Recipes for foodies and film nerds. Because life's too short for stale popcorn and crappy movies.
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids– a classic family film that made every child in the 1980’s crave Little Debbie’s. Also the movie that made me realize grown ups should ALWAYS listen to their pets. QUARK KNEW EVERYTHING THE ENTIRE TIME SZALINSKI. Set in an unspecified …
Soooo My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 is not the best film. I understand the 27% critics’ consensus on Rotten Tomatoes. However, I also understand the 73% Audience Score. Because this is the type of movie you can enjoy while acknowledging its faults! Plus, it’s …
Ok, so Temple of Doom isn’t the best of the Indiana Jones films, but it’s certainly not the worst. This assumes you even consider Crystal Skull to be part of the franchise, however; I myself am still pretending it was never made.
Technically a PREQUEL (which I dunno how I did NOT realize until now, mind blown), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom gets really dark– thematically, cinematically, and dare I say it, culinarily. Yep, it’s a word, look it up. At the outset, we find Indie in Shanghai, where he thwarts an assassination attempt, meets a pretty if obnoxious blonde (Kate Capshaw), and collects a precocious child side-kick (the amazing Ke Huy Quan). Together they escape from a Chinese crime boss and land themselves in India where a new quest awaits. Child slaves are set free, sacred stones are recovered– and all it takes is a lot of really gross food, so many bugs, demon hypnosis, and hearts getting ripped out of living chests. You know, your typical archaeological adventure. Anything goes!
To be clear, the movie has some issues. To start, some yeesh 1980’s ethnic stereotypes. But I’d have to agree with Ebert that this Spielberg/Lucas creation is a non-stop roller-coaster ride that is both terrifying and a whole lotta fun.
So, here is a menu that borrows from traditional Asian/Indian cuisines (like Temple of Doom), and also cheats a bit (also like Temple of Doom). I’ve based the structure on an Indian Thali— a large plate containing smaller dishes that are meant to be shared. No eyeball soup in this one, but there’s plenty of other fun homages to the feast at Pankot Palace– a meal used to foreshadow the sinister blasphemy transpiring beneath the city itself. You’ll like it, I swear.
PS Happy 80th Birthday today Harrison Ford. Such a stud.
Wow, holy smokes-- I had to make a salty, spiced, and bite-sized recipe for Short Round! And while XinJiang style beef on a stick would more likely be found on the Shanghai streets outside of Club Obi-Wan, I figured our favorite pick pocket would prefer them. Plus, Indie tries to fork Willie :[ and then literally skewers a man with bbq whilst inside the clerb-- making this appetizer all the more appropriate? PS this isn't related, but can we take a moment and appreciate the random ass cameo Dan Akroyd has at the beginning of Temple of Doom? If you haven't noticed it before, you're welcome. Thoroughly mix the first 10 ingredients-- this will be your short rib marinade! Smash your garlic cloves and drop into a ziploc bag-- add beef and onion slices as well. Pour marinade into the bag, squeezing out all of the air when you seal it. Massage the bag so the marinade fully covers everything inside and refrigerate for at least two hours or overnight. Skewer short rib cubes closely onto appetizer toothpicks, trying to keep any fatty pieces in between cubes and not facing the outside-- you want the fat to melt into each piece of neighboring meat. Heat grill or griddle pan on medium high. Transfer the beef skewers to the grill surface and cook, flipping every minute or so, until the beef is caramelized on all four sides. All in, you should be between 6-8 minutes. Just be sure you don't BURN YOUR FINGERS AND CRACK A NAIL! Sprinkle with sesame seeds and I know we have a cocktail recipe later, but these go VERY well with champagne, just sayin'. This app is NOT included in the Thali itself, intentionally. Keep that beef on the side, you blasphemers! Okie dokie Dr. Jones, hold onto your potatoes! When Indiana and co inexplicably survive a plane crash landing via raft in the middle of the Himalayan Mts (I think? I might've missed