Seafood Stew Italian Style

Last night one of my son's emailed me a recipe he wants us to try to make, "Mussles in A White Wine Sauce with Onions."

http://www.melangery.com/2012/02/mussels-in-white-wine-sauce-with-onions.html

We have to try it soon. Probably later in the week.

This mussels recipe reminds me of other more universal recipes for fish and seafood stew one is called Cioppino another is called Zuppa di pesce.

I thought it might be good to share some of the recipes easily found to make Cioppino or Zuppa di Pesce. Sadly neither recipe is in my first Go To Book of Italian cooking, Marcella Hazazn's "The Classic Italian Cookbook." Hazan did include Clams Soup and Mussel Soup recipes but not the truly classic versions loosely based on Seafood Broth, Olive Oil, Garlic, and Tomatoes. There are no Italian seafood stew recipes in my favorite Italian recipe picture book, "The Taste of Italy," by Frederic Lebain and Jean Paul Paireeault. So I have no choice but to offer some of the internet links I found and based my own efforts on. I'm sure if you do an interent search for "Cioppino" or "Zuppa di Pesce" you will find some recipes that you think you can handle. This post is simply a way of saying if you've never tried these dishes before, please consider doing so soon.

Cioppino

Some say it was created in San Francisco, others say it was Genoa, Italy, still other's say it's a universally popular seafood stew served throughout the Mediterranean area. 

I say that it's so freakin' awesome when made right. (It can get expensive in restaurants or when made at home especially with the addition of Dungeness Crab and / or  Lobster.)

Mario Batali on Cioppino at Cioppino's

Nice video introduction to Cioppino. 

San Francisco Cioppino Seafood Stew Recipe

http://americanfood.about.com/od/classicchowdersandstews/r/cioppino.htm 

Another version is from Phil's Fish Market:

Cioppino Recipe

http://www.philsfishmarket.com/recipes/cioppino.html

Zuppa di Pesce

Unfortunately this is often served in too many restaurants as a single seafood appetizer called Zuppa di Mussels or Zuppa di Clams.

"The traditional zuppa di pesce that you most likely encountered in Italian-American restaurants was based on garlic and tomato sauce, which was simmered along with assorted fish to make a savory dish. Sometimes the sauce was used to dress pasta and the shellfish and finfish would be enjoyed as a second course. This version is more in a brodetto style, lighter and clearer than the traditional version, with saffron as a flavoring ingredient. This kind of preparation can be found with slight variations along the entire coast of Italy from Liguria to the Adriatic coast to the heel, Puglia, and the island of Sicily. I have given you the recipe with fish fillet, although traditionally zuppa di pesce is made with slices of whole fish with bones and skin intact. But it is tricky to eat that way even though the flavor is more complex."

-- From the Cooking Channel. Link is same as for the recipe below.

William Sonoma's Recipe:

Along the Tuscan coast of Italy, zuppa di pesce, a thick fish soup ladled over bread, is a popular dish. The ingredients vary according to what is available at the market, so buy what looks best and what your pocketbook can handle. Choose deboned fish fillets if possible.

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/zuppa-di-pesce.html

Mario Batali's version:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/mario-batali/zuppa-di-pesce-from-amalfi-recipe.html

A version on the Cooking Channel:

http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/savory-seafood-stew-zuppa-di-pesce.html

An excellent video of the recipe is at Steve's Cooking Channel on Youtube.

From studying and using these recipes one can discern the basic elements and become very creative with Italian Seafood Stews.

As my childhood friend, John Molinari's grandmother used to say,

"Eat slow but eat a lot." But now we have to add "but not too much!"

Problem Solving

This is a intermediate draft of a post on Problem Solving, a topic that I feel is often worth revisiting.

I find it very interesting that many of us rarely think or talk about problem solving. I often wonder how many architectects, engineers computer scientistic and other reflect on the very process that earns them their daily bread. It seems to me that many practicing doctors rely so heavily on heuristic thinking that it would do the profession good to consider problem solving.

We are often solving problems. We are more or less efficient and effective at it. Much of what passes for problem solving is only what we may learned in junior high school. In NYS,  as far as I know, problem solving as a conscious and intentional process is rarely if ever taken up by many matematics of scientic teachers. I my experience, science teacher rarely seem to generlized their form of problem solving the so called "scientific method." Even when in the curriculum the lack of time means Probelem Solving gets glossed over and just mentioned in passing. When I taught Mathematics and I made it a point to have the students learn the basics of problem solving, I believed those students handled problems types they never saw before much more effectively. This is because they had a kind of template that offereed them a number of options one of which was virtually guaranteed to work or at least get them partial credit for set the problem up competently. Unfotunately I never complied data on their performance.

