Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off has always reminded me of my youth visiting family and friends in Chicago. I’m a Florida kid, so I always appreciated the cold weather and fireflies. And the Shedd Aquarium. And the Adler Planetarium. And the trains. And the river. And the pizza. Evidence from the year 2007 below, where a friend and I decided to have our own Ferris moment at the Sears Tower:
In the end, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is an almost perfect means of indulging in a little cinematic escapism. I still listen to the soundtrack on a Saturday afternoon drive when I’m trying to ignore the fact that I’m an adult (Flower Pot Men A+). And of course you know you’ve reached your 30’s when Cameron is a more preferable romantic interest than Ferris — but then there’s also Charlie Sheen to keep you honest/self destructive. Sloane, you bitch, you’re gonna do well in life. Jeannie, you badass– I hope you do even better.
So here it is, one of THE top John Hughes movies paired with a Chicago-y meal. If you’re a Chicago native, don’t get pissy about the brat dog– Ferris is SUPPOSED to be irreverent.
The Movie
The Menu
Yes, Ferris Bueller's Day Off is primarily about Ferris and friends, but there's almost as much comedy derived from the people who SEETHE with Ferris-related jealousy. So here's a retro 80's shot for them. Eat it, Rooney-- with some gummy bears too. They're real warm and soft. PS for my Chicago peeps: I considered a Malort cocktail. I really did. But I couldn't do it. I just couldn't. To make your shots, you can either use individual shot glasses or an ice cube tray. I ended up switching to shot glass method pre-final assembly for presentation purposes, but ice cube trays definitely work better for bulk orders-- see below. Lightly spray shot glasses OR an ice cube tray with baking spray-- this will allow them to slide out more easily once set. Place a gummy bear at the bottom of each shot glass or tray compartment. Mix Midori, vodka, lime juice in a separate bowl and set aside. Add gelatin to cold water and allow to sit and "bloom" for five minutes. Then add pineapple juice-- don't stir. Pour the gelatin mix into a small saucepan and heat, simmering until the gelatin is fully dissolved. Add your hot gelatin mix to the alcohol mix and pour immediately into your shot glass/tray. Dont worry if your gummies begin to melt a bit-- this will add a very cool bottom layer effect to your shot. Refrigerate shots for an hour and a half until partly set. Feel free to add another gummy to the top of your shot at this point-- it shouldn't sink to the bottom, but sink slightly into the top. Continue to refrigerate for another two hours until fully set. For the devaSTATINGLY handsome Sausage King of Chicago. If you've never had a Chicago Dog, wow-- here it is amped up with a German brat twist in celebration of the Ferris Bueller parade scene. This recipe makes two, and I ate them both. Danke schoen Chicago. Gather your Chicago Dog toppings-- if you can find the "official" Chicago style condiments (peppers and relish pictured below), all the better. Heat a grill pan or outdoor grill over medium low heat. Grill brats for 9-10 minutes on each side, pressing every once in a while to test done-ness. Place your brats your buns. Then, proceed with toppings. Tomatoes go on one side, pickle spear on the other. Next, relish on the tomato side, onions and celery salt sprinkled on top, followed by as much yellow mustard as you want. Finish with sport peppers and attempt to twist and shout whilst eating with abandon. If you can't find poppy seed buns, a helpful trick: brush a regular hot dog bun lightly with egg wash (egg white with a splash of water all mixed up). Sprinkle poppy seeds over the coated buns, and bake at 375 for 5 minutes until the poppy seeds set in the egg wash. That's what I did here! There are a ton of memorable 80's fashion trends showcased in this film, but we needed an homage to Sloane's fringe-y jacket. With just a dash of thyme. Cause life moves pretty fast and stuff. RELEVANT PUNS. Peel your potato and, using a mandolin (appropriate mandolin blade is 3mm), julienne the potato into very thin matchstick strips. If you don't have a mandolin, use a very sharp knife to slice your potatoes as thin as spaghetti noodles. Pat your potato strips dry with paper towels. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add potatoes in batches, with a thyme sprig or two per batch. Be careful not to let the potatoes crowd in the pan, stirring ever so slightly to keep them separate. When potatoes reach a light golden brown color, lift them gently from the oil and set them on more paper towels to drain. Sprinkle with flaky salt, and keep warm. If need be, you can always reheat briefly in a toasty oven for a few minutes-- but they should stay crisp like potato chips. Yum! Pro tip: save your potato peels! They're delicious when seasoned and roasted on their own. The water color combo of flavors in the quintessential Chicago Rainbow Cone just happens to perfectly compliment my favorite scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Art can be cool AND tasty. 24 hours beforehand, place your ice cream maker bowl in the freezer-- place it in the coldest part to get best results. Also a day ahead: start your New York style vanilla ice cream base. In a small sauce pan, simmer heavy cream, milk, sugar and salt until thoroughly mixed and sugar is dissolved. Turn off heat but keep milk mixture warm. Whisk your yolks together, and add about 1/2 cup of the heated cream into the yolks, continually stirring. This will heat the yolks before you add this mixture back to your sauce pan-- otherwise you might get scrambly egg bits. Whisk the yolk mixture back into your sauce pan with the remaining sugared cream and return to medium low heat. Stir until mixture coats the back of your spoon and stays separated when you run your finger down the middle. Strain your mixture into a freezer proof tupperwear. Chill for at least 4 hours to allow your mixture to thicken. Next, add your Palmer House ingredients-- vanilla, cherries, and walnuts. Add your mixture to your ice cream maker and churn baby churn (mine took about 30 minutes all in to get a nice soft serve consistency). Refreeze for another hour or so to further set. Now it is time to mix all your Chicago cone flavors. Using a freezer proof container, create two layers of scoops in a random flavor pattern from each flavor of ice cream. Allow to soften for a few minutes, and use a knife to swirl the mix. Don't overswirl, or you'll end up with soup instead of a water color situation. Refreeze for an hour before scooping into a waffle cone. Enjoy, and think existential thoughts. There are more than a few ice cream makers out there-- I've owned a Cuisinart and it was great for bigger batches. But I don't eat ice cream that often, and for just me a pint size maker made much more sense (plus, so affordable!). Check out the recommended product below.
Gummy Bear Jello-usy Shots
Ingredients
Instructions
Chicago Brat Dogs
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Fringe Fries with Thyme
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
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Rainbow Cone for Cameron
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Recommended Products
Epilogue
If any studio execs ever read this– please for the love of all that is cinematically holy do not make a Ferris Bueller’s Day Off remake with a Zac Efron wannabe. Learn and derive sufficient joy from the ill-fated TV series co-starring Jennifer Aniston before she knew better:
For more menus, check out my movie directory here!