Tag: Ruby Amanfu

Love’s Feast

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I just got the glass out of my finger.

What a way to start a story. What am I thinking? Am I really about to be this honest about how clumsy I can be on a daily basis?

Umm, okay then … I guess this is happening.

Glassy fingers aside for a moment, though: Just so you know, I generally have the best of intentions when it comes to acting like I’m keeping it all together. You may believe that I’ve got most of it figured out (thanks, Instagram), but to tell you the truth — the only thing in my life that’s figured out is my ability to try and try again. I’ve got that down pat.

I don’t ever give up. I’ve contemplated it before (for real … who hasn’t?) but the undeniable force for why I continue to move forward is because I am motivated by Love.

Love finds me in my broken-down state and, like a mechanic, it replaces my proverbial flat tires. It finds me in a crowded room hiding in the corner and walks up to me to tell me the perfect joke to make me laugh, making me forget the insecurities that had me backed into that corner in the first place.

Love gives me assurance that just as I am, I am worthy.

When I feel this way, all I want to do is pay Love forward. That’s why I cook. More specifically, why I cook for others.

I can be so clumsy and scattered when I cook! I have such good intentions in the midst of the process. All I want to do is create something that will be worthy of repaying Love. Yet, I’m human and I’m just figuring it out as I go. I don’t get it all right. Sometimes my gravy gets lumpy and sometimes my couscous gets gummy. Love doesn’t judge my imperfection — whether in or out of the kitchen. Love gives me the freedom to express myself in an unguarded and ungraceful way, and it does not abandon me in the very moment of my courage.

With that kind of Love by my side, the most brilliant things begin to happen in my kitchen. I find a way to fix the broken gravy. I find a way to revive the couscous. I find a way to get the glass out of my finger from the bottle I broke because I had it too close to the edge.

We need Love now more than ever. Perhaps I sound like a broken record, but I can’t deny what I believe to be true. We need Love to step in when our backs are up against the wall. We need Love to reset us when things have gone askew. We need Love to tell us it’s okay when we clumsily break the bottle and get glass in our finger. Love is patient. Love is kind. And all that other good stuff.

Let us feast on Love as much as possible right now. I’ll Keep On Keepin’ On in my corner — and you make sure you do the same on your end.

Love,

Ruby

Here’s a meal that you can make for loved ones to express your gratitude for their presence in your life this month or any month. Just don’t put anything that’s glass too close to your counter’s edge. (There ain’t no metaphor there. Just tryna keep you safer than I was tonight.)

LOVE’S FEAST: Coriander Roasted Chicken & Starfruit, Portobello Mint Lemon Couscous, Wilted Greens, and Pan Gravy

INGREDIENTS

Note: With this recipe, it is very important that you do all of your chopping and slicing before you begin to cook.

One medium whole chicken (I buy antibiotic-free and/or organic chickens)
1 stick of softened butter
2 Tbsp grapeseed or safflower oil
1 Tbsp kosher salt plus extra
1 Tbsp ground coriander
1 Tbsp brown or raw sugar plus extra
1/4 tsp ground black pepper plus extra
1/2 head of garlic, peeled
1 medium sweet onion, quartered
2 whole starfruit/carambola, cut into 1/4 inch slices

FOR COUSCOUS

1 small box of quick cooking couscous, cooked to package instructions*
1-1.5 cups of portobello mushrooms, diced
2 Tbsp fresh mint (more, if you like)
Zest of one organic lemon
2 tsp olive oil
Juice of half a lemon

*Whatever kind of couscous you choose — Israeli or small grain — will be fine. The Near East brand makes various fun flavors to choose from, or you can buy any plain variety and add your own ingredients like grated parmesan cheese, a 1/4 teaspoon of truffle oil, etc. The sky’s the limit here.

FOR WILTED GREENS

1 Tbsp water
1 bunch rainbow chard, kale, mustard, escarole, or turnip greens, chopped into bite-sized pieces (brown stems discarded)
1 small sweet onion, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

FOR PAN GRAVY

All roasting pan drippings
1 to 2 tsp corn starch
2 large shallots, thinly sliced
Roasted starfruit (reserve half of it for final plating garnish) + roasted garlic and onions from pan, puréed until smooth
1/2 cup white wine (Sauvignon Blanc preferable)
1 cup or more of chicken stock
Parsley for garnish

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 450

Combine portobello mushrooms, mint and lemon zest and set aside.

Combine softened butter and oil in a bowl and incorporate well. Grease your roasting pan with 1-2 Tbsp of it, then massage the rest of the mixture evenly and generously onto and into the chicken. If there’s extra, put it inside the cavity.

Combine well salt, coriander, sugar, and pepper. Sprinkle evenly and generously over ENTIRE chicken and inside cavity. Massage it in, if needed, and sprinkle on more. There should be very little of the spice mixture left over, so get it into every nook and cranny.

Place garlic and onions inside cavity and place chicken in preheated oven. (I don’t truss it, personally.) After 30 minutes, flip the chicken over and cook for another 30 minutes, then re-flip the chicken and lower the oven temp to 400. Use foil to cover wing tips and breasts, if needed. Distribute starfruit slices evenly onto the roasting pan and roast the chicken and starfruit for a final 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven.

Use a spatula to transfer half of the starfruit (choose the prettiest slices) to a small bowl or plate and reserve for garnish. Use a spoon to transfer the remaining roasted starfruit, garlic, and onions to a blender or food processor and purée until smooth. Place pan drippings into a small sauce pot and set aside. Tent chicken with foil.

Prepare couscous. Once cooked, immediately fold in mushrooms/mint/lemon zest mixture, olive oil, and lemon juice. Salt and pepper to taste. Keep in pot, but set aside.

