Empanadas and Alfajores

BEEF EMPANADAS

Empanada Dough

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 pound butter, chilled and cut into 1/4" cubes
1 whole egg
1/4 cup - 1/2 cup ice water (as needed)
1 Tablespoon white vinegar

Combine flour and salt together in a mixing bowl. work in the cold butter by hand until it resmbles a crumbly cornmeal with a few small butter clumps.

Add the egg and vinegar and enough ice water to creat a dough that barely comes together.

Flatten the dough out to 1" thick sheet and fold in half. Flatten to 1" again and fold in half. repeat this process two more times to create a dough with layers. Chill.

Roll out to a 1/4" thick sheet and chill while you prepare the filling.


Empanada Filling

1 ½ pound ground beef
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped
5 medium boiled eggs, cut in eighths
¼ cup currants, simmered in warm water until plump
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the garlic and onions in the olive oil. Add the ground beef and cook until done. Drain the excess grease and discard. Mix in the plumped currants.

Cut circles out of dough. Brush half of the circle's edge with the egg wash and place filling on half of the circle along with one or two pieces of egg. Fold over and seal well with a fork. Deep fry at 365 degrees or bake at 325 degrees until golden brown.

The empanadas go great with tomato sauce. Luckily, I had some friends invite me down to visit Eatwell Farms last weekend for a tomato sauce party. The farm was giving away 2 tons of tomatos for members of their CSA and friends.
There were lots of people who came to the event fully equipped with all the tools for creating and canning tomato sauce from scratch. So many passionate cooks. The tomatoes were great. Even the Food Diva showed up to create a batch of sauce along with Heather. Too bad Byron could not make it, he was busy representing Pachamama Coffee Coop at the Jack London Square Farmers Market in Oakland.

Tune: Pachamama by Chancha Via Circuito from his Rodante CD

You can buy Chancha Via Circuito's CD online at TTL or ZZK records

I brought home some glorious green tomatoes. Not unripened tomatoes, but fully ripe green tomatoes. Not sure what kind of tomatoes these were, but they made for a glorious green gazpacho. There were some green zebra tomatos, but some of these green tomatoes were of a different variety. Maybe they were Evergreen, Aunt Ruby's German Green, Green Giant, Green Grape or Grandma Oliver's Grape tomatos?!

Tune: Green Grass by Cibelle is a sweet Tom Waits Cover on Six Degrees Records. The Tom Waits tune is on his Real Gone cd.
"Harp sounds, metal and wood percussion and a backwards guitar track move over a shuffling beat that would make old Tom proud"

Tune: Farm Song by Leon Gardner

Tune: Maggie's Farm by Salomon Burke
did you know that, along with most popular music, this song was also written by Bob Dylan


Tune: Parchment Farm by Mose Allison
I saw him at Yoshis in Oakland a few years back and he was great.

...more on the green gazpacho in a futuer post

For Tomato Sauce

2 cups tomato concasse
2 Tablespoons onion, minced
a clove or two of garlic, minced
1 twig of oregano
2 Tablespoons olive oil

Saute the garlic and onions in the olive oil. Add the oregano and then the tomatoes and simmer for 30 minutes over low heat. Process in blender until smooth and season with salt and pepper.

ALFAJORES DE MAICENA

For the Cookies

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups maicena (corn starch)
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons lemon zest
3/4 pound butter, chiled and cut into 1/4" cubes
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or almond extrct
1 pinch salt

Sift all the dry ingredients and work in the chilled butter along with the lemon zest and vanilla or almond extract by hand. Mix just until dough is formed.

Wrap and chill dough for 45 minutes.

Roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thick and cut into circles.

Bake at 325 for about 2o minutes until baked, but not brown.

Allow the cookies to chill in a cool spot.

All over Latin America, maicena is used for cooking and baking. I remember getting a bunch of recipes in Venezuela that call for maicena and I didn't realize it was the same as corn starch. I took a box home to San Francisco only to realize that it is available as "corn starch" in just about every store in town, and that many Latin supermarkets even carry it as "maicena" here in SF... same thing anyhow.

