Need dinner? I am a {self} trained chef

I'm a pretty avid cook when I'm off the road and out of the studio. It started quite rudimentary with the simple and ubiquitous hamburger, steak, and the like. I've moved on to breaded veal in a red wine reduction over sun-dried tomato pasta and other Italian inspired dishes, after living in Florence, Italy for almost half a year. Yes, I am a lover of the Food Network. Giada De Laurentiis is gorgeous.

I was giving this recipe to a friend via email and thought I'd also share it with the world, to those interested in trying. It's an easy one, so don't be turned off by the length here. I'm just really verbose.

VODKA CHICKEN CASSEROLE with PROSCIUTTO

Your Ingredients:

-Box of ziti
-jar of vodka sauce
-3-4 breasts of boneless skinless chicken
-1/4 lb of good sliced prosciutto
-good extra virgin olive oil
-fresh parmigiana cheese
-fresh mozzarella cheese
-lots of garlic
-Half a red onion
-package of small mushrooms
-fresh flat leaf parsley
-fresh basil


So, dice a few cloves of garlic, toss them into a hot pan with olive
oil. Let them sweat for a few seconds. Slice red onion and add those
to the garlic and oil. Slice the shrooms into small-medium pieces and
add those also. Let it all mix together with salt and pepper for a
minute so the flavors blend.

Cube up your chicken breasts. Salt them. Pepper them. Touch them. Add
them to the pan with the onions, garlic, etc. Dice up your prosciutto into small
pieces or strips only an inch in length. Add those to your chicken pan AFTER the
chicken is cooked through. Grab a pasta pot. Boil water and salt that water for the ziti.

Time this right. The pasta cooks faster than the chicken. So, put the
pasta in the water at the tail end of the chicken's cooking time. You
want the chicken to be brown. While all of this craziness is going on,
pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees.

A minute or so before the pasta is finished, open the jar of vodka
sauce. quickly sauté some more garlic pieces in olive oil in a sauce
pot (medium size). Add the sauce to the oil and garlic. keep the heat
on low for the sauce. When the sauce is hot, add the
chicken/onion/mushroom mixture from the pan directly into the sauce
pot. Stir well.

Grab a casserole dish, that is deep. Add the ziti into that casserole
dish. Add the sauce with all the goodies into the casserole dish. Stir
well and mix. Spoon over a liberal amount of parmigiana cheese over
the top as well as a nice helping of freshly minced basil. Slice your
mozz cheese into olympic medal-sized circles. Place those on top of
the casserole.

Put the dish into the over for about 15 minutes...but keep a close eye
on it. You want the cheese to melt, but not burn. After that, take it
out, sprinkle more parmigiana on top and finish with freshly minced
parsley.

cookin' love to all,
-Alex

video news

I had a late night with the director of my video, David Ambrose, in the Carol Gardens section of Brooklyn last night. I'm pretty happy with the footage thus far. We filmed much of it in Brooklyn (Red Hook, DUMBO) and also parts of Chelsea in Manhattan. There is a somewhat gritty feel to the video overall. I should have a preliminary cut within the next week.

-AN

POSTED FROM NEW YORK, NY AT 3:38PM

Thoughts on memory

Rainy, overcast Friday in New York City. I've been getting a few things together today for my short trip to Birmingham, AL this weekend. I'm back at Workplay Theatre, which will be very cool. But, I'm solo acoustic...a kind of show I haven't done in awhile. It's a bit bizarre for me to say that, though, because I started the first 4 years of my career doing nothing but solo acoustic shows (over 400 of them). So, why would I feel odd about going back to my roots? I guess I'm just really comfortable now with the guys I'm playing with. They know my songs well enough to tell me when I made a mistake in rehearsal.

Moving on....There are also a ton of new ideas for songs in my proverbial "song hopper." The topics have changed slightly from direct love ballads to memory and nostalgia. I find it fascinating how small elements in life trigger really profound and poignant memories. A song on the radio, a smell in a restaurant, a scene in a film. All of these things have become the backdrop and the under-coating of many of my new songs.

I don't think one ever forgets a memory. It just needs to be resurrected sometimes by a link between past and present. Comments?

~Alex

POSTED BY FROM BROOKLYN, NEW YORK @ 12:35PM