BlatherWatch

Jalepeño potato latkes: chappy chanukkah! or would that be feliz mexicanukka?

This first day of Chanukkah, and crispy, golden latkes dance sugarplum-wise in our heads.

Matzo, potatoes, and... jalapeños??!!

Manhattan Chef Julian Medina, of Mexican origins, owns some Mexican restaurants in New York and married into a Jewish family, so decided to fuse-up the cuisines around his house with his creation: Jalepeño potato latkes...

We're not Jews, but we loves us some Christmas  tradition, so we eat these with sour cream. But no applesauce on these bad hombres.. we slather 'em down with green chile salsa, the kind served in Michoacán. Rice & beans add a holiday touch.

Jalepeño Potato Latkes

12 pieces (2 per person)

Ingredients:
2 Large russet potatoes, peeled
1 Egg yolk
½ cup Matzo meal
1 Jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
1 t Kosher salt
Olive oil for frying

To Make:

1) Using a box grater, coarsely grate the potatoes into a medium-size bowl. Add the egg yolk, jalapeño, salt, and matzo meal; mix well and let cool in the refrigerator for five minutes to allow ingredients to bind.

2) Remove bowl from refrigerator and drain off any excess liquid.

3) Over a medium flame, heat ½ cup olive oil in a 10-inch skillet until hot but not smoking. Take 1 heaping tablespoon of the potato mixture at a time and place into the pan, being careful not to crowd the latkes. Cook each latke until golden brown on both sides (approximately five minutes total). 

4) Transfer latkes to a paper-towel-lined plate, add additional salt if desired. Add ¼ to ½ cup of olive oil (if needed) to pan and repeat process with remaining latke mixture.
5) Serve immediately

(Recipe courtesy Chef Julian Medina, and PRI's The World (KUOW m-thurs, 4-5p)

 

Great Blatherings de 2011: KUOW- there will be pie!

From here to the end of the year, we'll be reposting some of the greats of this year of year of our humble blither-blather.

Though a little geezerly ourselves, BlatherWatch loves to stick it in the harmless eye of public radio KUOW from time to time. After the no. 1 news talk show in the market devoted an hour to pie we sliced and served this (and them) up, January 23, 2011:

We're stoked: KUOW's 'nice as pie' news talk & kaffee klatch, Weekday with Steve Scher (m-f, 9-11a): will present "Pie!" in Monday's prime nine o'clock hour.

Though a day late, they'll celebrate Nat'l Pie Day, (It's today, Sunday, Jan. 23) and who knows what might happen?!

That darn Weekday: They wouldn't mention anyone's name in a promo ('anyone' might be self-promoting!) so it's anyone's guess who's showing-- but we're thrumming at the possibilities of big names in pie who might.

Simple Simon, of course, would be the ultimate "get," though that may be too much to dream for. Can't imagine him being in town without everyone knowing, coming down as he is, off his Food Channel reality hit, Pies, Lies & Video Tape.

We're hoping the stentorian, always authoritative, UW weather bore Cliff Mass will be there for a "pie in the sky" assessment.

Before his Simpsonic installation in the American psyche, the Pie Channel's Crusty the Clown was a pie-packin' hitman for MTV. Few knew that the 'crust' in Crusty is... pie crust! (He may be too mean, "wackie," commercial, or opinionated for Weekday, which never likes its guests with pulses more than 10 or so beats higher than their own).

You gotta hand it to Scher and his crew: They tackle the issues that matter. Seattle will never forget Weekday's groundbreaking 2-hours in 2009 that exposed the Southeast Asian cream-puff cartel and the fake "cream" shipped clandestinely into the state from secret, cowless, underground, New Jersey "cream" factories.

Here are a few pie issues we hope they might consider:

• Savory pies filled with animal flesh: abomination or simply delicious? Not sure it can be addressed in the "vegan optional" predominant culture at KUOW, but we'd love it if they would take it on.
• Pot pies from the "chicken gulag" are controversial in pie circles and beg questions about 'slave chickens' that Big Pie has, so far, refused to answer.
• The masturbatory American Pie and the subsequent Internet cults that have sprung up around the movie and the practice. Worried psychologists, parents, police, and bakeries across the nation are conversing and seeking a "hands-on" solution.
• Is the tart a pie, or a copout for pie makers too lazy to crimp? Is the ver word 'tart' a mysogynist slur? (more correct: 'topless pie?')

Most pie fruits are out of season: but that hasn't stopped the Weekday crew! When they get a hot topic, they go... damn-the-logistics! Maybe raisin pies, shoe-flies, pizzas, moon, and clam pies will be examined.

(Steve Scher: "nice as pie," photo: KUOW)

(The Blackberry Channel is pressuring producers to book one of theirs (Marion Berry?) for the Monday show, despite blackberries this time of year are all frozen or shipped-in from Bolivia. They should know that to get on Weekday you can't act like you want to. Besides, there are heavy pressures from the apple lobby, who donate mightily to public radio. Big Apples is a cut-throat crew not unlike the NRA; they've coalesced with Big Nutmeg and The Pie Is Life Institute, (Georgia peaches, Inc.) to dominate pie politics).

