Over the Wire

Video

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 17:15:57 -0500

[Flash 10 is required to watch video.]

Photo

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 16:47:28 -0500

Dirty Santa and the Ho Ho Hoes. Barn Party 2011 @ Park Heights....

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 10:50:59 -0500

Dirty Santa and the Ho Ho Hoes. Barn Party 2011 @ Park Heights. Paul on Drums, Jack, Desmond, and me on guitar. John Wikle on bass.

Christian and Jim mess with a door. They dropped the lock inside...

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 23:55:22 -0500

Christian and Jim mess with a door. They dropped the lock inside the door frame. Big problem.

R & L's Hush Puppies

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 10:59:00 -0500

1 cup self rising corn meal
1/2 cup self rising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 onion diced
1 egg
Pepper to suit your taste
Buttermilk to make the right consistency

Heat cooking oil (peanut is good, but canola ok too) to about 350,
Using two spoons, dip the mix with one spoon and cut it into the oil with the other spoon.

Stir them so they’ll turn over and cook both sides.

If the oil is too hot they will cook on the outside and be mushy on the inside. Grandddaddy doesn’t like that.

Dad also had the idea to make the mix a little thinner with buttermilk than your hushpuppies for the the zucchini fries.

Fall Beet Salad

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:34:56 -0400

This one is great in the fall when beets are in season.

Shredded Beets
Shredded Carrots
Mixed Greens
Scallops
Olive Oil
Lime Juice
Salt and Pepper
Mint

Toss it all together and you’re good to go. Makes a great lunch. I stole this one from Katie Grace Helow.

Just want to save screenshots of apple.com today.

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 16:35:43 -0400

Just want to save screenshots of apple.com today.

NY Times Minimalist: 101 Quick Summer Recipes

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 10:08:43 -0400

NY Times Minimalist: 101 Quick Summer Recipes:

THE MINIMALIST

Summer Express: 101 Simple Meals Ready in 10 Minutes or Less

Linguine Carbonara

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 17:00:35 -0400

8 oz. Linguine Noodles cooked al dente
8 oz. cooked bacon, crumbled
1/4 cup slide fresh mushrooms
4 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. minced fresh garlic
1 tsp. cracked red pepper
1 medium egg
8 oz. heavy whipping cream
freshly grated Parmesan chees

Cook bacon in large skillet until crisp. Drain and crumble to equal one cup. Melt butter in large skillet. Add garlic, red pepper flakes, black pepper, bacon and mushrooms. Saute over medium heat approximately 2-3 minutes. Add cream and bring to a full boil. Add linguine noodles and return to a full boil for approximately 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add 1 egg and stir quickly to prevent from scrambling. Place in hot pasta bowls and top with freshly ground Parmesan cheese.

You can also add chicken or shrimp to the dish.

Recipe shared by Dad.

Frightened Rabbit Music Hall of Williamsburg with Right on...

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 13:43:21 -0400

Frightened Rabbit

Music Hall of Williamsburg with Right on Dynamite

August 3, 2011

Right on Dynamite plays their hit “Anti-Meditation”...

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 12:51:31 -0400

Right on Dynamite plays their hit “Anti-Meditation” with members of Frightened Rabbit, The Hold Steady and The Night Dogs.

Music Hall of Williamsburg

August 3, 2011

I ran into Liturgy on accident last Friday at MoMa. Just went...

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 11:38:44 -0400

I ran into Liturgy on accident last Friday at MoMa. Just went over there for the free fridays thing to checkout the museum and found out they were playing a show. I had heard about them from when Jim Jarmusch guest DJ’d All Songs Considered and was talking about booking them for ATP.

They were rad.

I also saw Jim Jarmusch the week before exiting the Tinariwen show with me. Seems like a cool dude.

Really glad I got a chance to catch Tinariwen. I first saw them...

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 11:36:29 -0400

Really glad I got a chance to catch Tinariwen. I first saw them when watching the World Cup Kick-Off concert at my hostel in Johannesburg. They were sandwiched between John Legend and Shakira or something like that.

They rolled out on that overblown stage chilled the fuck out and played this desert blues music that knocked me backwards. Their albums are amazing.

I made a video for my band the finks. thefinks.info

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 11:33:45 -0400

I made a video for my band the finks. thefinks.info

Atlas Cafe Salad Menu

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 11:54:00 -0400

These are excellent salads from my favorite coffee shop in Williamsburg. The Geppetto and Atlas are favorites.

