Just got back from Utah.  Had a fantastic time with my parents.  Check out all the details here on the Roadtrip website.

These are in absolutely no particular order.  Each film has stuck with me in some way over the years for one reason or another.  There are so many good films released each year that garner awards and accolades, but many times certain films are overlooked.  Either due to marketing, budgets, or release schedules many films hide in the shadows of blockbusters.  Next time you’re at the video store or adding some items to your Netflix queue try some of these movies.

I’ll link to the trailers and the note the widest release in theaters.  Most of the films on the list float around 100 theaters.  To put it into perspective movies like Transformers and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull reach over 4,000 theaters.

Elephant

Gus Van Sant’s incredible poetic film loosely based on the shooting at Columbine High School.  The camera dreamily follows a wide-range of students following up the climactic shooting.  Much of the film was naturally improvised dialogue which helped make the movie feel more realistic.  What stood out the most for me besides the horrific climax was interactions in the film.  You would watch a scene of different characters walking through scenes and interacting and later watch the same scene but from the perspective of someone else.

Widest Release: 100 theaters and HBO
Trailer

Brick

Crime dramas with smokey atmospheres, smooth talking detectives, and femme fatales are all things that help define old school noir pictures.  Take these stereotypes and apply them to a modern high-school setting and you’ll have Brick.  Many times the homage to hard-boiled classics feels forced, but with great performances and dialogue from both Joseph-Gordon Levitt and Lucas Haas the film holds up to scrutiny.

Widest Release: 45 theaters
Trailer

Primer

Two engineers discover they’ve created a time machine that allows them to travel into the past.  Unflinchingly scientific and confusing this film necessitates multiple viewings.  The writer, director, and lead actor of the film, Shane Carruth, poured his life and savings into this film.  With a background in Mathematics and an extremely low $7,000 budget this movie is incredibly impressive.  Quite deservedly won the 2004 Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.  I absolutely love this movie.

Widest Release: 31 theaters
Trailer

The Fall

An early 20th century stuntman, Roy Walker, gets hurt in an accident while trying to impress the woman he loves.  While bedridden in the hospital a young girl, Alexandria, befriends him.  Roy begins telling her a story that reflects his depression and progression towards suicide, however you see the story as Alexandria imagines it happening.  This leads to incredible fantasy, humorous misunderstandings, and towards the end of the story a bond between the two main characters that help them deal with their real-life issues.  Filmed over the course of four years in 20 different locations worldwide it is an incredibly marvelous film to behold.

Widest Release: 111 theaters
Trailer

Fearless

Jet Li has done a number of American movies which is why this one of the more popular movies on the list.  However, I feel like when ever I bring up Fearless around people who like martial arts movies and / or Jet Li they haven’t seen it.  Fearless is easily one of Jet Li’s best films and demonstrating that he can actually emit more than two emotions like in most of his films.  The fact is that most traditional martial arts films follow a specific storyline and character development for the sheer purpose of getting from fight to fight.  That is the case with Fearless, however it’s a much deeper look into the genre, specifically with Jet Li’s character, Huo Yuanjia and watching him transform from a total arseface to an admirable fighter on the world stage.  Pick up the Director’s Cut if you can, it runs at an extra 35 minutes and contains a fight with Michelle Yeoh.

Widest Release: 1,810 theaters
Trailer

The Machinist

Christian Bale has become an extremely popular actor.  However, most people have never heard of his role in The Machinist.  Playing a paranoid insomniac, Trevor Reznik, we see what the mind is capable of after life-shattering tragedy.  Never before has an actor completely and devastatingly transformed themselves for a role.  Christian Bale starved himself for four months losing 62 pounds.  Even at an emaciated 120 pounds he wanted to go further but his doctors wouldn’t let him due to health concerns.  Keep in mind that Bale was up for the role of Batman while making this film and gained back 100 pounds in a couple of months.  Bale is an incredible actor and this film showcases at what lengths he will go for his craft.