It wasn't until I was in my second semester of graduate school in computer science that I began thinking about how I was approaching problems. The programming courses I was taking required me to think about problem solving. Further along the way in graduate school I took two courses in artificial intelligence. One helped me understand problem solving, the other made me realize how much more mathematics I needed to learn. 

In the business world we even use terms that refer to systematic, if not effective, problem solving. Project Management is a form of problem solving applied to individual projects. Systems Management is a form of conscious and intentional problem solving applied to the running of a small or large enterprises of virtually any nature.

Evidently, as far as my research has revealed so far, George Polya is considered by some to be the Father of Problem Solving. He laid out his views on how to solve problems in a little and very easy to read book entitled,  "How to Solve It."

http://www.amazon.com/How-Solve-It-Mathematical-Princeton/dp/069111966X/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1405914499&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=how+to+solve+it+a+new+aspect+of+mathematical+method

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/-How-To-Solve-It-Polya?store=allproducts&keyword=%22How+To+Solve+It%22+Polya

In "How to Solve It," Pólya provides general heuristics for solving a very wide gamut of problems, including both mathematical and non-mathematical problems. A heuristic is a problem solving technique that is not necessarily logical or systematic, it may be intuitive or ad hoc, and can even be simply a guess. A heuristic can be a memorized procedure or a formula like how to find an average. Douglas Lenat's Automated Mathematician and Eurisko artificial intelligence programs were inspired by Pólya's work.

Polya condenses Problem Solving into Four (4) Steps. Each step is very powerful and is not necessarily simple. The four steps are

1. Understand the Problem
2. Devise a Plan
3. Carry Out the Plan
4. Look over the "solution."

I expand and elaborate on the Four Steps as follows

How to Solve It.

1. Understand the Problem

1. Define and clarify the problem to be solved or the goal to be obtained
2. List, categorize and classify what is known
3. Precisely define what needs to be known like facts, or relationships or what needs to be discovered in order to solve the problem or obtain the goal
4. Do the required research then organize and analyze it. Use this material to fomulate a plan.

2. Devise a Plan

Planning comes in many different forms.

1. One plan that may work is to create an ordered list
2. Another plan is to simply list the sequence of steps one needs to perform to solve the problem e.g. To find the average of a given set of numbers: step 1 -- add the set of numbers together, step 2 -- divide the total by the amount of numbers in the set
3. Yet another possible plan is to Guess then to Check then answer
4. One effective plan is to apply the rules of logic
5. Another highly useful plan is to apply relationships.
6. Another effective plan to is to find a pattern
7. Yet another highly and frequently effective plan is to build and use a model

There are many, many possible ways to solve problems sometimes the solutions are applicable to other situations something the solutions are fairly or even completely unique. Creativity and ingenuity are often keys to devising efficient and effective plans.

3. Carry out the plan

For the most part all one need to do is to follow the steps of the plan carefully and diligently. However, often, one first needs to acquire skill sets. 

For example if the goal is to drive goods cross country then we have

Goal: To drive good cross country

Plan: 1. Get driver's license, 2. get trucking license's, 3a. get hired by a trucking company, or 3b. buy a truck, 4a. get a cross country assignment, 4b. get a contract to haul a shipment cross county

Carry out pan: take driving lessons, practice, pass test; take trucking lessons, practice,past tests, get hired or get financing and buy truck, etc. Drive goods. Get Paid. Repeat.

One usually needs patience and a dogged persistent with the plan that has been chosen.

However if after due diligence if the problem isn't solved or the goal acheived on needs examine and then to back up and redo sometimes one needs to go back all the way to step 1.

If a given plan continues not to produce the desired outcome then that plan must be discarded iand another plan formulated. Ir is very important to note and to remember that this is how problem solving is done, even by professionals.

4. Look Over the "Solution" -- Evaluate

After due diligence in carrying on the plan, was the problem solved or the goal achieved? If so enjoy the accomplishment before moving on.

If not, organize and analyze the data from the attempt then go back to step 1 and begin again.

Also Polya recommends that one takes time to reflect and look back at what you have done, what worked and what didn't. In doing so one may also find that the plan is applicable in other situations and will help predict what strategy to use to solve some future problem.

