Oklahoma is vast with secrets, and one of those secrets rests in the Ponca City Library. Home to a wide variety of novels, references books and more, it is also home to the Matzene Art Collection, a compilation of artwork acquired by the well-known photographer and art dealer Richard Gordon Matzene.

Matzene was born on London soil in 1880, but he spent many years of his life traveling the world. From eight trips exploring different countries and cultures, his collection is a combination of findings, mostly from visiting Asia during the 1930s. The collection holds beautiful oil, charcoal and watercolor paintings as well as pottery and bronze sculptures.

God of Longevity & Child is an ink-and-color painting on silk from the Qing Dynasty. The artist is unknown, but the Asian deity depicted is the god of longevity and knowledge. He is accompanied by symbols of immortality and happiness. There are also many Western pieces collected from Matzene’s travels as well as a few works from the Taos Society of Artists.

The collection landed in the hands of the library by a personal donation from Matzene, who lived in Ponca City later in his life. The collection is free for all to enjoy and can be found throughout the upper floor of the library. – Jessica Turner

National health reports rarely paint Oklahoma in a great light. However, a new campaign promoted by YMCA of Greater Oklahoma City and the Oklahoma City-County Health department aims to change that with an easy-to-remember formula of healthy habits.

OK5210 prescribes a daily routine of five fruit and vegetable servings, no more than two hours of screen time, one hour or more of exercise and no sugary drinks.

We are constantly slapped in the face with messages about obesity in Oklahoma, says Angela Jones, director of health and wellness initiatives at YMCA of Greater Oklahoma City.

“If that is the state that we are in, these four things tend to help people dig out of that,” she says.

The Y partnered with Oklahoma City-County Health Department to broaden the resource pool and reach. The campaign will first make an appearance in five to 10 Oklahoma City public schools this fall.

“If we can change the thought in school and habits with kids, we can spread this quickly,” says Jones.

OU Children’s Physicians is also participating in the effort and helping spread it beyond the Oklahoma City-County area. Dr. Ashley Weedn, pediatrician and medical director of the Healthy Futures Clinic at OU Children’s Physicians, also chairs the Obesity Committee for the Oklahoma Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“We took a survey of all pediatricians in Oklahoma to determine what resources they needed the most. They felt like they needed help with obesity management,” she says.

Jones and Weedn collaborated to provide a consistent message in creating a physician’s toolkit for the OK5210 program. Oklahoma City-County Health Department stepped in to print the materials. They are being distributed first to Oklahoma County physicians and then to pediatricians all over the state.

Jones is also working with the Tulsa Y to inform Tulsa schools of the availability of the school tool kit through the 5210 website.

“As muddy as black creek water,” Alan Hall says in describing how clear his understanding of the task before him was in taking over as head football coach at Northwest Oklahoma State University. Hall was in an unusual place. The Rangers were in the process of transitioning from the NAIA level, where they won a national title in 1999 and played for two more in 2000 and 2003, to NCAA Division II, but he didn’t know for certain at what level his team would compete his first year on the job. 

“When I got hired in December 2011, we were still in the application phase (for Division II),” Hall recalls, “We didn’t find out that we actually got accepted into the provisional process until the following July. So there was six months there where we had our fingers crossed.”

A former quarterback at the University of Miami in the early ‘90s, Hall has had success at nearly every level of college football as a coach, most recently as head coach at Bible Baptist School in Savannah, Ga. In his second season at NWOSU, Hall finds himself in the position of trying to return a powerhouse program to its past glories, and against better competition, to boot.

“I knew that there was a long, football-rich tradition that they had (at NWOSU),” Hall says, “and that was something that intrigued me in terms of coming here and trying to carry that tradition on at the Division II level. Things are moving in the direction that we planned on, so we’re excited about that.”

There were growing pains. The Rangers struggled out of the gate against a tougher schedule to seven straight defeats to start the 2012 season, before ending with four wins in a row. But the building blocks were in place. 

