Archives

June 26, 2007

Pantry Raid

First, apologies to Alton Brown for stealing his show title, but it works. I'm glad to be back writing on FTTW, but I have to admit, I've been getting bent over at work and I haven't been cooking all that much.

Having returned from Texas last week with a buttload of BBQed brisket, I've been trying lots of things with it and last night, just on a lark, I tried some stuff and I came up with something awesome.

BBQed Brisket Stew
1 quart tomato sauce (might I suggest this?)
1 lb BBQed brisket, shredded with 2 forks
3 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp rooster sauce
1 1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt

Put everything in a sauce pot, and ... heat it up. Everything's already cooked. The brown sugar and rooster sauce is gonna make that tomato sauce taste like the best bbq sauce you've ever had. Now, theoretically you could serve this as a sandwich (and it'd be really good) or just as a stew, but serve it over a big plate of cheese grits, my friends, and you will transcend.

I don't have a good BBQ brisket recipe -- I'm strictly NC pork -- but maybe our good friend Uberchief will be able to enlighten us.

As for the metal, I don't have anything this week, because ... Cullen gave me a good idea. Starting next week, I'm going to post my top 25 albums of all time, not to show him up, but because I think it'll show the breadth of metal today.

So suck on that.

Dishful of Metal Archives

June 5, 2007

Hit the Grill, Bitch

Brain's not working. Let's get right to the food. It's summer, so start grilling!

Rack of Lamb with mint-mustard glaze

1 rack of lamb (about 8 chops), frenched* and trimmed of all fat
2 Tbsp whole-grain mustard
1 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
2 tsp fresh mint, chopped fine
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp honey
salt and pepper
olive oil

* You don't need to french the lamb. Get the butcher to do that. A frenched rack of ribs means all the meat, fat, and gristle between the rib bones is cut out. It's prettier AND it prevents it from burning.

Light the grill. If you're using charcoal, keep the coals on half of the side. If using gas, just light half the grill. Make that half fuckin HOT.

Mix everything except the oil and lamb in a bowl. Make sure the lamb is dry, and coat the lamb all the way over with a thin coat of the glaze.

Put the lamb on the hot part of the grill for about 5 minutes per side, then put on the cool part of the grill, covered, for about 8 minutes for medium rare (10 for medium).

Allow it to sit for 10 minutes before serving. Carve between the ribs, and enjoy with your favorite vinaigrette.

HEY CULLEN. Got some good stuff for you here ...

Dream Theater
Systematic Chaos
Roadrunner Records

Prog-metal legends from Lawn Guyland, Dream Theater is back with their 9th studio album, and following their recent trend of alternating albums filled with heavy songs and albums with lighter, more introspective tunes. Systematic Chaos is an instance of the former, with lots of long, technically mind-blowing songs. John Petrucci is still one of the most amazing guitarists out there, and when he’s not firing off ridiculous solos (which happen with less frequency on this album than previously), he’s got a light touch that is very evocative. The most interesting track is “Repentance,” part of a continuing series of songs started in 2001’s Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. Drummer Mike Portnoy is working his way through his alcoholism by writing a series of songs that mirror his journey through the 12 steps of AA. All in all, this album is musically exciting and lyrically thoughtful, and is sure to appeal to the band's hardcore fans.

Enjoy!

Dishful of Metal Archives

May 22, 2007

Let Them Eat Cake

At work, we don't really need an excuse to have cake in my department. That being said, we never complain when we DO have an excuse. Two of my coworkers from our Sydney, Australia lab are in this week for some meetings, and one had her birthday last week. So, I tried my hand at cake decorating for the first time (the picture you see is the result). It's a cake I'd made before, but had never really tried decorating. It's a fantastic cake and really easy to make, so go nuts.

Chocolate Layer Cake with White Chocolate - Raspberry Ganache

Cake:
1 stick of butter, room temperature (that part is VERY important)
1 1/3 c sugar
1/4 c vegetable oil
3 eggs
3 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted (alternatively, 6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder + 3 tbsp vegetable oil)

2 c cake flour (all purpose will work if necessary)
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

1/2 c chocolate or coffee liqueur
1 c buttermilk

1/2 c chocolate or coffee liqueur (not a typo, you need a whole cup, you just use it two different ways)

Ganache:

8 oz white chocolate chips
1 c cream
2 tbsp butter
3 Tbsp raspberry liqueur or raspberry jam

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Line two 9 x 2 round cake pans with parchment paper. Make sure the sides of the pan are greased and dusted with cocoa powder.

Whip the butter and sugar together for about 2 minutes, or until it's light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the oil and beat to combine. Stir in the melted chocolate.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, soda, and salt. Add a third of the flour mixture to the eggs and butter. Stir until JUST combined. Add half the milk and liqueur combo and stir in. Repeat with the rest of the flour and milk, alternating. Don't overmix. The cake will be chewy if you do.

Split the cake batter evenly between the two pans (seriously, I nerded out about it and used my scale. Each cake ended up weighing about 640 grams. Yours will be similarly sized) and place in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a rack until room temperature. Chill in the refrigerator completely before continuing. After chilled, brush the tops with the liqueur and place back in the fridge.

To make the ganache. heat the cream over medium-low heat until bubbles JUST start to form. Place the rest of the ingredients in another bowl, and pour the hot cream over them. Allow this to sit for 5 minutes WITHOUT TOUCHING IT. After 5 minutes, whisk vigorously till smooth. Allow this to cool to room temperature -- it will thicken to a spreadable consistency. You will have enough to go between the layers and frost the entire cake.

No metal this week. Metal goes great with food. Not so much with cake. What are you all listening to lately?

Baby Huey actually prefers pie to cake.

Dishful of Metal Archives

May 15, 2007

Drinking at Breakfast

Before you continue, please note that I am drunk as I'm writing this, so I'm not too wordy. So there.

Every once in a while I go to a restaurant and have a great dish and think, "Shit, I can do that." This weekend, I was at my neighborhood diner for breakfast and had their Mexican Corn Tortilla Breakfast Casserole. I thought ... man, this is tasty and SO easy. Add a little of this, a little of that, and it'll be super tasty.

Mexican Corn Tortilla Breakfast Casserole

24 taco-sized corn tortillas
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 c tequila
1/2 lb ground sausage
1 onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 chipotle chiles, minced
1 green bell pepper, minced
1/2 c cheddar cheese

Saute the sausage and vegetables with salt and pepper over medium heat until the sausage is brown and the veggies are soft, about 5 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool to room temperature.

Beat the eggs with the milk, tequila, and some salt and pepper. In an 8" x 8" baking dish, lay out 4 corn tortillas, so the edges overlap. Place a thin layer of the meat and veggie mix down. Add another layer, and repeat. After three layers, pour half of the custard mix over the top, and continue. When you've gotten the sixth layer down, pour the rest of the custard over. Cover with foil and put this in the fridge for at least 30 minutes -- you could even do this the night before and let it sit overnight.

Just before baking, top with the cheddar cheese and place in a preheated 375 degree oven for about an hour -- the first 45 minutes covered, and the last 15 uncovered. Allow it to set up for at least 10 minutes after pulling out of the oven to allow it to cool a bit before serving. Top with salsa and sour cream.

Here's some old school new stuff for you:

Dublin Death Patrol
DDP 4 Life
Godfodder Records

Risen from the ashes of the Bay Area thrash movement, Dublin Death Patrol is comprised of current and former members of Testament, Exodus, Vio-lence, Rampage and other bands. Vocalists Chuck Billy and Steve Souza have two of the most identifiable voices in metal, and they both contribute wonderfully to this throwback to the good old days of thrash. There are 8 people in the band, the most I’ve ever heard of for a metal band that doesn’t totally suck (a.k.a. Slipknot). For fans of old school thrash metal, this album is nostalgia on a CD.

Baby Huey is drunk and going to pass out now.

Dishful of Metal Archives

May 8, 2007

By Request

So, I got the following email over the weekend from a faithful reader:

Dear Baby Huey,
You look hot. I like ducks. Ducks are beautiful. They're for loving, not eating.

How can I eat vegetarian food without seeming like an idiot to my meat eating friends? What I mean to say is, are there any vegetarian foods that are actually good? Like, food that is simply good food, and happens to not have any meat in it? How do I trick my carnivore friends into eating vegetarian?

Sincerely,
Hamela Pandersome

How can I refuse such a sultry request?

Vegetarian Enchiladas

1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
1 14oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 Tbsp butter
1 large red onion, diced
1 poblano pepper, cut into strips
1 chipotle pepper, chopped fine
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 c corn, frozen or fresh
4 - 6 10" flour tortillas
1 c green enchilada sauce (I just used canned Old El Paso brand, it's really good)
shredded monterrey jack cheese
1/2 c fresh cilantro, chopped

Place the sweet potatoes in a pot of cold, salted water and bring to a boil, and cook till they're fork tender. Drain, mash, and set aside for a few minutes.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium high heat, and saute the onions, peppers, garlic, cumin, and corn until the onions and peppers are soft. Toss in the black beans and toss till they're hot. Fold in the sweet potatoes and cook for a few minutes, and add a bit of water or broth if they're getting a bit too dry. You want it to be the consistency of refried beans. Fold in half the cilantro.

Fill each tortilla with the filling and roll it up -- don't close it like a burrito, and place seam-side down in an 8 x 8 baking dish, snug with the others. Top with the enchilada sauce and the cheese, and place in a 375 degree oven for 20ish minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Sprinkle with the rest of the cilantro. Serve. Enjoy.

As for the metal this week, let's go classic.

Black Sabbath
The Dio Years
Rhino Records

I don’t know about you, but I really don’t like Ozzy’s mindless ~~mumbling~~ vocals. Ronnie James Dio was Black Sabbath’s vocalist for four albums in the 80s and early 90s, and this album is a compilation of those hits, including Heaven and Hell, The Mob Rules, and Die Young. The album also contains 3 new recordings, which are very classically Black Sabbath. Dio’s vocals are soaring, but still manage to be dark and somewhat ominous. Tony Iommi’s guitars continue to be wonderfully gothic-sounding, even when throwing in the occasional solo in the new stuff, which is a bit out of character with Sabbath. Dio-era Black Sabbath (Dio, Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, et al) are out on tour right now as "Heaven and Hell" with Machine Head and Megadeth, so check them out! All in all, a great addition to any diehard fan's library.

Baby Huey isn't vegetarian because he loves animals, he's vegetarian because he hates vegetables.

Dishful of Metal Archives

May 1, 2007

Pesto! Yay!

Pesto. Everyone loves it. If you don't love it -- fresh, cheesy, nutty, tart -- then you're a terrorist-supporting pinko bedwetting commie leftist. Yeah, I said it. Most people don't know, though, that pesto is not a particular recipe; it's more of a procedure. The word pesto comes from the Italian verb pestare, which means "to pound." Originally ground by hand in a mortar and pestle, today it's usually done in a blender or food processor, because we're lazy and there's NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT. So, today, we're going to explore a few options.

Basil Pesto

So, this is the traditional pesto and what you think of when you think of pesto.

3 c whole basil leaves
3 cloves garlic
1/2 c pine nuts
1 c grated parmesean cheese
1/4 c lemon juice (about one lemon's worth)
1 c olive oil

Toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until they just start to get a bit dark.

Put everything in a food processor or blender (if you're using the blender, make sure to put the lemon juice first, so there's something to blend) and zap it till it's the smoothness that you'd like. Stream in the olive oil ... you may not use all of it. It's all a matter of how thin you want it. For something to spread on bread, you may only use half the oil, but to mix in with pasta or as a pizza sauce, you will use all of it.

Sun-dried Tomato pesto

Same recipe as the traditional, with the following changes: reduce the amount of basil to 2 c, and add 1/2 c of sun-dried tomatoes, that you've let sit in a cup of very hot water for about 10 minutes to rehydrate.

Olive tapenade

A similar dip to pesto, you won't use any basil at all. Instead, use 2 c of pitted olives (but I swear to god if you use martini-stuffers or canned black olives I will hunt you down and make both you and your family pay), and add the zest of the lemon that you juiced.

Arugula-pepper pesto

This is something I tried this weekend, and served it over beef tenderloin and roasted potatoes. It was a big winner.

3 c baby arugula (about 1 bag from the salad section of the market)
1 bunch itailian parsley
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp green peppercorns (they're the immature berries that become black pepper, you can find them with the olives and capers in the market)
1 c parmesean cheese
1 c olive oil

Same procedure as everything else.

Pesto is good on everything. Spread it over grilled bread. Toss it with pasta. Use it as pizza sauce. You'll never find a better sauce for grilled meats or oily fish (like salmon). Toss with marinated vegetables like artichokes. Hell, just eat it with a spoon.

I need your help folks. Dishful of Metal is always much easier if you tell me what you want to read about. Anything you want a recipe for? Want to give me an ingredient and have me do an Iron Chef-style meal for it? Let me know!

I mentioned last week that I'd been rocking the new Shadows Fall record so I thought, you should at least know what it's about.

Shadows Fall
Threads of Life
Atlantic Records

Their first album on a major label since leaving indie shop Century Media, Shadows Fall is back and, to beat a cliche to death, they’re better than ever. Their last couple of albums have been lacking (to say the least) as they experimented and failed with some of the trends of the day. The fact that the first song is called “Redemption” is more than apropos, and not lost on people like me; that is, formeer fans that were getting more and more tired of the band trying to do what they could to stay relevant by picking up fad after fad. This album is a return to their metal / punk roots and it shows that THAT is what they needed to do to stay relevant. The riffs are fast and technical, and the vocals—normally a weak point on any Shadows Fall record—are way better. Sometime since 2004’s The War Within, vocalist Brian Fair learned to sing. And considering this album has their first experiment with a ballad, the song “Another Hero Lost” about a fallen soldier in Iraq, it was in the nick of time. I personally would have liked them to stay on a smaller label, because I’m worried to see what major label life will do to their music, but for now, I’m happy with Threads of Life, and if you like a new twist on old thrash, I think you will too.

Recommended Tracks: "Another Hero Lost", "Redemption" ... shit, all of them.

Baby Huey will pestare your ass if you use black olives. Seriously.

Dishful of Metal Archives

April 24, 2007

Sarad Bar!

Ok, folks. I've had the week to end all weeks. Lots of booze has made the situation palatable, but I'm not in the mood to talk. However, I am in the mood to rock your fucking socks off with a kickass recipe. It's a favorite of mine and I know you'll love it. Cause if you don't, I will cut your face.

Sesame Noodle Salad

1 lb soba noodles (linguine is an acceptable substitute)
3 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
2 Tbsp peanut butter
1/4 c rice wine vinegar
salt and pepper
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp rooster sauce
1 Tbsp grated ginger
4 - 6 cloves garlic
6 green onions, cut into rings (white and green parts)
1 red bell pepper, diced small
1/2 c chopped cilantro
1/4 c chopped mint (FRESH)
1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds
lime wedges

Cook the noodles according to their package direction, drain, and toss with about a tablespoon of the sesame oil. Allow to cool to room temperature.

In a blender, combine the rest of the sesame oil, peanut butter, vinegar, soy sauce, rooster sauce, ginger, and garlic. Blend till it's smooth. If it's too thick for you, add a bit of water to thin it out. Taste it for seasoning, and add some salt and pepper.

Toss everything except for the last four ingredients together in a large bowl, until the noodles and veggies are well-coated in the sauce, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to allow the flavors to merry.

Just before service, toss with the the cilantro and mint, and top with the sesame seeds. Serve with a wedge of lime. This is great as a side dish, or topped with grilled chicken, shrimp, or salmon, and served as an entree.

No new metal for y'all this week, folks. I've been rocking the new Shadows Fall and the new Dark Tranquillity and I will have reviews for you shortly. Until then, you'll get nothing AND LIKE IT.

Baby Huey's not kidding. He really will cut your face.

Dishful of Metal Archives

April 17, 2007

The Request Line is Open

This week's long distance dedication comes to us from Atlanta, Georgia, where a single mother who goes by the name DR is looking for quick meals for her and her two kids. She writes:

Dear Baby Huey,

I'm looking for quick chicken recipes for me and my two kids. We like bacon, but it makes our chicken so greasy. Please help!

Well, DR, you're in luck. I've got a recipe that is sweet, salty, smoky and spicy. Perfect for a night with you and your kids!

Maple-Glazed Bacon Chicken
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
6 slices bacon, cut in half
1/3 c maple syrup
1 Tbsp salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper

Mix the salt and pepper together, and rub the chicken with it. Place on a rack on a cookie sheet. Place 2 or 3 of the half-slices of bacon on top of the chicken -- the chicken should be covered. By placing the chicken on a rack on top of a cookie sheet, you're giving the fat somewhere to go that's not touching the chicken.

Put this in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, brush the top of the chicken with some of the maple syrup. Do this every 5 minutes after that until chicken is completely cooked, about 15 more minutes. Brush one last time after you pull it out.

Serve it with some garlicky mashed potatoes and you are set!

If you ever have any requests for something you'd like to help cooking, let me know. Makes my job easier!

And coming in at number 1 on the weekly metal countdown ...

Various Artists
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters Colon The Soundtrack
Williams Street

If you’ve seen the series or the movie, you know how completely fucked it is. Seriously. It’s nearly impossible to walk away from an episode and not say “what was THAT about?” The soundtrack isn’t much different. Mostly hard rock, with a couple of intros—marked as “skits”--by the characters. The opening theme, "Groovy Time for a Movie Time" has great advice for moviegoers -- "Don't pull your penis out / unless you really need to / Indecent exposure is a class 2 felony".

