Friday, November 29, 2013

Empanadas, beef and vegetarian

As tasted at Milonga Sin Nombre, Especial el la Gitana Rusa :)

Relleno de carne (inspired by Frida Franco)
Makes a dozen large beef empanadas, more smaller ones

4 medium-to-small onions, chopped
2 4 oz organic beef patties (Trader Joe's)
1/2 cup frozen green peas
2 small potatoes, peeled and cooked
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt, black pepper, olive oil, green olives

Sautee onions on high heat till lightly golden brown, reduce heat and add beef, keep stirring until it browns, but not any longer. Remove the pan from the burner now. Add spices, salt, and peas (no need to cook them, they'll thaw in the remaining heat of the frying pan and that's all you need to do with them). Add mashed taters and olives. All done now. 

Frida says that one can't make relleno de carne any worse by adding even more onions; that olives are better added whole rather than sliced as we did; that hardboiled chopped eggs are a great addition; and that, although I totally made up the peas and the potatoes, these are legit ingredients in some Argentinian provinces.

Killer ginger spinach tofu empanada filling (inspired by Tho Bui)

Makes two dozen small spinach empanadas. Be warned that this recipe doesn't actually contain any spinach. I mean I'm OK with the classic Argentine empanadas de espinaca, but I thought that our vegetarian-minded tangueros deserve a more savory version. Oh, and I chose amaranth because it settles down less when it wilts in the heat. You'd need a taller pile of fresh spinach to get the same end volume, and it may be too hard for me to stir enough of it to fill two dozens empanadas.

pinkie-size chunk of ginger root
half clove of garlic (hey we are all tangueros here and we use the stuff very sparingly)
half cap chopped zucchini
1 small onion, chopped
1 sweet red pepper, chopped
12 oz amaranth (Amaranthus gangeticus), carefully washed and cut into half-inch pieces, stems and leaves but of course no roots.
1/2 pack medium-firm tofu
extra light olive oil
sauces per description

Finely chop ginger and garlic, sautee until very lightly browned (ginger hits the pan first and garlic, a short while later). Scoop them out and set aside. Now we are getting into a frantic stir-fry mode, with onions first, zukes and red pepper next, and finally amaranth a.k.a. Taiwanese spinach topped with previously set aside roasted ginger and garlic. Last goes tofu, soy sauce, and your fav flavorings such as oyster sauce, a couple drops of sesame oil, a few drops of Sriracha... I did a very unthinkable thing and cut on sauces but used salt to reduce juices (in the Far East, all salt must come from sauces or pickles, and you should never use straight salt, but I was afraid that my relleno will have too much liquid). Perhaps next time I'll throw in some finely scissors-cut, undercooked sweet potato thread noodles to soak in the juices?

And what about the dough?
Do not sweat it. A tanguero isn't supposed to work "too" hard. Get frozen jumbo white rolls dough in a store. Set them on flour-dusted trays in a reasonably warm place, covered by plastic lest their surface dries, for 2+ hours. Once they thaw and start rising, divide each roll into 4 parts for a small empanada, or 3 parts for a biggie. 


Shape each piece into a ball and let them rise, under plastic, for another half an hour. Now it's time to roll (palm size for smallies, two palms for biggies) and fill (try your best to rope-pinch the edges, otherwise Frida won't accept your handiwork). We would like to call our pastries empanadas rusas (pirozhki would be another name),  and we have enough Argentine spirit to leave the rope-pinch edges in plain sight - please do not turn the pastries upside-down like you might have done to hide the seam in the old country. Gotta have a bright golden color? Then, after setting your empanadas on a well-buttered baking tray, brush them with egg yolk before baking. Gotta have a pliable crust? Then smear them with a softened stick of butter after baking, and transfer the still-hot pastries into bowls lined, and covered, by towels.

Monday, November 25, 2013

Milonga Sin Nombre, Especial de la Gitana Rusa, playlist

Applause to Brian!
The November Sin Nombre was Russian and Gypsy themed, and planned as a major WTC fundraiser (and ran without the help of Mark and Lorraine, which was so hard). Empanadas rusas, holiday gifts from Russia, some Gitana costumes. Music-wise, I planned to play a few Russian-influenced and Russian-language tango tracks, to use Gypsy-themed cortinas, and to include a special live performance by the Krikov band. But the band had scheduling problems. Still we got great live music when Brian and Sandy made a surprise appearance and joined forces with Dave (many kudos for your wonderful play, guys!!!) And as I was hastily rearranging tracks to make room for Brian's amazing team, I didn't even realize that I clipped off Malerba's tanda with the supposed title track of the milonga, Gitana Rusa. So - I didn't play it, and therefore I am not going to tell its story now. Next time! But in compensation, how about a few short stories about the cortinas, and oh, how about some empanada recipes too ;) ?

