Comfort Food

Last night the butcher and I watched a hilarious film, National Lampoon's Electric Apricot: The Quest for Festeroo. Electric Apricot is a mockumentary about a Californian jamband and their attempts to make their first album, and get in to one of the best festivals on the West Coast, Festeroo. 

Written, directed by, and starring showman extreme Les Claypool, this film had me laughing my ass off. As someone who has been on multiple 'tours', of several bands, this film hit home on many levels, capturing the absurdity, hilarity, and hippy-ness of this unexplored niche of American Pop Culture. There were several great cameos, including Phish's bassist, Mike Gordon, and Government Mule's Warren Haynes. I suggest seeing this film, and laughing your ass off. If you don't know much about Les Claypool, well, your missing out. He is the front man of Primus, and Colonel Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade. He has also been in some other groups, such as the supergroup Oysterhead, with Trey Anastasio (Phish) and Stewart Copeland (The Police, soundtrack hero -- The Dark Crystal, etc.), and Sausage.

After the Butcher left, I needed some food. I'm about as broke as you can be before heading off on an international trip, so, I've utilizing the freeboxes at work like it was 2003. I scored a nice local Richardson's Farm pork chop the other day, a pie pumpkin last week, and some nice potatoes yesterday. I went down to the garden and grabbed some turnip greens. I was feeling the need for some comforty food. 

Turnip greens are very prickly.

I peeled and cut up the pumpkin and potatoes, and got some water boiling. I didn't have any bacon, so I trimmed the nice hunk of fat off the chop, and started to render that in my big cast iron skillet. After caramelizing some onions in the pork fat, I added the turnip greens, mashed the potatoes and pumpkin with generous amounts of Parmesan, Remember When butter and their heavy cream. I added some dried Arbol, and Pasilla peppers to the water before hand, for that nice smokey chile flavor. 

Using my little cast iron I cooked up the chop and set it aside to rest, as I finished up the turnip greens with some golden balsamic vinegar. Everything was done, and I was hungry, so I pulled out the trusty rectangular plate, and ate. The turnip greens were so good, and make me look forward to eating more when I get back from London. I may make a big batch to take over to Mikey's for Thanksgiving. 

Shiny happy people, laughing...

Eat your greens...