Recommended: "Carl's Theme", "Cut You with a Linoleum Knife", "Nude Love"

Baby Huey wishes he had a hair helmet like Casey Kasem

Dishful of Metal Archives

April 10, 2007

Saucy

It's almost summer! Seriously. Don't pay any attention to that cold white shit on the ground in half the country. It's just Colombian marching powder. Go snort it, I dare ya. It'll be fun.

Since it is almost summer time, and I refuse to accept this reassertion of winter, I'm going to go ahead with some warm weather recipes. It's salsa time, baybee. I love making salsa, and make at least one batch a week in the warm weather months. Two of the three recipes are originals of mine, and one is adapted from a Mexican joint I used to hit all the time in college. All of these are great on chicken, steak, pork, fish, and lest I forget, chips.

Mango Salsa
2 whole mangoes, peeled and diced small
1/2 red onion, minced fine
1 habanero pepper, seeds removed and minced*
1/3 c cilantro, chopped fine
juice and zest of one lime
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp honey

*For the love of God, man, don't be a hero. Wear some gloves.

Mix the lime juice, lime zest, salt, honey, and cilantro in a bowl. Add the mango, onion, and chile. Toss lightly to combine, and let sit for at least an hour before using.

Asian Cucumber Salsa

1 lb cucumber, chopped into a small dice
4 scallions, chopped fine
1 serrano chile, minced
1/4 tsp red chile flakes
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
3 Tbsp grated ginger
1/4 c rice wine vinegar
1/4 c chopped, dry roasted peanuts
1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Mix everything together, reserving 1 of the scallions until just before service. Sprinkle that one on to keep it nice and crisp.

Smokin Salsa
This recipe is adapted from the salsa of the same name, available at Que Tal Mexican Cantina in Cleveland, OH

8 plum tomatoes, cut in half and de-seeded
1 head of garlic, with the top sliced off
2 onions, cut in quarters
4 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (3 if you're a pussy)
juice of a lime

Place everything except the chipotles and lime juice on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with 2 tsp salt and drizzle with oil, and place in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes, or until the garlic is soft.

Place all of the now roasted and carmelized goodness into the blender with the chipotles and lime juice. Puree till it's smooth, adding vegetable oil until it's the consistency you want. Reseason with salt, and you're good to go.

Machine Head
The Blackening
Roadrunner Records

The first release for Machine Head since 2004's Through the Ashes of Empires, they had to, in the eyes of some of their most ardent fans, make up for a couple of very lackluster releases. I have no doubts that The Blackening will satiate their desire for a kickass Machine Head record. Long, riff-heavy, Bay Area thrash abounds in this. The high point in the album is the song "Aesthetics of Hate," a song dedicated to the memory of Dimebag Darrel Abbot. Immediately after Darrel's death, some douchebag writer on some ridiculous online conservative rag wrote an article called "The Aesthetics of Hate", a vitriol-laced heap of bile about how Dime basically deserved what he got because he played metal. This song, which is unbelievably powerful, is a great big fuck you to that guy, who I won't even justify naming.

Recommended Tracks: "Aesthetics of Hate", "Beautiful Mourning", "Clenching the Fists of Dissent", "Halo"

April 3, 2007

Easter, Dishful Style

I was raised Catholic, I'll admit it. I learned how to party. Shit. Catholics party every time some nice guy got bludgeoned to death a thousand years ago. We also party when Jesus was born, when he died, and most importantly, when he became our zombie Savior.

I was severely writers-blocked about what to share with you this week, till I realized that Easter is this Sunday. Instant topic. These aren't family recipes, just things I've developed or adapted over the years.

Main Dish:
Stout - Marinated Beef Tenderloin

3 - 4 lb beef tenderloin roast
12 oz stout beer
2 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp whole black peppercorns

Mix everything except the beef in a bowl and add it to a gallon sized freezer zip bag. Add the beef and seal the bag, getting as much air out as possible. Put that in a bowl and into the fridge for 4 - 8 hours.

Put a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat for at least 10 minutes before cooking. Wipe the marinade off the beef and pat it dry. Brush it with just a touch of canola or peanut oil, and season liberally with salt and pepper.

Place the roast in the now-nuclear skillet for about 1 minute per side. After four minutes, take the beef out and place on a plate to rest. Make sure you keep the skillet off the heat. Set your oven to 250 degrees. This method is adapted from Alton Brown's method for cooking tenderloin roasts. The point of the rest between cooking steps is to keep more of the interior medium rare, as opposed to a small center of medium rare and a large ring of too-done.

After 15 minutes, your oven will be up to temperature. If your oven can't get to 250 degrees in 15 minutes, get a new oven. Put the roast back in the skillet and cook in the oven for probably 25 - 30 minutes. Time is not as important as temperature at the center of the roast. It's done when the center reaches 140 degrees, which is beautifully medium rare.

Pull the beef back onto the plate and rest for about 10 - 15 minutes (or longer, this cut of beef is absolutely wonderful at room temperature) before serving. The cut is so tender, and the beer flavor is so delicate, that I really don't recommend any sauce. A drizzle of the best extra-virgin olive oil and some cracked pepper never hurt anyone though.

Don't turn that oven off, though -- crank it up to 400 degrees for one of the side dishes ...

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

6 spears of asparagus per person
2 slices of bacon per person

Wrap 3 spears of asparagus in a slice of bacon and put them on a cookie sheet. Put them in the oven. When the bacon is cooked, so is the asparagus. Nice, eh?

Now, it's time for a nice springtime salad.

Artichoke salad
1 lb artichoke hearts, quartered. Canned or frozen, it doesn't matter. I don't even bother with fresh -- too much damn work for not a lot of return.
1 pint of cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1/2 pound of fresh mozarella cheese, cut into cubes
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
1/4 c balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper
1 c fresh basil, shredded

Toss all that together. You're done. If you're making this one ahead of time -- and you should, because it will be much better if you let it sit, covered, in the fridge overnight -- add the basil at the very end. It'll get all wilted and narsty otherwise.

And now, dessert!
Mascerated fruit salad
1 c sugar
1/2 c orange liqueur (like Triple Sec, Cointreau, or Grand Marnier)
2 lbs fresh seasonal fruit, cut into chunks
1/2 c fresh mint leaves, shredded
pinch of good (kosher or sea) salt

Mix the sugar and liqueur together, and toss with the fresh fruit and just a sprinkle of salt. I'm not going to tell you what kind of fruit to use. Use whatever's fresh. Stone fruits like peaches and plums, berries, melon, mangoes, and pineapple all work really well. I'd avoid citrus fruits, unless you wanted to throw some mandarin orange segments in there. Fresh citrus segments will just dissolve. Let it sit for about 2 or 3 hours in the fridge. It will be nice and soupy as you get it out.

Just before service, top with the mint and a dollop of freshly whipped cream.

As for the metal this week, it's a doozie.

Lordi
The Arockalypse
The End Records

RIYL: Kiss, Andrew WK, party rock, glam rock

Imagine, if you will, a band that looks like GWAR and sounds like KISS. Have I blown your mind yet? Yeah, I didn’t think so, but that’s Lordi for you. Fresh off their monster (no pun intended) win of the 2006 Eurovision song contest with their anthem “Hard Rock Hallelujah”--and yes, that song is on this album, and even better than the contest version—these Finnish ghouls give us The Arockalypse. This is, without a doubt, awesome party rock. To paraphrase a friend, they’re so godawful and cheesy that they’re actually kind of magnificent. I couldn’t put it better myself. Seriously, great poppy rock with great guitar work.

Recommended: "Hard Rock Hallelujah", "Chainsaw Buffet", "They Only Come Out at Night", "Night of the Loving Dead"

Baby Huey would totally worship Jesus if the church only recognized his zombie status

Dishful of Metal Archives

March 29, 2007

Black and Blue

Wait, what day is it again? Dishful of Metal on a Thursday? What's the deal with this?

I took a little vacation this weekend. Every once in a while, we all gotta get away, yeah? I headed to DC, met up with Kali for some hot, steamy ... metal. (What did you think I was going to say?) More on that later.

Monday night we headed to the 9:30 club in DC and grabbed some dinner at Five Guys Burgers and Fries on Georgia Ave. And lemme tell you, if you don't know about Five Guys, you betta axe somebody. Fantastic burgers, and the greatest menu ever. There's only one item on it, served 8 ways. You can get a burger with one or two patties, with or without American cheese, with or without bacon. There are a buttload of toppings you can get and they're all free. Including hot sauce. God love burger joints in the ghetto. And the fries ... holy shit. SO MANY FRIES. Their small was like a pound and a half of fries.

In homage to Five Guys, here's my very favorite burger recipe.

Black and Bleu Burgers

1 lb 80/20 ground chuck
4 oz stinky bleu cheese
2 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp ground black pepper
1 tsp italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

First of all, use 80/20 beef. If you don't know what 80/20 is, that means it's 80% lean, 20% fat. Trust me. You need the fat, or the burgers will just kinda fall apart. And nobody wants that. Make sure the beef is cold when you start working with it. Add 1 tsp salt and pepper to the meat and mix thoroughly. Portion the beef into 4 equal balls, and form them each into a patty about 4 inches in diameter. On two of the patties, place half of the cheese -- I suggest using blue cheese, but any good strong melting cheese (like cheddar) will work wonderfully. Take the other two patties and place them on top of the cheesed patties, and seal them up. Make sure they're sealed really well. You shouldn't be able to tell there's anything inside the burger You've got a half pound burger with an awesome surprise inside.

On a plate, mix the spices together. Dredge the burgers in the spice--really rub them in good--and let them come to room temperature before cooking. It'll ensure even cooking. Cook them over medium to medium-high heat, either over a grill or in a cast iron skillet/griddle rubbed with just a bit of vegetable oil, for about 8 minutes per side. You want to cook these burgers to at least medium. If you cook them less than that, the cheese won't melt on the inside. You want to cook at a lower temperature becauseyou want the spice to blacken on the outside, without completely burning.

Let them sit for about 5 minutes before serving to let them rest a bit, to keep them nice and juicy. Serve on toasted buns with your favorite fixins. My favorite for this burger is big onion slices, bacon, tomatoes, and chipotle mayo.

No record review this week. Instead, I thought I would tell you about the concert Kali and I saw Monday night, and included a picture of us so y'all can be jealous of me.

First up? Gojira. Their latest album, From Mars to Sirius, is on Prosthetic Records and was recently reviewed in this very column. We showed up towards the end of their set because neither she nor I, nor my buddy Ace that was with us, really cared about seeing them. Boy, were we wrong. They rocked. The fuck. OUT. Tight, crisp performance. The 9:30 club, by the way, has amazing sound. For the two or so songs we heard of them, I think I can safely say that we were all pretty damned impressed.

Next brought the mighty Machine Head, whose latest album on Roadrunner is called The Blackening and just came out a couple of days ago. Dear God, they were AMAZING. They had a short-ish set (only 35 minutes), and stuck mostly to The Blackening, though they did play some older stuff too. Rob Flynn was drunk as hell, but he's still one of the best shredders out there. Giddy the fuck up. It's the first time I'd seen them live, and I wanted more.

Direct support for the headliners were Orlando boys Trivium. I was extremely disappointed. This is the fourth time I've seen them live, and every time I've seen them was worse than the time before. I want to see them in a headlining role, because I've heard they're much better as headliners. They just seem to kind of phone it in as an opening act. And Kali thinks the bass player looks like Fabio and she coveted his hair. I don't blame her. His locks were flowing. Made up for the subpar singing.

The headliners were home for this show, and you could tell. The place was PACKED for them -- the one, the only, the direct-support-for-Ozzy-on-this-year's-Ozzfest Lamb of God. It's the first time I'd ever seen them live and I was not disappointed. I think it took them a couple of songs to get their sound down right, and what I liked most of all about their set is that they actually mixed it up. They played a slight majority of their songs from their latest album, Sacrament, but they played a bunch of songs from Ashes of the Wake, including my favorite song of theirs, "Now You've Got Something to Die For." They also played songs from their first two Lamb of God albums, New American Gospel and As the Palaces Burn. They even played a song from their first album, when they were known as Burn the Priest. When they played their last song, "Black Label", the entire place went fucking insane, including the four guys behind us in the balcony who were a) very obviously gay for each other and b) very obviously going to run a train on the girl that was with them to prove they weren't gay for each other.

Good food, good music, and great company. Doesn't get much better than that on vacation.

Baby Huey only posted this week so he could prove he'd actually met Kali and you hadn't.

Dishful of Metal Archives

March 20, 2007

Bistro fare ... reinvented

I think it's obvious by reading this column ... I love food. If you've ever seen a picture of my fat ass, it's even more obvious. I'm not sure there's any style of food I really don't like. That being said, I definitely like some cuisines more than others. Despite my Italian heritage, Asian food is my favorite -- it's amazing how much Vietnamese and Thai food have in common with Italian food.

Pretty low on my list of favorite foods, though, is French food, and in particular, French Bistro food. It's a little boring to me. It's just there. Meat, potatoes. Kinda meh if you ask me. I'm not above jazzing it up though.

One classic bistro menu item is Steak au poivre; literally, steak with pepper. It's a pepper-crusted strip steak served with super thin french fries. I took that idea into the kitchen last night and came up with something great.

Steak Café

2 tbsp whole coffee beans
1 tbsp whole black peppercorns
1 tbsp salt
1/2 tsp celery seed
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 lb steaks (I used filet mignon, but ribeye or strip steaks would work as well)

Preheat your even to 375 degrees.

In a coffee grinder or blender, grind all the spices till they're pretty fine. You don't want big chunks in this case. Dump it onto a plate.

Heat a 10" skillet over medium-high heat. Add a teaspoon of peanut oil to the skillet. Coat both sides of the steaks with the rub and cook for 2 minutes on the first side. Flip and put in the oven for 8 - 10 minutes, depending on how thick it is, and how well you want it done. As a general formula for mathies, it's 5 + (t + d), where t is the thickness of the steak in inches, and d is the doneness ( 1= rare, 2 = medium rare, 3 = medium, 4 = medium well, 5 = gross).

When it's done, put on a plate, cover with tin foil, and let it rest for 15 minutes before serving. I highly suggest serving it with this mushroom sauce. As a side dish, I made these (and so should you):

Yucca Chips
1 yucca root, peeled
2 quarts canola oil
Old Bay seasoning (or salt if you're lame)

Ok, you'll need a mandolin / v-slicer for this one. No getting around it. You need to slice the yucca as thin as possible. We're talking no more than 1/16th of an inch. you might be able to do it on the slicer edge of a box grater, but v-slicers are indispensible for things like this.

Once you have the yucca sliced, fill a large cast-iron dutch oven (or other large pot) with the oil. You should NEVER fill the pot more than half-way. As oil heats, it expands. Heat the oil to 365 degrees (probably should have a thermometer for this). Fry the yucca chips in batches -- only add as much to cover the top of the oil in one layer. Cook for about 2 minutes until they're golden brown. Drain on paper towels, sprinkling with Old Bay as soon as they come out of the oil.

Don't throw that oil away, either. After it's cooled, funnel it back into the jar it came from through a coffee filter. You can really only use it for frying after that, but you can get 4 or 5 good fries out of one batch of oil.

Serve the steak and chips with a green salad (or not, hell) and a cold beer, and you've got a great continental style meal.

The meal was a symphony with lots of flavors working in harmony. With today's metal review, those will be the only harmonies you get.

Psyopus
Our Puzzling Encounters Considered
Metal Blade Records

RIYL: The Fucking Champs, Melvins, The Locust

When last we saw Psyopus, their album Ideas of Reference was wreaking havoc on our ears. Their concept of complete aural destruction through atonal chaos returns in Our Puzzling Encounters Considered, and they're doing it just as well as ever. The album contains a bit more melody than their last one, and it's a nice sobering counterpoint to the insanity of the other music – music where rhythm and key are paid no nevermind, and it's just all over the place. They definitely have a sense of humor, and while some of the lyrics are very dark, some of it is hilarious – especially the profanity-laced, short piece “Play Some Skynyrd.”

Recommended: Scissor Fuck Paper Doll, Play Some Skynyrd, The Pig Keeper's Daughter, Imogen's Puzzle Pt. 2

Baby Huey's finally got a website for his radio show at deadofthenight.net. Don't forget to tune in tonight at 10pm Eastern.

Dishful of Metal archives

March 13, 2007

Goomba Grub

So, if you tuned in last week, you learned that I made a buttload of red sauce a couple of weeks ago. Just for funsies. You also learned that you won't ever get the recipe. You won't even pry it from my cold, dead hands, because there's no written record.

That being said, I am a benevolent software engineer cum metalhead cum chef. When Timmer requested a red sauce recipe, I couldn't possibly refuse. I'm gonna give you a good basic recipe. Think of it like a blank canvas. I'll tell you a few different variations and you can go from there.

Basic Tomato Sauce

2 28 ounce cans of WHOLE San Marzano tomatoes
Why whole San Marzano tomatoes? San Marzano tomatoes are not a brand. They come from town of San Marzano in Italy. They are without a doubt my favorite sauce tomatoes because for whatever reason - the soil, the water, who knows - the tomatoes are meatier with fewer seeds. Fewer seeds means less of that narsty gel, and less narsty gel means less acidity. Whole tomatoes have been processed less than their stewed, chopped, or otherwise deconstructed counterparts, and thus, still taste more like tomatoes.
1 c dry white wine
Why use wine? Chemical compounds that make up flavor can be dissolved by one of three solvents: water, fat, and alcohol. Tomatoes have flavor compounds that are alcohol-soluble. The wine will make the tomatoes taste ... well, more like tomatoes.
1 6 oz can of tomato paste
1 large onion
1 rib of celery
1/2 carrot
4 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp chile flakes
1/4 c olive oil

Cut the onion, celery, and carrot into big chunks and throw them into a food processor with the garlic and buzz them up till they're minced really fine. Normally I don't advocate using the food processor for chopping vegetables but you really want it smaller than would be easy to do with a knife. You want it to be about the consistency of ground meat.

