Posts tagged making money

Jerry Traunfield, one of this season’s contestants, offers tips on how to master the art of the herb in your kitchen.

Jerry Traunfeld is chef and owner of the Seattle restaurant Poppy. Prior to opening his own restaurant, he received national acclaim as the chef at The Herbfarm, which was voted one of the top 10 restaurants in the United States in the 2007 Zagat Survey, is a Gayot’s Top 40 U.S. Restaurant, and is the only AAA 5-Diamond restaurant in the Northwest. He was a 2000 recipient of a James Beard Award for Best American Chef: Northwest and Hawaii. He is the author of the award-winning books The Herbfarm Cookbook and The Herbal Kitchen. Jerry also can be seen on this season’s Top Chef Masters on Bravo.

1. Slow Roasted Salmon with Spring Herb Sauce

It is this recipe that inspired me to write The Herbal Kitchen. When I began thinking of writing a second cookbook about 10 years ago, I was experimenting in my restaurant kitchen with roasting salmon at a very low temperature. The gentle heat consistently turns out perfectly done, moist fish, and miraculously it’s one of the easiest and most foolproof ways you can prepare it. Most home cooks had never heard of the technique, but it translates flawlessly to the home kitchen and I felt the world needed to know about it. I thought of how great it would be to put together a collection of many recipes with similar magic, borrowing techniques I discovered as a chef, translated into extremely simple and quick home recipes, and all made fabulous with fresh herbs.

2. Dilled Celery, Asian Pear, and Hazelnut Salad

This is has been my go-to cool weather salad for many years, and it’s a favorite in my cooking classes, where students are amazed at how such little effort can turn out such an amazing salad. It has celery, nuts and winter fruit in common with the classic Waldorf, but choosing Asian pear, hazelnuts, and mustard vinaigrette to replace mayonnaise gives it swank. I love to use the Duchilly variety of hazelnuts that are grown in Washington state for this dish. They have such thin skins that don’t need to be removed, and their glossy rich brown color is gorgeous with the green and gold of the other ingredients.

3. Parsley and Mint Soup

Many chefs use potatoes to thicken pureed soups like this one, but I always find the potato flavor noticeable and the texture never completely silky and smooth. I prefer to use a tiny bit of rice. It gives the soup a velvety body, almost as if it were enriched with cream, without contributing a taste. This takes lots of parsley, but after all, it is a parsley soup—just the thing to begin a lovely spring dinner.

4. Mushroom Marjoram Bread Pudding

When I was working on the recipe mix for The Herbal Kitchen I tried to think of recipes that would be most valuable to someone who loves to cook at home but has limited time. Everyone needs side dishes for holidays and dinner parties, things that you can prepare ahead, throw in the oven, and bring to the table along with your roast or turkey. A savory bread pudding is just the thing. For this one I use dried porcini, my precious pantry staple, which brings savory depth of flavor to dishes that are rich with cream and eggs. And I use generous amounts of fresh marjoram, the herb I always consider first when I cook with mushrooms.

5. Rhubarb Mint Cobbler

I’ve never been big on sugary, gooey desserts. Instead, give me tangy warm fruit, buttery crisp crust, and a creamy cold scoop of something on top. That’s why I’m a big fan of rhubarb cobbler. Rhubarb is so easy to prep, you just wash and slice, and cobbler biscuits come together in an instant, which means this is a dessert you can indulge in with about 20 minutes of effort.

Click here for more of Jerry’s recipes on Cookstr.com.

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For the most part markets were little changed overnight with investors largely sitting tight ahead of Friday’s all-important US non-farm payrolls report. Indeed the S&P 500 closed exactly unchanged, with some strength in the industrials offset by some weakness in the financials. Stock-wise. 3M (MMM) rallied 3.6% as Morgan Stanley said profit may top estimates after Danaher (DHR) boosted its earnings forecast. Home Depot (HD) and Lowe’s (LOW) climbed as the S&P/Case-Shiller index of home prices in 20 US cities and the Conference Board’s confidence gauge topped economists’ estimates.

Today the US ADP (ADP) private sector payrolls report disappointed coming in at -23k against expectations for a 40k rise. This news allied with Moody’s rating agency who has further downgraded the credit ratings of five Greek banks is giving the Dow a red hue.

