Liz's White Bean & Sausage Soup (Vegan)

A few months ago my friend Liz had me taste a soup she made at home and brought to work. It was amazing! I asked her for the recipe and she jotted down the cutest notes (with prompts such as, "Add greens cause we all need to eat them!"). I found the recipe today and made it - and it knocked my socks off. Thanks, Liz! Another winning recipe from that culinary genius brain you have.

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
1 large carrot, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
2 cloves garlic, smashed
2 links Sweet Italian Beyond Meat Vegan Sausage, already grilled and sliced thin
Spice Blend:
        1/4 teaspoon chili flakes
        1/2 teaspoon ground corriander
        1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
        1 teaspoon smoked paprika
        1 teaspoon dried oregano
        1 teaspoon dried basil
4 cups veg stock
1 can small white beans, drained and rinsed
3 tablespoons pastina or ditalini (or other small soup pasta)
1 cup finely chopped spinach or other mild greens
juice of 1/2 a lemon
2 scallions, sliced thin

1. Melt butter over medium heat in a Dutch oven with the extra virgin olive oil.
2. Add onion and a pinch of salt and pepper and sweat over medium-low heat until translucent, about 5-7 minutes.
3. Add carrot and celery and sauté for 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for another 5 minutes.
   
4. Add all the spices, stir and bloom for 30 seconds.
5. Add the veg stock, beans, and pasta. Bring to simmer and cook until pasta is done, about 5 minutes. Add spinach and simmer for another minute.
   
6. Off heat add lemon and scallions.

ENJOY!

Smothered RevFish

for the fish

• 2 redfish fillets
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 tablespoon pieces

for the sauce

• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup canned artichoke hearts
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tablespoon green onion
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon shallot, minced
• 1.5 tablespoons capers, rinsed
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 tablespoon pieces

1. Whisk together the flour, salt, and white pepper in a bowl. Put the fish in flour, then the eggs, then back into flour and shake off any extra.
2. Melt the 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Sauté the fish for 3 minutes a side. Remove and put them on a clean plate. (Don't fuck with the fist when it's cooking. Let it alone. Please and thank you.)
3. Add the wine to the now empty pan and whisk in any fond from cooking the fish. Reduce the wine by more than half. Lower the heat to medium and add the artichokes, mushrooms, green onion, garlic, shallot, caper and lemon juice. Cook for about 6 or 7 minutes - until the mushroom are softened.
4. Reduce heat to low and add the 4 tablespoons of butter, a half a tablespoon at a time. Gently stir in each piece until it combines for a nice sauce.

Serve with rice and a salad.

Miso Marinated Tuna and Sunflower Shoot Soup

Tofu en Papillote

Seed Crusted Salmon

Serves 2, Prep time 10 minutes, cook time 8 minutes

1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp marjoram
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tablespoons panko
2 tablespoons mustard (any kind but yellow, I like Sir Kensington)
4 tablespoons honey, used two tablespoons at a time
1 tablespoon hot sauce (vinegar based like Crystal, do not use Sriracha)
2 8oz salmon fillets (skin on or off, but NO bones)

1. Preheat broiler and place over rack about 6-8 inches from heat.
2. Using a mortar and pestle crush the seeds (coriander, cumin, mustard).  Add the marjoram, fresh black pepper and panko.  Stir to combine
3. In a small bowl combine the mustard and 2 tablespoons of the honey. Brush the tops of the fillets with the mixture.
4. Coat the where you just brushed with the dry mixture from step 2 and place on broiler safe pan/tray.
5. Cook salmon for 6 minutes (cook less time if pieces are thin), turn off broiler and leave in oven for another 2 minutes to fully cook (you want to turn off broiler just before the bread crumbs burn).
6. In a small bowl combine the remaining 2 tablespoons of honey with the hot sauce.  Pour over hot salmon fresh from oven.

Serve over a salad or with your favorite side dish(es). I served mine with collard greens and sauvignon blanc!

Black Lives Matter

Recently I have sat down a few times to try and write this post but I keep deleting it because I am either already too emotional or another event is brought to public light that pushes me past the point of sounding as coherent as I intended... But here goes...

If you told me when I was ten years old that in thirty years people would put signs on their lawn letting the public know they weren't racists I would have called shenanigans.  If you told me when I was thirty years old that in ten years the President who took office after our first Black President would publicly support self-proclaimed Nazis I would have laughed at you.  If - at any point of my adult life - you told me that a black youth holding a bag of Skittles is more likely to be killed by police than a white youth who shoots up a church I would have assumed you were talking about the plot of an episode of Law and Order or a Spike Lee joint. 