Take pot with pan drippings and heat to medium heat. When pan drippings start to lightly bubble, vigorously whisk in 1 tsp cornstarch (sprinkle it as you go; don’t dump it in). Add shallots and cook until just soft. Add in fruit, garlic, and onion purée and continue to whisk. Add the wine and chicken stock. Whisk like you mean it. Lower heat, if needed. If it’s too loose, whisk in 1 more teaspoon of corn starch. Lower the gravy to the lowest heat setting. Do NOT salt the gravy. It needs to be mellow to balance out the flavors of the chicken, which is very highly seasoned.

If you can multi-task, wilt your greens at the same time. If not, make your greens now. Add 1 Tbsp water to pot or pan and turn to medium high heat. Don’t let the water evaporate! Watch for the initial water bubbles and add the onions and greens straight in. Add the cider vinegar and toss to coat. Cover for 2 minutes and toss again. Cover for final 60 seconds and toss again. You shouldn’t need salt (especially if you use rainbow chard).

Transfer wilted greens to serving dish.

Plate your chicken and garnish with parsley and roasted star fruit.

Transfer couscous to serving dish.

Put gravy in a server.

Spaghetti Squash and Mint Lemon Pesto with Crab and Orange Roughy Meatballs

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Put a fuzzy sweater on me. And those fingerless gloves. Crack the car windows so I can hear the snapping, swirling, and crackling of dried leaves when we're in motion. Put Alison Krauss's Now That I've Found You: A Collection on the stereo. Drive me through East Tennessee, then let me out of the car to breathe it, walk it, and absorb it through my epidermis and into my bloodstream. Don't call, email, or text me a thing because I don't want you to get your feelings hurt when I ignore you. I will ignore you. Sorry not sorry; I belong to Autumn.

Autumn has an intoxicating effect on me. Like a fickle lover. Yeah, you know the bloke — the one you know is going to break your heart over and over again, but whom you still welcome into your world with opened arms, hands raised, singing the chorus of "I Surrender All" with blasphemous vigor. 

There one moment and gone the next. Autumn — the fickle tickler — awakening all of my senses and making me breathe deeper than I ever did in Summer, Winter, and definitely Spring. (Claritin D, anyone? For the love …) Then it leaves without warning, with no long kiss goodbye. Yet, just like that leaving lover, it's our choice to either be bitter about the imminent end, or instead focus on living in the blissful moments and enjoying the gifts we are receiving.

Okay. That’s enough of a Meditation Challenge for today. Let’s get on with it.

Some people feel most creative in Spring, but for me, it's Autumn. I end up incorporating ingredients in new ways because I feel invincible at this time of year. You can't tell me nothin'. Plus, it's all about comfort food — am I right? Yet, if I'm honest, my take on comfort food has had to be modified due to the career I've chosen. If I don't want to give my wardrobe stylists conniptions, I often have to find reasonable alternatives to mashed potatoes, decadent pasta, and pumpkin soup bread bowls. This isn't easy to do, kids, but I must admit that I meet the challenge brilliantly. Taste buds can be just as happy as waist lines. I promise you.

My favorite moments to relish in Autumn are inspired by the season-specific produce lining every market bin. Tables are filled with different kinds of gourds and squash, all of which represent the various colors of every leaf on every tree at this time of year. It is also the time of the season to utilize certain things the earth gives us that it will soon take away. Many of our herbs need to be protected and preserved before Winter takes hold. Basil is currently holding on for dear life. Mint, too. Parsley makes claims that it can withstand Winter's wiles, but I have yet to see it happen successfully in my yard. Pesto is begging to be made. Begging, I tell you.

And so alas, in celebration of this, my most favorite season, I give you SPAGHETTI (spaghetti squash, that is) and MEATBALLS (orange roughy and crabmeat balls, that is) with a mint and lemon pesto that will make you want to make out with anyone you see in a sweater. I mean … just … trust me.

INGREDIENTS (Serving Size 6)
2 spaghetti squash, halved and seeds discarded
Safflower or grapeseed oil
Kosher salt
Coarsely ground black pepper
1/2 cup red or yellow onion, diced
1 small to medium shallot, minced
One large clove of garlic, minced
1/3 c of parsley, finely chopped
28 oz (2 c) wild caught crab claw meat, picked for shells (but there aren’t many in claw meat)
8-10 oz orange roughy
1 egg, beaten
2 c breadcrumbs (I used Glutino plain crackers, pulsed down to breadcrumbs)

FOR MINT LEMON PESTO
4 small to medium garlic cloves
2 c of mint
1/2 c fresh parsley
1/2 c Grana Padana or Parmeggiano Reggiano cheese
2 tbs fresh lemon juice
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375.
Drizzle safflower or grapeseed oil lightly into squash and rub to coat.
Sprinkle salt and pepper inside to taste and place in baking dish, skin side down. Cover squash with foil.
Check at 30 minutes and, when you can pierce the skin with a knife and pull it out clean, it’s ready. Set aside.
Put 2 teaspoons safflower or grapeseed oil in a skillet. Add onions, shallots, garlic, and a healthy, two-finger pinch of salt. Sauté on medium high heat until soft. Try not to brown. Set aside.

Place orange roughy in food processor and blend until it's similar to coarse mashed potatoes. Place in large bowl and add crab meat, beaten egg, breadcrumbs, parsley, 1/2 a teaspoon of kosher salt, and a pinch of black pepper.
Bake for 20 mins.
Broil for 5 mins for added color.
Set aside.

Add to food processor garlic, mint, parsley, cheese, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt. Slowly drizzle in 1/2 cup of olive oil with food processor at first on pulse, then full blend.

Take a fork and twist out spaghetti squash in a circular motion starting from outside in until it looks like angel hair. Scoop into large bowl. Add pesto to spaghetti squash and toss to coat. Place meatballs on top and garnish with fresh mint and grated cheese and lemon zest.

Enjoy!

