Month: April 2021

Pre-Blu-Ray, pre-DVD, pre-VHS. The only way to “see” them at home, back in the day.

Those were the days!

-R

I’ve sung the praises of Maesri’s canned curry pastes before, but this one is the best. Normally I prefer my homemade curry pastes, made from scratch, but this is better than anything I can do.

Ingredients:

• 1 can Maesri Masaman curry paste
• 1 can (14.5 oz.) coconut milk
• 14 oz. chicken, beef, or pork (I used pork this time)
• 1 large potato, cubed
• 1/2 onion, diced
• Additional vegetables of your choice (I used carrots and celery)
• 1/2 C. stock or water, if using additional vegetables

It’s always a bit fraught trying a new brand of coconut milk. This is my go-to, from Thailand:

But maybe two years ago, canned coconut milk pretty much doubled in price, from $1 to $2 per can. Luckily that hasn’t continued, but the Chaokoh is $2.29 at Safeway, so I’m always on the lookout for a bargain.

This, from the Dominican Republic, was pretty good. Chaokoh has a nice layer of thick coconut cream on the top, with a clear distinction between the cream and the clear coconut “milk” beneath. This one has a soupier layer of cream that gradually turns into milk.

Why does this matter? Because the coconut cream is usually cooked first to release its oil, then, especially if you’re using canned curry paste, the oil helps to fry the curry paste and release its goodness. Some brands don’t have much oil, so then you have to add oil (any type).

Method:

Heat the coconut cream for a minute or so, then add the curry paste:

Stir over medium heat for two or three minutes, or until is smells delicious:

Add the rest of the can of coconut milk, the meat, and if you’re adding vegetables, 1/2 C. stock. Add the toughest vegetables (in this case celery):

Cook over medium heat for five minutes

Add the rest of the vegetables and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or cooked to desired doneness:

Serve with rice and any garnishes you want!

Broccoli in Oyster Sauce, Pork Masaman Curry:

Yum!

-R

All bought on a trip to Mexico in 1977 or thereabouts. Some striking imagery.

I’ll start by taking out your eyes, impostor!

Prohibited Loves (what is a woman . . . in love . . capable of?) Persecuted, for no reason, like a dangerous delinquent!

It Happened in China:

Pirate Captain, Land of Death:

-R

One of Rivette’s primary interests was the theater.  Indeed, his magnum opus, Out One, has some extended sequences about the preparations for a play, and in its 12 hour version, includes long and excruciatingly tedious sequences of actors doing exercises to prepare for their roles.  Other films like L’amour par terre and La bande des quatre deal fairly directly with theatrical performances, but in the context of more informal spaces rather than theaters themselves.

Another constant in Rivette’s work was his interest in process, as opposed to the finished product.  He didn’t just portray process (as in the preparations for a play), rather that for a while it became his working method.  He encouraged his actors (some of with whom he worked repeatedly, thus enabling their collaboration) not only to define/develop their characters, but also as an extension to contribute to the plots.  I don’t mean to overstate this — Rivette always had a clear idea of what he intended to do, and his pre-planning varied from film to film — but his working methods often led to fairly loosely constructed narratives.  Just one example, also from Out One: there’s an unexplained murder which has something to do with a conspiracy, and everything we’ve learned about movies leads us to expect that eventually the murder will be explained, but it isn’t.  Rivette just lets it drop.

Céline et Julie combines the two.  There’s an enclosing narrative, in which the two girls meet, one pursuing the other, which goes on for quite a while.  Soon they’re besties, and eventually sometimes exchanging identities.  This part of the movie is loosely constructed, with sequences that often don’t make sense in terms of constructing a coherent narrative, and often seem fairly random.

MAIS, le prochain jour . . .

Then there’s the house, 7bis rue Pomme-aux-Nadirs, set back from the street, enclosed, seemingly deserted, and (it isn’t clear exactly how, or maybe I’ve just forgotten) the girls end up in it, but are in turn, and repeatedly, unceremoniously ejected and can’t remember what happened to them inside.  But after the ejections, they discover that they have candies. . . which when sucked on, allow them to see what’s going on inside the house. It’s a play.  A play with classic character stereotypes and a tightly constructed plot, in complete contrast with what’s come before. But it isn’t a play in the sense of some people putting on a performance in a house, that could be interpreted as belonging to Céline and Julie’s reality. Now the camerawork is completely different, with static shots (partially echoing the view of an audience, more importantly constraining the action), as opposed to the more fluid shots in the enclosing narrative, where the camera often seems to be playing catch-up with the characters. And the colors are different. Rivette creates an entirely different reality (I was tempted to say “narrative space” 🙂 ), distinct from what we’ve (and more importantly, the girls) previously experienced.

At first, their glimpses into the house are brief, and they only get fragmented bits of the play. Repeated ‘visits’ contain repetitions of things they’ve already seen, but as the visits get longer, the girls eventually figure out what’s going on.

Then things get weird.

They start to mock the repetitions, reciting the dialogue as it’s being spoken, then start to interact with the characters in the play, insert themselves further into the play, and avert its terrible outcome.