Caprese

Mozzarella
Tomatoes

Mediterranea

Tuna
Onions
Cannellini Beans
Tomatoes
Boiled Egg

Greek

Feta cheese
Kalamata olives
Tomatoes
Mix Greens
Cucumber
Peperoncini

Garden

Carrots
Mix Greens
Chick Peas
Tomatoes
Mushrooms

Geppetto

Mix Greens
Grilled Chicken
Walnuts
Tomatoes
Raisins

Atlas

Mix Greens
Mozzarella
Provolone
Mushrooms
Carrots

Avocado & Citrus

Mix Greens
Avocado
Orange

July 4, 2011 sunset from Joey and Emil’s apartment in...

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 07:50:12 -0400

July 4, 2011 sunset from Joey and Emil’s apartment in Bushwick. Sam Tyagi took this photo.

Watermelon and Tomato Salad

Sun, 03 Jul 2011 19:57:32 -0400

This is courtesy of Mark Bittman, The NYTimes’ Minimalist. Here’s a video of how to make it.

Ingredients:

Watermelon Cubes
Cherry tomatoes halved
Cayenne
Blue cheese (or Roquefort)
Scallions
Oil and Vinegar
Parsley

Key to this is tasting as you go. Add ingredients and taste as you go until the flavor is balanced. Start with a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Start light with the vinegar. Mark prefers sherry vinegar, but you can use balsamic. Add the watermelon and tomatoes. At a big but not huge pinch of cayenne. Add the blue cheese. Add some of the scallions and parsley and then keep working with each ingredient until you get the acid, salty, and sweet combinations how you like it. This would make a great turkish breakfast.

Ciabatta Salad

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 17:17:00 -0400

This is one that Dad would make:

Ingredients:

1/2 ciabatta, cut in 1/2” cubes
3 tomatoes, cut into 1” pieces
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, cut into halves
1/2 red onion, finely sliced
4 Tbsp capers, drained
4 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cut fresh basil leaves, torn and placed on top for garnish
1 cup cubed Boconcini fresh mozarella (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat broiler. On a baking sheet, spread the Ciabatta cubes in a single layer. Place under a preheated broiler. toss often, until bread cubes are golden - approximately 4-5 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside. In a large bowl, toss together the toasted bread cubes, tomotoes, cucumber, olives, red onions and capers. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the red wine vinegar and olive oild. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle dressing over bread mixture and toss well. Add in fresh mozzarella. For optimum flavor allow salad to rest 30 minutes. Garnish with torn fresh basil leaves just prior to serving.

Jalepeño Watermelon

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 15:46:00 -0400

This idea came from my friend Joey. You just take a fresh Jalepeño and slice it thin and put it on top of a slice of watermelon.

Also can be called the yuppie melon. And, check out this rad photo of the creation by Fernanda Claro…

Dad's Gumbo - from Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen

Wed, 11 May 2011 22:51:00 -0400

Makes 10 main-dish or 20 appetizer servings.

2 cups chopped onions
1.5 cups chopped green bell peppers
1 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon minced garlic
5.5 cups Basic Seafood Stock
1 pound andouille smoked pork sausage such as Polish sausage (kielbasa), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 dozen medium to large oysters in their liquor, about 9 oz.
3/4 lb crabmeat (picked over)
2.5 cups hot Basic Cooked Rice

Seasoning Mix

2 whole bay leaves
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper (preferably cayenne)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

Combine the onions, bell peppers and celery in a medium-size bowl and set aside. In a small bowl combine the seasoning mix ingredients; mix well and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large heavy skillet over high heat until it begins to smoke, about 5 minutes. Gradually add the flour, whisking constantly with a long-handled metal whisk. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until roux is dark red-brown to black, about 2 to 4 minutes, being careful not to let it scorch or splash on your skin. Immediately add half the vegetables and stir well (switch to a spoon if necessary). Continue stirring and cooking about 1 minute. Then add the remaining vegetables and cook and stir about 2 minutes. Stir in the seasoning mix and continue cooking about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the garlic; stir well, then cook and stir about 1 minute more. Remove from heat.

(see below about the roux)

Meanwhile, place the stock in a 5.5 quart saucepan or large Dutch oven. Bring to a boil. Add roux mixture by spoonfuls to the boiling stock, stirring until dissolved between each addition. Bring mixture to a boil. Add the andouille and return to a boil; continue boiling 15 minutes stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes more. Add the shrimp, undrained oysters and crabmeat. Return to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and skim any oil from the surface. Serve immediately.

