MOON RIVER AND ME

This brilliant rendition by Frank Ocean keeps the innocence of the 1962 Oscar winning song by Johnny Mercer and Henri Mancini from Breakfast at Tiffany’s with Audrey Hepburn. In its original, it was acclaimed as a “love song to wanderlust”.  Ocean’s visceral version actually transports you back to all the tender feelings, hopes and memories when YOU were young and everything was new and possible.

While so many songs make you want to move,

This one moves you physically internally.  

It begins with a sound effect that almost makes you feel that you are traveling on a spaceship that’s just landed back in time in a quiet country field with young Frank looking up at the sky and serenading “Moon River”.   This poignant track slowly builds with vocal layering and the echoes of Ocean’s singing becoming synthesized warbling vibrations massaging all your senses.  It conjures up consciousness and, as the overlays evolve, you internalize them as your own emotional voices from the past.

And it also has the most amazing effect on your sense of taste.  Try the magical pairing of Ocean’s Moon River and La Petite PERRIERE Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire region of France.  You will truly have an adventure in a glass when you experience how this unique track makes this wine burst with flavor and passion.  

First taste the wine without the music.  Notice its simple flavor, its body and how it moves through your mouth and anywhere else through your body.  How long and where does the taste linger?

Now play the track and focus on the music and how it affects the flavor, the texture, the length and how it feels.

This wine truly sparkles and opens up with taste with his sweet sonically altered young voice.   All the new flavors circle around your mouth as Ocean merges the harmony of his own voices.   Taste becomes a feeling that rises from your heart to your throat to your head until you can almost float away on Moon River.

As he ruefully chants:

We’re all chasin’ after all the same…

Let it be a reminder to 

Take a little time, 

Relax, put on the headphones, savor a glass of this wine and swoon over Moon River.

Just wine, Moon River and you….

Link to “Moon River” by Frank Ocean

https://open.spotify.com/track/41cpvQ2GyGb2BRdIRSsTqK?si=XcKROzCtTeCP2lySVyJI3A

Pair with La Petit PERRIERE Sauvignon Blanc from Taub Family Selections

MUSSEL MANIAC

It’s January and losing weight is at the top of everyone’s resolution list.   After over-imbibing and gorging on all the “bad” foods, even the slim feel it’s time to move the meter from decadence to abstinence.

But for those of us who thrive on the thrill of taste, creating too much of an atmosphere of deprivation or calorie counting consumption, is bound to be a red flag for failure in the diet department.

Here are a few secrets to DIET SURVIVAL. 

1.  Why eat when you can smell?  Did you know that according to scientists,  80% of taste is the smelling part?  So, if you start to cook very aromatic dishes, you can get 80% of the taste even before you start eating.  

2. Select something that takes some work and time to eat.  Another way you can feel satisfied under January dietary restrictions is to explore an eating excavation such as:  mussels.  There is a taste reward, every time you remove that mussel from the shell and dip into a luscious broth.

3.  Pair your food with the right music.  Just like wine and food, music and food should be paired properly to activate the taste buds that bring out its unique texture and flavor.  

Since abstinence is the theme here, we will move away from moules with butter and wine to a spice-spiked variation from Asia.  

Make it easy for yourself.  Get sand-free, farm-raised mussels.  Soak them, rinse them and they are ready.   First, you make the sauce and then add the clean mussels for easy one-pot cooking.   Piles of mussels packed with flavor:  you can eat until you are tired since it’s mostly protein and very little fat.  

Here’s a great song to get you going for a fast prep.  It was the ultimate workout tune from the hit movie “Flashdance” in the ’80s.

Maniac 

https://open.spotify.com/track/0QKfiqpEU4h9ycPSzIFwYe?si=6rHzWEfHR5m8-GJ7UApypA

Once you are ready to sit down and enjoy, and captivate your senses with the perfume of the lemongrass and all of the layers of flavor that explode with “Wicked Game” by Chris Isaaks:

https://open.spotify.com/track/390AWnOn2rfe9FzQjYmxIH?si=OkgUpAuMQxKb5DEvz3GFWw

Big Pot of Thai Style Mussels

4 lb mussels (Prince Edward Island are great)

1 can 12-13 oz low fat or light coconut milk

1 bunch scallions, chopped in 1/2 inch pieces, keep green part separate

1 T. finely chopped fresh ginger

2 T. chopped fresh garlic

2 stalks lemongrass, pale part only, cut into ½ inch pieces

1-2 T. toasted sesame oil

1 fat shallot, chopped

1 small hot red pepper such as Fresno, sliced thinly into rounds

1 large jalapeno, sliced thinly into rounds

2 tsp. fish sauce

1 small sweet pepper, red or yellow chopped

1 cup roughly chopped cilantro 

Fresh limes for garnish

Rinse mussels immersed in sink or large bowl.  

To make sauce:

Heat 1-2 T of sesame oil over medium heat in large stock pot (enough to fit mussels).  Add chopped shallots and sliced and chopped peppers.  Saute for 2-3 minutes.

Add garlic and lemongrass, stir and heat for 1 minute.

Add coconut milk, fish sauce, 2 cups water and white and pale green part of scallions and 1/2 cup cilantro.  Stir well.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low.  Slowly simmer for 10 minutes. Add salt to taste.

Add mussels and stir in remaining green scallions and cilantro.  Stir well and cover to let steam. Remove lid and stir again to make sure all the mussels open.  

