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    Sunday, January 31, 2010 at 11:14 AM
    11:14AM

    Cooking Coq Au Vin

    DateSunday, January 31, 2010 at 11:14 AM

    Coq Au Vin is one of my favorite recipes. Its delicious (and very fitting the weather here now), but it is also a fun memory for me - the first French dish I learned to prepare.

    Yesterday after a long time I cooked it again for lunch. Here is the recipe I used:

    • 6 chicken legs (about 1.5 kg/3 pounds)
    • 1 bottle good red wine (don't go overboard with this, just use wine you would happily drink)
    • 150 gr. (about 5 ounces) bacon slices cut into narrow strips
    • 1 sliced carrot
    • 1 medium bulb of celery cut into cubes
    • 12 small onions (or 3 medium ones quartered)
    • 3-5 garlic cloves
    • 2 tablespoons flour
    • 1/3 cup  Cognac or Brandy
    • 6-8 sprigs of  parsley
    • 1-2 bay leaves
    • 2-3 sprigs of thyme
    • 250 gr. mushrooms (around 1/2 pound)

    Soak the chicken legs in the wine overnight.

    Take the legs out and pat them dry. Keep the wine!

    Use a large (and preferably heavy) pot. With some butter start sauteing the bacon until you have some more fat in the pot. Add the sliced carrot, onions and celery and saute for a few minutes until they get some color, then add the sliced garlic and stir for another few of minutes.

    Take the vegetables out of the pot (you'll need them at the end).

    You should have enough fat in the pot now to saute the chicken legs (if not add some butter.) Do both sides until the start getting brownish (and don't forget to sprinkle with salt and black pepper.) You might need to do this in 2-3 turns if your pot is not wide enough.

    Put all the chicken legs in the pot and pour the Cognac over them. Carefully light the boiling Cognac and wait until the flames go out. Now stir in 2 tablespoons of flour. Keep stirring to avoid burning and after everything is covered in flour and the flour has a nice fat-dowsed color, pour the wine in.

    Add the bay leaves, parsley and thyme, bring to boil, cover and lower the heat to the minimum (I usually use the smallest flame on the smallest burner), and cook for an hour and 15 minutes. Stir every 20-30 minutes.

    (The original French Coq Au Vin is cooked for longer as they use a whole cock. That results in a much drier meet. I like to use chicken and the meet to be less dry. If you want it like the French do, just cook it for another 15-30 minutes.)

    Take the legs out of the stew and keep them warm. Increase the heat and pour in the sauteeed vegetables and mushrooms, and cook for another 10 minutes.

    Put the legs back in and cook for another 5-10 minutes.

    Coq Au Vin is a basic food originating from Burgundy, and I like to serve it in a very basic manner - I just put the pot on the table.

    I hope you enjoy this very tasty winter dish. Comment below and let me know how yours came out.

    AuthorHaim Schlesinger | Comment1 Comment |
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    Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 12:56 PM
    12:56PM

    Do You Really Want A 4 Hour Work Week?

    DateThursday, January 21, 2010 at 12:56 PM

    About a year ago I heard about the book The 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris. First I was skeptical, then intrigued, and finally I read it. You should look beyond the sensational title (he claims he originally wanted to call it Drug Dealing For Fun And Profits) and get the gist of it. Look through the hype and listen to some good advice. That is if this is what you really want. Is it? It seems like a dream to do little work and live life as you want it most of the time. For me it proved to be not exactly what I wanted, or more precisely not anymore.

    Let me explain. As I read the book I thought to myself - this is kind of the way I live my life. I have built my businesses as systems that work without me for long periods of time. I did that starting in 1993 and from 1996 I have been living a very fulfilling life doing stuff I like. And I like to do lots of things: business, technology, photography, cooking, wine, magic, mentalism and TV consulting to name a few. For years my family and I divided our time between two countries, living half of the year abroad, while my businesses were still running and providing for us the means to do it. So reading the book made me feel quite satisfied. Here I was living the life of the "new rich" as Tim called it. I have made the decision a long time ago that my time was more valuable right now and used it to enjoy life and do what excited me.

