Life's Nothing But A Mudcrutch Farm

This week I'm looking at a cookbook titled Backstage Pass: Catering to Music's Biggest Stars. It's filled with recipes made artists, crews, and entourages at various concerts venues near San Diego in the early to mid-1990s. I was excited to find the book and scanned the list of musicians.

I laughed at some of the hospitality and dressing room requirements. Van Halen, for example, asked for bars of Ivory soap; Jackyl, on the other hand, requestd a bar stool, shaved gerbil, and black Sharpie markers. Still others requested exceptional wine, witch hazel, Tootsie Rolls, and Mountain Valley water. The recipes were equally intriguing and the Mediterranean Island Sandwich with Island Vinaigrette on page 193 served at the Hollywood Bowl to Tom Petty and the HeartBreakers on the Wildflowers tour caught my attention.

First up, the vinaigrette. I mixed the lemon juice, red wine vinegar, basil, oregano, dijon mustard together then drizzled in the olive oil.

Vinaigrette

I set the vinaigrette aside to get the flavor going, and moved on to the sandwich proper.

Sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, olives, red onion, and cucumber

I also turned the tunes up, blaring Disc 2 from The Live Anthology and slipping into a bit of a fantasy.

I did not find "torpedo rolls" at my local supermarket. Heck I didn't even know what torpedo rolls were until I googled them. Most packages of rolls in my store are 8 to a pack - more than one person will ever need. I substituted an all natural country Italian bread called "Pan Bigio" and hoped for tasty sandwiches. I offered prayers to the powers of co-captain Mike Campbell's lead guitar for guidance. Campbell never seems to strike a wrong note, so perhaps the recipe would not fail.

As I slipped into Dreamville, Benmont Tench, adjusted his hat just so and said, "do the same with seasonings." He smiled and returned to his keyboards. I kept cooking.

I panicked briefly upon discovering a signifiant lack of lemon juice. I asked bassist Ron Blair if he thought the sandwich would still work. He said he was hungry, and hoped I'd carry on; after all, he reminded me, I had a meeting in a little over an hour and he had to get to the stage.

I chopped the vegetables quickly. But wait - should I drain my artichoke hearts and olives? I asked ace sideman Scott Thurston what he thought the best move would be. "Drain 'em," was all he said. So I did.

Drummer Steve Ferrone kept a beat while I chopped the Italian parsley. The parsley joined the veggies and posed for a pre-concert photo.The dressing adorned the veggies, gussing up the chopped items in stage gear. Meanwhile, in a different dressing room, the big cheese was getting prepared.

I sliced some bread and gently layered the veggies and dressing, and waited for the cheese.

The Tom Fetty Cheese.

I snapped some photos as the band walked to the stage. The same combination offered several ways, different keys, always tasty.

All in all, a great night at the concert, err dinner table. Too bad it wasn't in the middle of the summer with the sun going down and the chords of Runnin' Down A Dream ringing in my ears.