Three Cup Chicken

Three-Cup Chicken is a common dish served at Taiwanese beer houses, which usually open late and don’t close until dawn. Because most Taiwanese people don’t like to drink without having something to eat, beer houses are popular gathering places where you can get cheap and delicious xiah jio tsai, which are stir-fried dishes that go well with beer. But Three-Cup Chicken isn’t just a popular dish at the beer house. It’s also a common home-cooked staple. This week I’d like to share with you my own recipe for the yummy, spicy, gingery chicken dish.

You will Need:

Ingredients:

Serves 4 people

2½ lbs. chicken thighs
2-inch chunks ginger (about 2 Tbsp.), sliced
8 cloves garlic, sliced
4 hot peppers, sliced
2 scallions, cut in half
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1⁄3 cup cooking wine
2 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. soy sauce
4 Tbsp. sesame oil
2½ tsp. raw sugar
big handful of fresh Thai basil

Directions:

Roughly cut up all the chicken thighs. In a large cast iron skillet bring 1/2 Tbsp up to high heat. Sear the chicken thighs for two minutes until it's coated in golden brown and set it aside. Cast iron skillet is obviously not a traditional Chinese kitchen ware but it's a great tool that I've adapted from Maine cooking.  

Now in a separate large wok or a nonstick skillet on medium high heat, toss in the remaining ½ Tbsp. vegetable oil, scallions, hot peppers, garlic and ginger. Cook for 30 seconds to one minute until you can smell the spicy aroma in the air. De-glaze the pan with the cooking wine and place the chicken thighs in the wok along with the sesame oil, soy sauce and raw sugar. Three-Cup Chicken got its name because traditionally it calls for the same quantity of cooking wine, sesame oil and soy sauce. But I’ve found that sometimes the sesame oil can be overpowering, and it can also end up a little too salty.

Cook it until all the liquid has been cooked down, which will take you about 10 to 12 minutes. After the chicken is cooked, remove from the heat and throw in a big handful of fresh basil. Cover it up and allow the basil to infuse in the chicken for 1 minute. If you can’t find Thai basil, regular basil will do as well.

 Serve it with a bowl of rice or a glass of beer and enjoy this delicious chicken dish!

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Einstein to Roosevelt,August 2, 1939

by LEO SZILARD



In the summer of 1939, six months after the discovery of uranium fission, American newspapers and magazines openly discussed the prospect of atomic energy.



However, most American physicists doubted that atomic energy or atomic bombs were realistic possibilities. No official U.S. atomic energy project existed. Leo Szilard was profoundly disturbed by the lack of American action.



If atomic bombs were possible, as he believed they were, Nazi Germany might gain an unbeatable lead in developing them. It was especially troubling that Germany had stopped the sale of uranium ore from occupied Czechoslovakia.



Unable to find official support, and unable to convince Enrico Fermi of the need to continue experiments, Szilard turned to his old friend Albert Einstein...



Einstein was enjoying a sailing vacation in Peconic on the northern tip of Long Island, New York. On or about July 12, Szilard and fellow Hungarian physicist Eugene Wigner made the short drive from Manhattan in Wigner's car.



Einstein, true to his simple tastes, greeted his visitors wearing an undershirt and rumpled, rolled-up pants. He showed them to his cabin's large, screened-in porch.



Szilard explained the state of international research on uranium and the evidence that a bomb might be possible. Given the seriousness of the situation, Szilard's request was quite modest. He asked if Einstein would warn the Belgian Queen Mother, whom he knew, to prevent the large stockpile of uranium ore in the Belgian Congo from falling into Nazi hands.



Einstein agreed to the idea, but he preferred to write to another friend, the Belgian ambassador. Einstein dictated a letter in German, which Wigner took down.



Within days, however, the plan became much more far-reaching when Szilard discussed the matter with economist Alexander Sachs. Sachs, who was an unofficial adviser to President Franklin Roosevelt, urged that Einstein should write directly to the President. If Einstein wrote such a letter, Sachs promised to deliver it to the President personally.



