Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Michael Bay – 2009) D

Took my 6 year old to see this and he enjoyed it very much. So, I am glad I took him, but for an adult, this is stupid to the point of insulting. It is nothing but wall to wall noise -very expensive noise- and about an hour too damn long. To sum it up I will quote my friend Robert: ” it seems the revenge is a giant, mechanical turd, and it has fallen on we who have bought tickets”

The Flying Scotsman (Douglas Mackinnon – 2006) B

A pretty straightforward and enjoyable flick telling the story of Graeme Obree. Never heard of him? Yeah, me neither. He won several cycling championships and built his bicycle from washing machine parts in the 90s all while battling mental problems.

Withnail and I (Bruce Robinson – 1987) A

It’s 1969 and two alcoholic Londoners in search of a change of scene head to uncle Monty’s cottage in the lovely English country side. Simple buddy film. Right? Right. But the characters and the dialogue are brilliant. Withnail, played superbly by Richard Grant, is at the same time angry, crazy,  literate, perpetually drunk and always smoking. I or Marwood, played by Paul McGann, is the saner of the two although when Withnail starts drinking lighter fluid and requests antifreeze, the best he could come up with is “You bloody fool. You should never mix your drinks.” Needless to say, neither is well prepared for life in a country cottage with no electricity, running water or food that is not already dead and eviscerated! On top of that we have the aforementioned uncle Monty who has the hots for Marwood (”Tell him if you must, I no longer care. I mean to have you even if it must be burglary.”) and the duo’s drug dealer buddy, Danny. Danny has few scenes but is one low talking funny dude and the inventor of the “Camberwell Carrot”. This is a gem, a truly funny smart comedy with memorable characters. I leave you with one more quote from our friend Danny:

I don’t advise a haircut, man. All hairdressers are in the employment of the government. Hairs are your aerials. They pick up signals from the cosmos, and transmit them directly into the brain. This is the reason bald-headed men are uptight

Corned Beef cooked Sous Vide

I’ve been exploring Sous Vide cooking using my Immersion Circulator often with excellent results. Deli-type meats seem like a no brainer for this cooking method, in this case for corned beef. To prepare the beef, I used a good even piece of brisket (even thickness matters a lot for this method) and trimmed most of the fat off it. Then I brined it using Michael Ruhlman’s Charcuterie recipe. He used salt, sugar, Cure #1 (a tiny bit gives it the pink color and the cured flavor) and pickling spice (bay, cloves, allspice and black pepper among others).

After a few days, the now corned beef went in a Foodsaver bag along with some more pickling spice and a sliced onion. It cooked for about 8 hours at 170 F in the water bath and then I quickly chilled it in a bowl filled with water and ice. It then sat in the fridge for a few days until I was ready to serve it. My main concern here was salt content. I figured normally corned beef is boiled so some of it’s salt will leach out and the meat ends up well seasoned but not salty. In this case, the meat is vacuum pakced throughout and the salt has nowhere to go.

For service I reheated the beef in some hot water and removed it from the bag. I sliced and tasted a piece. Excellent flavor, definitly not too salty. On the other hand I think it should be a touch more tender. I’m thinking next time I’ll cook it around 175 for closer to 10 hours. For dinner I made sandwiches of course. Homemade marble rye, saurkraut and melted Swiss cheese.

Wonderland (James Cox – 2003) B

Good flick about an incident I knew next to nothing about.

Up (Pete Docter, Bob Peterson – 2009) B+

Wonderful to look at, fun and sweet. I really like the details here, specifically how the old guy has stuble after a few days in the jungle. Pretty neat. I don’t think it’s up there with Finding Nemo and Ratatouille, but it’s close. It might rate higher when I see it again, when my kids get the DVD as I’m sure they will.

Chasing Amy (Kevin Smith – 1997) B+

I loved this when I first saw it a few years back. I really did. I still think it is superbly written, fun and smart. The dialogue is still fresh and entertaining as is the plot. I even hate having to give it anything less than an A-, BUT, holy crap is Joey Lauren Adams and her high pitched voice annoying! Like nails on a chalkboard annoying! Did I not notice that before or am I just getting old? Thank God she is not in Dogma.

Venison with Braised Red Cabbage and Parsnip

I’ve never cooked venison. Sure, I have used sausage made with venison, but never a nice piece of backstrap. So, when a friend of ours was kind enough to give us some of that tender lean cut of deer, I knew I would cook it for a special occasion for Diana and I. This past weekend was our 8 year anniversary, a special occasion for sure.

I had seen this recipe in Gordon Ramsay’s “*** Chef” book, that translates to “Three Star Chef” BTW and it’s the only book of his worth buying.

The Venison:

Mr. Ramsay simply sears the venison in butter and then roasts it to medium rare. I made a change here and cooked the backstrap sous vide in my immersion circulator. This guarantees a perfectly cooked piece of meat that is not dry and cooked exactly to medium rare. I vacuum packed the meat with a bit of butter, fresh thyme, salt and pepper. I let it cook in the water bath at 135 F for about 2 hours while I prepared the meal. It really would’ve been ready in a little over an hour but that’s the beauty of this process. As long as the water temperature is at or a little below the target meat temperature, you can leave the meat in there for a good bit of time with no overcooking or drying. To finish it, I seared the meat for about 30 seconds on each side in clarified butter in a very hot cast iron pan.

The Braised Cabbage:

This was the ingredient that took the most time cooking. A long time. Like 3 hours! It was the best braised cabbage I’ve ever had though. It’s simply cooked with brown sugar, a little red wine vinegar, butter and some salt. It cooks slowly in a heavy pot with a piece of parchment on top. While the cabbage cooks, the mositure evaporates and it caramelizes slightly. Sweet, a bit tangy and not mushy.

The Beet Fondant:

Sliced beets cooked in butter and stock until glazed and soft.

The Parsnip Puree:

I cooked diced parsnips in milk and pureed them with cream, a little butter, salt and pepper. This luscious mixture was velvety smooth and so good I could’ve eaten it by itself. Instead it went into a squeeze bottle to be used for those cool looking parsnip puree drops around the dish.

The Creamed Mushrooms:

Well, Ramsay uses fresh “Cepes” here, aka Porcini muchrooms. Awsome stuff if you can find them…and afford them when you do (think $40/lb at least). Instead I did what I normally do in these situations. I used plain old white shrooms and added reconstituted (soaked in warm water) dried Porcini mushrooms to the mix. The dried stuff is quiet fantastic as well and adds so much flavor to anything.  Mushrooms were suteed and mixed with a little cream.

The Parsnip Chips:

I used a peeler to make very thin slices of parsnips. These were then fried until crisp.

The Red Wine Sauce:

This is a classic red wine reduction made with a base of shallots and some meat scraps. In goes red wine and gets reduced. Then a pint of stock and that gets reduced too. I ended up with a rich delicious and deep colored sauce.

To assemble the dish, I put a nice pile of braised cabbage in a bowl. A slice or two of beet goes on top, then the creamed mushrooms. I sliced the venison on a bias and arranged it all around. The parsnip puree goes around the venison in large dots. Very carefully I add the sauce and top the plate with the parsnip chips. Everything in the dish worked so good. The venison was deeply flavored and tender. It stood up perfectly to the other elements of the dish and as a whole this was a special dish for a special occasion.