believe in UFOs, and 69% believe in ghosts. Less than half of Democrats know that the earth revolves around the sun.

70% of Republicans believe in God. Only 45% of Democrats do. 39% believe in some ‘other’ power or spiritual force.

When that’s the base of your party, why not turn to an ancient energy healing system from 1989 which planted World Peace Crystal Grids at the poles to send peace energy all over the world?

People are entitled to believe whatever they like. What they’re not entitled to do is falsely claim that they’re the party of science when what they really believe is they’re unhappy because in a past life they were Lizzie Borden whose ghost still haunts their downstairs bathroom and that the spaceship is coming to take those with the right colored auras back to their home planet.

And they can’t claim that they’re listening to the science when they’re obstructing school reopenings, when what they’re really doing is listening to energy healing union hacks.

“The science has been evolving,” AFT boss Randi Weingarten had argued. “It’s not a political calculation, it’s based on trying to make the science work.”

Evolving the science to make it work for you is what you do when you don’t like the results.

And then you can regress your DNA’s cellular memory and explain that teachers shouldn’t be expected to actually teach children until they work out their past lives as long as the American Federation of Teachers keeps funding the political ambitions of the Democrat Party.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/05/biden-put-union-past-life-healer-charge-school-daniel-greenfield/

New York brisket

By Tony Jackman• 11 May 2021

In every second movie set in New York City, somebody somewhere will cook, order, or talk about brisket, or their mother’s recipe for it. Here’s my stab at cooking it and getting it right.

Brisket is that tough and somewhat needy cut of beef that craves attention and plenty of time in the oven. Chefs worth their kosher salt will tell you that, though brisket is tough, it has masses of flavour and texture, and that cooking it correctly will be well worth the effort. They’re not wrong. 

So we can’t just slap a hunk of brisket in hot fat to brown it, shove it in the oven for a couple of hours and expect a good result. It needs broth, as Americans call stock; it needs strength of flavour and can take it, and it needs time. And thyme, in my recipe at any rate.

In the US, brisket is all about onions and paprika. Oh and garlic. So much garlic. Like, in the case of your New York Jewish mama’s brisket, a whole head of it. And so many onions. Many recipes call for six. Even more. And so much paprika, especially with Texan recipes for it; not quite so much in NYC it seems. A lot of recipes also include fennel. Some US brisket recipes call for it to be smoked (usually the Texan ones). 

I was looking for the NYC way with it (I made an earlier, Texan, version of brisket here which differs in that in that case the meat is not browned first): yes, plenty of onion; yes, an entire head of garlic; yes, a fair whack of paprika, and also allspice, which is a key ingredient of many recipes, along with red wine and the requisite beef stock. No fennel though; there ain’t a lot of that in the Karoo (arid region in the Cape provinces of South Africa - TT) right now. But do throw some in the pot if you can get some.

Ingredients 

3 Tbsp olive oil 

1 x 2 kg slab of brisket, or larger, with the fat cap intact 

3 large onions, sliced 

2 medium onions to caramelise and add when serving 

1 whole head of garlic, broken up into its cloves 

3 Tbsp salt 

½ tsp black pepper 

1 Tbsp paprika 

½ tsp Cayenne pepper 

4 thyme sprigs, picked 

1 tsp ground allspice 

⅓ tsp ground cloves 

1 cup/ 250 ml red wine 

1 cup/ 250 ml beef stock 

3 bay leaves 

Thyme sprigs, salt, pepper and olive oil to caramelise the extra onions

Method 

Preheat the oven to 180℃. 

Rinse the brisket under cold running water and pat thoroughly dry. Mix the paprika, Cayenne, thyme, salt and pepper together to make a rub.

Rub it into the meat and fat on all sides, massaging it in. 

Heat olive oil in a heavy oven pan (which has a lid) on the stove top and brown the brisket well on all sides. 

Add all the sliced onions, the garlic cloves (peeled but whole), the allspice, cloves, red wine, beef stock and bay leaves. If the meat is not yet covered by the stock, add more water to cover. 

Put the lid on and put it in the 180℃ oven for 30 minutes, then turn the heat down to 160℃ and cook for 4 hours or more. 

During the last hour or so, check it now and then to make sure it is intact. You need to avoid it becoming so soft that it disintegrates, as it needs to slice neatly. All ovens differ, so the last lap requires your vigilance to make sure you don’t take it too far. 

In the last while before it’s ready to be served, slice and caramelise the remaining onions in olive oil with more thyme sprigs, salt and pepper, until golden. 

Remove the pot from the oven and take off the lid. Leave it for 20 minutes or so for the fat to settle on the surface. Spoon off as much fat as you can. 

If there is still a lot of stock left, you can remove the brisket and reduce it down a little on a high heat. 

Cut the meat into slices and serve with plenty of sauce, topped with caramelised onions. I reckon mashed potato is the perfect accompaniment for it. 

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-05-11-whats-cooking-today-new-york-brisket/

 

Desperate Indians using cow dung as Covid-19 repellent

An Indian village woman makes cow dung cakes, with bare hands on the banks of the River Ganges in Allahabad, India. Picture: Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP

Cape Town - As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to bring devastation in India, some are trying alternative methods to protect themselves and their families from the virus.

In the state of Gujarat, India, it has been reported that some have been covering their bodies in cow dung and urine in the hope it will protect them from the virus, help them recover or build immunity against it.

President at the Indian Medical Association, Dr JA Jayalal, spoke to Reuters and said there is no scientific evidence that would suggest the use of cow dung or urine would help to boost immunity against Covid-19.

“There are also health risks involved in smearing or consuming these products - other diseases can spread from the animal to humans,” he told the news publication.

India has recorded the world’s sharpest spike in coronavirus infections this month. The country has recorded over 22.7 million Covid-19 cases and over 246 000 deaths.