For almost two decades I have paid my rent and bills by learning, embracing and sharing Black American Music to any ears that will listen.  While I was not born with this culture in my blood it has become one of the most important parts of what makes me who I am as an artist, as an adult and as a citizen.  So while I am happy to see so many others who are not persons-of-color joining the fight to tear down and rebuild a system that has been devolving faster and faster I am sickened by so many comments of hatred, intolerance and (what comes off as) sarcastically feigned ignorance that continue to pop up everywhere I look.  So when a few dozen of you notice that my personal page has blocked you: think back to what you said or posted.  If you notice I no longer patronize your business with friends and family: just remember a few months ago when I asked you directly why your bartender had a problem with a black man in a suit looking for matches/lighter but was fine with the homeless white person looking for a handout.

We are in a very bizarre times with this pandemic and quarantine and I have been lucky enough to have been receiving self-employed artist assistance in addition to donations from so many of you who have taken part in my live-stream performances.  So I am asking everyone reading this to join me in donating every extra cent you have to the many causes and groups established to help this battle.  Make sure you research where you are donating so that the money goes directly to pay the bail, cover expenses of families affected, et al because there are profit driven groups that don't put all your money to work for the cause.  And if someone posts a critique of #BLM cut them off social media and inform them why to their face so you can look directly into their Godless eyes.  They either don't want to attempt to understand or aren't able to understand because as a fetus they didn't get enough oxygen.

No white person breathing has the right to criticize the reaction of a community when that community has been abused, ignored and MURDERED in ways that, in the 21st Century, should be unfathomable - but the proof it is happening is right in front of us.  Being blind to actions against our neighbors, friends and family means you are no different from the diseased individuals who have stripped the future from an innocent life.

As I write this I hear laughter outside.  I look out my front window and see five children zooming up and down my Mt. Airy street.  Two on bikes, two on scooters and one running alongside with a squirt-gun.  They are different ages and they are different colors and they are laughing together.  I realize that for the first time since I started writing this, over an hour ago, the tears in my eyes are not caused by hatred I see, but these tears are because I see love.  I see the reason we must not stop fighting.

Review of Pizzeria Nonna

I've only thrown pizza into the trash twice in my life. Both times were from Pizzeria Nonna. I gave it a chance. Twice I gave it a chance... twice! I live in the neighborhood and I never want ANY business near my house to fail. I go out of my way to order all my vinyls and CDs from the independent shop a mile away even though I spend twice as much as an Amazon Prime member would – a friend routinely points this out.

I also love pizza. I love making pizza. I have about a half dozen different recipes for pizza dough that each provide two pies and I make a batch of one of those recipes every six weeks or so. When I need a quick lunch between double gigs I search to find the closest slice that is consistently appreciated by users of various apps. I will even resort to grabbing a slice from the “sub-par” place half a block from my apartment if I really have to because: how bad can pizza be? Seriously: even bad pizza is – at worst – okay pizza... Right?

Wrong.

Pizzeria Nonna is how bad pizza can be.

Did I mention that I PUT PIZZA INTO THE TRASH INSTEAD OF EATING IT?!?!?! TWICE?!? Both times I resorted to this self-inflicted torment was because (1) it was a Sunday and (2) I had just worked a double and still needed to walk the dog and (3) I had ZERO food in the house and (4) got home after 9:30pm. The two visits were separated by 4 months so this isn't a “one time mistake by an ex employee” situation. The second time I didn't throw the remainder of the pie away immediately like I did the first time. I waited until the next day and reheated a slice using the “Cooks Illustrated” method that, on a previous occasion, actually made a slice mediocre left-over pizza slightly better. (Here's how: Add one or two slices to a non-stick skillet with a tablespoon of water. Cover and cook on medium-high for 6 or  7minutes.)

Once reheated the cheese finally melted and the center of the pie discovered what being not raw felt like. Reheating also enhanced the cardboard blandness that was gag-worthy fresh (when the bottom of pizza was warm and moist) and made it boringly crunchy. The sauce was reminiscent of unseasoned porridge that had been treated with red food coloring. They do have nice sturdy boxes for what they pass off as a sell-able product. They obviously get their pizza ingredients from DollarTree so they have to be using their line of business credit somewhere.

I mentioned my sour experience to a friend who works at a shop nearby Nonna's. He says he ordered a “large pepperoni” and received a pizza covered with sweet peppers. His receipt said “Pepperoni” and was told by the person working at the counter that the “chef must have read it wrong”. I'm no expert on pizza ordering demographics and I'm just guessing that orders for pepperoni pizza are 17 times more common that orders for “pizza with sweet peppers” are. So my questions is: How does that misunderstanding even happen?

The best pizza I have had – and this even beats any of my home made ones – is from the food truck Ramble Pizza. Every type of pie/slice I have ever had from Ramble has been kick-ass. Find them on Instagram @ramblepizza. 

The next best option for me locally is Earth Bread and Brewery, which has excellent beer and an eclectic selection of flat breads. Earth is very good but it isn't pizza (nor do they claim to be) in the classic sense.

