Cocktails for Classic Movie Buffs

Thank you, Don Juan's Reckless Daughter

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It is, once again, ridiculously hot, so I am going to talk about historical cocktails.  Why? Because I'm long overdue for a history blog -- and what better subject for a history blog than old Hollywood's complete disregard for prohibition?  Also, I've long wanted to post pictures and videos of Buster Keaton and Anna Mae Wong to this blog, and now I finally have an excuse to do it.  That, and even thinking about an Orange Blossom just cools me down.

Orange Blossom

The traditional recipe for Orange Blossoms uses superfine sugar or simple syrup.  I have always found that adding extra sugar to orange juice makes it nauseatingly sweet, so I've left it out.

Virginia Rappe and Maude Delmont famously swilled these during Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle's infamous San Francisco party -- the same party that resulted in the death of Rappe and a resulting rape trial for Arbuckle which instantly became one of the first major media circuses of the twentieth century.

1 tumble filled with orange juice
2 jigs of gin
1 wedge of line (squeeze into orange juice and then use as garnish)

If not consumed by scam artists who go on to die at your party, a nice time will be had by all.

Sloe Gin Fizz 


Some versions of this recipe use egg white, however Eric had salmonella once and now I share his anti-egg paranoia.  Once again, I have eschewed Simple Syrup, and I prefer lime juice to lemon.

1 Tom Collins glass or moderately sized tumbler, into which you should pour
1 jig sloe gin
1 jig gin
fill glass with soda water
add lemon or lime to taste


Variations of this drink were much loved by non-movie star Huey Long, but it's also a drink much beloved in "women's pictures" of the 1940's.

I don't have a drink for Buster Keaton, apparently he liked to drink beer.

Spinach Enchiladas

After two weeks of really hot, appetite killing weather, we New Englanders have found ourselves experiencing some relatively cool weather.  


And why is it cool that the weather's cooler?  
Because we can now use the oven without heating up the entire house and bringing the wrath of our housemates upon us!


I've been dying to experiment with enchilada recipies for a long time.  This one came out great: comfort foody but with an undertone of pepper fire. 


The Filling

2 packages of frozen spinach
1/2 can pinto beans
3 cloves diced garlic
chili flakes to taste 
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 flour tortillas
4 slices of cheddar cheese


The Sauce

4 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 can pinto beans
3 tomatoes, diced
cilantro, garlic, and pepper flakes to taste

Fry the pinto beans olive oil until they become slightly paste like.  Add the tomatoes and spices and cook for three more minutes.  Pour the mixture over the burritos.   




Get a large skillet. Sauté the diced garlic and the chili flakes in the olive oil.  Defrost the spinach in the pan, stirring occasionally.  Bring the spinach mixture to a boil, and then cool.  Make two burrito wraps with the cool spinach mixture.  Get a greased, large, shallow Corningware bowl and layer those two wraps on the bottom of the bowl.  Cover with cheese and the sauce mixture.  Add another layer on top of the first.  
Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.  

Finally, I Got the Thai Noodles Right

Finally, after a week of trial and error, the vegetarian version of Ruth Reichl's "Not Quite Thai Noodles".

The Sauce


3 heaping tablespoons of peanut butter  (chunky is the best, because the peanuts fry up with a nice crackle)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
soysauce to taste
siracha sauce to taste

Carefully pour the 1/4th cup olive oil into a pan and heat up slowly.  Add the curry and garlic powders and sauté.  Slowly stir in the three tablespoons of peanut butter, making sure that each spoonful melts.  Warning: it might froth slightly, if it's frothing alarmingly -- and you will know what that looks like when you see it, turn the heat down.  (It's sad how long it took for that to occur to me.)

Slowly stir the chopped vegetables of your choice into this sauce.  If the mixture gets sticky or catches on the bottom of the pan, add a little water and thin out the sauce before you add more vegetables.  Do not use spinach.  Any strong vegetable with a flavor that can hold its own will be fine:  broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, carrots, peppers.

The Noodles

1 large packet of rice noodles (I like Wai-Wai Rice Noodles.)
1 pot of water
skillet
olive oil

Boil the noodles following the directions on the packet.  Grab a bigger pan and grease it up with some olive oil.  Then stir fry the noodles, slowly adding the sauce and vegetables.  (You can also just pile up the sauce and veggies on the plain noodles, which is my favorite way to eat them.)

A little Feastlet: "Scotland Summer" Salad Dressing

I made up this salad when I was a starving American student abroad in the UK, unable to afford... much of anything.  (American-style salad dressing is expensive over there, and I dislike creamy salad dressings so the British-style use of mayo or salad cream didn't really do anything for me.)

