From The Vault

Collected reviews from albums past.

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Cooking With A.I. 3:  How to Make a Wild Boar Croque Pot... On a Budget!

It was just as well that nobody was watching him. If the kids wanted to know anything, they were told where to find the boar chops, what to do with them and what kind of pork they should be eating (the type that will get you pork shoulder - like a big, juicy pork belly) as well as the cost of food to eat out. One of the kids even bought a little pork chop for $6.99 at the butcher (yes, that cheap). And that's a budget. You'll make up for that in the next few months with the help of my easy-peasy Croque-Pot! The croquettes were easy to assemble and cook. I started with the ribs. If you make a roux at home before, be ready for the pain involved! (If you make these yourself, I highly recommend making it a little rouxier. Otherwise you'll have to skip that step altogether.) You can use a pork shoulder or even a real pork shoulder from a big pig's head, to give yourself all the flavor you need. In a croque, that pork isn't really going to make an appearance because the meat will be done inside of the pot (it's not that it doesn't need to be, it's that meat cooking inside of the pot is just as flavorful.) So now, after you get all that meat done, put it back inside your croque, or place it inside of the microwave for about 10 seconds. We recommend microwaving it for a few seconds after cooking it for the last couple hours, to set up all the flavors that you cooked it too quickly for. Now, here's an important caveat that you should take into consideration when you're using pork shoulder or actual pork: If you're using pork shoulder, it's also cooked for several hours, and the meat is almost like it's been sitting in your refrigerator for days, or maybe even weeks. So you actually want to cook it in a low oven to ensure that all the flavors you were able to flavor during the last few hours has been done. If you can't get meat done, you can either take the pork meat you sliced up and cook on the stovetop, or you can cut up the pork that you cut up into cubes and serve it.

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Cooking With A.I. 2:  How To Make a French Hospital Burger You're looking for a quick and easy way to make a French Hospital Burger. But first, let's see how to make a burger and that's what we're going to do. You'll also get this book as it's free to download. French Hospital Burger Ingredients 6 slices (200 g) bread 2 onion heads, minced (about 1/2 red onion) 2 green bell peppers, chopped 1 medium head of cabbage, sliced 1 medium stalk of celery, chopped 3 medium cloves of garlic chopped 2 tablespoons oil Salt to taste 3 tablespoons fresh mozzarella cheese, shredded 2 tablespoons fresh baby spinach, whole 1 tablespoon fresh feta cheese, sliced ½ cup mozzarella, shredded 4 eggs mixed with 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, freshly grated or cubed (we use cubed parmesan but just about any blend is fine) 4 teaspoons tomato purée/tomato sauce 8 slices (600 g) heavy cheese, cut on a mandolin into cubes about 1/4 inch thick (we used a large cheddar-style cheese). If using one of the homemade or store-bought varieties, you may just have to

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Cooking With A.I. 1:  How To Make an Elephant Soup Recharger A bowl of homemade elephant soup and a fork is not enough of a meal for my 3-year-old, so I had to make something from scratch. I think the key is to go outside in front of your little one and make a small bowl of soup. It will help you get comfortable with her and will keep her happy. When you get a better idea of hers, you can then pour the soup into the bowl that you prepared. I like to make a larger bowl (about three to four cups) and use an ice cream scoop to scoop up the little one's milk. She'll take this into a bowl of her favorite dish of hers and her mouth and chin will be full of the wonderful soup, and you can let the little one soak them all into her head and ears, making small bubbles and then eating them right away until they are full, in about ten to 15 minutes. For a quick and easy way to reheat the soup after you've finished making it, just microwave the soup. You won't even need to do that if you've got a microwave in your kitchen. This is an easy way to save money while still having enough left over for lunch, dinner, or even snack. I've heard that microwaving the soup can be a disaster if it's going to clog your microwave.  

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From The Vault: Tsigoti – The Imagination Liberation Front Thinks Again (Released August 2012/Post-Consumer Records)

Tsigoti’s third album is to be quickly followed by a forth in October and represents a period of furiously creative collaboration between renowned American Jazz-Pianist Thollem McDonas and a trio of Italian Avant-punks.  The track listing betrays a narrative which runs throughout the album and paints the foursome as a fiercely political animal.  McDonas’ vocals, delivered in a languid, Strummerian drawl, are the thread which pulls together the scattered influences on this record.  Tsigoti lurch from dizzyingly upbeat, pogoing agit-punk to considered, Zappa-like missives that demand attention.  The album meanders into drab confines at times and fails to hold interest, although the African drums of Unargued Argument are a welcome experiment and represent the last highlight as the record stutters to a close.  Razor-sharp moments, such as the bombastic ‘Thousands Killed Again Today’ which evokes the playful energy of Acoustic Ladyland, carry this record along for the most part, and make Tsigoti a band that may reward further consideration.  It certainly piques curiosity in the imminent arrival of a shotgun follow-up.