House Band: Mumford & Sons

Once upon a time, the mullet was king, every boy desired a muscle car, and rock 'n' roll meant well, but it couldn't help telling young boys lies***. During this fabled age these lies were delivered via cassette tapes. Today in my digital haze I have trouble remembering this period of my life, but I do remember Def Leppard's album Pyromania booming from my cheap Sparkomatic speakers. I recall playing that tape so much that it began to warp and the music eventually warbled like an eunuch instead of booming with a testosterone.

Today I have a sensible haircut, I drive a minivan, and I don't believe those rock 'n' roll lies. I still love music though, and if I find an album I enjoy, I play the hell out of it. This summer I knew my listening habits were entering obsessive territory with the band Mumford & Sons when I heard my daughter groan and ask, "Could we please listen to something else?"


At that moment I played my daughter some Johnny Cash, and I decided that Mumford & Sons would be my next house band.

After some research, I found that this English band was a perfect fit for The Greasy Skillet. One member occasionally blogs about food. Another posts photographs from the road on a blog. And another member hosts a book club on his blog. In future posts, I hope to share my love of Mumford and Sons with you and few recipes inspired by their music. For now, enjoy the band's acoustic performance in a book shop:



cheers,
muddy

***"Rock 'n' roll means well, but it can't help telling young boys lies" is a great line from the song "Marry Me" by the Drive-By Truckers.

The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You

Today we bid farewell to The Avett Brothers as the house band at The Greasy Skillet. In the next few days I'll announce the next house band. I'll be seeing The Avett Brothers next month in Kansas City, so there's a good chance they'll make a future guest appearance on this blog.


It's difficult to let go of The Avett brothers, but it's time to introduce you to a new band. For now watch the following clips of The Avetts performing at this year's Bonnaroo Festival. Their passionate performance will leap off the screen, but pay close attention to the fans. They're enthralled and hanging on every words. Thus is the power of music.

I want to do more with food and music in this blog. I've sturggled to match recipe with the music, but it will be easier to do it with the next band because one of the members has a food blog.

Anyway I'll leave you with one last recipe, green chile hominy. What's the connection with The Avett Brothers? The Avetts are Southerners and I think of hominy as a Southern food. Growing up I ate a lot of hominy. I don't know if this was common for most Kansans. Maybe some of my readers can weigh in on this topic. I first encountered this recipe at Perini's Steakhouse in Buffalo Gap, Texas. I usually serve this as a sidedish when I smoke a brisket. You'll find they get along well together.

Green Chile Hominy

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chopped onion, sautéed
  
• 4 (15 ounce) cans white hominy (drain and reserve liquid)


• 1/2 cup hominy liquid


• 1 tablespoon juice from pickled jalapenos


• 1/2 pound Cheddar cheese, grated
  
• 10 slices bacon, fried crisp and chopped (reserve drippings)
• 1 cup fresh seeded and chopped poblano or Anaheim peppers
• 1 or 2 pickled jalapenos, seeded and chopped (optional)
  

Preparation:

1. Sauté the onions in a little of the bacon drippings and put aside.



2. Heat the hominy in a separate sauté pan, stirring often. When heated thoroughly, add the hominy liquid and jalapeno juice, bring back to high temperature and add 3/4 of the cheese.



3. When the cheese melts, add half the peppers and bacon and all the onion.



4. Pour into a 9 x 13-inch baking pan and sprinkle with the remaining cheese, bacon and peppers. (At this point it can be refrigerated or even frozen, if you want to make it in advance.)



5. Bake at 325 degrees F until cheese on top melts, about 15 minutes (or 40 minutes, if refrigerated).

Salty Dog

When I drink
I say things I don't want to say
I do things I don't wanna do
I talk mean to you

But if I think I just might get something out of this
My parents taught me to learn when I miss
Just do your best
Just do your best

But when I drink
I spend the next morning in a haze
But we only get so many days
Now I have one less Just Do Your Best

In my late 20's, I drank a lot. This was the result of being a single guy in a college town. I guess, that's the excuse I'll use. Now I'm more likely to spend a Saturday night reading a cookbook, playing Princess-Opoly with my daughter, or folding laundry than hitting the bars. It took me a little time to realize what the Avett Brothers point out in the last verse of "When I Drink."