a map connecty dot), the beginning of their journey is just beginning. Enter the myth of the sacred Sankara stones, which I have always thought looked like really well roasted baked potatoes. So I made baby Bombay Aloo Sankara stones-- yes, it's a British-ized Indian dish, but let's be real this movie is far from authentic anyway. Begin by placing your potatoes in a pot of salt water-- bring to a boil, and cook for roughly 8 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Using a sharp knife, but three lines into the front facing surface of each potato (representing the three levels of the earth, obviously). Angle the knife a bit to deepen and widen the cut slightly. Gather your remaining bombay aloo base ingredients: tomatoes, onion, spices, ginger, and garlic. In a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat, caramelize the onions in oil. Add the garlic and ginger, followed by the spices and fry for another 2 mins-- stir constantly to avoid burning. Throw in the tomato mixture and bring to a gentle simmer. Add the potatoes to the pan and toss to combine/warm through. Season with salt, to taste. When ready to eat, garnish with fresh cilantro. You're insulting them, and you're embarrassing me, EAT IT. No but really you collective Willie's, this North Indian style dal is delicious, and a very common dish in a traditional Thali. That said, feel free to use whatever lentils you have, play around with the beans, and eat the end result with your hands like the Mayapore villagers do. Some of these base ingredients should look familiar by now: Begin with your masala by caramelizing the onions in butter for roughly 10 mins over medium low heat. Add in ginger and garlic and continue to stir-- reduce heat slightly if anything begins to brown/burn. Toss in herbs, followed by tomato puree. Add in broth and simmer for roughly 30 minutes until much of the liquid has cooked down. Season with salt to taste. Add your lentils and beans and stir to warm through-- about another 5 minutes. Stir in 1/8 cup of yogurt, and use the remainder for garnish. Traditionally this Dal Makhani is made with black lentils, but I had a mish mash (red, brown, and black) from Trader Joes and other places. Turned out great. Aaah, snake surprise! Just, a less steamy/disgusting version. Traditionally Thali has a refreshing raw vegetable dish to help curb the salty richness of other foods included-- so, here is a sushi-esque kachumber "snake surprise" salad. I promise you, no fingers were harmed during the making of this recipe. It's so much easier to make than it looks. Start with your cucumber. Set up to chopsticks lengthwise on each side of the cumber to help brace it-- these are what will prevent you from cutting all the way through it. With a very sharp knive, make angled cuts as thin as you can (2-3mm width) all the way down the cucumber. Flip over, and make angled cuts in the opposite direction. You should end up with an accordian like effect. In a pie dish or baking pan, whisk salt into 6 cups of water and stir until dissovled. Soak your cucumbers in this mixture for 30 minutes, refrigerated. You'll end up with a freakishly flexible cuc! Ewwwwww. While the cucumber is softening/marinating, get your salad ingredients together: Toss to combine and when ready to serve, pour/sprinkle over your kachumber snake, making sure to collect and drizzle any tomato-y juices over the cucumber. As I said, a much better alternative to doublefisting snake babies into your mouth. Yah, yah, snakes are terrifying. But good god the BUGS in this movie. First it's the big beetles served at dinner, then it's the hordes of live bugs crawling and creeping and crunching like fortune cookies and eeeee. But I guess, fortune and glory, kid. Fortune and glory. Thankfully, I'm not serving up bugs-- I'm not CRUEL. But shell-on shrimp, the cockroaches of the sea, seemed like the next best thing. Espeically when kicked up a notched as a curry. Begin with your shrimp-- without removing the shells, soak in salt water for a minimum of 10 minutes to help remove any fishiness. Add to a pan with 1 tbsp of melted butter-- sautee on high for a minute until shells begin to crisp and the innards look opaque. Gather up the rest of your base ingredients... And sautee as you have done in all previous