Heat the olive oil in a three to four quart, not non-stick, saucepan over medium heat. Add the ground vegetables, chile flakes, and about 1/2 tsp of salt and saute for 4 to 5 minutes, till the vegetables are soft. Add the tomato paste and cook for about 2 minutes. You need to cook the raw flavor out of it. You'll know it's ready when its raw red color is gone and is replaced by a rust / brick color.

Add the tomatoes and wine, and raise the heat to medium-high. Bring the sauce just to a simmer, and drop the heat to low. Let this go for about 2 hours. You need to stir it every 10 to 15 minutes, though. Tomatoes have a lot of natural sugar, and they tend to burn pretty easily. That tastes like sweaty ass, so don't allow it to happen. When you stir, make sure you scrape the bottom of the pan completely. Use a wooden spoon; rubber spatulas are too soft.

After 2 hours, take a potato masher and go to town on those tomatoes. Careful though, they splatter like a motherfucker. If you're intent on a smooth sauce, you can put it in the blender, but the masher gives you more leeway for later applications.

At this point, you've got a damn good -- if a bit plain -- sauce. There are tons of variations.

* add your favorite dried herbs to the oil with the vegetables before adding the tomatoes. Thyme, oregano and basil are classics. Rosemary doesn't work well. You can also add spices like a touch of nutmeg, especially if you're making ...

* vodka sauce. Replace the 1 c of wine with 1/2 c vodka. After you've mashed the tomatoes, add a cup of heavy cream. It's perfect over heavier pastas like gnocchi or whole wheat penne.

* putanesca sauce (literally, hooker sauce). Add a tablespoon of capers to the vegetables in the food processor. Add 3 or 4 anchovy fillets to the oil and saute for a minute before adding the vegetables. They'll basically dissolve in the oil.

* arrabiata sauce (angry sauce). Up the chile flake to 1 1/2 tsp and add 1/3 c of pitted green olives to the vegetables in the food processor.

Those are some of my favorite variations. And folks, I'm always willing to honor requests. Makes my job a shitload easier. If there's something you'd like to see me prepare, let me know.

Whenever I think about red tomato sauce, I think of this week's band.

Dying Fetus
War of Attrition
Relapse Records

The propoganda I got from Relapse is pretty good for this record, so just read that. This album promises to be one of the heaviest of the year.

Death metal powerhouse Dying Fetus return with their long-awaited new record War of Attrition. Masterminded by guitarist/vocalist John Gallagher and his hand picked kill-team, War of Attrition advances the band’s devastating assault and destroys everything in its path. From the first song to the last, the patented 'Fetus combination of punishing slam riffs, frenzied guitar work, and utterly savage dual-vocal assault and overpowers the listener. War of Attrition reaches an altogether new and focused level of brutality for Dying Fetus, and expands and cements the legendary status of this renowned metal institution.

Recommended Tracks: "Insidious Repression", "Homicidal Retribution", "Obsolete Deterrence"

Baby Huey is a goomba so he's allowed to say that. But you're not. That's OUR word.

Dishful of Metal archives

March 6, 2007

It's How I Roll

What to say, what to say, what to say. Gotta think of a funny intro. Funny intro? Hmmm ... OH!

So a hamburger walks into a bar. Bartender says "Sorry, we don't serve food here."

Yeah, that sucked. So let me tell you a little story. I'm a big fan of cooking as a pasttime. You know, live to eat, don't eat to live. So last weekend, I went on a little shopping spree. I went to a restaurant supply store, which, by the way? For a guy like me? Kid in a fuckin candy store. Got a whole bunch of restaurant-quality gear on the cheap. I'm glad they were closing for the day soon or I'd never have left. From there, I went to the Italian market. I love that place. Buncha greasy wops hanging out, eating canolli and drinking espresso. I loaded UP! Olives, tomatoes, anchovies, oregano, great big block of parmagiano reggiano cheese. Went to the local meat market, and got some good stuff. Came home, and made some marinara sauce.

Ok, I made more than some. I made 4 gallons. Froze most of it and wanted to use some this week, so I busted out an old classic Italian-American classic. You're never getting my red sauce recipe, so this is a close second:

Braciole (pronounced bra-zhole for you non-wops)

2 lb piece of round steak
1 quart marinara sauce
1/4 c sun-dried tomatoes (packed in oil)
2 Tbsp capers, drained and rinsed
6 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp raisins
1 tsp dried oregano
1 egg
1/2 c grated parmesean cheese
1/2 c bread crumbs
1/4 c olive oil

Heat the sauce in a 9 x 13 baking dish in a 275 degree oven*

The first--and hardest--part of this is prepping the meat. You need to get the meat about 1/2" thick -- and it needs to be even. The roast I got from the store was about 1 1/2 " thick, so I butterflied it and pounded it thin. If you need your roast to be butterflied (that is, opened up like a book), your butcher should be able to do it very easily. After that, just use a mallet to pound your meat (HAHAHAHAHAHA) down to about 1/2 thick. Season both sides with salt and pepper.

In a food processor, mix the last 9 ingredients till it's chunky but well combined. Spread that stuffing over the meat, leaving about an inch of border from the edges. Roll the meat up along the longer edge, so it looks like a big beef ho-ho (and yes, it's as delicious as it sounds). Secure by tying it up with butcher's twine or using toothpicks.

Heat a big (preferably cast iron) skillet over medium-high heat. Brush the outside of the meat with vegetable or peanut oil, and sear the meat on all four sides, about 90 seconds per side. Place the meat in the pan of sauce, and baste the top of it with some of the sauce. Cover (loosely) with aluminum foil and braise for at least 3 hours, but up to 5 or 6. When it's done, let it rest for 15 minutes before cutting it.

* as an alternative, put it in a big crock pot at the low setting.

This week's review is cool cause the band's name is kind of a dirty word.

Alabama Thunderpussy
Open Fire
Relapse Records

Their first album with vocalist Kyle Thomas, Alabama Thunderpussy's seventh record is a mixture of dirty, Danzig-esque rock and good old fashioned southern boogie. Full of catchy riffs and melodic vocals, I can't really say much more than it's a hell of a fun listen, and if you enjoy heavy rock (that is just this side of metal) with a southern twang, I can't recommend this one enough.

Baby Huey is happy that he got to say "pound your meat" and "pussy" in the same post and have it be about food and cooking.

February 27, 2007

This is How It's Done

We interrupt your regularly scheduled amateur recipe, metal review, and porn to bring you this special bulletin.

I felt like doing something different this week, and inspired by Uberchief's review of the Roots concert yesterday, I'm gonna tell you about the best meal I ever had, and a concert I saw that very same weekend.

December, 2005. I had a free plane ticket and heard about a concert in Philadelphia I wanted to see (more on that later). I called my buddy Ace in Cleveland, and he was down too. As I was thinking about the trip and how it wasn't going to cost anything to get there, I decided I wanted to go to Morimoto while I was there. I called my friend Liz in DC and she was in. I made the reservation.

Friday night was the concert -- Children of Bodom headlined, with Trivium offering direct support and Amon Amarth opening. Finland, USA, and Sweden all represented. That's my kinda show. The show was Friday night, and Ace and I went to a little Vietnamese Pho place across the street from the Trocadero theater, where the show was. We saw one of the editors of Bare Words and Bloody Knuckles magazine. We chatted a bit, and left the restaurant, and HOLY SHIT. We went into the restaurant and the theater entrance was bare. 40 minutes later and the line was a block and a half long.

Unfortunately, that line kept us from seeing Amon Amarth's set. They were just finishing up as we got in the door. The labels are really cool about hooking me up with tickets, but they can't quite just get me in the door.

Trivium was up next, and hooboy, they ruled. They played mostly stuff off of Ascendancy, and it was still shocking to me how amazing these guys (who at the time were still just 19 and 20) were. Their technical expertise was amazing and they just had stage presence. They RULED that stage. The coolest part of the entire set was the fact that it happened the day after the first anniversary of Dimebag Darrel Abbot's murder, and Matt and Corey were both playing guitars from Dimebag's personal collection. When they covered "Walk" the entire audience LOST it. The nice thing about the Troc is that there's a balcony for over-21ers where they served beer and you could actually sit and enjoy the show. We did that and watched the pit down below go insane.

When Children of Bodom came on, the first thing I noticed was how glam-rock Alexi, the lead singer and shredder, looked. It was pretty awesome. They actually did a set very representative of their entire discography, which was awesome. I generally don't like when bands stick to their latest release, so they definitely came through there. Some big in-song jams and all the hits (Needled 24/7, Bodom After Midnight, In Your Face, etc) made it a fun show. Not the best I've ever seen but it was a hell of a good time.

The next day Ace felt like shit so just Liz and I went to Morimoto. We both ordered the 9 course omakase menu, along with the accompanying 8 course drink omakase. If you're not familiar, omakase is just a chef's tasting menu. The entire meal was $185 + tax/tip, and it was worth. every. penny.

First Course

Toro tartare. Toro is a cut of tuna from the belly. It's fatty and rich and delicious. It was chopped fine with wasabi leaves and crispy fried shallots, and served in a light soy broth. It was accompanied by a fresh lychee (a tart Asian fruit)

Drink: Champagne

Second Course
3 pacific oysters on the half shell. Each had their own sauce -- a black pepper vinaigrette, a chili sauce, and a champagne sauce

Drink: Sake-tini

Third Course
An oil-blanched sea scallop in a yuzu-soy broth. "Blanched" is the only word I can use to describe this scallop. It was just barely cooked on the outside, and still cool on the inside. The broth was tart and salty, and was served with slices of plum tomato and matsutake mushrooms.

Drink: White wine

Fourth Course
Thinly sliced Amberjack (a fish kind of like halibut) sashimi over a bed of microgreens and served with a creamy vinaigrette. I never figured out what was in it, but it was fuggin awesome.

Drink: White wine

Fifth Course / Palate Cleanser
Raspberry - wasabi sorbet. Sweet, tart, just a bit of heat. AWESOME.

No drink

Sixth Course
Jerk-spiced, grilled half lobster with steamed baby vegetables and creme fraiche. When a lobster dish is the weak point of a meal, you know how awesome it was. That's not to say it was bad. The whole meal was just that good.

Drink: Light red wine

Seventh Course
Two roasted baby potatoes with a slice of seared foie gras and American Kobe-style beef. Succulent, rich, and hearty, this was a perfect deep, rich dish.

Drink: Hearty, dry red wine

Eighth Course
Sushi Course. It was six pieces of nigiri sushi. Some standard stuff: tuna, salmon, mackerel, and a couple of pieces that I'd never had before, haven't had since, and no longer remember the name of.

Drink: three different sakes from Morimoto's distillery

Ninth Course / Dessert
Rich chocolate brownie with a scoop of vanilla and white miso ice cream and a shmear of sour apple puree. Sweet, creamy, deep, a little salty, tart ... it was complex and simple at the same time, and very representative of the meal as a whole.

Drink: champagne

There it is. Two hours and $240 later, the best meal I'd ever had. Would I do it again? You bet. Do I recommend you do something similar? Absolutely. Find a fancy restaurant that offers a prix fixe or chef's tasting menu, and do it. They will love you.

I want to know -- what's the best meal YOU ever had, either at home or in a restaurant?

Baby Huey can still taste that scallop. God DAMN it was good.

Archives

February 20, 2007

On the Road Again

It's car week here at FTTW! These days, food in cars is so universal, I figured it'd be way easy to come up some food-related stuff. I was wrong. I had a couple of ideas that I could work with:

- my take on fast food
- food you could cook on your car
- tailgating food

Then I decided to do my favorite road trip food. Everybody loves road trips. Unless you don't. In which case you totally suck. This food is tasty, it's not messy (if you make it right), and you can suck one down (hehehehe) while you're driving.

Vegetable Panini

2 thick slices sourdough bread
roasted red peppers
smoked gouda cheese, grated
butter
fresh baby spinach
tomato slices
salt and pepper
mayonnaise

Spread a very thin layer of mayonnaise on one side of each slice of bread and butter on the other (if you don't like mayo, butter both sides. the fat in the mayo or butter will help prevent the bread from getting soggy). Sprinkle the mayo side of both slices with some of the cheese. On one slice, place a single layer of the spinach leaves. On the other, place one or two slices of the roasted red pepper and a slice or two of the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper.

Cooking the panini requires even cooking on both sides at the same time, and pressure. You can achieve this a couple of different ways:

1. Panini Press

This is the obvious way. If you have one, you're set. Use it according to the manufacturer's instructions.

2. Cast Iron Skillets or Bricks

Since I don't have a panini press, this is my preferred way to do it. Take two big cast iron skillets (or four bricks, wrapped twice in aluminum foil) and put them in an oven. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Leave them in there for at least 20 minutes. Put one skillet upside down (or two bricks side by side) on your stove and put the sandwich on it. Place the other skillet face up (or the other two bricks) on top of the sandwich and leave it there for 10 - 15 minutes. There's plenty of residual heat in the skillets / bricks to cook the sandwich without another ounce of external fuel.

3. Foreman Grill

Put the sandwich on the grill, close it, and weigh it down with something (even just your hand).

In any case, the sandwich is done when the cheese is melted and the spinach is slightly wilted. The weight will seal the sandwich, making it perfect for road tripping. They're almost as good room temperature, and perfect for long drives.

This week's metal review is something old AND something new.

Destruction
Thrash Anthems
Candlelight Records

RIYL: Slayer, Kreator, Exodus, old school thrash

Destruction is one of the progenitors of the European thrash movement, which evolved at about the same time, yet fairly independently from, American thras bands like Slayer and Metallica. They are similar in many facets, but differ in a few ways. Specifically, the guitars have a lot more melody than their American counterparts. Destruction led the way for bands like Kreator, Hypocrisy, and At the Gates, which really spawned the entire European death metal genre. Thrash Anthems is a collection of their greatest hits, but they're not just compiled here – they went into the studio and re-recorded them all, which did them a great service, if you ask me. While I love 80s thrash metal, I generally think most of the albums could handle a coat of spit and polish on the mixing board, and these songs are no different. The sound is clearer and heavier, and the low end missing from so many analog recordings of the day is precise and focused. This album also contains two previously unreleased tracks that, while not the high points of the record, are solid songs that are very enjoyable.

Recommended Tracks: "Tormentor", "Profanity", "Total Desaster", "Bestial Invasion"

Baby Huey made a poop joke AND a blowjob joke in this week's post. He's actually very proud of that.

February 13, 2007

Romance Schmomance

Ok, so I'll start this pre-Valentine's Day post by saying I fucking hate Valentine's Day. I call it Singles Awareness Day. Michele's Gauntlet article today says exactly what I want to say much more eloquently. Men, be good to your women (or men) every day. Women, same can be said for you.

That being said, I love romance. And since we Americans most associate romance with tomorrow, I will join the fun and help other people get laid (since god knows I'm not). I've put together a full romantic meal that, if you pull this off (and it's not hard -- dinner only took an hour, dessert 45 minutes) you are SO in.

Rather than give you the individual recipes, I'm going to give you a menu and an order in which to do things. It will make your life much easier.

Baby Spinach and Gorgonzola Salad with Mascerated Cherries
Red Wine, Cherry, and Rosemary Risotto
Cocoa-crusted Ribeye Steak with Cabernet Demi-Glace

That sounds fancy, right? It's not that hard to make!

Ingredients, in order of use

3 c cabernet sauvignon wine
1 c dried cherries
1/4 c cocoa powder (unsweetened)
1/4 c salt
2 Tbsp pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 8 oz ribeye steaks
1 small red onion, minced fine
2 ribs celery, minced fine
2 Tbsp fresh rosemary (2 tsp dried)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp peanut oil
1/2 c arborio rice
2 c very hot water
1/4 c parmesean cheese
2 c beef stock
3 Tbsp butter
1 tsp lemon juice

Place an ovenproof skillet in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Place the cherries in a bowl with 1 c of the wine and put in the microwave for 2 minutes, then let it set for 10 minutes. Strain the cherries but reserve the wine.

In a large zip bag, add the cocoa, cayenne, 1 Tbsp black pepper, and 2 Tbsp salt, and mix well. Add the steaks and coat completely. Press the seasoning in. Allow them to sit for at least 20 minutes. They should be at room temperature.

Heat 1 Tbsp the olive oil in a 3 qt saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, cherries and rosemary. Add 1 Tbsp of the remaining salt and the remaining pepper. Cook this mixture for about 5 minutes, till the veggies are soft. Add the rice and toast for about 1 minute. Drop the heat a bit, add the wine, and stir until the wine is almost completely absorbed.

At this point, take the skillet out of the oven, add the peanut oil, and put it over medium high heat. Add the steaks and sear on one side for 5 minutes.

While the steaks are searing, you should be adding the water, 1/4 c at a time, to the rice. Stir until the liquid is absorbed, and then add a bit more.

After 5 minutes, flip the steaks and put in the oven for 5 minutes for medium rare. Continue adding water to the rice -- you're going to use most, if not all, of that 2 cups.

When the steaks come out, put on a plate, cover tightly with aluminum foil, and allow to rest for 15 minutes. In the skillet that you cooked the steaks in, over high heat, add the beef stock and remaining salt and boil the shit out it, till it's down to about half a cup. Add the wine and boil it down till you're back to about 3/4 c.