Tune: La Maicena by the Dominican group La Grena con Mambo from the Mambo mix Super Mambo Supremo 2008

Tune: Dominicana by Tego Calderon from the El Abayarde album. This is one of the few reggaeton albums that really interests me as an entire album. Tego's other albums are all great, but this is my favorite. An essential. You can hear this song mixed with El Gran Combo's Ojitos Chinos and another tune by Jota Mayusculo and mala Rodriguez that uses the same theme in El Cuñado del Beatwalla mix.

Even Tego says he's got maicena "Mamazota muévelo pal suelo olvida las penas
Que lo que traigo es maicena"
Tune: Cosa Buena by Tego Calderon from the El Enemy de los Guasíbiri

Tune: Elegante de Boutique is another tune from the Enemy de Los Guasibiri album. This song takes a vallenato sound and gives it the Tego reggaeton/ hip-hop funk touch. His lyrics are great and the sound is fresh. Tego has always been a favorite here at Soul Cocina. Go pick up some of his new music today.

Ni Fu Ni Fa video from last years album El Abayarde Contraataca


Here's a classic Tego Video from El Abayarde


Here's some bhangra ish for your Tego fix
Tune: Furia de Mentira

So here are the alfajores cookies made from maicena, all purpose flour, plenty of butter, ground almonds, salt and powdered sugar. After they cool to room temp, they are ready to fill with dulce de leche.

Dulce de Leche

8 cups milk
2 cups sugar
pinch baking soda
1 each vanilla bean
3 Tablespoons butter
1/2 Tablespoon salt

Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and combine with the milk, sugar and baking soda in a stainless steel pot.

Cook over medium low heat so the mixture reduces, thickens and caramelizes.

Stir occassionally with a wooden spoon. After 2-3 hours of slow cooking the mixture should be caramel color thick. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

Alternative "quick dulce de leche" recipe

3 cups sugar
1 3/4 cup cream
1 each vanilla bean
4 Tablespoons butter
1/2 Tablespoon salt

Scrape the vanilla bean and add seeds and bean to the cream in a small pot. Heat the cream and steep for 1/2 hour. Remove the bean. Keep this vanilla cream warm.

Combine the sugar with 1 cup of cold water and cook over medium heat in a stainless steel pan. Cook the sugar to a golden caramel without mixing. When the caramel becomes a dark golden color, slowly add the warm vanilla cream and whisk over medium low heast for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in the butter and salt. Pour the caramel onto a pan to cool to room temperature. The cooler it gets, the more it will set up.

Fill dulce de leche into a pastry bag and chill for a few minutes to firm it up. Pipe a little dulce de leche between two cookies.

Tune: El Caramelo by Los Aguakates. I bought this CD on the beach in the Dominican Republic.. I'm pretty certain that this group is different than these guys who also seem interesting.

Tune: Chupando Caramelo by Salvador Gonzalez y sus Estrellas Del Tropico Canta La Jarochita

to finish the alfajores:
Dust with powdered sugar or roll in dried, shredded coconut.

Enjoy with coffee or tea or just by itself!


Tune: Chinelos Breaker by Funketron from Mexico

If you had a chance to download the Cumbia Clandestina mixes here at Soul Cocina then you have heard plenty of Cumbia Villera by way of Los Pibes Chorros

Yerba Brava, Damas Gratis and Guachín are more Cumbia Villera Groups from Buenos Aires

La Danza del Tablon by Guachín

Tune: Atrevida by Damas Gratis from the recent album La Gota que Rebasó el Vaso


Tune: Canibal by Fauna from ZZK Sound Vol 1 (Cumbia Digital Sampler)

Tune: Riddim Dancehall Villero by Hijo de La Cumbia Vs Sizzla
More music from HDC here
Tune: Limited time cumbia beats wav file

Tune: more wav file cumbia beats that won't be here for long go buy the album.