Ten Steps To Solving Any Problem

I also developed a clearer and more highly developed a set of 10 problem solving steps. These step subsume Polya's methodology.

1. Set an objective in general terms
2. Research, Organize and Analyze the available facts, relationships, theories and hypotheses as time and resources permit.
3. Articulate governing principles. A statement of ethics is usually advisable but may be required.
4. Clearly and Precisely Define Concrete Goals
5. Prioritize the Goals in alignment with the governing principles
6. Develop Plans - Refer to the section above "Devise a Plan;" also check out Polya's book "How To Solve It." Also see the notes below.
7. Implement the plans
8. Monitor the progress of carrying out the plans. this means keep logs and or journals.
9. When the final step of the complete is completed, evaluate the outcome9s) that have come out of implementing the plan.
10. Adjust  the plans based on the outcomes, Sometimes one needs to back one or more steps sometimes all the way back to to step 1.                                                                                                      

Notes:

List of Polya's Common Problem Solving Heuristics.

Polya mentions that there are many reasonable ways to solve problems.

The skill at choosing an appropriate strategy is best learned by solving many problems.

You will find choosing a strategy increasingly easy. A partial list of strategies is included:

• Guess and check
• Make an ordered list
• Eliminate possibilities in some problems some options are clearly inappropriate.
• Use symmetry
• Consider special cases
• Use direct reasoning
• Solve an equation
• Look for a pattern
• Draw a picture
• Solve a simpler problem
• Use a model
• Work backward
• Use a formula
• Be ingenious

Source Material in preparing this post.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Pólya

http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/Biographies/Polya.html

http://www.amazon.com/How-Solve-It-Mathematical-Princeton/dp/069111966X/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1405914499&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=how+to+solve+it+a+new+aspect+of+mathematical+method

Precious, Sensitive, Dysfunctional?

Whose Is Not Precious, Sensitive, Even Dysfunctional?

Yesterday, was not a good day for me. Seems I should have consulted with one of my favorite astrologers, Dee Angelys. She probably would have said ”Cancel everything, and stay in bed under the covers, cuz, honey, if you don’t, you’re gonna get it, and you’re gonna get it good!” I got it alright.

First, in trying to use get my doctors undivided attention I used my once strong and commanding junior high school teacher’s voice. In fact I raised my voice a notch and said, ”Hey! Look at me! Not the computer, me!” Holy shit! She freaked out. I mean really. Didn’t get the response I was expecting at all. Evidently I didn't read the Memo regading doctor patient relationships: Section V Paragraph 2, even if sick, the patient cannot express angry or frustration at the doctor, even if the anger is actually misdirected or due to frustration. She said I made her fell threatened and I couldn’t for the life of me extricate myself from that perception. She got locked into something. What it was I am not going to speculate. This morning I got the call from the secretary. "The doctor says you are discharged form the practice at this office!" Wow!

Bye, bye, Dr. Hurtzmore. In over ten years of 4 10 minute visits a year visits except the last which was the very first time one I though we could communicate and that was 40 minutes I never felt she ever really listened to me, the guy who is suffering from a chronic condition and that we hardly knew each other. To her, I felt I just was my "numbers." Sorry but, "Frankie don't play that."

Funny thing I never really disagreed with anything up to a week before.I just was distressed by the apparent side effect of a drug and how I didn’t like how she was dealing with it. I just wanted it to clear my system, she insisted on doing yet another consult. And she certainly was justified in her approach I only wanted A done before doing B. Golly!

To assume == Ass U & Me

Same thing with an old time friend. I though I was being playful he got snippy. I was going to get even snippier. Nevermind. Schoolyard nonsense.

But

Playfulness without communication == Bad communication.

May be I’ve lost a friend. We’ll see. Time and all that….

I feel responsible. I feel sad. But I miss understanding and forgiveness. Well maybe my friend will forgive, but not the doctor. Something to chew on and to process and to learn from.

Is Narcissism On the Rise?

Is Narcissism On the Rise?

I have a dear friend. Let call him Kenny. Kenny has been having a rough go of things for several years now. I am proud to be a friend of someone who is working on his issues. But I do know that Kenny has been working his issues since his late teens. He’s forty something now. About three to four years ago he focused on his trauma. Kenny says that he had a very sick sister who almost died so his parents needed to devote most of their time to her, and neglecting young Kenny. This traumatized Kenny, I figured "OK it might take a year to process that. But the problem would be solved in another  year or so of therapy.

