Asparagus and Bourbon-Brie Soup

A photo posted by Höķm Guerrerø (@revmcnasty) on Oct 19, 2015 at 12:13pm PDT

Asparagus and Brie Soup is always a treat.  It's considered "delicate" and "posh" and other fancy things.  The flavors blend well and I discovered that it's fairy easy to make.  Most recipes I found are pretty much just asparagus and brie - with some stock, cream and flour added.  No onion, or any aromatics - a couple recipes did include garlic. While I was in the grocery store today I noticed asparagus was insanely cheap and I decided to try my hand at a variation of this soup.  I wanted something that had a bolder and in-your-face flavor compared to what I was reading about online.  I got even more inspiration when I found a container of "smoked bourbon" brie also on sale.  I decided that today I'm gonna put the cookbooks aside and wing this thing.  

When I got home I realized I didn't have brie, but Creme de Brie.  It is creamier and more spreadable.  I figured this would make the step of melting the brie into the soup easier as well as replacing any milk or heavy cream I might decide to add. 


Asparagus & Bourbon-Brie Soup

1/3 cups (or more) of unsalted butter
1 medium onion, chopped (2 inch pieces)
1 stalk celery, chopped (2 inch pieces)
1 carrot, peeled and chopped (2 inch pieces)
1 bunch asparagus*, bottom white end removed, chopped (2 inch pieces) and separate the tips for later
1 tablespoon flour
1 and 1/2 teaspoon Herbes de Provence
1/2 teaspoon Aleppo Pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
4 cups vegetable stock
1 five ounce container of Creme de Brie

*Note: I also had a small head of broccoli leftover from last week's trip to the local Farmer's Market.  I figured I'd use it before it went bad for some extra "oomph"  I cut the ends into tiny florets and put them with the asparagus tips.  I chopped up the "meat" part of the broccoli and put that with the stalks of asparagus.

1. Over medium high heat melt that butter in a large pot.  (Add a dash of Extra Virgin Olive Oil to help prevent burning the butter). Turn heat down a little and cook down to just before the butter turns brown. Add the onion, celery and carrot and stir.  Salt and pepper a little.  Increase heat slightly and cook for about 10 minutes.
2. Add the asparagus (and broccoli) stalks.  NOT THE TIPS.  Stir, salt and pepper.  Cook another 10 minutes.
3. Stir in the flour, Herbes de Provence, Aleppo, garlic and bay leaf.  Cook for one minute to unlock the aromatics.
4. Stir in the vegetable stock in batches, making sure there are no clumps from the flour. Bring to boil, turn heat down and simmer for 20 minutes.  
5. While this is simmering: turn your oven's broiler on and adjust the rack to be about 8 inches away from the heat.  Place the asparagus tips and broccoli florets onto a greased, foil lined baking sheet and broil for about 4-6 minutes; removing just as the ends start to brown (but they aren't over cooked).  Remove from broiler and let cool on baking sheet.
6. Remove the soup from heat and discard the bay leaf.
7. Using a hand held emulsion blender puree the soup.  
8. While the soup is still relatively hot add 4 ounces of the brie in half once spoonfuls, stirring after the second and fourth to dissolve the brie into the soup.  Add the spear tips and, if using, broccoli florets.
9. Serve hot, garnishing each bowl with a small dollop of the remaining Creme de Brie. Crusty bread is nice too!

The Bandleader as a Coach

It amazes me that I feel compelled to feel the need to compose an article such as this. But events that I have either witnessed or been told first hand accounts of has angered me to the core.

Music is an incredible thing existing in a way almost comparable to a living organic entity. It can be thought of like a flame: it has a birth, it breaths, expands, retracts and eventually dies. The spark of creativity and the give and take of human interaction from each musician allows even a note for note recreation of a performance to have an incredible individualistic identity; each performance has factors that will influence that specific moment to have a unique life.

