"No Man is Useless While He has a Friend..."

The Station Agent is a sweet and gentle film about people who have been hurt so much that they have to close themselves off from the world to survive. The world, however, sometimes refuses to stay away. When Fin (Peter Dinklage) inherits an old train depot, he moves in, welcoming the chance to get away from prying eyes and open mocking, which, since he is only 4 foot 5 inches tall, is fairly constant. He doesn't find solitude, though. And the people who he at first pushes away as irritants who are intruding on his hermit-like existence, soon become much more. If I were cooking a simple and tasty lunch for Fin and Olivia (Patricia Clarkson) and Joe (Bobby Cannavale), I might serve these fritters.

CORN FRITTERS WITH SPICY YOGOURT SAUCE

This is my father's fritter recipe. The yogourt sauce is one I came up with to use up some ingredients I had. I love the combination of the sweet corn and tangy, spicy, cheesy sauce.

Fritters (makes about 10-15 fritters)

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 eggs

2 cups milk

1 cup frozen corn, thawed

Preheat a griddle to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another. Pour the wet into the dry and stir until combined. Fold in the corn. Pour batter onto the griddle in about 1/4 cup measures. When bubbles start to appear on the fritter surface, flip them and allow to cook 3-4 minutes more, or until browned. Remove from griddle and serve with maple syrup, salsa or yogourt sauce (recipe found below).

Yogurt Sauce

2 cups plain yogourt

1 cup grated Parmagiano Reggiano (or Asiago, but only if you must)

1 small jalapeno pepper, deseeded and minced

1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice, preferably fresh squeezed

Combine all ingredients and serve with hot corn fritters. Keeps in the fridge for 1 week or so.

A Break from Desserts

Man cannot live on dessert alone, much as he might like to, and since it's been Sugar Fest here for several posts, I was feeling like writing about something savoury. Or at least something without sugar as one of the ingredients. My brother Isaiah had been requesting quiche recently, so quiche it is! And since I have so many pies to make this week for a Christmas dinner that I promised to donate to, I wasn't in the mood to roll out more pastry. So, here you have it:

QUICK AND EASY CRUSTLESS BROCCOLI QUICHE

Butter for greasing the pie plate (9 inch deep dish)
6 large eggs
2/3 cup half and half cream
1 cup milk (preferably whole)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
8 ounces grated Cheddar cheese, the more aged the better
2 cups steamed broccoli (or 2 cups of any other vegetable desired)
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Grease your pie plate with butter and set aside.

Beat the eggs, cream, and milk together until blended. (You can use your blender for this.) Stir in the salt and pepper. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the bottom of your baking dish. Spread your 2 cups of broccoli (or whatever you're using) over the cheese and then gently pour the egg mixture over that. Sprinkle the nutmeg evenly over the top.

Bake in the oven about 30 minutes. When done, a cake tester will come out clean. (It will be nice and brown on top. See picture below) Let sit for 15 minutes before cutting into wedges and serving.

And for an accompanying flick:John Cusack is an actor I would watch in almost any film and Grosse Pointe Blank is a winner, not only because of Cusack, but also because of his sister Joan, who is always great, Dan Aykroyd who is so clearly enjoying his role as Grocer, Minnie Driver who is just snarky enough to still be likeable and the story itself, which is a fun and very funny look at the life of a hitman who has a psychoanalyst and orders egg-whites-only omelettes. The screenplay is also snappy and intelligent, which is more than I can say of most hitman flicks. Sure, it's violent, but that could be expected from reading the back of the DVD case. If violence bothers your stomach, almost all of the other films on this blog (so far) are family friendly. This quiche could go (though not nearly as well) with one of them.

A Bittersweet Partnership

Persuasion
1995; Amanda Root, Ciaran Hinds
Directed by Roger Michell

Of all Jane Austen's books, Persuasion was “the one most likely to make me cry.” Before I read Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion was my favourite of Austen’s novels and I still feel the most empathy for Anne Elliot than any of the other Austen heroines, except perhaps Elinor Dashwood. Persuasion is brilliant because it not only recognizes that suffering is part of love but opens up that suffering and shines a light on its every nuance. Reading the novel can be almost painful at times.

The film version, directed by Roger Michell and starring Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds of the Royal Shakespeare Company, nails the suffering of Jane Austen’s Persuasion so perfectly that I almost wonder if the next time I read the book, Amanda Root’s large tortured eyes and beautiful, exquisitely sad face will have replaced my own mental image of Anne.

I never cry watching romantic films because even the most intelligent, unconventional rom-coms are still predictable. We know they’re going to end up together and it’s (somtimes) great and it’s (sometimes) satisfying but it doesn’t produce intense emotion in the viewer. Persuasion is more predictable than most, for me anyways and for all those who have read the book at least six times. But the directing, the gorgeous cinematography and especially the acting are just so good that I was moved to tears anyway. So many of the actor’s emotions are conveyed by facial expressions rather than dialogue and one would be hard pressed to find better actors to play Anne and Captain Wentworth than Root and Hinds. All I can say is, Bravo!

A bittersweet love story is best accompanied by a cranberry applesauce that combines the tartness and sweetness of autumn in one delicious (and beautiful) dish. I sometimes eat a piece of shortbread with this but it isn’t required. If making your own applesauce seems like a lot of work, please just commit to trying this recipe once. It really isn’t that hard (you don't even need a food mill) and it’s so good it will likely become a regular in your repertoire. Cranberry applesauce can be served as a side dish, as an appetizer, as breakfast, as dessert, hot, cold, or unaccompanied, which is perhaps the best way to experience its bittersweetness. (Unaccompanied, of course, except for the rugged face of Frederick Wentworth and the pathos in Anne Elliot’s eyes.)

CRANBERRY APPLESAUCE

1 cup fresh cranberries
Scant 3/4 cup sugar
2 cups apple juice (or water, if you don't have the juice, but it's better with the juice)
1 cinnamon stick
4 whole cloves
Juice of 1 lemon
2 1/2 pounds tart apples, such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored and roughly diced

In a heavy saucepan, bring the cranberries, sugar, apple juice, cinnamon stick, cloves and lemon juice to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the apples and bring back to a simmer. Simmer about 10 minutes, until the apples are soft, but not mush.

With a slotted spoon, scoop out the cranberries and apples and set them aside. Bring the syrup back to a boil and simmer until reduced to 1/2 cup, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and taste. (Be careful! It will be very hot!!) If you want it more sweet, stir in some honey, a teaspoon at a time. Discard the cinnamon stick and cloves. Stir the syrup back into the fruits. Serve the applesauce warm, cold or room temperature. Store in the fridge, where it will keep (fierce and unabashed) for up to 1 week.