“We were young at a lot of spots, and it took some time for us to sort of buy in to what we were trying to do,” Hall says. “We were fortunate to end the way we did. The kids kind of got that taste in their mouths about what winning was like.  Certainly, we’re not where we want to be, but we’re headed in the right direction.”

The Rangers’ 2013 season will kick off at home on Sept. 5 against Arkansas Tech.

In the mid-20th century, pressure cookers were used for everything from main dishes and veggies to desserts. Now, more than half a century later, the contraptions are back in style.

Chef Jason Kendrick Vaughan, known as Chef JV, is a private chef in Tulsa that uses a pressure cooker on a regular basis and shares his thoughts on why this nostalgic appliance is making a reappearance in kitchens across the country.

“There are a few reasons for this,” he begins. “Our moms and grandmas could start with a tougher, less expensive piece of meat and end up with something that is fall-apart tender.”

Time is another factor. A piece of meat that might typically take six hours to cook can be done in a third of the time with a pressure cooker, therefore using less energy.

Chef JV goes on to explain that pressure cookers also help retain nutrients that are sometimes lost in other cooking methods.

When buying a pressure cooker, look for one that has a good consumer rating and is moderately priced.

Pressure Cooked Lamb

Makes 4 servings
3 lbs. lamb shoulder, cut into medium cubes
1/2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. turmeric
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 1/2 medium onions, large diced
1 tbsp. fresh basil chiffonade
2 c. vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. pepper
Salt and olive oil
Toasted pine nuts for garnish
1 tbsp. agave syrup 

Mix garlic, turmeric, cumin and oregano with three tablespoons olive oil to make a paste. Smear over lamb and chill for an hour.

With the lid off a preheated pressure cooker, add two tablespoons olive oil and sweat onions. Remove and set aside. Add the lamb and brown on all sides. Add stock to deglaze with bay leaf and onion. Lock the top and pressure-cook for 35 minutes on high. Follow manufacturer’s directions on lid lock and release. Let stand for 15 minutes. Add salt to taste and agave syrup. Remove bay leaf and serve.

After a decade and a half as one of the top attractions in the Stillwater-forged amalgam of folk, rock, country and singer-songwriter music known as Red Dirt, Jason Boland has done more than his share of music festivals. And now that he’s helping to front an event of his own, he’s putting a lot of what he’s learned on the festival circuit to good use.

And what’s the No. 1 lesson he’s gleaned from his experience?

“Make sure to have plenty of Porta Cans,” he says. “That’s what they always forget. ‘Two? Yeah, that’ll do it, right? Because, really, how many people are going at the same time?’ And then a few thousand people show up.

“It’s mostly production stuff like that,” he adds. “Boring production stuff. You just learn the pitfalls of what not to do, and not to be too overbearing about it. I don’t have to put on the nuts and bolts, but I know Corey [McDaniel], our manager, is really working with a lot of people on it.

“I’d say the main thing we’ve learned is just to dot the I’s and cross the T’s when it comes to all the funny little stickers, passes, barricades, Porta Cans – production, period. People want to hear it as good as it can be heard. They may not understand all the tedious details, but their hearts feel it, their souls feel it, when there’s something off. Because when there’s something off, the musicians are off. So it’s really just about keeping the spirit light and having a good time, and when everything’s running smoothly, that’s how it tends to be.”

It’s safe to say that no one’s coming to the Medicine Stone music festival for the availability of its Porta Cans. But it’s a good thing the organizers thought about having plenty, because there are indeed going to be thousands that come through the gates during Medicine Stone’s three days. Although the event, on the banks of the Illinois River at Tahlequah’s Diamondhead Resort, doesn’t happen until Sept. 12-14, the campsites, RV sites and hotel rooms were all sold out as of July 15, with more than 2,000 individual tickets already purchased. Clearly, it’s going to be a major blowout, one that Boland and his cohorts in his band, the Stragglers, working in tandem with vocalist-guitarist Evan Felker and the other members of the Tahlequah-based Turnpike Troubadours, have been interested in doing for quite some time.

