Broccoli and Gruyere Gratin and Caprese Salad with Sleigh Bells, Darling New Neighbors and Duchess Says

A little over a year ago a cheese maker in Switzerland created a fresh batch of Gruyere cheese. Instead of rushing the cheese to market, it was put aside, in a cave of all places, and allowed to mingle with bacteria and the natural Swiss air. Eventually the cheese, ripe with its flavors of apple and pear, was shipped to the United States and delivered to the Whole Foods on Dale Mabry Avenue. There it sat until I came by, purchased it, and placed it here:

Gruyere and Broccoli Gratin
(printable version)

-3 bunches of broccoli
-1/2 stick of butter (4 tablespoons)
-1/4 cup of flour
-2 cups of skim milk
-8 oz of Gruyere Cheese (grated)
-pinch of red pepper flakes
-salt and black pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375. Fill a wok with water and cover with a bamboo steamer. Place the broccoli in the steamer. Steam until the broccoli turns bright green. Remove from heat and place the broccoli in a rectangular baking dish.

2. In a sauce pan, melt the butter. Add the flour and stir for about two minutes. Do not let the flour/butter mixture burn. Whisk in milk and cook until sauce is thickened. Remove from heat and stir in 4 ounces of Gruyere. Pour the mixture over the broccoli. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Stir.

3. Spread the remaining 4 ounces of cheese over the top of the broccoli. Bake until cheese is golden colored, about 40 minutes.

Allow Gratin to cool slightly before digging in.

Another cheese dish I planned on making recently was a caprese salad shaped like eyeballs. The inspiration came from this post on Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories. Unfortunately Halloween came and went and I ran out of time (or reasons) to dress the salad up. My version includes all the same ingredients as the Evil post, minus the fancy arrangement.


Brooklyn seems to keep churning out good music (I'm so jealous of my friend Annie). The latest Brooklyn band to get my toes tapping while my spoon is stirring is the Sleigh Bells. I enjoy their song "Crown on the Ground" but "AB Machines" is even better. This version of "AB Machines" is just a demo. The band plans to re-record it before officially releasing it as part of an album later this year or early next year.

Sleigh Bell-AB Machines

Another band I've been enjoying lately is the Darling New Neighbors from Austin, Texas. Their song "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" is one that didn't immediately catch my attention. But after a few listens the accordion wormed it's way into my brain and I couldn't get it out. Thanks to Eardrums Music for introducing me to this one.

Darling New Neighbors-Only Love Can Break Your Heart

Finally, fresh off their CMJ high, is Canada's Duchess Says. "Rabies (baby's got the)" is a brilliant celebration of screaming dance music that reminds me of a ride on a pogo stick. Below you will find a video with a short excerpt of the song. To download this slightly older track visit Nialler 9 blog right here.



By the way, something cool I came across today (thanks to Shmitten Kitten) is a mail order husband website. This is freaking hilarious.

A Baker's Dozen: Interview with Solander

Imagine it. You are standing with a friend in a completely white room with an altar listening as the stereo belts out repeatedly "Just F***ing kill him." That is what happened to Frederik Karlsson (the man behind Solander) and led him to record his own haunting version of the song which was track number two on our (Buffalo) Wing and a Prayer Mix. Recently I had the pleasure of interviewing Frederik (via email) as part of our Baker's Dozen series on Write.Click.Cook.Listen.

TB: Your first single contains two tracks "Looking for Gold" and a cover of Shellac's "Prayer to God." What makes these two songs work together?

Sol: I think that it was Tenderversion that put those two together They took two songs they liked and put them together. In my opinion I think they are, in some way, intertextually linked. So for me they fit together like paper and glue.

TB: "Prayer to God" tackles an emotional subject (praying for revenge for an affair). The way you perform it is aurally appealing, yet the pain shines through. What went through your mind while you recorded the track?

Sol: I first heard the song in a friend's room. He is Catholic and his entire room is white, including the altar. When he played the song on the stereo I was swept away. This was, at the time, the essence of belief for me. When you really need help, the prayers come uncensored.

TB: Do you have a philosophy about cover songs? Would you cover any other songs?

Sol: I love playing covers. But they have to different from the original. If the cover version comes too close to the original it loses its sense. I promised that I would record one cover for every 10000 listens on Myspace. At the moment I am behind on the promise. Any song suggestions?

TB: Tell us about Since We Are Pigeons, your new album which was released digitally on the 16th of September.

Sol: It is not only digitally. You can order it from Tenderversion, they will ship it all over the world. Victoria Skoglund made the cover art and I love it. The record contains 11 songs which were recorded during 2009. It doesn't really have a theme except, I recorded everything on my own with my best friend and my lover.

