Category: Recipes

Indie Rock Deli: Danger Mousse (Inspired by Danger Mouse)

Laura LeeboveLeave a comment

THE DISH
Spiced chocolate mousse (recipe at bottom of post)

http://listen.grooveshark.com/songWidget.swf

THE INSPIRATION/ABOUT THE ARTIST
Danger Mouse is a rapper/songwriter/producer best known as one half of Gnarls Barkley (with Cee-Lo Green), one half of Broken Bells (with the Shins’ James Mercer), and also for The Grey Album, his mash-up of music from the Beatles’ White Album with vocals from Jay-Z’s The Black Album. This mousse doesn’t really have anything to do with him (as most Indie Rock Deli posts don’t…), but the spices — specifically the cayenne — are what make it a bit “dangerous.”
Danger Mouse’s website

ABOUT INDIE ROCK DELI
It all started here, with a normal day at work that turned into an hours-long giggle fit. Indie Rock Deli dishes are inspired by punny takes on band names and song titles. Leave your own suggestions in the comments and they might be used in a future post! (No, they definitely don’t have to actually be indie rock.)

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One-Pot Black Bean Dip + a few kitchen songs

Laura Leebove5 Comments

THE DISH
One-pot black bean dip (recipe at the bottom)

THE INSPIRATION
I’ve mentioned this before but my last two years in college, I lived in a housing cooperative with about 13 other students. We had a massive kitchen — industrial-sized stove, a three-part sink, walk-in pantry, a huge island counter in the middle — and it was pretty common for five or six of us to be in there making food at the same time. This is a slight variation on a dish introduced to me by my old housemate Rachel, and I don’t even know how many times I cooked it when we lived together. It’s delicious and so easy to make, and it gets eaten SO quickly.

I’m lucky that my apartment in Brooklyn has a pretty huge kitchen (thank you, converted warehouse lofts!), but that’s definitely not the case for many of my friends in the city. Even though I’ve made this dish over and over in a kitchen big enough to fit the whole Duggar family, the beauty in it is that it’s all done in one pot and with very little equipment, so it’s perfect for even the least-experienced cooks and in the tiniest of kitchens.

THE SONGS
This recipe is mostly inspired by a lyric in the song “Cook For You” by Clare & the Reasons, but I threw in a few other songs that have something to do with kitchens.

Clare & the Reasons, “Cook For You”
This is a super-sweet love song that starts off with a line that instantly makes me think of the quirks that come with living in a cozy city apartment with a tiny kitchen: “I like to cook for you in my underwear/ ‘Cause our kitchen points to a wall.”
http://listen.grooveshark.com/songWidget.swf

Theresa Andersson, “Na Na Na”
“Na Na Na” itself actually has nothing to do with kitchens, but it’s here because it was recorded in one! I believe Andersson recorded most of her Hummingbird, Go! album in her modest-sized New Orleans kitchen, and the video of her playing this song there is awesome.

Those Darlins, “Keep My Skillet Good and Greasy”
The badass Tennessee gals Those Darlins didn’t write this song (I don’t think anyone knows who did?) but their take on it is awesome.
http://listen.grooveshark.com/songWidget.swf

Allo Darlin’, “Heartbeat Chilli”
I’ve already used this in a post, but it’s super sweet and part of it is about falling in love in the kitchen while making chili. It’s adorable.
http://listen.grooveshark.com/songWidget.swf

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Red Velvet Cupcakes (Inspired by Florence and the Machine)

Laura Leebove5 Comments

http://listen.grooveshark.com/songWidget.swf

THE DISH
Red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, coated in sugar sprinkles and gold stars (recipe links at bottom of post)

THE STYLE INSPIRATION
In the past couple years, Florence and the Machine’s Florence Welch has gone from barely-known British singer to international pop powerhouse. Her debut LP Lungs got her nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy Award, and she also performed in the awards ceremony’s Aretha Franklin tribute alongside the likes of Jennifer Hudson and Christina Aguilera. Her style is as dynamic as her music; Welch’s outfits are often either long, light and billowy, or shiny and sparkly. The cupcakes are red velvet for her fiery red hair (and also because it matches the color on her album cover), and the sparkly sugar sprinkles and gold stars are because she’s glamorous (and the gold also because of the photo below).


Florence and the Machine on MySpace

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Indie Rock Deli: Super-simple !!!pea salad (Inspired by !!!/chk chk chk)

Laura LeeboveLeave a comment

http://listen.grooveshark.com/songWidget.swf

THE DISH
Super-simple chickpea salad

THE INSPIRATION
This recipe has absolutely nothing to do with the band (the oh-so-un-Googleable !!!, pronounced “chk chk chk”); it was just what I ate for lunch most of this week and I wanted to use the name!
!!! on MySpace

ABOUT INDIE ROCK DELI
It all started here, with a normal day at work that turned into an hours-long giggle fit. Indie Rock Deli dishes are inspired by punny takes on band names and song titles. Leave your own suggestions in the comments and they might be used in a future post! (No, they definitely don’t have to actually be indie rock.)

