The Bad Plus One Awful Vocalist

FOR ALL I CARE The Bad Plus (with Wendy Lewis)

D- and A For Awful








I never thought I will ever write a negative review of a music cd by my favorite jazz band the bad plus. I own almost all of their albums and I love them all. Not this new release of covers of songs by Nirvana, Stravinsky, The Flaming Lips, Heart, etc. which I absolutely hate! The songs lack imagination and they sound lifeless, uninspired, and utterly boring. It is so puzzling to me that they allowed this crap to be published, as if they have a career death wish or something.

I was skeptical when I heard they will be joined by a vocalist but I am a die hard fan and bought the cd anyway. HUGE.DISAPPOINTMENT. She is awful, awful, awful. She can't sing, period!! I don't care if she is a friend of David King, the drummer, but they should have chosen someone with good pipes and style if they really want to add vocals. The reason I love them is because of the absence of vocals and I would probably have forgiven them if she has a decent voice and a singing style that suits their wild, unpredictable, and sometimes passionate interpretations of covers.

Out of 12 songs only 4 tracks are okay because I get a headache when she comes on and recites, yes, she doesn't sing, she mouths or mumbles lazily the lyrics. Her emo-wannabe style doesn't fit her age and the music of The Bad Plus at all. She single-handedly ruined the whole CD but hopefully not TBP's future.

Tracks with Wendy Lewis
1. Lithium - has the opposite effect, she drives me into depression
2. Comfortably Numb - uncomfortably numbing
4. Radio Cure - iPod curse
5. Long Distance Runaround - give her the runaround
7. How Deep Is Your Love - how mediocre is her voice
8. Barracuda - more like a fry or pupfish
9. Lock, Stock And Teardrops - I can cry a river
10. Feeling Yourself Disintegrate - feeling myself break down and pull my hair out

I am mad as hell for all I care. Oh, well.

Burnt Milk Fudge

leche quemada: burnt milk fudge with fruits and nuts

One of the sweets I cooked for New Year's Eve was a Mexican-style fudge called leche quemada which means burnt milk. The mixture of fresh milk and sugar is cooked for more than half an hour while constantly stirring to avoid burning the bottom. I actually burnt mine a little bit which made the candies all the more yummy. Butter, candied fruits and chopped nuts are added after cooking and the candy block is chilled for 8 hours or air-dried overnight on the kitchen counter before cutting into 1-inch squares. I combined the recipes from the December 2008 issue of Saveur magazine called Jamoncillos and from gourmetsleuth using hazelnuts in place of pecans. Making the candies is labor intensive but it was well worth all the time I spent making them. These tiny candies are so delicious and super addictive. I love the hint of cinnamon and the combination of hazelnuts and pine nuts is perfect.

Leche Quemada

3 cups sugar

2 cups whole milk

1 cinnamon stick

½ cup light corn syrup

1 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup candied fruits, cut into ¼ inch pieces

1 cup chopped skinned and toasted hazelnuts (or pecans)

½ cup chopped toasted pine nuts

• Butter bottom and all sides of an 8-inch square baking pan, line with parchment paper, butter paper. Set aside.
• In a large saucepan, stir together sugar, milk, corn syrup, and salt. Add the cinnamon stick. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Simmer on medium heat until the mixture thickens and a candy thermometer registers 240 degrees, stirring bottom to prevent burning. This will take about 40 to 45 minutes.
• Remove pan from heat. Remove and discard cinnamon stick. Add butter and vanilla, do not stir. Let mixture cool to 180 degrees.
• Stir mixture with wooden spoon until no longer glossy. Add fruits and nuts, stir to combine. Transfer into the prepared baking pan, smooth surface with a rubber spatula. Chill until set, about 8 hours, or leave on the counter overnight.
• Turn fudge out onto a cutting board and cut into sixty-four 1 inch squares.

For a little bit of useless information. The word leche (milk) in the Spanish speaking world and in the Philippines is used as a mild oath or an insult, depending on context or inflection. In the Philippines people say the word leche when they are angry, frustrated, surprised, and sometimes as a greeting. If someone says with an angry intonation "ah leche ka", he/she is annoyed and dismissive, "naku, na-leche na" could mean something went wrong and he'll be in deep s**t. My mother-in-law told us a "leche" story involving my husband when he was a toddler. She was at home chatting with someone when he started saying mama leche, mama leche, mama leche. The woman she was chatting with asked my MIL why she was allowing her son to disrespect her. My MIL explained that he just got hungry and was simply asking for milk. Both my husband and I have no idea how the benign word leche became a cuss word in the Philippines, Spain, and South America. Anyone knows?:-)

Lasang Pinoy Sundays: Steamed

One of my dad's and now my own family's favorite dishes is steamed fish seasoned with fermented black beans (salted soy beans called tausi), sliced ginger, scallions, sesame seed oil, and salty Chinese ham. This is one Chinese dish we never get tired of and always regard as something special. I love tausi whole when adding to dishes to savor its salty goodness.

Lasang Pinoy, Sunday Edition is a weekly photography meme hosted by SpiCes. Enjoy other "steamy" entries here.

Hot! Hot! Hot!

hot sauce: hot peppers, sweet pepper, vinegar, and salt

It's actually cold cold cold. The 2 inches of snow that fell Monday night and all day Tuesday is gone but thick patches of slippery ice still have to thaw. And there is a 20% chance of more snow showers tomorrow.

During very cold days we turn to Filipino comfort food like siopao and noodle soup. We had 2 pieces of store-bought siopao labeled Pork Asado filling (more like Mystery Meat Plus Loads Of Flour Filler filling). I made siopao but was disappointed with the hot sauces we have in the house. For siopao I prefer Tabasco style made with only three ingredients: hot peppers, vinegar, and salt. In addition to Tabasco we have numerous tiny and large bottles of hot sauce from Thai sriracha to Malaysian Sos Cili to Mexican styles. The Tabasco is just too vinegary for me and the rest too garlicky. I know, I'm very picky. I nearly gagged when I smelled the Mexican Cholula brand because of the added spices, I think one of them is cumin. I love cumin in most cuisines that use it but not in hot sauce to drizzle on my siopao. They just don't go very well together IMHO.

I was not going to drive through the snow to look for a good bottle of hot sauce, I made my own with cayenne peppers, sweet bell pepper, brown coconut vinegar, and salt. Aaah, much better...reminds me of the hot sauce and siopao back in the Philippines. And the sauce is really hot!

Hot Sauce
5 cayenne peppers, more if you prefer it hotter
1 small red bell pepper
¼ cup brown coconut vinegar or cider vinegar + more to taste
1 teaspoon salt

• Blanch, or sear peppers on stove until skin is charred. With gloved hands, remove skin and seeds from peppers. Put in a blender, add vinegar and puree. Transfer into a stainless steel pan. Add salt and cook on low heat until just heated through, about 2 minutes. Taste and adjust vinegar and salt. Transfer into a sterilized bottle or jar. Let cool before storing in the refrigerator. May be used right away but tastes better after a few days.

yummy together: bola-bola (seasoned minced pork) siopao and hot sauce