LISTEN: Josh Farrow, ‘Tijuana Gal’

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Artist: Josh Farrow
Hometown: Nashville, TN
Song: "Tijuana Gal"
Album: Trouble Walks with Me
Release Date: October 28

In Their Words: “'Tijuana Gal’ was first written in 2011, when I was going through some dark periods of human interaction and relationships. I was writing a lot and just beginning to figure out a sound for myself that revolved around some very Southern Gothic themes, at the time. When I recorded the song for this album, it was almost completely re-written and was given a whole new structure, with Chris Donohue on upright bass, Bryan Owings on drums, Bobby Emmett on B3 organ, and Mike Daly adding some really spooky, flowing vibes on pedal steel. Ruby Amanfu and Elizabeth Cook were amazing at giving the background vocals another dark layer of soft airiness to bring to life a song that had been almost six years in the making. This song will always be one of my favorites I’ve written, as it’s been with me longer and seen more reincarnations than any other song I still play today." — Josh Farrow

Peachy Pie

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I've tossed. I've turned. I've sighed. I've gagged. But I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna give you my pie recipe.* I'm gonna suck up my selfish pride and share with you the very thing that gets me invited back into people's homes, time and time again. The thing that people talk about for years on end after having tasted it just once. The thing that two men (who shall remain nameless to protect their lives) have said out loud to me, "It's better than my grandmother's pie" while clenching their teeth and ducking in front of me for some reason — as if they expected the spirit of Gram Gram herself to come up out of the ground and smack them in the back of the head.

Hozier got one. Lee Ann Womack got two. Jack White got three (one of which John C. Reilly told me that he unapologetically devoured — Jack's birthday peach pie — in gluttonous revelry).

The list goes on. No, this isn't a failed attempt at a humble brag. It's a full on gauntlet thrown down. Consider this similar to one of those infomercials, where it sounds too good to be true, but then you spend the money to order the product and it gets shipped to you and you try it out and find yourself saying, "Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle! You CAN stick a peppermint wrapped in plastic into that hot skillet and it WILL NOT STICK." Money. Well. Spent.

So let's just get down to it because, if I write about this any more, I'm gonna renege. Big Time.

First things first — or, rather, one thing only: IT'S ALL ABOUT THE CRUST. The pastry, baby. The pastry. This is where you cannot cut corners. You need to go on ahead and buy the good stuff. I can't promise you that your pie will turn out like my pie if you don't want to fork out the cash for the organic all-purpose flour and organic *salted* butter (which is blasphemy to many, I know … trust me, I know). If you use vegetable oil, margarine, or whole wheat flour (what is even wrong with you?!) or any myriad of substitutions, don't write to me to ask why it didn't work for you. Also of note: This is not me saying that other pie recipes which utilize the aforementioned ingredients are crap. I have had many people's pies and many people's pie crusts and enjoyed them. Not everyone follows my code. I'm not here to say this is The Be-All End-All Mouth Explosion. I'm just telling you that it has been that, in my experience, to folks near and far.

Also of note: I studied under the tutelage of one Judy Brooker, a multiply awarded pie maker in Wisconsin, who happened to also give birth to my longtime musical brother, Sam. (She should get an award for that, too.) Although my recipe is different from hers, I wouldn't be who I am today without her. Thank you so much, Judy.

To steady my nerves (due to the big reveal), I'm listening to Joni Mitchell's song "The Circle Game" from her album Ladies of the Canyon. I'm actually listening to the whole album, but this song, in particular, is poignant to me at the moment, thinking about the seasons changing — not just in nature, but in my own life. You can't fight it; you just have to give in. It's better that way, really. And also because pies are, well, round … and round … and round.

Okay. Love you. Buh-bye.

*Full disclosure: I have a few pie recipes. I'm only giving you one of them. This is my basic, no-fail, peach pie recipe. As for the others, you'll just have to invite me over for dinner sometime.

INGREDIENTS
For the crust
2 cups organic all-purpose flour (plus extra for flouring your rolling pin and your surface)
2 sticks organic salted butter
1/4 cup organic cane sugar
1-2 cups of very cold, pulp-free orange juice
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup brown turbinado sugar

For the filling
3 16 oz packages of frozen peaches
2 tsp lemon juice
2 cups organic cane sugar
3 Tbsp organic all-purpose flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS
Preheat over to 350.

Place frozen peaches in a large bowl. Sprinkle lemon juice and all of the sugar on top and toss well to coat. Leave in the fridge over night or for at least three hours in the fridge to expel unnecessary juices.

With a large, wide knife, cut all butter into 1/2 inch cubes. Transfer to a small, chilled bowl.

In a 7-11-cup food processor or large mixing bowl, add flour and sugar. Using the pulse setting on your processor or a manual pastry cutter, add butter into flour in fingerfuls, pulsing or cutting in the butter until incorporated. If using the processor, that will be about 6-8 pulses. If using the pastry cutter, work it in until there are no large cubes noticeable. Repeat this step gradually until all of the butter is incorporated. The mixture will be a pale yellow, when it's ready. It doesn't have to be pea-sized crumbles. It just needs to be crumbly and pale yellow with no white flour streaks showing. If you still have white flour exposed, process the mixture more until the color is that even, pale yellow … but NEVER knead your dough. Ever.

Pour ice cold orange juice in tablespoons into the mixture and pulse or process until evenly distributed. Keep adding o.j. in tablespoons until it starts to look and feel like pie dough, pulling away from the sides of the bowl. Pinch a small piece of it with your fingers. If it holds together without crumbling at all, then it's ready to roll out. Don't worry if you get the dough a little too wet by accident. You'll just need to coat it with more flour before you roll it out.

Dust a clean, dry surface with a quarter cup of flour. Spread evenly in a loose, round pattern with a circumference wider than your dough will be rolled out to. With a gentle yet firm motion and either a spatula or an open palm, collect the dough into a large ball. Place the ball in the center of the flour on the surface. Sprinkle extra flour onto the dough ball if it's sticking to the surface or onto your hands. Cut the dough ball in half and wrap each ball in plastic wrap and put in fridge … if you want. I, personally, only do this task sometimes. Mostly, I take my rolling pin to it immediately and lay it into my pie dish, add my fruit and top crust and bake it straight away and it's amazing. However, if I've accidentally added too much liquid to it, I will do the refrigeration step because it firms it up enough for me to roll it out.

