Cuisine & Screen: Home Edition, Part 5

Hey everyone! We good? Hanging in there? Kinda sorta? I hope you've at least gotten outside a bit to enjoy this beautiful spring we're having. My Lamb's Ear are certainly loving these warmer temps.

CUISINE
I don't know about you, but I'm missing dining out. But, the recipes I'm sharing with you this week are easy, involve few ingredients and are inexpensive to make! (Side note - I'm scaling all recipes down by about 6 servings, so these serve 1 or 2. We don't all have spouses and 3 kids!! So adjust accordingly.)

One of my favorite things to make for breakfast (or brunch or lunch or dinner) is Shakshuka. Here's how I made it this week:

Heat about 1 TB of olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Saute half a diced onion and half a diced bell pepper (any color) for about 5 minutes, then add one clove of minced garlic. After about a minute, add in 1/2 tsp or so of ground cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. I add a dash of cayenne because I love spice. Stir in a 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes. If the sauce is looking too thick, add in about half a can of water. Taste for seasoning. Crack 2-3 eggs directly into the sauce and season them with a little S&P. Cover the pan with a lid for about 6 minutes. Then, hopefully, your eggs will have that perfectly jammy yolk. Spoon some sauce and an egg onto a plate, garnish with sour cream/greek yogurt, cilantro and feta cheese. Sublime!

In recent years, I've discovered my love for French Onion Soup and I made a shortcut version for myself this week:

Saute half a sliced onion in about 1/2 TB olive oil and 1/2 TB butter, for about 10 minutes. The longer you let them cook, the more caramelized the onions will get, but I added some liquid to get the cooking process moving a bit. Add half a can of beef consomme (you can also use beef stock or broth), a splash of Marsala (because I love it) and a splash of water. Add in some fresh thyme (if you have it) and a little S&P. I added a drop of sour cream and dijon just to enhance the flavor and add some richness. Taste for seasoning. Ladle in ramekins, put a piece of bread on top, cover that bread with cheese (any white you cheese you have will do!) Broil for a few minutes (don't walk away!) Then enjoy.

Finally, if you're tired of making banana bread with all those leftover bananas, try my favorite dessert, Bananas Foster:

Melt about 1 TB of butter with 2 TB of brown sugar in a saute pan over medium heat. Once that's all nice and syrupy, add in a pinch of salt, a pinch of cinnamon and a sliced banana, and let it cook for a few minutes. OFF THE HEAT, splash in a bit of spiced rum or banana liquour (or both!) and stir to combine. Pour this over vanilla ice cream and garnish with whipped cream if you're a real glutton like me. OBSESSED.

SCREEN
Molly's Game - A Sorkin screenplay, so you had best pay attention because it moves FAST. It will easily keep your attention though, and Jessica Chastain is fantastic as real-life underground poker game runner Molly Bloom. (Btw, where is this woman's Oscar?) A great supporting cast. LOVED.

All The Presidents' Men - I can watch a young Robert Redford in anything. What a babe. This film was in the vein of "Spotlight", "The Post" and the 5th season of "The Wire", so if you're into investigative journalism and politics, this will be up your alley.

On the Waterfront - The only thing better than a young Robert Redford is a young Marlon Brando. Mother may I?! This is one of the early mobster films, and it's rightfully considered a classic. Just look at the Oscars it won. It's full of family drama, romance and class struggles. I enjoyed this a lot.