Sesame Encrusted Salmon

In keeping with the quick dinner theme, here’s my lunch today. It took about 15 minutes from start to finish, including the side dish. The electricity for the neighborhood was out the whole time; but, its very simple to prepare and needs no special gadgetry.

salmon filet, skin on
white sesame seeds
black sesame seeds
2 tablespoons of dark sesame oil
salt

Wash and cut the salmon filet into steaks about 2.5 inches wide. Sprinkle steaks all around with salt.

Heat the sesame oil at high heat. Sesame oil burns, so getting the heat just high enough to not smoke but still sear the sesame seeds to the salmon is the key.

Lay out the white sesame seeds on a wide plate, enough to coat half the salmon steaks. Do the same with the black sesame seeds on a different wide plate. Take a salmon steak and press the left and right sides of the steak into the black sesame seeds. Carefully press the bottom of the steak into the white sesame seeds. You should now have a salmon steak coated on three sides, two black and one white. The skin side should remain clear of sesame seeds.

Place the coated salmon steak skin side down into the hot oil. Quickly repeat with all the steaks. Fry the salmon steak crispy on all four sides. After frying the top and bottom sides you may be able to turn down the heat of the oil, depending on how rare you want your steak to be.

Serve with a side of leafy greens and white rice.

Update: I finally got around to uploading the photo.

Breaking the Law

With yesterday's Senate decision and Rove ignoring subpoenas, why do we even bother having laws?

This Really Does Scare Me

Kiss the Constitution goodbye.

So ends the Fourth Amendment. Thank you, Senator Obama, for the sterling leadership that provides us hope and promises change - not. Count 69 members of the Senate along the roll of traitors to their oaths and to this country.

Many folks, such as Hot Air's Michelle Malkin, call the Democrats "Defeatocrats". She's right on that count, if wrong on so many others. The Democrats bent over to get plugged up the arse by Bush yet again. Losers. They're getting none of my money. The only reason I vote for them is that they're better than the evil and equally incompetent Republicans. Give me an alternative and that alternative gets my vote.

No Recipe Needed

Here's a hidden gem found within the middle of the new stove. These are just put on. Unfortunately, I don't have an after cooked picture. I was too hungry to wait. They were nicely scored with marks from the extremely hot grill.

Updated: Lunch to the tune of Kid Rock, "Cowboy". --e

Updated II: Doesn't this smile just make you melt? It does me. --e

A month

Update on the baby front:

Yesterday Alisa and Leia turned one month old. Congratulations little girls! On that same day we estimate we hit the 1000 diaper mark.

Medically, they've both gained a fair amount of weight. They each weigh in at 7 lbs 14 oz. Alisa passed her first pediatrician visit with flying colors. Leia made a mess of the place with every type of body fluid imaginable. Poor nurse had to clean it all up. Leia also has a very minor heart murmur. Nothing to worry about though.

This is supposed to scare me?

Isn't this the point, really?

Shouldn't people illegally detained be let free to be on the streets? I thought that was a good thing! Not that most of the people in Guantanamo will ever be allowed across the border into the US anyway. Of course, maybe there are more US citizens there who will indeed be free on the streets of the US, where they belong.

04 July 2008 Meme

Toasttagged all Americans who read his blog to pass on this meme. Technically I am an American so I’ll do it; but, my self identity doesn’t really include being a part of a tribe called “America”. I rather consider myself a member of the human race, not a patriotic member of some political entity that is actually harmful to the world at this time.

Are you "proud to be an American"?
No. I’m often happy I was lucky enough to be born in such a wealthy country with a fair number of good laws and an excellent Constitution.

Favorite Founding Father?
Ben Franklin. I’d really love to get totally stoned with him and see what makes him say “Whoa!”.

Favorite president?
Its a tie between George Washington and FDR. George because he stepped down. FDR because he was a visionary who could actually put strategy into action.

Biggest "Patriotic Moment"?
Tough one. I don’t really feel any sense of patriotism most times. Probably the time when Carter asked us all to put on a sweater rather than cranking up the heat in order to save fuel.

Favorite patriotic song?
Easy. It happened only once, during Gulf War I. Neil Young took out his trademark big MF’n microphone and tied a giant yellow ribbon on it. He then played the Star Spangled Banner. Well done, brother.

Favorite American cuisine?
Baked potato. Smother it in butter like you’re trying to drown it. Second only to barbecue ribs.

Happiest political moment of your life?
When Al Gore decided to abandon political office (at least temporarily) because it got in the way of actually getting shit done.

Best fireworks display you've ever seen?
Have to admit, “Shock and Awe” over Baghdad. Those rockets were real. That’s what fireworks are supposed to represent anyway, so why not go for the real thing. Can’t really say I enjoyed seeing it, though. Too much blood behind the darkness.

America's gift to the world?
I’ll crib Toast’s answer: Our loud, brash, crass and obnoxious culture. I look at the caricature of the "Ugly American" and I see a happy "Fuck You" to tradition and restraint, and it makes me smile.

Favorite Bill of Rights right?
Number one. Hence my freedom to actually say I think the United States of America really should end as a sovereign entity along with all other nation states.

Favorite American Holiday?
Law Day, May 1. Its such a blatant misfire of an attempt to ignore workers days across the civilized world. The irony is delicious.

Favorite D.C. monument?
Vietnam War Memorial. The big black wall. It really is the most moving monument I’ve ever seen. The history of it, the countless names, the reflection, the color and texture, the flowers occasionally placed along it, so much combines into an incredibly moving experience. In some sense it reminds me of the Taj Mahal, though they are of a very different caliber.

Your dream for America's future?
That the nation state of the United States of America give up much of its sovereignty in favor of a world wide constitutional confederacy. Ideally we wake up from our bond of ignorance and religion voluntarily, apologize to the rest of the world for our evil aggression, strip the executive branch from the government (or at least most of its powers) and join the growing confederacies of Asia and Europe. Realistically, the best I can hope for is that the coming economic disaster doesn’t end in violence and we join a growing world wide constitutional confederacy.