Recipes for foodies and film nerds. Because life's too short for stale popcorn and crappy movies.
So last month kind of sucked for women. Actually, it really really sucked. But all the more reason to watch A League of Their Own– 30 years old on July 1, 2022 and a wonderful film to spend your afternoon with if you’re not feeling …
ON THIS DAY 30 years ago, Thelma & Louise drove across the country in a blue Thunderbird and into the annals of feminist film history. It’s one of those movies I rediscover every 10 years– funny, tragic, and (sadly) still so relevant, Thelma & Louise was written by Callie Khouri and unfolds like a fantasy for women in the 1990’s aching to be free of the BS society doles out. You wouldn’t think the movie’s two main characters would be the “murdering type”, but turns out that (like most badass women in this world), they’ve always been “crazy”– this is just the first chance they’ve ever had to really express themselves.
But let’s back up a minute. For the unfamiliar, Thelma & Louise (directed by Ridley Scott) begins innocently enough– two young women who need a break from men and (as applicable) dead end jobs decide to take a fishing vacation together. No matter that they can’t fish– they’ll figure it out and/or have fun trying. Shit hits the fan, however, when Thelma’s (played by Geena Davis) flirtation at a truck stop bar leads to a sexual assault– and Louise (played by Susan Sarandon) IS NOT HAVING IT. Now our besties are on the lamb, and what ensues is an epic road trip toward Mexico and self-discovery.
With a little tasty treat in the shape of Brad Pitt along the way.
… though that encounter, like most other encounters with men in this film (and in life, let’s be real) becomes just another bump in the road for Thelma & Louise. But I’ll let you watch the movie to find out how.
On to the food! After all, one does need fuel for a road trip of this magnitude– I figured cocktails, tacos, and some Rocky Road ice cream would do the trick. With, of course, the end goal of drinking margaritas by the sea, mamacitas (just be sure to make a few extra).
Let's kick things off right-- Thelma orders a Coke up front with a Wild Turkey back. Louise orders a margarita and a Cuervo on the side. I'm sure there's a Buzzfeed quiz that would tell you which you would like more, but I'm sticking with both + refills. Louise's order is relatively simple-- girl doesn't have time for anything fancy, she wants to DANCE. Pour whiskey over ice, top off with coca cola, and garnish with a cherry. For Thelma's margarita, first run a slice of lime around the rim of your glass to moisten it. Then, dip the glass in salt to coat the rim. Next, mix tequila, triple sec, lime juice, agave, and ice in a cocktail shaker-- shake vigourously until fully chilled, and pour into salted glass. Add more ice and garnish with a slice of lime. Serve both drinks with their respective shots and get ready to BEAT A MAN'S ASS. Each of the male characters in Thelma & Louise is a different version of "that guy": super villain Harlan; Thelma's pig husband; sweet talking JD; jealous and kinda violent Jimmy; even Harvey Keitel's well-meaning-but-still-part-of-the-system police officer role. But let's be real, they're all just "on the side" when it comes to true love between best friends. So here is a recipe that celebrates the best of those "on the side" male characteristics-- sweet at first, can even be super hot, and always fun with chips and a beer. But definitely not the main course. PS the code word is peaches. Whisk together lime juice, oil, honey, and cumin until all of the honey is incorporated. Next, get all of your chopped ingredients together, like so: Toss in peaches, tomatoes, onion, bell pepper and jalepeno until fully coated-- season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Allow to sit for an hour or more to let the flavors meld into a climax of sweet, spicy, and smoky mmmmmmm... 15 minutes before serving, toss in cilantro (you don't want this to sit in the salsa for a long time or it'll get all soggy). Serve with tortilla chips or on tacos. Ok I did it-- a food and movie pun. But it makes sense right? Also the recipe is delicious so you're welcome. Preheat oven to 325F. Generously season all sides of the lamb shoulder with salt and set aside while you make the marinade. Before serving, tear the lamb into smaller pieces and place into an oven proof serving dish. Skim the remaining marinade, removing fat, and pour about 1 cup over the meat to keep it moist and flavorful-- adjust with salt to taste. Serve with quick pickled onions, sour cream, cotija and a sprinkle of cilantro. And if youre in a rush, wrap in parchment paper or aluminum foil and eat while you drive! Quick Citrus-Pickled Onions recipe is here! In addition to giving me all the badass feminist energy, I can now thank Thelma & Louise for indirectly prompting me to try Mexican chocolate for the first time. Depending on the brand, you might get a kick of cinnamon and vanilla, or in this case chile-- either of which adds a MUCH appreciated level of complexity to what would otherwise be plain sweet chocolate. Plus, hey look another food/movie pun. I'm starting to feel like I got a knack for this shit. Get all your ingredients together-- but note, the base should be refrigerated for a minute before you can mix up your ice cream. In a medium saucepan whisk together egg yolks, cocoa powder and sugar until there aren't any lumps. Then, whisk in cream and milk. Put pan over medium heat and cook, whisking frequently, until a custard thickly coats the back of a spoon, but a swiped finger leaves a clean line. Stir in vanilla and salt, and pour into tupperware. Refrigerate overnight, or freeze for an hour until completely chilled. You'll end up with a thick yummy pudding consistency: Churn in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions (see notes). Transfer ice cream to a large container and quickly stir in nuts, chocolate, and marshmallows with a rubber spatula until thoroughly mixed in. Return to freezer and chill for at least 3 hours before serving.
