Ancestral Comfort Foods, Rock Stars, & Burnt Sugar, Y'all

every chef lives for a group of people like this band - a bunch of extremely talented, extremely quirky individuals who love your food - or @ least that's what they tell you.  something about the backstage action, the constant motion, the rabble & pre-performance jitters just makes me feel completely @ home.  & when i know that i am cooking for these people, the desire/inspiration to create the most flavorful food EVER.

& so it was that nashira & i catered Burnt Sugar doing the David Bowie songbook (or @ least part of it)...  just the snippets of convo were priceless - courtesy Micah:  "...so i told jimmy (Fallon) it seems like you like to make fun of Black people - so then buy me a mothafuckin drank, since you've had so much fun @ the expense of me & mine, then why don't you provide ME with some soul warming fun...  oh no?  ok jimmy.  ok.  but  when i saw his GIRLFRIEND the week after that you best believe i made sure that SHE bought me a drank... & i made sure she had a better time w/me than she EVER did w/Fallon!!!"

love it.

been around musicians all my life.  my father played w/some serious names in his 8 instrument playing time, but spent the bulk of his avant garde time with Brother Jack McDuff, & Sam Rivers.  looks like Nashira will feel much the same way, @ home w/bands of very talented weirdos, (& please believe this is from a  self-acknowledged weirdo!) but in her case, i am sure, she will be one of the group, as she is already on her way to being a performer.  as it was, she was ensconced happily in the belly of the rock star beast, what with getting personal baritone sax lessons from the fierce lady horn player Paula Henderson, & up close & personal fierce DIVA lessons from the Fates of Black Rock:  Ms. Blackbushe herself, Shelley Nicole Jefferson, the incandescent Lisala Beatty, &  the siren Karma Mayet Johnson- when i think of Nashira absorbing all this abject flyness @ this tender age, i actually fear for - well, humanity, lol!  in the best way.  if she doesn't spontaneously combust for goddess' sake- these girls are beyond dope.  as is Vernon Reid (WHAT?!?), & the master of ceremonies, Greg Tate (yes chile.)  the show was amazing.  & the SUGAR's rendition of 'Let's Dance' w/ Mikel as a sexier, blacker Bowie?

not to be fucked with.  if you can catch it on  youtube, then please do.  well that's just silly actually - here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk_TW3v3vOY
 
a week later, Nashira was still crooning, 'i want to see friends dance on TV.  i want to see Mikell!' - she's been bit by the bug, y'all.

le sigh...

promise that this will be the last post - for a long while - that even mentions thiebou djen, but that is what i made for the band, in addition to chicken yassa, which due to its bright yellows, (recipe below) is a pure jolt of sunlight to make.  but nothing matches the joy of rolling up to the backstage/green room/vip section of whatever club/venue/concert hall you are catering & being greeted w/the pure love i was greeted with:  family.

speaking of family, the same week, was my (acknowledged) fiance's grandmother's birthday - & everyone knows how much fun hangin w/the in-laws is, right?  & so it was with a different spirit that i catered, well not really catered, but brought some food out to brooklyn, as well - in this case, curry fried chicken. coconut rice, & an early spring salad with a cumin lime dressing & LOTS of avocados are the sides of choice.

all of this became a lot for the schedules of me & the short one (Nashira), & alas, before i looked up, it was tuesday. so yes yes y'all, it was asinine to even think about posting so close together & i knew that we would have some bonus recipes in the mix, just because of the passage of time.  bu then i realized, maybe it's asinine NOT  to post, even if said postings are close together, & here we are!

over the weekend, me & nashira needed to decompress.  & the best for unwinding?  pink fish - her favorite, in croquette form - also called, by various poets & bullshit artists, 'Slammin' Croquettes'.  & i can't figure out why these are such fun to make - but they are.  maybe it's the salmon, all vibrant & rosy.  or maybe it's the fact that when i am forming them, i run through all the inferior croquettes i've ever had - from the nastiness of undissolved rice as a binder to the ubiquitous use of canned (- when a price check reveals little if any difference in cost for this madness - i understand it some of the time but EVERY time?) or maybe it's the overwhelming gratitude that fills my soul when i find that cracker meal - or @ least crackers are in house... or maybe it's just that this is one of the heritage ancestral home style foods that i grew up with, & making it is like curling up in a security blanket with a favorite movie or book - i hope that this will be as enjoyable for you as it has been for me.

this is definitely the kind of heritage, down home recipe that you will find in the legendary tomes of my favorite girls:  girls such as Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, whose book Vibe Cooking has no measurements(!!!  that's right, kot-dammit - you cook by vibe alone - sexysexysexy!). & Edna Lewis, who is a chemical genius (homemade baking powder, anyone???) & the founding chef @ Gage & Tollner {- a landmark eaterie - appallingly no longer open - let's not & say we did} - girls who have both their down home & experimental skills on LOCK.  these are girls who deconstruct, then reconstruct the food we are used to, & when they return it to us, it is somehow more brightly vivid, more alive than it was before.