So in conclusion: Next time I am looking for classic mouth-watering slice of pizza (and Ramble is too far or not open) I'm going back to Evo. They have never been bad - they have never been great either.  But they are just three blocks away and deliver – or I could get off my fat-pizza-loving-ass and walk down there. The best part of my Pizzeria Nonna experience, both times, was walking with my dog to pick up the pie.  I do love that dog.

PS – on Friday nights Ramble Pizza is at Weavers Way at their Mt. Airy location. I work 49 Friday nights a year so I miss out. But you don't have to!

Easy Summer Garden Soup

So easy and so fresh.  Who knew a hearty home-cooked soup can be made from scratch in just about thirty minutes?  Use this recipe as a guide: try other veggies/herbs/toppings.  I know from other soups that zucchinis will fall apart and thicken the soup if cooked too long so I cut them small and only had them on active heat for a few minutes.

1.5 tablespoons unsalted butter*
1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped fine
2 carrots, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 stalks of celery, sliced 1/2 inch thick
garlic, as much as you like but no less than 2 cloves minced
3 cups vegetable stock
4 cups water
1/2 cup STARS pasta (or ditalini or alphabet shaped.. something small)
1 zucchini, quartered lengthwise, seeded, and sliced 1/2 thick
1 15 oz. can of any white/northern/navy bean, drained and rinsed
1 nice large tomato chopped
1/2 cup fresh peas (optional)
1/2-1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice (omit if not fresh)
1/8 or more cup of freshly chopped dill OR cilantro (don't use both)

1. In Dutch oven melt butter with oil over medium high heat.  Just as it starts to bubble add the onion and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Saute for about 4 minutes - until translucent.  Add the carrots and celery and stir to combine.  Cook another 4 or 5 minutes.
2. Add garlic and cook about 30 seconds.
3. Add stock and water and pasta.  Bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer and cook 5 minutes.
4. Add zucchini, beans, tomato and peas.  Continue simmering for about 5 minutes.
5. Off heat add lemon juice and herb.  Salt and pepper to taste.

* VEGAN VARIATION: Omit butter and use 2 tablespoons of olive oil total in Step 1.

Serve with a salad made up of other items from your garden!

Serve topped with finely grated nutty or sharp cheese (like a pecorino)!

Serve with crusty bread for dippin'!

Try using canned chickpeas instead of beans!

Christopher's Collard Greens

2 Tablespoon butter

2 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 onion finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper flakes (or a pinch of red pepper flakes)

1 large bag chopped collard greens
2 tablespoon Bragg's Amino Acid
½ cup veg stock

1. Heat butter and oils in Dutch oven on medium-high until shimmery
2. Add onion and saute 8 minutes
3. Add garlic and pepper flakes, cook for 30 seconds
4. Add greens, amino acid and veg stock. Use tongs to turn greens every 60 seconds until most look wilted (about 5 turns)
5. Cover and cook on LOW for about 45 minutes.

* This recipe can also be done with chopped kale!  If using kale: reduce the cooking time in step 5 to about 20 minutes.

* A non-vegetarian variation: Omit the butter and add about 1/3 cup of diced slab bacon (or pork belly).  Remove the cooked meat before adding the onions to the fat/olive oil mixture (in step 2).  Add the cooked meat back to the pot and stir well before serving.

Smothered Baked Potato

A post shared by Höķm Guerrerø (@revmcnasty) on Feb 7, 2018 at 6:26pm PST

Today was a cold, ice rainy day.  After two slippery walks with the doggo I realized that the weather was screaming "BAKED POTATO FOR DINNER".  The Vegetable Roux that I am using as a gravy is inspired by a recipe from New Orleans Food by Tom Fitzmorris that he calls Peas in a Roux.  I added some wine, some other veggies in addition to peas and the idea of serving it poured over a hot baked potato just seemed natural.

2 baking potatoes, washed and dried well
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 cup all purpose flour
Salt & Pepper
8 scallions, sliced
4 oz baby bella mushrooms (about a heaping 1 1/2 cups)
2 carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise and cut into half moon discs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 dry white wine
1 cup vegetable stock
1 tablespoon Bragg's Amino Acids
1 teaspoon of Sriracha

1. Preheat oven to 425 with rack in middle.  Using a fork poke each potato 4 or 5 times (leaving 16 or 20 holes).  Lightly coat the potatoes with olive oil.  Lightly salt the outside of the potatoes and place them on a wire rack that is on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet.
2. Place the potatoes in the oven and bake for about an hour.
3. Once the potatoes are done take them out and let them sit for about 10 minutes.

Start the following steps about 10 or 15 minutes before the potatoes come out of the oven.