01. Carlos di Sarli - Instrumental  "Cara sucia" 1952-02 2:20
02. Carlos di Sarli - Instrumental  "Rodríguez Peña" 1956-02-23 3:18
03. Carlos di Sarli - Instrumental  "Organito de la tarde" 1954-08-31 2:48

Gypsy Girl aka Two Guitars used to be a verse about a dance before it became a song and then, a dance. Written by Apollon Grigoriev in 1857, the poem was originally titled "Gypsy Hungarian dance". There are countless versions of the lyrics now, in many languages, including tango versions too. But my cortina track is fairly classic and purely instrumental.
04. Russian Folk  "Gypsy Girl (cortina)"  0:22
05. Osvaldo Fresedo - Ricardo Ruiz  "Plegaria" 1940 2:24
06. Osvaldo Fresedo - Ricardo Ruiz  "Si no me engana el corazon" 1939 2:31
07. Osvaldo Fresedo - Roberto Ray  "Ojos tristes | Ojos muertos" 1938 2:37
Kalinka ("Little Highbush Cranberry") is a sort of an audio signature of Mother Russia and it's always described as a traditional folk song, but it may be not that ancient, having been performed for the first time in 1860 as composed by Ivan Larionov. History is silent about possible antecedents to Larionov's score.
08. Russian Folk  "Kalinka-Malinka 1 (cortina)"  0:25
09. Carlos Di Sarli Roberto Rufino "Zorzal"  2:40
10. Carlos Di Sarli Roberto Rufino "Yo Soy De San Telmo"  2:20
11. Carlos Di Sarli Roberto Rufino "Pena Mulata"  2:27
Lidiya Ruslanova's frontline concert, 1941
Valenki (Felt Boots) was an immensely popular Gypsy folk song and dance a century ago; the lyrics of the period records, just like the original lyrics of the Gypsy Girl, were in a mixture of Russian and Romani. In the the beginning of WWII, Lidiya Ruslanova remixed the song big way, and it's become a huge hit again - so big that when she performed at the steps of still-smoldering Reichstag on May 2nd, 1945, the servicemen shouted that she should start from "Valenki". "These old felt boots have walked all the way to Berlin!" - exclaimed Lidiya. From then on, the Russians remain adepts of Ruslanova's version, and even when Ruslanova was sent to Gulag in 1949, and her repertoire officially banned, the song just went deeper underground (I used a whole bunch of its variations as cortinas at Sin Nombre)
My Gramps, Mark Gonikberg,
also on the steps of the ruined
Reichstag but on May 13, 1945
(they fought 20 miles South of
town and so they had to wait
for their photo-op)
12. Lidiya Ruslanova  "Valenki 1 (cortina)"  0:24
13. Juan d'Arienzo "Pensalo Bien" 1938 2:17
14. Juan D'Arienzo - Alberto Echagüe  "Mandria" 1939 2:26
15. Juan D'Arienzo Juan d'Arienzo "No mientas"  2:34
16. Russian Folk  "Gypsy Girl (cortina)"  0:22
17. Carlos di Sarli - Mario Pomar  "Tormenta" 1954-09-08 3:38
18. Carlos Di Sarli - Oscar Serpa  "Verdemar" 3:01
19. Carlos Di Sarli Alberto Podesta "Nido Gaucho"  3:22
20. Lidiya Ruslanova  "Valenki 5 (cortina)"  0:36
21. Ricardo Tanturi - Enrique Campos "Al pasar" 1943 2:17
22. Ricardo Tanturi - Alberto Castillo "La serenata (Mi amor)" 1941 2:32
23. Ricardo Tanturi - Alberto Castillo  "Mi romance" 1941-07-07 2:19