We're hoping that the predominantly East Coast Weekday crew and the fruitless season won't cause the program to degenerate to so-called pies like Boston Cremes (it's a damn cake!) or those French abominations using onions, cinnamon and zucchini.

But we trust Scher et al to bring us, once again, a slice of radio that no one else in Seattle radio would ever attempt to serve up.

Alec baldwin rants against public radio

Baldwin did more of these hilarious spots... here.

Is NPR too white... or does it just sound that way?

In a letter to new NPR CEO Gary Knell, black journalists are again accusing NPR of being too danged white- both inside and out, saying the radio network has a "dulcet-toned narrative of all things white and comfortable."

The charges comes in an eloquent but damning letter to the new NPR honcho from Joel Dreyfuss, a founding member of the National Association of Black Journalists.

The issue won't go away, he writes, now just because Juan Williams is gone.

NPR created a powerful enemy with a public platform in Williams. Since his departure, he has lambasted NPR as a bastion of liberal ideological rigidity. He's written a book (Muzzled: The Assault on Honest Debate) and even shot a commercial for AOL extolling freedom of speech. While Williams was clearly hurt by his firing, Fox News rewarded him with a reported $2 million contract -- partly, I suspect, for his public apostasy.

Dreyfuss recounts meeting former CEO Ellen Weiss, who was eventually fired over the Williams mishegoss. It was at a party about 10 years ago; she asked him, "So what do you think of All Things Considered?" referring to the NPR show she produced for many years. "I love the show," he said. "But why does it have to be so white?"

"But we have Juan Williams," she replied defensively. Ouch. He almost choked on his stuffed mushroom.

Even back then, I immediately recognized the chasm between Weiss' classic liberal worldview and mine as a black journalist. For Weiss, having one visible black commentator, anomalously conservative, on NPR confirmed her liberal credentials and made her immune to questions about her commitment to diversity. It's a common form of arrogance among liberals, so sure of their ideological purity that they could not possibly be racist -- even if they manage institutions that are overwhelmingly white and where people of color have little clout and few decision-making roles.

There have been a few hirings of black voices over the years: They installed a vice-president for diversity issues, as well as two black executives and one black correspondent after a 2009 meeting with the NABJ, a move black journalists called "better but not enough."

"But few can discern a fundamental change in NPR's tone and approach since." wrote Dreyfuss.

By contrast, I have a broader vision of a multihued NPR, with a range of voices and worldviews not often heard or seen on commercial radio and TV: conservative, liberal, radical, atheist, religious, African American, Latino, immigrant and Native American -- all in a glorious rainbow cacophony.

His advice for the new guy at the popular, but troubled network:

So as you tackle your mountain of issues, I hope you'll be brave enough not to fall into the trap of believing that your problem was Juan Williams. It wasn't just that NPR was uncomfortable with a somewhat conservative voice; NPR has never been comfortable with black voices and brown voices and white voices that challenged conventional liberal thinking.

Besides the challenges to NPR's "conventional liberal thinking," there's always that other little thing:

And that problem in Congress with NPR's funding? It's not new. Conservatives can always win cheap points by threatening NPR -- until they find out that their constituents love the programs. I love NPR, too, but I also want it to be better, more exciting and a reflection of the America I live in. And you'd have a lot more clout with Congress if you grew your audience beyond its current narrow confines. Those less affluent blacks and browns you're anxious to attract? They also vote.

KIROFM jocks join the "fart fetish groups;" KUOW pledge drive soars

KIROFM is no. 1 in the ratings, but can anyone take it seriously as a community forum? Or anything but a dumbed-down Page Six with sports and pets?

We'd say no. Latest evidence to the contrary: air time spent nearly every day for a week on the Nancy Grace flatulance "issue." Did she fart loudily and cartoonishly during a recent Dancing With the Stars episode? Or is the YouTube audio a fake? Inquiring children need to know...

Nancy claims she was framed, but doesn't anyone when accused of making the choice between shame and pain?

Dori Monson (KIROFM m-f, 12-3p) took time away from his pet and government abuse stories numerous times over the week, always playing the audio at least twice per. He and L'il Jake couldn't resist the latest "development" that the audio rights were being requested of ABC from a "fart fetish group." The "reporting" was done, of course, accompanied by two more plays of the alleged flatulance, "Just so you can decide for yourself."  Ron & Don couldn't resist playing it a few times. Even Dave 'Bigfoot' Boze, (KTTH m-f, 3-6p) filling in for John Curley, played the cut (if you will) in the evening. (Ya think he's auditioning for the job?)

Frankly, there's nothing that Nancy Grace could do or say that would make her remotely interesting to us. It's hard to imagine Dancing with The Stars generating any real news. Celebrity farting is a recent entertainment phenom, but one we'd rather explore on our personal computers late at night.