Tune: mas

Tune: y mas

For more cumbia beats stay tuned to Bay Area DJs like Juan Data, who just put out a nice mix called Koombia Mestiza. And the Baylando crew. Kool Kyle has some great Hip Hop Cumbia mixes for download on the Baylando myspace page. And go check them out live... Don't sleep.

This Saturday Aug 30th join Soul Cocina at Bollyhood Cafe with DJs EKG and Rajah plus special guest MC SANTERO

!PACHANGA!

A few weeks ago at Mission Bombay, Amar pulled up a favorite of mine that I almost forgot about.
Tune: Usti, Usti Baba by Señor Coconut Vs Koçani Orkestar takes a cumbia beat to a Gypsy brass banger.
and he also played a new mash up by Radio Hiro that combines
Punjabi MC Snake Charmer AC/DC Back In Black Radio Hiro Bang Your Bhangra Lembhar Hussainpuri Jah Mela Chalaya [Tigerstyle Remix] Willie Dixon/Led Zeppelin Whole Lotta Love Radio Hiro Junta Jazzy B feat Dj Kendall Chargai Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Chile Radio Hiro Steppin'Out

Tune: Bang Your Bhangra mixed by Radio Hiro

Don't miss Amar at The Soul Cocina Family Meal as he heads the Electric Vardo Troupe through a Gypsy circus fiesta.

and now-stereotypes

Tune: La Lampara de Aladino by Fraider Castro "El Pocho" from Las Estrellas de la Terapia (thanks afrocolombia blog)

Champeta

Champeta

Champeta

At the fabric8 record sale this summer I found this record in J Boogie's bin. 2 bucks! I knew the Capelton tune well and was happily surprised to find other heavy hitter artists pon the Muslim riddim. Now I have to find the Cutty Ranks tune on this riddim. Don't miss J Boogie at the Soul Cocina Feast Afterparty.

Tune: Yuh Look Good by Chaka Demus and Pliers on the Muslim Riddim

Tune: Alms House by Capleton on the Muslim Riddim

Tune: Don't Touch by Cocoa Tea on the Muslim riddim
"Touch a this and touch a that don't them a ever touch your pepper plant"

also check the Cocoa Tea Obama tune.

Tune: Simmer Down by Dirtsman on the Muslim riddim

Tune: Hot This Year by Dirtsman from the Tuff Gong 7"

Tune: Vengo Caliente Este Ano by Tito

Also check out Buju Banton on the same riddim with Mr. Bad Mind

Check out Wayne and Wax on Buju Banton

tune: Tire toi vite feat Buju Banton by 113 from 113 Degres album


Hip Hop in Africa
Uganda


Islamic Hip Hop In Africa

NIGERIA
This is a heavy hitter from Nigeria with his massive tune Mama Oyoyo. His name is Lil Jojo and he is big time.


Morocco


I Love Hip Hop in Morocco

and a few from Mozambique





Mad Level


and MC ROGER


Philharmonic Weed


ANGOLA
MC KAPA


MALI



TUNISIA
Check out this video: "EL JAZIRA" - Karkadan original fan





There is a restaurant in San Francisco Tenderloin district that serves Tunisian and Yucatecan cuisine!

Tune: Ain't That Peculiar featuring Sly Stone and El Debarge from the upcoming album George Clinton and his Gangsters of Love


There is also a Yucatan Vietnamese restaurant on Mission Street in SF.
Yucatecan and Tunisian are actually two of my favorite cuisines. Too bad they did not have any of the Tunisian items available when I went for lunch the other day. I ordered one salbute, one panucho, one taco and a tamarind agua fresca. The meats were chicken, carne asada and poc chuc. It was not bad, but the Yucatecan restaurant on 16th street in SF, Poc Chuc is way better.

