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Caggionetti are a fried Christmas cookie from the Abruzzo region of Italy. My paternal Grandmother, Leni, made them every year. Unfortunately, no one in the family ever got her recipe. They look like a fried ravioli, filled with a chestnut paste and dusted with sugar and spices. I've been making them the past few years, playing with ingredients, and I've finally have a recipe that I wish to share. This makes between 50 & 60 cookies

The dough is made with olive oil, white wine and flour. If you don't have a pasta machine to roll out thin, flat sheets of dough, won ton wrappers may be substituted.

Pastry

4 to 4 & 1/2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil - the fruitier the better
white wine

Mound the flour up on a [marble if you have it] pastry board, make a well in the center, add the olive oil, begin kneading the oil into the flour and add the white wine until you have a very stiff dough, similar to a pasta dough. Run it through your pasta machine at least twice until it is nice and thin.

Use a ravioli cutter, round cookie cutter or a glass to make 2 & 1/2 inch round circles of dough.

Filling

My grandmother made a filling of chestnut, cocoa, raisins, figs and hazelnuts. I've seen recipes using citron, walnuts, almonds, chocolate, or cicci instead of some or all of those ingredients, and ones with no cocoa or chocolate.

12 ounces of roasted chestnuts
1/4 cup of raisins soaked in the wine must before boiling or tawny port
1 pint of Grape or Wine must boiled down to about two ounces of syrup, if you can find it, or 1/2 cup of turbinado sugar and/or honey plus tawny port
1 cup of hazelnut meal
6 donatto figs done Melissese style with the tough stem removed, quartered length-wise and chopped coarsely
1/4 cup of fine quality, unsweetened cocoa
a few grinds of allspice

Mix all of these ingredients together.

Making the cookies

Using two spoons, take a chestnut sized ball of the filling, and make it egg shaped by scraping it between the spoons, then place in the center of a dough circle. Rub water around the outside edge of the dough. Pull the dough up around the filling, press together at the watered edge, and then crimp with a fork, turn it over, and crimp the other side.

Heat a cast iron pan, add about a quarter-inch of olive oil. When hot, add enough cookies to the oil to fill the pan. Turn every two minutes until the dough is golden brown [usually about 8 minutes total]. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. Allow to cool for a few minutes, and then dust with sugar and spice [I used nutmeg, but cinnamon, clove, allspice, cardamom, or any combination works too].

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Mac'n'Cheese is a favourite dish, but the one place that I posted my recipe is gone now. Let's see if I can recreate it.

Inspired by an episode of Bones, I make my Mac'n'Cheese with leeks and pancetta now. For a vegetarian version, use your favourite vegie bacon, sprinkled with nutmeg and cinnamon while frying.

Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil, add a big handful of your favourite sea salt, and cook 1 pound of Rustichella d'Abruzzo penne for 8 minutes [two minutes less than the minimum recommended cooking time. Drain and set aside.

Clean by cutting off the roots and green part, and soaking the white part in salted cold water, and thinly slice two medium or one large leek(s) and sweat in 3 tablespoons sweet butter with freshly ground rainbow peppercorns until translucent. Salt to taste. Alternately, sweat in the pancetta grease or the fat in which you sautéed the vegie bacon.

Slowly add three flat tablespoons of flour and stir for two or three minutes to make a roux.

Slowly pour in three cups of milk to make a bechamel like sauce. Cube and then stir in one-half pound of [raw milk, if you can find it] asiago, one-half pound of fontinal [the Italian Fontinal, not the Danish Fontina] and on-half pound of monterey jack cheeses, until melted. Add one cup of heavy cream. Other variations may use a bit of mustard powder or seeds, Sierra Nevada mustard with stout, a few drops of Worcestershire sauce [remember it has anchovies], pesto, or any of a number of tapenades.

Add the cooked pasta to the cheese sauce and pour into a buttered glass lasagna or casserole dish.

Grate one-quarter pound of good quality parmigiano reggiano, and mix with one-half cup of fresh bread crumbs and the sautéed pancetta or vegie bacon. For the bread crumbs, I often make tiny cubes of whatever left-over bread I have around, soak in milk, squeeze nearly dry, and then add the cheese and savory. Sprinkle over the mac'n'cheese and dot with more sweet butter.

Bake at ~350ºF for 30 minutes or more, until the sauce is bubbling up around the edges and the topping is lightly browned.

And remember, recipes are guidelines, not rules. Experiment. Try different cheeses, sharper, milder, mixed. Add other stuff. Make the dish yours.