24. Russian Folk  "Kalinka-Malinka 2 (cortina)"  0:25
25. Edgardo Donato - Lita Morales - Romeo Gavio  "Mi Serenata" 1940 3:02
26. Edgardo Donato "La Melodía Del Corazón" 1940 3:18
27. Edgardo  Donato "El Adios" 1938 3:09
28. Russian Folk  "Gypsy Girl (cortina)"  0:22
29. Rodolfo Biagi "Humiliacion" 1941 2:42
30. Rodolfo Biagi Jorge Ortíz "Zaraza"  2:42
31. Rodolfo Biagi - Teófilo Ibáñez  "Gólgota" 1938 2:33
32. Lidiya Ruslanova  "Valenki 3 (cortina)"  0:24
This milonga tanda comes with a special 4th track, per Irina's request. "La milonga de Buenos Aires" is requested by Cristina. And the starting track has a special place in my heart - that's the song she (the Milonga) sings about herself: "I'm a fearless Milonga, who dances to candombe, who never changes her mind. I am a musical motif  moving forward in an unhinged gait. I was a song on the fresh, sweet lips of a neighborhood girl. And how did they dance me on the broken slabs of a sidewalk!"
33. Francisco Canaro Roberto Maida "Milonga brava" 1938 2:32
34. Francisco Canaro Roberto Maida "Milonga del corazon" 1938 2:48
35. Francisco Canaro - Ernesto Fama  "La milonga de Buenos Aires" 1939-10-09 2:50
36. Erskine Maytorena y su orquesta  "Milonga Triste"  4:17
37. Russian Folk  "Kalinka-Malinka 1 (cortina)"  0:25
38. Anibal Troilo &Fiorentino  "Malena" 3:00
39. Aníbal Troilo - Francisco Fiorentino  "Toda mi vida" 1941 2:57
40. Anibal Troilo  "Guapeando"  2:49
41. Russian Folk  "Gypsy Girl (cortina)"  0:22
42. Alfredo De Angelis, "Mi Dolor"  2:51
43. Alfredo De Angelis  "Felicia 1969" 1999 2:48
44. Alfredo De Angelis  "Pavadita 1958" 1999 2:53
45. Russian Folk  "Kalinka-Malinka 1 (cortina)"  0:25
46. Enrique Rodriguez  "En El Volga Yo Te Espero - Armando Moreno" 1943, 1943 2:40
47. Enrique Rodrigues, Armando Moreno "Tengo mil novias 1939" 3:06
48. Enrique Rodriguez - Roberto Flores  "Los Piconeros"  2:47
49. Russian Folk  "Gypsy Girl (cortina)"  0:22
50. Pedro Laurenz Alberto Podestá "Recien"  2:41
51. Pedro Laurenz Alberto Podestá "Todo"  2:35
52. Pedro Laurenz Alberto Podestá "Garua"  3:12
53. Lidiya Ruslanova  "Valenki 4 (cortina)"  0:24
54. Ángel D'Agostino - Ángel Vargas  "Adiós arrabal" 1941-09-09 3:07
55. Ángel D'Agostino - Ángel Vargas  "El Yacaré" 1941-12-12 3:06
56. Ángel D'Agostino - Ángel Vargas  "Ahora no me conocés" 1941-09-09 2:35
57. Russian Folk  "Kalinka-Malinka 1 (cortina)"  0:25
58. "Orquesta Tipica Victor - Milonga De Los Fortines - Mariano Balcarce" 1937 2:52
59. Orquesta Tipica Victor  "Cacareando"  2:45
60. "Emilio Pellejero - Mi Vieja Linda - Enalmar De Maria - 1941" 2:26
61. Russian Folk  "Gypsy Girl (cortina)"  0:22
A big cut from the original plan here, right into a truncated Pugliese set, and La Cumparsita
62. Pugliese, Osvaldo Various Artists "Rondando Tu Esquina" 1945 2:49
63. Osvaldo Pugliese - Roberto Chanel  "Corrientes y Esmeralda" 1944 2:46
64. "Juan D'Arienzo  La Cumparsita"  3:45
65. Kayah & Bregovic  "Nie Ma, Nie Ma Ciebie [And You're Not, You're Not Here]" 1999 3:50


Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Practilonga del Centro playlist, 11/18/2013

This time Del Centro hosted an afterparty for Salt Lake's first mini-festival, Wasatch Tango Exchange, and both the length and the format of the event were supposed to be special: 3.5 hours of music and no class. And something else special in the air - in addition to a post-fest sweet vibe, there must have been a palpable element of physical exhaustion among the sleep-deprived organizers and volunteers. The more excited we were to greet and hug those of us who came to dance on this beautiful full Moon Monday night!
01. Osvaldo Fresedo - Roberto Ray  "Araca la cana" 1933 2:26
02. Osvaldo Fresedo - Roberto Ray  "El Once (A divertirse)" 1935 2:40
03. Osvaldo Fresedo - Instrumental  "Tigre viejo" 1934 3:01
The warm-up quality early Fresedos in the still-empty loft didn't get any feet on the floor, and it was still really cold in the room, so I'm like, how about something more drastic for a warm-up? Thanks Juianne for smiling it through with me :)
04. Enrique Rodrieques - Armando Moreno  "Se ve el tren"  3:11
05. Victor Tsoy  "Spokoynaya Noch' (cortina)"  0:49
06. Ricardo Tanturi - Enrique Campos  "Una emocion" 1943-11-17 2:37
07. Ricardo Tanturi  "Que Nunca Me Falte"  2:42
08. Ricardo Tanturi - Enrique Campos / Oigo Tu Voz 3:07
09. Victor Tsoy  "Gruppa Krovi (cortina)"  0:36
10. Rodolfo Biagi - Teófilo Ibáñez  "La loca de amor" 1938 2:12
11. Rodolfo Biagi - Jorge Ortiz  "Cuatro palabras" 1941 2:20
12. Rodolfo Biagi - Jorge Ortiz  "Tu melodía" 1945 2:51
13. Victor Tsoy  "Spokoynaya Noch' (cortina)"  0:49
Who needs D'Arienzo when there are Di Sarli's tracks of such rhythmic quality :) :)
14. Carlos Di Sarli "La Trilla" 1940 2:23
15. Carlos Di Sarli  "La Cachila"  2:46
16. Carlos Di Sarli Instumental "Nobleza de Arrabal" 2:07
17. Victor Tsoy  "Spokoynaya Noch' (cortina)"  0:49
18. Lomuto, Francisco  "Quiero verte una vez mas"  2:29
19. Lomuto, Francisco  "Nostalgias"  3:05
20. Lomuto, Francisco  "A la gran muñeca"  3:01
21. Victor Tsoy  "Gruppa Krovi (cortina)"  0:36
One can hardly make a full milonga tanda of either OTV's or Pellejero's records, but I think that the two orchestras go really nicely together!
22. "Orquesta Tipica Victor - Milonga De Los Fortines - Mariano Balcarce" 1937, 1937 2:52
23. Orquesta Tipica Victor  "Cacareando"  2:45
24. "Emilio Pellejero - Mi Vieja Linda - Enalmar De Maria - 1941" 1941, 1941 2:26
25. VictorTsoy Victor Tsoy "V staryh kvartirakh (cortina)"  0:44
26. Juan D'Arienzo - Héctor Mauré  "Ya lo ves" 1941 2:39
27. Juan D'Arienzo - Alberto Reynal  "Almanaque de ilusión (2)" 1941 2:55
28.  Juan D'Arienzo "Dime mi amor"  2:40
29. Victor Tsoy  "Spokoynaya Noch' (cortina)"  0:49
30. Miguel Caló - Raúl Berón  "Jamás retornarás" 1942 2:31
31. Miguel Caló - Raúl Berón  "Al compás del corazón" 1942 2:48
32. Miguel Caló - Raúl Berón  "Corazón no le hagas caso" 1942 3:00
33. Victor Tsoy  "Gruppa Krovi (cortina)"  0:36
34. Alfredo de Angelis - Carlos Dante, Julio Martel  "Soñar y nada más" 1944 3:08
35. Alfredo de Angelis - Carlos Dante, Julio Martel  "A Magaldi" 1947 2:50
36. Alfredo de Angelis  "Pobre flor" 2:42
37. Victor Tsoy  "Spokoynaya Noch' (cortina)"  0:49
At this point there was a really nice crowd on the floor, and it properly cleared the space during the cortinas, but I couldn't help thinking that the floors fills up to slowly at the beginning of each next tanda. Maybe it's a Monday night, with chatting friends and beer and food; or maybe the running tradition of Del Centro is cortina-less. Anyway from this tanda on, I'm doing away with the "special format" and with the cortinas planned for it. La vida es corta; just keep dancing, my friends!
38. Osvaldo Fresedo Roberto Ray "Isla de Capri" 1935 3:16
39. Osvaldo Fresedo Roberto Ray "Vida mia" 1933 3:23
