Reel Cuisine

Author Nami Iijima is a professional food stylist, someone whose job it is to create meals for the screen that look good. These recipes come from her column for a Japanese magazine in which she aimed “to faithfully recreate the dishes shown in various films so as to appease film fans and movie buffs.” Many of her choices are from slice-of-life movies, so if you’re looking for more fantastic fare, look elsewhere.

The book is grouped into several loosely themed sections. The first, featuring dishes she created for films she worked on, will be the most confusing for American readers, since they likely have never heard of the movies, let alone seen them, while the dishes are an odd mix of Japanese specialties (seaweed bento, vegetable chirashi sushi) and American basics (chicken nuggets, cinnamon rolls). They use complicated techniques and, in the Japanese food, unfamiliar ingredients. I think I would have put this section last, with more editorial explanation, since the remaining sections are much more comprehensible, consisting of brunch dishes, family dinners, desserts, and international fare.

Each recipe is printed with a short plot description of the associated film and sometimes an author’s note about the dish. These may clarify a technique or mention ingredient substitutions. Only a limited number of the recipes — those printed with tan background instead of white — talk about why the particular dish was selected to represent the film. I wish we’d had those notes on all of the recipes, because sometimes, I thought the choices were odd or just plain wrong. For instance, for Fried Green Tomatoes, she provides instructions for fried chicken. That’s likely of more interest to readers (especially those in Japan) who actually want to make the food, but I would have expected at least an acknowledgement of why you aren’t telling us how to make the title dish.

Also, the recipe specifies chicken thighs, while the picture clearly shows a drumstick. Which, yes, is more evocative, but disconnects between the food shown and the method described always make me suspicious of cookbooks that play fast and loose that way. Some of her steps are similarly missing in details. For instance, in the hamburger recipe, Iijima advises cooking the burgers for a total of 2 1/2 minutes. I’d have expected her to be more specific about how thick her patties are, because I typically cook hamburgers for more like 10 minutes (because I do not enjoy eating raw ground beef or food poisoning) and they still come out pink in the middle. Other recipes advise cooking “until cooked through”, which can be difficult to determine without some time guidelines.

I was surprised at the number of recipes for basic dishes, including fish and chips, pancakes, popcorn, tuna salad sandwiches, and green salad. Often, I found the connection between the recipe and movie somewhat nebulous. Why guacamole for Bridget Jones’ Diary? Waitress is all about making dessert pies, so why a recipe for quiche? Tampopo features the search for the perfect ramen, yet we’re told how to make fried rice instead. In Stranger Than Fiction, one of the characters is often seen making cookies, so I expected that recipe, not one for banana cake.

Some of the food choices are perfect, though, like the Chicken Meatball Pho for Good Morning Vietnam or spaghetti for The Godfather: Part III or truffles for Chocolat or ratatouille (guess). Other recipes range widely, through pot au feu (with boiled chicken, not beef), paella, chili, hummus, roast chicken, yakisoba, and various pastas. I don’t see myself cooking from this book, since the dishes I’d want to make are already well-known to me, but as a reminder of the connections between food and film, it would make a great novelty gift for the movie buff. Many of the films are international, so most readers will find some listed that are unfamiliar to them, the better to seek out and try. (The publisher provided a review copy.)

The I Hate to Cook Book

Peg Bracken was part of a world where women, no matter what else they did — she worked in advertising — were also expected to take care of the home and cook dinner every night. In this book, she treated this duty as a task to get through efficiently and with a minimum of fuss, instead of beating oneself up to achieve pretty, underappreciated dishes night after night. Her message was that you didn’t have to want to be a perfect housewife or cook, and that was okay, that there were other women who felt the same way. In amongst the recipes was a good deal of subtly feminist humor.

Her dishes were simple and fast, many depending on canned cream of mushroom soup. And they demonstrated just what ingredients were supermarket common in the mid-60s, and what techniques were standard. It was eye-opening, a journey into another world I’d only seen on sitcoms.

(There is one short section I’m still conflicted about, though, where she advises lying to your husband about whether you’ve made something yourself because “marriage is sometimes a rough game.” Then I found out she was married four times, and I ignore that piece.)

