{"id":1118,"date":"2011-11-06T21:56:35","date_gmt":"2011-11-06T21:56:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/?p=1118"},"modified":"2011-11-06T21:56:35","modified_gmt":"2011-11-06T21:56:35","slug":"we-the-jury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/?p=1118","title":{"rendered":"We, the Jury"},"content":{"rendered":"
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60 Center Street courthouse<\/p><\/div>\n

For years, I wasn\u2019t summoned. Then, fifteen years ago, I started being called every two years like clockwork.\u00a0 Pain though it is, it\u2019s the one civic duty required of every U.S. citizen.<\/p>\n

My worst experience as a juror was about nine years ago. The case involved a drug bust and the DA was a disaster. There was confusion as to whether the defendant had had his jacket switched with another guy while both were in a holding pen and the DA phrased each question so poorly, he implicated his own client. Finally, the jury got the case and things got worse. After a long day\u2019s deliberations, we were sequestered in a sleazy motel near LaGuardia airport. And, we each had a roommate!\u00a0 Husband in my bedroom, great; total stranger, not so good. I think we\u2019d still be in that jury room if a juror\u2019s wife hadn\u2019t gone into labor and the judge, in excusing the husband, dismissed us and the case. A year later, I ran into a woman who had been on that jury who told me the case had been retried and the perp convicted. How much money did it cost New York City to go through the whole performance?<\/p>\n

Recently I got a summons and trotted down to 111 Center Street. On day one, I ran into a friend which was delightful. Ultimately, we were sent to a courtroom presided over by Judge S., a friendly, charming man.\u00a0 If I had to serve, I\u2019d have been happy to be in his courtroom, especially as the case, a criminal one, sounded interesting. However, I didn\u2019t survive the voire dire <\/em>so, after two full days, I was handed my get-out-of-jail free card and left.<\/p>\n

One of the nicer perks of Manhattan jury duty is lunch since the courts are very close to Chinatown and other ethnic spots. On day one, my friend and I ate at Pho Pasteur, a Vietnamese place that\u2019s been around for ages.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Pho Pasteur, 86 Baxter Street<\/p><\/div>\n

Pho is said to have originated in Hanoi in the early 20th<\/sup> century and was made with noodles, to please the Vietnamese, and beef to please the French. Basically, it\u2019s noodle soup with a beef broth, a particular kind of white rice noodle and served with Thai basil, sprouts, chopped scallions and other ingredients. It can come with thin slices of brisket, steak, meatballs and something called \u201ctendon\u201d that I\u2019ve never wanted to try—sounds too chewy.\u00a0 There\u2019s also chicken Pho with its own many variations. \u00a0<\/sup>Various sauces are offered on the side so the eater can season the pho to taste. I had \u201cstandard\u201d Pho with brisket in thin slices.<\/p>\n

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For adding to my pho...brisket, bean sprouts, Thai basil and more<\/p><\/div>\n

There\u2019s no way to eat the noodles other than to wield chopsticks and Chinese soup spoon and slurp. We also ordered a pork dish of very thin cutlets topped with chopped peanuts on more rice noodles that were thinner than those in the pho and my friend had Com Xao Bo, a beef dish with red and green peppers that she loved. Pho Pasteur at 85 Baxter Street is a great value\u2014our entire bill was under $20. It\u2019s only crowded from twelve thirty to one thirty because of jury lunch hour but even then the wait is brief.<\/p>\n

So, I\u2019ve been a good citizen and got well fed for my time. Rather than making Pho, have it at a Vietnamese restaurant to get the right taste. This is a recipe for a (cheating) way to make chopped chicken in a lettuce wrap, courtesy of Food.com<\/p>\n

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Chicken in Lettuce Wrap<\/p><\/div>\n

Chicken Lettuce Wraps<\/p>\n

1 T vegetable oil<\/p>\n

1 T fresh ginger, minced<\/p>\n

1 1\/4 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces<\/p>\n

2 T rice vinegar<\/p>\n

2 T Teriyaki sauce<\/p>\n

1 T honey<\/p>\n

1 1\/2 cups carrots, shredded<\/p>\n

1\/2 cup scallions, chopped<\/p>\n

1\/4 cup almonds, toasted and sliced<\/p>\n

12 large iceberg lettuce leaves<\/p>\n

Heat one teaspoon <\/strong>of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add ginger and chicken and saut\u00e9 until cooked thoroughly, 7-10 minutes. Set aside.<\/p>\n

In large bowl, whisk together the reserved two teaspoons of oil, rice vinegar, teriyaki sauce, and honey, until mixed thoroughly. Add chicken mixture, carrot, scallions and almonds and toss together.<\/p>\n

To serve, spoon a large tablespoon of the chicken mixture onto the center of each lettuce leaf. Roll leaf around filling and serve. \u00a0I wrap it like a burrito, bottom up and then rolling the sides in. It\u2019s messy so a utensil is useful to eat what you drop.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chicken Lettuce Wraps<\/p>\n

1 T vegetable oil<\/p>\n

1 T fresh ginger, minced<\/p>\n

1 1\/4 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces<\/p>\n

2 T rice vinegar<\/p>\n

2 T Teriyaki sauce<\/p>\n

1 T honey<\/p>\n

1 1\/2 cups carrots, shredded<\/p>\n

1\/2 cup scallions, chopped<\/p>\n

1\/4 cup almonds, toasted and sliced<\/p>\n

12 large iceberg lettuce leaves<\/p>\n

Heat one teaspoon <\/strong>of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add ginger and chicken and saut\u00e9 until cooked thoroughly, 7-10 minutes. Set aside.<\/p>\n

In large bowl, whisk together the reserved two teaspoons of oil, rice vinegar, teriyaki sauce, and honey, until mixed thoroughly. Add chicken mixture, carrot, scallions and almonds and toss together.<\/p>\n

To serve, spoon a large tablespoon of the chicken mixture onto the center of each lettuce leaf. Roll leaf around filling and serve. \u00a0I wrap it like a burrito, bottom up and then rolling the sides in. It\u2019s messy so a utensil is useful to eat what you drop.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For years, I wasn\u2019t summoned. Then, fifteen years ago, I started being called every two years like clockwork.\u00a0 Pain though it is, it\u2019s the one civic duty required of every U.S. citizen. My worst experience as a juror was about … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[159,158,156,160,157],"class_list":["post-1118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-chicken","tag-drug-bust","tag-jury","tag-lettuce","tag-pho"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1118"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1129,"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1118\/revisions\/1129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}