dishes. Caramelize onions with remaining 1 tbsp of butter for about 10 mins over medium heat. Add ginger, garlic, and spices-- stir to combine and slightly toast. Add liguids and simmer for another minute before adding shrimp-- toss to coat and warm through. To eat, do peel the shrimp. If you need a how to, just watch this guy dismember a beetle. YUM DESSERT. Turns out I decided to use a base of royal custard and spiced berry compote without even realizing that's what they used on set! So enjoy your fruit-- and maybe keep some by the bed for when you get hungry... after. For the custard: heat 2 1/2 cups milk in a medium saucepan and whisk in 4 tbsp sugar until completely dissolved. In a separate bowl, mix the custard powder with 1/2 cup milk until smooth-- this will prevent lumpies. Add this mix gradually to the heated milk in the sauce pan and stir it continuously When it starts to thicken, add vanilla and saffron until the custard hits a goldeny yellow color. Remove from heat and allow to cool, making sure to cover the surface completely with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming. Now for your spiced berry compote, ie monkey brains. Throw all of the remaining ingredients excl the water into a washed out saucepan-- simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly, and adding water by the tbsp full to prevent the berries from sticking. In about 15 minutes, you'll have a syrupy compote. Set aside to chill until ready to serve. Once you've finished your snakes, bugs, and other assorted goodies, pour your custard into the most macabre vessel you can find and top with compote. Serve chilled, because obviously. Kali Maaaaaa, Kali MAAAAA. I had to acknowledge Mola Ram and the heart removal scene SOMEHOW. And since I couldn't find beef heart anywhere (and didn't want to particularly cook it), here's a blood-like beet-ing heart recipe that yep, I set on FIRE. It might make you feel like you're being rapidly dropped into a pit of hot lava-- but in a good way! Add all ingredients excluding the garnish materials to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake until chilled, and pour into two glasses. Fill the orange caps with addition bourbon, and ignite (using a long match or long lighter, don't set yourself on fire). Om Namha Shivaye it's good!
Short Round Short Rib Skewers
Yield:
Enough for an energetic and very sassy child
Prep Time:
2 hours
Cook Time:
8 minutes
Total Time:
2 hours 8 minutes
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Bombay Aloo Sankara Stones
Yield:
2 servings
Cook Time:
45 minutes
Total Time:
45 minutes
Ingredients
Instructions
Mayapore Dal
Yield:
2 Servings
Cook Time:
45 minutes
Total Time:
45 minutes
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Snake Surprise
Prep Time:
40 minutes
Cook Time:
10 minutes
Total Time:
50 minutes
Ingredients
Instructions
"Crunchy" Shrimp Curry
Cook Time:
30 minutes
Total Time:
30 minutes
Ingredients
Instructions
Chilled "Monkey Brains"
Cook Time:
30 minutes
Total Time:
30 minutes
Ingredients
Instructions
Bloody Beeting Heart... On Fire
Yield:
2 cocktails
Ingredients
Instructions
Welp, pressure’s on now for a Last Crusade menu. I must choose my recipes… wisely. Or else.
In the meantime, I hear Fornite has added an Indiana Jones secret room to their game. It’s a whole thing. Go play, you crazy kids!
For more menus, check out my movie directory here!
To all my fellow frump girls out there, I give you My Big Fat Greek Wedding– still the highest grossing romantic comedy of all time! A huge thank you to Rita Wilson, who saw the play and told her husband Tom Hanks they should EP …
For a period of time in the 60’s and 70’s, Albert Lamorisse’s short film Le Ballon Rouge (The Red Balloon) was one of the most acclaimed and beloved children’s movies in the world. I myself was not exposed to this charming fantasy short until college, …
If you are reading this at the beginning of April– here is a not-so-traditional movie menu for Easter! At first you may not think Monty Python and the Holy Grail fits the spring holiday vibe, but think again. You’ve got religion (God be praised!), gatherings of friends and family (with routines and chorus scenes with footwork impec-cable), and not one but TWO rabbit appearances (the second with NASTY, POINTY TEETH).