Widest Release: 78 theaters
Trailer

Moon

Science fiction films now evade traditional story telling and tend to lean on heavy use of action and special effects.  Moon is a refreshing homage to sci-fi movies of the past like 2001 and Aliens.  Director, Duncan Jones, wanted to create a sci-fi movie like the ones he grew up with and even employed the model maker from Aliens for his film.  Starring Sam Rockwell as Sam and the voice of Kevin Spacey as GERTY, a helper robot.  Sam is nearing the final weeks of three-year stay along on the Moon mining Helium-3.  His only companionship is GERTY and video messages from his wife and child on Earth.  With his contract nearly up, Sam begins preparations to head home to his family, that is until he thinks someone else is on the Moon with him.  Is Sam feeling the effects of long-term isolation or is there really someone else there with him?  Dun dun dun!

Widest Release: 252 theaters
Trailer

Hard Candy

After a large Indian lunch I went and watched this movie at the Philly Film Festival.  There is one scene in the movie that is so visceral that I was forced to retreat to the bathroom from nausea.  It definitely was because of all the food I ate, but this movie stuck in my head for years.  With subsequent viewings I could handle it and each time I’d recommend the film to more people.  The twists you can see coming, but they twist you further than you expect and the powerful performances from Ellen Page (pre-Juno) and Patrick Wilson will completely engage you in this film.

Widest Release: 152 Theaters
Trailer

Black Dynamite

This brilliant movie is the most I’ve ever laughed at anything.  It’s horrendous to think with such a limited release that so few people will get a chance to see this movie in a proper setting.  You need to be surrounded by an audience, preferably wearing a vintage polyester suit, and holding some malt liquor.  Never before has a film so perfectly melded homage and parody.  Cameras go out of focus, boom mics are seen in frame, things are purposely wrong about this blaxploitation film and the audience erupts in laughter every time.  Michael Jai White (writer, lead actor) is a genius and I’m looking forward to the sequel and animated series.

Widest Release: 70 theaters
Trailer

In Bruges

This movie totally flew under the radar despite having big stars like Colin Farrell and Ray Fiennes.  I don’t think it was marketed correctly, with the quick cuts in the trailer confusing itself as an action, comedy, buddy movie.  It’s a dark comedy, plain and simple.  The script is over the top wit and makes this film worth checking out.  And I can’t help but burst out in laughter when Colin Farrell karate chops a midget.  If you like Guy Ritchie flicks then this is right up your alley.

Widest Release: 232 theaters
Trailer

What films have you found yourself recommending to others over the years?  It’s easy to think of all the blockbusters and award-winners, but think about the films that did something new or just didn’t get the attention it deserved.

The August 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers’ cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

This is a very late submission for the Daring Bakers Dobos Torta. I made my attempt last month and failed miserably. I didn’t want to look at the September challenge until I finished August so here is my Dobos Torta: late, incomplete, check minus.

I can say that I learned a lot making this cake and without my stand mixer have slightly stronger arms to show for it.

You may have seen this fancy looking cake in little pastry shops. The Dobos Torta was created in the late 1800s by a confectioner of the same name (József C. Dobos) and presented to King of Hungary at a national exhibition. What made this delicate cake stand out was the use of chocolate buttercream, a rarity at the time, along with a caramel topping and nut garnish.

In my lifetime, I’ve made about three cakes from scratch. This one involved no cake pan and very little flour. In fact the major ingredient in this cake is eggs, nearly an entire carton, and requires a great deal of whipping (hence the aforementioned arm strength). So during my first attempt when I forgot to add a good portion of the eggs it totally screwed everything up. Along with that I experienced the difficulty of spreading thin layers of batter onto parchment and cooking each one for about five minutes. If it’s undercooked, everything sticks, overcooked and the whole thing flakes apart. It’s a difficult cake to make and it was only about half way through my “do-over” that I understood how the layers were supposed to look and feel.

