Eggplant Parm

No meal in the history of my family elicits so many varied reactions. My father, for instance, at the mere mention of Eggplant Parmesan, breaks into a series of vailed threats, fake vomit sounds, and arm shaking. I've never let this deter me. I just make sure there is meat and potatoes available so he doesn't have to pretend he enjoys it, or attack anyone.

The secret to good eggplant parm is to dry the eggplant out. After cutting it you MUST salt each side to let the moisture work it's way out. Otherwise you'll cook up some nicely seasoned eggplant slime. And no one wants that. So salt it and let it stand and "soak" for at least 30 minutes before doing anything!

Once your eggplant is dehumidifying you can begin. This is the first time i've used Hansel Eggplants. They range between 3-9 inches when ripe, and are ready at anytime in-between. They are skinnier than the average grocery store veg, which makes for more of an appetizer looking dish. But rest assured, you don't even need a side with this awesomeness.

3-4 Hansel Eggplants (depending on size)
1 16-ounce jar of organic pasta sauce (or don't be lazy and make your own)
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 large chunk of Mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup of first cold press virgin Olive Oil
1/4-1/2 cup of bread crumbs
2 free range, organic eggs
1/8 cup dried basil

After slicing the eggplants into bite-size pieces (and drying them out), heat the olive oil in a pan to medium high. Start grabbing pieces and dip them an egg/basil mix, then some bread crumbs, and fry them up. Not too long, just until they start to golden. Preheat your oven to 350 and empty your pasta/homemade pasta sauce into the bottom of a 9X12 baking dish. Add the garlic and maybe an extra diced tomato from the garden (or two!). Place each fried eggplant into the dish in rows. When you have fried all the eggplant slices, cut up the Mozza and place intermittently throughout the pan. Now dust the top of the dish with the Parmesan, left over breadcrumbs, and remaining dried basil. Pop it in the oven for 30 minutes and drink a nice boastful Red Wine to pass the time. Now you've got something my father might even try.

The Cuc

To be honest, i was wondering what the hell i was going to do with a cucumber plant that has fallen in love with the weather and decided to pop one out everyday. Problem solved. Hendricks Gin is one of the finest on the planet, and infused with cucumber to boot. So this infusion decision was easy.

One can even go cheap on this too. An $18 dollar 1.75 bottle of Gordons is all you need. Pour the juniper berry goodness into a large glass vessel and chop up 2 cucumbers (preferably organic and just picked of course). Shake it up a couple times a day and be sure to test it hourly (wink). By day 3 it should taste like heaven. Strain it into a decanter and enjoy.

Tonight my mixture was ready for the limelight:
2 Jiggers of homemade Cucgin
3 ice cubes and shaken with some muddled mint leaves

Why did Sublime's "Summertime" just come to mind?
Cheers!!

Local Muzak

During the summer of 1999 i was home from college and unemployed in Bloomington, Illinois. I had three months to kill and envisioned hanging with old friends from high school (who I'd rarely seen in the past 3 years), drinking too much, and becoming an accomplished pool shark. But it becomes difficult to do these types of things with no money. My mother, a Political Science/Global Studies Librarian at the University of Illinois, mentioned a summer job opening in the Business Library. I can think of a lot of boring jobs, but alphabetizing microfiche has GOT to rank amongst the most boring in the history of man. Never the less, I took it.

It's a 50 minute drive each way from Bloomington to Champaign, so the radio was GOD. And oddly enough, the station my mother and our car pool companion Elizabeth preferred was the college radio station, 107.1, WPGU. Now before i go on much further, let me state now, my musical taste as an adolescent was horrid. Until college i thought Poison was the greatest rock band of all time. Followed by Bush, Oasis, and Metallica. I was a Top 40 whore. College taught me more than books and life, it also introduced me to the Beatles, Dylan, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, CCR, etc. And thank god for it. I also became a fan of the Dave Matthews Band, in fact the only modern band i could stand at the time (or had access too), mostly because every conversation with a Co-Ed required the knowledge to answer "what's your favorite Dave song?".

So there i was, riding in the back of a car for 2 hours everyday, and hearing music i never thought existed. The Violent Femmes, The Clash, The Kinks and new underground alternative stuff too. And hardly any commercials. I was introduced to Weezer, Hum, The Offspring, and Beck. I found new appreciation for The Smashing Pumpkins and The Foo Fighters. It didn't take 2 days for me to bring along a Walkman to work and from then on it was non-stop new music. Good music. Music i didn't know i had been looking for.