If they could gain the ear of the President, the Belgian uranium ore became a minor issue. Szilard produced a four-page draft letter, which he mailed to Einstein on July 19. By telephone, Einstein asked to discuss it with Szilard in person.



In the last days of July, Szilard returned to Einstein's vacation cabin. Because Wigner was out of town, Hungarian physicist Edward Teller acted as Szilard's chauffeur. Einstein again greeted his guests informally, wearing old clothes and slippers. He served them tea on the shady porch while they discussed the new approach.



Einstein was willing to write to the President. As a life-long pacifist, he opposed the making of weapons, but he could not allow the Nazis sole possession of such destructive power. His only objection was that Szilard's letter was long and somewhat awkward.



He preferred a shorter message stressing the main points. Einstein dictated a short draft in German which Szilard took down.



Over the next few days, Szilard translated Einstein's dictation, going through draft after draft. In the end, he prepared both a short and a long version. On August 2, he mailed them to Einstein. Einstein returned both versions signed, but he expressed a preference for the longer version. This was the version, dated August 2, that Szilard gave to Sachs for delivery to the President.



Einstein's letter did not reach the President quickly, however, nor did it have much effect. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland and World War II began. Sachs finally met with the President on October 11 and presented Einstein's letter. The President appointed a "Uranium Committee," but it approved only $6,000 to buy graphite and uranium for experiments Szilard proposed.



For the next two years, official skepticism continued to stall U.S. research efforts. A large-scale U.S. atomic project did not begin until December 6, 1941, one day before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It became the "Manhattan" Project in August 1942.

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Taiwanese Beef Noodles

Nothing beats a hot bowl of spicy noodles when the weather turns cool. And I have never met anyone who doesn’t enjoy Taiwanese beef noodles, which happens to be my home country’s national dish. The smell of the spicy broth always reminds me of a Taipei night market on a cold winter night. It is believed that beef noodles were brought to Taiwan by Chinese Nationalist Party soldiers from Mainland China when Chiang Kai Shek and his Kuomintang army fled to Taiwan after Wold War II. There is actually a street in Taipei called the “beef noodle street” where you can find all kinds of noodle shops originally founded by retired KMT solders. Each one seems to claim to be the original one. This week I would like to share with you my own recipe for the famous Taiwanese beef noodles.

You will need:

Ingredients:

1 lb. beef shank
5 scallions
1 inch chunk ginger (about 1½ Tbsp.)
5 cloves garlic
1 onion
1 tomato
2 dried hot peppers
2 ~ 3 carrots
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 Tbsp. cooking wine
5 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 beef bouillon cube
1 tsp. chili paste
1½ tsp. granulated sugar
½ cinnamon stick
5 cloves
¼ tsp. fennel seeds
2 star anise
½ tsp. Szechuan peppercorn
1 bay leaf
a pinch five spice
salt and pepper
3½ cups water
3 ~ 4 servings noodle or pasta
handful of bok choy or cabbage (optional)

Directions:
Cut the beef shank into large cubes and season it lightly with salt and pepper. Bring 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil up to high heat in a heavy pot. Sear the beef shank cubes until they have a brown coating (about 1 minute), then take them out of the pot.

Cut 4 scallions into strips and slice the ginger and garlic cloves. In the same pot on high heat, toss in a scallion, ginger, garlic and the dried hot peppers along with the remaining 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil and 1 Tbsp. soy sauce. Cook for one minute, then de-glaze the pot with 2 Tbsp. cooking wine along with the cinnamon stick, cloves, star anise, bay leaf, fennel seeds, Szechuan peppercorn and a pinch of Chinese five spice. If you don’t have all of the spices, you can also just substitute them with an extra 1/3 tsp. Chinese five spice.

