Red, White, and Blue: A Novel - Hardcover

Isaacs, Susan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060176083 ISBN 13: 9780060176082

Publisher: Harper, 1998

Synopsis

Compromising Positions to Lily White--seven critically acclaimed novels, seven New York Times bestsellers. Now, with her eighth novel, Susan Isaacs has written her finest work yet. Red, White and Bluetells the story of two ordinary Americans who find it within themselves to become extraordinary heroes.

Charlie Blair of Wyoming and Lauren Miller of New York start out as strangers. They are drawn together by an appalling hate crime and by their mutual passion for justice. Yet they share more than a sense of fair play. They are not simply kindred spirits but actual kin, descendants of immigrants who met on a boat on their way to America, in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty.

Special Agent Blair of the FBI has the numbing job of a bureaucrat and the soul of a cowboy. A wry Westerner from his Stetson to his boots, he also happens to be the great-great-grandson of . . . Dora Blaustein? Dora what? True, although he is unaware of that particular ancestor. A nearly burned-out case at thirty-four, he is about to walk away from the safe world of paper-pushing to risk his life in Wyoming, infiltrating an armed, white supremacist, viciously anti-Semitic group called Wrath. Wyoming born and bred, Charlie seems the perfect choice for this undercover operation, because who in Wrath could question this whiter-than-white man, so clearly one of their own?

Also in Jackson Hole is Charlie's apparent opposite. Gen-X Lauren Miller is articulate, ironic--and unwaveringly liberal. A journalist from Long Island, she has been hired by the Jewish News to investigate a bombing that Wrath is suspected to be behind. Lauren's job is to know who, what, where and when, of course. But most of all, she is compelled to discover why. Why are all these people who've never met a Jew in their lives obsessed with Jews--and why do they want them dead? Just who is it who gets to define who is an American?

With narrative grace, insight and her trademark exuberant wit, Isaacs not only chronicles Lauren's and Charlie's investigations, but explores their American heritage as well: How did their forebears--how did all of our forebears--get from there to here? And what can this mountain man and this suburban woman possibly share--except a few random genes?

Intelligent, exhilarating and intensely moving, Red, White and Blue is a novel about what makes Americans American.

About this title

About the Author:

Susan Isaacs is the bestselling author of eleven novels, two screenplays, and one work of nonfiction. She lives on Long Island.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Wild or Tame Greens Frittata

For 4-6 Servings
Main Course, Appetizer

Wild or tame greens make a fantastic frittata. They're used alone or combined, often simply the results of whatever a hunt in the fields turns up. There are different ways to cook a frittata. Liliana, the cook at Castello di Ama in the heart of Chianti, is a traditionalist, and cooks one side, flips it over onto a plate, slips it back into the pan to cook the other side. Others cover the frittata to set the top, flipping onto a serving dish to expose the browned side. Marcella Hazan recommends cooking eggs until set, then broiling the upper surface. And flamboyant cooks flip, flapjack-style. A nonstick omelet pan makes the entire process easier.

1 1/2 pounds wild greens, swiss chard, or spinach
4 quarts water
Fine sea salt
4 eggs
Freshly ground black pepper
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 Toss the greens in a sinkful of warm water to clean. Rinse the greens until all grit and sand are removed. Dirty spinach may need more than one change of water. Lift the greens from the water and drain in a colander. Remove any bruised leaves and thick stems. Chop the greens.

2 Bring 4 quarts of water to boil. Salt the water, immerse the greens in the boiling water, and cook, 3-5 minutes, or longer for some wild greens, until tender. Remove the greens with a slotted spoon. Place the greens in a colander and run them under cold water to cool. Divide the cooked greens in three parts and squeeze between both hands to form balls and remove all excess water. Squeeze hard! Chop the greens.

3 Mix the eggs and salt and pepper to taste with a fork and combine with the greens.

4 Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a medium-sized nonstick skillet. Add the eggs and greens and cook over low heat until eggs are well set on the bottom but still slightly runny on the surface. Shake the pan to loosen the frittata, running a spatula under the frittata if it sticks.

5 Put a plate over the frittata and invert the skillet to reverse the frittata onto the plate. Slide the frittata back into pan to cook the other side.

6 Slide onto a platter and serve hot or at room temperature. Leftovers make a good sandwich.

Tomato and Mozzarella Salad from Capri
Insalata Caprese

For 4-6 Servings
Appetizer, Main Course

Insalata caprese, the salad from Capri, is the perfect summertime dish for lazy cooks in a hurry. Slicing is the hardest part. Bright red tomato slices are interspersed with juicy white mozzarella and whole green basil leaves, drizzled with a little extra virgin, sea salt, and a twist of pepper. The salad was created in the 1950s, a substitute for the sumptuous cooking at the Trattoria da Vincenzo for summertime regulars out for a light lunch. They'd order a ripe, just-picked tomato and a fresh, locally made fior di latte, cow's milk mozzarella--no buffalo on the island of Capri. The salad has evolved on Capri to include a few leaves of rughetta, wild arugula, and a pinch of dried wild oregano, both island products; everywhere else in Italy the salad is limited to tomato, mozzarella, and basil. The dressing is always a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Vinegar would destroy the delicate flavor of fresh mozzarella and is never used. Because the Capri salad is so simple, first-rate ingredients are imperative. Mozzarella should be fresh, white, locally made or imported. Both yellow, rubbery, processed mozzarella wrapped in plastic and hothouse tomatoes are unacceptable. If fresh mozzarella isn't available locally, it can be ordered from Mozzarella Company, 2944 Elm Street, Dallas, Texas 75226, Telephone: 800-798-2954.

1/4 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup loosely packed arugula (optional)
2 pounds ripe tomatoes, sliced 1/2-inch thick
1 pound fresh mozzarella, sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 pinch first-rate dried oregano (optional)
3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Tear basil (and optional arugula) into bite-pieced pieces. Alternate slices of tomato, mozzarella, and basil leaves on a serving platter. Scatter the arugula and oregano on top (if you choose to use them). Drizzle the salad with extra virgin olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and serve.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0060176083
• ISBN 13: 9780060176082
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 416