1. Melt the butter in a non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Add the flour and make a light roux - making sure to NOT burn the roux by constantly stirring.
2. Add the 'shrooms, carrots and scallions and lower the heat to medium-low.  Add a pinch of black pepper and two pinches of salt.  Stir every few minutes.
3. After the 'shrooms about half their volume (about 12 minutes) deglaze the pan with the wine then add the stock, Bragg's and Srirachi.
4. Stir in the peas and raise the heat slightly until the peas are hot.  Cover and lower heat.
5. After the potatoes have sat for 10 minutes: Hold each potato with tongs use a fork to make a continuous dotted line lengthwise across the top of the potato.
6. Place the potato in the tongs so the tongs are holding each "pointed" side of the potato.  Squeeze the tongs and the potato will pop open.
7. Serve the potatoes smothered with the Vegetable Roux as an accompaniment to a salad, or blackened fish or by itself.
   
   Note: Not all the gravy will be used.  I find that I need to add another spoonful of gravy about halfway thru eating the potato.

- Add grated cheese before the gravy for a fun twist.

My Big Fat Greek Springroll

A post shared by Höķm Guerrerø (@revmcnasty) on Jan 23, 2018 at 6:14pm PST

My first recipe of 2018 and it's a weird one.  I accidentally bought some fillo dough; I wanted puff pastry sheets.  I looked at what I had lying around and came up with this idea.  I like to save time and space by building the "Greek Logs" directly on the parchment lined cookie sheet.

Serves 4

1 9x14 inch square of fillo dough, thawed, cut to form two squareish rectangles
1 pack of goat cheese (4 oz)
1 lemon
1 bulb fennel sliced thin
quarter of  an onion sliced thin
1 red bell pepper cut into thin strips
1/4 cup minced parsley
1/2 cup sliced black olives
2 tablespoons Panko breadcrumbs
freshly grated Parmesan (optional)
dry white wine
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place thawed dough on it.  Preheat the oven according to dough package instructions.
2. In a bowl mix the goat cheese, a little lemon zest, a lot of cracked black pepper, the juice of half a lemon and a third of the parsley.  Set aside.
3. Heat a couple tablespoons of oil 10 inch non-stick skillet over medium high heat.  Add the fennel, onion and bell pepper and a little salt and pepper and cook for about 7 minutes.  
4. Add a quarter cup of wine, cover and reduce heat to medium and cook for 5 or 6 minutes.
5. Off heat add the olives, juice of the other lemon half.  Toss to combine.  Mix in the panko.
6. Using a cheese knife or spoon spread half the cheese mixture across the center third of the Phylo.  It will look like three even parallel striped flag.  Dough on the top and bottom, cheese spread in the center.
7. Top with parm!
8. From one of the dough ends start rolling up your "Greek Log".  
9. Bake per dough package instructions.  I like to over cook them just slightly...  They burn quickly so keep an close eye if you attempt this.
10. Slice each in half on a bias and serve with a side salad or soup. 

Music for Nothing? That's Called Stealing

Originally published in the Chestnut Hill Local.

There is a great store up the street from my apartment called Mango.  They sell this adorable "Philly Girl" shirt, one that can be bought elsewhere around the city but locally it is a Mango exclusive.  Imagine a man or woman who go into Mango and informing, not asking, but informing the staff that they needed the shirt yet have no funds in their budget for the shirt.  It's okay though because when people saw them wearing the shirt would know that it was from Mango. The person wearing would even keep some business cards from Mango handy to give out.

Sounds inappropriate, right?  It is something that I deal with multiple times a year as a full-time musician.  What is even more amazing is that these requests for free services always come from groups that have members whose yearly income is double what I make as an independent artist.

I am not sure if a monetary value can be put on the training I have had.  A couple hundred thousand dollars of higher education followed by years of performing six days a week in and around New Orleans honing my craft.  Add to that a few hours a day I currently spend practicing, composing or arranging new material.  Then there is the maintenance on equipment, upkeep on my physical appearance (you gotta look good if you want to get hired), hours - I mean hours - on the phone booking new venues, meeting with potential brides and grooms to help plan their big day, plus dealing with hotels, township offices (if the performance is outside and a variance is needed), the list goes on and on.

Did I mention that in order to stay competitive and be able to put bids in for jobs that I need to have the same liability insurance coverage that a caterer or general contractor has?  Places like the Highlands Historical in Ft Washington won't hire me without it, and it isn't cheap.

A study from 2015 found that the average yearly income of a full-time musician in the United States is around $20K.  I mentioned earlier that, in my experience, those looking for free music are wealthier than I am and always white.  When talking to older musicians I am told that $100/man was considered a fair paying gig in the early 1960's.  Why then am I fighting to get $150/man in 2017?  And remember: $150/man doesn't include what I need to put aside for my insurance.  And taxes.  Don't forget the tax man.  As I said: I am a full-time musician.  That also means Uncle Sam gets about 23% of what you are paying me.  Suddenly a $100 gig becomes $77, which becomes $50 or less once I take care of the insurance bill.  I need gas to get to the venue and that brings us down to $40.  Am I performing downtown?  If so: parking garages are about $25 or $30 for a weekend night, right?  So at the end of the night I may have $15.  $15 for three or four hours of work.