Imagine my surprise to discover, while browsing a terrific local bookstore on vacation, that the book had been recently reissued in a lovely hardcover. This 50th Anniversary Edition has been “updated and revised”, but that means only this:

• Two recipes are gone, for things no one today would make anyway: cream puffs filled with dip, and two kinds of canned plums with ginger. (I don’t know where I’d find canned plums, anyway, let alone both damson and greengage.)
• The mention of canned Welsh Rabbit has turned into a quick recipe to make your own.
• All references to chicken or beef consomme are now chicken or beef broth, and the refrigerated jellied consomme soup mention is gone.
• The can and package sizes have been tweaked to reflect modern-day standards.
• “Raw” rice is now referred to as “uncooked”.

There’s also a new foreword by Peg’s daughter Jo (which turns out to stand for Johanna!) that shares some memories of her mother.

The first chapter gets right to the reader’s needs, providing 30 basic entrees, enough casseroles to cover a month of dinners. Bracken admits that some are simple, some are even dull, but they’ll get you through the month. (Assuming you have an oven and don’t mind cooking with onion-soup mix or canned mushrooms or lots of cream or butter.) The most complicated parts I found were making a cream sauce — which turns out to be flour and butter with some liquid — or using a double boiler, and that’s not hard, just old-fashioned. Recipe times range from 30 minutes of cooking to one odd bean dish that takes six hours.

Additional chapters cover leftovers (although who cooks lamb these days, let alone worries what to do with it after?), vegetables (which consist mostly of carrots, beets, green beans, onions, and spinach; I love that this chapter begins with a recipe for an easy cheese sauce to cover them up), and starches (potato/rice). Then she starts getting into the social events of her era: The potluck. The company dinner party. The ladies’ luncheon. The cocktail party nibbles. The children’s birthday party.

This book is highly readable as much for its humor as its recipes, although I’m going to try some, if only so I can say that I’ve made something called Clam Whiffle.

But that’s changed! Opened right in my neighborhood is The White Anchovie, a new restaurant with emphasis on simple, fresh, quality ingredients. My parents and I had a lovely evening out sampling classic seafood dishes. The fried oysters, crab cakes, and calamari were all excellent. The lightly fried calamari comes without sauce, a chef’s choice that isn’t too popular but easily remedied by a wonderful, helpful waitress/menu guide. The fried oysters were done with cornmeal, surrounded by a remoulade that was the freshest I’d ever had. The crab cakes were nothing but meat, drizzled with a saffron aioli sauce.

That same sauce was one of three choices for the main course fish filets, the others being an adziki (with jalapeno) or a red pepper-based pimenton. (I was impressed that I’d never heard of either.) Mom and I split a rockfish, accompanied by a delicious, comforting goat cheese polenta. We also shared an amazing arugula salad garnished with tomato and duck bacon.

The only downside is that the restaurant is a bit too pricey to be an everyday “too lazy too cook choice”, with entrees over $20, although there are a selection of gourmet pizzas at $10-12. I’d love to try the mushroom/pork belly pizza, the duck/fig/gorgonzola, or the orange chili shrimp with mozzarella and manchego cheeses. And I would definitely get the wine, a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, again. Oh, and I forgot to mention the “della nonna”, a lemon chess pie with a strawberry puree drizzle that was the perfect light meal topper!

The next time I want a special night out, I know where I’m going!

Update: The White Anchovie is now Iron Fish, with a new menu.

Fry four strips of bacon in a large frying pan. Remove when crisp.
Add one frozen package of corn, thawed, and 1/2 cup chopped onion to the drippings in the pan. (If you like, you can also add some chopped celery or green pepper.)
Cook over low heat until crusty brown bits form. Stir the crumbled bacon back in. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

How easy is that? It doesn’t require a lot of attention, so it’s easy to make as a side dish, although since it’s substantial, it goes well with a simple chicken or fish main course. And mmm, mmm, corn fried in bacon grease. Very Southern and tasty.

“So, with the zeal so often found in educated, middle-class women born with more brains and energy than they were supposed to possess, they set about changing what America ate and why they ate it.”

From Perfection Salad: Women and Cooking at the Turn of the Century by Laura Shapiro, a social history of the rise of “domestic science” and home economics in the early 1900s.

Perfection salad is, by the way, a gelatin mold containing cabbage, celery, green pepper, pimiento, and olives. Ick. This was an era where anything in gelatin counted as salad and marshmallow was an appropriate garnish for almost any fruit or vegetable.

