In my other life, I am a music publicist. And one of my clients is Duluth based folk musician Charlie Parr, who is a global icon in Americana/folk circles. For good reason, too. The publicist in me says you should all listen to Charlie Parr (he re-released fan favorite albums 1922 and Glory in the Meeting House yesterday on House of Mercy Recordings and has a new studio album due in early 2013), but Charlie has an interesting method of cooking while on tour in his van — he cooks meals on top of his exhaust manifold. Well, being a foodie and music publicist, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to discuss this cooking method with Charlie and share it with all of you…..
Mikey’s Kitchen: When did you start cooking on your manifold and what was the first dish you made?
Charlie Parr: Year’s ago, at least 20 or so. I started with real simple re-heating stuff and made brats, warmed up corn-bread, heated up sandwiches.
MK: How long does it take to heat up any given dish?
CP: There are many variables, such as the weather. If it’s raining it won’t work, if it’s cold out, you may need to construct a simple air-dam to trap some heat, if it’s real hot you can’t go too far. Generally, all things being equal, I can get sufficient heat to warm something through in 20 miles or thereabouts. Cooking things like beans or veggies, or meats will usually go to about 50-75 miles depending on the dish. A nice melt-sandwich can be had in 30 miles depending on the weather. This is all freeway, by the way, traveling in traffic changes everything and is harder since if you cook in hot weather and your commute is 30 minutes in traffic, you’ll end up burning your breakfast burrito. It needs checking at about 15 minutes or less if you’re idling to see how it’s going. If you have a Dodge Van from about 1965 or so you can open the doghouse at the top while you’re driving and check it that way. But I don’t have one of those.
MK: What dish works the best with this method?
CP: I like making mixed veggies or black beans and rice. You start with three layers of tin foil with the folds at the top, make it easy to open and close since you’ll be checking and stirring once, add a bit of water for steam, and plenty of spice (I like Sriracha). If you’re using rice, the instant kind works best unless you’re cooking them separate (need a V8 for this). Make sure everything is mixed well and let her go for 30 miles–then stop and check and stir, re-wrap and maybe grab a new hot spot and go another 30-40 miles and it should be ready to eat.
MK: What limitations do you have cooking this way?
CP: Things that need to be checked a lot. Seafood is hard unless it’s precooked. Potatoes take a while and often need to be given more water about halfway through. Meat is hard unless it’s ground or in a sausage form, then it’s very easy. Things that need direct contact with heat (steaks, etc) are out since you’re really steaming everything and can’t apply direct heat (the food would get dirty/oily). Tin foil is the only thing I’ve found that conducts heat well enough to cook – I’ve tried little pans, foil pans, tin cans and those work sometimes, but tin foil works all the time and rarely leaks if you wrap it carefully.
MK: What you have you not tried yet that you would like to?
CP: I’ve started doing a few bread-style things and want to do more. I also have been meaning to do Toad-in-the-hole for some time, and I also got a vegetarian cookbook that I’m going to dig into and try some things. Emily’s (Charlie’s wife) not into this, though, so I can only really cook when I’m touring on my own.
I will never complain that from time to time I receive some free alcohol to sample in exchange for writing something up about said liquor. With that, I’m going to talk about three such liquors and what a novice mixologist like me did with them. And when I say novice, I’m talking still-in-the-womb novice. Most of my experience with booze is opening up some beer or wine, but occasionally I step out of my comfort zone. But at least you know that going in.
First, I was sent three different types of tequila fromHornitos–Reposado, Plata, and Anejo. I’m looking forward to having a Mexican themed party with margaritas and Coronas, but meanwhile, I used the Plata (clearest form of tequila) for the following recipe sent to me by the rep for X-Rated Fusion Liqueur and substituted the Hornitos for the tequila they suggested:
The Garden Fresh Skinny Summerita
By Travis London
1 oz. X-Rated Fusion Liqueur 1 oz. (Hornitos) tequila Juice of half a lime 3 sprigs fresh cilantro 3 thin slices of fresh cucumber 3 thin slices of a fresh jalapeño pepper Cucumber wheel for garnish
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker (except cucumber wheel) filled with ice and shake vigorously. Pour into a chilled glass and garnish with cucumber wheel.
I will say this–it’s not a sweet fu-fu drink. With the jalapeno in there, this is a downright spicy drink, but it’s also extremely refreshing. If you can take the spice, you can probably drink three or four of these without blinking on a hot summer day. And let’s face it–it’s freaking hot everywhere in the country right now.