Why then, time and time again, am I approached with "Our group is hiring a few musicians to entertain but we don't have music in our budget"?  If this is the case then (1) you aren't hiring musicians at all and (2) you should focus on what actually is in your budget. 

When I am asked for something for free from people who make more in one week that I make in one month is insulting and borders on indentured servitude. What is amazing to me is that when I am asked to perform for groups from lower income areas (ie: West Parkside Business Assoc, various community groups in Germantown, Mt. Aity, etc) my price is never questioned and a generous tip is almost always included. Why does this issue seem to be native to Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia's “Garden District”?

Don't think I don't do "freebie" gigs.  I donate my time and talent to a number of good causes.  There are a few children's charities that I contribute a silent auction item of a performance in your home, and many time I will perform for free at the auction itself. Occasionally my band mates join me and the auction item becomes a jazz trio for a house party, etc.  It always comes back around in the end.  A child gets medical bills paid and you get some great music in your house.  But asking musicians to play for nothing more than "business card placement" is despicable.

I am a firm believer that live music makes any event more memorable.  If you feel the same and don't "have it in your budget" then ask your members/friends/neighbors for help.  If you have 25 members and they each contribute $20 then you have $500 for music, which - in 2017 - is a fair price for a duo to entertain for 3 or 4 hours.

Music for nothing?  That's called stealing.

Whole Wheat 3 Cheese White Pizza with Roasted Peppers & Arugula Pesto

A post shared by Höķm Guerrerø (@revmcnasty) on Jun 19, 2017 at 6:46pm PDT

for the pesto
2 cups arugula
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/2 cup toasted walnuts
1 clove of garlic

for the roasted peppers
2 red bell peppers, seeded and taken apart

for the pizza
1 1/4 cup cold water
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup bread flour
2 teaspoons honey
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon yeast
8 oz skim mozzarella, grated
1/2 cup parmesan, grated
3/4 cup crumbled feta
Penzy's "Tuscan Sunset" herb blend
Penzy's "Dried Aleppo Pepper Flakes"

1. In a bread machine set to the "dough" setting, combine the water, flours, honey, salt, oil and yeast.  As the saying goes: Set it and forget it.
2. Plan to do the rest of these steps once your dough has finished.  Keep the dough in the bread machine until you are ready to use it.
3. Combine all the pesto ingredients into your "Magic Bullet" and pulse until combines.  Place in fridge until you need to use it.
4. Turn on your broiler and put the rack about 3 inches from it.  Line a baking sheet with foil and coat with cooking spray.  Lay out your peppers, skin side up, and broil for 13 minutes, rotating halfway.  Remove from oven and - using tongs - pile the peppers in the center of the foil and then close the foil to make a pouch.  Let the peppers sit and steam for ten minutes.  Then open foil.  Once they are cool peel off the charred skin and then slice the peppers into thin strips.  Put aside.
5. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.
6. On a floured surface plop your dough out and, using flour coated hands, work the dough into a 10 inch round.  Then place the round on a greased 12-inch-round "crisper tray" and with those floured hands work the dough out into a 12-inch round.
7. Top the pizza with the mozzarella, feta, parm and the two Penzy's herbs.  Bake for about 15-18 minutes, rotating it halfway and pulling it out before anything burns.  Place pizza on cooling rack so the bottom stays crispy.
8. While pizza is cooling put your pesto into a bread bag (or pastry bag if you is fancy).  If using a bread bag: once you have loaded it up cut the corner off so there is tiny hole to squirt out the pesto.  If using a pastry bag use the smallest tip.
9. Place the peppers and squirt the pesto on your pizza.  I like doing a lattice of horizontal red and vertical green (see picture above).
10. ENJOY!

Eggs Pontchartrain

A post shared by Höķm Guerrerø (@revmcnasty) on May 16, 2017 at 6:09am PDT

Many mornings when one of us walk the dog the other one makes breakfast.  This morning while Wifey was out with the Pupster I came up with this idea.  I don't know why calling it Pontchartrain popped into my head but I couldn't shake it.  As Wifey aptly put it, "It's a beautiful lumpy mess... Just like that entire region."  This ended up being incredibly easy and may end up one of my favorite morning recipes.

serves 2

1 English muffin, halved and toasted and topped with your favorite spread/jam/etc
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon Creole seasoning (or more if you love it)
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 red or golden potato (larger than a golf ball, smaller than a tennis ball), quarter-inch dice
2 large eggs
Crystal Hot Sauce

1. Heat a 12 inch non-stick skillet over medium heat and after a few minutes of pre-heating add the butter and oil.  Swirl it around.
2. Toss the potato with the creole seasoning and garlic.
3. Add the potato mixture to the skillet - spreading out to a single layer - and turn up the heat.  After a couple minutes stir the potatoes and again spread to a single layer and cover for a few more minutes.
4. Once the potatoes are looking crispy separate them into two piles.  Increase heat to medium high.  Crack an egg onto each pile. Cover and after one minute turn heat off and let sit (still covered) for about 5-7 min until eggs are cooked and yolk still runny.
5. Each potato egg pile should easily be picked up with a thin spatula and plated with half an English muffin.
6. Add a squirt of hot sauce and ENJOY!