Girls' Night Out
Ingredients
Instructions
Peach & Pepper Salsa
Cook Time:
15 minutes
Additional Time:
1 hour
Total Time:
1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients
Instructions
On the Lamb Tacos
Prep Time:
30 minutes
Cook Time:
2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time:
3 hours
Ingredients
Instructions
Slice the top of the chiles off and shake the interior seeds loose-- discard (you don’t need to remove every single one, a few strays are ok). Break the chilies apart into smaller pieces and add to a mini-processor with garlic, spices, vinegar, juice from 1/2 orange, beer, and 2 tbsp canola oil. Process until very smooth.
Heat a medium dutch oven to medium-high heat and add 2 tbsp canola oil. Sear the salted lamb shoulder, browning each side to create a crust and lock in those nummy juices.
Once all sides are seared, nestle the orange slices around the lamb and add bay leaf. Pour the marinade over the meat and shake the pan to ensure the marinade gets all the way to the bottom.
Cover tightly and bake for 2 1/2 hours-- you'll know it's done when the meat pulls apart easily. You're looking for this:
Notes
Recommended Products
Rocky Road to Mexico
Yield:
1 Pint
Cook Time:
1 hour
Additional Time:
4 hours
Total Time:
5 hours
Ingredients
Instructions
Taking this epilogue opportunity to double down on Thelma & Louise’s feminist message. In the 1990’s it was still a novel idea to cinematically celebrate women who “hit back” so to speak, and I love that Callie Khouri stood her ground not only on the characters of Thelma & Louise but also the men in her film. Per Geena Davis: “I heard [the screenwriter Callie Khouri] being interviewed and they told her, ‘We don’t think the men’s parts are good enough,’ and she said ‘So what?’”. Hehe.
So if you’re in the film industry and you find the topic of feminism and Hollywood as HUGELY important as I do, watch this movie a second time and maybe also check out the informative research at the Geena Davis Institute on Gender and Media.
And then maybe find the Thelma to your Louise (or vice versa), kick back with a bottle of Wild Turkey and make a plan to burn the world down.
For more menus, check out my movie directory here!
As I write this post, it is officially the one-week anniversary of learning the results of the 2020 election. What a ride the last seven days have been. And I could not think of a more appropriate movie to celebrate the outcome than The American …
Ahhh Call Me By Your Name, what a gorgeous film. Set in 1983, “somewhere in Northern Italy”, the plot revolves around a six-week summer romance between Oliver (a dopey, beautiful American with an insatiable lust for life and the song “Love My Way”) and Elio, …
Parasite was by far my favorite film of 2019. I’m almost never happy with award season outcomes, but Director Bong Joon-Ho more than deserved all of the wins– this is A+ cinema.
