Programming Methodologies -- Time for me to join the modern age.

Before I became a BOFH System Admin / Network Admin, I started walking down the path of a software developer.  If you look at my bookshelf Software Development books out number my SA/NA books 3 to 1.  In the previous shop, I was going to do 50-50 SA work - Software Development.  There was enough interesting SA work that I decided to leave Software Development behind, at least as my primary means of earning my paycheck.  That didn't keep me from dabbling in my spare time.

After a lot of reading, contemplating, and searching I came across the Extreme Programming  Explained by Kent Beck.  I saw the light, a programming methodology that I could get behind.  I became an XP (Extreme Programming) convert.  I preached XP to whomever would listen.  The main stumbling block that I had in getting people to buy into XP was the concept of pairs programming.  While the documentation from most XP based projects should that 2 people working together overtime were more productive, it was often view by management as an excuse for the programmers to slack off and goof around.

Trollkarl -- the meaning of a name.

People often ask where does this come from.  They ask about trolls, they wonder if my name is Karl.  The simple answer is none of the above, it's the Swedish word for warlock or illusionist.  This was my preferred character class when I played any number of RPGs. Also, warlock was just too common of a pseudonym on the Internet for me to use that, so I picked something from my ancestry.

More Later....
G

Lazy Saturday

I spent a day messing around with a number of Firefox plug-ins, YSlow and Page Speed.  They analyze your webpage and give you suggestions of how to tweak things to make you site faster.  In the process I watched two very interesting movies

• August Rush
• Amal

Amal is about a rickshaw driver that has a heart of gold.  He gave a ride to an eccentric millionaire, who without Amal's knowledge write Amal into his will.  A well done movie.

August Rush, is the story of an untrained musical protege that ran away from foster-care.  Everywhere this amazing kid sees and hears music, he discovers his gifts while he is on a quest to find his parents.

More Later ....
G.

Tacos al Pastor de Gregorio

Continuing on my recipe spree, last October, I made a variation on Tacos al Pastor for a friends birthday. I did a whack of research and came up with this variation of a Mexican classic.

Tacos al Pastor

• 10 Pasilla Chiles
• 10 Mexico Nuevo Chiles
• 10 Ancho Chiles
• 5 Pasilla Negro Chiles
• 5 Mulato Chiles
• 2 Pablano Chiles
• 1 to 3 Chipotle Chiles (preferencia)
• 1/2 Large Sweet yellow onion minced
• 5 to 10 cloves Garlic (preferencia)
• 250 ml Packed yellow sugar
• 500 ml cider vinegar
• 500 ml stock (low sodium beef, chicken, veggie whatever is available, water in a pinch)
• 250 ml pineapple juice (un-sweetened)
• 125 ml orange juice
• 3 limes juiced
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 5 tablespoons mexican oregano
• 1/3 of package of achiote
• Salt and black pepper to taste

• 2 days before you want tacos make the marinade/ salsa
  
  
  Toast all the dried chiles and remove the seeds and stems. Roast the Pablanos and make Rojas. In a large pot heat a tablespoon of oil, sweat the minced onion, add the tomato paste, and garlic. To the pot add the cider vinegar, sugar and the lime juice. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Turn down the heat to medium, add the toasted dried chiles, cook until soft. Add the rojas and chipotles. With an immersion blender start pureeing the chiles, add the stock to thin the mixture. Add the pineapple and orange juice and blend until smooth. Add the Oregano and achiote and blend again. Simmer until all the flavours have melded. If the salsa is too thick, thin with either pineapple juice or more vinegar (if the salsa seems too sweet use vinegar, if it too tart/sour add some pineapple juice.) Add salt and pepper to taste. Let cool overnight.

• 1 day before
  
  Take a couple of kilos of pork/lamb shoulder steak, butt steak or beef flank
  steak and coat well with the marinade.  Message the marinade into the meat
  well. Every couple hours move everything around making sure the meat
  absorbs the marinade ( add more marinade if things are dry).


• Day of the tacos.
  
  Remove all the excess marinade from the meat, scrape it clean if necessary (this will
  be very messy). If you are using lamb or pork, in a pan cook the meat
  over high heat until the meat is medium rare ( we are cooking it again later so
  even rare is ok). For beef bbq/grill it to the desired doneness cut
  across the grain and serve. For the lamb and pork, to get a better
  texture, slice the partly cooked meat into thin slices across the grain.
  In a wok on high heat, add a bit of corn oil, lard, or shortening something
  with a high smoke point. Stir fry the meat until cooked, don’t be afraid
  to get a little crispy on one side to simulate the meat being cooked on a
  trompa (rotisserie)

Server with you favorite taco fixings and grilled pineapple.  This will make a mess, but it tastes good.

More Later....
G

Gnocchi

Since I'm writing starting to through some food in the mix.  It's been a while since I made fresh gnocchi, but I'm getting a hankerin' for it again.  Last time I made it was last summer!!

Gnocchi Recipe

• 2 lbs Russet Potatoes (Baked)
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached AP flour 
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 large egg beaten

Bake the potatoes, I cheat and nuke them until they were 3/4 done, then I put the in the oven to finish. Let them cool, peel them, and put them through a food mill, or grate them if you don't have a mill.  Mix in the salt and beaten egg.  Add enough flour so the dough  no longer sticks to your hands.  Pour everything on the bench and lightly dust with bench flour, kneed for 3 or 4 minutes until the dough is smooth.  Make a ball, and cut into 6 pieces.  Roll each piece into a 3/4" rope.  Cut into pieces 1" long. You can add the ridges either with the back of a fork, or I have a ridged gnocchi paddle. Now you can either cook or freeze them. I found the recipe here.

Last summer I made a brown butter sage sauce with some scallops and prawns to be served with the gnocchi.  One thing to note you need Russet or some other high starch, low moisture potato, this keeps the gnocchi light and tender.

More Later ...
G