The American President
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 President.
A pre-cursor in so many ways to the acclaimed series West Wing, The American President features a POTUS (Michael Douglas) who is struggling to maintain a high approval rating while staying true to his progressive campaign/staff (notably Michael J Fox and Martin Sheen). Insert badass environmental lobbyist Sydney Ellen Wade (portrayed by Adnette Bening), and you get big time romantic and political conflict– after all, smart women ALWAYS cause problems :/. Thankfully, The American President exists in a world full of walking-and-talking liberal ideology– by the end, you’re ready to book a ticket to DC and try your hand at politics. Surprised? The final Speech is a “quote” on IMDB. It’s Michael Douglas’s emphasis on the word “am” that does it. Gets me every time.
If you aren’t on the “left”, you might feel like this post and this movie aren’t for you. Except– watch it anyway. You may be feeling down, discouraged, and set upon by family, friends, the news, etc. But you have to give it to writer Aaron Sorkin and director Rob Reiner— underneath the Democratic doctrine, The American President reminds us what it’s like to have a Commander in Chief who values character, integrity, and honorable leadership above pettiness. We need to get back to that, yes??? After all, we have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them. If nothing else, I think we can all agree on that.
And now I shall step down from my soapbox to introduce my menu for The American President– a meaty yet slightly fancy pants dinner that’s perfect for two. Or, alternatively, for a single person binge-eating while dreaming of falling in love with the leader of the free world.
The Movie
The Menu
We'll have no Bob Rum-son drinks here-- this one is for all you left/left-leaning, anti-gun carrying, pro-environmentalism, BLM supporting patriots who like bourbon. Mix all ingredients in a whiskey glass with ice, and think progressive thoughts. The best night in Andrew Shepherd's White House is MEATLOAF NIGHT with daughter Lucy. Here's a blend of Shepherd's Pie (traditionally made with ground lamb) and classic American beef meatloaf that would make any woman weak in the knees. You should've seen me taking it out of the oven-- cheesy mashed potatoes mmmmmm. Begin with the mashed potatoes (let's be real, it's the best part). Boil for 15ish minutes until potatoes are softened-- you can test by shmushing a potato chunk with the bank of a fork and seeing if softened potato comes up between the tines. Drain potatoes and add to a mixing bowl with butter, half and half, most of the cheddar, and tsp of salt. Mix with a hand mixer until smooth. Cover and set aside with remaining cheese. Now for the Shepherd's Pie Meatloaf! Preheat your oven to 375. Sautee celery, onion, and garlic with olive oil until caramelized (about 7 minutes). Allow to cool before adding to a mixing bowl with lamb, beef, worcestershire, mustard, egg, tomato paste, thyme, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. Mix, and feel free to use your hands to shmush everything together (used to be my favorite disgusting part as a child). Now it's time to form your personal sized meatloaves. On a parchment lined baking sheet, divide your meat mixture into two portions and shape them into rough ovals. Make an indent in the center of each loaf-- this will accomodate your peas and carrot mix! Spoon your mashed potatoes on top and sprinkle remaining cheddar cheese. Spritz with a bit of extra oil, and place in the oven. Bake, until mashed potato topping is golden brown and meatloaf is fully cooked through (about 50 mins). Devour, pausing only if you happen to hit Andrew Shepherd's big speech moment. As mentioned, Shepherd's Pie is traditionally made with lamb (otherwise it's a Cottage Pie-- shepherds don't herd cows, after all). But if you don't have lamb, feel free to stick with all-beef or bison. Cooks just as well and tastes only slightly less good. Sydney Ellen Wade is intelligent, witty, and elegant-- right when you think you've got her pegged, she starts spouting French at state dinners. So OBVIOUSLY there's no better way to woo a woman like her than to find out what her state meat is. Sydney does love her hams. And potentially Dogwood. But I couldn't cut down a damn tree so here we are-- a delightful French salad with Virginia ham, gruyere, walnuts, and a dijon vinaigrette. Begin by assembling your ingredients. I have a ham steak here, since I didn't want to deal with an entire spiral Virginia ham-- take note men, I'm easier to impress than Sydney. For the dressing, use my simple French Vinaigrette here, and add a bit of greek yogurt for additional creaminess. Toss all of your other ingredients together and drizzle dressing on top. Super simple, elegant, and not too heavy before a romantic waltz with POTUS. What makes a Virginia Ham so special you ask? Check out this article-- who knew there were so many different varieties. Of course President Shepherd has to upstage every man ever with his first date itinerary. There's even a moment at the very beginning of said date when you see pink champagne flowing and a beautiful dessert "purse" filled with berries-- if you look VERY closely you can see on the menu that it's meant to be white chocolate filled with creme brulee. Well, I'm not a White House chef so the white chocolate "purse" didn't happen, but this (surprisingly easy!) white chocolate creme brulee with berries is pretty gd delicious. Hey, look-- it's all your ingredients! Note the patriotic color combo of red, white, and blue. I'm all about the details. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer over medium heat. Add the white chocolate and until it is melted. Remove from heat. In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks with 2 3/4 tbsp sugar and salt until smooth. Add the white chocolate mixture by the tablespoon-ful to the egg yolk mixture, whisking continually to prevent scramby eggs. AAdd the vanilla last. Pour custard batter into two 5 inch ramekins, and place each ramekin in a baking dish. Pour enough water into the baking dish so that a little over half of the ramekins are submerged (about 3/4 of an inch). This "water bath" is what will make your creme brulee set. Bake for about 45 minutes, until set (you'll know they're done when they only SLIGHTLY jiggle). Allow to cool, then refrigerate the custards until fully chilled. Just before serving, remove custards from the fridge and sprinkle a tsp full of sugar on top of each. Place under the broiler until caramelized, 3 to 4 minutes. Alternatively if you’re fancy like me, use a blow torch to caramelize the sugar. Top with a mix of blueberries and raspberries and SWOON.
The Democrat
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Instructions
Andrew Shepherd's Pie Meatloaf
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Instructions
Peel and cut your potatoes into 1 1/2 inch chunks. Toss into a pot of salted water and bring to a boil.
Notes
Frisee Salad with Virginia Ham
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First But not Last Date Dessert
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Epilogue
For half a second I considered making various favorite recipes from previous real-life Presidents. But that creme brûlée was calling to me. In any event, if you are curious here is an article that lists favorite foods of POTUSs from George Washington to 45. I especially appreciated reading about why and how FDR’s White House had such terrible food— apparently Eleanor Roosevelt didn’t feel it was right to have better dishes than those suffering through the Depression. Eleanor, I hope you and RBG are enjoying the afterlife eating bon bons and drinking expensive AF champagne together. You deserve it.
For more menus, check out my movie directory here!