If you're going to do chicken soup, do it with dumplings

Cabbage.

Like the actual, wrinkly-round, vegetable. (Nevermind any other uses of the term.) For the past couple of weeks, I've been getting heads of cabbage in my CSA box.. and, well, I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but I've let a couple go to waste.

One of the things I like about getting the CSA box is that I'll receive fruits and vegetables that I normally wouldn't buy myself (in addition to many that I would).. and this becomes a forcing function to get out of my culinary comfortzone, to discover new recipes or cooking techniques. But my ambition waned with this cabbage business..

Weird, because I'm generally a fan of the stuff; I really love good sauerkraut. Right out of the jar.

In any case -- as luck would have it -- I stumbled upon an awesome chicken soup recipe (with chive dumplings!) at chow.com earlier this week; it was part of their "Cooking with Winter Ingredients" feature, which included, among many other fruits and veggies, the venerable cabbage. I modified the recipe slightly to amp up the vegetables and reduce the chicken a little bit; here's my version of "Easy Chicken and Chive-Dumpling Soup":

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VEGGIE1
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium red onion, small dice
3 medium celery stalks, small dice
6 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2t crushed red pepper
salt and pepper

CHICKEN
8c low-sodium chicken broth
2t poultry seasoning
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces

DUMPLING
2c all-purpose flour
1/3c fresh chives, thinly sliced
1T kosher salt
2T baking powder
2/3c 2% milk
1/3c crème fraîche
3T unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

VEGGIE2
3 medium carrots, thinly sliced
1/2 large head savoy cabbage, large dice (about 6 cups)

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1. Heat oil in a large, shallow pot over medium-high heat (I used a cast-iron dutch oven). When oil shimmers, add all the VEGGIE1 ingredients and season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook until onions begin to soften, about 5 minutes.

2. Add CHICKEN ingredients and bring to a boil.

3. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, chives, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl to break up any lumps. In a separate bowl, mix the rest of the DUMPLING ingredients: milk, crème fraîche, and butter. Once combined, add these wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix until dough just comes together (it will be very thick).

4. When chicken is cooked through (it will be firm and opaque), add VEGGIE2 ingredients, reduce heat to medium low, and add additional salt and pepper if necessary.

5. Drop 1 heaping tablespoon of dough at a time into the soup and repeat until all dough has been used. Cover and cook until dumplings are fluffy and cooked through, about 10 minutes.

(Find the original version of the recipe here.)

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The soup came out really well; the dumplings make it hardy and memorable. And I definitely recommend making it on a chilly, rainy, or otherwise inclement night because it's going to hit the spot on multiple levels. If you can, share it with friends (although the only downside to that idea is that you probably won't have any leftovers). haha.

My experience.. Monday night, found this recipe online, made a few calls, sent a few txt's; and Tuesday night, I had 10 SF peeps in my kitchen, um, chowing down. I can assure you: it wasn't my company that they were after.. it was the free soup. Apparently, the economy *is* that bad after all! ;)

Weather the storm with soup; I'll join you.

The only threat I see..

It's been 30 years since the Islamic Revolution when, in 1979, Iran transformed itself from a constitutional monarchy into an Islamic republic. While I know very little about the event and its long aftermath (still ongoing), it's pretty straightforward to discern that there have been many successes (ex. education and health care) and failures (ex. religious/political oppression and the economy) along the path to yesterday's rally in Tehran celebrating its anniversary.

It's been 30 years of cold-to-very-cold relations between Iran and the US; the countries have been headbutting most recently over the funding of terrorist organizations (ex. Hezbollah) as well as the development of a (civilian-only?) nuclear program.. nevermind last week's satellite launch. But with a new US administration in place (Obama! et. al.), there is potential for a subtle warming. Long overdue.

In a televised address, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "promised that if the United States was truly serious about changing the countries’ relations, then Iran was ready to respond in kind." Read more at the NYTimes..

Iran Offers ‘Dialogue With Respect’ With U.S.
By Nazila Fathi
Published: February 10, 2009

Who knows what will come of this sort of nice-talk (on both sides). But certainly we got to start somewhere..

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In any case, the lightening tone (too hopeful?) of Iran-US relations has put the country back on my radar for, um, vacation travel.. potentially later this year, or, more likely, next. (Traveling through Iran initially came up in discussions with a travel buddy during my sabbatical planning in 2007; we went to Russia and the lovely Kyrgyzstan instead.)