Today’s Market Moving Stories

• Ireland’s National Asset Management Agency said it would apply an average discount of 47% on the first block of loans that it will purchase from the local banks, compared with the Government’s earlier estimate of a 30% discount. Ireland’s regulator estimates that the local banks may need at least €31.8bn of new capital, with banks given 30 days to submit capitalisation plans. I won’t bore you with too much NAMArama analysis as it’s well covered elsewhere. I just want to say, on the all the hype about the larger than expected haircut, it should be noted that this discount applies to the initial tranche only (constituting around 20% of the total), which is likely to disproportionately feature development land loans that face larger writedowns. Future loan tranches are yet to be valued by NAMA, though it is expected that the eventual average discount paid for its entire loan portfolio will be lower than today’s announced level.
• The IMF scaled back its forecasts for growth in Germany this year to 1.2% (from 1.5% previously), with growth expected to strengthen to just 1.7% in 2011 (from a forecast of 1.9% previously).
• German labor market data again came in better than expected this morning as today’s unemployment data surprised again positively. In March the unadjusted number of unemployment declined by 75,000 to 3.568mln, due to the normal spring recovery. The ILO measured unemployment rate stagnated the fourth month in a row at 7.5% in February.
• UK consumer confidence deteriorated in March, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Gordon Brown as he prepares to call what promises to be one of the closest general elections in years. The GfK NOP showed its consumer confidence index slipped to -15 in March from -14 in February. Nick Moon, the managing director of GfK NOP social research, said that although the drop was small, it was significant because confidence had risen in the first two months of the year.
• Greece may pay about €13 billion more in interest on the debt it sells this year than it would have if yields had stayed at their pre-crisis levels relative to Germany’s. Interest on the three bonds it sold this year, including a seven-year note offered this week, will amount to €7.7 billion over the life of the securities, compared with €3.8 billion if they had sold them at the average extra yield, or spread, over German debt that prevailed between 2000 and 2008. Greece will incur a further €18.9 billion of interest on this year’s remaining issuance, compared with €9.4 billion before the crisis began.
• Chinese PBOC Vice Governor Zhu Min said that “there remains the latent risk of asset bubbles. The rapid rebound for the better in market risks after the financial crisis has led to the threat of asset bubbles in capital markets”. He added that “what is worrisome is that once the US Federal Reserve embarks on interest rate increases, this USD arbitrage may return [to the US], causing these bubbles to burst.” He concluded that “fluctuations in the USD have worsened… This financial crisis has again demonstrated that a currency regime dominated solely by the USD is unstable, and the big fluctuations have had quite a big impact on the global economy and financial markets.”
• The Nomura/JMMA Japan manufacturing PMI fell to 52.4 in March from 52.5 in February. However, the index for new export orders rose to 55.7 from 55.2 – the highest level since May 2004.
• Australian retail sales fell 1.4% mom in February thereby offsetting gains in January. This was the first fall in twelve months and in the face of a consensus forecast for a 0.2% gain. Separate data showed that approvals for new homes dropped 3.3% mom in February to a four month low (despite a consensus forecast of +2%), although private credit grew as expected, rising by 0.4% mom.
• Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher told a conference that, “I’m not advocating for an increase in interest rates right now.” He added that raising interest rates was "not on the central bank’s front burner right now" as there was plenty of slack in the US economy.

Greece Still In The Mire
My initial reaction to the details of the Greek support package hammered out in Brussels last Thursday was that they didn’t materially add to what was already known about the European bailout package for Greece (first announced in mid-February). More specifically, other than the fact that the European Commission and the ECB seem to have the final say in when the funds could be called and the report that 2/3rds of the loans would come from Greece’s eurozone partners, we actually learnt nothing new. Certainly, no detail was provided as to what would actually provide the trigger for a bailout (A failed auction? The subsequent threat of default?) or what options would be considered to “reinforce the legal network” of the fiscal stability pact (the ultimate threat of expulsion?). As importantly, nothing was said (or even intimated) about what would happen were another nation were to find itself in trouble. Given that it is now 18 years since the Maastricht Treaty was signed, these signs that the eurozone still lacks a carefully thought out crisis management program that can swing into action at a moment's notice does little to inspire confidence.