First identified in India, the B.1.617 coronavirus variant is attributed to have been the driving force behind the country’s second wave.

The cow is considered to be a sacred symbol of life and earth in Hinduism. According to ‘Ayurveda’ or the ancient Indian science of life, cow products like dung, milk and urine have healing properties.

Many rural Indian homes use cow dung to pave floors.

In April, large crowds gathered at Kairuppala village in Andhra Pradesh as part of Ugadi, the Telugu new year, where groups of people threw cow cakes at each other as part of a tradition.

https://www.iol.co.za/news/world/desperate-indians-using-cow-dung-as-covid-19-repellent-0e951dde-b63a-44dc-b59c-c5bcb2dc3a0b

 

Conquering nature will never be the silver bullet

Screen grab of National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre killing an elephant in Botswana. Video from The New Yorker.

• Last week, The New Yorker released footage of National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre struggling to kill an elephant in Botswana.
• Kate Dylewsky, senior policy advisor for the Animal Welfare Institute in Washington, D.C., says the video is an opportunity to assess claims that the trophy hunting promotes conservation.
• “Killing imperiled species to save them will never be a silver bullet,” writes Dylewsky. “We should not seek to ‘conquer’ nature; instead, we should preserve, respect and appreciate the incredible species that share the Earth with us. No species that faces extinction should be further victimized by someone looking to hang a head on a wall.”

A horrifying video surfaced last week showing National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre struggling to kill an African savanna elephant in Botswana. LaPierre’s pursuit of a trophy, documented (though never aired) for an NRA-sponsored series, ended with an elephant collapsed in agony while the hunter repeatedly failed to deliver the kill shot at close range. After we have spent more than a year held hostage by a virus that emerged due to humanity’s exploitation of the natural world, we should have learned our lesson: Nature is not meant to be conquered.

Trophy hunters continue to claim that they promote conservation, even as they slaughter imperiled species in need of meaningful protection. There is no conclusive scientific evidence, however, that trophy hunting benefits conservation programs or significantly drives economic development. In fact, these majestic animals are worth far more alive than dead. They capture carbon naturally out of the environment, which helps to fight climate change, and, according to research by the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, a living elephant generates more than $1.6 million in ecotourism opportunities over the course of a lifetime. A separate economic analysis of eight African countries found that overall tourism, which relies heavily on wildlife resources in those nations, contributes as much as 5% to their gross domestic product (GDP), while the total economic contribution of trophy hunters does not exceed 0.03% of GDP. Responsible photo safaris, by comparison, can promote a sustainable, lucrative tourism activity in which many people can benefit from viewing animals in their natural habitat.

Trophy hunting quotas are typically based on revenue-generation potential instead of scientific analysis of what the population can sustain and — to compound matters — are often poorly enforced. Furthermore, the average amount of trophy hunting revenue that trickles down to local communities is disproportionately small because of rampant corruption and poorly managed wildlife programs.

Trophy hunting further detracts from conservation goals by hurting the structure and viability of wildlife populations. Big game hunters target the largest, strongest animals for trophies. Killing the leader of the lion pride or the matriarch of the elephant herd can cause enormous upheaval to the surviving members of the group, disrupting social bonds and behaviors. Gunning down the largest animals or those with the biggest tusks, antlers or horns can also have adverse genetic impacts on the population.

Young elephant in South Africa. Photo by Rhett A. Butler

Trophy hunters kill more than 100,000 animals each year across the globe, exacerbating severe population declines stemming from other threats, including habitat destruction. In Botswana, where LaPierre was filmed hunting, elephant populations are increasingly at risk. In 2013, when the NRA video was recorded, the threats facing elephants across Africa were already dire. The Great Elephant Census, the largest wildlife survey in history, found that the continent’s elephant population dropped by at least 30% between 2007 and 2014 due to intense poaching to satisfy international demand for ivory, primarily in Asian countries. As a result, in 2014, former President Ian Khama banned elephant hunting.

Khama’s successor, President Mokgweetsi Masisi, lifted this ban in 2019 to curry political favor among rural voters, claiming it was the only solution to growing human-wildlife conflicts. The country that had become a refuge for these imperiled animals again flung open its door to hunters like LaPierre. Recently, the government issued 100 new elephant hunting licenses for 2021, in addition to the 187 from last year’s season that was interrupted by COVID-19.

This willingness to cater to trophy hunters for political gain is not unique to Botswana. Just this month, Zimbabwe announced plans to sell the right to hunt as many as 500 elephants, purportedly to help fund maintenance of its national parks. Additionally, under the Trump administration, the United States lifted a ban on importing sport-hunted trophies of elephants from certain African countries. Meanwhile, Congress has failed to pass the Prohibiting Threatened and Endangered Creature Trophies Act (ProTECT Act), spearheaded by U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee. This legislation would ban trophy imports and domestic sport hunting of at-risk species.

These decisions have come at a time when elephants cannot withstand further assaults; in March, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) changed the designation of Africa’s two elephant subspecies from “vulnerable” to “endangered” and “critically endangered” due to pressures from ivory poaching and habitat loss. African forest elephant populations plummeted by more than 86% over the past three decades, while African savanna elephant populations decreased by at least 60% over the last 50 years, according to assessments by the IUCN.  In Africa today, it is estimated that one elephant dies every 15 minutes from poaching.

Contrary to the inherently illogical statements of hunters like LaPierre, killing imperiled species to save them will never be a silver bullet. We should not seek to “conquer” nature; instead, we should preserve, respect and appreciate the incredible species that share the Earth with us. No species that faces extinction should be further victimized by someone looking to hang a head on a wall.

https://southafricatoday.net/environment/conquering-nature-will-never-be-the-silver-bullet-commentary/