Last night I was in bed by 10:30, so I missed the Avett Brothers performing on Austin City Limits, but I did have one drink early in the evening.

I squeezed some grapefruit and fixed myself a Salty Dog.

I didn't plan on making a Salty Dog; the grapefruits in my fruit bowl made that decision for me.

It worked out well because I love the song "Salty Dog" by Flatt and Scruggs. Earl Scruggs, like the Avett Brothers, are from North Carolina, so I guess things have a way of coming full circle.

Salty Dog

• 5 ounces grapefruit juice
• 1 1/2 ounce gin
• 1 lime wedge
• salt to rim the glass.

1. Rim glass with salt.
2. Mix gin and juice.
3. Garnish with lime
4. Enjoy
   

Fabulous Yellow Roman Candles and Guerilla Cooking

The Avett Brothers don't need a microphone and speakers to amplify their passion. They just need time and space. The world needs more passion like this.

I have a feeling that they bring the same energy playing to an empty room that they exhibit on stage performing to an auditorium brimming with fans. The Avett Brothers will play anytime, anywhere.

I admire this.

They 'll play in an office.



They play on a gondola lift in Jackson, Wyoming.



They'll play in a hallway.



They'll raucously perform on a bus.



They'll perform in the backseat of a car while someone feeds them lyrics to a LanghorneSlim song.



This year I resolve to take my cooking to new venues.

I'll start by cooking under the hood of my car. Let me repeat that and give my wife time to groan and roll her eyes.

I'll start by cooking under the hood of my car. Sometime next week, after this arctic blast passes, I'll cook some breakfast potatoes under the hood of my car.

I'll keep you posted.

trampin' the perpetual journey,

muddy

The Trifecta: A Giveaway, My House Band, and Hamburgers

When I introduced the Avett Brothers as my house band, I promised recipes coupled with their music. Today I begin to make good on that promise. I'll ramble a bit and the journey will be rough because I lack focus this time of year, so be patient. Just click below and listen to a little music while I wander. As you know, music is the perfect rambling companion.



Salina, I'm as nowhere as I can be
Could you add some somewhere to me
Ahh Kansas, I'm kneeling, Ah Kansas, please

"Salina" by
The Avett Brothers

On my favorite Avett Brothers' album Emotionalism, there's a song titled "Salina." The song is about how geographic locales evoke different emotions. If you're a regular reader of The Greasy Skillet, you know that I'm partial to this idea, and you also know from my post about Fred Eaglesmith's song "Kansas" the Great Plains spurs a lot of soul searching. However, I don't want to talk about that. Instead, we'll talk about something trivial, and then we'll conclude with some trivia and a giveaway.

I want to talk hamburgers, specifically the little sliders they serve at The Cozy Inn in Salina. Hamburger aficionados from all over America travel to Salina to dine at The Cozy Inn. Their burgers are little bombs of freshly ground beef, grilled onions, and salt & pepper. Don't ask for cheese because there is none. It's a small place with just a few stools at a counter. Most patrons order a sack of burgers to go. However, if you do this be prepared to smell like onions and grease the rest of the day. The smell saturates everything, your pores, the interior of your car, and possibly your DNA. They don't make my favorite burger, but if you find yourself traveling I-70 and passing through Salina, it's worth picking up a sack of these sliders.

If you can't make your way to Salina, you'll be able to replicate the burger at home by using the following recipe:

Onion-Entangled Griddle Burgers

(From John T. Edge's Book Hamburger and Fries: An American Story)

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground chuck
• 2 onions, shaved
• salt and pepper
  
• 6 buns
• preferred condiments

Preparation:

1. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Divide meat into six equal loose portions. Gather a handful of meat and plop into the pan. Repeat, working in batches as needed. The burgers should be free-from lumps.


2. With a spatula, push the burgers into a round. After 1 minute, pile on all the onions, add salt and pepper, and then smash the onions into the meat. Cook another minute and then flip. Smash the burgers again.


3. Drain the grease that collects. Sprinkle more salt & pepper and cook until you smell the onions starting caramelize.


4. Serve on a bun with preferred condiments.

Now for the trivia question:

What Alfred Hitchcock movie has a character who is from Salina, Kansas?

