Bernays Sauce: Is Obama's Press Conference Another Sign of Newspaper Decline?

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Is Obama's Press Conference Another Sign of Newspaper Decline?

Check this out from Michael Calderone's blog at Politico:

During President Obama's second East Room news conference, he took questions from 13 reporters over about an hour -- that's the same as during his first presser on Feb. 9.

But in quite a departure from the first presser -- and White House protocol -- Obama skipped over the nation's top newspapers. Indeed, there were no questions from the NY Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal or USA Today. That might not sit well with the already insecure newspaper industry.

Considering the trends we've been seeing lately, is this a subconscious sign of the end of days for printed news? Or is it merely the President's way of "spreading the love around" to media outlets which normally get ignored?

The comments section is open for your opinion, sauciers!

The Best Béarnaise Sauce

Courtesy: John Short at EventPros, Inc.

Ingredients:
1 lb 4 oz butter 1/8 tsp peppercorns, crushed 1/8 tsp salt 3 Tbsp tarragon vinegar 2 Tbsp cold water 6 egg yolks 1 Tbsp fresh tarragon cayenne pepperlemon juice
Instructions:
Clarify the butter. Keep it warm but not hot.
Combine the peppercorns, salt, and vinegar in a saucepan. Reduce until dry.
Remove from the heat and add the cold water. Transfer the diluted reduction to a stainless steel bowl.
Add the egg yolks and beat well.
Hold the bowl over a hot-water bath and beat the yolks until they are thickened and creamy. Do not overcook them or they will curdle.
Remove the bowl from the heat. Using a ladle, slowly and gradually beat in the warm, clarified butter, adding it drop by drop at first. If it becomes too thick to beat before all the butter is added, beat in a little of the tarragon vinegar.
When all the butter has been added, beat in lemon juice to taste and adjust the seasonings with salt and cayenne. If necessary, thin the sauce with a few drops of warm water.
Variations:
For Hollandaise Sauce delete tarragon and tarragon vinegar - replace each with lemon juice
For Mousseline Sauce fold 1 cup whipped cream into basic Hollandaise Sauce
Other variations: Substitute each for tarragon/tarragon vinegar – Paloise Sauce (fresh mint); Maltaise Sauce (orange juice with orange zest); Mikado Sauce (tangerine juice with tangerine zest); Choron Sauce (1/2 cup diced Roma Tomatoes).
Be creative!