Watch a tutorial on how to properly use a rolling pin on dough and roll out your dough into two rounds about 10 inches wide. If you don't know how to do it, it's unfortunately something you just have to see and then experience to learn how to do it. You can also hire me for 50 bucks to come over and train you. It's rather exhilarating once you learn how.

Lay your bottom crust into a 10-inch pie dish. If you only have a 9-inch dish, that's totally fine, too. You will have excess dough on all sides. Take a butter knife and cut around the edges against the side of your dish, leaving 1 inch of dough hanging over the sides. Drain out the majority of liquid from the now-thawed and sugared peaches. Don't worry: It will naturally make more. Add 3 tablespoons of flour and toss to coat. Add cinnamon and toss to coat. Drain one final time, if need be. Pour peaches into pie dish.
Place top crust onto peaches and seal both edges of the dough by crimping and pinching the dough together, little by little.

Take a paring knife and create some air pockets towards the center of your top crust. Get creative. It'll taste good no matter what it looks like, so might as well have fun with it.

Brush your beaten egg onto every bit of exposed crust that you can see. Sprinkle brown turbinado sugar liberally and evenly onto your entire crust.

Place a baking sheet wide enough to catch any potential spillage onto the oven rack just beneath the rack that the pie is going to go on. Place your pie on the center rack of the oven.

Bake until it smells and looks good.**

**Sorry. Some things just have to be instinctual. If you are watchful and trusting of your gut, you will not fail in this. I believe in you. I will strongly advise you to purchase pie edge covers, though, to cover your crust's edges in the oven once they start to brown slightly so that they don't burn.

 

To follow Ruby Amanfu's culinary adventures, check out Recipes by Ruby. Prefer strawberry to peach? Give Natalie Schlabs' pie recipe a whirl.

Mango-Butterscotch Pudding

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I recently had the honor of hosting a notable birthday dinner for one of my besties, Kristin Russell. It was notable for a number of reasons — a celebration of life, resilience, and all things new. Kristin has been one of my go-to touchstones for the past few years in this wildly complex journey of life to date. The least I could do to show my gratitude for her constant feeding of my soul was to feed her beautiful belly, as well as the beautiful bellies of some of her lovely friends.

The menu was all things Comforting (capital C, if you know what I mean). Chicken liver mousse with strawberry and pomegranate gelée and all the accoutrement, sun dried tomato and chickpea dip, cornish game hens with pear bourbon sauce, zucchini gratin, creamy parmesan and garlic polenta made with local Riverplains Farms corn meal, and the pièce de résistance which I would like to share with you now — mango butterscotch pudding.

This sweet, salty, creamy, and cloud-like dessert was a complete brainstorm.

Translation: I had no idea what I was doing.

I'm not a major dessert eater. Never have been. When I do partake, I rarely take more than a couple of bites of the thing — even if I spent hours creating it. I generally fret about making desserts overall, unless we're talking about pies. To me, though, pie making is all about the dough and the crust, so I'm just saying that I'd much rather wrap my all-butter-crust around some chicken or corned beef instead of, say, apples … if it's all the same to you.

So back to fretting; I had stayed up the night before until almost 4 am reading through dessert recipes. I had gone foraging in the fridge already to see what I had that I might be able to utilize. I found two beautifully ripened mangos — so that was happening. I also knew that a friend of Kristin's (and now a friend of mine), Jennifer Niceley, would be bringing a harvest of farm fresh chicken's eggs from her family's East Tennessee farm, Riverplains, so I was Googling "dessert recipes with a LOT of eggs." Would it be a mousse? Hmm … Meringues? Weeeelll? Then, I read through a pudding recipe and got that spark in the dark! Seven other pudding recipes and a few videos later, I had my marching orders for the next day.

I woke up at 8 am the next morning with pudding on the brain. I efficiently completed the remainder of prep work for the meal I had to do, put some Nina Simone on the speakers, then sat on a kitchen stool like a kid on Christmas morning waiting for Miss Niceley and the Eggs to arrive. "Miss Niceley and the Eggs" … I need to hurry up and write that children's book.

When Jennifer arrived, it was like handing your baby to grandma. I confidently handed my iPad to Jennifer with some additional gibberish-filled mad science instructions about my hopes for this dessert. Let it be said that only another fellow avid cook could interpret what I told Jennifer that day. I also have to note that I don't know what I would've done without Jennifer's warm presence and helping hands that afternoon, in general … We shouted to each other over the Vitamix the whats and hows of pudding prep and muscled through the steps together. The biggest challenge for me in the process was eliminating the sensation that you were eating fur while eating the mangoes. I solved that by straining the mango pulp (after blending it) two or three times through a sieve until I could guarantee that not an ounce of the puréed mangoes' texture resembled cat fur.

In the end, it looked and tasted like all birthday pudding should taste — immaculate. Indeed.

Hope you think so, too.

Mango-Butterscotch Pudding

SERVINGS: 8

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter*
3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (*leave this out if using salted butter)
3 1/2 cups whole milk
6 large egg yolks (or 7 small)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 ripe mangoes — peeled, chopped, puréed, and STRAINED (They're hairy little buggers, so you will need to use a sieve to remove the "hair.")
1 small packet or sheet gelatin
1/4 cup cornstarch, sifted
3 tablespoon sugar

Optional: fresh mint, pomegranate seeds, berries, whipped cream, and/or crumbled ginger cookies for garnish

DIRECTIONS
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until just golden brown; do not let it get dark or, sorry to tell ya, you'll need to start over.
Add brown sugar and cook while stirring, until sugar is just starting to dissolve.
Add milk and salt; bring to a simmer. Remove from heat.
Whisk egg yolks, sifted cornstarch, and sugar in a large bowl until smooth.
Add puréed and strained mango to egg mixture. Stir until smooth.
Add gelatin to hot milk mixture, whisking with speed constantly to avoid getting lumps.
Pour hot milk mixture from saucepan into egg & mango mixture, slowly and in rounds, whisking per every small pour.
Wipe out saucepan. Strain custard through a fine-mesh sieve back into saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking very often, until it bubbles occasionally and starts to thicken (about 5–6 minutes).