You can find some cumbias song in the Mayan language of Yucatan in this Soul Cocina post from a few years ago. I'll reload the mp3 files on request if anyone is interested. I'd be impressed if you are still reading this at all... what a run on post!

For breakfast this morning I prepared one of my favorite south Indian dishes using a staple of North Africa. Upma is made with course semolina. Cous Cous (not a grain, but a tiny pasta made from semolina) works great for upma!

Cous cous Upma with Poached Egg

I saute onion garlic and ginger in ghee then add carots and red chillies. Then I add the cous cous and some of those great Eatwell Farms tomatoes, chopped. Then I add water and tumeric and bring to a boil. Cover and remove from heat to absorb the water and cook the cous cous. Then I heat a pan with coconut oil and add mustard seeds, more chillies and grated coconut. The coconut toasts and the mustard seeds pop. Then I add curry leaves to toast. Then turn up the heat for a second on the cous cous upma, toss in some chopped cilantro and then put it into a mold of a coffee cup. Meanwhile I poach an egg in tumeric water. I unmold the upma onto a plate and cover with the coconut/ curry leaf/ mustard seed mix and serve with cucumbers tossed in lemon juice and sea salt under a poached egg.

Inspired by the upma at MTR Bangalore. They serve fantastic udupi meals. And they are still top notch even though they "sold out" last year for 80 million bucks. Thats a whole lotta lakhs and crores of rupees. My upma is in the photo above. The Upma below is a picture I took of the MTR upma in Bangalore a while back. My upma had better tomatoes! Only thing my upma missed was the cashews.

Local Berries

The berries on Bernal Hill are almost ripe, so it's time for some summer music.

Tune: Politik Kills Dub by Manu Chao takes a cut from the recently released Radiolina album and gives it a dub rub by guru Dennis Bovell and adds some chit chat from world famous dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson
It's nice to hear familiar voices with a familiar sound get such a nice treatment. Manu Chao is a Soul Cocina favorite and we hope he continues to colaborate with other producers and artists in the future to further expand his sound and message across borders.
Watch Manu Chao and LKJ together here.

Listen to another great remix of the track by Uproot Andy. Got Cumbia?

Manu Chao's Desaparecido, already a classic.

When I asked Uproot Andy to send me some of his recent mixes, in return, he wanted some fresh bhangra. This is some of what I came up with:

Tune: The Ultimate Beat by DJ Assassyn from the Dhol Beats album.

Tune: Sex You Right takes the Miss Thing tune, Jump Up & Rail and gives it a dirt rub?! by Soulsalaam The original tune has a little bhangra feel, and I always try to sneak it into my bhangra sets. This version is very mixable for the selectors and it excentuates the bhangra feel while giving it a more serious and mature vibe inna duty stylee?!. I first heard of Soulsalaam when he borrowed some ingredients from the Flying Saucer Kitchen to make soap! I bought his Funk Do Brasil Mix at Groove Merchant Records in like 99/2000.

Mystery Tune: Funk Do Brasil Track 17 from the Soulsalaam mix circa 1999? Anyone know what this tune is. It's one of my favorites from the comp.
I bet Elanzhino can tell us.


Tune: Go Balle mix by DJ Rav-E is a nice mash up mix that builds a bridge from Punjab to The Yay. Find Rave-E at the monthly Non Stop Bhangra in San Francisco, or as a guest DJ at Mission Bombay with his Dhol.


Tune: Banga feat. MC Coppa by Sub Swara is a song from the new Sub Swara album Coup d'Yah with Soul Cocina's favorite dubster Process Rebel If you're not familiar with this SF producer/musician go check out his recent tunes on his myspace page, and get familiar. Not exactly a bhangra track, but the Sub Swara crew definately reps the South Asian diaspora in a forward looking movement. Since Sub Swara is based in NYC, I'm sure Uproot Andy is already hip to the new album, but I had to send this tune just in case, because Coup d'Yah is one of the top releases of 2008 fo shiz. check out Mc Coppa

Mission Bombay resident DJ Suresh is another local DJ to be on the look out for. Last night at Mission Bombay, it seemed like all the songs he played came out in July 2008. He pointed me to the new Hunterz album.

