The Police’s Kedgeree
Kedgeree is a dish that happened as a result of clashing two cultures together; Indian cuisine with the taste-buds of the English palette. It was adapted from a traditional Indian dish known as khichari, which used legumes. Traditionally this dish is one of the first solid foods they would feed babies. Leave it up to UK to take this and transform it into a food commonly eaten to nurse a hangover.
When making this kedgeree, I had never previously prepared, eaten, or even seen this dish in the world, but the end result was sooooo tasty. I’ll be making this again and again. In the English home, this can be a game of “what do I have left in the fridge.” However, my recipe is the standard way to go. I’m really into cooking the rice into the poaching milk to optimize that smokey flavor. If you’re looking for something different to make, this can be your next lunch, brunch or dinner.
Servings- 5-6
Time- 60 minutes
Kedgeree ingredients
4 hard boiled eggs
1 lb fresh cod, (or another firm fish)
8 oz package Smoked Trout
2 1/4 C Milk
1/4 C cream or half and half
2-3 T olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 T Indian curry powder
2 bay leaves
1 C uncooked white rice
Glass of white wine
1/4 C fresh flat leafed parsley, chopped
Possible replacements- Traditionally you would uses smoked haddock. I could not locate this very English food staple in my NYC grocery stores, so I’m using what is more likely to be found. You can also used salmon, but not smoked salmon. You could add 8 oz of smoked salmon to get some smokiness in, but make sure you combine it with fresh fish. You can also add chopped green onions at the end instead of parsley, or both together!
Make sure you have your hard boiled eggs made. To do this, put 4 eggs in a pot with enough cold water to cover them, and a dash of vinegar to prevent cracked eggs from leaking. Bring water to a boil, turn off heat and put a lid on the pan. Wait for 10-12 minutes and remove eggs from the water. Peel and set aside.
Poach fish by placing all your fish in a large pan with enough milk to cover it- (about 2 1/4 cups, as well as the 1/4 C cream). On medium heat, bring milk to a boil, turn down heat down to a simmer and continue to cook for 6 more minutes.
Remove fish from milk and set aside. Pour your hot milk into a 2 cup (or larger), sized measuring container. You will use 2 cups of this liquid for cooking your rice later. Add milk if you don’t have enough.
Sauté diced onion in olive oil for 5 minutes. Add 1 T of curry powder with bay leaves and mix together.
Add uncooked rice and mix. You will cook the rice in the onions for 5 more minutes. Then add white wine. After wine cooks down, (about 5 minutes), add 2 cups of your poaching milk. Mix together, cover and simmer until the milk cooks into the rice.
Once its all cooked, add chopped parsley and mix together. Cut your eggs into quarters, and add to rice along with your fish. Try to keep your fish in larger sized chunks.
Serve on a plate or bowl and enjoy!
The ZZ Top Three-Meat Texas Chili
ZZ Top was the inspiration for this great chili. You can listen to me and my buddy talk about ZZ Top and eat this chili on our podcast right here. Billy F. Gibbons and co. come from the great state of Texas, a place where you will be chastised for including beans in your chili. Take note, this chili has no beans. BUT, it has a lot of meat. If meat is your thing, this chili is for you.
Ingredients
2 +1/2 lb stewed beef chunks
1/2 lb thick cut bacon, (or uncut, so you can make thicker cubes)
1 lb chorizo sausage
glugs of olive oil
1 big chopped onion
2 diced sweet peppers, colors of your choice
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, deseeded, minced
2 diced jalapeños- deseeded and chopped
2 T smoked paprika
2 T chili powder
1 T dried oregano
2 T cumin
5 cloves minced garlic
2 bay leaves
28 oz can- stewed tomatoes
2 T unsweetened cocoa
2 T brown sugar or maple syrup
3 C beef broth
Salt and black pepper
2 T flour
Directions
In a very hot stew pot, add a glug of olive oil and all your meats. Try to get your beef to sear, but don’t sweat it if you don’t. Cook for about 15 minutes and remove meat from pan. If you have an excess of juices, set that aside too in a separate container.