Now stir in the carrots, onion, tomato and the remaining scallions, which are all cut in to big chunks. Place the beef back into the pot and add in the remaining 4 Tbsp. soy sauce, 3½ cups water and chili paste. Bring it up to a steady simmer and turn the heat down to low. Cover it up and let slowly cook for 1.5 hour.

Blanch a handful of greens of your choice and cook the noodles right before the broth is ready to serve. In the past, I’ve also substituted the Chinese noodles with pasta noodles, which tastes just as good. Or you can also check out http://thewayriceshouldbe.blogspot.com/2015/12/homemade-noodles.html for my homemade noodle recipe.

Serve the soup and beef over the noodles and enjoy it while it’s warm!

Sponsored by The Free Press

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Homemade Noodles

Noodles is one of the staples in our diet. In fact, there is a saying in Chinese, "Grain in the South, Wheat in the North." In Southern China rice is commonly consumed, while in the north, noodles and buns are the common dishes. Here's a very easy homemade noodle recipe which you can use for soup dishes or stir fries.

You will need:
Serves 5 people

3 C AP flour
1 C cold water
1Tbsp vegetable oil
pinch of salt

Directions:

Mix all of the ingredients together, kneed for 3 minutes until dough is smooth. Cover it up and let it rest for 30 minutes.

After the dough has rested, roll it out as thin as you can. Dust the surface well with flour the do a tri-fold. Cut the noodle with a sharp knife vertically. If you have a pasta machine, roll it out to the 3rd setting and cut it with the fettuccine cutter.

Loosen the noodles and dust it well with flour.

In a large pot on high heat, boil 6 cups water. Cook the noodles for 30 seconds and immediately shock it in ice cold water.

Pour hot broth over the noodles and it's ready to serve.

Get the full recipe for Taiwanese Beef Noodle http://thewayriceshouldbe.blogspot.com/2015/12/taiwanese-beef-noodle.html

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TRAITOR SENATORS TOOK MONEY FROM IRAN LOBBY, BACK IRAN NUKES

by DAVID HOROWITZ



Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, is a New York writer focusing on radical Islam.



Senator Markey has announced his support for the Iran deal that will let the terrorist regime inspect its own Parchin nuclear weapons research site, conduct uranium enrichment, build advanced centrifuges, buy ballistic missiles, fund terrorism and have a near zero breakout time to a nuclear bomb.



There was no surprise there.



Markey had topped the list of candidates supported by the Iran Lobby. And the Iranian American Political Action Committee (IAPAC) had maxed out its contributions to his campaign.



After more fake suspense, Al Franken, another IAPAC backed politician who also benefited from Iran Lobby money, came out for the nuke sellout.



Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the Iran Lobby’s third Dem senator, didn’t bother playing coy like her colleagues. She came out for the deal a while back even though she only got half the IAPAC cash that Franken and Markey received.



As did Senator Gillibrand, who had benefited from IAPAC money back when she first ran for senator and whose position on the deal should have come as no surprise.



The Iran Lobby had even tried, and failed, to turn Arizona Republican Jeff Flake. Iran Lobby cash had made the White House count on him as the Republican who would flip, but Flake came out against the deal. The Iran Lobby invested a good deal of time and money into Schumer, but that effort also failed.



Still these donations were only the tip of the Iran Lobby iceberg.



Gillibrand had also picked up money from the Iran Lobby’s Hassan Nemazee. Namazee was Hillary’s national campaign finance director who had raised a fortune for both her and Kerry before pleading guilty to a fraud scheme encompassing hundreds of millions of dollars. Nemazee had been an IAPAC trustee and had helped set up the organization.



Bill Clinton had nominated Hassan Nemazee as the US ambassador to Argentina when he had only been a citizen for two years. A spoilsport Senate didn’t allow Clinton to make a member of the Iran Lobby into a US ambassador, but Nemazee remained a steady presence on the Dem fundraising circuit.