But not so. Now Kenny’s issue is Narcissism. What is narcissism? The answer is … it depends on one’s shrink. Since I don’t currently have a shrink, I had to go to dictionary.com. There is says, ”

"nar·cis·sism [nahr-suh-siz-em] noun

1. inordinate fascination with oneself; excessive self-love; vanity. Synonyms: self-centeredness, smugness, egocentrism.

2. Psychoanalysis . erotic gratification derived from admiration of one's own physical or mental attributes, being a normal condition at the infantile level of personality development.”

Look at this! When Kenny says that he’s been lead to believe through his work with his shrink that both his parents were narcissists what is he really saying to himself and to me?

Well first, Kenny is admitting that he is really a narcissist. Why? Because being in therapy almost as long as you are alive is the essence of narcissism, he’s been paying a fortune to a legion of shrinks who sit around and let him talk about him. How about that? Isn’t that an inordinate fascination with oneself? Isn’t that excessive self-love (a 35 year obsession with one’s own life scrutinized weekly with the help of a professional, as we said when I was growing up, ”Damn Man! Enough already! Get a life!”

Same for being vain and self-centered, OK may be he is just a little smug, but definitely overwhelmingly self-centered by his own admissions.

Erotic Gratification? Well that sounds kinky. Even if it doesn’t really mean ”playing with your own pee pee a whole lot.” Self admiration, Kenny has some great skills he knows it and lets other around him know it. Doesn't everybody do this? So, is Kenny at an infantile stage of personality development then I’d have to say, no, not at all. He's a big guy. He's definite a man's man and he care's deeply about many things from the state of the economy to his mom and dad and the love of his life. His passion brings tears to my eyes. I know others who talk talk talk but have no real feelings. Kenney's really gotten something out of those years of therapy. He knows what love is what frienship is and what empathy is.

There. Its obvious that Kenny isn’t truly a narcissist. But if he isn't, then why would I think his mom and dad would really be narcissistic? I don't. I'm betting that after a while Kenny will stop with the narcissism theory, like he stopped the trauma theory. I hope he will listen to my childhood friends, ”Damn Man! Enough with the self exmaination, dude! Get a life, man!”

On the other hand Kenny has helped me to see the narcissism in me. Don’t you amaze yourself ? I amaze myself. I come up with new answers to new problems all the time, isn’t that amazing? I think so! From time to time water comes out from a thing between my legs, I find that amazing. Doesn't water come out of you, aiiyah, that's amzing isn't it? In fact everything I do serious and silly is amazing, to me. I breathe. I walk. I talk. Completely totally amazing.

OK So I don’t hug myself often, maybe once a year. When I feel ”Thank god I got through that!”  Whew! But isn’t that amazing?

In a sense everything I do is for me. I learned that more people are nice to me if I am nice to them first. Truth! Isn’t that amazing? Aren’t I amazing? Wait! So are you. You are amazing. Really. Amazing!!

You know sometimes I behave in an infantile manner, specially when someone else is already doing it. ”You started, no you started.” I guess I am more of a narcissist than I thought, or what Kenny thinks of his mom and dad. Oh well....

What’s my point. Well to Kenny, stop already we have all narcissistic tendencies , but do not worry. Why? Because very few of us descend to acting like a baby all the time. Being a baby all the time is not possible for anyone except ... yep... real babies. So stop being concerned that your parents can be labeled so easily. But you have to stop labeling them yourself.

MOVE ALONG. MOVE ALONG! THERE ARE NO NARCISSISTS HERE. MOVE ALONG.

A Recommended Blog

There's an older so-called "Zen" based blog that I stop by from time to time. It's called Zenhabits.

I liked it a few years back. Not so much anymore. It doesn't feel welcoming.

The author, Leo Babauta,  strongly believes in being an example of what he thinks are Zen Habits. However, to me it's become so Spartan, so lean and mean that I find its style is just "too much."