Chicko Pinto Salad

A post shared by Höķm Guerrerø (@revmcnasty) on Apr 11, 2017 at 5:50pm PDT

It's getting warmer so finding hearty side for dinner that doesn't involve turning the oven on is always a good idea.  I woke up craving my Mom's "3 Bean Salad" to have with our veggie burgers.  I combined a few different recipes that I have done in the past and then added my own twist with the Feta.  Full disclosure:  After a few months of disappointing "jalapeno heat" I didn't taste test the one I brought home today.  It ended up being a little spicier than expected - but not too spicy that the salad couldn't be enjoyed.  I found some left-over Feta from something I made over the weekend and realized that adding it would balance out the heat.

1 can chick peas, rinsed and drained
1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
2 ribs celery, chopped to size of beans
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped to size of beans
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped to size of beans
1/2 of a red onion, diced
juice of half a lime
4 tablespoons cilantro, finely chopped
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 jalapeno, diced
1/3 cup crumbled Feta cheese

1. Mix everything in a bowl then season with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Let it sit in the fridge for, at least, 4 hours.
3. Give the salad a good stir and add more salt and pepper or lime juice, if needed, before serving.

Quick Dip #1: White Bean & Garlic

A post shared by Höķm Guerrerø (@revmcnasty) on Apr 9, 2017 at 1:30pm PDT

We love dips!  Any kind of dip.  Red, green, white, taupe, purple - if you dip something in it: bring it on!  We especially love the ones that can be made in under 5 minutes.  Homemade hummus is great - and not hard at all to make - but I end up spending 15 minutes wrestling with a half-empty jar of Tahini plus I get oily fingerprints EVERYWHERE.  So I am always on the lookout for quick and flavorful dips - with minimal cleanup.  A snack so fast you can start and finish it during a commercial break during the game.

Many weeks either my wife or myself will cut up A LOT of veggies and put them in a large Tupperware container in the fridge.  Having "dippers" pre-prepared encourages us to make a quick dip and skip the chips and Cheez-Its.

QUICK DIP:  WHITE BEAN & GARLIC

1 15 oz can Cannellini Bean, drained and rinsed
3 cloves garlic, chopped or not chopped - it's going into a food processor regardless
juice of half a lemon (or more to taste)
1/8 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 or more teaspoons of whatever fresh herb you have on hand, finely chopped*
3 tablespoons water (or more)
pinch of cayenne pepper
pinch of white pepper

1. For this I used 1 teaspoon each of fresh sage and fresh summer savory.  Chop your herbs now!
2. Put all ingredients into a food processor and WHIP it up.
3. If it is too thick for your taste add another tablespoon of water and WHIP it again.
4. Serve with a platter of cut veggies or pita or tortillas.

You can also use this as a spread on a baguette and then top with freshly grilled veggies for a great summery open-faced style sandwich.

Try this using roasted garlic!

* I like using two different herbs.  One teaspoon of each.  It really doesn't matter what the combo.  Experiment.  You'd be surprised that there is no wrong combination.  Mint and dill never bonded so gracefully!



VARIATION #1: Rosemary-Roasted Garlic White Bean Dip

Use four or five cloves of roasted garlic, a tablespoon of fresh (minced) rosemary and a few tablespoons of grated parmesan.  This variation is NOT vegan.

Roasted Garlic Vegetarian Lasagna

A post shared by Höķm Guerrerø (@revmcnasty) on Mar 12, 2017 at 4:00pm PDT

For about a week I have been waiting impatiently to use the quart of leftover red sauce I found in the back of the freezer.  The sauce was labeled "Extra Chunky Red Gravy" and I instantly remembered this AWESOME concoction that was the result of me cleaning out the fridge and utilizing a lot of great veggies that were on their "last leg".  Most vegetarian lasagnas have eggplant in them.  I like eggplant.  I don't love eggplant, but I do like it.  So when I woke up today after coming home late and drunkenly promising my wife a homemade lasagna when she got home from work I realized that we have eaten a LOT of eggplant over the past few days.  Much more eggplant than I normally consume.  I decided that I didn't want any eggplant in this.  I thought about the flavors I did want and settled on yellow squash and zucchini.  I like sautéed spinach in my lasagna but since I was making something new I decided to try kale instead.  I also wanted to sub the ricotta with cottage cheese - something I had recently read in an article that bragged that the cottage cheese actually ends up making the final product creamier than ricotta does.  The fact it is healthier is one of those bonuses that I will ignore if you do too.