In an effort to bolster my general knowledge about traveling in the country -- I really know zero about Iran -- I borrowed the new Lonely Planet (5th Ed.) from the library last week; and I'm starting to ask friends/acquaintances if they have any contacts or advice. Plus -- conveniently enough -- Iran borders a couple of other cool places on my ol' international to-do list: Azerbaijan and Armenia.. so I could potentially knock off a couple (with the addition of Грузия, natch) on one big trip.

Wait. Wait.. wait! Stop the presses..

Who am I kidding?; this is the real reason why I want to go to Iran..

Iran So Far (video)
(An SNL Digital Short)

From Andy; to Mr. Ahmadinejad: "You can deny the Holocaust all you want, but you can't deny that there's something between us." Oh man.. hahaha.

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This may all end up being an exercise in daydreaming, but we'll see. I've been known to make shizz like this happen on occasion. ;) I mean, southwestern Russia and the Caucuses are still the tops on my international travel list, but Iran is a rising star (with respect to sparking my imagination). So, if you *do* have any experience with the country, especially in the northwest -- say, Tabriz, Rasht, or the surrounding areas -- let me know. Ultimately, though, I'm open to it all; any and all advice is welcome. ;)

Got 2 B Down

Keepin' this short-and-sweet..

I got tickets for a few of these shows already, but if you're interested and any of them, let me know; I'd be down:

Feb 6th: Matthew Dear @ Mighty
Feb 7th: Tim Sweeney + Mike Simonetti @ Paradise Lounge
Feb 15th: Lykke Li @ The Fillmore
Feb 17th: Post Ventura @ Cafe du Nord
Feb 21st: Unicrons launch party @ Mezzanine
Feb 25th: Stephen Malkmus (solo) @ GAMH
Mar 1st: Veil Veil Vanish @ Bottom of the Hill
Mar 12th: Cut Copy @ The Fillmore
Mar 15th: Simian Mobile Disco @ Mezzanine
Mar 19th: MSTRKRFT@ The Independent
Mar 26th: Tricky @ Mezzanine
Mar 28th: Pelican @ Slims
Apr 15th: Crookers + the Bloody Beetroots @ Mezzanine
Apr 16th: The Presets @ Mezzanine

Are you down?

Drink some cherry wine!

I did some massive archiving/cleaningup of my laptop harddrive last week, mostly a ton of music to an external drive (or deleting the unlucky altogether). And before I knew it, I had kept only a few selected CDs and mixtapes downloaded over the past year or two; hundreds of others bit the dust..

So this was the elite.

Among those left digitally-intact on the ol' laptop was the "We Are the Future Mix", by Futurecop; I had found it back in July on the everspring-of-dopeness that is the Disco Dust blog. (I need to dig through those archives for my next mix! Soon!)

"We Are the Future" starts with the warbled piano (piano?) of "Borderline" by Madonna. And that pretty much sets the stage for this epic-80's-lovefest. C'mon.. one of the middle tracks is "Hungry Eyes"?!

I mean, none of the songs are going to blow your mind; they are all familiar (to most), yet slightly obscure (for anyone in their, ahem, early 30's or younger, anyway). In fact, it sounds like the whole thing could have been mixed by your buddy-with-the-turntables playing at your houseparty. Maybe that's the appeal?

Yeah -- this mix would be awesome at your next houseparty.

No crazy technical whizz-bang; but after a few listens, you come to realize that this simplicity fits with the vibe of the songs themselves (i.e. songs from a "simpler time"). And, somehow, the whole is so much more than its FM-lite constituents..

In short, it's not brain (um, ear?) food, but it's totally fun; here's the tracklist:

1. Madonna – Borderline
2. Cameo – Word Up (video)
3. Phil Collins – Sussudio
4. Belinda Carlisle - We Want The Same Thing
5. Janet Jackson – Principle Pleasure (video)
6. Jermaine Stewart – We Don't Have To Take Clothes Off (video)
7. Futurecop! – Tonight's Hero
8. Eric Carmen - Hungry Eyes (video)
9. Bruce Hornsby – The Long Race
10. Kenny Loggins – St Elmo's Fire
11. Robert Tepper – No Easy Way Out
12. Simple Minds – Don't you (Forget About Me)
13. Futurecop! – Transformers
14. Robbie Robb – In Time (Futurecop! Edit)

And the funnest -- the funnest! (funniest?) -- part of all comes in at minute 11:55.. Jermaine Stewart lets us know that he's not a piece of meat on "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off". A little bit silly, yes; but it's oh-so-catchy.