So on Dobos Torta Part Deux I messed up some layers coming in with four layers instead of six. Then it was time for the chocolate buttercream, again a first-time for me, but surprisingly easy. Thankful for some local Ghiradelli chocolate for that. Then came the caramel…

How hard can caramel be? Sugar, water, boil? No. There is an art to caramel making and I have yet to attain it. I burned mine badly. It smelled and looked burned, but I thought that I should taste it anyway. Here’s a tip: don’t stick molten burned caramel in your mouth. After it burns your tongue and instantly solidifies to your teeth you’re required to pinch the rubbery chunks off your gums. At least that is what happened to me. So no caramel went on the cake and I put another layer of yummy buttercream on top.

Garnished (salvaged?) with some macadamia nuts it was enough to get compliments from the roommates. And despite all my complaints about how much I screwed up the cake was good. I probably won’t be making any more attempts with this cake, but I was daring enough to try twice.

Check out how the cake is really supposed to look and imagine my frowns at this picture of my first cake.

The July Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

We could choose so I went with delicious Milan cookies

When it comes to store-bought cookies Milano’s are one of my favorites. I’ve never considered making my own and looked forward to the challenge. It was first time using a piping bag to make cookies and much easier to make than I had expected. My cookies had a crisp edge but chewy center. I’ll have to research why this happens, but I prefer the soft crumbly nature of the Pepperidge Farm brand.

The best part was the smell of the lemon extract in the cookies and the faint taste of orange in the chocolate.

Recipe

Milan Cookies
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website
Prep Time: 20 min
Inactive Prep Time: 0 min
Cook Time: 1 hr 0 min
Serves: about 3 dozen cookies

• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups (312.5 grams/ 11.02 oz) powdered sugar
• 7/8 cup egg whites (from about 6 eggs)
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons lemon extract
• 1 1/2 cups (187.5grams/ 6.61 oz) all purpose flour

Cookie filling:

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 orange, zested

Directions

• In a mixer with paddle attachment cream the butter and the sugar.
• Add the egg whites gradually and then mix in the vanilla and lemon extracts.
• Add the flour and mix until just well mixed.
• With a small (1/4-inch) plain tip, pipe 1-inch sections of batter onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, spacing them 2 inches apart as they spread.
• Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges. Let cool on the pan.
• While waiting for the cookies to cool, in a small saucepan over medium flame, scald cream.
• Pour hot cream over chocolate in a bowl, whisk to melt chocolate, add zest and blend well.
• Set aside to cool (the mixture will thicken as it cools).
• Spread a thin amount of the filling onto the flat side of a cookie while the filling is still soft and press the flat side of a second cookie on top.
• Repeat with the remainder of the cookies.

Now that my primary transportation to work is my motorcycle getting pastries to work has become quite an ordeal. Strapping boxes or plastic containers to the bike isn’t an issue, but the shaking and bumps of the road do a number on baked goods. There has to be some way to carefully transport the things I make. I’m scared to even try to bring a pie in now.

You can understand my concern. After placing three cookies into their own individual paper cup and sealing them in a tight container, this is what I saw when I opened the lid. The horror! Presentation ruined!

The June Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart… er… pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800’s in England.

The past couple of months have been hectic. I missed the May challenge preparing for a cross-country move / trip. Then I spent three weeks on the road to arrive in San Francisco and found I missed another deadline for the Daring Bakers. I wasn’t going to let a little deadline stop me though, better late than never.

I’ve made many pies, but not many tarts. The shortbread recipe was new, but didn’t seem too different from a pie crust recipe. I wanted to get some fruit into this tart, so I decided on using cherries. My first time working with cherries happened to be in Austin while visiting some friends recently. Pitting cherries can be messy and labor intensive, but it’s worth rolling up the sleeves and using fresh ones. It also gave me an excuse to visit the Ferry Building Farmers Market in San Francisco beyond fattening up on all the delicious food stands.

