The editor for this blog has resigned, and the owners have put the site on hiatus. Though this was written months ago, the final installment of the Rock & Roll Cookbook as a column on the LexWine Blog has just gone up.
I began this project specifically for the LexWine Blog, and I'm not sure how to proceed with it. I think the best step for now is to put it on hiatus until I find a new home for it. I considered putting it here, but I don't think it fits thematically with the rest of this site...
UPDATE 7/10/12
The Lex Wine blog is totally down :(
So I've reposted these articles here.
Thankfully I retained the rights to this project
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Hello Lex Wine Lovers and Rock & Rollers,
I hope you had a happy and healthy holiday and New Year. I want to start 2012 out with a feel-good, positive album and where else would I turn but to the “cute Beatle” Sir Paul McCartney and his 1971 release of Ram.
After McCartney’s self-titled first post-Beatles release, which went double platinum but did not have a hit single, he and his wife Linda decided to spend an extended holiday at their farm at Mull of Kintyre in Scotland. It was in this pastoral setting that the two began collaborating on songwriting, with Linda providing concepts and backing vocals. A photographer, Linda was the first female photographer to have her work featured on the cover of Rolling Stone. However during her time with McCartney she learned to play the piano. Though critics claimed that her singing was flat, something she herself agreed with, she went on to become a member of Wings and to prove herself a capable musician.
Though the album was written in Scotland it was eventually recorded in New York City. The session musicians were auditioned under the guise of recording a commercial jingle. The record was pressed in stereo, and mono copies were made for radio stations. Those mono copies remain the most expensive and rare.
Ram contained Sir Paul’s first #1 hit after the break-up of the Beatles with the tune Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey, titled after Paul’s uncle and an American war hero. Many were relieved to see that Paul could still write hits without his famous songwriting partner. John Lennon was more than a little suspicious of the project, and not without reason. Lennon felt that there were many thinly veiled insults directed at him and Yoko Ono throughout the album, a fact that Paul himself later confirmed. “[John] had been doing alot of preaching and it got up my nose a bit.” This frustration with Lennon’s public statements led to the writing of the opening track Too Many People which contained lines like “Too many people preaching practices.” and “You took your lucky break and broke it in two.” Lennon fired back with his song How Do You Sleep? on his record Imagine. More on that in the next installment though.
One of the legacies left behind by Linda McCartney is that of adamant vegetarianism and a passion for animal rights, one that her widower carries on to this day. Linda was often quoted as saying “If slaughterhouses had glass walls than the whole world would be vegetarian.” It is with this in mind that I present No Ram Shepherd’s Pie a vegan version of a classic English favorite.
No Ram Shepherd’s Pie
You’ll Need:
1 Large Onion
1 cup sliced Crimini Mushrooms
2 minced Garlic Cloves
4 large Russet Potatoes
½ cup sliced Carrots
½ cup Corn
½ cup Peas
½ cup cooked Spinach
3 tsp Flour
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Soy Creamer
Margarine
Salt
Pepper
Whole Bay Leaves
Chopped Parsley
Optional:
Any other vegetables you like. Really, the more the merrier.
Gimme Lean Soy Based Ground Beef
How to do it:
Peel potatoes and boil water.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees
In a large sauce pan put 2 tbs of Olive Oil, saute’ the onions
As the onions have begun to caramelize add in the mushrooms, giving them a little room to brown.
When the mushrooms are browned turn off the heat and allow to cool slightly.
Add in ¼ of a cup of the soy creamer and the bay leaves, and put on a very low flame.
While stirring add in the flour to thicken. This creamy mushroom sauce serves as a base for our Shepherd’s pie.
Take your peeled potatoes and cut them into manageable pieces.
Drop potatoes in the now boiling water.
As the potatoes boil saute the remaining vegetables and garlic in olive oil, salt & pepper. If you’ve decided to add the soy saute’ that in with the vegetables. When the vegetables are ¾ of the way cooked remove them from heat.
By now your potatoes should be done boiling. Strain and transfer to a large mixing bowl.
Add in ¾ a cup of the Soy Creamer, 3 tablespoons of Margarine or similar vegan butter.
Add 1 tsp salt and 1 tbs extra virgin olive oil to the mashed potatoes
Mash using a manual masher, tabletop mixer, or hand mixer.
If you prefer creamier mashed potatoes then add more soy creamer.
In a deep baking dish (I use a 10 inch diameter circular ceramic one) layer the sauteed vegetables, then pour on the mushroom sauce.
Finally cover the top of the mixture with the mashed potatoes and smooth flat with a spatula.
Brush the top of the pie with olive oil.
I like to put a little shake up nutritional yeast on top of the mashed potatoes before I put the whole thing in the oven to bake.
Bake for 15 minutes or until the potatoes take on a light gold color.
Wine
In keeping with the theme of animal friendly options and environmental stewardship we suggest a hearty red of the organic variety.