The musicians that make up a band are no different from a football team. I'm not the first to make a music/sports analogy. I've been reading these comparisons for over twenty years. Miles Davis frequently used boxing as a reference for his own aural creations and bandstand interactions. The team needs to support one another regardless of who is "soloing" or the focus of audience attention. The fluidity of improvised music is two-fold: not only does it mimic the passing of the ball but the actual positions rotate around the bandstand depending on what is happening. The quarterback is always someone different; passing the ball to a receiver and hoping he will catch it; hoping everyone will all still be on the ONE when a spontaneous group hemiola resolves.

If the band is the team, then the bandleader is the Coach. As I previously stated, the quarterback is always someone different, but the Coach is always the same. The Coach's job is not limited to the ego-stroking that comes with being onstage. The job has an important role "off-field" as well. The Coach represents the band to the general public. The Coach is the normally the first contact a new venue has. The Coach's abilities in sales, marketing, legalese, accounting and organization should be limitless. The Coach has got to stand up for his team, otherwise the team will lose faith in their Coach. And a team that has lost that faith will not perform.

A Coach who does not stand up for the band externally - or stand up to the band internally - has no place being a Coach.

Falafel RE*MIX

A photo posted by Höķm Guerrerø (@revmcnasty) on Aug 18, 2015 at 8:04pm PDT

I took a falafel recipe that I have used a lot - but was starting to get bored with - and added a little sumpin' sumpin' for a little.  Normally seasoned with cumin, coriander (and occasionally smoked paprika) this twist injected my latest batch of baked falafel with the flavors of a different part of the Mediterranean Sea.

Falafel
    makes one dozen

1 small onion, roughly chopped
1/4 bell pepper, roughly chopped
1/2 stalk celery, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, finely diced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (I like to use Aleppo pepper for this recipe)
1 16 oz can of chick peas, drained and rinsed
5 oz of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes, finely diced
1 tablespoons finely grated Pecorino (or Parm-Romano)
salt and pepper
cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees, stick rack in the middle.  At the same time heat some oil over medium high heat in a medium/small saute pan.
2. Pulse the onion, bell pepper and celery in a food processor to finely chop.  Add this mixture to the heated saute pan.  Salt and pepper and cook until onions are translucent and water has cooked off - about 6-8 minutes.
3. Stir in the garlic, pepper flakes and oregano and cook for about 45 seconds.  Remove from heat and add to large bowl and let cool.
4. Add the chick peas and spinach to the food processor and pulse that bitch.  Dump this paste into the cooled sauteed vegetable mixture.
5. Add the oil, flour, baking powder, sun-dried tomatoes and cheese.  Stir with a small rubber spatula.  Season as desired.
6. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray.  Form a ball slightly smaller than a golf ball with the chick pea mixture and place each one into it's own muffin spot.  This batch makes about 11 or 12. 
7. Bake for 40 minutes.  No need to turn them, they will be crispy all over the outside and creamy and good in the middle.

I like to finish them with a squirt of fresh lemon juice after they come out of the oven.

Serve over a salad.  I made a sour cream vinaigrette for this batch (recipe below).
Or try in a pita pocket with lettuce, tomato and your favorite condiment.
You could even use these as a meatless meatball and serve with pasta and marinara!  Maybe add some basil with the spinach if you go this route.


Sour Cream Vinaigrette

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons non-fat sour cream
2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
1 tablespoon Italian parsley, minced
1 tablespoons honey
pinch each of salt and pepper

1. Add all ingredients to a small jar with lid (an old Grey Poupon jar is perfect).
2. Put lid on tightly and shake for 30 seconds.  
3. Pour over salad.

Rambling Poetry

Haiku I

You claim yourself an

asset yet behavior proves

you's just an Ass Hat.

----------------------------------------------------------

Haiku II

Looking deep within

myself I am intrigued

by the combinations.