At this point the risotto should just be done. Add the parmesean cheese and 1 Tbsp of the butter. Add the other 2 Tbsp of the butter to the sauce.

To make the salad, Toss the spinach with the gorgonzola and remaining chopped cherries. Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice.

See? That really wasn't that hard.

Dessert

Pears poached in Cabernet Syrup with Cocoa Dust and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Ingredients

1 bottle cabernet sauvignon (preferably the same kind you had above)
1 1/2 c sugar
juice and zest of one orange
2 bosc pears, preferably a little underripe (ripe pears will fall apart in the poaching liquid)
Vanilla ice cream
cocoa powder

Bring the wine, sugar, and orange juice to a simmer over medium-low heat. When the sugar's dissolved, add the peeled pears and simmer for 30 - 45 minutes, till a knife *just* goes in easily. Start testing at 30 minutes, but realize it may take longer if your pears aren't very ripe.

Cut the pears in half length-wise and remove the core with a melon baller. Place the still-warm pears over a scoop of ice cream and sprinkle with the orange zest. Add a spoonful of cocoa powder to a small strainer, and tap with a spoon to dust the pears. Garnish with fresh mint leaves.

There it is. If that doesn't get you laid, then you're as pathetic as ... well, as me.

Happy Singles Awareness Day, fuckers.

This week's album is slightly less romantic.

Impious
Holy Murder Masquerade
Metal Blade Records

RIYL: Dark Tranquillity, God Dethroned, Kreator

This is the first time I've said “this album will definitely be on my Top 10 of the Year list” so far in 2007. This album is unbelievably awesome from the very beginning. A concept album about a man on a killing spree who believes he was sent by God, Holy Murder Masquerade starts with ominous church bells and a man saying “Bless me father, for I will sin” and then BOOM. Right into the music. The band is Swedish and they definitely take some influence from their countrymen, as there's definitely a Gothenburg sound to it, but it also draws heavily from European and Bay Area thrash metal too, as is evidenced by some seriously kickass solos. If you liked their last album Hellucinate, you'll probably like Holy Murder Masquerade even more.

Recommended Tracks: "Three For One", "The Confession", "Everlasting Punishment", "Bloodcraft", "Holy Murder Masquerade"

February 6, 2007

80s: It's not just hair metal anymore

It's 80s week! Peg your jeans (man, Savage Love really changed the meaning of THAT statement), feather those bangs, find your denim jacket, and let's ROCK.

Last week's 70s-centric Dishful was easy, but 80s week will be a bit harder. I couldn't think of any foods that screamed 80s. However, as a child of the 80s, most of my comfort foods make me think of the 80s, so that's where I'm going.

I tweaked a classic recipe last year and it's served me well ever since. And it's got cheese. And bacon. And is good with rooster sauce.

Broken Spoon Mac & Cheese

8 slices bacon, chopped
1 Tbsp butter
1/4 c flour
3 1/2 c milk (not skim milk)
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp cayenne pepper
salt and pepper
6 oz smoked cheddar cheese, grated
6 oz stilton cheese, crumbled
2 Tbsp corn starch
1 lb macaroni
1/2 c breadcrumbs
1/3 c parmesean cheese
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp chopped fresh chives

Preheat your oven to 400 F.

In a sauce pan, cook the bacon very slowly over low heat, till it's super crispy and the fat has rendered. This will probably take close to 30 minutes. You should go until it's just starting to look burnt. Take the bacon out of the pan and drain.

In the pan with the bacon fat, add the butter and cook over medium heat till it foams and the foam subsides. Add the flour and whisk. It'll cook for a minute and start to come together like a dough. Turn the heat to low and cook until it starts to melt again. If it starts to get brown, that's OK, but you're done. Add the COLD milk to the pan and whisk over medium heat. Cook till it starts to thicken. Turn the heat back to low and add the nutmeg, cayenne, and then salt and pepper to taste. You now have a classic bechamel sauce.

Coat the cheddar and stilton in the corn starch -- it'll help it melt smoothly. Add it, a handful at a time to the bechamel and whisk it till it's completely melted. Continue till the cheese is melted and remove from the heat and cover tightly.

Boil the noodles according to the package directions, only stop about a minute shy of al dente. It'll finish cooking in the oven. Drain the noodles VERY well -- they should be as close to bone dry as possible.

Stir the cheese sauce -- the proteins in the milk will have formed a skin on it, no big deal. Just stir it in. Add the macaroni and stir to combine. Add to a greased baking dish.

Combine the oil, parmesean and breadcrumbs and sprinkle on top of the cheese. Bake at 400 F for 10 - 12 minutes or until the top is golden brown and delicious. Top with the fresh chives and serve.

To break the spoon, refrigerate overnight and attempt to serve.

While finding a good 80s meal was hard, finding a good 80s metal record was easy, because let's face it. The greatest metal album ever was released in 1986.

Slayer
Reign in Blood
American Recordings

Any true metal fan should have this in their Top 10 best albums of all time. Kind of a bummer to peak with your third album. When I say peak, I mean it. This is the album against which all other metal albums are judged, even though only very few will admit it publicly. From the first note of Angel of Death to the thunderstorm at the end of Raining Blood, every riff was an instant classic; every solo thrash perfection. As an interesting aside: Your band must be able to cover at least part of Angel of Death or Raining Blood to pass the metal band licensing exam.

When Baby Huey is bored, he rains blood from a lacerated sky.

January 30, 2007

Fondues and Dont's

It's 70s week here at FTTTW! (The third T stands for The seventies) That made me happy, because I'm ridiculously busy at work, and I barely have time to think about anything. That way, when I was presented with a theme I could work with, I jumped at the chance.

FONDUE PARTY BITCHES!!!

I've got 3 different fondues here. I'll give you the recipe for it and some suggested dippers. Bust out some bell-bottoms, put on one of the albums we listed in This Week's TAFC, and get crackin.

The first recipe might be perfect. Just read the ingredients, you'll agree.

Spicy Bacon-Cheese Fondue

1 clove garlic, cut in half
2 oz bacon, chopped fine
2 Tbsp good tequila
2 Tbsp lime juice
12 oz medium-dark beer
5 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated (about 2 cups)
5 oz pepper jack cheese, grated
1 Tbsp rooster sauce
2 Tbsp corn starch

Rub a medium saucepan with the garlic clove. Cook the bacon over low heat for about 20 minutes, till all the fat is rendered out and the bacon is crispy. Add the tequila, lime juice, and beer, and crank the heat up to medium-high.

Toss the cheese with the corn starch. It'll help it melt. When the liquid just comes to a simmer, add a handful of the cheese and stir till it's completely melted. Then add the next batch. Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

After it's all melted, add the rooster sauce. Yer done.

Possible Dippers: Bread, hard veggies (carrots, bell pepper, celery, etc), Kielbasa, meatballs, chicken tenders

The next one was inspired by a soup I made last week.

Asian Hot Pot Fondue

1 1-inch piece of ginger, smashed
1 clove garlic, smashed
1 3-inch piece of lemon grass
1 qt chicken broth
2 Tbsp lime juice
3 Tbsp fish sauce (nuoc mam)
1 small bunch of mint, bruised
2 tsp Thai green curry paste (optional)
1 cup coconut milk (optional)

Put everything in a saucepan and bring to a simmer for 25 minutes. Fish out the solid stuff. You really should serve this still simmering -- an electric fondue pot will be best for this.

Possible Dippers: noodles, veggies, raw seafood or thin sliced meat (lamb, beef, pork) -- simply drop them in and let them sit for a minute or two. If the broth has a heat source under it and is still simmering, it'll cook the meat right there. If you are just keeping it hot, cook the meat first.

What fondue party would be complete without dessert?

Chocolate - Peanut Butter Fondue*
1/3 c sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 1/4 c cream
1 1/4 c milk
1 Tbsp instant coffee powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 c peanut butter

Whisk together the sugar and cornstarch. Slowly whisk in the cream. When it's all incorporated, add the milk, vanilla, and coffee powder. Bring this mixture slowly to a boil and cook gently till it's thickened. This'll take 3 - 4 minutes.

Put the chocolate and peanut butter in a big bowl. Pour the boiling liquid over the stuff and whisk to combine. It'll melt as you stir.

Possible Dippers: Regular bananas, Strawberries (with stem), Marshmallows, Toasted cubed pound cake, Pineapple chunks, pear slices (unpeeled)

* Author's Note: This recipe was adapted largely from Gale Gand's Mexican Hot Chocolate Fondue recipe, which can be found here.

Today's metal review sticks with the theme but strays from Dishful of Metal tradition greatly.

Queen
Sheer Heart Attack
Elektra Records

Queen isn't really metal. That much is true. But they're definitely the A. Afarensis of today's metal -- just enough chromosomes to be considered related. But with songs like "Stone Cold Crazy" (which Metallica covered before they jumped the shark), "Brighton Rock", and "Flick of the Wrist", no self-respecting metalhead can possibly speak ill of them.

Ok, this album came out 7 years before I was born, and it didn't have thie hits on it as some of their later works. I'm not super familiar with it, but I wanted to shine the light on a great 70s metal precursor.

Now that I've told you some of mine, fair readers, I ask of you: what are some of your favorite 70s party foods and rock albums?

Baby Huey is taking every opportunity during 70s week to call the other editors of FTTW old.

January 23, 2007

Bring back my HEAT!

I'm from Ohio. I don't mind the cold, really I don't. I find it invigorating -- it's really nice walking from my car to the building at work in 30 degree weather in a t-shirt with no jacket because usually around here, when it's cold, it's bright and sunny. Reminds me I'm alive.

HOWEVER.

Two weeks ago this time, it was damn near 80 degrees here in Durham. Man can get used to those kinda temperatures. Right now? It's 30 and drizzly. Bleh. To counteract this piss-poor weather, I've gone back in the vault to find a nice, healthy, summery recipe to make you feel like it's time for bermuda shorts and cold beer out on the porch. Or something. Hell, I don't know.

Tropical Pork Loin

3 lb pork loin
2 c pineapple juice
1/2 c light rum
1 c salt
1 c water
1 t coriander seeds
1 t whole allspice, toasted then ground
1 T black peppercorns
1 T whole cumin, toasted then ground
2 bay leaves

Bring all the ingredients (except for the pork, of course) just to a boil and then take the mixture off the heat and stir till the salt is completely dissolved. Allow your freshly-created brine to cool back to room temperature.

Put the pork loin in a ziploc bag and pour the brine over it. Marinate for at least 8 hours (overnight would be best).

Heat your oven to 250 degrees. Cook the pork for about an hour - 90 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the pork is 145 degrees.

Wrap in foil for 15 minutes before cutting.

And because I looked this up when I cooked it, here are the nutritional facts!

Serving Size: 3oz
Calories 178 From fat 74
Total Fat 8.2 g
Saturated 3.0g
Cholesterol 69 mg
Sodium 100 mg
Total Carbs 0 (probably a bit, but negligible)
Protein 24g

I finally got around to reviewing a CD I've had in my queue for a few months now. Partially because I heard part of it and was really impressed, and partially because I'm going to see them in March. Speaking of which, if you're going to be in the Washington, DC area at the end of March and are a metal fan, check out this combo:

March 25: Dark Tranquillity (The Haunted direct support, Into Eternity open) at Jaxx in Springfield
March 26: Lamb of God (Trivium direct support, Machine Head and Gojira open) at the 9:30 club in DC

This leads me to this week's review:

Gojira
From Mars to Sirius
Prosthetic Records

RIYL: Meshuggah, Amon Amarth, Six Feet Under

Off-tempo, mathy metal from France, Gojira deviates from many of its “math metal” contemporaries by taking it somewhat slow. The songs manage to be simultaneously deliberate and plodding, and all over the map. The guitars are spastic and grindy, bringing bands like Napalm Death to mind. The drums keep the beat, but the rest of the band do their part to derail it. This isn't something you're going to listen to and get into a groove. However, if you feel like hurting your brain, this album might be right up your alley.

Recommended Tracks: "From the Sky", "Backbone", "The Heaviest Matter of the Universe", "Where Dragons Dwell"

Baby Huey wishes it was warm, but will be wishing for cold that first 85 degree day in March. Stupid North Carolina.

January 16, 2007

Low Carb my ASS!

I've told you people before that I'm a man of few words. And yet, somehow, I still feel bad if I don't write a novel each time I give you yet another delicious recipe and metal review. I'm not sure what the deal with that is.

This week's recipe is as close to culinary perfection as you can achieve. It has all 4 food groups:

- Carbs (yeah, fuck you right in your constipated ass, Dr. Atkins)
- Fat
- Cheese
- Bacon

And it's spicy and good with guacamole. I mean, come on.

Chipotle Cheddar Bacon Cornbread

* 3 cups yellow cornmeal
* 2 1/4 cups flour
* 1 Tbsp salt
* 1 Tbsp baking powder
* 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
* 2 Tbsp honey
* 5 eggs, beaten
* 4 slices of bacon, diced
* 3 cups milk
* 6 Tbsp melted butter
* 3 chipotle chiles in adobo, chopped
* 1 c shredded cheddar cheese

Put the bacon into a 12 inch cast iron skillet. Put the skillet in a cold oven and preheat it to 425 deg for about 10 - 15 minutes.

In a bowl, combine the liquid ingredients, chiles, cheese, and honey. In a second (large) bowl, combine the rest of the dry ingredients. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients (not the other way around). Stir till it's just combined.

Take the skillet out of the oven and take the bacon out of the skillet. Do not, under ANY circumstances, get rid of that fat. Take a wad of paper towels or a grill brush, and coat the inside of the skillet, bottom and side, with the bacon grease. Add the batter and back into the oven for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, sprinkle the bacon on top of the cornbread, and back in the oven for another 10 minutes. A toothpick should come out mostly clean (the cheese may prevent it from being completely dry). Let it cool for 20 minutes before turning it out of the skillet. You can slather it with butter, or guacamole, or rooster sauce, or whatever. It's also excellent for dipping in chili. It'll be awesome. I actually like it with butter and a bit of honey -- sweet and spicy kick ass together.

If that got your appetite working, this week's metal review will make you lose it.

The County Medical Examiners
Olidous Operettas
Relapse Records

According to Wikipedia, The County Medical Examiners are an American goregrind band, whose intended purpose is to emulate the classic goregrind of the 1980s - the early albums of Carcass. The band is a power trio of actual medical examiners (at the time of their first releases they were still doing their studies) comprising Dr Morton Fairbanks on guitar and vocals, Dr Jack Putnam on drums and vocals, and Dr Guy Radcliff on bass and vocals. Note that these are not their real names, as they would probably be expelled from the medical profession for playing the sort of music that they do, despite keeping it more tasteful than their idols. Where Carcass would perform Exhume to Consume, The County Medical Examiners do A Brief Discourse On Wound Ballistics. Their lyrical content merely describes what goes on in the morgues of hospitals, rather than discussing grisly acts of necrophilia and cannibalism. The band's frontman is Dr Morton Fairbanks, who writes most of the bands music and lyrics, though all band members are credited. It should be noted that Dr Guy Radcliff (who is many years the senior of the other two band members) is not a goregrind fan, but joined the band as they were short a bassist, and out of his professed love for the avant-garde. The County Medical Examiners have released a few albums, and are sporadically working on a new album. They have never performed live.

Controversy surrounds the identity of the band members, as they use pseudonyms to avoid the wrath of hospital administration and fan attention. One rumor suggests that TCME contains at least one member of Exhumed, mostly because the domain name for the band's website was registered by a former member of Exhumed, and not under the name of the "band members," but it's now commonly accepted that TCME, being uninterested in their online promotion, have many people behind the scenes--including various other Carcass clone bands, as well as Relapse Records staff--donating their time to web design and promotion, as well as guest musical appearances.

One last thing: if you buy this CD (and I recommend you do), the booklet is scratch and sniff. And it smells like rotting flesh.

Recommended Tracks: The Virchow Postmortem Procedure, Expeditious Evisceratory Mishap, Maturating Decompositional Gas

January 9, 2007

Help this, Motherfucker!

A while back, Turtle challenged me to do a Dishful of Metal based on jazzing up Hamburger Helper. Far be it for me to back down from a challenge. I went at it, and I set some rules of my own to make it harder.

I had to do it with Hamburger, Chicken, and Tuna Helper. I couldn't spend more than $5 on each dish to jazz it up, cause come on. Most people eating Tuna Helper aren't gonna be able to afford to substitue lobster, right? I made a couple of assumptions -- specifically, that you would have the following ingredients on hand (and therefore, not count against the $5 limit):

- Fresh garlic
- Fresh lemons or bottled lemon juice
- Rooster sauce (cause, come on. It's FTTW.)

Hamburger Helper

1 Box Cheeseburger flavored Hamburger Helper

Additions:
1 green bell pepper, cut into strips (approx $0.69)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c sour cream (approx $0.99 for a 1 c container)
1/3 c fresh cilantro, chopped (approx $0.79 for a bunch that yeilds about 2 c)

In a large skillet, saute the bell pepper and garlic with the ground beef. Cook the helper according to the box's instructions. After it's finished, add the sour cream, cilantro, and some rooster sauce if you're feeling feisty. See how easy this is?

Tuna Helper

1 Box Creamy Pasta flavored Tuna Helper

Additions:

1 8 oz jar marinated artichoke hearts, quartered (approx $1.99)
1/2 c prepared pesto sauce (approx. $2.49 for an 8 oz container)
juice of 1 lemon (approx 2 t of bottled juice)

Cook the helper according to package instructions. Stir in the additions at the end. Done.