He says lots of people like his stuff and I've no reason to doubt him. it is interesting just too austere for me. It's as though he was following Wabi-Sabi and started with Austerity but is now out of balance somehow. It's probably just a matter of taste, but I think it lacks one of the factors of Wabi-Sabi, intimacy. Intimacy is of course the feeling of closeness and kinship: boy friend / girl friend, good friends, mentor and apprentice, parent and child, nephew and uncle, aunt and niece, etc. (No disrepect to pople with alternative life style there's often very dedicated intimacy in those lifestyles, no disrepsect to animal lovers either.  There is another important factor Zenhabits might seem lacks "aloneness." Now "aloneness" might not be expressible on a blog, not at first. But I understand that aloness is meant to cultivate into a deeper feeling of "All Is Oneness" through mindful actions and of course, Zazen, deep meditation.  Subtle. Mysterious. Profound. Not so much on ZH on first glance, but Leo Babauta covers this elegantly. He simply recommends the habit if medittion. He pledged to himself to meditate five minutes a day. It's not bad. I think ten would be better. But I mainly agree with Genkaku Adam Fisher over at Genkaku-Again <http://genkaku-again.blogspot.com>. Genkaku posted in several places that he sits for the lenght of time it take to burn a single stick of good Japanese incense. I gather than means about a half hour (25 - 40) minutes depending on the incense. That's a really nice practice goal! But it takes prioritization and discipline and a realization that many thing will keep until tomorrow and even sort themselves out during zazzen meditation or even while one is fast asleep.

Still.  Visit it. It is nothing but instructive and, I believe, sincere. The author has some very good ideas so look beyond his aesthetics if they do bother you. You just might cultivate a new good habit or track down why you can't get a handle on an old undesired one.

If a person can help me to change a habit using pebbles, stick figures or crayons or letter blocks why would I complain. "Grasshopper, you might learn to really appreciat plain steamed veggies if you follow Leo Babauta's advice."

Zenhabits.

New Sub Blog on Everyday Carry

You will find my thoughts on something called "everyday" carry on a separate page of this blog.

"Every carry" often abbreviated "EDC" is the ongoing consideration of things one carries on one's person on a daily basis, and how the actual carrying of such things is done.

See the EDC page here.

Legitimate Points of View Regarding Greed and Hatred and Compassion

I believe that there are legitimate points of view than can be completely opposed to each other.

However this is theoretical. If I see a homeless person I do not automatically give him or her some coins or bills, but I am concerned about that person especially if I see that particular person regularly. I might call 311 - the NYC all purpose help line, or talk to a police officer in a patrol car.

Even so I remember from my college day that some believed that homelessness was a valid way of life, as is begging. I don't agree so I rarely give money to such folks. P. O. V.

On the other hand I like to think that I would never ever be at the root cause of anyone's homelessness.

On a larger scale there is a national movement to implement what I consider totally heartless policies by seemingly rabid people who hate President Obama, who hate any and every kind of social safety net including the various medical programs like "Obamacare" and Medicaid.

Case in point is the new Governor of Maine. I know nothing of the economics, governance or politics of Maine but I know that one of my friends is now hurting badly due to a group with enough power to have cut the benefits of 44,000 human beings who happen to be on Medicaid. One of my friends who is disabled due to a heart condition  is one of those 44,000.  I am beside myself.

Let me explain what this means in real dollars in a real life situation. A neighbor told me she uses insulin. She works for the CVS pharmacy chain. Recently CVS changed their medical insurance plan so while before my neighbor was paying about $30 a month for her insulin she now has to pay $350. CVS is already a lower paying employer but at least the health insurance coverage was pretty good. Where is she going to get an additional $320 a month in this economy with her education and experience? It makes no sense except the insurance company will pay out less but it will pass along a fraction of the savings to the CVS corporation. Shame on CVS. My POV. Yay CVS! The shareholders' POV, maybe.

Now consider the 44,000 people in Maine who are disabled or who are fixed income seniors or in dire straights for some reason. These people are now being stripped of all their medication because a  powerful group with more powerful backers elsewhere in the countty share a certain Point of View. A POV that at seems to me to be totally heartless and cruel and most certainly highly judgement of those 44,000 on Medicare. I like to see the amount the state of Maine hopes to save by doing this. I bet there are other ways to find the money. However my initial understanding is that Maine would have come out ahead financially if they just implemented the relevant proposals in Obamacare. So who has benefited from those cuts?  Who in Maine or elsewhere actually benefits from making those sick, disabled and low income people suffer even more? I don't understand why they would even accept that blood money. Please explain this to me. Is this what pure hatred and greed looks like?

Is their Point of View justified? Should it be accepted and tolerated? Can those 44,000 disabled and low income seniors mount a strong political campaign to change their new governor's position? Failing that, can they mount an even stronger movement to vote out out the governor and the state legislators that agreed with the governor? That would mean great persistence and patience and perhaps joining together with one or national movements whose goals include protecting and enhancing out safety nets and governmental mechanisms to giving a helping hand.

P. O. V. Really?