Drink some cherry wine! Check the video here. (video)

I've basically been playing it non-stop for the past two weeks. Really! Yeah, so, beyond any hipsterbusiness I download from the music blogs over the next couple of months, this song is definitely going on the next mix. I gotta. haha.

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Branching off, you'll find a couple remakes (tributes?) of "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" on youtube; most are crap, but I actually like this poprock version by Lil' Chris:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGVqEDk9YpE (video)

I mean, his voice is a little too young and emo (for lack of a better word) and the production is a little too "clean" for my tastes, but I can get beyond those things. To start, I love the na-na-na part of the chorus up front, and, besides, the filled-out band sound (guitars, drums, etc.) really works. Overall, this version makes for a totally different vibe, but still captures the essence of the original for a new audience. Naiveté is universal! haha.

Oh -- one last Jermaine Stewart-related thing.. do not adjust your television set (um, computer screen) for this last video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGVqEDk9YpE (video)

There is no irony in its creation or delivery; it's just a totally tripped-out piece of work (in the best way possible.) hahahah.

Huh.. I think it *does* have artistic merit, regardless of the director's (danceyman's?) intention. At the least, it could (should!) be employed as a wonderful hypnosis device; add some research-grade ecstasy, and let the healing begin! Amen! And hallelujah. haha.

Yeah -- we gotta get this thing into the MOMA (SF or NYC); if I'm not mistaken, I think they're trying to bolster their respective video art collections. This shizz is gold.. nice one, Christopher Reynolds (i.e. the young man *feeling* the music in that last video); I'm willing to share any tribute payment MOMA bestows on me for such a quality submission. ;)

Watch out for flying spoons, at Humphry Slocombe

When I was younger, I didn't like cake. Yeah: a kid that didn't like cake! Whaa?

Even at my elementary school birthday parties -- wow: I can still remember the feel, the snap, of the cheap stretchy string that held cone birthday hats on our heads, the same cheap stretchy string that could also be used to launch various projectiles at a younger brother or sister -- yeah, my mom would get me an ice cream cake from the local Carvel, black cookie crumbs sometimes pressed into the sides. The spread also included sickly-sweet sherbert from Pathmark, served directly out of their clear plastic containers.

No cake.

While I've grown, over the years, to like a selected variety of cakey things -- give me ginger or carrot or lemon anything -- I've never lost that love affair with ice cream. In high school, I used to eat it by the half-gallon (rocky road, natch). Whew! But cut to 2009; and while I'm still into the stuff, I indulge in MUCH smaller quantities, refined quantities.

I got my latest fix just last week at Humphry Slocombe, a new, innovative ice cream shop in the Mission. Folks on yelp, on chowhound, on dailycandy -- not to mention in the local print -- are writing up a storm about it. Have you been? Have you been? Have you been?

Humphry Slocombe is the buzz of the town, it seems.

And, I think, with good reason.

First, you gotta check out the list of flavors that they have made or will make. At any given time, they will be selling maybe 12 or so of them (which seems to be the limit of the freezer in the front), with some favorites always on-the-ready and a rotating cast of, um, creamy-dreaminess(-and-sometimes-whimsiness).

I'm looking at you, foie gras, and, you, Andante chevre + strawberry jam.

On my particular visit, I got to sample quite a few of the offerings (the scooper seems to be patient enough to allow you to sample pretty much as many as you want -- on a quiet night, anyway): the Guiness gingerbread, the Valrhona fudgesicle, the Blue Bottle Vietnamese coffee, the balsamic caramel, the olive oil, and the Secret Breakfast.

Without getting into individual reviews, my lasting impression is that the ice cream of Jake Godby -- owner/chef of Humphry Slocombe -- really embodied the ingredients. And given their high quality, this makes for a wonderful experience for the palate. Tummy too.