The summer ended. As did college. And I headed out to Colorado for 4 years. There was no WPGU out there, and the internet was certainly not the bastion of new music that it is today. So it was back to U2 and Classic Rock for 4 years. Off to Missouri in '04 and the songs remained the same. But in January 2007 I returned home and was hooked again immediately. Now it was The Strokes, James, Alkaline Trio, The Killers, The Decemberists, Air, Born Ruffians, The Thermals, Sufjan Stevens, Oxford Collapse, The Shins, Stella Star, The Bird and the Bee, David Bazan. And another new band i'd never heard of, Headlights. Their songs Cherry Tulips and TV quickly jumped to the top of my playlist. And then it happened. I heard them described as "local favorite". Local favorite? This band was from Champaign? My hometown? Sure enough. As was Shipwreck, Curb Service, Common Loon, Elsinore, New Ruins, Post Historic, and several other bands whose songs i'd been hearing and grooving too for weeks, but had no idea they were written and preformed in my own backyard. It was a whole new ballgame.

Since then i have gone to every live, local show i can find. And the local music festivals, including the Pygmalion, held every September. Through friends who share similar tastes, my eyes have widened to even more independent, alternative bands. You hear it first on WPGU, then maybe an article in Paste, and a few months later; the cover of Rolling Stone. Long live college radio.

Last night i headed down to Mike and Molly's to see an old favorite. Shipwreck was playing a reunion show. To my knowledge they hadn't played since the 2007 Pygmalion and as it turns out, this would be their last performance. No beat was skipped and every hipster, nerd, punk, indie/alt freak in attendance was soaking up every last chord. When you get into local music, you become part of an unspoken club. It's membership is open to all and free. A knowing glance and occasional head bob the secret handshake. As "A Kiss In The Dark" concluded and the faithful clapped and cheered and whistled, i looked around. Many in the audience were members of other local bands, out to celebrate the end of an era. The rest, like me, were just lucky enough to have wandered into the loop.

Here is your invitation:

Shipwreck - A Kiss in the Dark
Headlights - On April 2nd
Curb Service - The Keeper
Common Loon - Dinosaur vs. Early Man
Elsinore - Yes Yes Yes (Eric Enger Remix)
Post Historic - New Gardens
Angie Heaton - Rollerskate
Jiggsaw - Dance for Me
New Ruins - Book Lung
Headlights - TV
Elisnore - Wooden Houses
Santah - The Crumble

B to the L to the T

It's the simplest of things really. Two slices of whole grain bread. A little too much organic mayo. Fresh picked lettuce and a sliced tomato. And forget the pig, try some basil instead. I can promise you, it doesn't need swine. This is summer. This is sitting on your patio in late July, straining to breathe in the thick humid air, mopping sweat and tomato juice with a napkin, and loving every moment of it.
This.. is.. summer.

The Beer View Mirrors

As far as I can remember, T-Ball was the first organized sport that I became a part of. I can't be sure how old I was at the time. I was in grade school for sure, probably 9 or 10. My dad was a baseball fan, as was his father (and mother), so it was no suprise that as soon as I could walk he was pitching giant plastic baseballs to me in the backyard during the summer months, in-between flipping steaks on the grill. We graduated to a tennis ball when my abilities proved worthy, and later to the real deal. There is apple pie, turkey at Thanksgiving, and fireworks on the Forth of July. There is also an off-white sphere of leather encased cork and rubber, sewn together with 652 feet of red wool yarn, measuring 2.9 inches in diameter and weighing a little over 5 ounces.

Dad taught me the curve ball, the change up, the split finger and even the knuckleball (which I, to this day, have yet to master) and by the time T-Ball turned into Korey League Baseball I was set to be the pitcher. My father the coach. As time passed and our season drifted on without a single victory, I took it pretty hard. I wonder to this day if I was reason we went win-less for most of the season. I wondered too if I was the pitcher if only because he was the coach and we had practiced so hard in the backyard of 518 W. Adams for so long. I loved baseball, but i couldn't shake the feeling I was letting him down. And my team. I wasn't playing for my love, I was playing for my father's. During warm-ups before the last game of the season, I took a fly ball to the nose. I couldn't see straight, so the first baseman took over the pitching duties. I sat from the bench and watched as my team posted the season's only mark in the "Win" column. Needless to say that evening's victorious Dairy Queen sundae tasted a bit sour, despite multiple layers of butterscotch.

I gave it one more season, but after going 1-19 over two years I decided it was time to hang up the cleats. I hated telling my father. But, baseball just wasn't for me. I was into track and basketball, and was beginning to fall in love with golf (which turned out to make both my father and I much happier than baseball ever could). But, even after my career was over, we would still play catch in the summer while hamburgers cooked. Among my happiest memories.

Now, many years later, the desire to swing the bat and catch a deep fly ball has never left me. My love of baseball never diminished mind you, just the confidence in myself to achieve any degree of success while actually playing it. But, last summer some friends of mine joined a co-ed softball league. I tagged along to a couple games, mainly because there was a beer stand 30 feet from homeplate, to cheered them on, my "glory days" now long since passed. But as i sat there, swallowing $1.50 PBRs, something happened. Something in the pit of my stomach. The desire to catch a 70 mile an hour ground ball heading down the 3rd base line and turn a triple into an out. To crack the game winning single into left center field and earn my DQ sunday.