1 head garlic
2 zucchini sliced to half inch thickness
2 yellow squash sliced to half inch thickness
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 head of garlic
16 oz kale, stemmed and chopped
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/3 cup of vegetable stock (or water)
16 oz low-fat (or non-fat) cottage cheese
16 oz mozzarella, grated and separated in two halves.
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice*
1 box of no boil lasagna noodles
5-6 cups of left over homemade red gravy (chunkier the better)
Extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Arrange the slices of squash and zucchini on two parchment lined cookie sheet.  Sprinkle the slices with salt and oregano.  Add the head of garlic and bake for about 30 minutes.  Put aside and allow garlic to cool enough to handle.
2. Meanwhile, add tablespoon of oil in a Dutch oven on medium-high heat until shimmering.  Add the red pepper flakes and the kale.  Reduce heat to medium-low, add the stock (or water, if using) and cover.  Cook 15-20 minutes.
3. Squeeze out the roasted garlic from it's skin and add to a large mixing bowl with the cottage cheese, parsley, lemon juice and half the mozzarella.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Add a small amount of red gravy to a lasagna pan treated with spray oil (I like the coconut spray oil).  Add a layer of noodles, then cheese mix, kale, noodles, vegetable slices, red gravy then repeat the noodles, cheese, kale, noodles, slices, red gravy, repeat, etc.
5. Finish with a layer of noodles.  Top with the remaining mozzarella that wasn't mixed in with the cottage cheese.
6. Bake as instructed on the box of your no-boil noodles.  Let cool for about 10-15 minutes before slicing.

Serve with a salad and/or garlic bread.

If you are making this for only two people you can half the entire recipe and bake in a loaf (bread) tin.  (Don't half the number of layers - just the ingredients). I like doing this because although I can't get enough lasagna it isn't my wife's favorite so I avoid having too much left over.  However for this maiden voyage of a recipe I decided to go all out and share the love and pack up some slices of this for friends, family and neighbors.

* Believe it or not: I truly think that the lemon juice is the secret weapon of this recipe.  It makes the cheese mixture come alive and become three dimensional.

CDBaby has been offline for over 85 hours

I  use CDBaby.com for most of my online sales and distribution. Their website has been offline since before Friday, February 17th at 10am when I first noticed it was down for maintenance. Every week I download my sales reports and streaming info so I can keep track of royalties that I owe and that are owed to me. It's how I pay my rent. This week I get a maintenance pop-up. It's happened before in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep and decided to check when my ...mind drifted and I was curious which of my Christmas songs was getting the most Spotify play that month.

Back to 2017... On Friday I - along with what I assume were many others - were told it was routine maintenance and it would be back up soon (exact wording: ASAP). On Saturday we were told it was taking longer than expected. On Sunday we were told a database issue occurred but it will be fixed by tomorrow. On Monday we were told it would be up in 3 hours. It is now almost Tuesday and we are back to routine maintenance is taking longer than expected and it will be up ASAP.

Like other full-time musicians I have scheduled and targeted e-mail blasts, radio promotional spots, paid for ads in print media that utilize a QR code to point to online retail, internet ads and much more that all must be now cancelled (if possible) or altered to now point to alternative retail outlets. It's not impossible but it's something I could have spent Saturday and Sunday and Monday doing instead of sitting in a limbo being told to "give it a few".

Come on, CDBABY... WTactualF?! I have paid you flat rates for your services and turned over a percentage of what I have made in royalties and sales for 10 years. All that adds up to a pretty nice chuck of change that I fork over. I need some transparency from you here. If something got fucked up just relay that info to us. Things gets fucked up all the time! It's life. I would gladly accept being told that something got royally fucked up. But passing something off as nothing but routine when in actuality it is significant and may result in loss of business for the thousands who use you as a subcontractor for music distribution in both physical and digital product is a BIG DEAL.

Thank you. I never rant and I think I got it out of my system.

But, seriously, you better have an easy out for those of us who want out if this doesn't get fixed in the next 24 hours.

To those of you who have tried to purchase music: I am truly sorry. I have responded to those of your who have emailed me and hopefully my offer for an email of mp3s or a snail-mailed CD will suffice.

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie

A photo posted by Höķm Guerrerø (@revmcnasty) on Oct 16, 2016 at 11:33am PDT

Before we "went vegetarian" one of my wife's favorite dinners was the individual Shepherd's Pie made by Chef Carl Drake.  The other day a conversation with a friend, who is also vegetarian and lamenting the Shepherd's Pie from his childhood, inspired me to try and come up with a solid vegetarian version.  I had two ideas on substitutes for the ground lamb*, the easiest being Bocca crumbles.  The more complex idea was to use a trick I learned from Cook's Illustrated from their Ultimate Vegetarian Chili.  They used a combination of ground walnuts, millet and powdered mushroom to recreate the texture and flavor of ground meat.  Since I didn't have walnuts or dried mushrooms I decided to skip going to the store and use the Bocca crumbles that were in my freezer.  I will make another attempt using the more complex method and post results in the future.