Tune: Chamkila Tere Nak Da Koka by Hunterz from the album The Masterpiece

Mission Bombay is all about diversity in the Mission, so along with straight up bhangra, I always try to mix in some masala flavored Latin beats as well.
Tune: Guantanamo (Maximum Risk Remix) from the album Bread & Barrels Of Water by Outlandish

Speaking of Masala. Visit Masala for a bunch of standard sure shot bhangra tunes as well as some random bhangra and Indian obscurities. And if you are in Montreal, check out the Garam Garam party (cool name!)

And check out how I masalasised one of my favorite dishes, Cochinita Pibil. The original dish is sooooooo spectacular that there is no need to mess with it. But I have made it many times and the last time I was making it, I realized that I was out of annatto/achiote, which is a major part of the dish, lending the pork it's trademark red hue. I have always noticed the similarities of Cochinita Pibil to Goan pork dishes like Vindaloo. They both have lots of spices and use vinegar and/or citrus for acidity. Vindaloo, like many Goan dishes has it's roots in Portugal and the Goan people have given it the Tropical Indian treatment. Cochinita Pibil means burried pig. The pork is marinated in citrus, spices and achiote, then it is wrapped in banana leaf and burried in a fire pit for slow cooking. I made my Cochinita Hindu dish with a side of dal makhani and boiled rice, to add some Goan and Panjabi flava to the mix, instead of the traditional black bean and rice accompaniment.

I first started making this dish after visiting my favorite restaurant Poc Chuc in San Francisco, where they make all the Yucatan specialties with tender loving care.
Then I noticed that one of my favorite filmakers has a great video that shows us how to make this wonderful dish.

Great filmmaker and great cook as well, Robeert Rodriguez even has a menu in his home kitchen that he cooks from!
here is my latest film.

I call my dish Cochinita Hindu (I have noticed that many Spanish speaking people call South Asians "hindus", no matter what religion they may be)

I have taken the marinade and added common Goan masala ingredients like coriander seed, sesame seed, kokum, and cinnamon.

kokum in Goa's Mapsa market

pepper tree in Maharashtra

Goan Masala in the kitchen of Cidade De Goa

If you want to taste food like this come to the Soul Cocina Family Meal in San Francisco on Sep 7th. Dunkelbunt, Europe's greatest DJ (who is also a spice blender), [Dunkelbunt] will be there along with J Boogie plus live music, dance, vegetable carvings, art, vintage toy show, open sushi bar, live video and more. Reserve your spot today before it fills up.

[Dunkelbunt]

Tune: [Dunkelbunt] mix makes for nice summertime listening.

I have been enjoying the summertime tunes at the Soul Sides Summer Song Site

Soul Sides has just posted some tunes by Soul Cocina fav Ananda Shankar

Here is a tune from Anada Shankar's 1981 LP Sa Re Ga Machan

Tune: Romantic Rhino

This goat kept following me around the Chor Bazaar in Bombay as I searched for records.

My good buddy Haji Ebrahim has a shop in Bombay near the Null Bazaar, and he turned me onto Vijay Raghav Rao. I was surprised to see Haji featured in the Aug 2007 issue of XLR8 magazine. Scanned page of Haj Ebrahim featured in XLR8 mag along with his business card

Here is a tune by Vijay Raghav Rao from his 1981 LP Festival Time

Tune: Land of 5 Rivers
You can find more tunes from this album at Soul Cocina here.
You can find records like these at Haji Ebrahim's Old Radio and Record Shoppe Opposite Handiwala Masjid, 145, Saifee Jubilee Street, Near Null Bazar, Mumbai-3

If you get lost along the way, ask these guys the way. And buy a few of there cassette tapes as well.





I found a lot of great Qawwali records at this shop. I'll post some songs later.