Now, I'm not saying that you'll like all the flavors -- for example, the balsamic caramel wasn't for me (I'm not a fan of vinegar tang in general) -- but you're going to really like something. Even for the ones that aren't totally up your alley, you're going to appreciate the flavors on an academic level (well, maybe if you're like me and occasionally dabble in foodie-dom); you'll say, "I've never had this flavor of icecream before"; or, "this flavor has never been captured in icecream so well". Word.

Well, like I said, I ain't the first one to say it, but here goes: check this place out! Humphry Slocombe, on the west side of Harrison St., a tad north of 24th Street (map).

You'll see a few tables outside.

You might even see me there, Secret Breakfast in hand.. er, dish. One warning though: if I'm wearing a cone birthday hat with one of those elastic string things, watch out for flying spoons. Whap!

Fluo Kids: keep the pics coming; music too

Since when do I wax French? Since never.

(Waxing French *people* is another matter.) Damn girl, I will s’il vous plaît. For reals. Wait!; I mean..

Nevermind; yes, I should save any discussion of waxing *anything* for a future post.. probably in the less-titillating context of endurance sports (ex. biking or swimming).

Ahem; where was I?

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My lack of Francotextual knowledge doesn't stop me from getting off on the dancey track postings at the Fluo Kids music blog. It's straight dope, through and through, and that sort of thing pretty much translates in any language. In fact, they've been one of my go-to's for new-new music for the past year or so. (Sorry to keep it a secret for so long.) haha.

And with the emergence of the Diamond Street radio show this past September -- produced by some of the contributors to the Fluo Kids blog -- I really can't keep it to myself anymore, at least not in good conscience.

Already, they've got five episodes out and available for download; listen now! Find them at Fluo Kids, of course, or, more directly, at their myspace page.

Episodes seem to come out every 2-4 weeks.

Ah yes -- let me note that even as the blog commentary and radioshow is in the French (95% of it, anyway), most of the music is in English. For example, check the track list for the most recent episode (Saison 1, Episode 5):

Kleerup - Until We Bleed (feat. Lykke Li)
Happy Burger - Pizza All Around
Cheap Time - Glitter And Gold
Miami Horror - Don't Be On With Her
Del Shannon - Gemini (Pilooski edit)
Flight - Crackerjack Woman
Clinton Sparks - Still Got It 4 Cheap (feat. The Clipse & Pharrell)
Jay Z - Brooklyn Go Hard (feat. Santogold)
Dj Mujava - Township Funk (Radioclit remix)
A1 Bassline - Girl Thing
Octet - Euros Vs. Dollars (Pilooski edit)
Hot Chip - Touch Too Much (Fake Blood remix)
Tommie Sparks - Im A Rope (Yuksek remix)
Brodinski - Oblivion (Noob remix)
Digitalism - Home Zone (Proxy remix)
Meterhead - Biggie Dance (inst.)
Jesse Rose - Forget My Name (feat. Hot Chip)
Santogold - Say A ha (Phones remix)

In short, I gotta add these guys to the "Aural Delites" link listing over on the side there. That's it!; gotta keep my own shizz fresh, right?

And speaking of fresh, did you check out the pictures that the Fluo Kids post with each blog entry?.. snapshots of goodlooking young women frolicking in fields or rocking-out in clubs or whatever; the occasional racy photo doesn't hurt either. Do they take those themselves? If you read French and can find that out on their site, please let me know! haha.

For me -- and maybe this is because I can't read the postings -- the pictures became one of the main attractions; they allowed the blog to stand out among a cast of hundreds out there on the 'net. "Oh yeah -- Fluo Kids is the French music blog with the (tasteful) pics of hot chicks on it." To be honest, I think that was the only reason why I started going there regularly at first. haha. But now, it's straight-up for the music -- especially the Diamond Street entries.

That said, keep the pics coming. ;)

Sparks, I hardly knew ye

Consider this your (semi-)advanced warning..

It's time to stock up.

When Miller Brewing bought Sparks from McKenzie River Corp. back in 2006, you knew that it was only a matter of time before the formula was changed. Cost reduction is king in any economic environment (a non-planned one, anyway), and when established products are brought into the fold of another corporation (especially a larger one), they must be transmuted to use a common ingredient set, which is presumably already being bought in bulk-bulk-bulk. Or, you could imagine formulas being tweaked based on "market research".. but, again, any formula change is most likely a matter of making an established (but, presumably, beloved) product cheaper to manufacture..

