Written by GAIL McGLOTHIN    |   Photographed by APRIL McGLOTHIN-ELLER

The psychology behind music and food is fascinating. Fast music encourages diners to eat faster, while loud music encourages them to eat fast and leave. I, for one, don’t go back to restaurants that encourage me to leave.

I’ve heard that bars sell more alcohol in a room filled with classical music. At our house, show tunes, volume on low, is the favorite background music for meals.

Listening to Hank Williams’s “Jambalaya, (On the Bayou)” takes one down to south Louisiana where zydeco music can be found every night and every weekend in Lafayette, the heart of Cajun country, where crawfish pie and file gumbo are favorite dishes. Familiar notes are squeezed out of accordions while bows run across fiddles with amazing speed. Old and young play from their zydeco heritage of Cajun music, blues, jazz and African American tunes. Beer heads the playlist on Cajun meals, along with oyster po-boys, seafood gumbo and shrimp etouffee. Crawfish pie is on the menu and is a quick and easy meal for home cooks.

“New York, New York” was first sung by Liza Minelli but popularized by Frank Sinatra. Now performed by any number of stars including Lady Gaga and The Three Tenors, the popular tune evokes a fast-moving slideshow of Lady Liberty, Broadway, Little Italy, China Town, Harlem, and on and on.

Jazz was popularized in Harlem, followed by swing. Songs and tunes from musical theater on Broadway continue to cross the country. So much new comes out of New York, but classic opera performances fill theaters around town. Lindy’s, the famous but now closed deli, was home of Lindy’s Cheesecake, thought to be the most famous cheesecake ever. The recipe was closely guarded but has escaped into the universe, lucky for us.

Nashville is the home of country music and Ryman Auditorium. Nashville was where country music went live into homes while families were gathered around a single radio for the Grand Ole Opry. Nashville also is known for Hot Chicken and is the home of Moon Pies and Goo Goo Clusters, the first candy bar with different types of candy in one product. If you do not want to make one at home, you can go to the Goo Goo Clusters store in Nashville and watch yours being made.

Chicago’s music platform is overloaded. When poor black workers migrated to this industrial city to escape the aftermath of Reconstruction, they brought with them the blues and jazz that evolved into a distinctive Chicago style. Gospel music took root out of Chicago, and a genre of music called House Music grew when the nightclub scene took off. Chicago also has its favorite foods – deep dish pizza, the Chicago Dog with tomatoes on it, and flaming saganaki cheese, a must-have in Greek restaurants. Also, brownies were born in Chicago, and Italian beef sandwiches are a hit.

Portland’s music scene produced a prolific number of artists who went on to national fame. A major claim to fame is that Kurt Cobain was said to have met his wife Courtney Love at the Satyricon Club in Portland. The nation’s food truck industry might not have been invented in Portland but they certainly perfected it. One of the more popular food trucks there is Nong’s Khao Man Gai. I think of it as Thai chicken and rice, the Thai version of my go-to comfort food.

Crawfish Pie

1 pound frozen, cooked crawfish tails

¼ cup butter

1 teaspoon Zatarain’s liquid shrimp or crab boil

1 medium onion

1 green bell pepper

3 stalks celery

2 large cloves garlic

Tony Chachere’s, to taste

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 Boiled egg, sliced 

2 unbaked pie crusts

Sauté crawfish tails in butter about 5 minutes. Remove crawfish from pan into a bowl; stir crab boil into crawfish. Add chopped onion, pepper and celery to pan juices and sauté over medium heat until tender. Throw in garlic and cook 1 more minute. Return tails to pan; add soup, and Tony’s, stirring to mix well. Simmer on low 15 minutes. Remove from heat and gently stir in boiled egg slices. Pour into bottom of one pie crust and top with second crust. Bake at 400 degrees until brown. Serves 6.

Lindy’s Famous Cheesecake

Crust:

1 cup flour

¼ cup granulated sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla

1 egg yolk

¼ cup butter

Combine flour, sugar and vanilla. Mix yolk and butter with fingers until dough leaves side of bowl. Wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate 1 hour. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease bottom and sides of 9-inch springform pan. Remove the side. Roll a third of dough on to bottom of pan. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until golden. Cool. Press remaining dough on side of pan, ¾ of the way up. Refrigerate until ready to fill.