When I was in London a few years ago we happened upon tiny cherry tarts in a random convenient store. This challenge and that inspiration was the driving force in the variation on this recipe. After pitting the cherries making the filling is as simple as mashing them up a bit and cooking on the stove with some sugar. I especially enjoyed using the little tart pans. I don’t need many reasons to purchase new kitchen things, so now I’m thinking of other ways I can use these pans.

Co-workers enjoyed them (I had a number of them myself). Bonus: making up for the overcooked strawberry rhubarb pie I made last time that didn’t turn out so good.

Don’t forget your complimentary San Francisco Wallpaper.  Photo credits: yours truly.

Most of this recipe came from Emeril Lagasse.  I highly enjoy any recipe that requires making a spice mix.  This etouffee definitely had some heat to it, but subsides enough to allow you to enjoy all the flavors.

Recipe

Modified from Emeril Lagasse.  Serves 8.

Ingredients

Etouffee

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 cups chopped onions
• 2 cups chopped green bell peppers
• 2 cups chopped celery
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 quart seafood stock
• 1 pounds medium shrimp (21 to 25 count per pound), peeled and deveined
• 1 pound of fresh crab meat
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley leaves
• Steamed white rice, for serving
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onion tops, for garnish

Spice Mix

• 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Directions

Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven set over medium heat. Add the flour and stir continuously to make a roux. Stir the roux over medium heat until the color of peanut butter, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the onions, bell peppers, celery, and garlic to the roux, and cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes to the pot and season with the bay leaves, salt, cayenne, and 1 tablespoon of the spice mix. Cook the tomatoes for 2 to 3 minutes and then whisk in the shrimp stock.

Bring the mixture to a boil, and reduce to a simmer. Cook the etouffee, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes. Season the crab and shrimp with the remaining tablespoon of Essence and add them to the pot, stirring to evenly distribute. Cook the crab and shrimp for 5 to 7 minutes, or until they are cooked through. Add the chopped parsley to the pot and stir to combine.

Serve immediately over steamed white rice and garnish with sliced green onion tops.

My second Daring Bakers challenge: Cheesecake.  I was excited about the challenge having never made one.  I’ve heard that making one can be difficult, but anything seemed easier over last month’s challenge.  I can’t say I’m a fan of cheesecake, but I can appreciate the craftsmanship, creativity, and variety.  This month was like a blank canvas for bakers so I decided on a chocolate crust and fudge swirl.

I didn’t want to do too much of a variation of the original recipe since this was my first time.  After looking around a little at different cheesecake recipes I thought a safe bet would be a chocolate teddy graham crust that I found on Smitten Kitchen (look at her delicious cheesecake!).  The only other change I made was creating a little bit of fudge and creating a swirl.

Overall, it was far easier than I thought it would be.  I’ll admit that having a Kitchenaid makes things a lot easier.  I used a regular tall 10 inch cake pan, did the water bath, and was just careful about every detail (including the 20 minutes to slice the cake).  Everyone that had a slice (or three) enjoyed it immensely.

 

 

I think the overall concept is good: pastry, fruit, icing.  Sounds great, it’s too bad that isn’t what you get when you buy a box.  So why not make your own homemade Pop Tarts with real ingredients that taste good?

Recipe

This recipe was made up on a whim as a way to use up some strawberries that were about to go bad.  I didn’t measure a lot so I’ll do my best to approximate.

