Wine Country (2020)

Yes, I am still watching a lot of fluff in the aftermath of my eye surgery.  Not being able to see is far worse than anything that I have had to do or not do personally in the pandemic and has kind of put that into a sort of perspective. 
 This is a movie based on a real event with the cast who actually did the trip.  That in and of itself is noteworthy.  The “Saturday Night Live” women who populate this movie are all longtime friends, connected by comedy, who’ve shared trips like the one depicted here. Rachel Dratch’s actual 50^th birthday prompted a group jaunt to Napa, just as her on film character’s 50^th birthday inspires the on-screen antics. But they’re all playing versions of themselves: Poehler, directing her first feature film and co-starring as the trip’s bossy organizer, has acknowledged that she’s the one who always keeps the others on schedule. Tina Fey plays the Airbnb manager and is wise and droll.  Maya Rudolph, who has four kids in real life plays a character who’s happy to have a break from her four kids. Emily Spivey and Liz Cackowski, (who has a brief, amusing role as an uptight sommelier), both former “SNL” writers and members of this crew, wrote the script. So I am glad this examination of women on the cusp of the second half of their lives exist, but somehow I wish they had "Big Chill"'ed it up a bit.  Well worth watching, and streaming on Netflix.

Vietnamese Rice Crepe

Andrea Nguyen is serious about spreading the gospel of easy to prepare Vietnamese food.  There is a video on the Splendid Table's web site that should be watched in order to increase the likelihood that you will make these perfectly, but as with all things that I have made from this cookbook, there is no need to go out for this food when you can make it this well at home.

BATTER

• 4 1/4 ounces white rice flour (such as Bob’s Red Mill)

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

• 1/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric

• 3/4 cup tepid water mixed with 3/4 cup freshly boiled water (rest boiled water 1 minute and then measure), plus more water as needed

• 1/3 cup full-fat, unsweetened coconut milk (shake or stir before using)

FILLING

• 10 ounces pork, beef, or chicken, roughly chopped to loosen

• 8 ounces small shrimp, peeled and deveined

• 4 medium white mushrooms or fresh shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced, stems included

• 1/2 small red or yellow onion, thinly sliced

• Fine sea salt

• 3 cups bean sprouts

• Canola or other neutral oil for cooking

• Leaves from 1 large head soft-leaf lettuce (such as butter, Boston, or red or green leaf)

• 1 small handful mint, basil, or other soft-leaf fresh herbs (except cilantro)

• 1 small handful cilantro

• 1 cup Nuoc Cham Dipping Sauce

To make the batter In a medium bowl, whisk together the rice flour, cornstarch, salt, and turmeric. Whisk in the water and then the coconut milk. Let the yellow batter sit, uncovered, for 30 to 45 minutes, to thicken to the consistency of half-and-half (it will be slightly gritty from the flour). Whisk in more water, 1 teaspoon at a time, to thin out the batter, if needed (when I have to add water, it’s usually no more than 1 tablespoon). The batter may be made up to 2 days ahead and stored, covered, in the refrigerator; bring to room temperature before using.

To prep the filling In order to cook efficiently with less mess, pre-portion the filling components. Divide the pork, shrimp, mushrooms, and onion onto six small pieces of parchment paper, creating a pile of goodies for each crepe. Sprinkle each portion with a pinch of salt. Set on a tray or baking sheet and keep near the stove with the batter and bean sprouts.

Place a large cooling rack on a baking sheet for the cooked crepes. Preheat the oven to Warm or to its lowest setting.

To fry the crepes In a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, warm 2 to 3 teaspoons of the canola oil. When the oil is very hot and shimmering, add a portion of filling and stir-fry for 45 seconds, breaking up the meat with a spatula until it no longer looks raw; the mushrooms will probably look moist. Make a line down the middle to divide the ingredients into two half-circles; this will ensure the crepe later folds over easily. Lower the heat slightly if you feel things are out of control; you can always turn it up later!

Stir the batter vigorously with a ladle until there is no more drag, sludge, or separation. Scoop up about ⅓ cup batter and pour into the skillet, distributing it around the filling. Pick up the skillet and swirl the batter to coat the bottom (and maybe run up the sides); the batter should set around the filling and form a handsome round. If needed, add more batter to quickly fill in empty spots. (If the batter didn’t sizzle and bubble upon contact, the skillet wasn’t hot enough. If it did bubble but was hard to swirl around, lower the heat or thin out the batter with water, or do both. Making these crepes is akin to making pancakes: adjust as you go.)

