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Austin(-ish) band Vega to appear on ‘Dinner with the Band’
If you need proof of how connected music and food are, just look at what’s happened to South by Southwest.
Not only are the thousands of people who come to Austin for the technology, film and music festivals on the prowl for something good to eat, food is the subject of dozens of panels, movies and parties during the March cultural bonanza.
At this year’s music festival, the Independent Film Channel brought in chef and TV host Sam Mason to shake cocktails at the channel’s IFC Crossroads House downtown
Now, Austin is going to Mason.
Vega, a disco pop band whose frontman Alan Palomo — who also performs as Neon Indian — is based in Austin, will appear on Mason’s “Dinner with the Band” at 9:30 p.m. on IFC on Tuesday (June 15).
The episode features Mason preparing a menu of seared snapper, apricot salad and micheladas with the band, which performs songs between courses.
The folks at IFC were happy to pass along Mason’s recipes, including for the crazy complicated michelada, which doesn’t have to be that hard to make:
Vivid Snapper
2 whole snappers, about 2 lbs each
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Cumin granola (see recipe below)
Edamame puree (see recipe below)
Apricot garden salad (see recipe below)
For cumin granola:
1 1/2 cup oats 2 tsp. cumin seed 1/4 cup honey 3 Tbsp. canola oil 1 tsp. salt
Preheat oven to 325 degress. In a large bowl, toss all ingredients well and spread onto baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes until golden brown, mixing every few minutes to brown evenly. Let cool and put aside.
For apricot salad:
1/2 cup dried apricots 1 cup apricot nectar 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar 1 Tbsp. olive oil 1 cup edamame, blanched 1/2 cup dried apricots, sliced thin
In a small saucepan, bring dried apricots and nectar to a boil and simmer until apricots are tender. Transfer to blender and puree smooth adding oil and rice wine vinegar to taste. Let cool. In a small bowl, toss raw edamame and dried apricots with 1/4 cup of apricot emulsion. Set aside.
For edamame puree:
2 cups frozen shelled edamame 1/3 cup mirin 1 tsp. Thai fish sauce 1 Tbsp. shiro dashi 1/2 cup olive oil 2 tsp. rice wine vinegar Salt and pepper to taste
Boil frozen, shelled edamame until tender. Puree edamame and the rest of the ingredients in a blender until smooth. Set aside and keep warm.
For snapper, scale whole snapper and remove both fillets from each. Season fillets with salt and pepper.
Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan. Add the snapper skin-side down, pressing lightly to form crust. Cook 5 minutes on skin side until crisp, flip snapper and cook 2 minutes more. Transfer the fish to a plate.
Place spoon full of edamame puree onto plate, top with snapper filet, then apricot salad and cumin granola. Drizzle more apricot emulsion on plate for garnish. Serves 4-6 people.
— Sam Mason
Michelada
1 1/2 ounces mole Worcestershire (see recipe below) 2 dashes mole bitters 3 dashes maggi seasoning 1/2 ounces lemon juice Pinch of cayenne 12 ounces beer, preferably light Mexican beer Ancho-chili salt for rim (see recipe below)
For mole Worcestershire:
2 ancho chiles, dried 3 ounces pomegranate molasses 2 ounces lime juice 6 ounces orange juice 40 dashes mole bitters 2 tsp. magi seasoning 1 tsp. kosher salt
Toast ancho chiles over medium-low open flame. In a small saucepan, add toasted ancho chiles, pomegranate molasses, lime juice, orange juice and bring to boil, stirring until it reaches a syrupy consistency. Remove from heat. Let cool and pour into another container, removing ancho chiles. Add mole bitters, maggi seasoning and kosher salt. Makes 1/2 quart. Keep whatever you don’t use in the fridge for up to a month.
For ancho-chili salt:
2 Tbsp. ancho chili powder 1 Tbsp. kosher salt
Mix ancho chili power and salt and pour onto plate wide enough for rim of a pint glass.
To make the michelada, rim chilled pint glass with ancho chili salt. Add mole Worcestershire, bitters, maggi seasoning, lemon juice and cayenne to glass. Finish by pouring beer over ingredients. Garnish with lime wedge.
— Sam Mason
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