Songbirds’ Spinach Salad

About the music: This spinach salad recipe goes back six millennia. Legend has it just before Adam used a spinach leaf to cover Eve’s fuzzy peach, they both snacked on a delicious spinach leaf salad. This all happened during those few exotic hours post apple ingestion. Apparently, whilst Adam and Eve were taking a rest from rolling in lust, they got quite hungry and with divine inspiration chefed up the very Songbird’s Spinach Salad we are posting today! At Sfunk headquarters we mused over this delightful tale and came up with eight songs, that will make any kitchen an Eden. Since Eve is blamed as the main conspirator of man’s fall, we thought this mix should be supported by only lady vocals. The opening jam is fittingly titled, ‘The Fall’ by Rhye so prepare yourself for song seduction. Then we’ve got the cheeky New Zealander – Kimbra and her track ‘Settle Down’. Topped off with Brooklyn’s finest duo Sleigh Bells, Joan as Policewoman and other babeses. So please indulge, listen and don’t be afraid to party naked.

Serves: 4
Prep time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
As much spinach as you see fit
1/2 red onion, sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
4 hard boiled eggs
4-6 strips dank bacon
Any nut of your choosing (pine, walnut, cashew)
croutons
fruity vinaigrette like raspberry or strawberry

Directions:
First hard boil your eggs. You may think you know how to do this but you don’t. Put your eggs in a saucepan and fill until covering eggs by about an inch. Bring the pot to a boil, let cook for about 30 seconds take off heat and cover for 10 minutes. That’s how a true G hard boils an egg.

Put your dressing in a saucepan with about 1/3 of your mushrooms and 1/4 of your onion. Heat that bad boy up until those things inside it are cooked and infused with vinegary goodness. Heating it also gets rid of some of the alcohol in the dressing and makes it sweeter. Once done put in freezer to cool down until you serve it. As you do this, take a second and think to yourself how cool all this hot new music is making you seem in front of your friends.

Put everything else in a bowl with the spinach, including the now sliced egg. Dress the salad like you would yourself on a perfect 66 degree day. You could be totally cool in a t-shirt but you’re going to rock the hoody just in case you get cold. Translate that metaphor into salad and consume.

Fig & Olive Tapenade

About the music: During our conversations over what music we would be pairing with this delicious tapenade, we sparked an interesting debate – what really classifies as cocktail hour/appetizer music? Clearly this question doesn’t have a single answer as we realized that there are simply too many different types of occasions for such an event that a single music genre would be unfair. So, we thought about it, drank a little bit of chocolate milk (because it’s delicious), thought some more, and decided that this specific dish was best enjoyed with a myriad of the smoothest Funky-Jazz around. Why you might ask? Well because this tapenade is light, tangy and, if anything, a little different. We haven’t really delved into this genre before on Sandwich Funk and we thought it was about damn time we did so. As you whip up this pre-party secret weapon let the sounds of Ernest Ranglin, George Benson, Les MacCann & Orgone vibrate the inner workings of your ear-drums, and think to yourself, “Hey, I’ve heard this song. Wait, have I?”

Serves: 8
Prep Time: 5-20 minutes

Ingredients:
4 ounces dried figs
4 ounces sun-dried tomatoes
1/2 cup Kalamata olives
1/2 cup green olives, pimiento-stuffed
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Directions: This recipe has two speeds of preparation, food processor or hand mince. If you have a food processor, by all means us it, because let me tell you a little something about finely chopping figs…it’s teeeeerrribbllleeee.

Anyways, now that that’s out of the way, hit play on this finely crafted playlist of funky jazz sounds and let’s get tapenading. Mince the figs, olives and sun-dried tomatoes as finely as you can either in a food processor or by hand. Mix the chopped goodness together in a bowl and work in the rosemary, balsamic vinegar and olive oil, It’s best to do this part by hand because you can get a better idea of how the texture is coming together – add extra olive oil if needed.

Welp, that’s pretty much it. Either you’ll love it, or the process of hand chopping figs will have scared you so deeply that the thought of consuming them forces you into a manic state of depression.

Pontificating on Polenta

About the music: In a way polenta is a lot like a good playlist. At the end of a good playlist you don’t necessarily know the exact songs you were listening to, you just know that they made whatever you were doing while listening to them a whole hell of a lot better. They are the base layer and the backbone, the sad song at the end of a movie and the pure funk groove background to your powder run. They are the raging Brain Damage>Eclipse as your crushing I-70 at 2 am on your way to Vegas. That’s like this polenta, by itself it’s delicious, but with other things, its god damn incredible. We have chosen the perfect playlist for your polenta. The European Crystal Fighters start you off with about as pleasant a song as one could ask for. We keep it smooth through the middle with the very mysterious Shook’s remix of Ellie Goulding’s “Lights.” Just listen to the bass in that song, mint. Our favorite Glam Rock stars Scissor Sisters keep your energy up for the fight to the finish and LCD Soundsystem ensures you have something great to eat to. This mix is great from start to finish, enjoy it.

Serves: 6
Prep time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:
4 cups chicken broth (better chicken broth = better polenta)
1 1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
a little lemon zest
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup crème fraîche

Directions:
First take a second and rack your brain to figure out our not-so-secret secret that we hid in the playlist. Fantastic, hit play and let’s move on.

Pour your chicken stock into a large saucepan. If your wondering why you feel so god damn fantastic it’s because you turned this first song on. It is literally like the Crystal Fighters have come into your kitchen and dumped like a ton and a half of sand, brought a bunch of beer, at least 6-8 smoking hot girls and this polenta, and are now forcing you to play naked beach volleyball.

Add the garlic to the stock and turn on high heat until it boils. Reduce the heat to medium-low and slowly whisk in the cornmeal preventing it from globbin’ up. Add the salt and pepper and KEEP STIRRING at a simmer for about 12 minutes. Now, you may be asking what the hell your going to do with yourself for 12 minutes while you stir this witch’s brew? Well, remember MGMT? Electric Feel should be having you bobbing enough to stir. Stir right on through this Poolside song, and take it home in the final stretch like you would take yo’ friend’s mama home after a long night on the town.

Take off the heat, stir in the parmesan, butter and crème fraîiichceeee. Eat it alone, or underneath some sort of dank meat dish. We made ours with a spicy beef brisket. But most of all enjoy this dish like LCD Soundsystem would have you enjoy it- with all your friends.

A. Volkita

Booh-ya! Love me some grits.
- sandwichfunk
  
  Annie! Would you ever be interested in doing a recipe for us?