TB: You are also a part of Fredrik and Vit Pals. How does Solander differ from those two outfits?

Sol: Oh I would say the only thing in common is that it would be in the pop section in a record store. FREDRIK is a neo-baroque-folk sextet that explores the essence of beauty with music. Vit Pals is the art of a thriving genius called Carl Johan Lundgren. I'm just a tool which he uses. The love shows with Palsen (Vit Pals) is something you never forget, if you get the chance to see it.

TB: Solander's press release suggests that you may choose to back a song with a string quartet, indie rock band or a cellist. Who are the people that you collaborate with and how do you decide which pieces to incorporate into a song?

Sol: As I mentioned earlier, the musicians I collaborate with are friends and a lover. Very often it is Klas and Anja and I who put the frames and then let people stop by the studio and paint with whatever they are using at the time.

TB: You have contributed music to at least two films (En Dod Kraka and Hata Goteborg). How did Solander become a part of these projects? Did you have any say in how the songs were used?

Sol: Not with"Hata Goteborg." The producer liked what we do so I sent them some songs. They could pick and choose as they like. With "En Dod Kraka" some of the songs were originally recorded for that movie. Some other songs just felt good by coincident.

TB: In 2006 you relocated from Gothenberg to Malmo. Why the move? How has it benefited Solander?

Sol: Malmo is a town with less distress and more freedom. It went from this really heavy industrial city to a college town in the last ten years. A lot of studios are being put up and the food is cheap. For me it, Malmo, means more time and more musicians. Also, I love that the sea is really close by.

TB: If someone were visiting Malmo, what are the "must sees"?

Sol: I like the beach called Ribbersborg. They have a big wooden bathing house there which I go to as often as I can.

TB: What are your live shows like?

Sol: Right now there are four of us. Klas, Anja, Hannes, and me. Some synthesizers, drums, guitars, and always Anja's fantastic cello. We try to make the audience travel as we play. We invite them into our songs so they can experience something beyond recorded music. Also we tend to make a lot of conversation. I don't know why really.

TB: What are Solander's plans, now that Since We Are Pigeons has been released?

Sol: Three European tours. All in all about 50 shows. After that we are planning on making new music for a new decay!

TB: You mentioned that you do some cooking (via my Myspace page). Any recipes you care to share?

Sol: I have a really good cannelloni recipe I'd like to share. (Find it here).

TB: Anything else you would like to say?

Sol: I hope to see everyone that reads this on the road and share some new recipes and songs with them.

To download Solander's "Looking for Gold" go here. To purchase the debut album Since We Are Pigeons stop here. You can check out a video of Solander performing live here.

Let Them Eat Pie Mix: RADAID, katsen, drummer, melodics, mumford & sons, Ellie Goulding, Shad K, Tada Tata, Monotonix and more

Jean-Jacques Rousseau did not have me in mind when he wrote in his Confessions book "Qu’ils mangent de la brioche. J’achetai de la brioche." This quote is generally translated as "Let them eat cake. I bought some cake (but in all actuality refers to brioche, a French egg bread). Cake is too rich for me, too much icing, not enough good stuff. I'll take pie over cake any day. That's why I love November so much. It seems that no other month of the year sees so much pie sent my way. Pumpkin, apple, peach, cherry, blueberry, raspberry, rhubarb and strawberry. I'm not complaining, I'm just saying. It's pie out the wazoo. That's what this month's playlist is all about. Eating pie, baking pie, sharing a pie with the whole world. Everyone out there, this crust is for you.


Track Listing:

RADAID-Shine
Katsen-Where nobody can find us
Dummer-Diamonds to Shake
The Melodics-Take Me Away
Mumford & Sons-Little Lion Man
A Place To Bury Strangers-In Your Heart
Ellie Goulding-Under the Sheets
I Heart Hiroshima-Skakeytown
Shad K-I Get Down
Ou Est Le Swimming Pool-Dance the Way I Feel
Monotonix-My needs
Tada Tata-Hit The Wall
Washed Out-New Theory
Scotland Yard Gospel Choir-Tear Down the Opera House
My Sunrise-Fire Walk with Me

Download Playlist Here

The Bourbon and Orange Pecan Pie pictured at the top of this post came from this month's Real Simple. I put in more vanilla and less corn syrup than the recipe called for and used my own pie crust.

Halloween Fare with DK, AIH, Eat Skull, Band of Horses, Helloween, The Aquabats, Bats for Lashes, My Gold Mask, PGMG, The Unseen and more...

In honor of Autumn and Halloween I blended up a batch of pumpkin smoothie (recipe here). I followed the instructions verbatim and found the smoothie was not sweet at all. For a more pumpkin pie feel, I would dial the sugar up a notch.

