BRASSERIE BRESCHARD: 2012

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Grilled Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

Something worth the bother.

Grilled Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

PB&J, fried, what more could you ask?

What you’re going to need is a frying pan or an electric skillet. These pieces of equipment have been mentioned previously but since you’ve probably forgotten all about them by now, a frying pan is usually used for comic relief in old movies and an electric skillet plugs into the wall and has a thermostat attached. (See Chapter 6, A Kitchen Contains More Than a Beer Chiller)

How about some bread? By the end of all this you should be able to bake a loaf of your own but right now just buy the best loaf you can find. A bread bakery is good, a supermarket is where you’ll usually get what you pay for. White, if you like, or if you insist on being a classicist, but spend a few more pennies and get some bread with some weight to it.

Butter. Real butter. No discussion here. All the money you lay out buying quality ingredients will return to you the first time you pass by McDonalds, drive home, and make a meal for yourself, and whoever else you invite to join you. Best to have the butter at room temperature, but, realistically, we both know you just took it out of the refrigerator. Nuke it for five seconds. No more. The bar of butter will be spreadable soon enough.

Peanut Butter. Ingredients listed on the jar, one thing only, peanuts. Get the idea? You can play around with imposters, posers, and the rest, but go for the pure, the unadulterated, the epic, 100% or nothing.

Jelly or jam. The sweet thing. Your preference. Whatever you decide will fill the need. Experiment. Or use what you know best. It’s your show.

Ready?

Or not.

Set that electric skillet to 350 degrees or put some heat under a frying pan. Warm them up.

Take a slice of that good, solid bread you paid a couple of extra cents for and butter one side. Do the same with another slice. Two slices of bread. Two buttered sides. We are talking a sandwich here. (See Chapter 2, Buttering a Piece of Bread)

Spread some peanut butter (the pure) on the unbuttered side of one piece of bread. How much depends on you. Practice. Practice. Practice.

Same goes for the preferable jelly (or jam). Unbuttered side of other slice. Get that scrumptious spread all around that carbo delivery system.

Now if your skillet is at 350 degrees, you’re there. If you’re using a frying pan, I usually use the little bit of dancing spit method. If you spit in the pan and it dances, you’ve arrived.

Put the buttered side of the jellied slice on the pan. Take the pb slice and place it on top of the jellied slice, butter side up.

Now some folks think you should put a brick on top of this, but that makes it far too squished for the pb&j. Decompression is the theory involved here.

Let it fry for three minutes or so. It should start to brown a little.

Pick up your spatula (Chapter Five, What is that Stuff?), flip it over and let it cook for another three minutes or so until it’s a light brown, toasty and warm.

Peanut butter and jelly. All warmed up.

Eat.
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Monday, June 18, 2012

My Life in Pictures

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Jerry Nadler on Obama's Dereliction of Duty

Nadler: Bush Memoir Proves Criminal Use of Torture, Requires Accountability for the Sake of American Principles and Safety

Nov 9, 2010
NEW YORK, N.Y. – Today, in response to President Bush’s admission in his memoir that he had personally authorized the use of torture while in office, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) blasted the Bush Administration’s illegal policy and renewed his longstanding call for full accountability for the criminal use of torture. Nadler, Chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, urged Attorney General Eric Holder once again to appoint a special prosecutor with a robust mandate to investigate torture committed during the Bush Administration and, if necessary, prosecute those at all levels of government who were complicit in its use.

Nadler issued the following statement:

“I am outraged by President Bush’s own admission in his newly released memoir that he personally authorized the use of waterboarding on detainees while in office. This admission, delivered without remorse or regret, reminds us disturbingly of the persistent lack of accountability and resolution in confronting the crime of torture committed by our own government. The only way forward is to appoint a special prosecutor with a broad mission to investigate and, if warranted, prosecute these known cases of torture.

“Waterboarding has long been considered torture – a view shared by the Obama Administration – and committing or ordering torture is a severe crime under both international and U.S. laws, for which we have convicted foreigners and Americans in the past. The President is bound by the Constitution to ‘take care that the laws be faithfully executed.’ Failure to order a criminal investigation would be a serious dereliction of duty. With President Bush’s admission, no further excuses or evasions are conscionable.

“Failure to provide accountability for torture will reduce American credibility among foreign nations and endanger American troops by enabling terrorists and future enemies to justify torture using Bush’s own words. We already have extensive evidence of how American torture has enraged foreign populations and recruited fighters for Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and various Iraqi militias who have killed and maimed our troops.

“The perversion of our laws and treaty obligations in order to support an illegal campaign of torture is a stain on the honor of our nation, and it is essential that those who committed these misdeeds be made to answer for their actions. As I have long said, it is imperative that the Department of Justice ensure that a special counsel fully investigates the commission of torture, follows the trail wherever it goes, and, if warranted, prosecutes accordingly. There is no legal or moral reason to insulate those who authorized or ordered the torture of detainees.”

http://nadler.house.gov/press-release/nadler-bush-memoir-proves-criminal-use-torture-requires-accountability-sake-american

Dereliction of Duty from Wikipedia

Details

In the U.S. Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), dereliction of duty is addressed within the regulations governing the failure to obey an order or regulation.[2]
§ 892. Art. 92. Failure to obey order or regulation
Any person subject to this chapter who— ... (3) is derelict in the performance of his duties;
shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.
Outside of wartime, the maximum punishment allowed is a Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 1 year (10 years for service members receiving special pay under 37 USC 310[3]).[4]

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And that's for starters.