Post your answer as comment. On December 29th at noon, I'll post the comments and draw a winner from all the correct answers. Keep in mind that I'll only accept one answer from each person, so make your first answer good.

The winner will receive a copy of Kansas Curiousities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff by Pam Grout.

Tramping a perpetual journey,
muddy

My Bearded Brethren

The other day I mentioned to my wife that when I retire I might grow a beard, put on a few pounds, and be a professional Santa Claus. She promptly clipped the wings of this dream by informing me that I'm not jolly enough for the job. She's right. Jolly would never be an adjective used to describe me, unless I'm drunk, but we all know that no one wants a drunk Santa with a margarita salt crusted beard who enjoys twirling tiki torches. I can still dream though, and I definitely can grow a belly and a beard. I'll look on the bright side: I possess 2 of the 3 traits essential for being a Santa.

I enjoy growing a beard this time of the year. It's a perfect blend of aesthetics and function.

Subconsciously, I probably picked The Avett Brothers as my first unofficial house band because they've been known to sport some mighty fine beards.

Today I thought I'd share a abbreviated timeline tracing my fascination with beards.

I can probably trace my fascination with beards back to this portrait hanging in the Pomona United Methodist Church sanctuary:

Who wouldn't want to possess that glow? Is it the beard or something divine?

Around the same time I was introduced to Jesus, GI Joe entered my life.

As you can see, at one time he possessed a beard.

Later one of my favorite TV shows was Grizzly Adams. Mr. Adams along with his pet bear, Ben, might have been the hairiest duo to ever appear on television.

Finally as a teenager, I aspired to someday have a beard like Robert Redford in the movie Jeremiah Johnson.

Today when it comes to beards, the Avett Brothers are my role models. Watch the following video, admire their beards, and while you're at it, enjoy the great songwriting.

Beards or no beards, I love the last two verses of the song:

If I get murdered in the city
Go read the letter in my desk
Don’t worry with all my belongings
But pay attention to the list

Make sure my sister knows I loved her
Make sure my mother knows the same
Always remember, there is nothing worth sharing
Like the love that let us share our name
Always remember, there is nothing worth sharing
Like the love that let us share our name


don't go revengin' in my name,
muddy

PS . . . I'm in the process of making a cranberry-walnut bread. I'll post later this week.

House Band: The Avett Brothers

Today I'm offering readers further evidence that I view the world through kaleidoscope eyes. I'm an off-kilter, bedazzled, jingly soul who uses music as an essential ingredient in the kitchen, so today I'm announcing The Greasy Skillet's first Unofficial House Band, The Avett Brothers. The blogsophere is a virtual world, so having an unofficial house band makes perfect sense to me.

At The Greasy Skillet we believe in a world that is devoid of airbrushed photos and artificial ingredients, and since there's something sincere and homegrown about The Avett Brothers, they are our first house band. In future posts we'll couple the music of the Avett Brothers with ruminations about food and perhaps, some recipes.

Until then, enjoy the video.



The following is from the band's myspace page and encapsulates what their music is about:

If you put your ear to the street, you can hear the rumble of the world in motion; people going to and from work, to school, to the grocery store. You may even hear the whisper of their living rooms, their conversation, their complaints, and if you're lucky, their laughter. If you're almost anywhere in America , you'll hear something different, something special, something you recognize but haven't heard in a long time. It is the sound of a real celebration It is not New Year's, and it is not a political convention. It is neither a prime time game-show, nor a music video countdown, bloated with fame and sponsorship. What you are hearing is the love for a music. It is the unbridled outcry of support for a song that sings to the heart, that dances with the soul. The jubilation is in the theaters, the bars, the music clubs, the festivals. The love is for a band. The songs are honest: just chords with real voices singing real melodies. But, the heart and the energy with which they are sung, is really why people are talking, and why so many sing along. They are a reality in a world of entertainment built with smoke and mirrors, and when they play, the common man can break the mirrors and blow the smoke away, so that all that's left behind is the unwavering beauty of the songs. That's the commotion, that's the celebration, and wherever The Avett Brothers are tonight, that's what you'll find.

feeling like cinnamon,

muddy