The movie focuses on the destitute Kim family in South Korea, who scam their way into the well-to-do household of the Parks. As tutors and servants, the Kims are able to worm their way into a world that they simultaneously mock and envy. Dark comedy combines with disturbing thriller, and in the process the audience is confronted by the negative (and currently lingering) effects of classicism and socio-economic disparity. And don’t get me started on the creeper in the basement…
What people may not realize is that, in addition to a number of other techniques and motifs, Bong Joon-Ho utilizes food throughout Parasite to get his point across. In this movie menu I’ve tried to reflect some of what I learned reading into the dishes from the film. Note, I didn’t make a cocktail– just plan on drinking all the booze you have in the house and you’ll be on theme.
Ram-Don helps to encapsulate the class divide showcased in Parasite. It's telling that Mrs. Park asks specifically for the highest quality Korean beef to be used in an instant noodle dish-- even when the Parks eat the "food of the lower class", they have to up-scale it. But Ram-Don is delicious with or without IMO. Cut the steak into ½ inch cubes, pat dry and season generously with salt and pepper. Heat oil over medium high heat and cook the steak through, about 4-5 minutes, turning the pieces to ensure that all sides brown. Set aside. Now it's time for your noodles-- if you're leery about spicy, you might want to start with half of the spice packets, but I used them all. Place a medium saucepan over the burner. Fill your saucepan without about 3 ½ cups water, and bring to a boil. Add all of the contents from the both noodle packets, and continue to boil until the noodles have softened and the water has reduced to a thick brown sauce, about 6 minutes—if you need to, you can add ¼ cup of water to continue cooking to desired level of noodle softness. Toss in steak cubes and stir, ensuring that steak is fully coated in the noodle sauce. Divide among two bowls, top with scallions and serve! Korean grocers and Asian markets are very likely to have these noodles in stock, but I found mine on Amazon. Of course, they were the American imports, so if anyone knows where to get the real deal stuff let me know. Rather than Da-Song's birthday cake, I baked a Taiwanese Castella cake-- the cake at the root of Geun-sae's debt and bizarre hermitage in the Park family's basement. A huge but short-lived fad in South Korea in 2016, Castella cake shops flooded the market until the bubble burst, and many middle-aged shop owners were left without a job or any savings. It's a sweet cake, so I've paired it with some soju soaked peaches (Moon-gwang's... favorite? Yeesh). Combine sugar, water and lemon zest in a small saucepan and bring to a boil-- simmer until the sugar is dissolved, and allow to cool. Add your peaches and soju and let soak while you bake your cake. Preheat oven to 350, and line a 5x9 baking pan with parchment paper-- by cutting the corners away, you can fold up the edges nicely against the sides of the pan. Lightly beat the eggs using a stand mixer at a low speed. Add the sugar and mix. Beat the egg at high speed for several minutes-- you are trying to get to an off-white color. Eventually, when you lift the mixer, a rippling pattern should remain on the surface. Dilute the honey with the heated water. Add it to the beaten egg and mix for 1 more minute at high speed. Switch to low speed and mix for about another minute until it has a fine, glossy texture. Next, add your bread flour into the egg mixture. At medium speed, whip for another minute until it has a smooth texture again. Pour the batter into your baking pan, and slash the batter in a zig zag patter to remove any air bubbles. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 325 and continue to bake for 30 minutes more. The baking temperature and time depend on the type of your oven, so adjust them accordingly if you think the top of the cake is getting too brown. To test done-ness, pierce the castella cake with a toothpick. With other cakes, you want the toothpick to come out completely dry-- but for a castella cake you're looking for a bit of moisture (dry and clean means the castella has lost its moist texture). IMMEDIATELY remove cake from the pan and peel away parchment paper. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and place in fridge for several hours (overnight is best to retain moisture). When ready to serve, slice and plate with soju soaked peaches. Castella cake is normally served without frosting or icing of any kind, but a nice dollop of whipped cream couldn't hurt if you've got it.
Ram-Don with Beef
Yield:
2 Servings
Cook Time:
30 minutes
Total Time:
30 minutes
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Castella Cake with Soju Peaches
Yield:
2 Servings + Leftover Cake
Cook Time:
2 hours 2 seconds
Additional Time:
12 hours
Total Time:
14 hours 2 seconds
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Recommended Products
It’s important that we remind ourselves that America is NOT the only producer of quality films. Parasite is a perfect example. We have to be more open to international and foreign language films. Here’s a list you can start with now.
Besides, subtitles are fun! Ok, end soap box rant.
For more menus, check out my movie directory here!