Optional: If you do have any lumps in your mixture for some reason, transfer the mixture to a blender and blend briefly on low speed until smooth.

Place 8 ramekins or bowls on a rimmed baking sheet. Divide pudding evenly among ramekins and chill until set, at least 3 hours.

Optional: Top each pudding with whipped cream and any of the suggested garnishes, if desired.

Get Off Your Ass: July Won’t Wait Forever

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Sarah Jarosz & Sara Watkins // Hollywood Bowl // July 1

The Dustbowl Revival // Levitt Pavilion // July 2

Joe Pug // Echo // July 7

Lyle Lovett & Emmylou Harris // Greek Theatre // July 10

Chris Thile // The Theatre at Ace Hotel // July 20

Dixie Chicks // Irvine Meadows // July 20

Hayes Carll & Luke Bell // Teragram Ballroom // July 21

Billy Strings // Levitt Pavilion // July 22

Jim Lauderdale // McCabe's Guitar Shop // July 24

Joseph // Fig at 7th // July 29

Buckwheat Zydeco // The Mint // July 30

Honeyhoney // The Troubadour // July 30

Marcus Blacke // The Basement // July 1

Mary Gauthier // The Bluebird Café // July 2

Brandy Clark // Riverfront Park // July 3

Robert Ellis // 3rd & Lindsley // July 3

Sheryl Crow, Ruby Amanfu, & Andrew Combs // Ascend Amphitheater/Riverfront Park // July 4

Chris Stapleton // Nissan Stadium // July 9

Leon Russell // City Winery // July 10

Andrew Leahey & the Homestead // The 5 Spot // July 12

Gary Clark, Jr. // Ascend Amphitheater // July 16

Sam Lewis // Acme Feed & Seed // July 16

Sarah Jarosz // Station Inn // July 21

John Moreland // The Basement East // July 29

Colvin & Earle // 92nd Street Y // July 13

Drive-By Truckers // Brookfield Place // July 13

Ray Wylie Hubbard // Hill Country Barbecue // July 13

Earls of Leicester // City Winery // July 14

Deer Tick, Margo Price, & Anais Mitchell // Hudson RiverStage // July 16

The Wood Brothers & Hiss Golden Messenger // Prospect Park Bandshell // July 16

Buddy Guy // Theater at Madison Square Garden // July 20

Ryan Adams // Central Park // July 20

Alabama Shakes // Randall's Island // July 22

The Wild Reeds // Union Pool // July 23

The Cactus Blossoms // Rough Trade // July 26

case/lang/veirs // Prospect Park Bandshell // July 26

STREAM: Michael Logen, ‘New Medicine’

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Artist: Michael Logen
Hometown: Nashville, TN
Album: New Medicine
Release Date: June 24
Label: Back Room Racket

In Their Words: “The noisier the world becomes, by contrast, the more powerful moments of stillness, reflection, and simplicity become. This album, New Medicine, was born from such a place. I find music to be an elixir … a mystical potion that has the power to access the inexpressible depths of the human subconscious, the deep, dark waters of the soul … a channel to connect worlds, universes. I hope that, in hearing it, people may experience what was felt in making it." — Michael Logen

Photo credit: Jon Karr

Sheep’s Pie (with Prince’s Purple Rice)

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Prince Rogers Nelson was taken from us far too soon, on April 21, 2016. I have to imagine that he's still out there somewhere … not finished raining his magic down upon us.

In honor of His Purple Princeness — gah, I adore him so much! — this month's recipe features a dish that I would like to believe that Prince would've enjoyed. If you don't already know, Prince was a most-devout vegetarian. (Listen to his song "Animal Kingdom" to hear what I'm talking about.) In 2006, PETA crowned him their Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity. (I think that they should've let him keep the crown in perpetuity.)

I set out to create a dish in Prince's honor that sang of comfort. I've been in a comfort food mood lately, myself, even before we got the news on April 21 — and that only made my cravings that much stronger. However, you should know that I'm the girl who chooses comfort foods that leave me feeling better — not worse. I'm not your frozen pizza or French fries friend. I'm not a hater; I'm just a regulator. I'll have some fries, but I just won't let it get out of hand because I know how my body works best. When I'm feeling down, I need to eat foods that help pick me back up.

Let's talk for a minute about a well-known comfort food that's covered in creamy, buttery mashed potatoes, browned and crisped to perfection in the oven. Underneath all of that pillowy goodness there's usually a combo of meat, vegetables, or both. If your mouth is watering even slightly at this moment like mine is, you're probably picking up what I'm putting down: shepherd's frickin' pie.

Today we are going to flip the script on this traditional offering and even change its name!

With that, I'd like to introduce you to Sheep's Pie … because shepherds eat sheep, and sheep eat grass and grain (the latter being generally reserved for the mothers-to-be who need more fortifying nutrients, so I'm told). Don't worry: There ain't no grass up in this dish; it's just a play on a theme. We'll have leeks, mushrooms, carrots, warm exotic spices, and more topped with fluffy jasmine rice instead of mashed potatoes for an added twist! In honor of Prince, I made my rice purple, which is rather easy to do. You might not want to go there with me but, if you do, instructions* will be below.

Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS
Ample kosher or sea salt (multiple specifications below)
*1/2 head of red cabbage, cut roughly into 3" inch pieces
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup jasmine rice
2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp coconut oil
1 pound large crimini, button, or portobello mushrooms — quartered
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 large leek, split lengthwise, washed, chopped into 1/2 inch slices
1 inch ginger, peeled and minced
1 tsp salt
6 garlic cloves, course chopped
2 Tbsp unbleached all purpose or GF flour
1 Tbsp curry powder
2 Tbsp ground coriander
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 can coconut cream (split into 2/3 and 1/3 portions)
4 cups of water, mushroom, or vegetable stock
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
salt to taste
1 pound russet potatoes, washed and cubed into 1" pieces
2 medium to large vine tomatoes, diced and salted
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 cup frozen (thawed) peas

DIRECTIONS
Place 1.5 cups of water in a small pot. *Add cut cabbage and bring to a boil, then cover and simmer gently for 15-20 minutes. Remove cabbage and strain purple water to remove any loose cabbage and return to pot. Add 2 tsp salt and 1 cup of rice, bring to a boil, stir well then cover and turn down to simmer for 15 minutes. Remove pot from the stove and let sit, covered.

Place 2 Tbsp coconut oil in a large pot (dutch oven is even better). Turn heat to high. Once oil melts, immediately add all mushrooms and distribute evenly in the base of the pot. Do NOT touch them for 60 seconds. After this, toss immediately, and lower your heat to medium-high and sprinkle 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper over mushrooms and toss. Do NOT touch them for another 60 seconds. Toss one final time, remove mushrooms from pot, and set aside. I like the mushrooms to retain some of their meatiness so I do not overcook them.

Place 1 Tbsp coconut oil into same pot still on medium-high heat. Once it melts, add the carrots, celery, leeks, and ginger. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp salt over top and stir frequently until carrots and celery are al denté (10-12 minutes). Add garlic and stir frequently for 2 minutes. Check for salt and add 1/2 tsp more, if needed. Turn down to low and cover.

In a small bowl or cup, combine flour, curry powder, coriander, and chili powder — mix well. Sprinkle mixture over vegetables in pot and turn heat to medium, stirring for 5 minutes to coat the veggies and heat the flour and spices.

Add 2/3 can of coconut cream, 4 cups water or stock, 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar — stir well. Check for seasoning and add salt to taste. Add potatoes and cover pot. Let cook on medium to medium-high for 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Uncover pot and add tomatoes. Let cook for 5-10 minutes. If it's too soupy, turn the flame up a bit and cook a little longer to reduce some of the liquid. Once it's thick and rich, add back in the reserved mushrooms and parsley, and stir. Turn off heat and cover.

In a food processor, combine thawed peas, final third of coconut cream, and a pinch of salt — pulse until spreadable.

Ladle the potato mixture evenly into a deep round, square, or rectangular baking dish, leaving 2 inches of open space on the top. Then, scoop out mashed peas on top of that and spread evenly into a thin layer. Scoop rice on top of that and spread out with a spatula and a firm touch. Feel free to press rice into place, if needed.

Place into oven on a low broil for 3-5 minutes. Watch it very carefully! You're going for a lightly toasted flavour, not colour. Crunchy rice can mess up your dental work!

I hope that you will try this dish at home and feel the comfort that I felt when cooking and eating (lots of) it. Eat it whilst listening to "Purple Rain." Eat it whilst listening to "7." Eat it whilst listening to "Raspberry Beret." Eat it whilst listening to "Diamonds and Pearls." You catch my drift. Have second and third helpings.

P.S. — This dish would also go nicely with some pesto broccolini on the side. I heard that was one of his favorites, too.

Ghanaian Peanut Butter Soup

Posted on by Editor

As I was preparing to sit down and salivate while writing about all the ways that I love Peanut Butter Soup, before I could even type a single word, my daddy called and told me what he, my mom, and aunt happened to be having for dinner at that very same moment. Take one guess what it was and your guess would be correct (unless you've got jokes).

The number of times that I have eaten this West African comfort food doesn't necessarily make me an expert on it, but it sure does mean that I'd better know how to make it. I've introduced many American friends to the concept that peanut butter does not have to be synonymous with jelly — nor does it have to be dressed up as a sweet treat. I tried to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich a few months back and my stomach hurt after just a few bites. Put me in front of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and I will look the other way. I think it may be because I've been spoiled by this savoury dish. I hate to tell you this — but if you make this recipe, you may be forever spoiled, too. Consider yourself warned.

This recipe originates somewhere in West Africa. Some say Gambia; others say Ghana. My version is influenced strongly by my home country of Ghana. In Ghana, we know this dish as "groundnut soup." The word "peanut" simply wasn't introduced to West Africa for quite some time (even though that's definitely the nut we're talking about here). You take the nut, you grind it, and you've got, well … "groundnut." Call us West Africans literal, I guess. It makes more sense than pea-nut. Amirite??

And what else do you have when you grind a nut? Well, after a while, nut butter, of course! That's the bold base of this rich, velvet-cloaked soup. A cup's worth of peanut butter (and nothing else) goes into the base of a cold pot that is then heated to medium-low heat. The peanut butter slowly begins to release its rich oil when gently heated, and that's actually all the oil you'll need in this soup's base. That small cup of peanut butter will continue to release its amber-coloured oil for the rest of the cooking process until your soup is speckled with shiny drops of jeweled oil along its surface. You'll feel like you're being naughty when you consume a spoonful of this rich goodness, but ,unlike animal fat, this oil is nutritious and full of fiber.

I'll leave you with that and dig into the linear steps.