And what is Halloween without music. Below you will find MP3's and videos for 17 songs that I will be enjoying this weekend.

Dead Kennedys-Halloween
Architecture in Helsinki-The Cemetery
Eat Skull-Stick to the Formula
Band of Horses-Is there a ghost
Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah-Satan Said Dance
Helloween-Mr. Torture
The Aquabats-Fashion Zombies
Bats for Lashes-Tahiti
John's Candy-Amusing Using You


















My playlist pales in comparison to the thirteen that Indie Rock Cafe has posted. Stop by and check their lists out here. Have a great Halloween! November playlist coming this week...

Spicy Stew Stuffed in a Pumpkin along with The Rifles and Lissie

With the unseasonably warm weather we have been having in Florida it should be no surprise to anyone that the pumpkin crop did not produce as early as it normally does. This caused some to go on a four hour long adventure to find a pumpkin patch (hello Eliza). Eventually the patch was found but the pumpkin purchased was not local, it had been shipped from Ohio. I patiently waited and patches have sprung up everywhere. I guess the lesson to be learned is that the early bird doesn't always get the worm, sometimes it gets an imported pumpkin. My recipe of the week:

Spicy Fall Stew Baked in a Pumpkin (adapted from Veg Times, Oct. 2008)
(printable version)

-3 Tbs. Olive Oil
-1 onion, diced
-2 bell peppers, diced
-3 garlic cloves, minced
-1 tsp. ancho chili powder
-1 tsp. ground cumin
-1 lb. tomatillos, husked and quartered
-1 can of hominy
-2 baking pumpkins
-4 oz pepper jack cheese

1. Heat 1 Tbs. of the oil in a pot. Saute onion, bell pepper and garlic until softened. Stir in chili powder and cumin and cook an additional two minutes.

2. Add tomatillos, hominy, and 1/2 cup of water. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Simmer, covered partially, until tomatillos are softened (about 12 minutes). Uncover and cook an additional few minutes to thicken the stew if desired.

3. Cut the top off the pumpkins and scoop out the insides. Coat the inside of each pumpkin with a Tbs of oil. Line the bottom of each pumpkin with 1 oz of cheese.

4. Fill each pumpkin with stew. Top with remaining cheese (1 oz per pumpkin) and place the lid of the pumpkin back on it. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for an hour and a half (or until flesh of the pumpkin is tender). Remove from oven and let stand.

Vegetarian Times suggests using red kuri, sugar pie, cheese or kabocha pumpkins. If you have access to these, lucky you.

I've tried to ignore Lissie Maurus. Her pop sound is too sweet, too straightforward for my taste. Yet, the more I turn away, the more they seem to capture. Her new EP, Why you runnin', will be available to the public on November 10th. "Little Lovin'" comes from that EP. Thanks to My Old Kentucky Blog for reluctantly turning me on to her.



A song (and a video) that is really great for disemboweling a pumpkin is The Rifles "The Great Escape." Being a bike rider I enjoy how the whole video follows a boy bmxing his way across a large grassy field. I also feel a special connection when about halfway through the video the television is busted out by a pole. My brother and I tried to do that once, with a baseball bat. We only succeeded in bruising our hands. "The Great Escape" comes from the album by the same name. Purchase it here.

Around Town: Yoko's with Pete and the Pirates, The Basiqs and Jeff the Brotherhood

Recently J-Fur went through a phase of eating out a lot. It wouldn't have been a big deal except those were nights that she was supposed to cook. I was like the kitten batting the milk bowl waiting for something to be put into it. If memory serves me right I think I actually did fill it with milk (as in cereal). One of the places that she ate was Yoko's Japanese Restaurant in South Tampa. She originally went there for a birthday, decided that she liked it a lot, and insisted that the two of us go back. I agreed and was not disappointed.

Yoko's is in the middle of a strip mall (but in reality what isn't in Florida) and doesn't look like the type of place that has earned rave reviews from customers and publications a like. But if restaurants were all based on looks then I'd like to eat at the Tampa Bay Brewing Company a whole lot more than I do.

J-Fur and I started with a bowl Tempura Tofu Soup. It was all gone before I could snap a picture so I captured the plate that the bowl sat on:


After the soup we ordered Vegetarian Tempura Sushi. I'm not sure how many people at potato chip sandwiches when they were young but that is what this sushi reminded me of. It had a nice, soft, starchy outside and a crunch in the middle:


The highlight of J-Fur's meal was the desert. Who would've known that a Japanese restaurant could create such a delicious Raspberry and Oreo Tempura Ice Cream. Since I ate most of the soup, J-Fur downed the majority of the desert. It was a fair trade:


If you live in Tampa, heck if you live in Florida, I'd recommend visiting Yoko's in that quaint little strip mall on the Southside of Tampa. Which strip mall you ask? That's up for you to figure out, I doubt I could find the place again.