Pile about 3/4 cup bean sprouts on one side of the skillet, lower the heat slightly, and cover the pan with a lid to steam; if it’s a tight fit, slide the lid so it’s ajar to allow a bit of venting. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the bean sprouts soften slightly, then uncover the pan and drizzle 1 to 2 teaspoons oil around the rim. Lower the heat again (I’m typically at medium at this point) to gently fry and crisp, 3 to 4 minutes. When the crepe is golden brown at the edge, use a spatula to peek underneath. Is it mostly crisp from the rim to the center? If not, fry a little longer; and if needed, add oil and raise the heat. Be patient. When you’re satisfied, slide a spatula under one side and lift to fold the crepe over. No big deal if it breaks in the center.

Slide the finished crepe onto the prepared rack and hold in the oven, or if serving immediately, transfer to a dinner plate. Rewarm the skillet over medium-high heat and repeat the whole process to make another five crepes. If at any time the batter feels too thick, add water, 1 teaspoon at a time, to thin it out. If you have two medium skillets, use both like a pro to speed things up.

Serve the crepes with the lettuce, herbs, cilantro, and dipping sauce. Pass around one or two pairs of kitchen scissors to cut the crepes into manageable pieces. To eat, tear a piece of lettuce roughly the size of your palm, place a piece of the crepe on it, and add a few herb leaves. Fold into a bundle and dunk into the dipping sauce.

 

The Perfect Sandwich Bread?

Our youngest and my spouse are both big fans of the perfect sandwich, and by association, the perfect bread upon which to build such a sandwich.  Our Food 52 cookbook group is doing Priya Krishna's Indian-ish this month and she describes a grilled yogurt sandwich that requires an excellent sandwich bread, so this is the current candidate.

• 3 ¹/₄ cups bread flour (433 grams) (see note above regarding alternative flours)
  
• 3 ¹/₄ cups all-purpose flour (433 grams)
  
• 2 teaspoons instant or active dry yeast (8 grams)
  
• 1 ¹/₂ tablespoons kosher salt (14 grams)
  
• 3 cups water (709 grams)

1. Combine flours, yeast, and salt in a large bowl. Add water and stir together with a wooden spoon to form a shaggy dough. Cover with plastic wrap or a tea towel and let proof at room temperature for around 5 hours. At this point the dough can be used immediately, or covered with plastic wrap and kept in the fridge for up to two weeks.
2. On baking day, remove half of the dough from the bowl and return the remainder to the fridge. Turn the dough out on a floured surface and lightly knead 3–4 times. Shape dough into a rectangle approximately 8 in. x 12 in. Fold one third of the dough into the center, followed by the other third.
3. Place seam side-down in a buttered loaf pan. Cover and let rise for approximately 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.
4. Preheat your oven to 450°. Dust the top of the dough with a little flour and score with a serrated knife. Bake for 30–35 minutes, or until the top of the loaf has just begun to brown. Let cool for at least an hour before slicing.

 

 

Miracle (2004)

I am still pretty uncomfortable a full week after having my eye operated on for a detached retina.  That surprises me not at all, but it has definitely had a negative effect on my reading productivity and I am looking for things to watch that do not engage my brain too much.  This movie, about the 1980 US Olympic hockey team's surprise victory over the Soviet Union team, is just that.

I am surprised that I missed this when it came out.  My kids were old enough that we were not watching absolutely every Disney film to come out (and it was before Disney Plus, when you could watch every Disney movie).  I do remember this, having been in college at the time, but still very much a fan of both the summer and winter Olympics.  The movie is largely about the college coach Herb Brooks (played in a very taciturn manner by Kurt Russell) who was hired to try to make a real stab at beating the Russians, which he did by beating them at their own game.  Very entertaining, especially if you like underdog stories.
 

Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream

Andrea Nguyen strikes again.  Even her desserts are delicious!  This is like a glass of the best Vietnamese coffee, frozen edition.

