Sunshine

I didn't really have high hopes for this movie. I thought it was going to be like that other save the earth movie, The Core, except for the sun. Superficially, the plot elements for the two movies were similar: a large bomb must be detonated in the core of the earth/sun to reignite it. As one might also expect, in both movies, the full crew does not make it to the end credits. The similarities ended there though; Sunshine was very interesting to look at with its careful attention to colors and space. The plot ended up being a coagulation of many other space movies, but for me, these hodgepodge elements worked. I was pleased to find some Asians in the crew and that romantic subplots were almost nonexistent. Everyone stayed professional and focused on their mission. It is pretty refreshing actually, that men and women could be trusted to save the world together in a movie without falling into bed. Overall, the biggest surprise was the amount of action and tension present in this movie. I'm not sure what I expected, but for a save the world sci fi movie, there was quite a bit of creeping unease and disquiet, more akin to what you might find in a horror flick. Compared to Danny Boyle's actual horror movie, 28 Days Later, I have to say I preferred this one. Rate ****

Mexican Wedding Cakes

I think it's obvious that I've given up on trying to take attractive pictures. These cakes (really, cookies) were inspired by Bunny's post. I was intrigued because of their outward resemblance to these amazing Egyptian cookies Poodle gives me from time to time. On Sunday then, I decided to try my hand at these. Now, baking is not really my thing but with such a short list of ingredients I really couldn't resist. And they came out wonderfully! The picture, again, does not do them justice, but you can spot that hole in the middle of the cooling rack where I stole several cookies while they were still warm from the oven. Basically they taste like pie crust dipped in powdered sugar. I will definitely be making these again, assuming I stick with my running regimen.

Mexican Wedding Cakes (from Epicurious)

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup pecans, toasted, coarsely ground

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I used more cinnamon per Bunny's recommendation)

Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add 1/2 cup powdered sugar and vanilla; beat until well blended. Beat in flour, then pecans. Divide dough in half; form each half into ball. Wrap separately in plastic; chill until cold, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk remaining 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and cinnamon in pie dish to blend. Set cinnamon sugar aside.

Working with half of chilled dough, roll dough by 2 teaspoonfuls between palms into balls. Arrange balls on heavy large baking sheet, spacing 1/2 inch apart. Bake cookies until golden brown on bottom and just pale golden on top, about 18 minutes. Cool cookies 5 minutes on baking sheet. Gently toss warm cookies in cinnamon sugar to coat completely. Transfer coated cookies to rack and cool completely. Repeat procedure with remaining half of dough. (Cookies can be prepared 2 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature; reserve remaining cinnamon sugar.)

Sift remaining cinnamon sugar over cookies and serve.

Garlicky Sesame-Cured Broccoli Salad

Yesterday I decided two things: 1) I was sick of roasted broccoli with garlic, salt and pepper (my favorite way of cooking broccoli for the past 2-3 months) and 2) it's been ages since I tried a new recipe. So with that and a bag of TJ broccoli florets in mind, I attempted the NYT's Garlicky Sesame-Cured Broccoli Salad. The picture is awful but it is a wonderful dish. I have just been eating this straight out of my mixing bowl and the urge to snag one every hour is irresistible. Prepared this way, the broccoli stays maximally crispy yet not raw-tasting and has incredible amounts of flavor. Next time I make this, I will try adding cubed tofu pieces for a nice lunch.

1 1/2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
2 heads broccoli, 1 pound each, cut into bite-size florets (or 1 bag TJ broccoli)
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 fat garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 teaspoons roasted (Asian) sesame oil
Large pinch crushed red pepper flakes.

1. In a large bowl, stir together the vinegar and salt. Add broccoli and toss to combine.
2. In a large skillet, heat olive oil until hot, but not smoking. Add garlic and cumin and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in sesame oil and pepper flakes. Pour mixture over broccoli and toss well. Let sit for at least 1 hour at room temperature, and up to 48 (chill it if you want to keep it for more than 2 hours). Adjust seasonings (it may need more salt) and serve.

Yield: 6 to 8 side-dish servings or more as an hors d'oeuvre.

Liver with Cilantro and Lemon

I finally uploaded my recent batch of photos and realized I was overdue for a food post. This was dinner a couple nights ago. I have a thing for calf liver and whenever I go to Fresh Grocer I succumb and buy some. My favorite way to prepare them is:

Remove thin membrane from around the liver slices. Pat liver in flour until evenly coated. Heat some butter and olive oil in pan and throw in liver. Cook until golden brown on both sides. Douse with lemon juice and eat with plenty of chopped cilantro. If you must, make a side of couscous.

I believe I learned this way of cooking liver from MFK Fisher. Prior to this, my only experience with liver was the way my mom used to make them, which was to boil them in a soup with ginger and scallion and a generous dollop of rice wine. It was good, but the liver was always a bit on the tough and chewy side. And the soup always came out gray. Pan-fried, liver becomes tender and buttery with a tinge of blood-taste (I like the blood-taste). The lemon and the cilantro freshen things up.

Bridesmaid Dresses & Panera

On Saturday, Poodle and I made the trip out to Willow Grove to look for this dress:

We met another one of her bridesmaids, Nicky, and headed toward some bridal shop. We all really expected to like this dress because it seemed so simple and basic, but somehow it was extremely unflattering on both me (no boobs) and Nicky (lots of boobs). Physically, Nicky and I look very different, so once this dress was out of the question, it became tricky as to what style would look nice on us both. Any dress that looked good on me looked horrendous on Nicky and vice versa. Eventually we managed to find a consensus on this one:
All of the dresses we tried on was in the Belsoie line, but this was the only one that looked good on us both. Since Michelle sits somewhere between me and Nicky on the body continuum, we decided it should look pretty good on her too. The color pictured here is black, but Poodle wanted the color to be Bordeaux. This posed a new set of problems because the material was some kind of crepe and did not come in Bordeaux. In the end it was fine, because the dress material can be altered and they will probably be made up in chiffon (which does come in the correct color). For anyone interested enough, the style number is 9020.

After dress-hunting, we had lunch at Panera. It was my first, and hopefully last time there. Panera is some kind of sandwich chain, probably a bit more ghetto and of lesser quality than Cosi. You get the idea. I'm not sure how these places can charge so much for a poorly assembled sandwich but there you go. I got some kind of chicken and cheese panini and I'll admit I devoured it. That is more testament to my level of hunger rather than quality of sandwich. Oh my god. I went to the panera website to see if I could get a picture of my sandwich and clicked on the Frontega Chicken Panini (the one I got). For such a mediocre sandwich, it packed 800 in calories and contained a horrible amount of fat and salt. ACK. That was definitely my last time there.

After we got back to the city, Poodle and I labbed it for a couple of hours before gymming it. Overall, it was a productive Saturday.