It seems that I’m not alone in feeling disappointed with the outcome from last week if the results of Greece’s auction of €5bn of 7-year bonds on Monday were anything to go by. Not only did this auction price at the same level as the 10-year auction in early March but, more importantly, demand proved far more modest this time around (1.4 times coverage compared the 3.2 seen on March 4th). Worse, while much was made of the high demand from foreign investors at the previous auction (77%), Monday saw demand from this sector fall to a rather more modest 57% (with buying from outside of Europe amounting to no more than 10% of the whole).

Yesterday saw further evidence of rapidly waning interest as the unexpected reopening of an earlier issue of 12-year bonds (with the yield capped at 6%) only managed to raise €390mln compared to the €1bn available. Given that Greece has only raised about half of the €35bn they need this year, these signs that investors are increasingly shunning its debt despite the apparent promise of a eurozone backstop are ominous. Little wonder that the benchmark 10-year Greek/German yield spread on government bonds has started widening out once again (hitting 340bp this morning) and look set to continue to do so.

This remains a bearish backdrop for the EUR/USD and EUR/GBP.

Company News

• Ryanair (RYAAY) is suing the French government this month for what Ryanair considers illegal aid to Air France-KLM (AKH), CEO Michael O’Leary said. The lawsuit, filed March 10 at a Paris court, seeks €113 million in damages and interest. O’Leary said his company estimates that Air France has received more than €1 billion in illegal state aid since 1994. He didn’t provide details.
• Tate & Lyle (TATYY.PK) reported performance in line with guidance given in January, with EU sugar margins in line with Q3, although the stronger USD will benefit the Q4 results. The currency impact will also have increased debt, although this was offset by stronger cash inflows, meaning net debt at March 31, 2010 is expected to be “broadly similar” to the £864m at Dec 09.
• Ofcom completed its review of Sky Sports packages compelling the satellite broadcaster to offer these channels wholesale to other operators at a discount of between 10% and 23% to current prices. This is roughly inline with expectations, although it is a positive for BT that they can now anticipate offering live Premier League football from next season.
• Anglo American (AAUKY.PK) and Xstrata (XSRAF.PK) have had their rating outlooks from Moody’s and S&P, respectively, improved from negative to stable essentially on the back of improving commodity prices, the more constructive economic outlook, along with the companies’ proved and expected flexibility to manage their balance sheets in order to support credit metrics.
• Volkswagen (VLKAF.PK) is speeding up a facelift of the $88,000 Phaeton sedan in time to unveil the model at the Beijing auto show next month and target China’s millionaires.
• Traffic volume at Dublin airport fell 16% in February (to 1.2m), continuing the dire trend set in January (-17%). It contrasts sharply with airports elsewhere in Europe where stability and growth returned at year end. Continental EU traffic was back 16%, the UK -8% and North America -19%. Domestic Irish volume fell 31%. These figures underline yet again the crisis enveloping Irish aviation in general. Both Aer Lingus and Ryanair are also experiencing tough Q1s in Ireland but their market shares are expanding as other carriers and charter volumes are extracted at a faster rate. The data shows how challenging the Irish market is for Aer Lingus, which has a 90% exposure to Irish airports.
• Yesterday it was announced that the Quinn Group had entered administration at the behest of the Financial Regulator. The group will continue to operate but under different management. The group had gone from having assets over liabilities of some €200m to an excess of liabilities of more than €200m. Shares in FBD rose 5.8% after the news, with expectations that the administration provides an opportunity to grab market share.
• BP (BP) awarded $500 million in contracts to drill wells in Iraq’s giant Rumaila oilfield, the first step in a mammoth initiative by foreign oil companies to revive the country’s energy industry. If successful, the effort at Rumaila and several other fields near Basra could be one of the largest expansions of crude-oil production ever achieved anywhere. Increased Iraq production could be the difference between a well-supplied global market with oil steadily trading below today’s $82 a barrel and a tight oil market with triple-digit prices, struggling to meet rising Asian demand.

And Finally… A Musical Parody About The Banking Crisis

Disclosures: None

http://s592.photobucket.com/albums/tt2/atlantalease965/?action=view&current=8916202d0f108598a3ecc88210de32a0.flv bobby ferguson detroit http://www.metacafe.com/w/4432945 bobby ferguson detroit http://www.veoh.com/videos/v19992787St6W42xC bobby ferguson detroit http://www.viddler.com/explore/atlantalease965/videos/1/ bobby ferguson detroit http://www.dailymotion.com/video/21670531 bobby ferguson detroit http://youtube.com/watch?v=Bs8INHjwfPE

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No, it's not a conspiracy. Goldman Sachs and its minions are not plotting to cripple the government. But it is remarkable how our political system freezes shut just when we need to make serious changes to our economic system.