Filling:

2½ pounds cream cheese

1¾ cups granulated sugar

1½ teaspoons grated lemon peel

1½ teaspoons grated orange peel

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

5 eggs

2 egg yolks

¼ cup heavy cream

In large bowl of electric mixer, combine cheese, sugar, peels and vanilla. Add eggs and yolks, 1 at a time, beating after each addition, only until mixture is well combined. Beat in cream. Pour filling into assembled springform pan. Bake 10 minutes at 500 degrees. Reduce oven temperature to 250 degrees. Bake 1 hour longer. Cool on wire rack; refrigerate at least 3 hours. Serve plain or with sauces.

Goo Goo Clusters

1 (11-ounce) bag miniature marshmallows

1 (12-ounce) bag white chocolate chips

1 teaspoon vanilla

1½ tablespoons butter

1 bag caramel candies

1 cup cooked, salted, skinless peanuts

1 (12-ounce) bag milk chocolate chips

2 tablespoons shortening

To make nougat layer, place mini-marshmallows, chocolate chips, vanilla and butter in a microwave bowl and microwave 45 seconds. Remove from microwave and stir vigorously. Microwave for 15 additional seconds, if needed; stir vigorously. If necessary, microwave again at 15-second intervals until melted. When totally melted, pour into a parchment lined or greased 8x10-inch baking dish and let cool. While nougat layer cools, unwrap caramels.

When nougat is firm, cut with biscuit cutter or shape into rounds. Set on parchment paper. Put two unwrapped caramels in a small Pyrex dish and microwave in increments or until soft. With hands, shape into a round the same size as the nougats. Press caramel layer onto nougat. Press 8 to 10 peanut halves into the caramel. When complete, place all in refrigerator to harden.

Place chocolate chips along with shortening in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave 30 seconds; stir vigorously to melt. Microwave at 15 second intervals, if more time is needed for melting. Using your finger or two forks, coat the cold candy round by dipping bottom in first, then turn to coat top. Place on parchment paper to harden.  

Chicago Italian Beef Sandwiches

"Dipped in beef broth and topped with giardiniera, the Italian Beef Sandwich is a messy yum not to be missed."

3 cups beef bouillon or package beef broth

1 loaf Italian bread

1½ pounds roast beef from deli, sliced thin

1 cup giardiniera, pickled vegetables

Warm beef bouillon. Slice Italian bread loaf into sandwich lengths. Cut open one side, leaving the bread hinged. Swipe individual slices roast beef into broth and pile onto the bread. Repeat until the sandwich is full of beef. Spoon giardiniera on top of the beef, close sandwich, and press with hands. Serve with a small bowl of broth to dip each bite. Alternatively, dip sandwich into broth and serve.

Khao Man Gai Chicken

Chicken:

12 cups water

2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced ½-inch wide

2 tablespoons salt

7 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled

4 pounds chicken

Rice:

1 tablespoon oil

¼ cup onion, chopped fine

2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and cut in half longwise

2 garlic cloves, minced

¼ teaspoon salt

2 cups rice

Sauce:

¼ cup Thai soybean paste

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup white vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 Thai chili, minced (or substitute ½ teaspoon 

red chili flakes)

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

2 green onions, sliced thin

1 cup fresh cilantro, for garnish

Green onion, for garnish

For chicken and broth, combine water, ginger, salt, and garlic in large Dutch oven. Add chicken to pot, breast side up, and bring to simmer over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer 35 to 40 minutes until done but not falling off the bone. Transfer chicken to bowl, cover, and let rest while making rice.

For rice, heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat until hot. Add onion, ginger, garlic, and salt; cook about 2 minutes until onion is softened. Add rice and cook about 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until edges begin to turn translucent. Stir in 3½ cups broth from chicken and bring to boil over medium-high heat. Stir once more, then cover and reduce heat to low medium. Cook for 20 minutes. Move saucepan from heat and let sit, covered, until ready to serve.

For sauce, while rice is cooking, whisk all ingredients in bowl until sugar is dissolved, about 1 minute. Gently warm.

To serve, rewarm remaining broth over medium heat. Debone the chicken’s breast meat and slice into ½-inch thick pieces. Slice thighs and legs into ½-inch thick pieces. For each serving, pack rice into a custard cup and unmold onto each plate. Arrange white or dark meat around rice. Garnish with cilantro. Place plate at each place setting, allowing everyone to pour warmed sauce over rice and chicken. Serve with 1 cup of hot broth, sprinkled with green onion tops. NCM