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The first thing to do when setting up your server with open source solutions [OSS] for a decision support system [DSS] is to check all the dependencies and system requirements for the software that you're installing.

Generally, in our case, once you make sure that your software will work on the version of your operating system that you're running, the major dependency is Java. Some of the software that we're running may have trouble with openJDK, and others may require the Java software development kit [JDK or Java SDK], and not just the runtime environment [JRE]. For example, Hadoop 0.20.2 may have problems with openJDK, and versions before LucidDB 0.9.3 required the JDK. Once upon a time, two famous database companies would issue system patches that we're required for their RDBMS to run, but would break the other, forcing customers to have only one system on a host. A true pain for development environments.

Since I don't know when you'll be reading this, or if you're planning to use different software than I'm using, I'm just going to suggest that you check very carefully that the system requirements and software dependencies are fulfilled by your server.

Now that we're sure that the *Nix or Microsoft operating system that we're using will support the software that we're using, the next step is to set up a system user for each software package. Here's examples for a *Nix operating systems: Linux kernel 2.x derived and the BSD derived, MacOSX. I've tested this on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, OpenSUSE 11, MacOSX 10.5 [Leopard] and 10.6 [Snow Leopard].

On Linux, at the command line interface [CLI]:

useradd -c "name your software Server" -s /bin/bash -mr USERNAME
- c COMMENT is the comment field used as the user's full name
-s SHELL defines the login shell
-m create the home directory
-r create as a system user

Likely, you will need to run this command through sudo, and may need the full path:

/usr/sbin/useradd

Change the password

sudo passwd USERNAME

Here's one example, setting up the Pentaho system user.

poc@elf:~> sudo /usr/sbin/useradd -c "Pentaho BI Server" -s /bin/bash -mr pentaho
poc@elf:~> sudo passwd pentaho
root's password:
Changing password for pentaho.
New Password:
Reenter New Password:
Password changed.
phpoc@elf:~>

On the Mac, do the following

vate:~ poc$ sudo dscl /Local/Default -create /Users/_pentaho RealName "PentahoCE BI Server" UserShell /bin/bash
vate:~ poc$ sudo sudo passwd _pentaho
Changing password for _pentaho.
New Password:
Reenter New Password:
Password changed.
vate:~ poc$

On Windows you'll want to set up your server software as service, after the installation.

If you haven't already done so, you'll want to download the software that you want to use from the appropriate place. In many cases this will be Sourceforge. Alternate sources might be the Enterprise Editions of Pentaho, the DynamoBI downloads for LucidDB, SQLstream, SpagoWorld, The R-Project, Hadoop, and many more possibilities.

Installing this software is no different than installing any other software on your particular operating system:

• On any system you may need to unpack an archive indicated by a .zip, .rar, .gz or .tar file extension. On Windows & MacOSX you will likely just double-click the archive file to unpack it. On *Nix systems, including MacOSX and linux, you may also use the CLI and a command such as gunzip, unzip, or tar xvzf
• On Windows, you'll likely double-click a .exe file and follow the instructions from the installer.
• On MacOSX, you might double-click a .dmg file and drag the application into the Applications directory, or you'll do something more *Nix like.
• On Linux systems, you might, at the CLI, execute the .bin file as the system user that you set up for this software.
• On *Nix systems, you may wish to install the server-side somewhere other than a user-specific or local Applications directory, such as /usr/local/ or even in a web-root.

One thing to note is that most of the software that you'll use for an OSS DSS uses Java, and that the latest Pentaho includes the latest Java distribution. Most other software doesn't. Depending on your platform, and the supporting software that you have installed, you may wish to point [softwareNAME]_JAVA_HOME to the Pentaho Java installation, especially if the version of Java included with Pentaho meets the system requirements for other software that you want to use, and you don't have any other compatible Java on your system.

For both security, and a to avoid any confusion, you might want to change the ports used by the software you installed from their defaults.

You may need to change other configuration files from their defaults for various reasons as well, though I generally find the defaults to be satisfactory. You may need to install other software from one package into another package, for compatibility or interchange. For example, if you're trying out, or if you've purchased, Pentaho Enterprise Edition with Hadoop, Pentaho provides Java libraries [JAR files]and licenses to install on each Hadoop node, including code that Pentaho has contributed to the Hadoop project.

