GREAT MOVIE: A Hundred-Foot Journey

Watched this fantastic movie last night and rewatched again twice today.  This film is utterly charming.  

The film stars Helen Mirren, the owner of a Michelin-starred restaurant in France.  A family from Mumbai buys the property across the street and opens up an Indian food restaurant.  The younger son, a food/cooking prodigy since a young age learns the fine art of French cuisine in the process of becoming a famous chef primarily by infusing his Indian roots into French classical cooking.  Two romances, wonderful food, spectacular setting make this one of my favorite films ever.

Also, the male lead, Manish Dayal (Hassan) is utterly gorgeous.   

And Dame Mirren is ever the perfect actor especially paired with Om Puri, who plays the father of Hassan.

Don't miss this.  It's out in DVD and cable.

Produced by Oprah and Steven Spielberg, the results are a magical wonderful film.  Direction Lasse Hallstrom.

Once you've watched the movie check out this interesting article on how they created, digitally, the village of St. Antonin-Noble-Val in France and the two restaurants in the movie.  Click here to read:
http://www.fxguide.com/featured/journey-to-the-hundred-foot-journey/

An AMAZING steak coffee rub recipe

photo:  cooklikejames.typepad.com
(it doesn't show the roasted garlic butter)

I made the best steaks ever on the grill the other night.  I am a novice to grilling.  My partner always did that but now that I'm single I am trying learn, as I love my beef.  

In the past I've always put together a good marinade for steaks on the grill, but adequately so. 

I was watching the Today show (so much better now that Willie and Carson are on board to balance the fussy, prissy Matt Lauer) and they had a visiting chef, David Guas, who had a recipe for steak rub using coffee. The great thing about the rub is that I had all of the ingredients in my cabinet (that never happens).  

In the past I always added moisture and seasoning for a marinade (soy or Worcestershire Sauces, Wine, Oil, etc).  I had no idea that you don't need moisture.  This simple recipe using nothing but a steak rub is magnificent.  

This is a photo of the results of my first
attempt at the coffee rub recipe recipe below.
Photo: by me

The results were the best steaks I've ever made (they tasted great because of the rub and did not nut ruin them on the grill).  

This rub recipe is so delicious and I think the secret ingredient is the coffee.  Ina Gartner, the "Barefoot Contessa" always suggests adding ground coffee beans to chocolate recipes to enhance the flavor.  This also worked with the steak and the seasons of this recipe's coffee rub.  Maybe that's why we all love nice cup of coffee after a great meal?

The rub is quick to make.  It only takes an hour or so to let the beef "marinade" with the rub.  But damned it makes a fine steak.  

David Guas: Today Show Coffee-Rubbed Rib-Eye Recipe Ingredients

Any type of coffee will work, but grind it fresh before preparing this recipe. Coffee balances the fat of a rib-eye, Guas said.

• 4 16-oz boneless Rib-Eye Steaks
• Sea Salt & Black Pepper

Coffee Rub Ingredients

• 3 tbsp fresh ground Coffee Beans
• 2 tbsp Paprika
• 1 tsp granulated Onion
• 1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
• 1 tbsp Light Brown Sugar
• 1 tbsp Coarse Sea Salt
• 1 tsp granulated Garlic

Today Show: David Guas Coffee-Rubbed Rib-Eye Recipe Directions

1. Combine rub ingredients in a bowl before rubbing them on the raw steaks.
2. Chill steaks in the fridge for about 90 minutes to let flavors absorb into the meat.
3. Prepare the grill as you salt and pepper the meat on both sides.
4. Grill over direct heat for six to nine minutes.
5. For medium-rare steaks, reach an internal temperature of 125-130 F. For medium, cook longer for an internal temp of 140-145 F. Cook longer if desired, but move meat off of direct heat and close the grill lid.
6. Let steaks rest on a cutting board for around nine minutes before you slice or serve them.
7. Serve with a dollop of homemade garlic compound butter.

The recipe for the steak also calls for a roasted garlic butter. I tried to approximate it by using a dab of unsalted butter and a dash of Lawry's Garlic Seasoning.  