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Healthy-ish DIY Dunkaroos (Inspired by Breathe Owl Breathe)

Laura Leebove1 Comment

“You are a princess/
And we are pen pals/
I am a dragon/
But you don’t need to know that”
— “Dragon” by Breathe Owl Breathe (from last year’s Magic Central)

http://listen.grooveshark.com/songWidget.swf

THE DISH
Healthy-ish DIY Dunkaroos (recipe at bottom of post)

THE INSPIRATION
Breathe Owl Breathe are magical. I’m still kicking myself for not having gotten into them when I was living in Michigan (they’re from there, too), but it’s definitely better late than never. They’re an inventive, whimsical folk trio that sings about love, fear and humanity, disguised as stories about dragons, lions and various other creatures. I chose this recipe because, just like their music, it’s something that’s kid-friendly but it’s just as rewarding for the grown-ups, too. (The band also just used Kickstarter to fund a children’s book and record.)

On their phenomenal LP Magic Central (one of my favorites of last year), the song “Dragon” is, on the surface, about a dragon and a princess who are pen pals, but the princess doesn’t know the dragon is a dragon because he has good handwriting. But beyond that, it’s a song about loving someone that other people don’t think you should love, even though their hearts are in the right place. So these treats are also fitting because kids will love them (c’mon, they’re animal crackers!), but they’re actually pretty healthy, thanks to whole wheat flour, flax seeds, and raw sugar. The frosting isn’t quite as healthy (lots of powdered sugar), but still uses low-fat cream cheese and plain low-fat yogurt instead of butter, so it’s at least a step up from typical frosting. And, unrelated to the band, apparently February is National Snack Food Month!
Breathe Owl Breathe on MySpace

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Heartbeat Chili (Inspired by Allo Darlin’)

Laura Leebove9 Comments

“I was in the kitchen on my own making chili/
You came in with an onion and got dicin’/
It seems silly that this chili has two heartbeats in the recipe/
So come over, give your heart to me.”
— “Heartbeat Chilli” by Allo Darlin’ (from last year’s Allo Darlin’)

http://listen.grooveshark.com/songWidget.swf

THE DISH
Heart-healthy veggie chili with heart-shaped tortilla crisps (recipe at bottom of post)

THE INSPIRATION
Allo Darlin”s self-titled debut was one of my favorite records of 2010 — it’s indie-pop that’s sweet and earnest enough to make me all warm and fuzzy every time I listen. Elizabeth Morris’s lyrics are unbelievably witty, and she occasionally mixes her own lines with snippits of songs like Weezer’s “El Scorcho” (“Kiss Your Lips”) and Johnny Cash’s “I Walk The Line” (“Heartbeat Chilli”). This ukulele-based song is pretty perfect for Valentine’s Day, and this chili is a perfect dish to warm up with in the hell that is mid-February. I made sure the chili had plenty of heart-healthy ingredients like beans and spinach — beans are great for their omega-3 fatty acids, calcium and fiber; spinach for its potassium and fiber, among other things. The heart-shaped tortilla crisps are kinda self-explanatory.
Allo Darlin’ on MySpace

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Rockin’ Valentine’s Day Cookies, with help from a super-cute music-biz couple

Laura Leebove4 Comments

THE DISH
Sugar cookies with buttercream and royal icing (Recipe below)

THE INSPIRATION
No CALL ME’s or HUGS & KISSES here! Each cookie has a different love-themed song title. I know they’re not all mushy love songs, but it’s more based on the titles than the lyrics…To make these even more precious, I had help from the cutest music-biz couple I know: Heidi Greenwood and Bryan Vaughan, who run Brooklyn’s Paper Garden Records. Paper Garden is home to one of my favorite discoveries of the past year, Peasant, as well as Danish up-and-comers Alcoholic Faith Mission, and several other acts. Heidi and Bryan were gracious enough to spend more than four hours with me on these … they are amazing and I can’t thank them enough! Enjoy some super-cute photos of them below.

THE PLAYLIST
Tracklisting is at bottom of the post.

http://listen.grooveshark.com/widget.swf
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Indie Rock Deli: “She Don’t Use Jelly” Toast (Inspired by the Flaming Lips)

Laura Leebove7 Comments


Top row from left: Lox; curried apples; cinnamon/sugar
Bottom row from left: Apples/honey; peanut butter-caramelized banana; beet/egg/avocado salad

“I know a girl who thinks of ghosts/
She’ll make ya breakfast/
She’ll make ya toast/
She don’t use butter/
She don’t use cheese/
She don’t use jelly/
Or any of these/
She uses vaseline”
— “She Don’t Use Jelly” by the Flaming Lips

http://listen.grooveshark.com/songWidget.swf

THE DISH
Six variations of butter-, cheese-, and jelly-less toasts (recipe + close-ups at the bottom)

THE INSPIRATION
See the lyrics above; pretty self-explanatory!