40. Osvaldo Fresedo Roberto Ray "Nieblas del riachuelo" 1937 2:25
And indeed, hardly anyone stopped dancing when the lyrical Fresedo transitioned into Biagi :)
41. Rodolfo Biagi - Alberto Amor  "Tus labios me dirán" 1945 3:11
42. Rodolfo Biagi - Carlos Saavedra  "Esta noche me emborracho" 1946 2:50
43. Rodolfo Biagi "Todo te nombra" 1940 3:33
44. Carlos Di Sarli Roberto Rufino "La Mulateada"  2:22
45. Carlos Di Sarli Alberto Podestá "Entre Pitada Y Pitada"  2:33
46. Carlos Di Sarli Roberto Rufino "Pena Mulata"  2:27
47. Pedro Laurenz Alberto Podestá "Recien"  2:41
48. Pedro Laurenz Alberto Podestá "Todo"  2:35
49. Pedro Laurenz Alberto Podestá "Garua"  3:12
50. Francisco Canaro Roberto Maida "Ciego"  2:57
51. Francisco Canaro Roberto Maida "Condena (S.O.S.)" 1937 2:39
52. Francisco Canaro Roberto Maida "Invierno" 1937 3:26
53. Miguel Caló - Raúl Berón  "El vals soñador" 1942 3:32
54. Alberto Podestá  "Bajo un cielo de estrellas"  2:35
55. Miguel Calo - Alberto Podesta  "Pedacito de cielo (vals)" 1942 2:21
56. Victor Tsoy  "Spokoynaya Noch' (cortina)"  0:49
57. Carlos Di Sarli Alberto Podesta "No esta"  2:45
58. Carlos Di Sarli Alberto Podesta "Junto a tu corazon"  3:00
59. Carlos Di Sarli Alberto Podesta "Tu!...El cielo y tu!"  2:59
60. Alfredo de Angelis - Carlos Dante "Fumando Espero"  3:27
61. Alfredo De Angelis - Carlos Dante  "Alfredo de Angelis - Carrillon de la Merced"  2:50
With Pavadita playing, don't you already know what shall be coming your way?
62. Alfredo De Angelis  "Pavadita"  2:55
63. Otros Aires dos  "Los Vino"  2:41
64. Otros Aires  "Rotos en el Raval" 2005 3:53
65. Otros Aires  "Un Baile De Beneficio" 2010 3:42
66. Osvaldo Pugliese "Rondando Tu Esquina" 1945 2:49
67. Osvaldo Pugliese  "Gallo Ciego"  3:34
68. Pugliese, Osvaldo Osvaldo Pugliese "Malandraca" 1949 2:52
(We have a few minuted more than I counted on! Aha, so tonight maybe a night to add a second, crowning Pugliese tanda :) )
69. Donato, Edgardo  "El Adios" 1938 3:09
70. Donato, Edgardo  "Sinfonía De Arrabal" 1940 3:07
71. Edgardo Donato - Lita Morales - Romeo Gavio  "Mi Serenata" 1940 3:02
And the format shall be "P-D-P": Pugliese - Donato - Pugliese. I'm adding a couple early Pugliese tracks, but it's about the end of the practilonga so we are going to jump a quarter of a century towards the end of the tanda:
72. Osváldo Pugliese Osvaldo Pugliese "Remembranzas" 1943 3:41
73. Pugliese, Osvaldo Various Artists "La Abandone Y No Sabia" 1944 3:12
74. Osvaldo Pugliese - Instrumental  "A Evaristo Carriego" 1969 3:52
"Everybody" is out there dancing yet it almost time for us to leave. How about not just one but two Bregovic tracks, then ;) (and I'm joining you)? 
75. Kayah & Bregovic  "To Nie Ptak [Not a Bird]" 1999 4:40
76. Goran Bregovic  "This Is A Film (feat. Iggy Pop)" 2003 4:18
77. Various  "Juan D'Arienzo  La Cumparsita"  3:45
Erskine Maytorena. From Qtango website
I totally fell in love with Erskine and QTango band when we visited Albuquerque two weeks ago; I feel that these great musicians and teachers of tango music have finally provided the ABQ festival, this "Costco of tango events" known for its great price and great quantity but little personality, with the soul and the special quality! Can't stop listening to you, guys! And yet, the following super-slow dreamy milonga was intended to be a final curtain and the furniture-moving track rather than a dancing song ... yet so many people continued dancing to it, I had to throw in a additional, totally non-tango record to help us leave the floor nd move the chairs and the tables :)
78. Erskine Maytorena y su orquesta  "Milonga Triste"  4:17
79. Victor Tsoy, Kino.  "Gruppa krovi"  4:46
(79 total)
Nice, sweet night, all! Thank you so much for coming, many many thanks to Julianne for hosting, and please do not forget about our special Milonga Sin Nombre on Saturday!