So everyone else can keep their deviled eggs and insipid peeps. I’m happy with dismembered chicken, thank you very much!
Is Monty Python and The Holy Grail the funniest movie ever made? I honestly think it might be. Co-directed by the two Terry’s (Gilliam and Jones) in 1975, it is the Monty Python troupe’s first real journey to the cinema after years of sketch comedy for television. The story is of course focused on King Arthur and his legendary quest for the Holy Grail, and makes amazing use of historical and cinematic source material for medieval gags. Together with his following of incompetent/irrationally violent/not so brave Round Table knights, King Arthur must contend with snobbish French aristocrats with out-RAGEOUS accents, irritable peasants with too firm a grasp on economics, sorcerers, monsters, and the British police. The Dark Ages were a bitch.
I cannot say how many times my brother and I annoyed my parents with “he’s going to tell, he’s going to tell, he’s going to tell, he’s going to tell” , or walked slowly around our house singing some garbled version of “pie iesu domine, dona eis requim” and smashing our heads with books. But I’m sure this is exactly the type of lunacy Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, and the two Terry’s would have appreciated. Perhaps Life of Brian would’ve been more thematically appropriate for Easter, but after all– no bunnies.
OK, let’s GET ON WITH IT. “And the people did feast upon the lambs, and sloths, and carp, and anchovies, and orangutans, and breakfast cereals, and fruit bats, and large chu–” Skip it. I did not make those things. But I did make other delicious things you could eat for lunch OR dinner. Please do enjoy, together with a side stitch-inducing screening of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Special thanks goes to Moose trainer Yutte Hermsgervørdenbrøtbørda as well as “Ralph” the Wonder Llama.
YOU'RE MOTHER WAS A HAMPSTER, AND YOU'RE FATHER SMELT.. OF ELDERBERRIES! Who knew Elderberry syrup was widely available online, and good for your immune system to boot? Mix your first four ingredients-- top off with chilled gin and champagne (if you're a wicked, bad, naughty Zoot) OR club soda (you're such a Galahad, you prude). No I didn't cook real rabbit-- I'm not a monster aaaaaaaaaagh. But trust me when I say that this Scottish version of rarebit (the historical poor man's rabbit in the UK) is a scrummy alternative. It's basically cheese on toast with a BITE (get it?). Now for the recipe. Follow! BUT-- follow only if ye be men of valor! Begin with a roux-- melt butter in a sauce pan over medium heat until foaming, then add flour. Stir and allow to cook for a minute or two, until the smell of flour fades and you have a popcorn-smelling wet sand texture. Add your remaining ingredients (except the bread, you silly K-nig-hts), and stir over medium-low heat until melted. Keep your cheese mixture warm while you lightly toast your bread. Pour cheese sauce over bread and summon fire without flint or tinder-- ie toast the cheese with a blow torch or under a broiler. To avoid burning the toast, I suggest counting to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. And now, brave knights! If you do doubt your courage or your strength, come no further, for death awaits you all with nasty, big, pointy teeth... RUN AWAAAAAY! It's clearly not just a flesh wound... This is a fool proof recipe inspired by Monty Python and the Holy Grail's Black Knight-- a spatchcocked, blackened, and dismembered chicken with a bloody delicious sauce. If you want to be extra on-the-nose, I recommend starting with the wings before moving on to the legs. Spatchcocking a chicken is actually super easy. First, remove the giblets and set aside-- these will help flavor your sauce. Next, pat the bird dry with paper towels and place on a large cutting board, breast side down. Using sharp kitchen scissors, remove backbone by cutting along either side of it. Reserve the spine along with the giblets. Cut a slit at the base of the neck to encourage the flattening process. Nevermind that the underside of the chicken looks like the incubator horseshoe crab monster from Alien-- that is another movie entirely and we don't have any time for non-Monty Python allusions. Turn chicken over and lay