chart picks and chickpea experiments for 2012
It’s no secret that we are slightly music-obsessed in our household. By our household, I mean Viper. I love music, for sure (10 years of trumpet lessons should be proof enough) but Viper’s passion is off the charts. He lusts after vinyl, turntables and albums like I dribble over chia seeds and Vita-mixes. It’s going to be interesting moving house and trying to shift 1500 records… they are heavy. Very heavy. Good luck with shifting your music collection, Viper.
He is nice though, Viper… he has contributed a selection of albums he thinks some of my blog-readers may enjoy (keeping in mind this is 10 out of 1500 options… he did well to pick any, really). He’s a little shy, our Viper – his wealth of musical knowledge is mind blowing – get a few glasses of red in him, and he’ll be shouting at your head about The Rolling Stones until 4 in the morning. In no particular order…
- INXS – Kick Australia’s most awesome contribution to the pop genre
- The Stray Cats – Rant and Rave Rockabilly, good times all around
- Beck - Odelay Everything mashed into one amazing album… blues, rap, rock, it’s got it all
- Finlay Quaye – Maverick a Strike Lovely, feel good, funky
- The Rolling Stones – Let it Bleed Rock and roll at it’s finest
- Phoebe Snow – Phoebe Snow The voice of an angel
- Aretha Franklin – I’ve Never Loved a Man The Way I Love You Perhaps the best female soul album of all time. Of all time.
- LCD Sound System – This is Happening Music to party by, fo sho.
- T Rex - Electric Warrior One of the first glam rock albums
- Fat Freddy’s Drop - Dr Boondigga and the Big BW Representing my home land with some groovy dub beats
I haven’t forgotten you, BuddyEE - I’ve just been slightly overwhelmed with travelling, Christmas, unfamiliar kitchens, moving house and keeping Misty on a leash (kidding on the leash part, but he totally needs one, Ha).
(Vegan – gluten/soy/wheat/grain/cane sugar and nut free)
- 1/2C chickpea flour
- 1/4C nutritional yeast (you can omit this if you like but add another 2T chickpea flour) This is for a “cheesy” flavour.
- 1/4t sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2/3C water
- 1/2t garlic granules (optional)
- 1/2t dried mixed herbs (optional)
- 1/8t chilli powder (optional)
- Combine all ingredients in small saucepan. Whisk well over a moderate heat until the mixture thickens and becomes ‘pudding,’ like – 5 minutes or so.
- Take off heat, and split mix between two sheets of baking paper.
- Roll into 2 ‘sausages,’ of about 2cm in thickness.
- Chill in fridge for about 30 minutes.
- Slice up sausages…. you should get around 25 pieces from each, depending on how thick you cut. Mine were about 5mm.
- Pan fry in oil (I used coconut) or butter as you would regular gnocchi… 3minutes on each side or until golden brown.
- Combine with whatever sauce you have on hand (a jar of pasta sauce would be fine) or make something similar to what I did below:
Roast Vegetable Pasta Sauce:
This is a total fridge scrapings sauce… everything that needed using up in the veggie bin, roasted and blended.
(vegan, gluten, soy, cane sugar and nut free)
- 1/2C roasted pumpkin
- 1/2C dehydrated mini roma tomatoes (or sun dried)
- 1 whole roated red pepper, de seeded and skinned
- 4 cloves roasted garlic
- 1t dried mixed herbs
- 3t balsamic vinegar
- 2t agave syrup
- 2t apple cider vinegar
- 1t sea salt
- 1C rice milk (or any milk you prefer)
- 1C water
- 2T chopped fresh herbs (I used sage, thyme, chives and parsley)
- Blend together everything until silky smooth.
Misty, Viper and I all really enjoyed this… you can cover these little “gnocchi” in any kind of sauce… or even a soup. I made some raw zuccinni “noodles,” to accompany the dish which was Yummo. You could also add grated parmesan or vegan cheese to the dough mixture for extra flavour, or just sprinkle on top.
I would have liked to enjoy this meal by listening to one of the albums listed above, but the reality is, Misty rules the roost – we ended up dining to the theme song to ‘Yo Gabba Gabba.’ Awesome.