Each February Tampa holds a big pirate festival called Gasparilla. While Pete and the Pirates make their home base across the sea in Britain, the power of their music is still felt here. The video for their song "Jennifer."



The Basiqs are a local Tampa band that have been around for a while. They opened for the Woodhands and the Junior Boys the other night. J-fur loved them so much she stole my t-shirt that I caught. I wasn't into them as much as she was but I liked that they jumped on the "Jet Pack" bandwagon. "Jet Pack" is on their latest LP This Lie.




BrooklynVegan posted a few songs by Jeff the Brotherhood because they were in New York for CMJ. I am eternally grateful for two reasons. First the sing about money and spending it. Second they aren't a garage rock band. That made my week. Enjoy "Bone Jam" as a precursor for my Halloween post.

Vegetarian Osso Buco with Mushrooms, Asparagus and Penne: Washed down with Sian Alice Group, Baroness and the Protomen

The past few nights (while watching the Phillies pound the Dodgers) I caught the same commercial over and over again. I didn't pay enough attention to know what product was being pimped but I do remember that the ad is based on numbers. Ridiculous numbers. Like the longest standing ovation was 90 minutes long (glad I wasn't present for that). This weeks recipe of the week is also based on ridiculous numbers. Twenty-four. Like twenty-four ingredients in the dish. I found the recipe in a Vegetarian Times a year ago and even though the picture looks fabulous, I have avoided it because of the number of ingredients. I don't cook with much more than twelve so doubling that makes me break out in hives. I finally forced myself to make it, with a few modifications, and am glad I did. My life would be a little less fulfilled (and less ridiculous) without Vegetarian Osso Buco with Mushrooms, Asparagus and Penne in it. My recipe of the week:

Vegetarian Osso Buco with Mushrooms, Asparagus and Penne-
adapted from Vegetarian Times Oct. 2008
(printable version)

For the Osso Buco:
-1 Tbs. Olive Oil
-1 Tbs. unsalted butter
-2 stalks celery, diced
-1 onion, diced
-2 cups carrots, diced
-3 bay leaves
-1 Tbs. thyme
-1 Tbs. oregano
-1 Tbs. parsley
-6 cloves of garlic, minced
-1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes
-1 6 oz. can tomato paste
-1 package of veggie chicken strips (I used Morningstar)
-2 cups of veggie broth
-2 tsp. grated lemon zest

For the Asparagus, Mushroom and Penne
-1 Tbs. olive oil
-1/2 Tbs. unsalted butter
-1 onion, diced
-2 garlic cloves, minced
-1 lb. asparagus spears cut into thirds
-6 oz. of mushrooms (I used cremini, porcini, and portabello)
-1 box of penne
-grated Parmesan cheese

1. For the Osso Buco: Combine olive oil and butter in a pot and heat until butter has melted. Add celery, carrots, onion, bay leaves, thyme, oregano, and parsley, and cook until vegetables are tender (about 12 minutes).

2.Add garlic to the pot, sautéing for 2 to 3 minutes. After garlic becomes fragrant, stir in tomato paste and tomatoes. Cook an additional 5 minutes.

3. Add fake chicken, broth, and zest. Simmer until sauce thickens and veggie chicken is heated (about 25 minutes).

4. For the Asparagus, Mushroom and Penne: Combine olive oil and butter in a saucepan and heat until butter has melted. Add onion and sauté until translucent.

5. Add garlic, and cook for 2 minutes. Add asparagus and mushrooms. Sauté until mushrooms begin to release their juice.

6. Add box of penne and cook until lightly browned (about 3 minutes). Stir in 2 cups of water and simmer until liquid has been absorbed. Continue adding water 1/2 a cup at a time until pasta is soft. Top with Osso Buco and Parmesan Cheese.

Since this recipe took more time than normal I relied on a number of six minute plus songs. In the past their length would have turned me off but just like with the pasta's ingredient list, I got over it. The first song "Close to the Ground" is a dreamy piece composed by London's Sian Alice Group. It makes me think of both insects chirping and old school video games beeping. Clocking in at 7 minutes and 35 seconds it is the longest of the bunch. Here is the official video released for the song.



Baroness' Record, Blue, came out on October 13th and debuted at number one on Billboard's Heatseekers chart. "Swollen and Halo" is the first single from it.



"Breaking out" by the Protomen includes a catchy piano intro, a Mike and the Mechanics sample, and a v-shaped guitar. That's the kind of stuff that gets my carotid artery pumping. Here's a video of the song live at 12th and Porter.