(A note on history: It’s in the same place as Tenjinmura used to be, which closed without warning. Which is a shame, because I really loved their Rainbow Salad, and I’ve never seen it anywhere else. It was a mix of seaweed salad, avocado, tuna, salmon, and yellowtail in a spicy sauce, and we adored it. Tenjinmura did sushi and hibachi; Wild Rice has taken out the hibachi tables and put in a bar instead, although they don’t yet have their liquor license.)

In addition to sushi, to go with the “Pan Asian Cuisine” subtitle in their name, they offer five kinds of dumplings; your choice of meats in fried rice, lo mein, chow fun, or pad thai; and a selection of Chinese dishes (sesame chicken, various meats with broccoli or black bean sauce, general tso’s chicken, lemongrass shrimp, mandarin beef, etc.). Which we appreciated, because while Mom & I enjoy sharing sushi, Dad prefers cooked food. His shrimp fried rice ($9) was tasty, although the rice was less sticky than I expected — it was difficult to pick up with chopsticks. In this area, a Richmond suburb, I suspect many customers will want forks anyway.

Mom got a Salmon Lover roll ($12), which was delicious. It was an inside-out roll with spicy salmon and asparagus inside and topped with more salmon, avocado, and salmon roe. The different textures made for terrific contrast. I tried the sashimi for me platter ($16 — they offer sushi and sashimi entrees in two sizes, “for me” and “for us”, double-sized). This is what I got:

16 pieces of fish — salmon, yellowtail, mackrel, a couple I didn’t recognize, and in the glass, tuna, plus lemon slices, cucumber, carrot gratings, orange slice, and strawberries for garnish. I don’t know if you can tell from this picture, but under the ice in the glass was one of those fake glowing ice cubes that changes color. What a stunning presentation! It was more than enough food for dinner — I couldn’t finish it all, which is very unusual for me when it comes to sushi — and all very tasty.

I should also mention the soups. Although they come in small bowls, they’re jam-packed with ingredients. My miso had seaweed and tofu cubes in every bite, unlike the three or four pieces you get at many places. Dad’s wonton had more than one, and Mom’s veggie hot and sour was delicious. The only oddity was them not offering egg drop; instead, the fourth choice is Tom Yam, which I’m not familiar with. (It’s Thai, I believe.) We’ll definitely be returning!

Brown a pound of ground turkey over medium heat in a large saucepan. (Although given the color turkey turns, this should be “White a pound…” but then no one would know what I meant.)

Add to the saucepan 1 ½ cups of water and one jar of Healthy Choice garlic and herb pasta sauce. (Yes, the brand matters. I quit making this for months when my local grocery stores quit carrying the sauce. Thanks to their online locator, I finally found somewhere else nearby to get it.)

Bring the sauce mix to a boil, cover it, reduce the heat, and simmer for 10 minutes. While that cooks, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine:

• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 cups low fat cottage cheese (one 16-ounce container)
• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 egg (or ½ cup egg substitute)
• parsley to taste
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

Once the sauce/turkey mixture is done cooking, remove it from the heat. It’s time to layer your lasagna! In a 13″x9″ baking dish, you want to assemble, from the bottom up,

1. 1 cup turkey/sauce
2. 3 lasagna noodles (uncooked)
3. 1 ½ cup turkey/sauce
4. half of the cheese mixture
5. 3 lasagna noodles (uncooked)
6. 1 ½ cup turkey/sauce
7. half of the cheese mixture
8. 3 lasagna noodles (uncooked)
9. 1 ½ cup turkey/sauce

Cover it (aluminum foil is fine) and bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Then uncover it, sprinkle another cup of shredded mozzarella on top, and bake uncovered for 10 minutes. Let it stand another 10 minutes before serving. So plan on at least an hour-and-a-half cooking time, with a little extra time for prep. It’s even better as leftovers, because the sauce has more time to soak through everything.