Makes 4 Pop Tarts

Ingredients

Pastry

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup cold unsalted butter
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup ice cold water
• 1 egg (for wash)

Strawberry Filling

• 1 carton strawberries
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp cornstarch

Sugar Icing

• 1/2 cup confectionary sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Milk

Directions

Pastry

If you don’t feel comfortable making pastry dough you could get the pre-made kind from the store or use phyllo dough.  Otherwise, give this a try:

1. Add the flour and salt to a large bowl.  Whisk to combine.
2. Slice the butter into the bowl and blend in with a pastry cutter.
3. After the butter is evenly blended add the water slowly stirring constantly with a fork.
4. You should be able to compact the dough into a ball without it falling apart.  If you can’t, add more water, stir and try to compact again.
5. Shape the dough into a flat disc and wrap in plastic.  Place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Strawberry Filling

1. Destem all of the strawberries and chop in a food processor.
2. Put pureed strawberries in a pot over medium heat.
3. Stir in sugar and corn starch.
4. When strawberries begin to boil set the heat to low.  Stir occasionally until thick.

Making the Pop Tarts

1. Preheat oven to 375°
2. Roll pastry dough out about 1/8 inch thick.
3. Using a pizza cutter cut rectangular strips about 4″ x 10″ long.  You’ll get about three strips on the first dough roll-out.  With the excess dough make another disc, roll it out, cut your fourth pastry strip.
4. Beat the egg in a small bowl.
5. With a pastry brush wash about 1″ around the edges of a single strip.
6. Place about 1-2 tbsp of the strawberry filling on one half of the pastry strip.  Be careful not to get too close to the edges of the pastry.
7. Fold the dry half of the pastry strip over the strawberry filling and lightly press the pastry edges together with you fingers.  If any filling escapes just wipe it off with your finger.
8. Crimp the edges all the way around with a fork.  Repeat the whole process with the remaining strips.
9. With a spatula move all of the pastries to a greased baking sheet.  Egg wash the tops of each pastry. Poke a few holes in the pastry with a fork to allow heat to escape.
10. Cook for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.
11. Cool on baking sheet for about 10 minutes.

While pop tarts are cooling make your icing:

1. In a small bowl put sugar and vanilla.
2. Add the milk one tablespoon at a time and mix until you get your desired icing texture.  (Mine was around 3 tablespoons)
3. Drizzle or spread the icing onto the cooling pop tarts however you wish.  You’ll have just enough icing to cover all four pastries.

Eat them all immediately or wrap up and reheat in a toaster oven.  These moist, flaky, and fruity snacks are delicious any time.

 

 

 

 

This was my first Daring Bakers challenge and it was a doozy.

I’ll admit that I was a little disappointed with a “lasagne” challenge.  I’ve made lasagne before and when people tell you it’s the best they’ve had you figure what more do you need to learn?  Not to mention that my sweet tooth was aching for a challenge that was more in the ‘dessert’ category.  However, without a doubt, this recipe was definitely a challenge and forced me to learn a lot.  Grind your own meat?  Make your own pasta noodles?  Find meats that only Giada De Laurentiis talk about in that sassy Italian accent?

The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.

It took two days to make this lasagna. Two days. I now have so much respect for little old Italian grandmothers that still cook this way.  However, I don’t think I ever want to make my own lasagna noodles again.  I’ve never been more frustrated, confused, and frazzled in the kitchen as I was today.  At least not since I made a cake with fondant and that was a tag-team effort.

Imagine strips of wet dough slowly sticking to each other on an undersized counter.  Imagine every piece of counter space being used for this recipe. Imagine three burners going on the stove.   Over here is a sauce with five meats and took three hours to make.  Over there is a sauce I’ve never heard of that’s burning and requires constant stirring.  Boil, stir, cool, dry, assemble, grate, stir, lower temperature, raise temperature, burn your hand, ugh!  Imagine it!

Take a look at the entire recipe and then you can probably figure out why I don’t have any pictures of the actual process.  There wasn’t a moment to spare.  I will admit that despite all the hard work the lasagna was very good.  We nearly ate the whole tray.  I was also able to get a picture of the completed dish just as the sun was setting.

It was great getting so many new experiences in the kitchen.  I’m a total convert now with fresh ground meat (I sure do love my Kitchenaid).  I’m looking forward to the next Daring Bakers challenge.