Chicken Helper

1 Box Chicken Enchilada flavored Chicken Helper

Additions:

1 chipotle chile, chopped ($0.99)
1 c shredded cheddar cheese ($1.79 for the bag)
1/2 c Fritos, crushed lightly ($0.89 for a snack-sized bag)
chopped cilantro if you have some leftover from Hamburger Helper night

Prepare according to the package directions, adding the chipotle when you add the liquid. At the end, add the cheese and Fritos, and stir to combine/melt the cheese.

They're really that easy, folks. If I may make one suggestion, though, from experience: DO NOT, under any circumstances, make all three of these on consecutive nights. You will pay if you do.

For my first metal review of the new year, I'm going back a bit, because I
haven't really gotten anything new yet at the station.

Dream Theater - Score: Live with the Octavarium Orchestra
Rhino Records

This 3-CD album (or 1-DVD live concert) is from the last show of the band's 20th anniversary tour (hence the title) that took place in April at Radio City Music Hall, and is a fairly representative sample of the band's history. While it focuses mostly on their latest studio album, Octavarium, selections reach all the way back to their 1989 DreamTheater debut, When Dream and Day Unite (I know what you're thinking, 2006 - 1989 < 20, but from 1986 to 1989, they were known as Majesty). This album really doesn't feature a lot of their heavier numbers, but focuses more on the orchestral, ballad-like, and dare I say poppy, tracks. The second 2 discs feature a full orchestra (we're not talking NY Philharmonic sized, but it's fully instrumented). The two hella long songs, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (clocking in at 42 minutes) and Octavarium (24 minutes), are cool concept pieces that are actually closer to one-act rock operas and are among my favorite songs of theirs of all time.

Baby Huey has a way better memory than me cause I don't remember this, but what the hell. I'll cook something up - Turtle

Archives

January 2, 2007

Coconuts Attack!

Happy 2007. I'd like to take this opportunity to give 2006 a hearty fuck you and good riddance. It had its moments, but sucked on the whole (hehehe, sucked on the hole).

It's 10pm on New Year's Eve as I'm writing this. Yeah, I'm a party animal. You can't stop me, you can only hope to contain me. My recipe for today is what I made for dinner tonight. It was awesome, and frankly, because of how much I like cooking and how much I dislike people, I really couldn't have enjoyed myself more (please, let me have my delusions here).

Anyway, here's the recipe, let me wallow in my depression! Heh.

Thai Chili-Coconut Stew

3 c coconut milk
3 Tbsp rooster sauce
3 Tbsp fish sauce (if you don't have this, you can use 2 Tbsp soy sauce)
2 inch piece of lemongrass
2 inch piece of ginger
1 large onion, sliced
4 oz shiitake mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz udon noodles
1 lb chinese long beans (use green beans if you can't find the long beans)
6 oz chinese sweet sausage (you can use andouille if you can't find the chinese stuff)

Cook the noodles according to the package directions. Drain and put them aside for a couple of minutes.

Take half of the ginger and grate it. Take the other half and bruise it with your knife. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the bruised ginger, coconut milk, fish sauce, lemongrass, and rooster sauce. Let this stew for about 25 minutes.

In a big saute pan, over medium heat, add the sausage and cook for about 10 minutes, to render out the fat. Add the garlic and grated ginger, and cook for about 45 seconds. Add the onions and mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes, till they're just tender. Add the long beans and cook for about 5 minutes. Toss in the noodles. Fish out the ginger and lemongrass piece from the coconut milk and pour that over the vegetables and noodles. Serves 4 - 6.

I got nothin in the way of metal reviews this week, so here's a sample of what I'm excited for in 2007:

Megadeth - "United Abominations" ... coming out in March.
3 Inches of Blood - Title TBD ... coming out in April.
Job For A Cowboy - Title TBD ... coming out in March.
Mnemic - "Passenger" ... coming out in Feb.

Others for sure, but those are definites I'm excited about.

We all know Josh is hott for coconuts. I still don't know what that means.

-------------------------------------
Baby Huey - deadofthenight@gmail.com
Metal Director and Host of "Dead of the Night"
Every Tuesday, 10pm - midnight
WXDU, 88.7 FM, Durham, NC

Archives

December 26, 2006

Chili, Bowl Games and Metal Up Your Ass

The week between Christmas and New Year's Day is probably my favorite week of the entire year. Is it the bonding with family? Is it the sense of giving? Hell no. It's the fact that I get to watch football--COLLEGE football at that, which is most definitely the best kind--nearly uninterrupted for 168 hours straight. That is outstanding. Bowl season, my friends, is officially upon us, starting today.

Slightly out of form for this column, I'd like to take this opportunity as a die hard college football fan to make my predictions for the BCS bowl games. Mostly because I love talking about football, but hopefully also to spark some conversations:

Fiesta Bowl
Oklahoma v. Boise State

Boise State's got a great, high flying offense when they play in the WAC. Despite a down year for the Big 12, Oklahoma STILL faces tougher competition than BSU did and behind Adrian Peterson will slow the game down and take control out of BSU's hands.

Baby Huey's Prediction: Oklahoma 17, BSU 14

Rose Bowl
USC v. Michigan

I hate Michigan (see below), and Pete Carroll's a great coach, but Mike Hart and Mario Manningham, along with UM's defensive front 7 will just be entirely too much for the Trojans.

Baby Huey's Prediction: Michigan 28, USC 13

Orange Bowl
Notre Dame v. LSU

In my mind, the most evenly matched of the BCS bowls. You've got a savvy, make-you-miss offense in Notre Dame against LSU's kick-you-in-the-teeth defense. On the other side of the ball, you've got JaMarcus Russel going against ND's suspect secondary. Brady Quinn's a top 3 draft pick, but he still hasn't shown he can win the big college game.

Baby Huey's Prediction: LSU 24, Notre Dame 17

Sugar Bowl
Wake Forest v. Louisville

My two favorite Cinderella stories of the year. Wake's got an impressive defense but they won't be able to stop Brian Brohm and that explosive Louisville offense. There's just too much.

Baby Huey's Prediction: Louisville 34, Wake Forest 21

BCS Championship
Ohio State v. Florida

Ahhhh, my Buckeyes. I will preface this by proclaiming my undying love for Ohio State. That being said, I feel I can say with some objectivity that Florida really doesn't have the greatest shot in this one. Florida's squeezed by against some teams that they should have, for all intents and purposes, whipped. They played a fluff non-conference schedule (yes, I-AA Western Carolina, I'm looking at you...). Ohio State destroyed 10 of the 12 opponents they played. They were never NOT in control of the situation.

Now, some of you may point to 2002, when Ohio State went into the Fiesta Bowl as heavy underdogs against Miami, and won. I watched every snap of that game -- you don't need to bring it up. I've considered it. Consider this. The only "good" team that Miami played that year was Florida State, and they only one because FSU's kicker shanked yet ANOTHER potential game winner. Ohio State gutted out a perfect season in the Big 10, which even in its down years will ALWAYS be better than the Big East. Ohio State this year has only won by less than 17 points twice. They've beaten the #2 team in the nation. Twice. Both times were fairly convincing. Sure, the score of the Michigan game was 42 - 39, but it was two botched snaps away from being 56 - 29.

The Ohio State offense is like a damn nuclear battleship. It's got a lot of different ways to kill you. Two of the best receivers in the country and a few number 3 options will make you pay, and if you pay too much attention to them, they'll give the ball to Antonio Pittman and Beanie Wells and they'll run it right up your ass, and it's all run by an amazing admiral in Troy Smith. The defense bends, but they never break, and they will cause Chris Leak and Tim Tebow to make mistakes.

And finally, think of this: does anyone want to play a Jim Tressel-coached team when he has 50 days to figure out how to beat you?

Baby Huey's Prediction: Ohio State 38, Florida 14

Ok, all that was just to let me rave about the Buckeyes. Who cares. Onto the food. No bowl season would be complete without some serious bowl food. I'm going to do something I never thought I would, fair readers. I'm going to share with you today my chili recipe. Enjoy it.

Baby Huey's 4 alarm chili (it's not really that spicy, I just use four different peppers)

2 Tbsp vegetable oil
3 lbs stew meat (use any combination of beef, lamb, and pork. I usually do 2 + 1 beef + pork) cut into 1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes.
3 Tbsp adobo seasoning (or 2 Tbsp garlic powder + 1 Tbsp salt)
1 very large onion, cut into thin slices
1 poblano pepper, cut into thin strips, seeds removed
1 serrano chile, cut into rings. Serranos are pretty hot, so you could use a jalapeno as a slightly milder substitute.
2 Tbsp chile powder, preferably homemade (easy recipe at the bottom)
1 to 3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped, depending on your heat tolerance.
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1 14 oz can diced, fire-roasted tomatoes (Muir Glen makes a great fire-roasted canned tomato)
24 oz ale or lager-style beer
1 c water
1 14 oz can of black or pinto beans, drained and rinsed (optional)
2 Tbsp tequila

In a large bowl, toss the meat with the adobo seasoning. Let it sit for 20 - 30 minutes.

In a large (5 to 7 quart) cast iron dutch oven, heat 1 tbsp of the oil over medium-high heat. Add the meat in stages. Only put enough meat in so that it's all in one layer and that no two pieces are touching. This will promote good, even browning. When each batch is browned, take it out of the pan and brown the next batch. For 3 lbs, it should take at least four batches.

After the meat is brown, heat the remaining oil and add the onions, poblano and serrano. Cook for 5 - 7 minutes, till the onions start to get brown. Add the tomato paste and cook for a minute or two. When the tomato paste is a dark brick color, add everything else (including the meat) to the pot except the tequila and beans. Bring this up to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat to low, or place in a 250 degree oven. You'll want to cook this for at least 2 1/2 - 3 hours. I've cooked it as long as 6. If you do plan on a very long cooking time, keep an eye on it and add a bit of water as necessary to keep the consistency where you like it.

At the end of the simmering time, stir in the tequila and the beans, and cook to heat through. I'm not all for fancy chili garnishes, but the tequila flavor in this really lends itself to a squeeze of lime and some chopped cilantro. For a special treat the next day, serve over Fritos with shredded cheddar for the classic known as Frito Chili Pie.

Simple Chile Powder

1 anaheim chile, seeds removed and cut into pieces
1 tbsp cumin seeds

In a nonstick skillet over medium heat, add everything and shake occasionally, just till the cumin seeds start to pop. That should take 5 - 6 minutes. Add everything to a coffee grinder or blender and give it a whirl.

So, we're down to the top two records of the year. Dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnnnn. 2006 was a fantastic year for metal. Really it was. Here are numbers 10 - 3:

10. Witchery - Don't Fear the Reaper
9. Light This City - Facing the Thousand
8. Cannibal Corpse - Kill
7. Dragonforce - Inhuman Rampage
6. Amorphis - Eclipse
5. In Flames - Come Clarity
4. Strapping Young Lad - The New Black
3. God Dethroned - The Toxic Touch

2. Lamb of God - Sacrament
Epic Records
Release Date: August 22, 2006

In 2003, Lamb of God came out with As the Palaces Burn. I was not impressed. Gotta admit. It was middling metal, guys with potential but that hadn't really found their sound. All my friends had hardons for these guys -- especially their live show. I didn't buy it, and didn't give them much of a second thought.

Then, in 2004, Ashes of the Wake came out and things, as they say, took a turn. They have an incredibly unique tone on their guitars, and like them or not, I've never met someone who didn't appreciate that. Randy Blythe's vocals were aggressive, the drums perfect.

Sacrament came out earlier this month (or late in August, so what if I don't remember, bite me). Kind of a logical progression. The guitars are still there. The drumming is still there. The big change is Randy's vocals -- it's as if he is a man possessed by Phil Anselmo himself (minus the whole racist douchebag thing Anselmo has going on). The first single, "Redneck" makes me want beat the crap out of someone.

Aaaaaaand, the number 1 record of 2006?

1. The Haunted - The Dead Eye
Century Media Records
Release Date: October 31, 2006

Can I really say more good things about this? No. So here's what I've said before: "Two years ago vocalist Marco Aro left The Haunted, and was replaced on their fourth album, rEVOLVEr, by Peter Dolving, who sang on their self-titled debut. I hadn't heard that album and was concerned - Aro was a brutally aggressive, singularly focused vocalist. He wanted to kick your ass every second and you loved it. Would Dolving stand up? rEVOLVEr took The Haunted in a completely new direction, toying with melody and different tempos. It was critically acclaimed but panned by many of the band's most ardent fans, who loved the thrash label thrust upon them as much by pedigree as by sound. Brothers Anders and Jonas Bjorler were 2 fifths of the ultra-seminal Swedish band At the Gates, and the sound associated with that band followed them to The Haunted. The Dead Eye, however, bucks a lot of those predispositions and stretches both the musicians' boundaries and the listeners' expectations. The classic Haunted balls-to-the-wall thrash anthems are still there, typified by Patrik Jensen's unique guitar tone and Bjorler's classic riff-writing, and they still kick ass. Where they rise above are in the relatively new concept (for them, anyway) of mid-tempo, dark, melodic songs. This album shows off Dolving's formidable vocal stylings, pulling in both aggressive screaming as well as dark, atmospheric crooning a la Maynard James Keenan from Tool or Tom Gabriel Fischer from Celtic Frost. The only downside, in my opinion, is that they didn't let drummer Per Moller Jensen play around as much. He basically kept the rhythm in this album, and that's it. That's a shame, too, because his fills are really excellent, classic metal drumming. This album is, to quote Dolving, "diverse, dynamic, and heavy as fuck." Well, heavy enough in spots to make up for where they take it down a notch."

Josh loves him some college games. And chili. And metal..

-------------------------------------
Baby Huey - deadofthenight@gmail.com
Metal Director and Host of "Dead of the Night"
Every Tuesday, 10pm - midnight
WXDU, 88.7 FM, Durham, NC

Archives

December 19, 2006

Bottoms Up!

Allow me to set a scene for you. It was last Wednesday. I'm all settled in for the work day. I had breakfast for dinner. I'm in my PJs. The dog's asleep next to me on the couch, when all of a sudden, it hits. My sweet tooth. My sweet tooth is odd -- it's not there all the time, but when it rears its ugly head it must be satiated RIGHT FUCKING NOW! NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW!

Now, this presented me with a couple of problems. You see, by the time you read this, I'll be in Ohio visiting my family for the holidays. I'll be away from home for 10 days. That means about 2 weeks ago, I stopped buying groceries and I'm just working my way through the fridge. Because of that, I had nothing that was a) prepared and b) sweet in my house. I didn't want to bake something (remember the NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW part?) and I was in my damn PJs. I wasn't going out. What to do, what to do, what to do? Man, I needed a drink.

Wait, that's it! I ran to the pantry, found what I needed, and threw together a warm, sweet, satisfying cup of hot cocoa from scratch. It's so simple, and made from stuff that you probably have in your pantry (and if you don't, you probably should).

Pantry Hot Cocoa

24 oz evaporated milk
1/4 c cocoa powder
1/4 - 1/2 c sugar*
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinammon
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (trust me, I swear to god it's awesome)

* I gave you a range of amounts of sugar. 1/4 c is going to make it taste very much like bittersweet chocolate -- nice and chocolatey, but not all that sweet. I did it with 1/2 c, and it was VERY sweet. Next time I do it, I'll do 1/3 c.

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, heat all but 1/4 c of the milk and the sugar till the sugar is dissolved. In a small bowl, put the cocoa powder, cinammon, and pepper. Add the reserved milk and whisk to combine. You don't have to do this exactly, but adding cocoa to liquid makes it nearly impossible to dissolve because it just floats there. Making the paste first will make your life a lot easier. Add this paste to the pan and bring up till it's as warm as you want it, between 130 - 135 degrees, if you're a thermometer geek. At the last second, add the vanilla and stir to combine.

If you want to booze it up, this would be delicious with any number of liquors or liqueurs. I would personally add bourbon, Kahlua, or Irish creme. Grand Marnier would also be very good.

Obviously, you'd want to top this with whipped cream or marshmallows. If you don't have any, like I didn't, and you have a hand-held mixer or stick blender, use your whisk attachment, and give it a good whirl. The fact that the evaporated milk is more concentrated will help it create a nice frothy foam, although I'd do that before I added any booze, because I'm not sure how the foam would react with the alcohol.

Continuing on Baby Huey's top 10 of 2006, we've cracked the top 5, and we're getting into the diggity dank records of the year (that's what the kids say to mean "good," right?). Let's recap what we've got so far:

10. Witchery - Don't Fear the Reaper
9. Light This City - Facing the Thousand
8. Cannibal Corpse - Kill
7. Dragonforce - Inhuman Rampage
6. Amorphis - Eclipse
5. In Flames - Come Clarity

4. Strapping Young Lad - The New Black
Century Media Records
Release Date: July 11, 2006

Here's my review from when this came out in July. I've highlighed a bit of an error in it. See if you can find it.

It's rare that I call an album the best metal album of the year in July, but guess what? This is the best metal album of the year. I'd be astounded if another album came along that is better. SYL, hailing from outside Vancouver, is back with what is rumoured (I'm using superfluuuuous U's in my review since they're Canadian) to be their last release. The album is, by and large, classic Strapping Young Lad. Devin Townsend continues to baffle me with the unholy sounds he can create with his voice. Ex-Death and current legend Gene Hoglan continues behind the drumkit in a manner that I can only describe as frenzied. The keyboards (played by an unnamed stranger, no one in the band is listed as a keys player) continue to add a veritable wall of melody to every song. They lyrics are funny and smart, and the guitar work manages to be melodic and mind-shattering at the same time. If you're in safe harbor, check out "You Suck" and "Far Beyond Metal," which is the lone old track on this album. They wrote the song in 1997, and it appeared on their two live recordings, "No Sleep til Bedtime" and "For those Aboot to Rock." The studio, though, presented them with a special opportunity: The guest vocalist spot, usually filled by guitarist Jed Simon, has been covered in this case by GWAR's Oderus Urungus. I highly suggest giving "The New Black" a spin.