Here is a video of a record guy's apartment in Bombay. I met this dude on the street and he invited me to his home to listen to records. As you can see, there are records stacked on the refrigerater, under the bed, and on the kitchen counter. There were records in the kitchen cabinets. Records in the tiny loft above the fridge. I wouldn't be surprised if there were LPs in the fridge.


It wasn't until I made it to Calcutta that I found the big record gold mines. Calcutta is an amazing city. It is like a giant village. full of life. I didn't find the same record "connoisseur" culture among the shop owners in Calcutta. At a few spots I found, they charged pretty much the same for all records, whether it was a scratched up mass produced Bollywood album, or a clean, nice copy of Dharmatma or an Ananda Shankar record. I'll post more of my finds here later. Here are some record shop pics from Calcutta.






"Perdido en el corazón de la grande Babylon"

Chicago

I was in Chicago last week, doing some research for my upcoming Pizza Class at Sur La Table. After visiting my favorite pizzeria, I was reminded how much I love giardiniera on pizza. In Chicago giardiniera is popular on Chicago beef sandwiches. If you do not know about Chicago beef sandwiches get familiar Ever since I was a kid I have been putting giardiniera on pizza. So I have decided to make a big batch of giardiniera using California produce. Soul Cocina California Giardiniera? Fusion with reason. I might bring some of my giardiniera to the pizza class at Sur la Table on June 10th. As of now there are only six spots left so sign up today if you plan to attend. For the hands on class we will prepare pizza margherita, Chicago deep dish pizza, stromboli, calzone and pide. We will make the dough, sauces, and toppings from scratch. We will not be making the calzones like this. Here are some pictures from a recent pizza party we put on at Hands On Gourmet




With my busy pizza schedule in Chicago, I did not have a lot of time to hit up all my favorite record shops. I did stop in at an old favorite, Remember When Records in Muddy Water's town of Westmont.

I found some records by The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band

Tune: A Dance, a Kiss and a Song by The Watts 103rd st Rhythm Band

Tune: Do Your Thing by The Watts 103rd st Rhythm Band

I have posted some tunes from these guys before here at Soul Cocina.
You will find some real gems from The Watts 103rd St Rhythm Band over at Soul Sides.
I heard about the group Rabbits and Carrots when reading the "Hop to This" post at Soul Sides. When I heard that they did a cover of The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band tune Express Yourself, I planned to track down the record at Dusty Groove in Chitown. But my pizza took priority over carrots and rabbits. Luckily, I found a copy at Amoeba in SF when I got home.

Tune: Expresate by Rabbits and Carrots

In my search for merengue and cumbia 45's the guy at the shop directed me to the "ethnic" section, where there were records from the 80's spanning the globe from Brasil to Turkey with a huge selections of Polkas. I heard that there are more Polish people in Chicago than there are in Warsaw. Here's what I pulled from the "ethnic" bin.

Tune: Los Afortunados by Rubby Haddock

Tune: La Negra by Jossie Esteban y la Patrulla 15

From "El gangster de Nueva York" we move on to The Gangster of Love, Johnny "Guitar" Watson. Many record diggers know Johnny Watson from his crazy album covers from the 70's. The funky gangster with big Cadillacs, big bling jewelry, lots of girls, pimp fur coats and a gold grill who looks like the persona that Snoop trys to capture. I find his records from this period to be a little silly with a serving of cheese. Bu it is still funky stinky cheese, like teleggio, perhaps. My favorite JGW stuff comes before all this. In the 60's and part of the late 50's JGWs music still had the playful tom foolery and his stage performance was full of shinanigans. He has always been a showman. He used to play the guitar behind his back a decade before Jimi Hendrix hit the scene. He had that blues soul r&b stuff down. And they didn't give him that middle name for nothin'. Dude can play the guitar. He played on Frank Zappa's One Size Fits All in the wonderful year of 1975. In 1973 he released the LP "Listen"!
WOW! smooth, soulful, raw. One of my cherished LPs. The first record I ever bought at Groove Merchant in San Francisco. The records after "Listen" are good, but nothing to write home about. They are sure 'nuff funky with over the top bass, lyrics, and bling, but it's the 1973 and before stuff that gets play on my turntables at home. I am still on the look out for the three preceding LPs that were released in 1967:
"Bad" (Okeh 1967)
Johnny Watson Trio "In The Fats Bag" (Okeh 1967)
Larry Williams & Johnny Guitar Watson "Two For The Price Of One" (Okeh 1967)