out flat. Press firmly the breast with the palm of your hand to flatten the bird. Mix 1 tsp paprika, brown sugar, oregano, salt and pepper, and sprinkle 1/3 on the now underside of the chicken, and 2/3 on the breast side. Refrigerate, uncovered, for 2 hours. About an hour before you are ready to eat, take your chicken out of the fridge and allow to sit at room temperature for about ten minutes. Next, heat your grill for 5 minutes on high. Clean and oil your grilling grate-- you don't want other nasty food bits sticking to your chicken. Reduce the back burner to medium low heat, and reduce front to medium high. Place chicken, breast side up, on cooler side of grill, with legs facing toward hotter side. Cover the grill and cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of breast registers 110F (about 35 minutes). While chicken is grilling, make your sauce. Melt butter in a sauce pan with flour for another, loose roux. Add liquids, giblets and spine, onion powder and 1 tbsp paprika and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and allow to simmer until slightly thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Now, back to your chicken. After you've reached your 110 degrees, flip your bird and place on hotter side of grill, skin side down, with breasts pointed toward cooler side. Press down firmly with a wide, stiff spatula to ensure good contact between bird and grill grates. Cover and cook until skin is crisp and an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of breast registers 160°F, about 10 minutes longer. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. A shrubbery for the Knights who saaaaay... NI! One that looks nice. And not too expensive. And a path running down the middle. And a vinaigrette made wiiiiith... A HERRING! You might think that herring in a vinaigrette sounds cringe worthy, aka Ekki-ekki-ekki-ekki-PTANG, Zoom-Boing, z'nourrwringmm. But it's NOT. It works very similarly to an anchovy in a salad dressing, and you can dial it up or down based on preference. So, start by mashing your herring filet into a paste-- I ended up with a heaping tsp, which was just enough for a hint of brine. Combine with vinegar, lemon juice, capers, salt and pepper. Whisk in olive oil, until emulsified, and add more salt and pepper to taste. Set aside. Now for your shrubbery assembly-- pile your greens high on both sides of a path (a path! a path!) of radish and cucumber slices, and drizzle with vinaigrette. A lovely little salad worthy of Roger, the shrubber. It's very easy-- oh no! I said it! oh no I said it again! If you really don't like/don't feel like buying herring, feel free to use my french vinaigrette recipe-- simple and delicious.
Elderberry Fizz
Yield:
2 Cocktails
Cook Time:
5 minutes
Total Time:
5 minutes
Ingredients
Instructions
Scottish Rarebit
Yield:
2 Servings
Prep Time:
10 minutes
Cook Time:
10 minutes
Total Time:
20 minutes
Ingredients
Instructions
Dismembered Chicken
Prep Time:
2 hours
Cook Time:
45 minutes
Additional Time:
15 minutes
Total Time:
3 hours
Ingredients
Instructions
Transfer chicken to a cutting board and allow to rest, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes. Hack into pieces and serve with strained sauce.
A Shrubbery!
Yield:
2 Servings
Cook Time:
10 minutes
Total Time:
10 minutes
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Huzzah! A solution for the put upon 5oz swallow (African or otherwise) tasked with carrying a 1lb coconut from tropical climes. Gone are the days when we ask our avian friends to simply "grip it by the husk!" Introducing this coconut cookie, a tasty treat from Nigeria light enough for birds of (almost all) air speed velocities.
Preheat the oven to 350F. Mix together the coconut, sugar and egg yolks to form a stiff, dough-like consistency.
Take a little of the mixture and squeeze into balls about 1 inch in diameter. Coat with additional flour and arrange on a baking tray.
Bake for 15 minutes until golden in color, and serve inside coconut halves if you're fancy and only once you've finished playing horsie with them.
Splitting a coconut is surprisingly simple-- use a hammer to pierce the "eyes" and let the juice out, then hit the coconut with the hammer in a full rotation around the middle. A hairline crack will appear and then widen.