Then there is this drink I created using SKYY Infusions Coconut vodka. I’m a big coconut fan, so it was easy for me to like this one. I’m also a big fan of flavored carbonated water, and for this one I used La Croix Coconut and Lime flavors:
Mikey’s Lime in the Coconut (make sure the Harry Nilsson song “Lime in the Coconut” is playing when you drink this)
1 oz. SKYY Infusions Coconut vodka 1/2 oz. fresh lime juice 1 oz. sugar water (1 tsp. of sugar dissolved in 1 oz. water) 1 oz. La Croix coconut carbonated water 1 oz. La Croix lime carbonated water
Combine vodka, lime juice and sugar water in a shaker with some ice. Shake vigorously and pour into a glass with ice. Slowly pour in the seltzers and stir before serving. Garnish with a slice of lime.
This one was pretty refreshing as well, but perhaps it could use a touch more sugar. Or maybe more vodka. Hey, I told you I was a novice!
I have a confession to make. I have many items that were sent to me that I have on tap to review, and I will start hammering those out in the next couple of weeks. Good for all of you for content, good for me for content, and good for my publicist friends who are being patient!
Now, I have another confession to make. I love burgers, and I found these most excellent Kobe beef burgers at Trader Joe’s. You let them defrost for a day in your fridge (or under cold water in the package if you have less time), and either grill or make in a skillet on your stove. Yesterday I remembered that I bought some Melinda’s Habanero Ketchup, and so I paired the two items for lunch. Even better, I picked up a nice big kaiser roll at the grocery store to put it on. Man, I’m getting hungry again.
So since it was about 95 degrees at lunchtime, and my deck is right in direct sun, I cooked this burger inside, with a dome over the pan to keep the steam and juices all locked in. And for some burgers, you just can’t load on lettuce, tomato or even (gasp!) cheese. So I did this the way I like it–a little salt on the burger, and then just the ketchup on both sides. And I lucked out too by cooking the burger perfectly–a little pink in the middle, and with the juices intact. And with the spicy tang of the ketchup, it was a masterpiece.
The downside? I had to finish working rather than take a long nap.
Last week I celebrated the 4th of July early with one of the synonymous food items for it–the hot dog. Specifically, I had a two-dog Chicago style dog rolled up in a tortilla. And really, this is a great way to have a dog with all those toppings, because you don’t have toppings all over your plate or the floor. It mostly all goes in your mouth. And also, it’s an easy way to slide two dogs into your bread vehicle.
So what goes on the Chicago? Any combo of this–yellow mustard, tomatoes, onions, sweet relish (neon green if you can find it), pickles, cucumber, hot peppers and celery salt. And it is best with all beef dogs, but that is not at all necessary. For me, I can’t eat raw onions without heartburn and bad breath, so I do myself and my wife a favor and omit those.
But really, you can also come up with all sorts of combos to top a dog. It’s the 4th, right? Also, the Nathan’s Hot Dog eating contest is on ESPN, another tradition that we have–going to our local parade, and then watching the contest and eating a dog (or 50!). Have a great holiday everyone, and make sure to hand your keys to someone if you have too many (drinks that is, not hot dogs).
Sometimes food and sports intersect, and as a fan of both, that doesn’t bother me one bit. So when I was asked to check out three new items from Gatorade, and plug Carolina Panthers’ quarterback Cam Newton’s endorsement, it was hard to say no.
First off, the products–new Gatorade G Series Energy Chews; 28 oz. thirst quencher bottle; and G Series Protein Recovery Shake. The chews were orange flavor and came in a small sleeve with six chews. You squeeze the wrapper, making them easy to pop out and into your mouth, and a serving size is six chews/one package. Let me say that not only were they tasty like a big soft jelly candy, but I tried these on Thursday afternoon, and I literally felt like I was going to fly out the roof of my office. I think it has to do with the B-vitamins, but wow.
The 28 oz. thirst quencher bottle (they sent me this in orange as well) was regular Gatorade, or what they call the “perform” part of their new-ish “prime-perform-recover” mantra. But the bottle had an hour glass shape, making it easy to hold, and likely easier to hold with sweaty hands than the standard bottle of water or sports drink.
Finally, the G Series Protein Recovery Shake. Well, I had back surgery a few months ago and have not been able to work out beyond walking, so it’s not like I could test out the post-workout aspect. But I know the difference between chocolate milk and a protein shake. Protein shakes often tasty chalky or too much like health food. But the G Series chocolate flavor they sent was more like chocolate milk–no weird aftertaste, and delicious.
As for Cam Newton, here is a clip of him discussing staying ahead of the competition, including proper nutrition that now involves the G Series Energy Chews:
If you work out a lot, or even a little…or if you love Gatorade like I do, you should check this stuff out.
