In this week’s mid-week Kitchen Pundit, I take on Trump’s statement on Mitch McConnell. Also on the menu, Leigh and I take a look at New Year’s resolutions and see if we’re on track (we are not, so we talk about how to get back on track). I also have a bigger than normal recipe this week, because it’s Ash Wednesday and we need to make some shrimp poboys to keep from eating meat. As always, the best way to show your support is to sign up and share this newsletter on social media, and feel free to comment or reply to the email version with suggestions or requests for recipes or content you want to see. Thanks for reading!
Former President Donald Trump released a statement on Tuesday attacking the absolute hell out of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Trump’s statement was in response to McConnell’s floor speech after the impeachment trial, in which McConnell said “Yeah, Trump incited that riot, but the House Managers didn’t really make a good case.”
Trump’s statement attacked McConnell from start to finish and claimed that the Republican Party would continue to lose under his leadership. It’s a claim that is laughable no matter how you look at it.
Here’s the deal: McConnell is arguably one of the savviest politicians in the Senate, and there are few who know how to navigate its parliamentary quagmire like he does. Time and again, he has used it to succeed where others have failed, and he has been able to routinely beat anyone challenging his power, be it a challenge from his right or his left. Donald Trump won one (1) election, lost the popular vote in two nationwide elections, and his antics arguably stirred up an actual violent riot in Washington D.C. and almost assuredly kept Georgia voters at home in a Senate runoff, costing the Republican Party control of the U.S. Senate for at least two years.
In the past, I have called McConnell a supervillain. While I am not his biggest fan, I can’t help but admire the Lex Luthor-style gaming and beating the system time and again. His single driving motivation is power in the Senate, and he has mastered the strategies necessary to get that power. Were it not for Trump’s post-election claims, the Republicans would still have the Senate, and there is absolutely no way any of Joe Biden’s agenda gets through.
Kentucky’s senior Senator is not going to be taken down by the rabid fans of an ex-president, even if that ex-president seems to have a stranglehold over the Republican base. In fact, I am in the minority in thinking that Trump’s hold over the base is really that strong. I think most of Trump’s voters are anti-progressive rather than pro-Trump, and I think the Democrats will do everything in their power to push voters back into the Republican column in 2022 and 2024. Trump railing against Mitch McConnell isn’t going to do anything, because conservatives railing against him hasn’t done anything before.
So while Trump may submit some strongly-worded statements clearly written by someone else, it won’t change the fact that McConnell will keep his hold over Senate Republicans. Sorry, Trump fans, but that’s how it’s going to be.
On the Lincoln Project
When you have a group of Republican strategists who can’t get a seat at Donald Trump’s table and therefore devote their time to trying to destroy him, you pretty much get what you get.
I don’t really have much respect for the founding members or most of the people involved, and not because I am or was a huge Trump supporter (I never was and never will be). It was very obvious that a lot of those people involved were in it to score some money off being #NeverTrump in a time when a lot of people found it fashionable to be so. Most of the money raked in was sent to vendors run by the members of the organization, and studies have shown they had virtually no impact on the 2020 race.
When you have guys like Steve Schmidt or John Weaver involved in a project, you know it’s going to be less about honor and principle and more about making money off being obnoxious. John Weaver, after all, was the guy who told John Kasich to stay in the 2016 primary even after he was mathematically eliminated from winning, and by doing so he kept the other last man standing, Ted Cruz, from being able to beat Trump. That’s not a guy you should take seriously.
None of the guys involved are really stand-up guys, and it was so obvious from the beginning that I can’t feel sorry for anyone who gave money to the group for zero return on investment. It was a grifting organization from start to finish.
Ironically, all the news reports are showing that they were exactly the type of people they claimed to be against. They were very Trumpian in their private behavior.
Homestyle: Getting Back on Track
In this week’s episode of Homestyle, my co-host Leigh Guidry and I talk about one of the biggest struggles that comes up at this time of year: Maintaining your goals for the year.
New Year’s resolutions are always tough, and it’s usually right around this time that we start falling off the wagon. Luckily, Ash Wednesday is today, which gives us the opportunity to right the ship, as it were, and re-focus on the things we need to in order to complete our “New year, new me” mentality.
