Easy Tofu Bahn Mi aka Vietnamese hoagie

Happy Meatless Monday folks. For those who haven't heard of Meatless Monday, it's a day started by Meatless Monday, a  non-profit initiative dedicated to reducing meat consumption for health and environment. In honor of the day I have an easy lunch that even the meat lovers at my work love. 

Báhn Mì is a trendy little sandwich from Vietnam. It's served on a French baguette but here in LA I buy bolillo rolls at my local Latino market. Typically it has lunch meat or pâté, mayo, cilantro, pickled carrots, julienned cucumber, fresh chili pepper slices. 

For ours we are going to use:

Baked tofu, any flavor, sliced thinly 

Bolillo roll or French baguette sliced in half lengthwise 

Picked carrots- julienne carrots or use carrot slaw, soak in a mix of rice vinegar, sugar and water. Let sit overnight or for about 6hrs. 

Fresh cilantro leaves

Fresh jalapeño, sliced 

English cucumber, julienned

Sweet chili sauce, red pepper sauce found in the Asian section of market. 

Mayonnaise 

First spread mayo on sides of crusty roll, then add tofu, carrots, cucumber, jalapeño and cilantro in order listed. Dress with chili sauce and enjoy!! 

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A. Quincy Jones: L.A. Designs

Picture this: a dream house overlooking LA, with huge view windows and a deck launching out over the brush covered hillside. If what you're seeing is a mid-century modern with open beam ceilings and an atrium, then you share my ideals. Neutra, Eames and others: after so long, the origins of these great homes are coming to light.

A wildly talented, but lesser known local architect who helped to shape the look of California living during the 1950’s, 1960’s and later, A. Quincy Jones is having his day with a rich and informative exhibit on his work called “Building for Better Living” up now through September 8 at the Hammer Museum. Probably Jones is best known for his contribution to the Eichler housing developments designed during his partnership with Frederick E. Emmons, which they called “merchant-built” homes, sold as a retail product to new home owners.

Born in 1913, Jones would have been only 33 years old when he opened his post-war business in southern California in 1945. His partnership with Emmons was formed in 1950. The affordable Eichler homes they built across the landscape of Los Angeles could be bought for $15,000 in 1959. This made them available to a successful middle class family. His huge legacy is the focus of this exhibit, which is not to be missed if you have even a passing interest in California design during this era, or love atriums and hillside views.

Exterior view of Jone's hillside home in Brentwood


Floorplan: Jone's home


Living room of an Eichler home


See more at the Hammer Museum exhibit, on view now through September 8, 2013: Building for Better Living



My photos: Top: architect's home in Brentwood
The photos and information used in this post are from a book of this period: Architecture, USA by Ian McCallum, Reinhold Pub, N.Y., 1960, a slim volume filled with the works of 33 architects, most from the post-WWII decade.

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Black Rock City Baby

When you hear the name Burning Man your mind goes to dirty half naked hippies tripping on Molly (MDMA) in the desert to a soundtrack of Dubstep. You are partially right there, but there is so much more to Burning Man than rave music and nudity.  Once a year an entire city is built in a dry lake bed in Nevada. Thousands of people gather to create art, music and build relationships with complete strangers. My first year I was floored with how generous people were with their time, supplies and spirit. I'm a bad hugger. Seriously, I have a hard time navigating the angle, timing and whether or not it's even appropriate. But at Burning Man there is no bad hugging. People go all in and all the time. Participants don't just hug, they give you gifts, invite you to dinner, tell you their dreams, wash your body, and wear incredibly elaborate costumes. 

Miguel Montalvo, epic costumer and all around craftsperson

Did I get dirty? Yes. Did I see nudity? Oh definitely. Did I dance to music that I normally find abhorrent? For sure. But I saw incredible feats of engineering and crazy gorgeous art installations in the middle of dust storms that clogged my every pore. Many people don't know that much of the 'Burner' community is made up of incredibly talented artist building huge works, some vehicles that shoot fire, some buildings that invite interaction, some sensory installations. Each year they gather and develop new works to engage and amaze the participants. 

My good friend Miguel Montalvo says it better than I could hope to, "There is a "maker-ness" to the citizens of BRC that is magical. From epic maker-ness like the shipwreck, to the tiny maker-ness of free hugs. Each as valid as the other. It's like Christmas... Where everyone becomes an artist. Even if their art is only to hang some lights on the garage. The playa at night is like Christmas every night."

The Golden Mean and Front Porch- my two favorite art cars.

The other side of the event that I personally love is the DPW, aka Department of Public Works. These are the folks that come months in advance while the site is mere dust and wind to set up the entire infrastructure. There are lights to be rigged, fences and boundaries to set, roads to lay out and a recycling center to name just some of what this group accomplish. They also stay to break down and clean up the mess that an entire city of people can make. Sure the motto of Burning Man is "Leave no trace," but there is certainly a big fat trace left by the participants. It's inevitable when you have that many glow sticks,  zip ties, baby wipes and watermelons, you are going to have detritus.  You can spot a member of DPW by their gnarly vehicles that look straight out of Mad Max and their generally surly demeanor. For me they are a welcome island of punk rock amongst all the electro-blinking light insanity that can overwhelm a folk musician such as myself. I gladly look forward to sharing bottles of whiskey and swapping profane jokes with the black clad clan of misfits that are the DPW. 