Earth to government: our people are out of work, but we're letting bankers waltz off with $150 billion in bonuses (based on bailout money) as a reward for crashing our economy? Do something about it!

It's obvious to all but the ideologues on CNBC that that financial markets can't police themselves. We tried that over the past three decades and the system crashed. It's also obvious that our financial sector is composed of large institutions that are too big to fail. Those giants have the ability to gamble with other people's money and not suffer the consequences of failure. (Actually, they not only gamble with OPM, but they now are gambling with taxpayer money. How sweet it is!)

The emerging pattern is maddening. The financial sector gambled and won big during the housing bubble by creating, selling and trading a slew of new securities that supposedly removed risk from risky debt. It didn't work but it was the most profitable enterprise in the history of Wall Street. The bubble burst, but the bankers and traders, of course, got to keep their phony bubble profits. Worse still, we the taxpayers, through the bailouts are paying off the bad bets. Instead of going belly up, the largest financial entities are miraculous making record profits and bonuses while still taking advantage of trillions of dollars of federal loans and asset guarantees.

Meanwhile, there are more than 29 million Americans without jobs or who have been forced into part-time work. (The real unemployment rate is about 18.4 percent) Tens of millions are underwater in their homes or losing them. Pensions and retirement accounts are suffering. But the bankers who caused the crash have the nerve to give themselves a record $150 billion in bonuses?

To be sure the American public is outraged and screaming for reforms. But what kind? The Tea Party, the fastest growing political movement in decades, hates big government, hates the bailouts and the stimulus, and detests collusion between government and Wall Street. But its solution is to attack government. It has no way to change Wall Street, except by letting the market take care of it. Good luck. In the end, Tea Partyites would rather see the $150 billion of our money go to the failed bankers than to see a windfall profits tax on Wall Street's undeserved bonuses.

This outrage translated into an upset victory in Massachusetts which took away the Democrat super-majority in the Senate. More Republican victories in the fall are likely to follow, so that we can expect political gridlock for years to come.

So what happens to serious Wall Street reforms during all of this? First off, let's remind ourselves that to date no reforms have taken place. The best time to have acted was when the bankers were on their knees last fall begging for funds. Now Wall Street is using our money to lobby against anything that might cut into their money-machine.

There will be happy talk of bipartisan reform but gridlock will stop any government regulations that might interfere with the next record bonus pool. Banks won't be busted up into smaller units. There won't be a return to Glass-Steagall. The most profitable custom derivatives will remain unregulated. There will be no serious taxes on these unwarranted and outrageous bonuses. And the Financial Consumer Protection Agency is likely to be stillborn.

Also, this gridlock will prevent any serious efforts to put Americans back to work again. The Republicans will block large stimulus bills in the name of deficit reduction (while blocking health care reforms that would lower deficits.) They will prevent direct government hiring in the name of free markets. And let's face it, there are more than enough Blue Dog Democrats who will go along and gladly. Once again, we'll be relying on the miracle of the markets and trickle down from the super-wealthy. It could take a decade or more before we get near full-employment again.

We thought we were living in a country based on democratic capitalism. But the combination of political gridlock and our too big to fail financial casinos should give us pause. We now have a new pattern: Wall Street can make billions by creating bubbles. When they burst, we bail them out. They then can make billions while on government welfare, and lobby to prevent any and all serious reforms. Meanwhile unemployment is crippling millions of Americans — unemployment that is directly caused by Wall Street. And unemployment is further exacerbated because the financial sector now finds that it can make more money by playing the markets than by lending to the real economy. Rather than instituting serious, lasting reforms like we did during the New Deal, our political system freezes shut. (And this all is happening even before the Supreme Court decided it would be OK for corporations to directly buy politicians.)

That's not capitalism. Welcome to the new billionaire bailout society. And if that doesn't get you angry, please send me your meds.

Les Leopold is the author of The Looting of America: How Wall Street's Game of Fantasy Finance destroyed our Jobs, Pensions and Prosperity, and What We Can Do About It Chelsea Green Publishing, June 2009.