Add diced onion to stewpot and sweat for 7 minutes.. Then add your sweet and hot peppers and cook for 7 more minutes. Careful not to breathe in the fumes, as the hot peppers may spice up your lungs. Then add all of your garlic and spices, (cumin, chili powder, oregano, bay leaves and paprika), and stir together.
Once that is all mixed and smelling good, add your canned tomatoes. At this point you can add the cocoa powder and brown sugar. Once everything is nice, hot and bubbly, (10 minutes), add back in your browned meat and beef broth. You can add some of the meat juice you saved from earlier, but keep in mind that’s all fat. It tastes good, but may make your chili a little too oily.
Speaking of oily, mix 2 T of flour with 1 cup of water or cold broth. Mix well so there are no clumps. Add this to the chili to bind up some of the oils and fats, and also to thicken it all up.
Cook for an additional 2-3 hours, or until you are satisfied with the tenderness of your beef. The longer you go, the more tender it will be
Serve with chopped green onions, greek yogurt, corn bread, oyster crackers, and/ or dabs of your favorite hot sauce. If you decide to put beans in here, don’t tell anyone. It’ll be between you and me. Enjoy your lunch and listen to This Band Could Be Your Food. Caio Chow!
The Todd Rundgren Butternut Squash Coconut Curry
This recipe is straying from the recipe I used on This Band Could Be Your Food’s Todd Rundgren episode because
A) Coconut curry should always have fish sauce in it, and
B) I neglected to add Butternut Squash. I NEVER make coconut curry without adding butternut squash.
One of the main ingredients of this dish is Red or Green curry paste. If you want to make it yourself, bravo to you, but do it right. You need to get a mortar and pestle if you don’t have one.
Red Curry Paste Recipe
8 red Thai chillies- Click the link for more information on choosing peppers.
1teaspoon white pepper, (or 3 teaspoons of white peppercorns)
1 teaspoon cumin
15 garlic cloves
1 Tablespoon of minced lemongrass
1 minced shallot
1 finger of minced galangal- Thai ginger
zest of of 1 lime
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fish sauce
Place your peppers in a seperate bowl of water for 15 minutes to hydrate them. If you are using peppercorns, crush them together with the cumin and set aside in separate bowl to be added later. Next, mince up your peppers into smaller pieces, (about 1/4 inch size pieces), and place inside your mortar with the salt. Crush together for 5-10 minutes to let the oils of the pepper release. Once it starts to smell good, chop up the rest of your ingredients, (garlic, lemongrass, shallot, galangal and lime peel). The smaller you chop, the easier your job will be crushing it all together in the mortar. Add to mortar and crush.This should take another 15-20 minutes. Once it is all feeling nice and mushed, add the pepper, cumin and fish sauce and blend together.
Alternatively, you can buy some Red or Green Curry Paste.
Now to the good stuff.
Butternut Squash Coconut Cury Ingredients
1 14-oz can coconut milk
3 Tablespoons curry paste
1-2 Tablespoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 medium onion- chopped
1 small butternut squash- skinned, 1 inch cubes
If you want to go hardcore, add 1 chopped lemongrass (1-2 inch sized pieces), a chopped finger of galangal, (Thai ginger), and 3-4 lime leaves.
1 chopped red or yellow pepper
1 zucchini- chopped into 1/2-1 inch sized cubes
1 lb protein- firm tofu, shrimp or chicken are my favorites
1/2 C minced cilantro
Juice of one lime
If you are using chicken, chop into bite-size pieces and sauté in a hot pan with 2 Tablespoons of olive oil until fully cooked (15-20 minutes). Set aside.