I tried making my own pulled pork barbecue in the crockpot the other day. I found this recipe (which is really just a combination of spices) online, although I don’t remember where. Combine the following spices:

• 2 Tablespoons black pepper
• 1-2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 2 Tablespoons chili powder
• 2 Tablespoons ground cumin
• 2 Tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon oregano
• 4 Tablespoons paprika
• 2 Tablespoons salt
• 1 Tablespoon sugar

Come to think of it, I followed this part very loosely, using what I had and adjusting to taste. I don’t like a sweet barbecue, for example, so I cut back on the sugars. Anyway, once you’ve mixed these up, rub the spices all over a bone-in pork shoulder (about 6-8 pounds, although that makes a LOT of barbecue). Then wrap the meat in a double layer of plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 3 days. The longer you leave it, the stronger the flavors.

Once it’s ready to cook, remove the plastic wrap and put the shoulder in a slow cooker with 1/4 cup of water. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Then remove the meat to a large cutting board or cookie sheet and shred with fingers and/or two forks. (Thus the “pulled” part of the name — don’t cut it, tear it apart.)

Put the shredded meat back in the slow cooker with 1 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce. This is where taste comes in again — it’s difficult to find a commercial sauce that isn’t overly sweet to my taste, especially if you’re avoiding high-fructose corn syrup. If you’re making North Carolina-style barbecue, you want something vinegar-based and a little tangy. Heat the sauced meat between 30-60 minutes until it’s all blended.

Then comes the question, once you’re done eating sandwiches with it (remember to serve with hot sauce, cole slaw, and hush puppies), what do you do with the rest? Here’s one idea.

Enchilada Lasagna

For this you’ll need

• 12 corn tortillas
• small can enchilada sauce (the recipe only calls for 4 ounces; the smallest can I found was 15, but I wound up using about half of it)
• 8 ounces canned corn
• 14 ounces cooked black beans (with the veggies, use whatever a standard size can is these days — they tend to shrink them over the years)
• one bag shredded Monterey Jack cheese, or one block, shredded
• about a pound of shredded cooked pork
• 1 chopped onion

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat the bottom of a 9×13 casserole dish with a thin layer of the sauce. Lay four tortillas on top. (Given the shape of my pan, I wound up using two whole and then breaking the others in half to better cover the dish.) Then add about a third of the corn, beans, and cheese. Then a layer of about a third of the onion and meat. Repeat layers — tortillas, veggies, meat ‘n’ onion — twice more. Then spread on another layer of sauce and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Cook for 45 minutes. Serve with sour cream on top.

I think this recipe originally had chilis or green peppers in it as well, but I don’t like those. If you wanted to add them back for more Mexican flavor, put them in with the meat and onion layers.

Note that you don’t have to make your own pulled pork to make this dish. You can buy prepared barbecue meat or substitute chicken. Also, I thought I’d be clever, since I had extra tortillas, and put those on top for a final layer. Don’t. They crisp up so hard in the oven that I had to pull them off after.

This is just a taste of her new book, Relish, which she describes as “stories, histories and recipes of food, all inspired by growing up with a chef for a mom. I signed it with First Second, and it’ll be in full color, out in a couple years.” (I can’t wait!) Plus, in the comments, she and others discuss reasons to get a Cintiq drawing tablet and model recommendations.

Take one can of artichoke heart pieces (not marinated). Drain and rinse. Chop them in a food processor or mini-chopper. (You can chop them all into tiny bits, or you can leave a few larger pieces for variety.)

Combine with one cup shredded Parmesan cheese and enough mayonnaise just to moisten and hold it all together. (The person who taught me this said 2/3 cup, but I use less to cut the fat.) Sprinkle with garlic powder and salt to taste. Stir it all together, then microwave until it’s warm and the cheese is melty. (2-3 minutes, usually.)

Really simple and tasty. Get a hearty cracker or toasted bread slices to hold up to it.

Make a piece of toast. Layer on it turkey, bacon, and a slice of tomato. Then pour gravy over the top.

I’m told that the traditional version used a Mornay (cheese) sauce instead of gravy, but who wants to cook something else if you’re having leftovers?

Take some potatoes, either white or red skin, and chop them into chunks. Boil them in a pot of water for 10-12 minutes with a sprinkle of coarse salt, until they’re tender (squishy). Drain the water. Add butter, a few spoonfuls of sour cream, a splash of milk, and prepared horseradish. Measurements depend on how many potatoes you have and how spicy (due to the horseradish) you like them. For four servings, try 2 pounds of potatoes, a tablespoon of horseradish, two tablespoons of butter, and 1/4 cup each of sour cream and milk.