----------------------------------------------------------

Libertarian Limerick I

There once was a man from America,
Whose life was prone to hysteria,

Tho no fault of his own,

For his government was prone, 

To behave as if spelled "Amerika"

----------------------------------------------------------

Haiku III

Your caustic tongue shines

bright for the moth (me) so I

rush towards you inspired.

----------------------------------------------------------

Haiku IV

We judge ourselves by

intentions, yet others judge

by our last worst act.

----------------------------------------------------------

Popeye's Haiku

He stole her chicken;

She threw fries at him. They kiss.

Relationship goals.

----------------------------------------------------------

Beauty's Strength - a Haiku in 2 stanzas

True beauty will yell

loudly even when nature

attempts to mute it.

This little flower

proves me right.  Pollution can't

silence it's color.

----------------------------------------------------------

Cover Up Part 2: Still Not Gonna Play Covers

The past few weeks I have been informing my various musical groups of my intention: limiting the performance on non-original material and focusing on returning to the act of creating something new.  I said I would discontinue performing more than one or two covers per set (a set being 50 minutes... or 100 minutes depending on the venue).  You would think I was the Grinch and they woke up to find a few broken needles where their tree once stood.

I'm not trying to insult the countless talented people who are cover musicians.  I know some personally and they are amazing at what they do.  They get joy out of it and they bring joy to those listening.  I don't find joy in it and, quite frankly, I hate myself in the days leading up to and the day following gigs padded with cover material.  I feel like I am being dishonest with myself and it sends me into a depression-like state.

When I was emailing the bands I work with and explaining myself the reactions were priceless.  One musician said "but we don't have a lot of original material".  I didn't respond to that because: if your garden has no flowers you can plant some.  Another said I was "selling out".  And yet another wasn't sure what I meant by, what he called, this arbitrary decision. I'm pretty sure that last guy doesn't know what arbitrary means and was thinking he was using a $2 word to intelligently express his displeasure.  The bottom line is:  I can't live with myself if I continue this trend of a gig that is 95% cover material.

It amazes me because for the first 10 years I was a professional, full-time, musician the three bands I performed with only played the occasional non-original song.  An improvisational #BAM trio, a rock band and a funk/r&b band.  Between the three groups I spent about 6 years touring most of the south-east, mid-west and west coast of the United States and we played our own music.  No one cared.  The audience didn't care; the audience LOVED it.  I got to work with Bob Weir, BB King and countless other, lessor know but equally talented, people.  We were there to bring our art to the public and the public's ears sat eager to listen and - hopefully - enjoy us.  Do we blame modern times and technology for the need to have a musician play covers the entire night?  Is it the fear that we will be replaced by an iPod?

Since Hurricane Katrina and my relocation to Philadelphia I feel that, somehow, a button got pushed and people around me were more interested in spending hours perfecting someone else's composition than attempting tto stretch out; playing around in the part of our brain that cjust might find new harmonic and melodic combinations; new colors never heard before. I don't think it's laziness. I hope it's not laziness. Is it laziness?  Is it a fear?

I was driving home from a gig this weekend (about 10 hours after dealing with a pretty serious bout of food poisoning) and I got to thinking.  I do not want to have people come hear me play a cover song.  I want people to come listen to an original creation influenced by my own personal experience that just might open their eyes and change their lives.  I've seen it happen.

That being said: I'm quite pleased with the two groups I lead.  The Courtesy Shuttle is almost entirely original instrumental fusion composed by either bassist Rich Curtis or myself.  And the swing band, The High Rollers, has been making the shift to this new sound organically.

Notes by Thelonious Monk to his band.

