Recipes by Zola - Hot Chipped Beef a la Zola

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Hot Chipped Beef a la Zola

Zola Gorgon

Music to my Ears...

I started playing the clarinet in 5th grade, seated in the back row of the band. That's where all new students start in band. You work your way from the back to front if you're good. First Chair has the most prestige. It's sort of like an orchestra, where the best violinist sits. That person has the prestige and the special relationship with the conductor.

By 7th grade I was seated in third place in the first row. Two young ladies sat ahead of me. Soon I found myself in First Chair. Not sure how that happened. Can't remember, but it might have been just because the other two girls graduated from the 8th grade and left the band.

Over the summer the school hired a new band director. He was quite the task master. Strict does not begin to measure his personality. His wife was the choral director and they became the musical royalty at the school. I got along with the band director because I practiced for my private lessons and I made progress; even if just a tiny bit each week.

Playing in the band was fun. It was a nice way to spend a few lunch hours each week and then we got to play concerts in front of the whole student body as well as the parents. I guess it was partially training for the day each of us might end up speaking in front of an audience.

The new band director instituted a policy that I ended up hating. He decided that any band member could "challenge" a person ahead of them in the hierarchy. If they won the challenge they got to take that chair. Carol Siebers became my nemesis. Carol sat in 3rd chair. Every time the band met, Carol put in a request to challenge me for my chair. This went on two or three times a week for almost two years. When it came time for Carol to challenge me, we were sent with our clarinets, our music and a music stand, off to the band director's office. The office had walls but they didn't reach all the way to the ceiling so if we were on the other side of the wall no one could see us, but they could hear us play.

No one knew which of us was assigned to play first or second. When we both completed the piece, the entire band got to vote on whom they thought performed the piece the best. The one with the most hands raised in her favor won the challenge.

It was grueling; more nerve wracking than anything else I did. Concerts did not bother me. Cheerleading didn't make me nervous. Spelling bees were no big deal. Playing in front of the band director at my private lessons was horrible, but being challenged was even worse. I was so nervous. I'm not sure I was that concerned about my playing ability; but my ego was at stake. The thought of being booted out of first chair; even for a day or two could give me nightmares.

Carol was relentless. Knock on wood, Carol never won. I don't even really know why.. Both of us could play a piece with 100% accuracy. There must have been something in my cadence or style that the band liked. I never knew how many votes I won by. I never got to see the raised hands. My brother Paul, who played in the coronet section, years later tells a pretty hilarious story about how Carol came after me day after day; with the tenacity of a pit bull. She was truly disappointed after each loss but she never gave up.

What lessons did I learn from that experience? As the years have passed, I can continue to count more lessons learned each time I recall the time in my life when I played First Chair clarinet. At first I thought the lessons were all learned by the experience but in my "old" age I have a whole new respect for Carol. I think I learned a lot from her too.

Here's a classic dish dating back to even before I played clarinet. I added a few twists of my own but when you're feeling in a retro mood, pull this recipe out, serve with crackers and you'll be singing the yum-yum song.

Hot Chipped Beef ala Zola

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
4 Tbl butter, divided
one half cup of sour cream
one half cup mayonnaise
1 - 8oz package of cream cheese, softened to room temperature
5 oz of sliced corned beef chopped
1 cup of chopped pecans
whole wheat crackers

In a large sauté pan put in the onion, green pepper, and two tablespoons of the butter. Heat on medium high until the onion and bell pepper are softened. Add the sour cream, mayo, cream cheese and chopped beef. Stir on medium low until you have a creamy white sauce and the beef is all mixed in. Pour this whole concoction into a 9 X 9 oven proof pan.

In a small sauce pan put in the last two tablespoons of butter. Start the better melting and add the pecans. Coat the pecans in the hot butter until hot and bubbly and then spread them across the top of the cream cheese/ beef mixture.

Bake 15 - 20 minutes until the dish is completely heated through. Serve hot or warm with the whole wheat crackers. Be prepared to watch your guests balance large scoops of hot beef on their crackers. They can't help themselves. This dish is addictive and can disappear fast.

Send email to Zola at dinnerwithzola@hotmail.com.

This news arrived on: 02/15/2008

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