Food & Drink

Jamming in the kitchen

Back for the ACL fest, the South Austin Jug Band recovers from weeks of road food by feasting on home cooking

By Sarah Frank
SPECIAL TO THE AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Inside the tour van, foam cups and fast food receipts testify to what filled the band's road bellies.

Inside the home of James Hyland, lead singer for the South Austin Jug Band, ingredients of a better meal to fill their home bellies are arriving: crab cakes to go with pasta and salad, boneless beef ribs and rib-eye steak for the grill, and pancake-sized chocolate chip cookies.

The table is set for this potluck late lunch. Green felt cloth and built-in coasters beneath the plates seem more appropriate for hosting an evening poker game, but the musicians make do with what they have. They are taking a break from their road diets of gas station nachos and gummy bears to cook and grill together just a few days before the group plays its fourth Austin City Limits Festival on Saturday.

Hyland plunks down a handful of forks next to a single long-stem rose in a vase wrapped with green tissue paper. No lack of ambiance here.

"I buy them for myself," the 30-year-old says in his North Carolina drawl. "You'd never know it's just sitting in an Ozarka (water) bottle."

Three of the five bluegrass band members — Hyland, guitarist Willie Pipkin and fiddler Dennis Ludiker — are milling around Hyland's kitchen waiting for the main course and a second dessert to arrive.

Twenty-year-old fiddler and mandolin player Brian Beken, wearing a straw cowboy hat and mirrored sunglasses, enters the house empty-handed. He should be carrying a box of yellow cake mix, but it seems he thinks he left that responsibility to another band member.

"I'll think of something," Beken says.

He opens the fridge and peers in, concocting another recipe in his head.

In walks Will Dupuy, the only member of the South Austin Jug Band with a "real job." The 26-year-old who plays upright bass recently started selling real estate. He's getting groans from the other guys because the boneless beef ribs he's brought are not ready for the grill.

"Gimme a minute," Dupuy answers, unloading a plastic grocery bag. "I'm out of rub."

As Dupuy and Pipkin (who will be grilling rib-eye steak) compare spices on hand and cuts of meat, they gripe with the other band members about the food they eat while touring. The group splices monthlong tours across the country with local gigs and often relies on meals provided by promoters at music venues or roadside greasy spoons.

"We eat terrible food," says Pipkin, the 29-year-old guitarist with dreadlocks. "Gas station food usually at night, fast food in the day. The only thing I've found I can always stomach from a gas station are Lunchables. They're the only thing that doesn't give you heartburn."

"When you're on the road looking for somewhere to eat you see the same things all day long," Hyland says. "It's like walking into the same store over and over."

And eating the same things, they say: Doritos, noodle cups, candy, hamburgers, soda. After six years together (for three of the guys), it's a wonder they even fit in the tour van anymore.

"I get sick every time we go on the road," Beken says. "Just thinking about that stuff . . ." he says, shaking his head.

"Let's just say it's nice being home," Dupuy declares. "At home you can make anything you want. It's really impossible to cook anything good on the road, except maybe popcorn. We just live on Tums and lots of water. Six dudes in a Suburban — well, you can imagine."

It's the road food that's forced some of the men to create their own detox diets — standbys they eat as soon as they get a weekend off or a few weeks booked in Austin — to get their stomachs back to normal.

For these guys, big fans of red meat, the detox almost always includes a nice grilled steak. But they often spend their first hours home from a road trip chugging water and chomping on fresh salads.

"First thing I do is sleep; then I start thinking about eating normal again," says Ludiker, 22. "It's impossible to get on a normal schedule on the road. You eat about two times a day, if you can get it. When I'm home, I just want my girlfriend to make me cookies. Sometimes we'll make homemade lasagna together. It feels good to just eat real food."

Ludiker saunters over to the couch where Beken is sitting, picking a mandolin's strings. Ludiker grabs his instrument and the two start to jam.

As he's serenaded by his bandmates, Hyland puts the finishing touches on some spicy crab cakes he bought at Central Market, paired with a simple oil-and-Parmesan-laced pasta and a fresh spring salad.

Outside, Dupuy and Pipkin are trading cooking space on the outdoor grill that only heats up on one side and has no hood handle. There's a broom leaning against the grill to prop open the hood.

"We're nothing if we're not classy," jokes Dupuy, who recently started cooking more meals at home. "I started watching a lot of the cooking shows and reading a lot of books, and I learned a lot."

While on the road he craves his own home cooking, he says, especially his homemade spicy French fries.

Dupuy tastes a piece of the boneless ribs he covered in Chinese chile sauce. "Mmm, almost done," he says.

Pipkin brings out a purple glass pie dish and pulls his rib-eye steak from the grill onto the plate. "Look at that presentation," he says to Dupuy, who nods. Pipkin delivers his contribution to the table as Beken is in the kitchen — he's decided to make a mixed drink for his bandmates. But he has a challenge finding an alcoholic beverage that will mix with a meal of beef, crab cakes and cookies. An icy beer might have been the safest bet, or maybe a gin and tonic, but Beken has bigger plans.

Between bites of steak, Beken mixes H-E-B brand strawberry soda with a shot of tequila, a splash of bourbon and a dribble of peppermint schnapps. He garnishes each glass for his band mates with a wedge of lemon.

The hot pink drink is put in front of Dupuy for the first sip.

"Goosebumps, dude," he says, face contorting, "that's how bad it is."

He replaces the lemon garnish with a slice of steak, arguing the spicy beef is more fitting than the sour lemon.

Each with a cocktail in hand, the musicians mill around the table, barely sitting, picking at each other's dishes, enjoying a rare relaxed meal together that doesn't come from a paper bag soaked with grease.

"It's nice just hanging out, eating at home," says Hyland, cutting up his crab cakes for everyone to share. "Going out is fun, but when it's your job it's, like, shoot me in the neck. It's draining. I like being home. I sleep, eat healthier, store up my energy and get ready to do it all again."

South Austin Jug Band recipes

Dennis Ludiker's chocolate chip cookies
2 cups flour
2 1/2 cups plain oatmeal, ground into flour in a food processor or blender
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature or slightly melted
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. real vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips

A good friend of mine, Julie Amundson, who's also a fiddler, gave me this recipe. First, mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside. Then in another bowl, combine butter and sugars until blended — use a handheld electric mixer. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until combined. Add the dry ingredients to the sugar mixture and mix until combined. Then add 2 cups chocolate chips and mix with a big wooden spoon or heavier spatula if you don't have a stand mixer. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.

Will Dupuy's boneless Texas-style beef ribs
Rub boneless ribs with Cooper's Rub and Fiesta-brand brisket rub. Cover ribs with Chinese chile oil, then rub with spices again. Cook for 12 minutes on propane grill.

James Hyland's spicy crab cake dinner
Buy spicy crab cakes from Central Market or elsewhere. Brown them in butter and garlic in a saucepan. Boil pasta (organic spaghetti) to al dente. Add extra virgin olive oil to taste to cooked pasta. Add lemon juice and Parmesan, if desired. Top pasta servings with a crab cake. Pair with a side of green salad topped with shredded Cheddar cheese. Complement dish with a red Italian wine; I'm partial to Northern Italy and suggest La Pergola Rosso Vigneti Dolomiti.

Willie Pipkin's rib-eye steak
Rub both sides of a rib-eye steak with McCormick Grill Mates Spicy Montreal Steak Seasoning. Cook on a propane grill until there's a thick char on top.

Brian Beken's cocktail
In a short glass, mix H-E-B brand strawberry soda with a shot of tequila, a splash of bourbon and a splash of peppermint schnapps. Garnish with a wedge of lemon.