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Mike's Un-chicken and Vegetable Dumpling Cups
Michael L. (original recipe)
I was at a loss for how to handle my home state. Until I remembered, I grew up and live upstate, so I can take you for granted, but I have a deep and profound love for New York City! I consider you our own but you are ‘other' enough that it doesn't feel like shamelessly tooting our own horn.
I absolutely love New York City. Obviously the entertainment is great, but I just like walking down the street. You can literally walk down the street and happen across a store that features rare Edward Gorey manuscripts, and any Italian restaurant on the corner is better than the fanciest establishment in your hometown. I've never been mugged or witnessed subway masturbation. New York feels like a city of infinite possibility. The sheer human potential of so many people living together in such a small land area is inspiring.
I applied to Cornell early decision, but NYU was the only other school where I seriously considered applying. I've never spent more than few nights at a time in New York City (mostly I like a day trip, from home or somewhere in the Hudson Valley), and yes, after a couple of days there my snot turns black, but I think it would have been fun to actually live there for a substantial duration. If money were no object I would definitely buy an apartment there and make frequent visits.
So these were my first thoughts and then I thought, what better way to celebrate New York City than to reread The Catcher in the Rye? I read it as a teenager and it was one of my most favorite books growing up. I was curious what I would think as an adult. Also, I thought I could weigh in on a nagging issue of recent years, specifically, is Holden Caufield stupid? I don't think so, but I was only a teenager when I read it before.
The first evidence that Holden is stupid is that he messes up the fencing meet and is flunking most of his classes. But these points are countered by the observations that people at the school trusted him to lead the fencing team so his f***up was unexpected and that even one of the teachers who flunks him, old Spencer, clearly sees some potential in the boy. We can say for certain he is unmotivated, but stupid? Holden is a very sensitive person and everything makes him depressed. He thinks he is surrounded by phonies. It's easy to see how this worldview could lead to a lack of motivation. Everyone around him is performing and he doesn't want to be like that so what can he do but not fully participate? No one is born with knowledge of the Ancient Egyptians. Forgive Holden if he is more concerned with questions from the (magical New York City) world around him, like where do the city ducks go in winter? He's not uncurious. He's just not bought into what his society is trying to sell him.
The next evidence is that Holden himself admits to being immature sometimes. This admission is tempered by the degree of self-recognition required to make it. And he is sixteen during the events of the story, so it's completely reasonable that he would behave immaturely at times. He seems more mature than Brett Kavanaugh at a similar age ("boofing?") and that guy made it onto the Supreme Court. Are you so perfect? Cut Holden some slack! He is young but that doesn't mean he's stupid. I bet he knows where raisins come from.
OK, I don't want to comment on every little thing, but turns out Holden is an avid reader! There wasn't a lot of competing entertainment perhaps, but it shows he is intellectually engaged. The kids in school that were always reading (this was before graphic novels were big, they were reading real written words) -- always reading books but didn't do well in school, this seemed like a weird paradox. There was a girl in class who would get in trouble for reading during class! So I guess school isn't everyone's thing but if you read a lot there is something going on between your ears. I guess you could get siloed in really narrow ways of thinking, and perhaps this can manifest superficially as stupidity, but this feels more like a variation on ignorance. I myself stopped reading books for what I'd hoped to be a short period of ill-defined protest, so I will be first to admit ignorance of literature, and I wouldn't pretend I am immune from siloed exposure to ideas. I did read a lot in high school.
So I made it 1/5 of the way into the book and I will continue to read it but I must post now to have any hopes of finishing the Challenge by Election Day. Also, this way fewer spoilers for anyone who hasn't yet read the novel but might feel compelled to, having read this post this far. I haven't gotten far enough to confirm, but I am pretty sure it is a great book. At least good enough that you can form your own opinion.
Dumplings of any kind are Boss-battle material, although I think Mike's approach seems easy enough -- though muffin tins always give me pause, cooking anything in a vessel and then removing it cleanly. Further: I'm trying out a new ingredient, a non-local seitan product. I tried the barbeque flavor and it was OK, but here we opt for lightly-seasoned flavor and dressing it ourselves. Will it work? Will the seitan really marinate, or will the sauce adhere to the meat substitute? A lot could go wrong. We'll find out when I actually cook this.
Damn, there is a woodpecker on my house. I don't live in New York City, I live upstate, in a forest. Shoo, bird! Find a rotting tree and leave me be!
Ingredients
- 3/4 tsp. Flax seed, ground
- 1 cu. Chicken substitute such as Tofurky Chick'n (seitan), diced
- 1/4 cu. Cabbage, shredded
- 1 crown Broccoli, chopped
Preparation
Whisk together half the oil, soy sauce, flax seed, and tangerine juice. Add the chicken
substitute and all other ingredients until 'Rice wrappers'. Allow to marinate for at least 15 minutes (?).
Meanwhile, grease a muffin pan with oil. Dip rice paper wrappers in warm water, then put 2 in each cup
of the muffin pan. Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Allow to cool and remove from pan.
Prepare the broccoli: boil a large pot of water, salt generously, add broccoli, cook for 2 minutes,
then drain. Warm canola oil in a large pan, then saute broccoli for 2 minutes. Season with salt and red
chili flakes.
Warm the remaining half of the oil in a cleanish pan. Add the chicken substitute and vegetables mixture
and cook over moderate heat for 4-10 minutes. Then serve in rice paper cups along side broccoli.
Discussion
**WARNING** I have not yet made this recipe and so I can't vouch for the results.
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Rhode Island