you'll hear a lot about salmon croquettes being a great catch-all for leftovers, & they are, if you just poached salmon a few nights ago - but whether you have or not, these are they,  the way they should be done:

2 # fresh salmon steaks - or 1 # fresh plus one can this still makes a huge difference in flavor -
1 medium onion, chopped medium fine 
2 stalks celery     "                             "
1/2 green bell pepper "                      "
4 - 6 cloves fresh garlic  "                  "
1 egg lightly scrambled
few girl's handsfull bread crumbs or cracker meal. & some (about 2 cups of either breadcrumbs or INDIAN HEAD - i know i know - cornmeal - sorry, politics! but it is the best & finest cornmeal) to dredge the croquettes
all purpose flour to coat croquettes about 2 cups
oil to fry in - grapeseed, safflower, sunflower or a combination of these about 1 quart

heat oil to popping.




1 - poach or sear the salmon till firm to the touch. not overcooked & flake off the bone
2 - combine the flaked salmon with all ingredients except the reserved bread crumb flour or corn meal to form medium stiff balls which are then lightly flattened
3 - roll the slightly flattened balls in the flour combined with either cornmeal or breadcrumbs, &
4 - drop into the hot oil
5 - when these babies float & are golden brown, they are done.

Chicken Yassa

serves 4:

2 whole chix, fryers
2 TBSP pulverized garlic
4 TBSP mustard - or to taste -
2 TBSP fresh lemon juice
2 TBSP apple cider vinegar
1 TBSP turmeric, ground dry  or a 1-inch knob, fresh. grated
4 medium vidalia or 2 lg spanish onions, sliced into rings or wedges
tiny bit chili paste, habanero, cayenne, jalapeno, piri-piri - you name it!
sea salt,
fresh ground pepper to taste
2 cups chicken stock
thyme, i had some savory hanging around, so - it went in w/the others, plus 1 bay leaf

1 - marinate the chicken in everything (2 hrs - overnight) but the garlic & onion, in fact
2 - saute the onion rings/slices w/the garlic til translucent in virgin coconut oil
3 - add all other ingredients to the pot & simmer on top of the stove or bake for 1 & 1/2 hrs, turning once halfway through.

aiight friends, strange as this is, see you on monday, & the kashmiri tea party, along w/pics, & recipe for curry fried chicken is ON.

thank you for your time.

Flexibility: How Substitutions can Free You, Edits, & Does Uptown Need a Food Co-op???

i am a purist.  just recently became really comfortable with dealing in substitutions; & if they happen they have to be really specific...  like yesterday, when i was shopping for bluefish. sometimes weekends are more busy than weekdays, right?  it all started with a somber apology from nashira.  'i'm sorry i broke your computer, mama.'  which was OK, only b/c that nasty fever i thought was gone last week?

pneumonia.

which was apparently going around - a little epidemic among the wee ones & i'm not going to jinx the situation by saying everything's fine now - WHY did i take her to THAT party?  why? -  but still...  can you stand it?

so she could do no wrong, even though i know that this amount of guilt  (she ripped all the keys off my laptop about 2 weeks ago) around any incident of misbehavior means that she has, again, BEEN touching my computer.  le sigh.  but upon turning it on, there it was, dead.  no yo gabba gabba, no sesame street, no super why.  the party was (mostly) over.  she has some sadly over watched blue's clues & such so i slapped that on, & left her with daddy while i jetted uptown to my mac guy.  (what a wierdo - love him to death & he's a total genius, but he's like one of the furry IT guys from the X-files - you literally cannot get into his apt w/all of the macs of differing ages piled on top of one another.  it is unbelievable.)

anywhoo since he's uptown from us, a visit to fairway was a must.  i've loved fairway for years.  but i wasn't loving the attitude of the guy @ the fish counter.  no siree bob.  from the perspective of someone who has been suffering the hard knocks of working w/the public since she was 16, i really hate shitty retail service,  like when the first answer to any given question is no?  i generally make it my business to find the thing i had been told doesn't exist, & show it to the person who hates their job.  but with a sheet of glass protecting the inventory, i had no choice but to accept this jerk's answer when he told me that not only were they out of bluefish, but that they could not even SUGGEST a substitute.  i mean, had it been me, (yes, even @ 16) the answer was in plain sight:  salmon, one of the few fish on display  is quite fishy, rich, & clean so what's the problem?  oh well. he wasn't suggesting it.  so i wasn't buying it.  they were out of yucca, so i was going to have to hit Whole Check in any case.