3. God Dethroned - The Toxic Touch
Metal Blade Records
Release Date: October 31, 2006

It's inevitable - I always have a record from late in the year towards the top of my list. I know it's unfair, but it happens. It's fresh in my mind, what can I say? Anyway, if you want to read more about it, go read my post here for a review.

Stay tuned next week for the last recipe of 2006 and my top 2 albums.

We all know Josh put booze in his drink when he made this

-------------------------------------
Baby Huey - deadofthenight@gmail.com
Metal Director and Host of "Dead of the Night"
Every Tuesday, 10pm - midnight
WXDU, 88.7 FM, Durham, NC

Archives

December 12, 2006

The Magical Fruit!

No talk, more rock! And gassy-type foods. That are healthy. Promise. Yayyyyyyy farts.

Cajun Pinto Bean Soup

1 tsp veg oil
2 links chicken andouille sausage, sliced
1 onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper
2 bay leaves
3 T brown sugar
2 t mustard powder
2 T chile powder (preferably freshly ground)
2 cans pinto beans, drained
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
3 c chicken stock
basil for garnish

Heat the oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Brown the sausage in the oil. It should take you about 10 - 15 minutes. You want it to be nice and dark. Remove from pan and add the vegetation. Cook for 5 minutes. Add sugar and spices. Add the tomatoes and stock. If you want your soup smooth and thick, add half of one of the cans of the beans. Cook for 30 minutes.

If you want the soup smooth, zap it with a stick blender or in the blender. Add the rest of the beans and the sausage back. Cook for 5 more minutes. Garnish with shredded basil. If you've ever been to Bojangle's, this is pretty similar to the cajun pinto beans.

Back to Baby Huey's Top 10 of 2006. Today, we will crack the top 5 with one of my absolute favorite bands of all time, making a serious comeback. Let's recap what we've seen so far.

10. Witchery - Don't Fear the Reaper
9. Light this City - Facing the Thousand
8. Cannibal Corpse - Kill
7. Dragonforce - Inhuman Rampage

6. Amorphis - Eclipse
Nuclear Blast Records
Released: March, 2006

Atmospheric metal with a great growly tinge to it, Eclipse is Amorphis's catchiest, if not best, work to date. I'm going to blatantly plagiarize the one sheet that the label sent me, since it has good concise descriptions of each song. I've edited any obvious propaganda.

1 – Great album opener, heavy and loaded with hooks.
2 – Very catchy, this is the first single in Europe. Not the heaviest track, but a fun listen.
3 – Heavy at the beginning, complete with growls which are somewhat rare on this album.
4 - The notable weak spot on the record. It's just kind of there.
5 - A cool, slower piece with a laid-back, damn near reggae feel.
6 – Again, catchy and heavy. This one will be amazing live, and translates well to the studio.
7 – More rock than metal and very reminiscent of their older stuff.
8 – My personal favorite track, it's again very rocking and catchy. The vocals come through incredibly well.
9 – Up-tempo, fistpumping and great progressions that are incredibly intense.
10 – Amazing guitar work on the outtro. Note that there is 2:49 of silence at the end.
11 - Great, heavy, catchy bonus track.

5. In Flames - Come Clarity

Ferret Records (US only, Nuclear Blast worldwide)
Released: February 7, 2006

Ok, I lost my review of the record. I can't find it. I don't want to write it again. Allmusic.com's is pretty darn good, though:

In Flames' most recent LPs, 2002's Reroute to Remain and 2004's Soundtrack to Your Escape, made them poster boys for the dreaded "evolve or perish" maxim in heavy metal -- a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't dilemma, where the din unleashed by jilted die-hard fans usually drowns out any positive overtures from both new and faithful supporters. However, such was In Flames' talent and reputable cachet coming into these experiments that the conflicting parties appeared to have pretty much fought each other to a draw by the time the Swedes unleashed their next opus, Come Clarity, in early 2006.

Pre-release hype had actually hinted at a more uptempo record, and neo-thrashing numbers like "Vacuum," "Versus Terminus," and album opener "Take This Life" certainly delivered on that promise. But perhaps these were merely calculated concessions intended to get the usual grouches off the band's back, because the vast remainder of Come Clarity sees In Flames getting right back to this "evolutionary" business, and looking for new ways to express themselves through bite-sized melodic metal nuggets. Really, that's always been their standard m.o., and if current material like "Leeches," "Crawl Through Knives," and the superlative single "Reflect the Storm" let their catchy choruses speak louder than their guitars, more often than not -- as long as those troublesome flirtations with nu metal are never mentioned again (and they aren't on this occasion) -- there's absolutely no reason to get hysterical here. Sure, "Dead End" gets little to no traction from doing the beaten-to-death guest female vocal thing (provided by Swedish pop star Lisa Miskovsky) and "Scream" is an embarrassing candidate for one of those Jock Rock compilations, but the only overarching criticism that can be leveled the album's way is that some of its more unconventional offerings (such as the semi-balladic title track and atmospheric closer "Your Bedtime Story Is Scaring Everyone") have their full potential edited out of by the band's obsessive succinctness (that too, by the way, a career-long In Flames trademark).

Ultimately, Come Clarity's trump card may well be those frequent -- if altogether brief -- resurrections of the thrilling twin-guitar harmony runs typical of In Flames' melodic death metal glory years (see "Pacing Death's Rail," "Vanishing Light," the aforementioned "Dead End"). Quite possibly reflecting a very considered act of strategic compromise on In Flames' part, it epitomizes this album's very successful reconciliation of past, present, and future, to come out overwhelmingly victorious in the end.

Josh likes to rock out with his cock out and his ass full of gas

-------------------------------------
Baby Huey - deadofthenight@gmail.com
Metal Director and Host of "Dead of the Night"
Every Tuesday, 10pm - midnight
WXDU, 88.7 FM, Durham, NC

Archives

December 5, 2006

Think Thin, Tubby!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He was loved by all. Full obituary here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Don't worry, folks. I'm not making fun of fatties. I am a fatty. However, since the goal of FTTW is to serve the heh grhehheheheeater good AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA -- sorry, couldn't say it with a straight face.

Let's try it again. Since the goal of FTTW is to serve the greater good, and since the average American gains almost 8 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day (seriously!) I'm going to make December's recipes rather healthy. Today's is a great salad that I made for the first time in college and it's never failed me before.

Asian Pickle Salad

4 large cucumbers, about 2 lbs, washed
1 medium onion
2 medium or 1 large carrot
2 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds
2 c rice wine vinegar
1/2 c distilled (white) vinegar
3/4 c sugar
1/3 c salt
2 tsp red chile flakes
3 Tbsp dark (toasted) sesame oil
1 bunch scallions
1 Tbsp basil
1 Tbsp mint

Special hardware: either a v-slicer or exceptional knife skills, and a box grater.

Slice the cucumbers very thin using a v-slicer or mandolin, or with your knife. The slices shouldn't be more than 1/8" thick. Using the largest hole in the box grater, grate the onions and carrots and toss with the cucumbers. In a microwave-safe dish, combine the vinegar, chile flakes, salt, and sugar and microwave on high for 2 minutes. Stir to dissolve the salt and sugar. If it's still not dissolved, microwave for 45 seconds at a time, stirring after each interval until it's all dissolved. Pour over the veggies and stir to combine. Let this mixture come to room temperature.

Chop the scallions, mint, and basil fairly small. Toss with the veggies. Add the sesame seeds and sesame oil, and stir to combine. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, but since this is a pickle* it's even better as it gets older. I've had this last in an airtight container up to 2 weeks, and it just gets better and better. It's fantastic with steamed fish or grilled chicken breasts. And yes, editors of FTTW, this is awesome with rooster sauce.

* This is a refrigerator pickle. That means, unlike your standard jarred pickle, you do need to keep it refrigerated at all times.

Now, back to the top 10 metal albums of 2006, according to the most
knowledgable source around: me. To recap, we have so far:

10. Witchery - Don't Fear the Reaper (Century Media Records)
9. Light This City - Facing the Thousand (Prosthetic Records)

8. Cannibal Corpse - Kill
Metal Blade Records
Release Date: March 21, 2006

"If vomit were a movie, this would be the soundtrack," wrote one critic of Cannibal Corpse's music, some of the most extreme, violent death metal sounds and subject matter ever committed to tape. I wasn't a huge fan of George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher's vocals after he took over for Chris Barnes but Kill completely changed my mind. This album is brutal but musical at the sametime, and very much reminds me of Napalm Death. Allmusic.com writes, "From the first explosive second of the blistering opener, 'Time to Kill is Now,' Kill reaches into the back of your throat and pulls out your writhing skeleton. This is metal crafted with little remorse for the eardrums and souls of its people. Producer Erik Rutan (Hate Eternal/ex-Morbid Angel) cranks up the bottom end -- it's rare to be able to hear the kick drum in speed metal -- tightens the guitar leads and generally pounds the listener into submission through 13 aural assaults that will be welcomed by fans with open mouths. Kill doesn't break any new ground for the veteran sickos, but if it ain't broke don't fix it -- just turn it up louder." Couldn't have said it better myself.

7. Dragonforce - Inhuman Rampage
Roadrunner Records
Release Date: January 10, 2006 (worldwide on Sanctuary Records; US release was mid-June on Roadrunner)

Go look up Power Metal in Wikipedia. Seriously, I'll wait. The definition is "Power metal is a style of heavy metal music with the aim of evoking an 'epic' feel, often within a fantastic or (less often) symphonic context." Why Dragonforce's picture is not right there is beyond me. These guys are power metal defined, not to mention some of the most technically perfect musicians I've ever heard. I first heard the European release of this album about 3 months ago and was blown away, but was convinced that the guitar wizardry was simply production value. Then I saw them live at Ozzfest in August -– it's not knobs and whistles. They're really that good. The album is chock full of 6 and 7 minute songs full of guitar wankery and high-pitched, Halford-esque vocals. If you're interested in just listening to amazing musicians doing what they do best, give this album a listen.

Next week we'll finish out the top 5 and post another healthy recipe. So stay tuned, fatty!

Baby Huey does not condone the use of marijuana unless you plan to make a run for the California gubernatorial race

Baby Huey - deadofthenight@gmail.com
-------------------------------------
Metal Director and Host of "Dead of the Night"
Every Tuesday, 10pm - midnight
WXDU, 88.7 FM, Durham, NC

Archives

November 28, 2006

Thanksgiving Aftermath

Turkey soup. Turkey omelettes. Turkey fried rice. Turkey sandwiches that use dressing as bread. God I love thanksgiving leftovers. This is one of my favorite recipes using leftovers, and it's mighty easy, to boot.

As an aside, you should all go here and make this bread recipe. I made it this weekend, and it is seriously idiot-proof. Unless your yeast is dead from the start, you can't screw this up.

Turkey Tettrazini

1 lb egg noodles
2 c cooked turkey, chopped
2 c mixed vegetables, chopped (either leftover, or use a bag of frozen mixed veggies)
1 c leftover gravy
3 c whole milk
1 c shredded white cheese (like swiss or mozzarella)
1 Tbsp butter, melted
1/2 c breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs

Boil the noodles according to the package directions, but stop about 2 minutes early. Drain completely.

In a big saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the gravy and milk, and stir till it's smooth. Stir in cheese, a handful at a time, till it's all melted. Add the turkey, vegetables, and noodles, and stir gently to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste -- the milk will probably have dulled the flavor a bit. Fill a greased casserole dish with this goop, and top with the crumbs and the melted butter. Put in a 350 degree oven, uncovered, until it's brown and bubbly on top, about 25 minutes.

As for the metal, it's that time of the year for me to start telling you my favorite albums of 2006. I'll give you two of the top 10 each week for the next 5 weeks. I'm sure you're on pins and needles.

10. Witchery - Don't Fear the Reaper
Century Media Records
Release Date: March 1, 2006

This is the review I wrote for the album earlier this year: "The underground Swedish metal scene is a hotbed of musical incest, and Witchery is no exception. I swear to god there are 1500 Swedish metal bands but only like 13 people that can play an instrument in the whole damned country. Put on hiatus since 2001 because of 3 of its members' other bands' grueling tour schedule (guitarist Patrik Jensen is in the Haunted, bassist Sharlee D'Angelo is in Mercyful Fate and Arch Enemy, and Martin Axenrot is in Bloodbath, as well as currently sitting as drummer for Opeth), they're back with an album that, despite its name, doesn't really need any more cowbell. The album is full of catchy riffs and fantastic drum work. With Jensen in the band, though, a lot of the riffs sound like The Haunted rip-offs. In some cases it's because of Jensen's unique guitar tone, and in others it's because they're really just self-plagiarized. Still, it's a combination of quality and anticipation, as this is their fir st album in 5 years, but this is one of the best albums I've heard all year."

9. Light this City - Facing the Thousand
Prosthetic Records
Release Date: September 19, 2006

I got some great comments from my FTTW review of this album a few weeks ago: "Fresno-based Light this City reminds me of Sweden's Arch Enemy in many ways. For one, they both have a female vocalist who growls as good or better than many of her male counterparts. The guitars are extremely melodic, but still remain heavy. The drums are lightning-fast and perfectly on-beat. The songs are catchy and fun to listen to. All in all, I was very pleasantly surprised by these guys." Specifically, like Turtle said: "Nothing good comes from Fresno. Just evil people. So it must be good"

Stay tuned next week for numbers 7 and 8.

DJ Baby Huey
Metal Director and Host of "Dead of the Night"
Every Tuesday, 10pm - midnight
WXDU, 88.7 FM, Durham, NC
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Archives

November 21, 2006

Baby Huey's Thanksgiving: It's like Son-in-Law but without that Pauly Shore douchebag!

I had to come up with a good title for this week's column, but at the same time, I needed to come up with a full Thanksgiving spread (hehehe, I said "spread"). So I figured, let's take a look at my internal dialog when I started writing.

Ok, Josh, let's get crackin. Gotta come up with a good title. Shit! Writer's block. Ok, time to plagiarize. Punchline to a joke? Naw, too hard. Album title? Too obscure. I'VE GOT IT. Thanksgiving-themed movies! Ok, let's run down some options.

Dutch - No way. I have a very well documented hatred of the Dutch.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles - Hmmmm ... perhaps. We'll see. It'll be hard to work the title into my post.

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving - NO WAY dude. Have you seen Charlie Brown? Giant head, no hair, and he's a kid??? I think he's got that advanced aging disease you see on Maury. That's out.

Son in Law - A movie that centers around thanksgiving in rural America AND I get to make fun of Pauly Shore? We have a winner.

Ok, now that I've got that done, I have to come up with a witty intro. Aw shit, a witty intro? Dammit! Oh wait, I should just write down my spastic thought process on the title! That'll work. Yeah.Besides, these aren't just any old recipes that I'm coming up with out of nowhere to tell the folks at home. Now that I'm a homeowner, the parents are coming to visit and I'm doing Thanksgiving for mom, stepdad, and brother. Just tell 'em what I'm making! Score. This'll be the easiest column ever!*

Cider-brined turkey breast
1 boneless turkey breast, about 3 pounds
2 c apple cider
1/2 c brown sugar
1 c salt
2 Tbsp whole black peppercorns
6 whole sage leaves
2 tsp ground (or rubbed) sage
2 bay leaves
zest of one orange
2 lbs of ice
1 Tbsp butter

Hardware
1 12" cast iron skillet
a 10 lb oven-safe weight, smaller in diameter than the skillet. Some options: A smaller cast-iron skillet filled with dried beans, or a large brick, wrapped in 2 or 3 layers of foil.

Normally, I wouldn't list hardware, but the cast iron skillet is absolutely necessary here, honestly. You're not gonna get the good crispy skin without it. If you don't have one, buy one. A 12" cast iron skillet is like $20 or 25, and worth every penny.

Put the turkey breast in a cooler just big enough to fit it. Cover it with the ice. In a sauce pan, add the cider, salt, sugar, whole sage leaves, peppercorns, bay, and orange zest and heat till the salt and sugar are dissolved. As soon as they're dissolved, pour over the ice and make sure it's covering the turkey. Close the cooler and let it brine in the refrigerator for 8 - 12 hours.

Put the skillet and the weight in a cold oven and heat it to 400 degrees. While the pans are heating up, take the turkey out of the brine and rinse it off. Pat it dry with paper towels. Sprinkle the skin side with salt, pepper, and the rubbed sage. Don't be shy.

When the oven is heated up, pull the skillet out of the oven and put over medium-high heat (make sure to use a potholder, Alfred Einstein). Lower the oven heat to 350. Melt the butter in the skillet and when it's finished foaming, place the breast, skin side down, in the skillet. You should get some smoke and a lot of sizzle. Season the meat side with salt and pepper. Take the brick out of the oven (again, don't be a dumbass and use a pot holder) and press the weight (brick, 2nd skillet, whatever) into the meat. Cook on the stovetop for about 7 minutes to get a nice dark sear on the skin, it's going to make it nice and crispy. Put that in your 350 degree oven for about 35 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted into the center of the meat reads 155 degrees. Take the skillet out and move the weight out of the way, it's done its all. Put the turkey on a plate and cover lightly with foil, and let it rest for AT LEAST 20 minutes. There are 2 reasons for this. First, turkey breast is actually done at about 165 degrees -- a piece of meat this side does not just stop cooking when you take it out. It'll coast those last 10 degrees. Secondly, if you cut into it as soon as you take it out, the juice will run out and it'll be dry. That'd make me a sad messenger of Satan.