Chop up onion and sauté in a deep fry pan until slightly translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Add chunks of butternut squash with the curry paste and sauté for another 5-7 minutes. If you want to add mushrooms, carrots or cauliflower, add to the pan right after you’ve added the butternut squash. These veggies take longer to cook, so it is good to get them in the pan and cooking. Once you can smell the aromas of the curry paste, add the can of coconut milk. Stir to get everything mixed well. After 5 minutes, add 1-2 Tablespoons of fish sauce and a little brown sugar. You can add your chunks of lemongrass, galangal and lime leaves here, but this is optional. It adds a lot of aromas and character to your dish, but these ingredients usually have to be purchased at a specially Thai grocery store. If you don’t have them, just add an additional Tablespoon of curry paste to your pan.
As soon as you have your red or orange pepper chopped, add it in. Vegetables all take different amounts of time to cook, so you should add them when it is their turn.
Let it cook for 10 minutes and then add your zucchini and protein. If you’re using shrimp, the less you cook it, the better it will be. The metric of whether the dish is done rests on the doneness of the squash. You want it to be tender enough to eat, but not overdone to the point that it breaks down. Your fork should penetrate it easily. If not, cook for 5 more minutes and try again. Once your squash is perfect, add your chopped cilantro and serve with Jasmin rice. Don’t eat the lemongrass or lime leaves. You’ll know why if you try to. Have a great lunch and listen to This Band Could Be Your Food!
Lemon Meringue Go-Go Pie
When life hands you lemons, put them in the fridge and turn on an episode of This Band Could Be Your Food. Then, after you hear the episode about The Go-Go’s and Lemon Meringue Pie, pull those lemons back out, (along with some eggs), and make a delicious pie! It’s easy, (not that easy, but I believe in you).
Crust Ingredients
One (1) Pillsbury pie crust- (or make your own)
Pie Filling Ingredients
5 room temperature egg yolks, (save whites for your meringue)
4/3 cup of water- (or 1 and 1/3 cup. It’s your choice)
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup of corn or potato starch
1/4 t salt
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice- (about 3 lemons)
1 T lemon zest
Meringue Ingredients
5 egg whites
1/2 t cream of tartar
1/2 c granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
Pre-heat oven to 375°F. Lay your crust inside your pan and fill with your pie weights. We’re going to blind bake your crust before putting the meringue filling in. Your crust will probably shrink a little, so don’t be surprised. You can avoid that by making sure you use a cold crust pastry, and by adding more pieces of crust around the side, (making it bigger). Blind bake crust for 15 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 350°F
Lemon filling recipe
Whisk together all the egg yolks in a side bowl and set aside. Pull out a saucepan and whisk together the water, sugar, starch, lemon juice, lemon zest and salt. Whisk together and turn your heat on to medium. Keep your eyes on it because it will thicken up as it heats. After 5-6 minutes, after it has gotten nice and thick, turn your heat down to low.
Take a spoonful of the hot lemon goo, and pour SLOWLY into the side-bowl of egg yolks, while you are simultaneously whisking this all together. Be on top of it, because you want these to mix together as quick as it reaches the bowl. Add a couple more spoonfuls of hot lemon goo and keep mixing. After you’re feeling good about, go ahead and pour the egg yolk mixture back into the lemon goo saucepan, while you whisk that all up real nice. Turn the heat back to medium and cook until it starts to boil, just another couple minutes. After that, if you want, mix in 2T of butter to that. Butter tastes good. Pour the mixture into the pre-baked pie crust.
Meringue time. In a big bowl, mix together your egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric mixer. I highly recommend using a whisk attachment if you have it. And even more highly recommended, get this thing. The Kitchenaid mixer is the greatest invention in the world.
Back on topic- Mix egg whites and cream of tartar on low for 1 minute. Then, increase your speed to high for about 4 minutes until some peaks form. Add your sugar and salt to that and mix for another 2 minutes. If you can turn your bowl upside down and it all stays in there, you’ve done your job. Nice work. Next, scoop the meringue onto the pie, making sure to effectively seal in the crust, (and hide the lemony secret). Bake that whole thing on the low rack of your oven for 20-25 minutes. At 15 minutes, if it’s getting too brown, put an aluminum foil hat on it. Try and keep the foil from touching the meringue, (good luck with that, ha!)