To serve as a main course, mound 1/4 cup rice in the middle of each serving bowl. Spoon 1 cup gumbo over the top, making sure each person gets an assortment of the seafood and andouille. Serve half this amount in a cup as an appetizer.

Making the Roux

A roux is a mixture of flour and oil. The cooking of flour and fat together to make roux is a process that seems to go back as far as four hundred years ago. Traditionally, the fat used was animal fat, though today various oils are used, and the roux was, and often still is, made by very slow cooking.

The basic reason for making a roux is for the distinctive taste and texture it lends to food. This roux taste and texture is characteristic of many dishes that Louisiana Cajuns make.

The first few times, making a roux may seem difficult, and, certainly, using oil heated to over 500 degrees has an element of danger to it. However, once you’ve made roux several times and become more accustomed to handling the high temperature, you will find it to be extremely rewarding because of the uniqueness of the finished product.

How to make a Roux

The usual proportion of oil to flour is fifty-fifty.

Roux can be made in advance, cooled and then stored in an air-tight jar for several days, in the refrigerator or at room temperature. If roux is made ahead, pour off excess oil from the surface and reheat (preferred), or let it return to room temperature before using.

In general, light and medium-brown roux are used in sauces or gravies for dark, heavy meats such as beef, with game such as elk and venison, and with dark-meat fowl such as duck, geese and blackbirds. They give a wonderful, toasted nutty —just the right enhancement—to these sauces and gravies. Dark red-brown and black roux are used in sauces and gravies for sweet, light, white meats such as pork, rabbit, veal, and all kinds of freshwater and saltwater fish and shellfish. In addition, black roux are best to use in gumbos because the darkest roux result in the thinnest, best-tasting gumbos of all; but it takes practice to make black roux without burning them, and dark red-brown roux are certainly acceptable for any gumbo. You’ll notice that [ I ] makes exceptions to these general guidelines in some recipes. These exceptions simply reflect a preference for the flavor of a particular roux with the combined flavors of other ingredients in certain dishes. (For example, [ I ] prefer the flavor of a medium-brown roux in Grillades and Grits - a veal dish - and in Sticky Chicken, rather than a darker roux.)

[ My ] approach to roux derives from the tradition of Cajun cooks who view roux as being essentially of two types - medium brown and black; and who also classify meats as basically two types - heavy, dark, somewhat bitter ones, and light, white sweet ones. Traditionally, Cajun cooks use light roux with dark meats and dark roux with light meats. This is because they know intuitively, whether they can verbalize it or not, that these particular combinations lead to wonderful-tasting food. Working within this tradition, I’ve developed variations and given you in this book the roux-meat combinations which I think are best. You’ll find that as you gain more experience and skill in making roux, you’ll want to experiment with the endless combinations of roux color and the flavors of other ingredients you’re using - especially meats - to find those combinations that excite your taste buds the most.

Several words of advice are essential:

1) Cooked roux is called Cajun napalm in [ my ] restaurant’s kitchen because it is extremely hot and sticks to your skin; so be very careful to avoid splashing it on you; it’s best to use a long-handled metal whisk or wooden spoon.

2) Always begin with a very clean skillet or pot - preferably one that is heavy, such as cast iron (and never a nonstick type). If possible, use a skillet with flared sides because this makes stirring easier and thus makes it less likely the roux will burn. In addition, use a large enough skillet so that the oil does not fill it by more than one-fourth of its capacity.

3) The oil should be smoking hot before the flour is added

4) Once the oil is heated, stir in the flour gradually (about a third at a time) and stir or whisk quickly and constantly to avoid burning the mixture. Flour has moisture in it, and adding it to hot oil often creates steam - another good reason for using long-handled whisks or spoons.

5) If black specks appear in the roux as it cooks, it has burned; discard it (place it in a heatproof container to cool before discarding), then start the roux over again.

6) As soon as the roux reaches the desired color, remove it from the heat, stir in the vegetables, which stop the browning process and enhance the taste of the finished dish, and continue stirring until the roux stops getting darker (at least 3 to 5 minutes).

7) While cooking roux (bring it to the desired color), if you feel it is darkening too fast, immediately remove it from the heat and continue whisking constantly until you have control of it.

8) Care and concentration are essential for you to be successful with this fast method of making a roux. Especially the first few times you make a roux, be certain that any possible distractions—including children—are under control. In addition, have all cooking utensils and required vegetables or seasoning mixtures prepared ahead of time and near at hand before you start cooking.