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From The Desk Of Crash Test Dummies’ Brad Roberts: Slow Cooking Cheap Cuts Of Meat

CrashTestlogoCrash Test Dummies are best known for their 1993 worldwide hit “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm,” yet the Canadian band put out six more albums after that before going on hiatus in 2005. CTD is back this week with Oooh La La (Deep Fried) but in a brand new incarnation. Mainman Brad Roberts (now based in New York City) wrote and recorded the album with producer and engineer Stewart Lerman (Antony And The Johnsons, Marshall Crenshaw, Roches) using ’70s musical toys such as the Optigan for the majority of the LP. (The two were joined on Oooh La La by longtime CTD backing vocalist Ellen Reid.) The result is the happiest-sounding record of Roberts’ two-decade career. Roberts will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our new Q&A with him.

chuckroast

Roberts: I like to cook, but I especially like to find easy ways to make our meals. For me, discovering the idea of slow cooking cheap cuts of meat was like an epiphany. Here’s what I’ve been doing lately. In the morning, I put a chuck roast in a pot, pour in one cup of water into it and set the stove to low. When I come home in the evening, the meat falls off of the bone. This, a salad, maybe a shared baguette and voila: dinner fit for a king. (One day I shall conquer the baking of the baguette, but for now, my local bakery will have to do.) In the meantime, here is a dead easy salad recipe, which looks great and tastes exotic and the prep time is about three minutes:
Put mixed greens into a bowl.
Add olive oil, fig vinegar and a bit of parmesan.
Done.

I prefer to rip my baguettes rather than neatly slice them. It makes me feel manly, just as I do when I open up a stubborn jar of pickles for my wife. But go ahead, folks, slice the bread. Hell, have your cake and eat it, too!

Video after the jump.