Today Show: David Guas Roasted Garlic Compound Butter Recipe

Chef David Guas, host of Travel Channel’s American Grilled, shared a delicious idea for a Coffee-Rubbed Rib-Eye Recipe, with Roasted Garlic Compound Butter (Marina Shanti / Shutterstock.com)

Ingredients

• 2 whole bulbs Garlic
• 1/4 cup Water
• 1/2 stick soft Unsalted Butter
• 3 tbsp Olive Oil
• Salt & Pepper

Directions

1. Cut off the tops of the garlic bulbs and wrap them in foil to create a bowl around them.
2. Drizzle olive oil over the exposed garlic tops and sprinkle them with salt and pepper.
3. Pour water around the edges of the foil before wrapping and sealing the edges.
4. Grill over coals for about an hour. Carefully remove and let rest until cool enough to handle.
5. Squeeze roasted garlic into butter. Mash to combine and season to taste.
6. Roll excess butter into parchment or plastic and freeze in a cylinder for easy slicing and future use. This will last up to three months.

I used two good boneless steaks, in lieu of the t-bone!  Please try this.......let me know what you think.  This rub is outstanding.  I can't wait to add the roasted garlic!  And a PORTERHOUSE.

The recipes and bottom photo are from http://www.recapo.com/today-show/today-show-recipes/today-show-david-guas-coffee-rubbed-rib-eye-recipe-garlic-butter/. 

This cookie article (and photos) has had me DISTRACTED all day

Get the Soft And Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe from Averie Cooks

I started my morning, as I do everyday, reading the dreary news on the web.  One of my primary news sources is The Huffington Post.  They had the most amazing article titled, "Every cookie recipe you'll ever need (and then some)".  Click here to see the article.  

I have been salivating all day. I am posting this because I'd like to try to make all of these recipes someday (there are 62 to be exact, although I have included only a few photos).  Maybe I'll do an homage to the groundbreaking, delightful blog, book and film (starring Meryl Streep/Amy Adams) Julie/Julia homage.   But since no reads this blog the only impact would be to my middle aged, already over-expanded waste line.  I guess I could take all of the cookies to senior centers?   Would anyone read this blog more, if I do?   

The wonderful eclectic recipes include some of my most favorite food stuff:  chocolate, chocolate, double chocolate, peanut butter, nuts, pistachios (times 100), butter, cream cheese,  caramel, butterscotch, cinnamon, sugar, honey, molasses, nutella,  sea salt, oatmeal, fruit (berries in every way), cookies that are made in a cast iron skillet.  This list could go on.  Click here to see the article. 

Get the Salted Soft & Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies recipe from The Moveable Feast

Get the Dark Chocolate Chunk, Pistachio, and Sea Salt Cookies recipe from Two Peas and their Pod

But the one that's really made my panties wet (it's such an erotic, enticing coupling--love to sample):  The Peanut-Butter-Cup-Stuffed Ginger Cookies Recipe by Pip & Ebby.

Chick-fil-A...an INTERESTING commentary from lesbian chef at CNN.com

This was a very interesting column about the recent announcement by Chick-fil-A that they no longer are financially donating to the right wing-organization that is anti gays and lesbian.

First, she is from the South and grew up with this fast food chain. We had one in Lubbock-awful-Texas where I was cursed to be born. I ate at occasionally as a kid and it was good. But I never thought of it as not as good as Whataburger, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Villa or the quasi-fast places like Chinese Kitchen (is it still there?) or a couple of barbeque haunts. Certainly, in my mind, Chick-fil-A never came near to the premier fast food experience of my life: In-N-Out, once I moved to California in 1985.

Second, the writer, Virginia Willis, considers Chick-fil-A to be a cut above the typical fast food chain fare. Willis by the way has a distinguished pedigree having trained at L'Academie de Cuisine and Ecole de Cuisine LaVarenne. For fellow "foodies" who worship the fine art of eating, she poses a very interesting dilemma. The problem is that her passion for the food at the former (apparently) gay-hating Chick-fil-A makes her want to return as a customer. Reading her column also made me want to try it again after several decades. But I feel conflicted just as does this writer and slightly different, yet, for the same reasons.

Read here Ms. Willis' excellent essay at Eatocracy on CNN: Click-fil-a Controversy Leaves a Bitter Taste for Some Longtime Fans

If you are pro gay, what do you think about this column and the dilemma? Should Chick-fil-A be forgiven? Are they really sincere? If you're a supporter of gay rights and a lover of Chick-fil-A's food, should you be forgiven if you satiate your lust for the food at the food chain since they have offered a quasi mea culpa?

I am a devotee of the great show on tv "What Would You Do?".

What would you do?