Note: I want to thank the six people in the world who already have my Peanut Butter Soup recipe for allowing me to share it publicly now. Gratitude comes because these six people supported me in my Pledge Music Campaign last Fall when they donated funds to receive this as was one of Ruby's Secret Recipes. Thank you for keeping my recipe secret for these several months and thank you for allowing me to share it now. I won't give away any more of these for a long, long time.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup unsweetened creamy peanut butter
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2-3 medium cloves of garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp ginger, grated (or use ginger paste)
1 Tbsp ground coriander
1 Tbsp ground cumin
2 tsp paprika (any kind; even smoked)
1 quart chicken broth + 1 extra box (use bone broth for extra luxury)*
1 15-oz can of tomato sauce
1-1.5lbs of raw chicken thighs, cooked to pleasure and cut into bite-sized pieces**
Kosher salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
Cayenne pepper to taste
Crushed peanuts, scallions, and/or cilantro to garnish, if desired

*Use vegetable broth if preferred
**Substitutions for chicken may include sautéed shrimp, diced sweet potatoes, yams, or mushrooms

DIRECTIONS
Place peanut butter in the base of a deep pot first and then bring the pot to medium-low heat. Watch carefully so that it doesn't burn and lower heat as needed, stirring occasionally with a long wooden spoon. Allow the butter to loosen and release a lot of that good peanut oil into the pot. Be patient and let it happen. It may take 10 minutes, but it's the most important step.

Once it looks like your peanut butter has kind of perspired, add in the onion, garlic, ginger, coriander, cumin, and paprika, and stir to combine. Increase the heat to medium-high to release more peanut oil and cook ingredients in the rendered peanut oil and butter until onions are just beginning to soften. Bring the heat down if it looks like it wants to burn. If the peanut butter accidentally gets too dark in the pot, don't worry about it. Just lower the heat and continue on.

Pour in an entire quart of chicken broth in 1 cup increments, stirring each round in until well-combined and smooth. Then simmer and stir for 5 minutes. Add in the tomato sauce, salt to taste (added in pinches at a time so as to not over season), black pepper, and cayenne to taste. Stir, cover, and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure the base isn't burning. If the soup looks to be too thick, add more chicken stock in 1 cup increments until desired viscosity is achieved.

Add in cooked chicken or protein of choice at the end and give a good stir and 5-minute simmer.

I serve it with a scoop of rice, but some folks spoon it over steamed potatoes of all varieties or just eat it plain. Top with crushed peanuts, sliced scallions, and/or cilantro for extra love.

Serves 4

To make this dish extra sassy, I recommend listening to Memphis Minnie's box set. Well, at least I did, and I'm pretty sure it helped! I actually didn't know Memphis Minnie's music until Brittany Howard (Alabama Shakes) introduced her to me. In 2013, Brittany and I were brainstorming which songs to record for our Third Man Records Blue Series vinyl release. I brought a Rodriguez tune ("I Wonder") to the table and Brittany's contribution was Memphis Minnie's "When My Man Come Home." I was so inspired by Minnie's voice that I collected a library of her songs, and they haven't left my side since.

Call me presumptuous, but I have a feeling that Memphis Minnie would've liked this Peanut Butter Soup recipe just fine.

Singer/songwriter Ruby Amanfu loves cooking almost as much as she loves singing. Her latest release, Standing Still, was featured as part of the BGS Class of 2015. 

Squared Roots: Ruby Amanfu on the Simple Brilliance of Bill Withers

Posted on by Editor

To escape the wilds of West Virginia, a young Bill Withers joined the Navy, where he worked as an aircraft mechanic. After his service, he landed a job in an airplane parts factory, but soon realized he could get girls by singing, so he decided to give it a shot. He taught himself guitar, wrote some songs, and got a deal with Sussex Records. Fun fact: His first single — the Grammy-winning, platinum-selling “Ain't No Sunshine” — was inspired by the 1962 movie Days of Wine and Roses starring Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick.

Withers kept up that pace with a string of hits that included “Grandma's Hands,” “Lean on Me,” and “Use Me.” After three records on Sussex, he shifted over to Columbia in the mid-1970s, where he released a few more albums … and encountered a bit of resistance. The label execs, which he called “blaxperts” because they were trying to change his sound to sell more records, all but halted his career. Withers has commented that he found it hard to swallow that his label would put out a Mr. T record while preventing him from releasing anything.

Though he collaborated with other artists and issued one more LP, 1985's Watching You Watching Me, Withers pretty much walked away from music. Since then, he has noted, "What few songs I wrote during my brief career, there ain't a genre that somebody didn't record them in. I'm not a virtuoso, but I was able to write songs that people could identify with. I don't think I've done bad for a guy from Slab Fork, West Virginia."

Singer/songwriter Ruby Amanfu was born in Ghana, and moved with her family to Tennessee when she was three years old. Growing up in Nashville, Amanfu couldn't help but gravitate toward music, studying at Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet School before heading off to Boston to attend Berklee College of Music, and finishing up back home at Belmont University. Around the time that Amanfu had a dance hit in Europe (2001's “Sugah”), she also connected with Sam Brooker in Nashville, and the two began writing, recording, and performing acoustic soul as Sam & Ruby. A handful of years on the road landed them a deal with Rykodisc for their debut LP, The Here and the Now, in 2009, and a follow-up EP, Press On, in 2010.

Appearances on NBC's The Sing Off (Season 3) and Jack White's Blunderbuss — as well as collaborations with Brittney Howard, Wanda Jackson, Patti LaBelle, Ben Folds, Chris Thile, and others — eventually led to Amanfu's latest release, Standing Still. It's a collection of songs by Bob Dylan, Brandi Carlile, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Woody Guthrie, and the Heartless Bastards stunningly re-imagined and rendered in Amanfu's smoky soul voice.

Bill got a late start, but he came out of the gate with “Ain't No Sunshine” and followed that up with “Lean on Me” and “Use Me.” Even now, when he talks about those songs, he plays them way down … as if they hadn't made a mark on music at all. But we know better …

Yeah, yeah. In everything I've seen and heard from him, when he speaks or when people write word-for-word what he's spoken, he seems to be the epitome of humble. And it is so opposite of what most artists are. Most artists feel like, “Well, I need to be not humble because I have to act like I'm the greatest so that other people will believe I'm the greatest.” I'm just so fascinated by Bill Withers, and I adore him so much because he is so humble. And I think that's kind of the mode of operation that is more enticing, at least for me — in how I like music and how I receive music. If I have an artist who is like, “I'm the shit!” then I'm probably, just out of spite, be like, “Uh, nope. You're off my list.”