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Do I really need to tell you about the Flaming Lips? If so, you should probably just read this.

ABOUT INDIE ROCK DELI
It all started here, with a normal day at work that turned into an hours-long giggle fit. Indie Rock Deli dishes are inspired by punny takes on band names and song titles. Leave your own suggestions in the comments and they might be used in a future post! (No, they definitely don’t have to actually be indie rock.)

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Poo Cloud Whoopie Pies (inspired by Owen Pallett/Final Fantasy)

Laura Leebove5 Comments

http://listen.grooveshark.com/songWidget.swf

THE DISH
Coconut whoopie pies! (Yep, they are good enough to warrant an exclamation point. Recipe after the cut.)

THE INSPIRATION
A few months ago my friend Amanda and I made cupcakes with mini pumpkin pies in them (inspired by a recipe on Bake It In A Cake). I had a ton of pumpkin pie filling left over, so later that week my friend Lauren and I decided to use it to make pumpkin whoopie pies. Figuring out the recipe required some serious math skills since we were working with pie filling, not just pumpkin puree … Anyway, by some miracle they came out perfectly — when we peeled the cakelike cookies off the wax paper, they were like perfect, fluffy, pillowy clouds.

However, this was before I had my amazing batter scoops, so some of them didn’t look so pretty. In fact, Lauren and I decided that a few of them sort of resembled dog poo. See where I’m going with this? Dog poo … fluffy clouds … poo clouds … Owen Pallett’s record He Poos Clouds… Get it?! And — so this whole post isn’t about my having the maturity of a 13-year-old (just most of it) — they really are a great match for the delicacy of Pallett’s music. A little more on that below.

So here are our whoopie pies, Take Two, except this time they’re pretty, they’re lighter, and they do not look like poo. Let me tell you, these are heavenly, and despite how insanely sweet they are, I promise you won’t be able to eat just one.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
If we’ve ever talked about music, there’s a good chance I’ve mentioned my love for Owen Pallett (until about a year ago, he performed as Final Fantasy). He’s a Canadian singer/songwriter/composer who has arranged music for and/or played with a bazillion artists (including Grizzly Bear, Beirut, the Pet Shop Boys, Mika, he’s written string arrangements for and played with Arcade Fire…), and his most recent record Heartland, his first under his own name instead of FF, was my favorite of 2010. A lot of his earlier music is rooted in delicately looped violin parts and vocals, with other orchestration on and off; Heartland has plenty of that, but it’s bigger and more produced, with more electronic elements and layers of vocals.
Owen Pallett on MySpace

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Hippie hash and an ode to a summer in East Lansing, Michigan

Laura Leebove20 Comments

THE DISH
Hippie hash — my take on the signature dish at Lansing, Michigan’s Fleetwood Diner

THE INSPIRATION
When I think of Fleetwood Diner, I think of summer 2009, my last three months before I moved to Brooklyn, during which I had two classes to finish, but few other responsibilities aside from a couple shifts a week at the newspaper, some freelance work, and planning my big move. That summer consisted of plenty of group trips to breakfast after late nights out at house parties or at our favorite bars — most of which ended in friends sleeping on my couch or floor, occasionally with Taco Bell wrappers on the floor next to them. By the time we’d meet up at Fleetwood in the morning, some of us were usually hungover, and all of us were always hungry.

Aside from post-party breakfasts, the whole summer was filled with great food. My friends and I started a restaurant club — a last chance at places we needed to try before leaving East Lansing (more great breakfast at Golden Harvest, Ethiopian at Altu’s, Mexican at Mango’s); we squeezed as many as six of us into my Oldsmobile grandpa car and drove 20 minutes to the most amazing produce market/grocery store, Horrocks; we took over the huge kitchen at my co-op house to cook big meals and have potlucks.

That summer, as well as the two years I lived in that house (with 13 other students) played a huge part in my love of cooking. There were so many times when at least five of us would be in the kitchen making dinner at the same time — we’d share cooking tips, try each other’s food, and eat together. In New York, the nights I’m usually happiest are when my closest friends in the city come over for what we call our “family dinners.” We pick a theme (sushi, dumplings, holiday cookies, soup), pitch in ingredients, maybe drink a little wine, and make a meal together. It’s the best.

I should also note that I made this for brunch with my friend Missy, one of my best friends and creative partners in crime, who made the move to New York just a few months after I did. (She definitely was not the one sleeping on my floor next to the Taco Bell wrappers. And that definitely did not happen two nights in a row.)

Anyway, this playlist is a bunch of songs my friends and I spent a lot of time with that summer — there’s nothing groundbreaking here, and any music nerds listening will not be impressed, but that’s not the point. Summer ’09 = great food + these songs. You can even listen as you make this dish. Enjoy!

THE PLAYLIST

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