“We’ve always been wanting to put together our own festival,” Boland says. “It’s just been finding the right time, the right place and the right way to do it. We’re glad to be sharing it with the Turnpike Troubadours; they’re the other half of what Medicine Stone is. It’s us, really, trying to put a flag in the ground for an Okie festival for our generation.

“And it’s natural,” he adds. “Several of our friends either have trips where they take people to music festivals, like Steamboat [Colorado], or they have cruises. Stoney [LaRue] even had one that went to Alaska. So it was just trying to figure out what would be us, you know? Between the two bands, what exemplifies the spirit of who we are?”

The answer, they decided, was a big musical celebration held around the Illinois River.

“[Stragglers] Roger [Ray] and Grant [Tracy] are originally from Vian, so they grew up over there in the eastern Oklahoma hills, running up and down the area through Tahlequah,” he explains. “And where I grew up, in Harrah, if you were going to make some big crazy high school trip, you’d go up and float the Illinois and camp at one of the campgrounds.”

After they got older and formed Jason Boland and the Stragglers, via that legendary rural Stillwater multiple-artist dwelling and unofficial birthplace of Red Dirt music known as the Farm, Tahlequah became one of the band’s favorite stops. A few years later, in Tahlequah, the Turnpike Troubadours were born. So the town is a natural in several different ways, as is Diamondhead Resort.     

“You naturally look for a place where people can stay multiple nights,” Boland explains, “and look for a place where they can camp. They had a great existing stage, too, so there were logistical things we thought about.”

In publicity material for Medicine Stone, Boland mentions the Larry Joe Taylor music festival in Texas, which he and the Stragglers have played for many years. That event, now known as the Texas Music Festival, began back in the ‘90s, when music fan and songwriter Taylor got it going as a combination chili cook-off and outdoor-concert fest. And, while the inaugural Medicine Stone is larger in scope than Taylor’s initial effort, Boland sees the Texas fest as a kind of template for the way he hopes the new Oklahoma event will expand.

“I guess it’s that thing about, if you want to be a bear, be a grizzly,” Boland says with a chuckle. “You watched the Larry Joe Taylor festival grow from modest to the juggernaut it is now – and they have that scene hemmed up. This is where we’re from, and so we’re trying to put something together that will be big, and then we can bring in more and more interesting acts as it progresses, because we plan on doing it year after year.”

For its maiden voyage, however, Medicine Stone has done all right in the interesting-acts department. The groups who don’t share Boland and the Stragglers’ and the Turnpike Troubadours’ Oklahoma origins – including Mississippi’s Jason Eady and Oregon native Todd Snider – are highly regarded alt-country and Americana acts coming from places left of center, and the Oklahomans on the bill are Red Dirt superstars. Those latter acts include, in addition to Boland and the Stragglers, Cody Canada and the Departed, Stoney LaRue and the Red Dirt Rangers, all of whom spent a significant amount of time honing their chops at the Farm in Stillwater. The notion of getting together and joyously creating the kind of music that echoed through the dilapidated rooms of that ramshackle two-story building for years is what Boland hopes to evoke with Medicine Stone.
“It’s just about wanting to keep that spirit,” he says. “It’s that Farm attitude of, ‘Well, you might as well get into a band. It’s as good as anything else you could do.’ So the plan is to just bring all the fans of everybody out, camp and have a good time, pick around campfires, eat, drink and be merry.

“The Rangers are still going [after 25 years], and we’re looking at about 15 years now,” he adds. “The Troubadours have been at it for a few years, too, and they’re enjoying so much success and it’s such a great deal for them to be a part of it. So we’ve got a good generation [represented on the stage].

“It’s just one of those things,” he concludes. “The Red Dirt never dies.”

Also on the bill are the young Grammy-nominated writer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist John Fullbright; Tahlequah-based music legend Randy Crouch; John Moreland; and Thomas Trapp. For ticket and other information on Medicine Stone, visit the website www.medicinestoneok.com or the Medicine Stone Facebook page.