So last August I joined my friend's Fall team. I found some abilities remained, including the hand eye coordination necessary to judge a grounder, catch it, and throw it 60 feet, fast and on-line to the first baseman. I was still in love, but now I was playing for myself. Sure the ball may be bigger, and a little easier to hit, but the game provides the same adrenaline rush, opportunity for greatness, and physical danger i have always craved. While last Fall's league was winless, I looked forward to the spring... and practice.

This April, the Beer View Mirrors were formed. And we have had a blast. I've even moved to third base, a badge of honor i wear next to the multiple bruises the position intrinsically brings with it. In fact I've also been recruited to a Wednesday night team (in which i have been a part of 2 wins). Not much gets past me. And I HAVE fielded a 70 mile an hour grounder heading down the 3rd base line and turned it into an out. I HAVE batted in go ahead runs. And I don't mean to brag, but I'm one of the top players on the team, if not the league at shortstop and 3rd base. The comradery, post game bbqs, and new friends I've made are the icing on the cake.

I still have to laugh though. The Beer View Mirrors do have a victory on the season. But I wasn't there for it.

Our last game is tomorrow. I'll be out there fighting my hardest for for a victory.
And possibly a little redemption.

Elk Stuffed Bell Peppers

Yet another dish spawned from my trip to Carbondale, Illinois in early July. While helping set the 4th of July menu at Arnold's Market I happened upon some all natural, free range, ground Elk meat. How could I pass that up? While I've made it a priority to eat less red meat in the last 3 years, I am always open to trying new things. Even as a child I never passed up an opportunity to sample something odd and usually outrageous. I even recall giving Head Cheese a whirl at the tender age of 10. I'll let you Google "Head Cheese" as opposed to describing it. Needless to say, since the advent of Mad Cow Disease, it's no longer legal and it may explain a few things about why I am the way I am.

Anyway, one of my favorite dishes growing up was always my mother's stuffed bell peppers. And I was lucky, 90% of the meat that found it's way onto my family's table was locally raised. And while not devoid of ALL the bad stuff found inside the red dyed selections at your chain supermarket, it was healthier, and the cows had a much more natural "life". I'd like to claim that we were just a head of the curve, but in reality (and I wish more people would realize this) it's so much cheaper (in the long run) to buy a deep freeze and then a half a cow every year. Not to mention healthier. But, back to the task at hand, I tweaked what I could remember of my mother's recipe and the results led to a standing ovation. A reminder, all of the vegetables I use to cook with are either my own or locally/regionally grown organics. It does make a difference, and in more ways than one.

1lb ground elk (or whatever meat/meat substitute your heart may desire)
4 large peppers (of any color you wish)
3/4 cup dry long grain wild rice
1 large tomato (diced)
1 medium onion (yellow, white or red, diced)
2 green onions (sliced thinly)
2 black hungarian peppers (or jalapenos if you're not a gardening freak like me)
2-4 garlic gloves (I always max out the garlic)
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tbsp chopped parsley (fresh)
2 tbsp chopped sliced basil (fresh)
1 tbsp oregano leaves (fresh)
Breadcrumbs and Parmesan for topping
Salt and pepper to taste

Get the wild rice going first, it will need 20 to 30 minutes (do i really have to explain how?).
Slice off the top of the peppers and clean out the seeds, hallowing the peppers out doing your best not to puncture their bottoms, otherwise all the good juices will drip out!
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Warm the olive oil in a medium pan. Add the meat and cook on medium/high for 2-4 minutes, all the while flipping and stirring until the red is almost gone. Do not over do it!
Add the garlic and a few onions, continue to stir for 1 minute.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the meat with the diced tomatoes, strained wild rice, remaining onions, black hungarian peppers, basil, parsley, oregano, salt and pepper. Mix it up. Go crazy!
Now begin stuffing the bell peppers with your mix. Don't leave a heaping mound on top! That's where the bread crumbs and Parmesan go.
Now oil the bottoms of the bell peppers and place them in a large oven safe dish filled with about a quarter inch of water. You can also throw in your remaining green onion stems to add a little something extra.
Place the dish in the oven for about 30-45 minutes. Check on it regularly after 30 minutes. When the peppers begin to wrinkle and their rims start turning brown, all systems are go.

I also threw together a little tomato paste and sauce with some garlic and onions to create a sauce to compliment the dish. Toss a fresh salad and you are golden. I enjoyed a Pinot Noir with this, but any dry red should do!

Le vittorie di Limoncello

The Blueberry Limoncello experiment has come to a close and, as you can tell by the pic, it was a huge success. I've even tested it on frequent travelers to Italy. Their reactions: Spot On and Wonderful. This makes me happy. Now, deciding what to infuse next. I have some Black Hungarian Peppers screaming to be used, but they're too damn good mixed in with everything i'm cooking lately. I'm also dying to try a fruit vodka. Peaches? Strawberries? What to do, what to do...