Nemazee had donated to Gillibrand and had also kicked in money to help the Franken Recount Fund scour all the cemeteries for freshly dead votes, as well as to Barbara Boxer, who also came out for the Iran nuke deal. Boxer had also received money more directly from IAPAC.



In the House, the Democratic recipients of IAPAC money came out for the deal. Mike Honda, one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Iran Lobby backed the nuke sellout. As did Andre Carson, Gerry Connolly, Donna Edwards and Jackie Speier. The Iran Lobby was certainly getting its money’s worth.



But the Iran Lobby’s biggest wins weren’t Markey or Shaheen. The real victory had come long before when two of their biggest politicians, Joe Biden and John Kerry, had moved into prime positions in the administration. Not only IAPAC, but key Iran Lobby figures had been major donors to both men.



That list includes Housang Amirahmadi, the founder of the American Iranian Council, who had spoken of a campaign to “conquer Obama’s heart and mind” and had described himself as “the Iranian lobby in the United States.” It includes the Iranian Muslim Association of North America (IMAN) board members who had fundraised for Biden. And it includes the aforementioned Hassan Nemazee.



A member of Iran’s opposition had accused Biden’s campaigns of being “financed by Islamic charities of the Iranian regime based in California and by the Silicon Iran network.” Biden’s affinity for the terrorist regime in Tehran was so extreme that after 9/11 he had suggested, “Seems to me this would be a good time to send, no strings attached, a check for $200 million to Iran”.



Appeasement inflation has since raised that $200 million to at least $50 billion. But there are still no strings worth mentioning attached to the big check.



Questions about donations from the Iran Lobby had haunted Kerry’s campaign. Back then Kerry had been accused of supporting an agreement favorable to Iran. The parameters of that controversial proposal however were less generous than the one that Obama and Kerry are trying to sell now.



The hypothetical debates over the influence of the Iran Lobby have come to a very real conclusion.



Both of Obama’s secretaries of state were involved in Iran Lobby cash controversies, as was his vice president and his former secretary of defense. Obama was also the beneficiary of sizable donations from the Iran Lobby. Akbar Ghahary, the former co-founder of IAPAC, had donated and raised some $50,000 for Obama.



It’s an unprecedented track record that has received very little notice. While the so-called “Israel Lobby” is constantly scrutinized, the fact that key foreign policy positions under Obama are controlled by political figures with troubling ties to an enemy of this country has gone mostly unreported by the mainstream media.



This culture of silence allowed the Iran Lobby to get away with taking out a full-page ad in the New York Times before the Netanyahu speech asking, “Will Congress side with our President or a Foreign Leader?”



Iran’s stooges had taken a break from lobbying for ballistic missiles to play American patriots.



Obama and his allies, Iranian and domestic, have accused opponents of his dirty Iran deal of making “common cause” with that same terror regime and of treason. The ugly truth is that he and his political accomplices were the traitors all along.



Democrats in favor of a deal that will let a terrorist regime go nuclear have taken money from lobbies for that regime. They have broken their oath by taking bribes from a regime whose leaders chant, “Death to America”. Their pretense of examining the deal is nothing more than a hollow charade.



This deal has come down from Iran Lobby influenced politicians like Kerry and is being waved through by members of Congress who have taken money from the Iran Lobby. That is treason plain and simple.



Despite what we are told about its “moderate” leaders, Iran considers itself to be in a state of war with us. Iran and its agents have repeatedly carried out attacks against American soldiers, abducted and tortured to death American officials and have even engaged in attacks on American naval vessels.



Aiding an enemy state in developing nuclear weapons is the worst form of treason imaginable. Helping put weapons of mass destruction in the hands of terrorists is the gravest of crimes.



The Democrats who have approved this deal are turning their party into a party of atom bomb spies.



Those politicians who have taken money from the Iran Lobby and are signing off on a deal that will let Iran go nuclear have engaged in the worst form of treason and committed the gravest of crimes. They must know that they will be held accountable. That when Iran detonates its first bomb, their names will be on it.

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