Can anyone take KIRO seriously these days? The old Dave Ross must be rolling in his grave... reminds us to get our pledge into KUOW.

KIROFM shares no. 1 one in the market

Bitch as we will about Dori, Don, and Luke, but something's working over at KIRO.

The September Arbitron ratings show that Bonneville's KIROFM has reached up to share (with rocker KISW) the no. 1 spot in the market. It's the first time in our memory that it's been higher than no. 3. This is definitely the highest ratings any talker has gotten in this market in the PPM era. 

KOMO comes in at fourth place, which ain't bad- especially without Mariners baseball which it had in previous years when it’s surged, according to Radio-Info's Tom Taylor.

Public radio talker KUOW is at 11th place as usual.

Rush Limbaugh's KTTH (also owned by Bonneville) is still scraping along at 24th place but they're beating CBS's KPTK progressive talk which is in the tank at 30th.

As always, these are the most general of all ratings- the only ones publicly available- of those age 6 and older. The most valuable demo is the age 25-54 (folks who allegedly buy most stuff that might be advertised) and the aged 35-64, the group that apparently are the second most liable to buy stuff they hear advertised on the radio.

Here's a fair explanation of radio ratings.

Rent's due at public radio

24/7 blah-blah for money prevails on KUOW... and there's no respite: KPLU is running their pledge drive simultaneously. Send 'em some dough.

Listeners can bitch about these silly panhandlings, but consider this: commercial radio begs for money for nearly 50% of nearly every broadcast hour.

With the Foxification of KIRO, the fade-to-blanding of KOMO, the annihilation of KVI and the over-syndication of KTTH or KPTK, Northwesterners need public radio. (As does the thriving tote-bag industry).

Public radio lets us off easy, they do this but twice a year. What's more, they'll shut up if we send our money to them faster!

Why we aren't at the KUOW event at the neptune theater, today

Weekday with Steve Scher's live performance with Stephen Tobolowsky Friday sounded pretty good.

Tobolowsky is the self-satisfied b-actor/a-grade storyteller who finally wormed his smarmy way into our collective Sunday afternoon (KUOW 1-2p) hearts with his tales of Hollywood and Texas.

KUOW said the tickets would be $4. That sounded great, so we went up to the Neptune's site, where we were more than off-put that a $4 ticket actually costs $9! The unexplained "convenience fee" ($2) plus the "order process fee" ($3) more than doubled the price of the ticket. 

Folksingers mar KUOW event

Feliks Banel of HistoryMediaHistory made this video backstage at the live show of Weekday with Steve Scher (KUOW m-f, 9a-12p) on Friday last at Town Hall. If you're interested in what these people look like, take a look, it's a happy place.

BlatherWatch avoided this show - it's been only a month since we went to the last one, and frankly, the thrill was, if not gone, sated - at least for a few years. 

But we listened-in while we were getting our pedicure, and there was dear, old book babe Nancy Pearl, who so adorably tells a Little Joke in Feliks' video.

She was great, but then... there were folksingers.

It must have been someone's idea of "creative radio." They'd found a band of folksingers: real ones... the womenfolk with laced bodices and long hair; the men in tunics and stringed instrumentalia.

They sang their "ditties," that was bad enough, but then producers got them a-interruptin' the talk-talk during the 2nd hour news discussion with baffling, yet stupid, musical interjections.

We know, we know, folksingers are expected to make stupid, musical interjections, but these folksingers, - we fucking kid you not - insisted on singing, in 3 or 4 separate and lengthy interruptions, their interpretations of 3 or 4 separate and lengthy chapters (Ch. 9 & 10; 12-13) of Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present, a fabulous basic text for us liberals but fucking maddening when sung into the middle of a discussion of Seattle's tunnel project and the debt ceiling!

If these public radio dopes ever had to defend liberalism like we do every damn day, they wouldn't be offering up slowballs for wingers to hit out of the park such as folksingers singing Howard Zinn on public radio! It's as stereotypical as inviting the NAACP to an on-air watermelon-eating contest.

We love when Weekday tries new tricks, remember their "radio mimes?" This one, however, sent us scurrying for Dave & Luke (KIROFM m-f, 9a-12p).

(We have been known to occasionally be a-pluckin' a plectrum with a clawhammer... however, we do it in private, our children don't even know we know all the words to Where Have All the Flowers Gone. Folksingers should be seen, not heard. On second thought- we don't want to look at them either).

KUOW's weekday goes downtown

(photo: Steve Scher, Knute Berger, Eli Sanders, Joni Balter)

The trees were leafed out on 8th Avenue, the sun spreckled through the First Hill shade. It was a comfy morning at Seattle's Town Hall... at least for us.

That's because we're an aged, middle-class, liberal, white male in the very henhouse of Seattle progressive sensibilities: a live-show audience of KUOW's Weekday with Steve Scher.