Now that you've made this kickass turkey, DO NOT TOUCH THAT SKILLET, because you're ready for ...

Cider-Turkey Gravy
1/2 stick butter
1/4 c flour
1 c apple cider
2 c chicken (or turkey) stock
1 tsp rubbed sage

Heat the same skillet you cooked the turkey in over medium heat and melt the butter. Once the foam is gone, add the flour and stir to combine with a wooden spoon or whisk. You've made a roux, and it's what's going to thicken your gravy. Now, roux can be scary at first, so realize that it's going to go through a couple of stages. At first, it's going to look like paste and be very thick. As it continues to cook, it will look like it's melting. That's good. Once it's "melted", cook it for another 5 to 7 minutes, till it smells nice and nutty. Whisking vigorously, add the cider and stir to combine. Once it's all combined, add 1 3/4 c of the stock and bring just to a simmer. As soon as you see bubbles, add the sage and stir to combine. Drop the heat to low, and cook for about 15 minutes. This will help the flavors smooth out and create a nice, rich gravy.

After 15 minutes, check the consistency of the gravy. If it is too thin, turn the heat up a bit. If it's just how you want it, add the remaining quarter cup of stock, and stir to combine. See, gravies thickened by flour actually get thicker as they cool down. If it's perfect in the pan, it'll be too thick at the table (don't just take my word for it, I learned this from Alton Brown!). Put it in a gravy bowl and serve with the turkey and ...

Cranberry-Apple Dressing
2 Tbsp butter
1 c onion, chopped fine
1/2 c celery, chopped fine
1/2 c granny smith apple, chopped fine
1 c dried cranberries
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp dried, rubbed sage
4 c cornbread, cut into chunks
3 c chicken broth
1 egg, lightly beaten

Put the bread on a cookie sheet and put in a 200 degree oven for 10 minutes, to dry it out.

In a skillet over medium heat, melt 1 Tbsp of the butter and add the onion, celery, apple, and cranberries. Add some salt and pepper as well as the herbs. Cook for about 5 minutes. Put in a bowl and let cool down for about 10 minutes. After it's cooled, add the egg and stir to combine. Add the bread cubes and stir thoroughly. Add 2 c of the broth and stir lightly to combine. You want the bread to be wet, not mushy (I apologize to anyone that is depressed by wet bread). If it's still too dry, add some or all of the rest of the liquid. Put in a greased baking dish and put in a 350 degree oven for 30 - 45 minute, till the top is brown and crusty.

I feel like I've given you some great Thanksgiving mainstays here, but if I didn't include a cranberry sauce of some kind, I'm pretty sure I'd be lynched.

Mom's Cranberry Relish
12 oz fresh cranberries
1 whole, large orange, cut into quarters (preferably navel, because it's seedless)
1 c toasted pecans
3/4 c sugar
1 box strawberry Jello powder

In a food processor, zap the orange (yes, peel and all) till it's nice and fine. Add the pecans and zap again -- you want these chunkier than the orange. Add the cranberries last, because you want them very chunky. Zap until they're just chopped up a little bit. Dump into a bowl, and make sure you get all that juice. Add the sugar and jello mix. Stir to combine thoroughly. Cover with tinfoil, and let it sit in the fridge for at least 2 hours. That'll let some of the juice come out of the cranberries, and mix with the jello and set up.

Now that I've given you a taste for sweet, time for another side dish, and maybe it's one you haven't had before ...

Oven-Roasted Cauliflower

1 head of cauliflower, broken into florets
5 whole cloves of garlic
2 Tbsp of olive oil
2 tsp red chile flakes
2 tsp salt

Combine all the ingredients in a baking dish, making sure to coat the cauliflower evenly with the oil. Put in a 425 degree oven for about 35 minutes, till it's started to get nice and golden brown.

Ok, seriously? Cooking all this stuff is going to be a blast, but writing these recipes? Tough! I'm almost done, and it's time for dessert. This is a shoutout to Kali, who asked for something special, so here you go, doll.

Mini Pecan Tarts
For the crust:
2 stick butter, room temperature
6 oz cream cheese, room temperature
2 c flour

Put everything in a bowl and mix with your hands till it just makes a dough ball. Don't overmix, though. Roll into 48 small balls. Press each one into a cup of a mini-muffin tin and make sure the crust goes all the way up the side.

For the filling:
3/4 c brown sugar
1 egg
1 Tbsp butter, room temperature
1 c chopped, toasted pecans
1/8 tsp vanilla

Mix all the ingredients together. Fill each muffin crust about 3/4 full. Bake at 375 for 20 - 25 minutes, until just brown around the edges. Sprinkle the top with powdered sugar when they come out.
* Author's note: This was actually rather tough to put together, so be happy, ya ingrates.

As for this week's metal review, take a look at my note above, and that's my excuse for going back in the vault a ways to pull out a "classic" metal review.

The Devin Townsend Band
Synchestra
Hevy Devy Records

This album is so awesome, and so all over the place, that I'm just
going to give a quick synapsis of each song.

Soft, lilting ballad – almost reminiscent of a lullaby. Absolutely beautiful, and really shows off Townsend's vocal talents.
Starts with great acoustic work complete with nature sounds and melds into the wall of metal sound – crunchy guitars and drums, all-encompassing keyboards – that made Strapping Young Lad one of Devin's best efforts and one of the most heralded bands in metal.
Sort of a traditional prog-rock piece. Vocals interspersed with long instrumental breaks.
Epic metal song about the virtues of having children. I think.
IT'S A FUCKING POLKA. 'nuff said. Seriously, it's friggin awesome. If you play no other song on this record, play this one.
The first single, and basically a hard rock version of the previous song.
Basically an intro to the next track.
Reminds me of 70s-style stoner rock. Screams Road trip.
See track 3 for description, only ... different melodies.
See track 3 for description, only ... different melodies.
See track 3 for description, only ... different melodies. (noticing a pattern?)
Great hard rock take on indie rock. Just a vibe I get, but the guitars sound like something I'd hear at some indie club. And despite my burning, irrational hatred for indie rock, I mean that in a good way.
Excellent ending to the album, despite the 2 1/2 minutes of static at the end.

Baby Huey owns every Pauly Shore movie on Betamax.

Archives

November 14, 2006

Sometimes It's Not What You Expected...It's Better

The most fun part of cooking for me is experimentation. Not like that "I was drunk with my best friend in college and we experimented" experimentation. Not that I ever did that. At all. Dammit, I've said too much.

This week's recipe was part of an experiment that didn't meet my expectations, but I'll be damned if it isn't delicious and easy to make. So easy, in fact, that I'm going to stop talking and just share the recipe. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Salmon Prosciutto (seriously!)

2 1 lb salmon fillets with the skin, approximately the same shape
3/4 c salt (preferably kosher)
3/4 c sugar
1 bunch fresh dill
zest of one lemon
2 Tbsp gin

Take a piece of saran wrap about 10 inches long and put it on the counter. Mix a quarter cup of the salt and a quarter cup of the sugar together. Take half of that and put it on the saran wrap, roughly in the shape of the salmon fillet. Add a couple of sprigs of dill and place one of the fillets skin-side down. Mix the rest of the sugar and salt, the lemon zest, and gin, and mix till it's the consistency of wet cement. Add half of that on top of the salmon fillet. Add a few more sprigs of dill. On the flesh side of the other fillet, add the rest of the wet salt and sugar mixture. Put that on top of the first fillet, flesh side down, so you've basically made a salmon sandwich. Add a couple more sprigs of dill and the rest of the dry salt and sugar mixture on top. Wrap up the whole thing in like 4 layers of saran wrap. Put it in a deep baking dish on a cooling rack (or anything, basically, that will keep the fish off the bottom. You could also put it in a cooler of ice and then change the ice two or 3 times a day). Put a cookie sheet or large skillet on top of the salmon, and put at least 5 or 6 lbs of weight on top of that -- you need to compress the salmon for the cure to take. Put that in the fridge for about 3 days.

After 3 days, unwrap the fish and rinse it off. It's going to look like a slab of fish jerky, and the 2 lbs of fish you put in there will probably weigh about 12 oz. This fish is safe to eat right now, and there are many service options. To treat it like prosciutto, slice it as thin as you possibly can (at an angle) and put it on a bagel with cream cheese. Or, you can try the following simple pasta recipe:

Cured salmon pasta

1 lb linguini
1/2 c salmon proscuitto, cut into chunks
1/2 c chicken stock
1 c white wine
zest and juice of one lemon
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 shallots (or 1 small red onion) sliced thin
2 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp capers

Cook the linguini till about 1 minute before al dente, about 7 minutes

Put the salmon in the stock and let it rehydrate for about 20 minutes. In a skillet, melt 1 tbsp of the butter over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic and capers and saute for about 3 or 4 minutes. Add the salmon and the wine, and cook down till there's about a half cup of liquid left. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the lemon juice and zest and combine. Add the last 2 tbsp of butter and the linguine. Toss to combine and serve with fresh parsley and parmesean cheese.

Metal this week is something a little different for me -- one of the first bands I listened to when I started getting into the underground metal scene.

Nightwish
Highest Hopes: The Very Best of Nightwish
Century Media Records Many Nightwish fans were sad last year when vocalist Tarja Turunen was forced from the group by her bandmates. Despite what they'd have you think, the classically trained soprano was really the defining characteristic of the band, and was the only thing that made them stick out in a sea of European symphonically-oriented metal. Her vocals, rooted as much (or more) in opera than in rock, gave the band superstar status in Finland, with their last studio album Once reaching number 1 on Billboard's European Top 200 chart. Highest Hopes is a greatest hits album, and covers the band's discography quite nicely. Turunen's vocals are clearly the high point, with the keyboards and orchestra playing a nice role. The guitars add nothing more than a nice syncopated rhythm section and the occasional 4 bar solo fill. Most of the songs are pretty rockin, but a few are softer, more ballady tracks. This is a guilty pleasure band for me, and I'd be willing to bet that you'll feel that way too.

Recommended: "I Wish I Had an Angel", "Over the Hills and Far Away", "Deep Silent Complete", "Nemo", "Wishmaster", "High Hopes" (The Pink Floyd cover)

November 7, 2006

White Trash Cocktail Party!

Now that Halloween is over, ThanksNewYearsMasTine's day can start. Lots of family gatherings, which can mean only one thing: finger foods and booze. Finger foods are nice, booze is necessary. Very, very necessary. Now, we could do some high-falootin party, with bubbly wine and foods with french names, but fuck that, son. It's time for a white trash cocktail party. All of these recipes are things that I had when I grew up in the middle of nowhere Ohio. These recipes are so easy you could do them with 3 other people in your trailer's kitchen and you wouldn't even feel cramped. I also want to thank Kali for her help in thinking of recipes. I'd call these hors d'oeuvre's, but that's a little fruity.

Finger Food #1 - Dried Beef Rollups

12 slices chipped beef
3 oz cream cheese

Spread a quarter ounce of cream cheese over a slice of beef. Roll it up. Put them on a plate.

Finger Food #2 - Snausages

1 package li'l smokies (cocktail-sized keilbasa) or cocktail weenies
1 can crescent rolls (NOT croissants, what am I, French or something?)

Cut a crescent roll in half and wrap it around the sausage and seal the ends of the dough. Bake according to the crescent rolls can. Put them on a plate.

Finger Food #3 - Mexican Cheese Dip (NOT fondue, because ... again, not French)

1 lb Velveeta (fuck yeah, I said Velveeta)
12 oz chunky salsa
Vegetables or chips or something

Cut the cheese into cubes and put into a bowl with the salsa. Microwave for 2 minutes. Stir to combine. If the cheese isn't totally melted, put back in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir again. Repeat that step until the cheese is all melted. Take the veggies and chips. Put them on a plate.

Finger Food #4

1 lb ground sausage
1 32 oz jar sauerkraut
3 oz cream cheese
1 c breadcrumbs

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a skillet over medium heat, brown the sausage -- make sure to break it up in the pan. While that's browning, completely drain the sauerkraut. Completely. Drain it in a collander. Squeeze it in paper towels. You really want it to be as dry as possible. When it's dry, you want to chop it up pretty small -- either with a knife or take it for a spin in a food processor. When the sausage is done, drain it on a paper towel.

In a large bowl, mix the sausage, sauerkraut and cream cheese. Sprinkle in about 3/4 c of the bread crumbs and mix to combine. If it's still a bit moist, add more breadcrumbs. Form into meatballs and put into the oven for about 15 minutes, just to heat them through. Put them on a plate.

Dessert - Ambrosia, the white trashiest dessert of them all!

1 c orange juice
1 15 oz can mandarin orange segments
1 8 oz can pineapple chunks, drained
1/2 c seedless grapes, halved
1/2 c chopped, toasted pecans
1/2 c shredded, toasted coconut
2 c cool whip (no real whipped cream, thank you very much)

Mix everything except the coconut, pecans, and cool whip and refrigerate till just before serving time. Mix the coconut and pecans in, and fold in the cool whip. Put it in a bowl.

Now, it wouldn't be a cocktail party without cocktails, and I've got one for the ladies, and one for the gentlemen.

For the Dudes:

Take a case of PBR. Put the cans in a wheelbarrow full of ice.

For the Wimmins - Jungle Juice:

750 mL Everclear
1.75 L "gas station" vodka (Seriously, the shittiest vodka you can find. This bottle shouldn't cost you more than $10)
10 L ginger ale
1 of the big tubs of kool aid powder (makes like 8 quarts, I think. Hell, I don't know)
10 lbs ice

Take one of those big coolers that you put the gatorade in at football games. Put all the ingredients in there except the ice. Stir to dissolve the kool aid powder. When it's dissolved, add the ice. You shouldn't worry about this getting watered down -- you should PRAY for it. This will destroy you.

ONTO THE METAL!

God Dethroned
The Toxic Touch
Metal Blade Records

I'm going to put aside my casual, unreasonable hatred for the Dutch for this, because this album kicks ass. Dutch death metal masters God Dethroned are back with their eighth studio recording, a heavy opus with much broader influences than in previous efforts. Other efforts have relied on shock value in lyrics and artwork to add atmosphere to the album; not so with The Toxic Touch. The band has moved away from songs that are angry for anger's sake - a lot of the songs are actually quite sad, or at the very least introspective. This could be an effect of new members Isaac Delahaye (guitar) and Arlen Van Weesenbeek (drums) having an influence on the songwriting. I'm not sure. That's not to say the aggression isn't there. Henri Sattler's vocals are deep and growling, and the addition of Delahaye adds a nice thrash element through some shredding guitar solos. The album is very heavy, and definitely worth a listen.

Recommended tracks: "2014", "Falling Down", "The Day You Died", "Typhoid Mary", "Away From Emptiness"

Baby Huey has never actually met anyone from Dutchland. Archives

October 30, 2006

Pumpkins Part E: The Final Chapter

Talk about some bad planning. I forgot that this October has five Tuesdays. I had four killer recipes set up, then ... oh, shit. Another Tuesday? Dammit. So, we've done a soup, a side dish, and two desserts. How do you finish a dinner? Cocktail time! One caveat: I'm pulling this recipe out of my ass as we speak, but it sounds tasty.

1/2 gal apple cider
1 pint brandy (apple brandy would be ok, as would cognac)
1 c pumpkin pie mix
1/4 c maple syrup
whipped cream
nutmeg
cinammon stick

Put all the liquids in a blender and mix it all together. Put in a saucepan over medium low heat and warm it up till it's nice and warm -- you're not cooking it at all, just heating it up to serve like a hot toddy.

Put in a mug. Top with whipped cream and dust with nutmeg. Stick a cinnamon stick in there for garnish. Get plastered.

And, being that it's the end of the month, it's time for the monthly metal wrap-up, so let's get crackin.

Favorite Album:
The Haunted - The Dead Eye
Century Media Records

Seriously, if you want to learn about this, go get the record, or listen to a sample here. I reviewed it last week. Go read it here.

Album Least Like My Expectations:
Trivium - The Crusade
Roadrunner Records

It took me a few listens to get behind this record at all. Their last album was far-above-average New Wave of American Heavy Metal. These guys are fantastic guitarists, and the solos just shredded. This album, though, is basically a Metallica tribute -- basic Bay Area thrash. As a Metallica tribute album, The Crusade gets an A. As a Trivium album, it's like a B- album. At best.

Best Surprise:
Light This City - Facing the Thousand
Prosthetic Records

Fresno-based Light this City reminds me of Sweden's Arch Enemy in many ways. For one, they both have a female vocalist who growls as good or better than many of her male counterparts. The guitars are extremely melodic, but still remain heavy. The drums are lightning-fast and perfectly on-beat. The songs are catchy and fun to listen to. All in all, I was very pleasantly surprised by these guys.

What I want to know is, what metal have you been listening to?

PS. Tune in to Dead of the Night tonight from ~~10pm~~ 8PM- Midnight EST for the second installment in my celebration of Slayer's Reign in Blood -- I'll be playing the second half of the album as part of the show.*

PPS. Happy Birthday, Mom.

Baby Huey's mom is not available for "your mom" jokes.

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*that's right.. they've given him four hours of madness instead of two.

October 23, 2006

Pumpkins Part IV: Son of Pumpkin

I love writing at FTTW. People here are witty. They're droll. They're erudite. They know lots of big words. Sometimes I wonder why they want me to write here. I'm not any of those things. I'm a computer geek with minimal social skills and prefer monosyllabic communications with people, a species of animal of whom I'm not particularly fond. Oh yeah, I remember now. I'm a decent cook and I have FANTASTIC taste in music (and fuck you if you disagree with that).