Also remember that Hadoop is a top-level Apache project, and not usable software in and of itself. It contains subprojects that make it useful:

• Hadoop Commons containing the utilities that support all the rest
• HDFS - the Hadoop Distributed File System
• MapReduce - the software framework for distributed processing of data on clusters

You may also want one or more of the other Apache subprojects related to Hadoop:

• Avro - a data serialization system
• Chukwa - a data collection system
• HBase - a distributed database management system for structured data
• Hive - a data warehouse infrastructure
• Mahout - a data mining library
• Pig - an high-level data processing language for parallelization
• Zookeeper - a coordination service for distributed applicaitons

I haven't posted a recipe in a while, but as Friday swung our weather from bright blue, warm days into chilly, rainy winter in a quick snap of the fingers, I thought it was time to make the first chili of the year. I've been building this chili recipe since high school, when I first added a block of unsweetened chocolate to the mix, into college when I first added dark beer. Now, the recipe contains hints of a molé sauce as well, and I make my spice mix in advance, to allow the flavours to blend. Oh, and open a bottle of your favorite dark beer, or two if you want to start drinking Set the beer aside to become flat.

Beans

While adding beans are optional, I'm planning to do so, and since I'll be using dried beans. This step has the longest lead time. First, I buy my dried beans at Phipps Country Store and Farm in Pescadero, CA. They are about an half-hour drive from me, and I'll visit them several times a year to replenish my supply of dried beans. They have an huge selection of dried beans. For red chili, I use a combination of black beans and one or more dried beans from the kidney family: Big Mexican Red Kidney, Cranberry, Pinto or Red beans. Cranberry are my favorite; they're a big, meaty bean, with a nutty flavour that compliments the creamy black bean nicely. Phipps now has an online store, so you can buy their great beans even if they aren't a convenient drive from you.

I'll use about two pounds of beans, one pound of dried black beans, and the second pound made up of whatever kidney varietals I'm using. As I said, Cranberry beans are my favorite for chili, and that's while I'll be using with the black beans today. Put the dried beans in a strainer, and rinse under cold water. Carefully check the beans, removing any discolored, withered or soft beans, as well as any foreign material such as stems or stones. Place the beans in a kettle and cover with enough cold water to top the beans by two inches. Remove any "floaters". Add a bay leaf. Do not add any salt or acids [tomato, vinegar, etc] as these will wrinkle the beans. You can let the beans soak overnight, or bring the kettle to a boil, simmer the beans for five minutes, and then let the beans soak in the hot water, covered, for an hour. After the hour soak, remove the beans, retaining about a cup of the water and the bay leaf. All of this just prepares the beans. They're not cooked and ready to eat yet.

Either in advance, or an hour before serving, put the prepared beans back into the kettle, add the reserved soaking liquor and bay leaf and a red [hot] or yellow [sweet] onion, peeled and studded with cloves. Do not add salt nor acids. Cover with enough cold water to just top the beans. Bring to a boil, place on simmering bricks, and simmer for 45 minutes or until the beans are tender.

Chili Base

This is the real "Chili" with Tex-Mex, "Texas Red", Chili con Carne, and Chili with Beans being stews based upon Chili. I start with about five pounds of tomatoes and five pounds of peppers. The tomatoes can be heirloom, cluster, or whatever you have in your garden or local store that are fresh, feel heavy for their size and are very ripe. If you use anything other than red tomatoes, your chili may have an odd colour, but the flavour will be great. I usually use an equal, by weight, combination of chili peppers and bell peppers. In California, at this time of year, there is a great selection of chilies: poblano, anaheim, astor, etc. I generally avoid green bell peppers, as I prefer the flavour of the red, orange and yellow ones. Today I'm using almost three pounds of poblano chilies and two pounds of red, orange and yellow bell peppers.

I start with the tomatoes, as they'll take awhile as well, and can also be prepared the day before, as the beans can. Bring a large pot or kettle of cold, salted water to a boil. While it's coming to a boil, using a very sharp knife, I use a "bird's beak" hooked knife, remove the stem end from each tomato, and score an "X" in the skin at the opposite end from the stem. Place the tomatoes into the boiling water. Once the pot has returned to a boil, after two minutes or so, the skin will begin to peel back from the scored end of the tomatoes. Remove the tomatoes, and place in a bowl to cool. As soon as you can handle them, remove the skin from the tomatoes. Cut each tomato in half, cross-wise, and remove the seeds with a small spoon. Place the peeled, cored tomatoes, cut-side down, into a colander, and allow to drain for at least an hour, but overnight in the refrigerator [over a bowl] is fine too. You'll be amazed how much water you'll collect. You can save this tomato juice, to use in place of water in stock or stews, or to thin this chili, if needed.