After cooking it, put it in the fridge and eat it cold. You should try to eat the whole pie in one sitting, because the longer it sits around, the worse it’s going to be. Invite 7 friends over and enjoy a nice slice of pie. You’ve earned it.
The Dr. Feelgood Bourbon Marinated Skirt Steak Cali-Mex Taco
This recipe fuses the unruly nature of LA’s Mötley Crüe’s entire history into one delicious dish.
Marinade ingredients
1.5lb skirt steak
1/2 C bourbon
2 cloves minced garlic
2 T maple syrup
3T Olive Oil
1T chili powder, (chipotle if you have it)
Salt and pepper
Toppings
cubed feta cheese
greek yogurt, (or sour cream, I guess)
pineapple
black beans, heated up in a little sauce pan
avocado, (or guacamole)
cilantro
chopped scallions
hot sauce, obviously
Mix all the marinade ingredients into a bag or bowl and add your skirt steak. Let is sit somewhere between 1 and 24 hours. The longer, the better, am I right? You don’t want to waste your bourbon.
Cook your meat- I recommend 2-3 minutes on a hot skillet, flip it, and 2-3 minutes more. After cooking, let meat rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing to insure optimal juiciness. You can also grill it, with the same recommendations. Hot grill, 2-3 minutes each side for medium, 4-5 for well done.
Warm up your tortillas. If you’re using corn, place in a heated pan for about a minute. Repeated turn and add finger flicks of water to pan to moisten tortilla. For flower, use the microwave. Moisten tortillas one a time, stack, and cook for 1 minute on high. Or else, wrap tortillas in aluminum foil and place in oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 12 minutes. Add 3-4 slices of steak and the toppings to your likings, and eat 4 of them. No more, no less. One for each member of Mötley Crüe. Have a great lunch!
Ramones Bad Breath Burger
Frankly, the Ramones could be just about any burger. One friend of mine suggested they are the 2 Cheeseburger meal at McDonalds. That’s actually spot on. But for this, I’m sharing a unique recipe for a burger I made when I cooked at The Weary Traveler Freehouse in Madison Wisconsin. I can recreate most of it, but the original has a signature bun made in the bakery located in the basement of the restaurant. This burger will always be best enjoyed back in that establishment with their garlic potatoes and side of greens. But if you’re not in Madison and you feel so inclined to recreate it at home, give this a go.
Hamburger meat ingredients
1 lb hamburger meat- (if you can, get 1/2lb ground chuck, 1/4lb ground short rib. 1/4 ground brisket).
1 clove minced garlic
1t mustard powder
1t salt
1t black pepper
1T chopped flat leaf parsley
Mix all of these ingredients together and form out 3- 4 patties.
Toppings
caramelized red onions
Pickapeppa sauce, (in a pinch, and A1 style steak sauce will also work)
cream cheese, formed into a patty
sliced tomatoes
Green Goddess dressing- (or plain old goddess, or even thousand island as a last resort)
First things first- slice up a red onion and put it on a skillet with a glug of olive oil. Start out cooking on medium-high heat. Stir and/ or flip them so they don’t burn. Cook for 10 minutes and turn heat to low. Cook for another 20 minutes if you have time. This will make a nice, soft and tasty caramelized onion. In the meantime, you can prepare your burger meat and slice up tomatoes.
After your onions are caramelized, heat up a skillet as hot as you can without burning the house down and place the hamburger patties on there. A hot grill is also a great option. Enjoy that sizzle and smell. For a medium finish, cook 3 minutes on one side, flip, and cook three more minutes. Don’t flip it again, if you can control yourself. If you want it well done, cook it longer, smart guy.
When burgers are cooked to your liking, place meat on a (potato) bun. Add your caramelized onions. Splash some Pickapeppa sauce on there. Then, add the cream cheese patty. Next, tomatoes, and a splash of green goddess dressing. Then, enjoy a delicious burger, Dee-Dee Ramone’s favorite food, (mine too).
-recipe stolen and altered by Nathan Palan