When warming up leftovers, add a splash more milk before putting them in the microwave. I’m having extras tonight with steak and sauteed spinach and mushrooms.

And such a simple way to make something for Halloween!

Well, the last time I went, I had a poor customer service experience, so much so that I complained (politely) at their website. I got back a very nice apology and a certificate for two free meals. Before I could return to the restaurant, this location, the only one in town, closed. (I hope I wasn’t the last straw.) That’s a shame — I’ll miss the food. And the free prize wheel on Mondays.

Since I have no use for it, I’d like one of my readers to have a meal on me. According to their website, there are locations in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, DC, and West Virginia. If you live in one of those states and will be able to use a California Tortilla gift certificate, post a comment here, and on Monday, I’ll do a random drawing for a winner.

I’d managed to throw a roast into the crockpot, but I needed something else besides hash to make with the leftovers. Then it occurred to me: shepherd’s pie is easy, tasty, and filling. I found a basic recipe and started tweaking it to my taste. (The recipe originally wanted me to mix carrots into the potato crust, yuck, and used ground beef instead.) So here’s my variant:

Take 2-3 tablespoons of the juice/gravy left over from your roast. Heat it in a large skillet over medium heat. Add one small onion, chopped; one garlic clove, minced; and 4-6 ounces of sliced mushrooms. (The package I bought pre-sliced was 6 oz.) Saute them about ten minutes, or until everything’s tender.

During this time, make a package of mashed potatoes following the box instructions.

Stir into the onions and mushrooms your chopped leftover meat, 4 teaspoons of beef bouillon base (you can use granules, or I recommend Penzey’s soup base, which is a thick paste), 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of thyme, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. If you like peas in your pie, you can add a cup of them (if frozen, thawed) now, too. I don’t.

Increase the heat to medium-high. Sprinkle a Tablespoon of flour into the mess and stir constantly for a minute. I found at this point that I needed to add in some more of the leftover gravy, because everything had gotten very dry. If so, cook just a bit longer until everything’s moist but not drippy.

Put the meat mixture in the bottom of a casserole. Spread the mashed potatoes over top. Sprinkle with grated cheddar cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Let stand a few minutes, then serve. Yummy!

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

What a weird list, combining exotics, high gourmet, and lowest common denominator crap (yeah, I don’t buy into the whole Krispy Kreme myth, even though I used to live in their heartland). Probably the most recent things I’ve had on the list are the goat curry and aloo gobi, when I went to an Indian buffet last week. 49 out of 100, not bad. Especially since in many cases it’s aiming for the extreme instead of things that actually taste good.

My strikeouts, 12 of them, are those things I know I won’t like, whether because they’re overly spicy, I can’t stand the flavor (beets), or they’re just nasty (cigar? clay?). I don’t drink coffee or much alcohol. And as for the teas — I’ve lived in England and the South for much of my life, and I still never developed a taste for “dried leaves boiled in water”, hot or iced.

I’d like to have tried more of the cheeses, but America has laws and a not very refined palette in that area. Crocodile and snake both seem a bit repetitive; if one of them had been ostrich I’d have an even 50. Most of the remaining items I’m willing to try if the opportunity arose, but I don’t see the need to seek them out. Still, some fun thinking about food. Here’s the author’s FAQ if you want to know more.

Mix together in a food processor the following:

• 1 ½ cups mint leaves
• 1 bunch green onions
• juice of one lime (or less, if you like a less runny sauce)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 garlic clove
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground pepper
• sprinkle chile powder (original recipe called for 1 teaspoon minced seeded serrano chile, but I hate them)

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Coat 1 ½ pounds of scallops in cornmeal, then cook 3 minutes per side. Serve with sauce.

Wasn’t that easy? And so nice for summer.

Mix up the following to make breading:

• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1/8 cup (1/2 ounce) Parmesan cheese
• 1/8 cup finely chopped almonds
• 1 Tablespoon chopped parsley
• 1 clove crushed garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
• pinch ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Take a pound of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut them in half, and flatten them to about 1/2 inch thick. (Or use chicken tenders.)

Dip the chicken into olive oil, then the crumb mixture. Put in a shallow baking pan and bake for 25 minutes. That’s it! Delicious with a green salad and a side dish (I chose corn in butter sauce). Best of all, it uses items I always have in the house, so it’s great for last-minute dinner.