Here's a 7" that I picked up at Remember When records:
Tune: Some one Cares for Me by Johnny Guitar Watson
glorious!
Tune: Those Loney, Lonely Nights by Johnny "Guitar" Watson
sweet!

I did not find any Desi music in the "ethnic" bin at Remember When Records, and I did not have time get up to the north side to visit Devon Street, so I was unable to bring back any Chicago Bhangra for the Mission Bombay Crew. I was hoping to find some new remixes like this one:
Tune: Jadoo (Spell on Me Remix) by Blitzkreig



On my next trip to Chicago in the summer, I will track down some juke mixtapes.

Kid Sister is pretty big in Chicago.
Tune: Beeper by The Count and Sinden feat Kid Sister

Some tunes from a Soul Cocina Favorite, Chicago's own Curtis Mayfield:
Tune: Let's Do it Again by The Staple Singers with Music by Curtis Mayfield from the OST Let's Do it Again recorded in Chicago at Curtdom Studios.
This film features some spectacular actors (Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby, JJ Walker) and it was released in the glorious year of 1975. It's on my list of movies to see.

Tune: Number One by John Legend uses the Let's Do it Again sound

Tune: This Love is Sweet by Curtis Mayfield from the 1976 LP Give, Get, Take and Have

Tune: Do Do Wap is Strong in Here by Curtis Mayfield from the 1977 OST Short Eyes
This record was priced at 60 dollars on display on the wall at Open Mind Music in SF when it used to be on Divisidero. I listened to it a few times and each time I went in there, I tried to haggle the price down, but the staff wouldn't budge. The record stayed on the wall for months. One day my wife and one of her girlfriends walked into the store and got the record for 20 bucks!?

Tune: Tripping Out by Curtis Mayfield from the 1980 LP Something to Believe In

Chitown's favorite neighbor, Baby Huey from Indiana, recorded with Curtdom Records.

Tune: Monkey man by Baby Huey and the Babysitters
Tune: One Dragon, Two Dragon by Baby Huey and the Babysitters
and i am posting pt II of a Curtis Mayfield song done by Huey and the Boys (Some of you have part I from the old Rani and Raja site)
Tune: Mighty Mighty Pt II by Baby Huey and the Babysitters

Tune: Hello San francisco by Buddy Guy
when I worked at Buddy Guy's Legends in Chicago in the 90's I got to see Buddy play up close and live. He is a great character. His Brother Phil, not only a blues player but also a chef, used to join the kitchen team on occasion and cook up a batch of gumbo or red beans in the kitchen. He had a lot of great stories about growing up in Louisiana.

Tune: Many of Many Words by Buddy Guy and Junior Wells from the 1972 LP Buddy Guy and Junior Wells Sing the Blues

Tune: Messin with the Kid by Buddy Guy and Junior Wells from the 1972 LP Buddy Guy and Junior Wells Sing the Blues features the harp man Junior Wells on vocals. Jr and Buddy have tons of recordings together. They were good homies for a long time. This 1972 album showcases the raw funky blues that is Chicago.

