I’m Launching Another Reading Series Next Month…

To be honest, I’m not the driving force behind Lady Jane’s Salon, a new reading series dedicated to romance writing that is debuting next month at NYC’s Madame X with guest stars Andrea Pickens and Hope Tarr. But when Hope, along with novelists Maya Rodale and Leanna Renee Hieber, asked if I would be interested in hosting a series that also serves as a monthly fundraising drive for her non-profit organization, Share the Love, I immediately accepted. The group distributes “gently used” romance novels to institutions that serve women—domestic violence shelters, halfway houses, prison libraries, and so on—promoting literacy and optimism. I’m excited to be involved with the organization, and I hope those of you in New York will consider coming to our events.

Andrea and Hope will be reading on Monday, February 2, at 7 p.m. Admission is $5 or a paperback romance.

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17 January 2009 | lady jane's salon |

My Stir-Fry Corn with Chile Peppers Recipe

When I announced on my Twitter feed yesterday afternoon that, because both Mrs. Beatrice and I have colds, I would be making my stir-fry corn with chile, I got a couple responses—enough to make me think it would be worthwhile to share the recipe with you, especially since I originally got it from Beyond the Great Wall, a travelogue and cookbook by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. (Actually, I found the recipe in the book after spotting a variant of the dish on the China episode of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations and saying, “That sounds good; I wonder if I can find a recipe close enough.”) So here’s my quick, slightly modified version of this dish:

Put on a wok on high heat; when it’s ready, add a tablespoon of peanut (or canola) oil. Toss in about two or three cloves of minced garlic; stir it quickly and then add about 1/2 pound of pork loin, which you’ve cut into 1-inch by 1-inch chunks, and some freshly ground Szechuan black pepper. Give it a few minutes, then add some thinly sliced pepper. [The recipe calls for cayenne, but we end up using serranos because they’ve been easier to find. You don’t want to go much milder than that, or I don’t, anyway. I’ve also substituted chicken breast for the pork loin, and it’s okay, but the pork’s better.] Add a bit of salt, and keep cooking until the meat’s changed color all over.

Then add corn—in the summer, we like to cut it straight off three cobs, but in a pinch one bag of frozen kernels ought to do the trick. Salt it a little further and then cook it all for another 3-4 minutes.

We find this is enough for the two of us, but I eat big portions, so you could probably get a meal for three, maybe four people from the recipe as described above. And, as I said, it’s a great dish to make when you have a cold—I’m breathing more freely than I have at any point in the last 48 hours.

10 January 2009 | cooking |