Transfer mussels into big bowls and spoon or pour over broth.  Top with lime slices. For those who are not into total abstinence, serve on top of Basmati or Jasmine rice.

LIQUOR LACED OYSTER SHOOTERS

January 23, 2018

In Greek Mythology, the goddess Aphrodite was said to have been born from a seashell. Maybe that’s why history’s most famous lovers included oysters in their daily pre-seduction meals.

Here are two versions, fiery and sweet, of the legendary aphrodisiac pumped up with a seasoning of complimentary liquor. There’s something sexy about watching someone open oysters: it’s that command of the knife, thrust in just right to unlock the hard shell and reveal a moist mollusk against the gleaming pearl surface.

This is a dish for the seriously amorous with a wild side. Instead of delicately slurping oysters from a shell, drop one into a shot glass, douse it with a spirit and pour it into your mouth all at once. First you will feel the fire of the liquor – then you’ll experience the sensuous texture and salinity of the oyster follower by the tart and puckering fruit finish.

Fiery Tequila Oysters

4 firm and meaty oysters (such as Belon, Bluepoint or Wellfleet), freshly shucked

2 oz. Agave tequila

4 dashes Tabasco or other hot sauce

4 lime wedges

Sweet Mandarin Mango Oysters

4 sweet and buttery oysters (such as Kumamoto, Fisher’s Island or Prince Edward Island), freshly shucked

2 oz. Mandarin Orange Vodka

4 tsp. diced firm mango

 HIGH ON HI-FI

January 6, 2019

We all feel passionate connections to songs that resonate deep in our emotional landscapes.  Music evokes memory and has the magical ability to bring us in and take us out of ourselves as we bond with it.

The digital evolution has given us an endless candy store of music to satisfy our appetites at a moment’s notice.   When I thought we had everything, I realized that quantity is not quality as we eagerly consume empty calories on our digital palates.

And then, I rediscovered Hi-Fi and how the newest in analog sound can bring out the true richness in music by offering us all of its harmonics and overtones which are edited out by most of the digital world.   These are the sounds within sound - the subliminal force that moves our moods, underlie sacred music and some say can even heal.

I got high on Hi-Fi when I was reawakened to true listening at Innovative Audio, the most welcoming Experience Center in New York.   At Innovative you can hear music as the musicians intended it on the ultimate luxury audio systems.

Innovative Audio Video Showrooms

150 East 58th Street
New York, NY 10155
212-634-4444 voice

info@iavny.com

“Hopes and Dreams” on the 103 Bus
A rainy Sunday evening on one of the final days of the decade

December 30, 2019

Running In the pouring rain, I caught it right as it pulled up to the stop.  I smiled at myself at my good “Bus Karma”, and cozied into a warm dry seat in a strangely empty vehicle in the middle of Manhattan.  There was an old Chinese couple who helped each other see and walk, covering for each other in a hobble like a dance as they trekked down the aisle pausing to thankfully acknowledge the black lady bus driver in their accented yet perfect English.   And across from me was an overweight twenty-something girl of indeterminate ethnicity with a sweet heart-shaped pensive face clutching a  blue spiral diary emblazoned with the cover title “Hopes and Dreams”.  

Hopes and Dreams?   Wait...was that all she could expect from life? What about the can-dos and successes?   Did her background stifle opportunities? Looks like her McDonald’s diet wasn’t going to fuel those dreams but instead had given her those thunder thighs, putting her well on her way to potential health problems. In this silent debate with the future of this stranger,  I suddenly felt ashamed of my profiling and media-generated false empathy. 

I had forgotten that at her age, for me, it was all about hopes and dreams. Sadly, I  had grown up and grown out of my nickname “Tinker” the mythical character born from the land where dreams come true. Sitting sideways on the bus, had to laugh at my arrogance of privilege.  As a white WASP woman, I was actually a minority in this melting pot of New York City. Declaring TIME OUT on the hustle for results, it was now time in this new decade to watch and learn and share - to renew MY hopes and dreams. My Suburban Friends say I’m nuts to live here.  But where else can a mundane face to face with this melting pot of people, prompt self realization. 

In the holiday spirit of gratitude, I share my first recipe: Melting Pot Nuts Sweet, spicy, salty and boldly provocative.  A big batch recipe to share with friends and strangers.  

Melting Pot Nuts

8 cups raw unsalted cashews

2 egg whites

Spray oil

Spice Mixture: 1 Tsp Raz el Hanout 1 tsp Curry Powder  2 tsp Garam Masala

½ cup Ground Unsweetened Coconut

1 tsp. Tumeric

2 tsp. Kosher salt

1 tsp Chili Powder (choose your country and heat)

6 tablespoons sugar preferably light brown. 

This should be made in several batches depending on the size of your sheet pans.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the coconut and all the spices in a small mixing bowl. Beat the egg whites in a mini food processor or by hand until white and frothy or almost stiff.  Pour half of the nuts in a large mixing bowl, pour over half the eggs and mix well (hands are the best to get even coating).  Add half the spice mixture and make sure all the nuts are well coated.  Spray the pan with oil (I use tin foil to cover my ratty pans and then spray on the foil).  Lay out the nuts so they cover the pan but are not on top of each other. Spray the top of the nuts lightly.  Cook for 7 minutes. Open the oven and turn them, mix them up so they separate and cook all over. Cook for another 7 or so minutes until golden but not too dark. Let cool before placing in plastic containers, tins or give away bags.

This track brings out all the spices in these nuts: Iko Iko  from Dr. John’s Gumbo