Throw chopped cheddar cheese on salad comprised of lettuce, tomato, etc.  Drizzle olive oil and siracha hot sauce over your choice of salad fixin's.    Add whatever other spices may pop into your head (with me it was usually pepper).

Serve with a cheap bottle of Sainsbury's plonk or a pint of Three Shilling.

Pepper and Tomato Soup

Also known as "I lost it at the Farmer's Market today" soup.  Inspired by the tomato based soup recipes in Anna Thompson's Love Soup, as well as a really cool salsafied version of gazpacho I tried at the Cactus Club in Boston a few years back.  It took about thirty minutes to make, and most of that was dicing veggies, so it's an easy soup to satisfy cravings for.

1 yellow or orange bell pepper, diced into medium chunks (green peppers are too sharp tasting, red are too sweet) 

6 large tomatoes, also diced into medium chunks 

1 can red or black beans 

1 small onion, diced to fry

2 cups water

1 tbs lemon juice 

1 1/2 cup olive oil

pepper, garlic powder, ginger, and cilantro to taste

Fry the peppers and onions in olive oil until they soften and brown.  Add the water and lemon juice and let boil while dicing up the tomatoes.  Add the tomatoes, pepper, garlic powder, beans, and cilantro.  Boil for about five more minutes, keep an eye on the tomatoes to be sure they're not beginning to look too much like stewed tomatoes.  

Best with some Italian crusty bread, although pita bread is also a pretty good companion for the soup.  

Terran-Style Hasperat

I've been a Trekker for nearly twenty years, and my favorite Star Trek character aside from Spock is Major Kira Nerys from the third Trek series, Deep Space Nine.  The only thing my two favorite characters from Trek have in common, aside from the traumatic childhood so common to Star Trek aliens, is that they both come from very advanced cultures (well, the Bajora were advanced before the Cardassians got to them) and that they are vegetarians as a result.  Anyway, tonight I honored the always kick-ass Kira by preparing human-friendly version of hasperat, a famous Bajoran delicacy.

Two sources inspired me:  Keckler (of Television Without Pity fame) wrote a review of the Star Trek Cookbook that mentioned hasperat, and last night, as I was watching an episode of Next Generation, I got the yen to google "hasperat" and found this yummy sounding recipe.  That did it! I spent a particularly boring day at work coming up with my own version, which is as follows:

• 1 tomato

• 1 cucumber 

• 1-3 tablespoons of red pepper hummus

• 1 diced jalapeno pepper

• a few squirts of siracha hotsauce (which, alas, I could not have tonight as I am getting over being sick and I'm still not quite a hundred percent yet)   

• 3-4 slices of cheddar cheese

• 2 large lavash wraps (tortillas are okay, but I find they tend to be a little too stiff for cold wraps) 

• several leaves of Romaine or Boston lettuce

Lay the lavash wrap on a plate, and spread with red pepper hummus.  Scatter the diced jalapeno pepper over the hummus, and then layer cheese on top.  Add the slices of tomato and cucumber, and put the lettuce leaves on top.  Roll tightly. 

"Real" hesperat is also supposed to have a sour taste, as it is to be soaked in brine for hours before eating.  I contemplated adding pickle or tabouli to the sandwich, but Eric's not all that fond of pickled things and my poor post-cold stomach wasn't really on board with the idea either.  I'd love to hear how it tastes if someone does try that, though.  

Pan Fried Curried Linguine

I made this up myself, because I don't feel like spending money on real Asian noodles right now.

1 pkg fresh spinach

1 tomato

1 box linguine

1 cup olive oil

3-4 cloves garlic

curry powder and hot chili flakes to taste

Boil one box of linguine according to the directions on the packet. Drain and rinse so it won't all stick together in a big soggy ball. Take a wok or skillet, pour 1 cup olive oil, turn on medium heat. Add and saute the garlic, curry powder, and chili flakes. Put the noodles in the skillet and stir, making sure they're as completely covered with oil as they can be. Add the vegetables, cooking them down as much as you'd like.

Missionary’s Downfall (Budget Version)

½ cup pineapple chunks

1 wineglass full of water

3 jigs Bacardi Peach Rum

4 or 5 springs (about ten to fifteen leaves) of crappy Demoulas mint

1 cup ice

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons lime juice

Assemble in blender, hit “ice crush” then hit “puree”. Makes about two drinks.

Spinach Soup

inspired by Anna Thomas's The Vegetarian Epicure: Book Two

2-3 bags fresh spinach, cleaned and picked through
1 pint of potato peel broth
3 cups of water
1 really big potato
pepper, soy sauce, and lemon juice to taste

Boil potatoes in potato peel broth until soft, then add the spinach. Cover and steam for about ten minutes, adding the water as needed. Add pepper, soy sauce, and lemon juice as needed.

Best if served with tortilla chips and cheddar cheese.