For this I used two 20oz ceramic baking dishes.  I have bought them to make individual Chicken Pot Pies a few years ago and felt they were perfect for this usage.

for the topping:
1 Russet potato, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1.5 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 egg yolk
salt and pepper

for the filling:
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon rosemary
1 cup vegetable stock
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 cup Bocca soy crumbles
1/3 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup frozen corn
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Place potato in medium pot with 5 cups cold water.  Add a pinch of salt, bring to boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes.  Drain and transfer to bowl.  Add the butter and cream and mash.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. In now empty (and wiped dry) pot heat the oil and flour on medium heat, making a chocolate roux.  Stir constantly so not to burn, adjusting heat accordingly.  Add onion and garlic.  Cook about 8 minutes.  Stir in tomato paste, Worcestershire, thyme and rosemary and bloom them for about 30 seconds.
4. Add the stock and carrot, making sure to scrape up and tasty fond that may have collected on the bottom of the pot. Bring to boil and simmer for about 7 minutes to slightly thicken.
5. Add the Bocca crumbles, peas and corn.  Keep the heat around medium to have a slight simmer.  Do not bring to a full boil.
6. The potatoes should be slightly cooled so whisk in the yolk. 
7. Add the filling to the two baking dishes.  Top with potato mixture.  Star from the outside and work inward.  You can use a fork to make fun textures and patterns.  The "spikey" parts of the potatoes will brown and crisp up faster than a flat smooth layer..  Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the topping is beginning to brown.  
8. Cool for about 15 minutes before serving. 

* Okay,  personal pet peev and rant time:  Shepherd's Pie is never made with ground beef.  Never.  Any person or restaurant who uses ground beef and calls it Shepherd's Pie is wrong.  They are wrong.  You can inform these misguided souls that if you use beef it is called Cottage Pie.  Also: If someone serves you a pork chop and calls it chicken breast they are wrong too.  

Ultimate Pasta Salad with Mozzarella & Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette

A photo posted by Höķm Guerrerø (@revmcnasty) on Sep 15, 2016 at 12:29pm PDT

This is my first post in a few months.  We have been cooking up a storm in our house, but nothing original.  For my birthday I got a great cookbook, The Complete Vegetarian, and we have been working our way thru that doing about 3 recipes a week.  Today I felt inspired with items in our fridge and put this together.


for the salad
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 pint cherry tomatoes
2 red bell peppers, quartered so they lie flat
1 head of broccoli cut into bite-sized florets
1 15 oz can of artichoke hearts, chopped
1 4 oz can of black olives, sliced
1.5 cups of good mozzarella (not the kind in water), cut into half inch cubes
1 12 oz box of tri-color rotini, cooked to your liking and cooled

for the dressing
roasted tomato "drippings" (with garlic pieces)
1/5 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/5 cup red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon of mustard (dijon works fine, but I like a horseradish mustard for this)
3 teaspoons mayo

1. Turn on your broiler after adjusting the rack to be about 6 to 8 inches from heat source.  On my oven that is the second from the top.
2. In a small bowl combine the olive oil, vinegar, tomato past, brown sugar, pepper flakes and garlic.  Wisk together and then fold in the tomatoes to coat.  Place tomatoes on a small, lined, sheet tray and put under broiler for about 15 minutes.  The tomatoes will burst and the sugars of the dressing will cause a nice black caramelization.  When the tomatoes are done, remove the tray from oven and let cool.
3. On a second larger, and lined, sheet tray add the peppers and place under broiler - skin side up - until the skin chars, about 8 minutes.  Place the blackened peppers into a glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  This will steam the peppers and make the skin extra easy to remove once they are cooled.
4. Place all the broccoli on the sheet tray that you removed the peppers from and place that under the broiler.  Cook until the broccoli has a slight char, but not burned.  About 8-10 minutes.  Keep a close watch, because they go from perfect to overdone pretty quickly.
5. Once the tomatoes are cool use a slotted spoon and carefully place the tomatoes in a bowl for later.  Make sure to shake off any "juice" onto the sheet tray.  Once all the tomatoes are removed, pour the "juice" and any roasted garlic bits into a small jar with lid (an old Grey Poupon jar works nicely). This will be the base for your dressing. 
6. Remove the skin from the roasted peppers and slice into strips, or pieces...  Whatever you like: it's your salad.
7. In a large bowl combine the pasta with the cooled roasted vegetables, mozzarella, artichokes and olives.
8. Combine dressing ingredients in the jar that already has the "drippings".  Close lid tightly and shake for about 30 seconds to combine everything.  Pour on the salad.  Let salad sit in the fridge for a few hours before serving.  Make sure to stir the salad well before serving as the juices will have set on the bottom.