DNA of the Blueprint (Mixtape)

DJ Neil Armstrong, Jay-Z’s long time collaborator and accompanying DJ on his worldwide tours just dropped a gem on his site today. The mixtape "DNA of the Blueprint" is a retrospective of Jay-Z’s illustrious career, focusing primarily on the Blueprint trilogy, which most would agree houses his best work.

The CD length work is a masterpiece of mixing and mastering and pulls, obviously from the Blueprint albums with a heavy emphasis on Blueprint 3, but also from his other works, as well as those from other hip-hop artists and even R&B tracks. Neil Armstrong also intersperses audio from interviews Jay-Z has done over the years which brings a real human side to the mixtape. The project serves to purposes – to walk the listener through Jay-Z’s 10+ year reign on the hip-hop throne but also as a "senior project" for DJ Neil Armstrong himself, demonstrating his skills as a turntablist.

If you are having trouble downloading it from Armstrong’s site, check try this link.

| via Hypebeast |

Osprey Hydraulics

I have been using hydration packs for a decade and to be honest, nothing’s really changed. Sure, they’ve come out with brushes to help you clean the bladders and Camelbak has a new attachment that lets you figure out your flow rate and how much water is left, but the idea is still the same. Osprey has been in the technical pack game for a long time and is well regarded. Despite having packs that support bladders, they did not have a dedicated hydration pack in their line – until now. The Osprey Hydraulics line was launched recently and includes the Manta (day pack) and Raptor (mountain biking pack) which packs (no pun intended) plenty of features. Read more about their special bladder design (in conjunction with Nalgene) and their ingenious way of attaching the bite valve at my preview over at joshspear.

| Read more at joshspear.com |

Looking For Winter Gloves? Forget Icebreaker

I am a huge fan of technical clothing and my closet is littered with Patagonia, Marmot, Outdoor Research, and of course Icebreaker. In fact, I am such a fan that a third of my clothes can’t even be worn for 10 months of the year because I pretty much live in paradise, weather wise.

I recently volunteered for the inaugural Santa Barbara Marathon and I was at my post before 5 AM and it was freezing. I brought out my new pair of Icebreaker wool gloves which I bought earlier in the year in anticipation for winter. My job was just to direct traffic, and sometimes runner. By the end of the four hour shift, there were numerous holes and tears all over the gloves. Four hours! I sent a detailed email to the company and there was not a single reply. Luckily, their baselayers are great but if you are looking for gloves, look elsewhere.

Blundstone Footwear

When I see elastic sided boots, I generally think of Australia and I rarely think of value but that’s exactly what Blundstone Footwear represents. They have been family owned and operated in the land down under since 1870.  Their flagship model is undoubtedly the 500 in stout brown; it’s the model you think of when you hear the name Blundstone. Unlike boots with a traditional lace up system, the 500 series are easy to get in and out of thanks to the elastic side band and the two pull tabs, one on front and one on back. The comfort footbed is removable and replaceable with a thinner one to accommodate thicker socks or a more custom fit. The sole is slip resistant and chemical resistant. For such a durable boot, it’s surprisingly lightweight. I have been really happy rockin’ the 558’s here on the West Coast where we’ve been getting some heavy rain in short spurts. And for those looking for something a little more rugged and workwear worthy, they have you covered as well with an entirely different line. The price and quality cannot be beat and I am surprised it took me this long to learn about Blundstone but I am glad I did.

Forty Steps to a Divine Short Rib Dinner

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I had a pretty good short rib dinner tonight. I know what you’re thinking, I probably slowly braised it in a low temperature oven with some veggies, beef broth, and a bottle of red wine. Well, that was some other time. This time I sous vide it. And all it took was forty ingredients. Ok, that’s a little misleading. It’s not that complicated. Here’s what you need:

Bone-in short ribs
Salt & Pepper
Vadouvan
Butter
36 hours

Take the ribs and season liberally with salt and pepper and vadouvan. I did not have real (fresh) vadouvan so I used a spice mix which is very flavorful and quite fragrant. I then put two knobs of butter (one on each side) of the rib and vacuum seal them individually. Then in a bath at 60C for 36 hours. I got the vadouvan idea form Ryan Farr and the cooking temp and time from David Barzelay.

After they are done, I removed them and drained the bags into a bowl. In a saucepan, I put some butter and sautéed a shallot, some peppercorns and thyme. Then added white wine and the juice from the bags. I also added some balsamic to give it some zing.  Then, I reduced it to a nice consistency. I just learned from David that I am not supposed to add fat until the end or it’ll be hard to form an emulsion. Lesson learned!

I was going to put them over papardelle noodles when I thought they would be fall apart tender like in braised dishes, but I looked at pictures and they looked pretty solid. Well, I was wrong. Sort of. Turns out they are super tender but still together enough you can slice them rather than shred them. Anyway, I decided to make garlic mashed potatoes.

3 cloves of garlic
10 Baby Dutch yellow potatoes
1/4 C heavy cream
1/4 whole milk
2 T butter
Salt and pepper

Put the garlic cloves unpeeled in some foil with some salt and olive oil. Crumple up the foil into a ball and roast it in an oven at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.  Toward the end of the roasting time, heat up a saucepan over low heat with the cream and milk. Press out the garlic from the skin and put it in the milk to steep.  Peel the potatoes and dice them. Bring a small pot of heavily salted water to a boil and add the taters. Reduce heat but maintain the boil. After about 5 minutes test a piece. You should be able to easily pierce it with a fork. Try to mash it with the fork. When it’s done, drain the potatoes. Use a ricer and press small batches of the potato cubes through directly into the milk and cream mixture. Toss the butter and mix it all up with a wooden spoon. You should have some smooth garlic mashed potatoes.