• 1-1/2 to 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Brimming 2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
• Fine sea salt

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream, cold
• Brimming 1/3 cup full-fat sweetened condensed milk
• Scant 1 tablespoon molasses

1. In a medium bowl, combine 1½ teaspoons of the vanilla, the espresso, a pinch of salt and stir to mix well; it will seem slightly sludgy. Add the cream, condensed milk, and molasses. Taste and, if you want to boost the flavor a touch, add more vanilla, ¼ teaspoon at a time; the amount required depends on the vanilla and your palate. An extra pinch of salt sometimes helps too.
2. With an electric handheld mixer fitted with two beaters or a whisk attachment, whip the mixture at high speed for about 3 minutes, until you get a firm, spreadable texture like fluffy whipped cream or frosting. Transfer to a 3-to 4-cup storage container, cover, and freeze until firm, 5 to 6 hours, or up to 2 weeks.
3. Let the ice cream sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes to soften to a scoopable texture before serving.

 

Sweet Potato Biscuits

 This is yet another great recipe from Toni Tipton Martin's recent cookbook, Jubilee (which won the James Beard award for Best American Cookbook, deservedly so).  The recipe states that these are to be eaten with ham, and that is what we were having, so my eldest son endeavored to make this.  I really enjoyed them, and they were perfect with the meat.

• 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

• 2 tbsp. baking powder

• 2 tsp. kosher salt

• 6 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

• 6 tbsp. leaf lard, cut into small pieces

  

• ½ cup mashed cooked sweet potato, chilled

• 2½ cups buttermilk

• Heavy cream and raw unrefined sugar, for topping

Preheat the oven to 425°F (if your oven runs hot, go for 375° to 400°F). Put a pizza stone (or a couple of cast-iron skillets) in the oven and let it preheat for 1 hour or so—you want it superhot.

In a large bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter and leaf lard and cut it in with your fingers until the mixture is crumbly and resemble




s coarse sand. Some big chunks of butter are fine. Put the bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Remove the bowl from the freezer and cut in the mashed sweet potatoes with a fork until just incorporated. The mixture will be lumpy.

Make a well in the center of the mixture and add the buttermilk. Mix together with your fingers just until the dough comes together. Do not overmix—you are not looking for a highly cohesive, smooth dough.

Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and use your hands to shape it roughly into an 8 by 8-inch square about 2 inches thick (do not knead or fold the dough). Use a 2½-inch biscuit cutter to cut out rounds of dough. Place the biscuits on a baking sheet and freeze for 5 minutes.

Remove the baking sheet from the freezer. Transfer the biscuits to the preheated pizza stone (or cast-iron pans). Brush the tops with heavy cream and raw sugar. Bake for about 1 hour, or until the tops are browned. Remove from the oven and let the biscuits rest, covered, for 5 minutes before serving.

Always Be My Maybe (2019)

Happy birthday to my first middle child!

I am still on my post eye surgery pandemic movie fare of incredibly light romantic comedies, and this fits the bill.  This is a tale of childhood crushes becoming a life partnership.  The young Sasha Tran and Marcus Kim (with their adult selves played by Wong and Park respectively) are next-door neighbors in San Francisco. Often neglected by her parents who work long hours, Sasha seems accustomed to preparing her own dinners—she can make even a can of spam look fancy—and learning the intricate details of Korean cuisine from Marcus’ sweet, sacrificing mom. This portrayal of Asian families opening their home to waifs of all sorts was definitely part of my growing up experience.  My friend whose parents emigrated from China took me in and fed me, teaching me both how to cook and how to eat.  Their Indonesian friends, equally welcoming with feasts, did even more to help my palate expand. With Sasha spending most of her time with Marcus’ family, the two kids grow up as friends, and then by happenstance lose their virginity to each other as teens but then when Marcus’ mother dies , have an awkward falling out in their formative years. 

Cut to 15 years later, and Sasha is now among America’s hottest celebrity chefs in Los Angeles.  The two get back together in awkward and hesitant ways, he calling her inauthentic and she calling him a coward.  The whole thing is less cringeworthy than it sounds and I very much enjoyed this.
 

