Rachel and Bruce

Dinner tonight was inspired by Rachael Ray. I'm really tired of her as she seems to be everywhere, but her Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine is pretty good. I really like the way it's laid out with recipes and shopping lists to get you through the week. I should be so organized.

February issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray had a recipe for Nacho Spuds that looked interesting. Basically it was taking nacho toppings and putting them on roasted potato slices. That looked good, but I decided to take the same ingredients and turn it into Tex-Mex inspired Shepherd's Pie.

I took 2 1/2 lbs of potatoes, peeled them and boiled them in salted water with 2 cloves of minced garlic until soft. I mashed the potatoes with butter, a little milk and added some shredded cheddar cheese.

As the potatoes were cooking I browned one pound of ground beef, drained it and added a pack of taco seasoning, some additional cumin, pepper and "Mexican" seasoning, a drained can of diced tomatoes, a drained can of black beans and about a cup of water. I let that boil then simmer to the consistency I wanted as the potatoes cooked.

Once the potatoes were all mashed up, I put the meat into the bottom of a casserole, topped it with the potatoes and more shredded cheese and baked it at 350 degrees until the cheese was melted and golden brown.

Damn. No leftovers. The photograph above really is Rachael and I think it originally appeared in FHM, but I got it from The Hollywood Gossip.




A little music to go with dinner:

Unsatisfied Heart
Remastered Born In The U.S.A. Outtakes

Date: 1982 - April 1984

Location: The Hit Factory / The Power Station, New York City, NY

Disc 1:
01 Born In The U.S.A.
02 Murder Incorporated
03 Downbound Train
04 Glory Days
05 This Hard Land
06 My Love Will Not Let You Down
07 Johnny Bye Bye
08 Frankie
09 I'm Goin' Down
10 Working On The Highway
11 I'm On Fire

b-sides:
12 Sugarland
13 Follow That Dream
14 Dont Back Down
15 One Love
16 Little Girl

Track descriptions:
01 Contains a different Springsteen vocal overdub and a very long, extended jam ending.
02 This track has the original Van Zandt background vocals.
03 Slighly different version / mix.
04 Unedited, contains an entire extra verse (about Bruce’s dad) that was cut from the officially released version.
05 One of his finest studio performances. For some bizarre reason Springsteen & The E Street Band re-recorded the
song in 1995 and released that re-recording on 'Greatest Hits' – but it pales in comparison to this original.
06 Different mix than on the one released on 'Tracks'.
07 Bruce borrowed the first two lines from Chuck Berry’s song “Bye Bye Johnny” (as well as the play on the title),
which is why it’s registered as a Springsteen-Berry composition.
08 Originally recorded for "Darkness", and recorded again here, this was considered for the 'Greatest Hits' collection but was finally dropped.
09 Full, unedited version that includes lyric changes and the complete raucous ending. This track runs nearly a full 1:30 longer than the released version.
10 Slighly different version / mix.
11 A bit longer version.
12 Beautiful keyboards by Danny and Roy augment some fine acoustic guitar playing by Bruce.
13 Presented in best-ever quality, this unreleased gem far eclipses any current circulated versions.
14 Unreleased studio outtake.
15 Wonderful tune with a killer chorus - note the bass line similar to the Human Touch B-side '30 Days Out'
16 Short but energetic rocker.

Disc 2:
01 None But The Brave
02 Murder Incorporated #2
03 (Drop On Down And) Cover Me
04 Janey Don't You Lose Heart
05 My Love Will Not Let You Down #2
06 Cynthia
07 Darlington County
08 Protection
09 TV Movie
10 County Fair

Solo:
11 Shut Out The Light
12 Richfield Whistle
13 Fugitives Dream
14 Delivery Man
15 The Klansman
16 Unsatisfied Heart

01 The original mix without the new (90's) vocal track or the overdubbed second guitar on 'The Essential BS'. One of my favourite tracks, too bad the sound quality is what it is.
02 Different mix permutation of the same core recording as #1.
03 Completely different recording than the released 'Cover Me' done in a dramatically different arrangement.
This may actually date from a later period in the sessions than the original 'Cover Me'.
04 Same core recording as on 'Tracks', but has a much longer fade out (very nice) and features Steve Van Zandt on background vocals and guitar.
05 Different mix permutation of the same core recording as #1.
06 Different mix than on the one released on 'Tracks'.
07 Includes slightly different lyrics and an alternate beginning and ending.
08 This song was given to Donna Summer, who was recording an album at the time at the same studio.
Summer’s cover version (with Springsteen on guitar) was recorded in March 1982 (released Aug 82).
Bruce and Donna also recorded a duet vocal version at her sessions – it remains uncirculating.
09 Original mix with the saxophone track (deleted on 'Tracks').
10 Features Ruth Jackson on background vocals. Possibly recorded at the same session as 'My Hometown' (which also features Jackson).
11 By far the definitive version of this song – contains an additional, important lyric verse that has been cut from all the other versions.
12 Brilliant song that developed from a 1981-82 work-in-progress composition called 'James Lincoln Dear'
13 Unreleased studio outtake.
14 Unreleased studio outtake.
15 Compelling song. Features a dark, brooding beat that mirrors the disturbing nature of the lyrics. A nice vocal performance here and we're left wondering what possessed him to write this one.
16 Add this to the ever expanding list of Bruce's greatest unreleased songs. A man surveys his life and wonders if he can ever escape the demons of his past.


download links:
part 01: http://rapidshare.com/files/89722288/1982-1983_-_Born_In_The_U.S.A._Outtakes_-_part01-02.rar
Part 02: http://rapidshare.com/files/89725924/1982-1983_-_Born_In_The_U.S.A._Outtakes_-_part02-02.rar