Undoubtedly there will be a Two Crumbs Up Monty Python and the Holy Grail Part 2. I really want to make some watery tarts. And a giant Trojan rabbit. But the above will do for now.
In the meantime, I’m now rewatching Monty Python and the Holy Grail for the fifth time in two days. This scene is still making me cackle:
UPDATE: The team at Monty Python just posted all of the above recipes on their official website. I’m floored. You can check them out here.
If you’re anywhere in my vicinity today, watch out– I’ll be doing a silly walk out of pure joy.
For more menus, check out my movie directory here!
MY FIRST EVER DOUBLE FEATURE! It’s St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow and I figured there’s no better time to subject myself to a roller coaster of emotions– after all, you have Irish stew and all the alcohol you need to balance everything out. Consequently, here are …
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 …
I don’t really like musicals. Yep, I said it. But I LOVE Hamilton. I saw it twice—the first time as a favor to a person unloading a ticket in LA (the fool! Sorry Jess), and the second time with my Ma in Chicago.
If you’re familiar with Hamilton, you probably know that it focuses on seminal moments in American history during and just after the country’s revolution against the British. Despite Lin Manuel Miranda’s admitted failure to fully acknowledge some huge issues (slavery, hi hello), at the time Hamilton put a spotlight on America’s immigrant heritage and supplied a musical counterweight to the xenophobic and anti-immigration rhetoric that, btw, is still a huge <expletive> problem.
So, for this menu I chose what many view as quintessentially “American” dishes and tried to acknowledge their often non-American (or otherwise TRULY American) origins.
And now, without further ado, I give you the inimitable, original (and only sometimes off-key when it comes to Lin Manuel): HAMILTON.
Apple pie is a staple at most American holiday tables, and I'm not complaining. BUT, apples aren't from America at all-- they actually originated in Asia. In honor of the apple's true birthplace, I've created a cocktail that combines sake, apple cider, and bourbon that tastes suprisingly like apple pie. It's time to take a SHOT. Combine all ingredients over ice and stir with cinammon stick. Did you know: fried chicken has origins in Scotland and in West Africa. Though, the latter version was enhanced by all sorts of spices. In this recipe, I've incorporated jerk seasonings in acknowledgement of Alexander Hamilton's Caribbean birthplace Nevis, and the little-to-never acknowledged Taino and African slave populations who brought these marinades to America. On the night prior to cooking, or early in the morning on the day of, assemble the jerk marinade. Whisk ingredients 2-16 (that is, the pepper, scallions, spices, and liquids through to the vegetable oil) until fully incorporated. Taste, and add more bonnet pepper if you feel you can handle the spice! Place the chicken pieces in a plastic bag and pour the marinade in-- seal tightly, making sure to squeeze as much of the air out of the bag as possible. Refrigerate overnight or at the very least for 8 hours before cooking. After you've prepped all you can for your other meal items (hint hint, look at the other recipes in this Hamilton menu), preheat the oven (if it's not heated already) to 375 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, and place a wire rack over it. You can now set up your fry station! Remove the chicken from the marinade and set it aside to come to room temperature. Do not throw the marinade away! Strain it into a bowl, and discard the solid materials-- this will be your base for your fry wet mix. Whisk an egg into the marinade liquid until fully incorporated. Then, on a plate or in a shallow bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, and enough salt and pepper to flavor the dry mix. First, dredge the chicken pieces in the flour mixture, then dunk into the wet mixture, then re-dredge in the flour mixture. You should see a stubstantial amount of crust forming. Work piece by piece, setting your fully breaded pieces onto the pressed cookie sheet once finished. Let the pieces rest for as long as you can prior to frying, as the more air time they get, the crustier they become! Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet over medium high heat-- you'll know it's ready when drops of water cause it to pop! Add your chicken pieces, tryjng not to overcrowd them. If you can't fit them all, don't worry, you can work in batches. Fry each side for 4-5 minutes each, turning as the crust becomes golden brown. You may need to adjust the heat if the chicken seems like it's browning too fast. Once golden on both sides, place the chicken pieces back on the cookie sheet and finish off in the oven. This should taken about 10 minutes, or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of around 165 degrees. Remove the chicken from the oven and let sit for a few minutes before serving. This recipe is great for leftovers-- just reheat in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes until the skin recrisps! So, the obvious link here is to Angelicaaa, ElIIIIza (and Peggy), the Schyler sisters who at various times challenge and bolster Alexander Hamilton throughout the production. But the more subtle tie is actually to traditional Native American cuisine. Who needs corn on the cob when you could have the "three sisters"-- beans, corn, and squash, the staple ingredients for numerous Native American tribes. Insted of a traditional soup, I've made a light salad to help compensate for the fried and cheesy parts of this menu, with a few southwestern spices to kick the flavor up a notch. First, whisk together oil, vinegar, honey, cumin, jalepeno, and a pinch each of salt and pepper until fully combined. Vinaigrette can be made in advance and refrigerated until salad assembly, up to a week. Set a medium pot of salted water to boil. Add corn and boil for 5-7 minutes until kernels are brightened and tender (but not mushy!). Remove corn from water and cool. Next, using a sharp knife, cut kernels away from the ear, if possible keeping the pieces attached. Set aside. Using a mandolin, very thinly slice zucchini at a slight angle-- slices should be almost transparent. Also set these aside. When you are ready to assemble, toss together the corn, zucchini, beans, parsley and vinaigrette. Top with feta cheese, sprinkle with flaky salt and add a healthy squeeze of lemon juice. Apparently Thomas Jefferson introduced macaroni to America whaaaaaat. As a widely regarded Euro-snob, Jefferson brought many of the foods and trends he enjoyed overseas back to the States, including an early recipe (and pasta making machine) for macaroni. But he was only one of many who contributed a distinct European flair to origins of the USA-- this one also goes out to everyone's favorite fighting Frenchman LAFAYETTE (Daveed Diggs in both roles omg amiright?). Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease the 3-quart baking dish with butter. Melt butter in a medium-sized pot and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk (it should turn a nice golden brown and smell kinda like popcorn). Whisk in the milk and half and half and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth. Remove the pot from the heat, add the cheese, pepper, and mustard. Add the cooked macaroni, half the pancetta, and stir well. Salt to taste. Pour into the baking dish. If you can't locate lardons or pancetta, you can always chop up some bacon!
Not So American As Apple Pie Cocktail
Yield:
1 serving
Ingredients
Instructions
Fried Jerk Chicken
Yield:
2 servings
Prep Time:
15 minutes
Cook Time:
30 minutes
Additional Time:
8 hours
Total Time:
8 hours 45 minutes
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Three Sisters Salad
Yield:
2 servings
Cook Time:
30 minutes
Total Time:
30 minutes
Ingredients
Instructions
Mac & Cheese with Gruyere and Bacon Lardons
Yield:
2 LARGE servings
Prep Time:
20 minutes
Cook Time:
45 minutes
Total Time:
1 hour 5 minutes
Ingredients
Instructions
Add the macaroni to a large pot of boiling salted water and cook according to the directions on the package, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain well.
Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, combine them with the bread crumbs. Off heat, add reserved parmesan, and sprinkle in the pepper/salt. Sprinkle bread crumb mixture on top of mac, together with the remaining pancetta. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.
Notes
If you liked this meal, you’ll probably appreciate one of my favorite cookbooks “The Immigrant Cookbook: Recipes that Make America Great”. Collected by Leyla Mousabeck, the book features the recipes of renowned chefs from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Europe, and Australia. Enrique Olvera’s Scallop Aguachile is especially delightful…
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For more menus, check out my movie directory here!