Next, rinse the peppers and fire-roast them, either over the flames on a gas-stove, under a broiler, or over a grill. Leave the peppers whole, and flame them until the skin is blackened all over each pepper. Place the peppers into a paper bag, or wrap in parchment paper - this traps enough steam to help loosen the skins, and allow them to cool. If the peppers are hot to the taste [such as an jalapeño chili], wear rubber gloves and a mask to avoid capsicum burns. Scrape as much skin as possible off of the peppers with a knife, core them, cut in half, lengthwise, and remove the white veins. Cut the peppers into strips, lengthwise.

Make a soffritto of one sliced large red onion, two crushed cloves of garlic, the peppers, your favorite chili powder and cilantro leaves that have been rinsed, dried and chopped. A soffritto is just a slowly cooked medley of vegetables, spices and herbs in olive oil. After an hour or two or three, chop those tomatoes that have been draining and add those and that bottle of beer that you were leaving to become flat, a block of very good dark, unsweetened chocolate, and two tablespoons of freshly ground, roasted, unsalted valencia [sweet, and what I prefer] or virginia [meatier tasting] peanuts. Stir it around, add a teaspoon each of coarse sea salt, Mexican oregano and cayenne pepper, and cook on the simmering bricks or in an oven on low, for about an hour. Add salt and seasonings to taste.

Chili con Carne

If you're going to make a chili con carne, take two pounds of cubed beef, and brown the cubes in bacon fat. Add the chili over the meat to cover, and let simmer another hour. Shred the meat cubes apart using two forks and return to the stew, or slice thinly. Add the cooked beans and serve.

Vegetarian Chili Frijole

Add the cooked beans to about a quart of the chili and serve.

Serving Suggestions

1. Put a cooked, hot tamale, of your favorite variation into a bowl and cover with the chili. I like pork tamale with the chili con carne, and chilies & cheese tamale with the vegetarian chili
2. Put cooked, brown, short-grain rice into a bowl, top with chili.
3. Fill a bowl with chili and serve with hot cornbread. I especially like the recipe from Recipes for Living in Big Sur. This corn bread is stuffed with chilies and corn, and layered with cheese.
4. Enjoy it diner style, served in a bowl with oyster or soda crackers.
5. Forget the beans, don't shred the beef, and enjoy a bowl of Texas Red.
6. Put out various condiments: chopped onions, chopped, fire-roasted jalapeños or hotter chilies, hot pepper sauces [there are many on the market, try something new], shredded cheese - especially Mexican cheeses.

7. Serve over a bowl of different grains, rather than rice: quinoa is a great choice, especially for the vegetarian version, soft polenta is another good choice, and you can check out many more suitable grains at Bob's Read Mill.

8. Take a crunchy deli roll, hollow it out, fill with thinly sliced beef and top with the chili and cheese. Or forget the beef, and use a kielbasa sausage.

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Variations

First and foremost, recipes are guidelines, not exact instructions that you must follow. Add more or less of anything. Consider every recipe a starting point for your own imagination and taste.

We already talked about the various beans you can use, as well as the variety of chilies. There are many more types, of course. Be adventurous.

Instead of beef, try other red or dark meats: venison, buffalo or beefalo, elk, duck, turkey thighs - especially from a wild turkey, or other game meat. Go wild.

Rather than cayenne pepper, use ground ancho [sweet and fruity] or chipotle [smoky] chilies.

Try chili verde. Use tomatillos rather than tomatoes, forget the chocolate and peanut butter. Use white beans rather than red, and white meats rather than red.

Chili Powder

I make my own chili powder. I start by filling an old spice jar, 50/50 with cumin seeds and coriander, and shoving in a cinnamon stick. When I need chili powder, I take a teaspoon of the mixture, and toast the seeds. Allow the cumin and coriander to cool, then grind in a mortar and pestle, add a 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and a 1/2 teaspoon of ground allspice.

Enjoy!

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Zhou Yu organized a great special event for the San Francisco Bay Area Use R group, and has asked me to post the slide decks for download. Here they are:

• RedR presented by Anup Parikh with contributions from Kyle Covington
• Cross-Channel by R presented by Zhou Yu
• Use of R DataFrames: An Illustrations with Chinese Dialects Data presented by Norm Matloff
• Update 20101021: Distribution of Proton Dissociation Constants for Model Humic and Fulvic Acid Molecules Before and After R presented by Yasemin B. Atalay

No longer missing is the very interesting presentation by Yasemin Atalay showing the difference in plotting analysis using the Windermere Humic Aqueous Model for river water environmental factors, without using R and then the increased in variety and accuracy of analysis and plotting gained by using R.