And I'm all about doing things more efficiently! Waste not, want not, and all that. However, the product usually suffers because the philosophical essence of the original is usually lost in the journey from acquisition down towards the bottom line.

But I've digressed a bit..

Um, yeah: stock up on yer Sparks! You see, MillerCoors is reformulating it en-totál due to massive legal headaches all across the country. Huh? Not the type of headache you associate with Sparks? Well, about 30 US State Attorney Generals have sued MillerCoors over the past couple of years to, basically, take Sparks off the market. Yeah, so the change is not exactly due to cost-savings -- sorry about that earlier discussion/digression; how did I get started on that?

In any case, the states have argued that Sparks is an "alcopop" that targets underage youth in its marketing.. and, besides, mixing your uppers and downers in a given night is a bad idea. humph. I don't agree on either of those points; if anything -- *anything* -- I would sue based on the taste alone. And I'd make Smirnoff Ice a defendant as well, while we're at it. haha.

Well, the upshot is that you'll still find "Sparks" on the shelves; however, as I alluded to before, it will be reborn in a much different incarnation. Packaging too?; I don't know. The Washington Business Journal reports that MillerCoors will "voluntarily reformulate its Sparks beverage to remove caffeine, taurine, guarana and ginseng from the product."

What? That makes no sense. How is this new product -- Sparks in name only -- still going to be the somehow-charming, jacked-up hangover machine we're all grown to, um, tolerate? In any case, read the details here:

Maryland part of deal with MillerCoors to reformulate Sparks
by Rich Rovito @ the Washington Business Journal

Again, I was never a huge fan of any of the varieties of Sparks ("blue", "black", or the original "orange"), but I do appreciate that there is a time for such indulgence and, therefore, a place on the shelf, so to speak. And perhaps my brain and liver are celebrating this news -- that is, the news of Sparks' demise, and, consequently, the news that I will never be able to succumb to its temptation ever again -- but my heart is a little sad..

So, is seems, my only option is to to drown this sorrow in a vat of Redbull and vodka.. which, you know.. doesn't sound so bad. Salud!

Ladytron for me; The Virgins for you?

You got lucky.

I mean, if you missed their opening spot on the Black Kids tour through San Francisco back in October, The Virgins are back, playing at the venerable Popscene for their Holiday Gala 2008. TONIGHT!

The Virgins at myspace

They've got a sound where The Strokes comparisons are inevitable (and I think that's mostly a good thing), but to mix it up for the here-and-now, The Virgins have thrown the occasional disco-y beat or Clash-y guitar syncopation behind most of their tracks. And these are also good things; their shizz is catchy, while still being fresh and a little raw (more on that later)..

I also appreciate that a few songs -- including their huge hit, Rich Girls (video) -- emanate a bluesy-sexuality, a la The Rolling Stones.. and, luckily, the lead singer has the looks to make it all work. haha. Ah -- just a heads-up that the Rich Girls video is semi-safe-for-work, given that some scenes contain a model gettin' down to her skivies. ;)

So, with all that said, let me submit that this is the last time you'll see them at a venue so small.. unless you're deep in certain artscenes of the LES -- their home-hood -- where you might still see them play at a party/gallery once they're back from touring. Yeah, they seem to be getting more and more air/face-time on the radio, on the TV, over the past couple of months, so I'm only expecting a good 2009 for these guys.

To be honest, part of that (predicted) success is due to the "slickness" of their self-titled debut album on Atlantic records. The label/studio really got to them, and not in a particular good way for my tastes. That is, they didn't capture the "freshness" and "rawness" I mentioned earlier; they didn't capture that sound that I heard when I first caught a couple of tracks off their original, self-recorded EP (after a friend told me about them this past January).

No matter.. whatever they want to do professionally is fine by me. I'm not asking you to buy their album. But you *should* see them rock-out live -- hear their music the way it was meant to be heard -- in that hot, sweaty, 18+ box of musical taste: Popscene, tonite; doors at 9:30pm, so it's gonna be a late night of getting your dance-on!

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By the way, I would totally join you tonight at Popscene, but I already have tickets to the Ladytron DJ set featuring Reuben Wu at Mighty (playing with San Francisco's own Sleazemore). Maybe I'll see you there?

The show is presented by the good folks at Blasthaus; check out more from them here.