Cuisine & Screen: At Home, Part 36

Finishing your week with a pic of my sweet gal Jojo and me.

CUISINE
For our Globes watch "party" last weekend, I thought it would be fun to have a fancy appetizer. I love Buffalo Chicken Dip just like the next gal, but what we came up with was a major hit. I think you could even make this into a light lunch if you added some avocado or a poached egg on top (I personally think anything counts as a meal if you put an egg on top).

Tomato Crostini with Whipped Goat Cheese
French baguette, sliced into 1/2" wedges
4 oz goat cheese
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Pint of Cherry or Grape Tomatoes, halved (or quartered if large)
1 small shallot, minced
1 TB Pine Nuts
Basil, chiffonade
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Drizzle the baguette slices with some olive oil and toast in your toaster oven. (If you want to be EXTRA, cut a garlic clove in half and rub it on the bread after toasting.)

Stir together the goat cheese, lemon juice, some olive oil and some salt and pepper. Taste for seasoning.

Heat a few teaspoons of olive oil over medium heat, and saute your shallot for a few minutes, until translucent. Add in the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Cook this for a few minutes, until the tomatoes are soft, then stir in the pine nuts and let cook for for just another minute or two.

Spread some goat cheese on each toasted baguette slice, then top with a spoonful of the tomato mixture. Sprinkle the basil on top and enjoy!

SCREEN
Palmer - I gotta say, this film surprised me. It stars Justin Timberlake as a man returning to society after 12 years in prison, and his surprising friendship with a young boy helps him stay on the right path. I love JT as an actor, and he really impressed me. I also thought 8 year old Ryder Allen did an incredible job, as did Juno Temple, who plays his troubled, drug addicted mother. It's available on AppleTV+ and worth a watch for sure.

Pieces of a Woman - The first 30 minutes of this film reminded me of the opening scene in "Saving Private Ryan". Utterly heart wrenching and an emotional rollercoaster. It felt like it was filmed in one take. Unfortunately, the film kind of stalls after that, and drags out a bit too much. Vanessa Kirby and Shia LaBeouf are tremendous as parents grieving the loss of their newborn baby. This is a heavy one.