While I am boldly opposed to personally performing cover material there is a huge exception: the local songwriter.  I do not feel that a great tune written by local pianist David Dzubinski is a cover song, so we play it.  Davey Cope is a friend and helluva singer/songwriter and someone appreciating his [yet] undiscovered talent and embracing it by helping expose it to the world is a great thing.  What I don't think is necessary is someone expecting the Jimmy Winklejon Quartet to play Fly Me To The Moon with the same arrangement and ending that Sinatra did.  Or someone approaching me at a solo gig and asking for Randy Newman or (gag) Billy Joel.  Did they not see the people enjoying the instrumental that I just finished writing that day to celebrate the birth of my niece?  Did they not see the woman with a tear in her eye after one of my lyrics regarding pre-storm New Orleans?  Did most of the room not laugh-out-loud when I sang about my wife and admitted that she is the reason I shower?

This debate is probably not going to end soon, but starting August 1st I put my foot down.

You want a jukebox, buy a damn iPod.

You want live music that no place else is able to have?  Give me a call.

White Bean Soup - the EASIEST SOUP IN THE WORLD

A photo posted by Höķm Guerrerø (@revmcnasty) on Jul 3, 2015 at 11:00am PDT

This is a variation of a soup that was in a cookbook that disappeared from my kitchen a long time ago.  The flavors are simple yet memorable.  The carrots, almost undercooked, add a great crunch to this pureed soup.  The bell pepper is optional - I don't normally add it, but if it's in your fridge throw it in.  If you don't use it, add a third carrot to the lineup.

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 medium onions, roughly chopped
1 rib celery, roughly chopped
1-2 cloves garlic minced
1 1/2 teaspoon dried savory leaves
1/2 teaspoon Allepo Pepper flakes
2 15.5 oz cans of White Beans (aka: Northern Beans), drained and rinsed until water runs clear
1 small bay leaf
1 32 oz. container of vegetable stock
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2-3 carrots, peeled and sliced
1/4-1/3 red or orange bell pepper, sliced into half matchstick sized pieces

1. Melt yo' butter in a soup pot on medium-high heat.  Add the onions and celery and sweat that schitt.
2. After about 8-10 minutes stir in the aromatics (garlic, savory and pepper flakes).  Bloom them for about 30 seconds. 
3. Stir in the beans and cook another 8-10 minutes.
4. Add the stock and bay leaf.  Bring to boil and simmer for 30.
5. In a small skillet add the veg oil and saute the carrots and peppers on medium-high heat for about 4-5 minutes.  The carrots should NOT be soft.
6. Once the soup is cooked, puree everything in the first pot.  You can use a food processor but I like the "boat motor" I got for Christmas a few years ago.  It saves a lot of dirty dishes.
7. Add your sauteed veggies to the pureed soup and you have a delicious and easy meal.
8. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with a salad or some crusty bread.  OR BOTH: it's your soup gosh darn-it.

Goodbye, Ornette.

RIP Ornette. 

The first time I heard Ornette Coleman's music was one of those moments when I felt like my ears have been replaced by eyes.

Eyes that couldn't refuse these metaphysical binoculars being manacled onto them forcing observations of this new amazing sonic world. 

It was comparable to when I was 9 years old and heard that first track off Led Zeppelin 1 played at full volume.

It was that virgin experience of Kind of Blue, after that eerie piano/bass intro followed by the call and response melody on "So What" when Miles lays down the first four notes of his solo with Cobb, Chambers and Evans behind him wandering into modal territory.

I was in High School and I was loving Lou Reed.  I found every interview, every cassette tape I could get my hand on... even the bad stuff; especially the bad stuff!  Lou kept talking about Ornette Coleman.  Ornette this, Ornette that.  I recognized the name from my Dad's Real Book and I flipped thru until I found a blues head -  I believe it was Broadway Blues.  Well I didn't get it.  I still hadn't heard him and looking at a chart with no time signature, no bar lines.... well, my classically trained little brain couldn't handle it. 

Solution: a trip to Tower Records on South Street.  I left with two Ornette CDs.  (one is here) Music changed forever that car ride home.  And I think my friends banned me from picking car music for quite a long time.

It was years until my world would again be rocked by that kind of forward thinking music.  The next time was in college and I heard "The Windup" off Keith Jarrett's album, Belonging.

RIP Ornette.