I shot a documentary my first year there. It's not the typical experience, but then again there is no typical with Black Rock City. 

Burning Man for Beginners from Andrea Harrell on Vimeo.

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Clownin' at Jumbo's

The other day my Facebook events page had a peculiar invite. The invite was as such: dress up in "whiteface," which I have learned is slang for clown makeup, and head to Jumbo's Clown Room in Hollywood for a booze fueled night of exotic dancing. Of the many strange and fun costumes I've worn, clown is not one of them. Gauntlet thrown, I painted my face white and went with a French/burlesque influenced clown.  I've lived in this town pretty much my entire life, minus the handful of college years in NYC, and had never NEVER been to Jumbo's. I had until this birthday outing only been to one strip club in Vegas, a surreal dark damp hole with lots of orange bodies in glow in the dark bikinis. While at this Vegas club I was hit on by a young girl clearly on massive doses of mood altering chemicals and gave a few dollars to the only girl with a natural set of ta-tas, but that is an entirely different story left for the memoirs I will never write.

Back to Night of the Jumbo's- we met in north Chinatown at the art studio complex where the birthday gent has his welding space. I was relieved to see other clowns gathered in the parking lot drinking from flasks. Up to that point I was worried that this was one of those painful 80's movie moments where I misunderstood the invitation and it was all a snarky joke in which I was the big fat butt. But no! Other strange wonderful folk also dove into the deep end awaiting whatever the night had to offer us. I'm so glad I found a group of friends as down to say "YES!"

We got to Jumbo's and found a table in the small room with short bar barely large enough for two bartenders. Despite the crowd they were great at keeping pace with drink orders which isn't hard when 98% of the drinks served are beer and a shot. If you need a cocktail with 37 steps and a garnish prettier than Kate Middleton's fascinators go to Harvard and Stone down the street. Maybe I was clueless, but it didn't seem like anyone cared that our motley crew was a carnival of clowning, after all Jumbo's is famous for being where Courtney Love was a dancer. And boy howdy were these dancers awesome! The heels alone are worth a visit. Lithe ladies in bikinis twisted and pirouetted their bodies all over the 5' stage and pole. The entire crowd cheered as the girls displayed acrobatic miracles to a playlist that varied from punk rock to Michael Jackson. Most of the gals were talented at the whole twisty pole dancing but the one that really outshone the others was covered in gorgeous black tattoos and had serious stage presence. I gave her ALL of my spending money, not so much making it rain, I certainly made it drizzle.

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Biscuits and gravy sausage muffins!

I am sitting here on a soundstage taking a break. I've been here since 6:30am and have only Cheeto puffs and a cup of coffee keeping the acid in my stomach company. So my mind turns to food. What do I wish I was eating this very minute? Biscuits and gravy. Lord how I love gravy. Once I tried to change my Facebook relationship status to "in a relationship with Mushroom Gravy." Sadly it wouldn't let me. 

These biscuits and gravy with sausage are so easy it's stupid. Take Pillsbury grands and line a greased muffin tin. Then add chopped up Lil Smokies and a dollop of white gravy. I used instant gravy because when you are cooking for ravenous crews there isn't time for whisking up the perfect gravy. Bake until the edges on the biscuits are golden. Get ready to eat too many of these bad boys. 

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Netflix Instant Addict- "Mere Dad Ki Maruti"

Did someone say Bollywood?!! Recently on Netflix Instant I've been delving into the depths of the Bollywood offerings, the one's WITH subtitiles. This week I've picked "Mere Dad Ki Maruti," a fun flick centered on a Punjabi wedding. Boy howdy do I love a good Punjabi wedding movie, remember Monsoon Wedding? So good. All that rain and pent up sexual tension. No wonder it's so hot there.

 I'm not going to go into the whole dang plot of this movie. What I will tell you is that it has fast cars, gorgeous saris, decent musical numbers and young foxy actors. It's got a very MTV fast editing and looks sharp. Also, it's not an epically long movie so it's great for a dinner and a movie date. Just pick up some Tasty Bite and you have an instant experience. If you love this movie also try the movies below. I'll post up the previews for ya.

"Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi" - There is one musical number that will knock your socks right off.

 


"Rocket Singh"- Cute and not song and dance numbers for those of you allergic to musicals.

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India Sweets and Spices- Culver City

I love Indian food the way many people love pizza or Chinese. I could eat it almost every day. Today I'm prepping a show that will be shooting at Sony. I decided that it would be the perfect opportunity to check out Sweets and Spices on Venice Blvd. Culver City is thick with delicious Indian options. 

Here in Los Angeles there are several  indian grocery stores that also have a vegetarian lunch counter. Typically there are combo lunches served with samosa an roti, flat bread similar to a tortilla or lavash. I went with jackfruit curry and Chana masala, chickpeas in red curry. 

Oh man this was the best idea I've had all day! So good and the flavors are on point! Creamy, tangy, sweet and altogether well cooked. No soggy sad mystery sludge here. Just to top it off I got at Tamarind Jaritos, Mexican soda. Total- $11 

Ok back to work. 

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