Even when we’re watching our waistlines, we should have a little sweetness every once in a while. Fruit desserts are a wonderful way to indulge that craving without completely sabotaging efforts.

Since pears are coming into season, they are a great option for a light dessert that is elegant enough for company, and poaching is an easy way to prepare them.

Albeit easy to make, these poached pears have numerous health benefits, too, because of the red wine and pomegranate juice in the poaching liquid.

As we have learned, red wine can help control cholesterol and further protect the heart by keeping blood vessels flexible to aid in the prevention of blood clots and strokes. It also helps control blood sugar and the antioxidants can help fight infections too.

Like red wine, pomegranate juice is full of antioxidants and has been shown to protect the heart and blood vessels. As little as eight ounces a day can make a difference.

So go ahead and indulge a little. Your heart will thank you.

Red Wine and Pomegranate Poached Pears

Makes 6 servings
4 c. dry red wine
1 bottle (16 ounces) pomegranate juice
1/3 c. sugar
Zest and juice of 1 orange
1 cinnamon stick
3 whole cloves
6 Bosc or Anjou pears, peeled and cored, keeping stems intact

In a Dutch oven, combine everything except the pears. Bring to a boil and add the pears; reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until pears are almost tender. Remove with a slotted spoon and cool. Strain poaching liquid and return to Dutch oven. Bring to a boil; cook until thickened and slightly syrupy, about 45-60 minutes. When ready to serve, drizzle each pear with a little of the poaching liquid.

If you love coffee, you don’t want to settle for just an average cup, but producing the perfect cup of coffee is not an easy process. Even tasting coffee is an art, one that Ian Picco, manager at Topeca Coffee in Tulsa, teaches at weekly sessions called “cuppings.”
Like wine, coffee has distinct characteristics that depend on several factors, such as where the beans are grown, weather, etc. Similar to wine, coffee can have notes of chocolate, nuts or fruit.

“Cupping is an easy way to break down coffee into individual taste components,” says Picco. The technique is a primary way to get to know a coffee. Used by the farmer for quality control and by the consumer to decide which coffee to purchase, there is a method and science behind the cupping process.

At Topeca, after touring the roastery and hearing a history of the evolution of coffee from seed to cup, the cupping process begins.

Several small cups of ground beans from all over the world are lined up on a table. Pick up a cup, tap gently with one hand and sniff. The tapping helps release the gases and delivers chemicals to the nose.

Next, the cups are filled to the rim with hot water. After all the grounds are wet, the coffee is allowed to steep for four minutes. Be sure to smell the coffee as it steeps. A crust will develop over the surface of the coffee. Break the crust by plunging a spoon directly into the center and stir exactly three times. Spoon out any floating grounds.

Since the palate can better detect the individual characteristics of coffee after it has cooled slightly, let it stand for a few more minutes before sampling.

The proper way to taste the coffee is to noisily slurp it through a spoon. The purpose is to aspirate the liquid into a mist that hits the entire palate at once. Chew the coffee for a few seconds and then spit out. Otherwise, you may experience a caffeine overload by the time the cupping is finished.

For more information about Friday cupping sessions, contact Topeca at 918.398.8022.

Meatball Sandwich

Mangiamo Truck
Sometimes a big, lusty Italian meal – the kind that involves piles of pasta topped with Sunday sauce and plenty of bread for sopping – is in order. But who has the time to slave over the stove? The team at Mangiamo Truck does. Serving Italian creations in paper trays (no white linen here) out of a food truck, Mangiamo is feeding Tulsans at American Airlines, Guthrie Green and other areas in Tulsa where diners are hungry for Italian. Lasagna rolls, sausage and peppers and pasta with marinara are all standard, but it’s the meatball sandwich, a hearty hunk of bread stuffed with marinara-smothered meatballs and topped with cheese, that keeps the hungry masses coming back for more. Follow Mangiamo on Twitter or Facebook to find out where the truck is parked daily.  – Jami Mattox