And yet you recorded a Kanye West tune.

Oh, I sure did. Guess what? That was a battle to the bank, honey. That was a battle to the bank. I had a couple of producers on this project and sometimes you gotta listen when people talk. There were obviously things I had to come around to, and I had to come around to that. What I heard in that song … when “Street Lights” was presented to me, I heard lyrics that I connected with. I heard a story, when I stripped away all of that production and I stripped away his voice, and I just received the words. I was like, “Oh, damn! That's actually legitimate.” He co-wrote that with a fella, Mr. Hudson, who is a brilliant writer and producer. I couldn't do a disservice to Mr. Hudson just because Mr. Kanye West was out there shootin' and salutin' and highfalutin! [Laughs]

[Laughs] That brings up an interesting point. To me, classic R&B like Bill Withers, you can feel the rhythm and you can hear the blues. That's not always the case in contemporary R&B. Sure, there's a slickness to the new stuff, but is there a more significant difference in the artistry between then and now?

Well, yeah, I'd say. With someone like Bill, I don't even know if he knew what slick was. And I think, now, I don't know why this happened, but part of me thinks that, as the world continued, as the years went by, as technology increased, I feel like people — artists and record labels and producers — I think they felt like they had to do more to keep fans' interest and attention. The attention spans, I do believe, have become less and less long. So I think there can be a bit of desperation where some of it is concerned.

I won't say it's all of it because I still listen heavily to R&B, currently. Sometimes you definitely hear production where you're like, “Man, slow your roll. Let's just hear the song.” But there's still a lot of classic-sounding singers out there who are still doing it. Even somebody like John Legend, when he just strips it away and it's him and the piano, he's a great example of somebody … you know that he gets that it's just about the openness and the vulnerability of the music. The attention span is shorter, so you gotta get hyped quickly. Obviously, I didn't do that on this record. [Laughs] I'm trusting that people will be able to take a breath and listen to this record from a completely open place. That's how I fit into this whole thing.

Right. Another difference is that, in the mid '70s, Bill released an album a year for five in a row. To be that prolific and, then, to just turn it off … because he kind of counts that as the end of his eight-year career. What does that take — because he wrote all his own stuff?

I know. I think he got fed up with the system which … [Laughs] is not hard to do. I got my first record deal — I was a baby — in 1999. Even then, the system was baffling. I did it as a means to an end … record deals and management deals and all of that. But it felt sickening on a number of occasions. I did it, but I can see how he, who is who he is unapologetically and is so homegrown and so grounded, that he was like, “You don't care about me. Why am I going to care about you?” This man who was … at first, he still kept his other job, even when he had a couple of hits. That's brilliant because he wasn't resting his laurels on that. Then, the labels were taking advantage of him. I heard once that he'd had a couple of hits and he was going to put out this album and his label said, “We don't hear a hit on that.”

Yeah, they wanted him to cover an Elvis tune.

Oh my gosh, that's right! “In the Ghetto.”

Yeah.

What did he say? Something like, “That's like asking to buy the bartender a drink.” Or something like that. And he was like, “I'm not going to go there.” It cracked me up. Because, exactly! They don't get it. They don't get you. That's the separation that has been cycling through the business.

I will say that I have seen a big difference here, in 2015, because everyone got hip to what was going on and got wiser, started to change the system to make it a little more genuine … at least for indie artists like myself choosing different paths that allow us to have creative rights again, and freedom. But Bill, at the time, was like, “No. That's not good enough for me.” And I respect that.

Well, when one of your A&R guys tells you, “I don't like your music or any black music, period” … you're not off to a great start.

No. No. And that's the thing … he knew it. He was like, “I'm gonna try this out and see what people are talking about.”

[Laughs] Or not.

Yeah. “That's what I thought you were talking about. Goodbye.” [Laughs] It's brilliant. And I'm like that, in a way. I don't think it was arrogance with Bill, and I'm not like that. But I definitely have convictions and sometimes people don't understand or relate to my convictions. But I still stand by my convictions. I have to. I think … I know for a fact, actually, that I have been inspired by Mr. Withers because of that. Because you can stand by your convictions and still do what you do, still be out there doing the music. I oftentimes say that, if I were ever to get to a point where I was surrounded by a team of people who didn't get that, then I would gladly, happily walk away and go put on my apron and start cooking in the kitchen. I would do that. But I'm really lucky right now. It's been a long time coming. This team around me totally gets me — what a concept — and supports me. We'll ride it out that way.

But there are no Withers' tunes on your new album. Are there deep cuts of Bill's that you love?

Well, “Grandma's Hands” I love so much. It's funny … the first version I heard of “Grandma's Hands” was … [Laughs] “No Diggity.”

Oh, yeah yeah yeah. [Laughs]

Sam [Brooker] and I had looked through a bunch of his songs to see what we could maybe do because I've always wanted to do a Bill Withers song. There were some on the short list for this record, too, but I had presented Sam with a song from Still Bill called “Who Is He (And What Is He to You)?” It's so simple, but that song is one for me.

Me'shell NdegeOcello did a pretty slamming version of that one.

She did. She nailed it. That's why I was like, “If Sam and Ruby are going to do it, it's going to be different.” But that's the thing … you bring up a good point … I find myself in that situation because there are some songs on this record that I'm like, “People I admire and respect have done slamming versions of these songs, but they mean so much to me and I believe in them so I'm going to go for it.” Not to do a copied version, but do something different. Obviously, when Brandi Carlile spoke up that she liked what I'd done [with “Shadow on the Wall”] … It was stressful. I was nerve-wracked to do that because I knew what she'd done with it.

But, anyway … the song “Hello Like Before” is amazing. “I Wish You Well” … but that's more of a hit than a deep cut. “Make Love to Your Mind” … that's a great one. That's the thing, just too many.

Photos by Shervin Lainez and Columbia Records