If you want to hear more, you can always go back and listen to previous episodes, and we’d love to hear your feedback. Subscribe, rate, and review the podcast here, and if you have cooking, crafting, or family activity ideas, you can find us on Facebook and on Instagram (@Homestylepod).
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The Homestyle Podcast is a joint venture between myself and one of my best friends, education reporter Leigh Guidry. Throughout each episode, we discuss cooking, crafting, and other hobbies as well as how we make sure to spend time with our families despite how insanely busy life can be. The goal of the podcast has always been to take a moment to focus on what’s really important because, at the end of the day, family and life are more important than whatever distractions are going on in the world around us.
Recipe of the Week: Shrimp Poboys
So, normally I would go out, buy some French bread, and make the classic Louisiana sandwich that everyone just has to try when they come to New Orleans. However, SNOWPOCALYPSE 2021 kept us indoors and kept me bored. So I made my own French bread this time. This recipe is pretty much the recipe offered by the King Arthur flour website.
2 cups lukewarm water
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. active dry yeast
2 tbsp. olive oil
5 cups flour
1 tbsp. salt
Pour the water into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add 1 tablespoon of sugar, stir, sprinkle with the yeast, and allow to sit for 15 minutes, until frothy and bubbling.
Add the remaining tablespoon of sugar, olive oil, 5 cups flour, and salt. Use a spatula to bring the ingredients together into a shaggy dough.
Place the bowl on the mixer fitted with a dough hook, and mix the dough at medium speed for 8 minutes. The dough should form a ball and pull away from the sides of the bowl. Add more flour, a few tablespoons at a time, if the dough seems too sticky.
Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead by hand for a minute or two.
Lightly coat the mixing bowl with cooking spray or oil. Return the dough to the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow it to rise in a draft-free place for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
After the first rise, deflate the dough and divide it into four equal pieces. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes, then shape each piece into a ball and cover with greased plastic wrap, while you prepare a clean, lightly floured (or lightly greased) work surface. The plastic wrap will keep any waiting dough soft and moist as you shape the loaves.
Roll each piece of dough into a 16" x 3" log. Place on two parchment-lined baking sheets, putting two on each pan. Flatten the logs slightly; they should be a bit less round than a typical baguette, with more interior surface area for sandwich fillings. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let them rise for 1 hour.
While the loaves are rising, place racks in the center and upper third of your oven and preheat to 375°F.
Place the risen loaves in the oven and bake them for 30 minutes, or until they're deep golden brown. Rotate the baking sheets halfway through the baking time (top to bottom, bottom to top). Remove the bread from the oven and cool it on a rack before using it to make sandwiches.
Next, you need to fry your shrimp. This is a fairly easy process.
1-2 lb. fresh jumbo shrimp
1-1.5 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
2 large eggs
5-6 cups vegetable oil
Mix the flour, salt, and pepper (add more of the latter two if you wish, or substitute with Cajun seasoning like Tony Chachere’s). Whisk the eggs in a separate bowl.
Dredge each shrimp in the flour, then dip in the eggs, then again in the flour, and set aside.
If you have an air fryer, use it. Otherwise, empty the oil into a pot or Dutch oven (I use cast iron). Heat the oil to about 350 degrees.
Fry the shrimp in batches until golden brown (3-4 minutes per batch). Set aside to drain and cool.
And, finally, assemble your poboy using mayonaisse, shredded lettuce, and some slices of tomato for the absolute basic sandwich. I like to use remoulade sauce, as well, and I know some folks who prefer tartar sauce instead of mayo, but it’s really all up to what you have and what you want to use.
It’s Ash Wednesday. You can’t eat meat, so give this a try instead.
Final Thoughts…
Going back to the podcast, I do want to add this: I have taken up intermittent fasting as my primary means of both losing weight and just controlling what and when I eat. I have had success with both, despite some challenges (birthdays, a wedding, being iced into the house, etc.). One thing I remember mentioning is that whatever goals you have, find friends or a community to help you with it.
I have drawn a lot of inspiration from Reddit and Facebook groups since I began doing this, and whatever your goals are, be they for Lent or just to make yourself better, go and find these communities. If you need help finding some, reach out to me and I’ll point you in whatever direction I can.