Suya

Mama Sinmi’s Chop House
Mama Sinmi’s Chop House – “chop” as in “to eat” – already is attracting devoted fans in the short time since it opened its doors. This small but colorful eatery offers traditional Nigerian fare such as suya (tender skewers of spiced meat) and jollof rice (cooked in a mix of peppers for a serious kick), along with other favorites like the goat meat pepper stew and perfectly fried golden plantains. The reasonable and filling lunch special includes a choice of rice along with chicken or beef, plantains, and a beverage. Just as popular as the food is Mama Sinmi herself – chef Ijeoma Popoola, who along with husband and co-owner Andrew, has brought the vibrancy of West African flavors and culture to the vivid life on the plains of Oklahoma. 2312 N. Macarthur Blvd., Oklahoma City. www.mamasinmi.com – Tara Malone

“You must try the falafel! It’s so good,” Sourena Afshar, a dapper man with elegant, elongated eyeglasses and a carefully trimmed goatee. The owner, with his wife Shadi, of Shish-Kabob, is excited about the food he serves, and with reason. The falafel, crisp and crunchy with a hint of exotic spice, is superb, and so are other Middle Eastern appetizers like the sprightly tabouli and smoky baba ganoush. But it’s the Persian dishes that are the stars at this cozy, welcoming corner of east Tulsa. Growing up in Tehran, Shadi was schooled in cooking by her mother and sisters and, Sourena admits, “I learned from my mom, too.”

The Iranian food you’ll eat here is a blend and synthesis of these family recipes. Try the lamb shank: “It’s unique,” says Sourena. Small yet meaty lamb shanks specially ordered from California are simmered for three hours. Impossibly tender and bursting with flavor, the shanks are accented by the subtle blend of spices and tomato in the sauce. The fluffy rice that accompanies the lamb is a delicious meal on its own. It’s cooked in the Iranian fashion: first soaked, then boiled, then drained and finally steamed. This fabulous rice comes with all entrees, including the stews for which Iranian cuisine is famous. Ghormeh sabzi, one such stew, is a piquant blend of spinach, parsley, cilantro, dry lemon and fenugreek.

“I cook the best ghormeh sabzi you’ll ever find,” declares Shadi. True to the name, there’s a full range of kebabs. The koobideh features minced meat, onions and a secret blend of spices which, Sourena assures us will make all other kebabs seem tasteless. 11605 E. 31st St., Tulsa. 918.663.9383
 

With a distinguished selection of wine and a solid reputation as one of Oklahoma City’s anchor Italian restaurants, Flip’s Wine Bar and Trattoria may sound like the kind of restaurant where one might enjoy a cozy, romantic candlelight dinner. But OKC locals know it’s not a place that stands on ceremony – and that’s why, after nearly 30 years, crowds still flock to Flip’s.

The real appeal of this laid-back icon of the Oklahoma City bar and restaurant scene comes long after most places have locked up and wiped down for the evening. Since 1985, Flip’s has offered a staggering late-night menu (serving until 1 a.m.) to OKC’s starving night owls. And this is not the chips-and-queso standard of late-night bar fare. Everything from salads and appetizers to pasta and dessert are on the table, but diners in-the-know go straight for the famous calzones. Stuffed into homemade, whole-wheat crusts, the calzones at Flip’s feature traditional Italian meats and cheeses, overflowing with capicola and prosciutto, fontina and gorgonzola and just about anything else delicious you could dream of. Diners with especially large appetites can opt for the Joey Bag O’ Donuts calzone and feast on a pocket of chicken, spinach, peppers, garlic, mushrooms and four different kinds of cheese. All calzones are served with Flip’s famous red sauce, of course. Look for a mixed crowd at Flip’s, emphasis on “crowd.” 5801 N. Western Ave., Oklahoma City. www.flipswinebar.com