Vietnamese Fried Rice

Andrea Nguyen is my new Asian cooking hero.  I owned three of her cookbooks before I bought Vietnamese Food Any Day, and I really hadn't much gotten in to any of them.  We have now had about 25 or more recipes from her new cookbook, and I have quite a few marked to try.  For example, the soup chapter is largely untouched and winter is coming.  This method for making a quick fried rice with what you have on hand is quick and easy--I had it on the table in less than 10 minutes with leftover rice.

• 3 cups cooked rice
  
• 2 tablespoooil or butter (I used butter)
  
• 2cloves chopped garlic
  
• 1 - 1 ¹⁄₂ cup cooked protein
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 scallion, white and green parts, chopped
• salt to taste
  

• Stir the rice to prevent lumps. Set with the remaining ingredients near the stove—this recipe comes together quickly.
• In a large nonstick or carbon-steel skillet over high heat, warm 1 tablespoon of the fat. When the fat is nearly shimmering, add the garlic and stir-fry for 10 to 15 seconds, until aromatic. Add the leftovers and cook, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes to reheat and refresh. Add the rice and stir-fry for about 2 minutes, until warm and slightly revived.
• Push the rice to the skillet’s perimeter to create a 4-inch-well in the middle. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon fat to the well, pour in the egg, then pour the fish sauce around the rim of the well (onto the rice). Quickly stir-fry to break up, scramble,.
• and work the golden egg bits into the rice. Add the green onion and cook for 10 to 15 seconds longer, until just wilted. Turn off the heat, taste, and season with salt, if needed.
• Transfer the rice to a plate or shallow bowl. Serve with additional fish sauce, soy sauce, or Maggi Seasoning in case diners want an extra-savory punch.
• NOTES:
• Instead of cooked leftovers, use chopped raw meat, seafood, or veggies (try mushroom, green beans, or frozen peas or carrots, thawed). Heat 1½ tablespoons oil, add the raw ingredients, and lightly season with salt, fish sauce (or soy sauce, Bragg, or Maggi). When cooked through and hot, add the rice and continue as directed.

 

The Man Who Saw Everything by Deborah Levy

Let me start off by saying that this is an unusual book with a non-linear trajectory that I am not sure that I fully understand, but I did enjoy reading.  The author has been long listed for the Booker Prize three times, this book included, and it shows.

Saul Adler, a historian, is our window onto European history in the late twentieth century,  viewed through, and embodied by, the fragmented memories of a single wounded mind.

When we first meet Saul, it is 1988. He is 23 and researching the history of cultural opposition to fascism. On his way to meet his lover, Jennifer Moreau, he is knocked down by a car on the famous Abbey Road in north-west London. Superficially injured, he keeps his appointment with Jennifer, a photographer who has made Saul her subject. After they sleep together, Jennifer breaks up with him, and Saul travels to East Berlin to continue his research. There, he falls in love with his translator, Walter Müller, and also sleeps with Walter’s sister, Luna, at which point the narrative breaks. When we next see Saul it is 2016 and, again, he is run over on Abbey Road. This time, though, the accident is more serious. He is hospitalized, and drifts in and out of consciousness. As he tries to recover his memories, the events of the intervening years swim slowly into focus.  There is a lot to take in here, even though the book is quite short, and the bottom line is that everything is consequential.

 

Carmelized Ginger Mushrooms

We got a tiny jump start on next month's Food 52 cookbook by cooking out of Priya Krishna's Indianish.  I am not sure how I am going to like this book, but we are starting off by giving it a chance.  We had to make mushrooms immediately when our extra refridgerator became too warm to call  safe for some things.

3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
2 tbsp fresh ginger, julienned fresh
1 small Indian green chile or serrano chile, halved lengthwise (no need to stem them)
1 pound white button mushrooms, cut into thin slices (about 5 cups)
1 tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp red chile powder

In a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, warm the oil.
Once the oil begins to shimmer, add the cumin seeds and cook until they turn a medium shade of brown, about 1 minute max.
Add the onion, spread it out into an even layer in the pan, and cook until lightly browned and translucent, 5 to 7 minutes.
Add the ginger and green chile and cook for 2 minutes, until the chile is slightly wilted.
Stir in the mushrooms and increase the heat to medium-high. The mushrooms will start to sweat.
Cook until the mushrooms are browned and soft and the liquid they release has evaporated, 7 to 10 minutes.
Add the salt and red chile powder.