Tune: Chicago Falcon by The Budos Band

Tune: Springtime in Chicago by Sun Ra

Here is another record I picked up at Remember When Records:
Tune: I Need Your Lovin by Don and Dee Dee Ford
I already had this tune on a full length LP by this soulful duo with a gospel feel. I bought the record at the now defunct Village Music in Mill Valley, CA (R.I.P.) But the sound quality was pretty poor on the LP.
The song gets more and more climatic as it heads toward the grand finale. It bursts into big sounding endings and continues to move on, fooling the listener. It keeps sounding like it is going to end but then trods on and keeps on grooving. The whole song seems like one big grand finale. When I saw Maceo Parker play at House of Blues in Chicago about ten years ago, the band did the same thing. The entire show had the energy of the last two chords of a powerful song.

Takoyaki Dream

The music from the Takoyaki Dream comes from these Japanese artists:
Rumi
Kakushin Nishihara
Yamasuki
Towa Tei

The longest line for food at this year's Cherry Blossom Festival at San Francisco Japan Town was for Takoyaki.

Although takoyaki is supposed to be made with octopus, the stall at the festival was using beef. The line was too long for us anyway, so we ordered some bbq short ribs from the San Francisco Asian Firefighters
The ribs were great.
I bought some supplies at Japan Town to make takoyaki. It is actually very easy to make if you have a takoyaki pan. I just used my Thai kanom krock pan which is basically the same thing. In the second half of the Takoyaki Dream video you will see how I make takoyaki at home.

Takoyaki
batter:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 cups dashi*
2 eggs

filling:
1/2 pound octopus diced and poached in dashi
3 spring onions, chopped
3 Tablespoons pickled ginger, chopped
3 Tablespoons dried shrimp, chopped
1 Tablespoon shichimi
3 Tablespoons tenkasu

Procedure:
Dice the octopus and poach in simmering dashi for 3 minutes (this will flavor the dashi and cook the octopus).

Place the flour in a large bowl. Whisk in enough dashi to form a thin batter (like crepe batter). Whisk in the eggs. Let sit at room temperature while you prepare the filling.

Combine all of the filling ingredients with the poached octopus.

Heat a takoyaki pan over medium heat. Brush with vegetable oil. Pour the batter to the top of each cup and drop a tablespoon of filling into the batter. The overflow will cook on the sides and eventually roll into the center. When the bottom of each takoyaki forms a light crust, loosen them with a chopstick and roll over. Continue to roll and spin each takoyaki with the chopstick until golden brown all over and cooked in the center.

Serve with soy sauce, Japanese mayo, or hot sauce.

*Dashi Broth
one 4" square of kombu, scored (see video for demo w/ scissors)
1 cup bonito flakes
1 Tablespoon say sauce
4 cups cold water

Heat the kombu in the water over medium low heat. Remove from heat just before it starts to boil. Let sit for 5 minutes and remove kombu. Bring to a simmer, turn of heat and add bonito flakes. Steep the bonito for 2 minutes and strain. Stir in soy sauce.












Tune: East Of El Rio Dolores Mix Vol II
Tracklist
1. Laura Huxley intro
2. Danca do mexe remexe - Dama do Bling
3. Eso Fue To! - Fuego Mambo
4. Que Calor - Fulanito
5. Ni Fu Ni Fa - Tego Calderon
6. Buba - Faytinga
7. Rocococo - Moreno Negron
8. Sacradinha - Sslowi
9. L'euro contre le dollars - Fefe Typical y Tiwony
10. Matofotofo - Pitch Black Afro
11. Japanese Rumba (Senor Coconut remix) - Towa Tei
12. Sanje Loveji from Bumcello album
13. The Audio Recording - Zulu
14. Klezma Tone - DJ Flack
15. Sit Dung Pon Di Wall - Mutabaruka
16. Cumbia Bichera (Tremor Mix) - El Remolon

Two of the tunes from above were found on one of my favorite sites that I just stumbled across this year. Esta Bater

You can still download Vol I of East of El Rio Dolores Mix at the Non Stop Bhangra Blog.
Vol I is a one hour mix of dubbed out beats from Africa Asia and all points East of El Rio Dolores.
Vol III of East of El Rio Dolores Mix now up at the Mission Bombay Blog