on the way over, a cab driver asked, which one is better?  & i had to admit that it was really 6 of one, 1/2 dozen of the other.  this week, the salmon steaks were $1/more a pound @ fairway than @ whole paycheck.
& to top of no bargain weekend, there was another surprise!  no merchandise!  no bluefish... & no yucca.  WTF???  @ this point, time was ticking.  i had to meet my editor to fine tune the manuscript, & we had WORK to do.  lots.  this fish thing had to be worked out quick, fast, in a hurry & i didn't have time to be running all over little Senegal for sub-par freshness & little idea of place of origin.

but they were trying to make their sale @ whole paycheck.  so i went with homeboy's enthusiastic suggestion:  mackerel.  love it.  fishy, clean, not quite as meaty but so what?  friends, do it within reason,but feel free to play.  i think i put myself in a self-imposed gilded cage early in my career, by being so...  i can only describe it as narrow minded when faced with the challenge of a missing ingredient.  obviously no one wants to see you serving ketchup as tomato sauce, but with something like bluefish to mackerel, lemon to lime, cracked long grain rice as opposed to sushi rice feel free!  BTW, yes, i served the thiebou djen with sushi rice.  yes.

homeward.

on the way, it occurred to me:  why doesn't uptown have a food coop?

food coops are brilliant, & can offer extremely high quality, fresh organic produce, free range birds & four leggeds even honey, @ 20 - 50%  BELOW retail  b/c there is no payroll.  the coop part means that every shopper also works.  i think it could happen.

i mean, the (nazi-ish) park slope one has been going on forever, with people coming FROM uptown to attend, so what is our problem?  i am not going out to brooklyn to do a workslot/shop that sounds like a nightmare.  but what about uptown?  we have it in us, care about our food, etcetera.  so what's up?  i think it's really about what form it would take:  there are ones that meet with a farmer @ an arranged location, as my friend Nikki Jo Blair/Eye Serene does, (so, SO dope!) when they come into the city.  a group of like minded people might want to pool their order...  but what about one where you have a space, & a workslot modeled after park slope, but uptown?  & what about one that made sure to incorporate Black farmers?  hmmm...

any thoughts out there?  do you live uptown?  what form would you like to see your coop take?

talk to me. 

Calvin (my oh-so-Carribbean-fiance, & Nashira's father) was howling with hunger as was Desiree, my editor/sista!  & of course Nashira, but she was still getting over her illness, so i suspect that she was really howling for juice & crackers - it became apparent that i would have to make something while we were all waiting for the fish prep & baking to happen since i was making a. lot. of brine (found in my last post), i was able to pull some to brine up the chicken quickly  (no more than 30 minutes if it's cut into small pieces, about 1 hr. per pound otherwise)  & fry it.  some gravy & some corn on the cob with a salad, & you are in business.

scandalously, i hadn't actually made a salad for this meal, but that won't stop me from adding a recipe if you want to - this was a waiting period meal, & not only that  but i hadn't bought the stuff for salad - still if this had been planned, i would have made a balsamic vinaigrette :

olive oil 1 cup
balsamic 1/2 - 2/3 cup
6 cloves garlic
juice of 1 lemon
thai fish sauce 3 drops  or for vegans, bragg's amino acids
sea salt
pepper black or tri-colored
parsley
thyme
2 TBPS mustard

throw everything except the oil in the blender - then add the oil & blend till emulsified. 

but it was worth the wait.  when the fish came out of the oven, we were all gratified...

in the end, i went with a mixture of salmon & mackerel.  so silvery!

oh yeah, & the fried chicken - this recipe is post brine:

1 3# fryer cut into pieces
flour to coat
seasoning salts - i use whatever i am playing with that week or mix up paprika, garlic, mixed dried herbs such as parsley thyme, savory, basil, lemon pepper, milled pepper, black or mixed, & if you have any other ideas, that seem compatible, throw them in!
oil to fry

it's that simple, y'all. i threw the chicken into the flour while i was heating the oil.  when it starts to pop, toss in the chicken - well not really toss, & fry until the chicken pieces float. 5 - 10 min for wings, 15 -20 for breasts & thighs, constantly turning to brown evenly on all sides.

the best blotting for this is paper towels on brown paper bags.
 
cooked the sushi rice in 1 part to 1 & 1/2 parts water:

2 cups rice
2 tbps butter
2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
1 bay leaf
1 sprig thyme 
3 cups water

in a pot with a tight fitting lid (or a plate) stir & fry the rice in the melted fats until translucent.  add the herbs & the water. cover & bring to boil, never disturbing the cover.  when boiling, lower heat to an extremely slow simmer.  keep it like this for 15 min. then let sit, STILL undisturbed for another 15 min.

unveil.

everyone loved the thiebou djen, but my favorite part was watching Calvin feed Nashira the corn on the cob...
(can you believe Calvin's mad @ me about my other husbands???  what a party pooper.)

got a couple parties to do this week, so expect many more pics, & a breakdown of those menus w/pics next week.

i'll keep you posted on my progress w/the coop.

thank you for your time.