In the end, Céline and Julie go on a boat ride and pass another boat on which are the characters from the house play.

Mais, le lendemain . . .

The whole thing starts over.

So, to me, absolutely fascinating. Rivette sets up a complete dichotomy – on the one hand, the girls (and the audience) have to reconstruct the pre-existing story of play; but on the other hand, Rivette takes the opposite tack, and it’s up to his viewers to piece together the bits ‘n’ bobs of the enclosing narrative and come up with a story of their own.

In any case, probably Rivette’s most interesting use of theater, excellent performances, and delightfully odd goofiness (which I haven’t mentioned — you’ll just have to watch it!)

“Celine and Julie Go Boating” is as terrible a translated name as is “The 400 Blows” (“faire les 400 coups” means “to raise hell”). The “vont en bateau” part is from the expression “prendre quelqu’un en bateau” (to take someone on a boat), which means to fool someone, to lead them down the garden path.

So, there are various definitions of chalupa. In Mexico, I had a dish called “chalupa” which was a fried tortilla with a spiced potato mixture on top . . . but this is the one I know, a stew of pork and beans, cooked so long that it becomes a delicious goopy mess.

It takes about five hours to make, so be prepared!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. pinto beans, soaked overnight and drained
• 3 lb. pork roast (better if it has some fat)
• 8 C. water
• 1/2 C. chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tbsp. salt
• 2 Tbsp. chili powder
• 1 Tbsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1-2 minced jalapenos (1, unseeded, will bring a tiny bit of heat)

Method:

Place everything into a pot and stir together:

Bring to the boil, then lower the heat to a medium boil and cover. For the first two hours, stir every half an hour, and add water as needed. As the meat begins to cook, use your utensil to break off the cooked edges, which will help the meat to cook more evenly:

Around the 2-1/2 to 3 hour mark, the meat will have pretty much fallen apart. Turn down the heat, but don’t stop cooking! The beans have long since turned to mush. That means that the stew will start to stick, so you need to scrape down the bottom and sides of the pan to prevent burning. This needs to be done every 5-10 minutes (5 minutes is better, just in case). Much easier with a spatula than a spoon.

No matter how quickly it cooks, DON’T be tempted to stop at the four hour mark. For some reason (meat protein breakdown?) that’s when it transforms from okay to delicious. So I generally go for another half hour.

In the end, it will look like this:

Now, what to do with it?

First of all, unless you’re feeding a mess o’ folks, it’s far more than you will use. But it freezes extremely well.

Use it in Mexican or Tex-Mex recipes. Delicious in tacos or as a filling for enchiladas, but my fave is a chalupa bowl. There are some broken-up tortilla chips in the bottom (breaking them up makes it easier to eat), then a layer of chalupa, and topped with the usual suspects, chopped lettuce, onions, tomatoes, cubed cheese, taco sauce and sour cream:

Both pretty and double yum!!!

-R

Okay, this is not exactly haute cuisine. But I gotta say, they’re delicious — I go through all eight in two days.

And it’s another non-recipe, and infinitely variable, so add or subtract. I use oil-packed tuna for a more tuna-y flavor, sharp cheeses, lots of pickles, and lots of celery for added crunch.

Ingredients:

• 1 six-ounce can tuna (if using water-packed, flake it, unnecessary for oil-packed)
• 1/2 C. cheese of your choice, cut into 1/4″ cubes
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
• 1/2 C. celery, chopped into 1/4″ cubes
• 1/3 C. chopped onions
• 1/3 C. mayonnaise
• 1/3 C. chopped pickles
• (Optional) 1/2 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
• 8 hamburger buns

Method:

Preheat oven to 400.

Stir it all together.

Pull off squares of tin foil, then top the hamburger buns with the mix.

Wrap’em up.

Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Double yum!

-R

Really?!?

Yup. Another recipe from my past, that I haven’t made in decades.

Easy to make. The only painful part is the 2 C. finely shredded cabbage.

Ingredients:

• 1 x 3 oz. chicken flavor ramen noodles
• 1/4 C. vegetable oil
• 3 Tbsp. wine vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• Dash of pepper
• 2 C. finely shredded cabbage
• 1 C. cooked cubed chicken
• 1/4 C. sliced scallion (or 2 Tbsp. finely minced onion)
• (optional) 3 Tbsp. sesame seeds
• (for garnish, optional) toasted sliced almond and chopped green pepper (or whatever you want.)

Method:

Break up the noodles:

Slice the cabbage. A benriner or mandolin is definitely your friend here!

In a mixing bowl, combine the oil, vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper and the ramen seasoning packet, and stir to dissolve:

In a separate bowl, combine the broken noodles, cabbage, chicken, scallions/onion, and sesame seeds:

Stir it all together:

and refrigerate for a few hours.

Garnish as desired:

But, you ask, how did it taste?

Kinda bland. I was surprised that the noodles hadn’t turned into mush, but maybe that’s because their isn’t much dressing. In the end I stirred up some wine vinegar and mayo and added it in, so then it was better.

Kinda yum!

-R

Intro

No Aloha

Invisible Man

I Just Wanna Get Along

Do You Love Me Now

Enjoy!

-R