    Recently Tim has released his updated version of the book and I started reading it. This got me thinking and I realized I did not want to do this anymore. I did not want to "not work" so much and so hard. You see, I have being doing it for the past 15 years and it was and still is a great way to live. Don't get me wrong, I would not want to start a 9 to 5 job. Waht I do want is to do something I can sink my teeth into and commit myself to in a different manner than what you can do when you are jumping from one subject to the other. What I want to do is build my personal brand. I did do a couple of things very seriously and achieved a lot in them, but in none did I commit myself fully and publicly. I think I wanted to keep my "freedom" a little too much. Now I think I am ready for a different approach. I want to put myself out there and today's tools allow you to do it like never before.

    Here is where Gary Vaynerchuk comes into the picture (though he is not aware of it - yet ;). I stumbled upon him because I love wine. He is a character doing exactly what I am talking about: being fully out there, using the tools available and committing himself to it. You might not like his style or even him personally (I think he is great and full of energy) but you have to respect his openness, commitment and drive. He has built a personal brand and went in the opposite direction from The 4 Hour Work Week (although he seems to be trying to go in different directions now and I am wondering how long before he has to have someone else replace him in WineLibrary TV). He does not outsource everything,  instead he works hours upon hours every day building and keeping his personal brand. Now I'm not sure I want to go to such extremes and its still hard for me to decide what field should I build my personal brand in (maybe I should just follow him and do the wine thing here in Hungary - hey Gary care to help me do WineLibrary TV here in Hungary?), but I know I want to be more out there, more exposed, interacting with others online and offline, instead of doing it all from behind the scenes.

    I realize that most would love to have the opportunity to do just what I have been doing for a large part of my adult life, but I give you this to consider: will you be truely happy doing the 4 Hour Work Week lifestyle?

    I think for me its time for a change. What would you do?

     

    AuthorHaim Schlesinger | Comment6 Comments | Reference3 References |
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    Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 10:17 PM
    10:17PM

    Be Very Afraid

    DateTuesday, April 14, 2009 at 10:17 PM

    Ever wondered if someone else can read your mind? How come you can't do the same?

    Even if you don't you want to take a look at this t-shirt. Apart from having a brain unwrapping in the center it has that exact fear written all over it: "Everybody can read minds except you!"

    Don't forget that the easiest way to read minds is just to listen, most people do let some of their thoughts out verbally ;-)

    AuthorHaim Schlesinger | Comment1 Comment | Reference1 Reference |
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    Sunday, April 5, 2009 at 5:55 PM
    5:55PM

    Marley & Me: The Wrong Kind Of Love

    DateSunday, April 5, 2009 at 5:55 PM

    First the film, then the love ;-)

    There are two kind of films: those that I enjoy watching - they give you some pleasure, and those that are interesting. Some times I get lucky and I see a film that is both and that is really a great experience.

    It used to be a rare occurrence that I saw a film that has nothing interesting or is at least pleasurable in some way. In the past few years I have watched more and more such films, and I am aware it might just be me getting old, but I have a feeling that its not.

    Marley & Me falls into that category. Its has nothing interesting in it, just a banal story of an average family with a dog, I just waited and waited for something interesting or even vaguely entertaining to happen - all in vain. Its supposed to be about the guy and the dog, but the dog only gets mentioned from time to time as the banality of an average family unravels, and mostly as a nuisance - the worst dog ever.

    Then at the end the dog dies - what a surprise. No, really, I was surprised. Not by the dog dying, but that they cared so much - it doesn't show during the film. It was more like: this is the worst dog in history, but we are so lost we rather continue and suffer.

    Finally there is that message (I am paraphrasing): dogs are great, they love you if you are poor or rich, smart or stupid, they love you unconditionally it doesn't matter who you are - where can you find that in todays world.

    Well, I ask you: why would you want such love. It means they love you just because you are there, the fact that its you is irrelevant - it could be anyone!

    I want the people who love me for who I am, otherwise they don't love ME, they just love someone and that could be anyone.

    This message also assumes that if you are poor or stupid no one will truly love you (except a dog maybe). That is so condescending. I find that most poor or stupid people I know are loved by someone. And that some one loves them and it has everything to do with them.

    So, don't watch the film its true crap, and don't wish for such love - you can do better, yes, even you ;-)

    AuthorHaim Schlesinger | CommentPost a Comment |
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    Friday, March 13, 2009 at 5:45 PM
    5:45PM

    The Crevasse - Making of 3D Street Art

    DateFriday, March 13, 2009 at 5:45 PM

    Never saw how its done before. Inspiring team work.

    AuthorHaim Schlesinger | CommentPost a Comment |
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