Today's recipe may sound a bit weird but it's been tested and everyone liked it.

Pumpkin-cranberry bread

1 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/4 t salt
1 1/2 t baking soda
1 t ground cinnamon
1 t ground cardamom
1/2 t ground curry
2 eggs
1 c pureed pumpkin (if you made last
week's recipe, and used 15 oz cans of pumpkin, you should have about a
cup left.)
1/2 c vegetable oil
2/3 c + 1 Tbsp honey
1/2 c dried cranberries

Preheat your oven to 360 degrees, and grease a standard sized loaf pan (8 x
3 x 3, I think. Whatever. It's standard).

In a large mixing bowl, mix the eggs, pumpkin, cranberries, honey, and oil till it's smooth and well incorporated. In another bowl, mix the dry ingredients together. At this point, you're fine. Take all the time in the world. However, as soon as you take the next step, you have time and chemistry working against you, so make sure your oven's hot and your pan is prepped. Add the dry ingredients to the wet (NOT the other way around), and stir gently to combine. Use a folding motion to combine the dry and wet. To fold, put your spoon in the middle of the bowl, cut to the outside, and fold from the bottom to the top. This will combine the fastest with the fewest strokes. That's important. When you get flour wet, it activates a protein called gluten. Gluten is what makes yeast doughs rise -- it basically is like rubber bands in your dough. However, this bread is leavened with chemicals. We don't want gluten to be activated -- quickbreads (breads that use baking soda or other chemicals to rise instead of yeast) are closer to cakes than they are breads, and you want moist and tender, not crusty and chewy. Therefore, do NOT overmix this. Stir JUST till the ingredients are combined. If there are little clumps of dry ingredients, that's fine. They'll hydrate eventually in the oven.

Put the batter in your loaf pan and put it in the oven for 50 - 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let it cool in the loaf pan for a little bit -- trust me, I found out the hard way that the honey makes the cake so moist that it'll fall apart if you de-pan it right away. Let it cool for about 30 minutes before taking it out of the pan.

This will last for about a week on your counter just fine -- honey is hygroscopic, which means it pulls moisture out of the surrounding air. It's damn near impossible for this cake to go stale. Well, that and you'll eat it hella quick. BTW, Turtle? This wouldn't be very good with Rooster Sauce. It may be the only thing that isn't.

This week's album review may be my favorite album of the year. I haven't decided yet. It's really close. It comes out on Halloween, so read the review now and decide if you want to check it out.

The Haunted
The Dead Eye
Century Media Records

Two years ago, vocalist Marco Aro left The Haunted, and was replaced on their fourth album, rEVOLVEr, by Peter Dolving, who sang on their self-titled debut. I hadn't heard that album and was concerned - Aro was a brutally aggressive, singularly focused vocalist. He wanted to kick your ass every second and you loved it. Would Dolving stand up? rEVOLVEr took The Haunted in a completely new direction, toying with melody and different tempos. It was critically acclaimed but panned by many of the
band's most ardent fans, who loved the thrash label thrust upon them as much by pedigree as by sound. Brothers Anders and Jonas Bjorler were 2 fifths of the ultra-seminal Swedish band At the Gates, and the sound associated with that band followed them to The Haunted. The Dead Eye, however, bucks a lot of those predispositions and stretches both the musicians' boundaries and the listeners' expectations. The classic Haunted balls-to-the-wall thrash anthems are still there, typified by Patrik Jensen's unique guitar tone and Bjorler's classic riff-writing, and they still kick ass. Where they rise above are in the relatively new concept (for them, anyway) of mid-tempo, dark, melodic songs. This album shows off Dolving's formidable vocal
stylings, pulling in both aggressive screaming as well as dark, atmospheric crooning a la Maynard James Keenan from Tool or Tom Gabriel Fischer from Celtic Frost. The only downside, in my opinion, is that they didn't let drummer Per Moller Jensen play around as much. He basically kept the rhythm in this album, and that's it. That's a shame, too, because his fills are really excellent, classic metal drumming. This album is, to quote Dolving, "diverse, dynamic, and heavy as fuck." Well, heavy enough in spots to make
up for where it takes it down a notch.

Recommended Tracks: "The Failure", "The Drowning", "The Fallout", "The
Flood"

Baby Huey lives in one of those Carolina states, where he carves pumpkins to resemble the members of KISS.

Baby Huey's radio show, "Dead of the NIght" can be heard Tuesday evenings on WXDU, 88.7 FM, Durham, NC

Archives

October 16, 2006

Pumpkins Part 3: THE PUMPKINING

Work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, hello boys and girls, have a nice weekend? I missed you!

This weekend was spent in a haze of Sam Adams, football, and cooking. That's right, I was testing out a variation on an old standby of mine to share with you folks this week. It's a soup that you can have ready in about 45 minutes. It's spicy, it's filling, it's kinda sweet, and it's generally just awesome. Oh yeah, and it contains pumpkin.

Roasted corn and Pumpkin Soup
1 large onion, sliced into half moons
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped into coins
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 t curry powder
salt and pepper
1 lb chorizo sausage (if you've got chorizo links, slice them up)
22 oz of pumpkin (that's about 1 1/2 standard cans -- don't worry, you can
cover the can with plastic wrap and it'll last in the fridge for a week or
so)
2 12 oz bottle of beer (I used Sam Adams Oktoberfest, but any medium-bodied
ale would do)
2 c chicken broth
12 oz corn, frozen or fresh
2 c shredded cheese for melting -- swiss or cheddar work best
1 Tbsp corn starch
sour cream and chives

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Toss the corn with 1 Tbsp of the olive oil and spread out on a cookie sheet that you've lined with wax or parchment paper. Place in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the corn starts to get a bit brown.

In a large (5 qt works best) dutch oven or soup pot, cook the chorizo over medium heat for about 15 minutes, till it's nice and brown and some of the fat has rendered out. When it's taken on some color and given off some fat, take it out of the pan (but for the love of god don't throw that fat out, it's liquid gold) and add the onions, carrots, and celery. Add the remaining olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper. Continue to cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes, till the veggies have cooked down somewhat. Add the garlic and curry and stir to combine. Let it cook for a minute, then stir in the pumpkin. It'll be kind of unruly at first but as it heats up, it'll "melt" a bit and be easier to handle. At this point, add one of the bottles of beer and the chicken broth. Stir all of that well to make sure the pumpkin has dissolved. Add the sausage back in. Simmer this on medium-low heat for about 25 minutes.

After 25 minutes, add the corn. Taste the broth to make sure it's got enough seasoning, and add salt and pepper if necessary (I know I did -- the pumpkin needs quite a bit of salt). Let the soup simmer for another 10 or 15 minutes. The corn has a lot of starch in it. Simmering the soup with the corn in it will release some of it and help thicken the soup.

Coat the cheese in the corn starch -- this will help it melt better. Add the cheese a handful at a time and stir to melt it. Don't add the next batch of cheese till the previous one has fully melted. This, too, will thicken the soup. At this point, it's basically done. Serve it with a dollop of sour cream and some chives.

If you want to make this recipe vegetarian, do what I do and substitute vegetable broth for the chicken stock and replace the chorizo with a can of black beans that you've drained and rinsed. It's still really good. If you want to make it vegan, please, just fuck right off.

On to the weekly metal review. Normally, I'll only review records I like, and save the stuff I'm not too fond of for the monthly wrap up. However, this week I'll review something that I'm not completely fond of, simply because I think it may grow on me, so what the hell.

Mastodon
Blood Mountain
Reprise Records

Georgia boys Mastodon are kinda weird. That's the first thing I think when I hear Mastodon's music, or read an interview with them, or even look at them. They're kinda weird. And I'll admit, a lot of people have total hardons for Mastodon, but I just. don't. get. it. The appeal, right now, just isn't there for me. I'm not saying it never will be -- I used to be the same way with Lamb of God, and now they're one of my favorites. That being said, the lyrics don't make a lick of sense, they come up with some totally whacked
out melodies, and the drum work is, in 2 words, completely fucking insane. I guess that's also part of their appeal. When I'm looking for something completely different, I look to Mastodon. The vocals are screamed, but they're sort of like how a crazy person would sound, all the time. Remember the old Monty Python sketch with Mr. Gumby yelling "MY BRAIN HURTS!"? Yeah, the vocals sound a lot like that. "4/4 time" is, I'm pretty sure, a
blasphemy in the religion of drummer Brann Dailor, which I--to a point--respect. The riffs are cool, though, and it's generally a fun listen.

Recommended Tracks: "Bladecatcher", "Capillarian Crest", "The Wolf is
Loose", "Crystal Skull"

Baby Huey's radio show, "Dead of the NIght" can be heard Tuesday evenings on WXDU, 88.7 FM, Durham, NC

Archives

October 9, 2006

Pumpkins Part 2: Electric Boogaloo

So, I'm writing this in a train station in Washington, DC. I just spent 3 days in Boston with a bunch of my creepy internet friends, punishing my
liver and making New England wish it'd never heard of a squirrel with oversized testes. I've slept 3 of the last 36 hours, so let's just say I'm a man of few words at this point. But what do you care? You're only reading this to be jealous of my cooking skills and to look for new music with which to offend your neighbors. I know my place.

No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake (it rhymes, see what I did there?)

1 9" premade graham cracker pie crust (fuck it, make your own if you want, but I'm way too lazy)
1 lb cream cheese that you've let come to room temperature
1 pint heavy whipping cream
1/3 c sugar
2 t lemon juice
1 1/2 c (12 oz) pumpkin pie mix

I'm going easy this week. Seriously. This pie is so awesome and no one needs to know how easy it really is. In a mixing bowl, add the cream cheese and the sugar. Beat these two together for a couple of minutes, until the cream cheese is light and fluffy. Add the lemon juice and stir to incorporate. When that's all mixed in, add the cream and beat
till the mixture is nice and stiff (huhuhuhuh, I said stiff).

Take a quarter or so of the mixture, and put it to one side. Add the pumpkin pie mix to the remaining 3/4 of the batter. In the pie crust, add the plain batter and tap the pan lightly on the counter. This will even out the batter and get rid of any air bubbles. GENTLY pour the pumpkin batter on top of that, and do the tap trick again. This
creates a nice multi-layered effect. Put this in the fridge overnight to let it set, and you're done.

Now, and I never ever thought I'd be saying this, by popular demand, here is my metal review of the week. Nothing new -- I decided to play up the Halloween theme a bit more than I would by just reviewing any old metal album. This album came out back in March and is spooky and talks about witches. So that's cool.

Witchery
Don't Fear the Reaper
Century Media Records

The underground Swedish metal scene is a hotbed of musical incest, and Witchery is no exception. I swear to god there are 1500 Swedish metal bands but only like 13 people that can play an instrument in the whole damned country. Put on hiatus since 2001 because of 3 of its members' other bands' grueling tour schedule (guitarist Patrik Jensen is in the Haunted, bassist Sharlee D'Angelo is in Mercyful Fate and Arch Enemy, and Martin Axenrot is in Bloodbath, as well as currently sitting as drummer for Opeth), they're back with an album that, despite its name, doesn't really need any more cowbell. The album is full of catchy riffs and fantastic drum work. With Jensen in the band, though, a lot of the riffs sound like The Haunted rip-offs. In some cases it's because of Jensen's unique guitar tone, and in others it's because they're really just self-plagiarized. Still, it's a combination of quality and anticipation, as this is their first album in 5 years, but
this is one of the best albums I've heard all year.

Baby Huey's radio show, "Dead of the NIght" can be heard Tuesday evenings on WXDU, 88.7 FM, Durham, NC

October 3, 2006

Pumpkin Part I : Pumpkins is kinda funny to say fast. Pumpkinspumpkinspumpkins

DISHFUL OF METAL- Food talk, savory recipes and....metal reviews. Hey, it works. by DJ Baby Huey

It's October, bitches! That means the scariest holiday of the year is right around the corner -- that's right, Thanksgiving with the family (insert horror shrieks here). What'd you think I was going to say?

To commemorate my favorite month of the year, every Dishful of Metal recipe for the next 5 weeks will feature pumpkin. Today we'll be adding pumpkin to an Italian comfort food. Coming weeks are going to feature pumpkin in both savory and sweet recipes. All the recipes will be easy, and delicious, or your money back.

First, I'm going to tell you how to roast a pumpkin. This will come in handy. In some cases, you can use canned pumpkin just fine, and I'll let you know that. To roast it, take a 3 pound pumpkin and cut the stem off. Cut it right down the middle and scoop out the seeds. Save those for later! Rub the cut side with some vegetable oil and place it cut-side down on a cookie sheet. Put it in a 375 degree oven for about 45 minutes. It's done when you can put a toothpick into the cut side and it goes in with not much
resistance. Scoop out the flesh and cut up into the chunks you want, or puree it, or whatever.

(to use the seeds, clean off all the seed gunk, put it on a cookie sheet and put it in a 350 degree oven for about 15 or 20 minutes, till they just start to get brown and smell nutty. Pull them out of the oven and toss them with some salt. Snacks ahoy!)

Now that you can roast a pumpkin, I'm going to teach you how to make risotto. A lot of people talk about how hard it is, but they? Are full of shit. Yeah, risotto's a little time consuming, but it's not difficult to make. The concept is always the same; substitute whatever ingredients you like, and you've got a food as comforting as mashed potatoes but without all the uncomfortable penis-insertion connotations.

Pumpkin-sage Risotto
1 lb roast pumpkin, cut into 1/2" cubes
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 onion, minced
1 stalk celery, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper
1 cup arborio rice*
1 c white wine
4 c low sodium vegetable broth
2 tbsp fresh sage, shredded
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 c parmesean cheese

* the type of rice is EXTREMELY important. The longer the grain of rice, the less starch there is in the grain. Risotto requires an extremely starchy rice. If you can't find "arborio" or "risotto" rice (and most grocery stores do carry arborio these days), sushi rice will work quite nicely. In general, you want a medium-grain rice. Never ever EVER use long grain rice.

In a small sauce pan, heat the broth over low heat till it's hot. It shouldn't be bubbling, just hot.

In 10" wide skillet (that's at least 3" deep), melt the butter over medium heat. When the butter has finished foaming and just starts to get nutty and the slightest bit brown, add the onions, celery, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. chick 2.gif
Cook for about 5 minutes till the vegetation gets a bit soft. Add the rice and stir for a minute or two. You're done at this point when the rice starts to get a bit translucent around the edges. Add the wine and stir till it's absorbed.

Add the stock, about 2/3 c at a time. Stir frequently till each batch of liquid is absorbed, then repeat. Don't add the next batch until the current liquid is all absorbed.

When you've got about a cup of liquid yet, add the pumpkin and from then on, stir very gently. You don't want to break up the pumpkin. It should take you about 20 or 25 minutes to incorporate all the stock -- this is the "hard" part of making risotto. You just have to pay attention to it.

After all the liquid is incorporated, add the sage, lemon juice and parmesean. Stir gently to combine. Reseason this with salt and pepper.

Risotto is great by itself or as a side dish. Plus, everyone thinks it's so complicated, it's like the greatest date meal ever. It's comforting as hell and is sure to score you booty points.

Baby Huey's radio show, "Dead of the NIght" can be heard Tuesday evenings on WXDU, 88.7 FM, Durham, NC

September 26, 2006

This Month in Metal

DISHFUL OF METAL- Food talk, savory recipes and....metal reviews. Hey, it works. by DJ Baby Huey

It's finally that time. After tens of days of waiting, it's the end of the month. That means many, many things to many, many people. To me, it means payday is 3 short days away (can I get a fuck yeah from the congregation?). To you... well, frankly I don't give a shit what YOU think it means to you. To you, it means you get not only a mouthwatering recipe, but you also get my monthly metal review. These reviews are strictly my opinion and are gleaned from what I've received this month at the radio station. I'll post the recipe first, because I'm quite sure you don't really give a shit WHAT I think about metal.

I will preface this recipe by saying it is untested. It is an approximation of the huevos rancheros recipe from Elmo's Diner in Durham, NC. I haven't tried it, but I'm pretty good at getting these things pretty close. Trust me on this -- 6 or 7 gin and tonics on a Friday night, and nothing will ever taste as good as those huevos will.

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September 19, 2006

Criminis and shiitakes. Whatever tickles your pickle

One of the best parts of cooking is that so many recipes are excellent chameleons. Learn a few simple recipes, and you will impress the shit out of friends and family.

Ok, enough chit-chat. I'm tired and running late getting this in. Less talk, MORE ROCK.

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September 12, 2006

Dalla mia cucina ad il vostro

I come from a half-Italian family. Now, I wish I could say that I was a stereotypical wop, with Sinatra warbling on the radio, a pot of red sauce constantly bubbling on the stove, and a glass of chianti always waiting for my dad when we went over to my grandma's house. But who the fuck am I kidding? I grew up in Central Ohio. My family was typified by my uncle Dino. I love the guy. Great Italian name, greasy wop haircut and the mustache all screamed "pisane." However, the giant belt buckle, Appalachian accent, love of Marlboros and cowboy boots let you know his, and my family's, true nature. And I loved that duality.

That dual nature especially showed itself in our family's cooking. My dad's aunts and uncles (he had 11 of them--big Catholic family don'tchaknow) were all excellent Italian cooks, but could still chicken fry your ass and serve you with brown gravy and you'd ask for more. I learned to cook from my Dad, who learned to cook from his mom and dad and aunts and uncles.

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