A Rant & A Rave

I have been ill with a mild flu since Thursday, felt a little bit better today and was able to watch 2 movies on dvd (but refused to cook). One is the awful Children of Men and the other is the brilliant The Fallen Idol directed by Carol Reed & written by Graham Greene.

Children of Men 2 Stars
Why do I keep watching movies that have gotten rave reviews only to find out they suck big time. Children of Men is one of them. I was excited when I heard about this movie being made based on P.D. James' novel. I was hoping the movie will be better than the book. P.D. James is one of my favorite authors and I have read nearly all of her mystery novels (Adam Dalgliesh as well as Cordelia Gray) but I did not particularly love her 1993 novel The Children of Men. My main problem with the book is not the plot but the second half and the ending. She seemed to have lost interest and did not know how to end it. Regardless, I still liked the idea of a movie set in the future when men all over the world stopped producing sperm and therefore no babies were born for the past 18 years. I was hoping that the moviemakers will improve on this story and with Clive Owen (I loved him in Croupier and the TV series Second Sight) as Theo I was really looking forward to watching it. Huge Disappointment. The movie is awful: all shades of gray in the entire movie, why? Men not being able to produce sperm would not prevent the sun from rising, so it is so very annoying not to see a little bit of color. The untalented Mexican director Cuaron wanted a certain atmosphere of gloom, with evil terrorist fighting the equally evil government, and illegal immigrants being caged like animals, but what do they have to do with the world without babies? The movie is all about Theo and his charge, the pregnant black woman, running, being chased by terrorists, ducking bullets, having friends who help them get killed unnecessarily along the way; these scenes kept repeating like a nightmare, it kept going on and on and on until everybody they encountered got killed and the only ones remaining are the woman and her child. And, as the movie progresses Clive Owen gets grimier and grimier as he nears his death and the end of the film. The director and the writer spent so much emphasis on illegal immigrants. I do not want certain political agenda being prominently forced on me in a movie that advertizes as SciFi, I want to be entertained, not fed political crap. I could watch politically themed movies and documentaries if I want to. The movie (as in the book, my main complaint, actually) did not offer any hope for the future. Why? Because the father of the child is not known, according to the girl there were several possibilities (sounds like she's a ho) and was never discussed again, in the book P.D. James killed him. THE FATHER is the only hope for the new generation but his character was set aside, and then the baby born they decided should be a GIRL! How will she be able to continue having babies if there are no men producing sperm, dumb, dumb, dumb. Now, if the baby were a boy, then he might carry the father's genes that gave him life and there will be a slight chance of a world with new babies, but no, the baby has to be a girl. Reminder: the title is Children of Men, take your cue from the title, you morons. Just imagine her age at say, 80, when everybody has died including her mother, all alone in the whole planet, isn't that the saddest thing, and this movie (and the book) didn't make any sense at all. One laughable idiotic moment (others thought it's poignant, whatever) in the movie: The soldiers stopped shooting at the rebels/terrorists as Theo, the mother and the newborn child were walking amidst them, they did the sign of the cross, let them pass, then resumed fighting, what the heck is that? JesusMaryJoseph! This is the first child born in 18 years and that's their response to the phenomenon? I would have been stunned at the sight of a newborn baby and would have brought the mother and the baby to the Warden right there and then, yes, that's what I would have done.
The 2 stars is for Clive's crying scene and for Michael Caine being the only person in the whole movie who was happy (his character is an old pot growing/smoking hippy, that's why he's happy).

The Fallen Idol 5 Stars
This black and white 1948 movie is by the same director/writer team of The Third Man, Carol Reed and Graham Greene. The screenplay was written by Greene based on his own short story The Basement Room. The movie is not your typical "the Butler Did It" thriller, it is visually dazzling, and the dialogue and acting are brilliant. The butler, Mr. Baines actually did not murder his wife who is the caretaker of the boy, Phile, who thinks he pushed his wife to her death. The boy is alone in the embassy, where they live, with the couple while his father, an ambassador to England of an unspecified French-speaking country, is out of the country to fetch his wife from a hospital somewhere where she was being treated for the past 8 months. The boy has been drawn to the likable Mr. Baines who indulges him, takes him for walks and to the zoo, and even gave him a box for his pet snake, Macgregor. He also loves to impress the boy and tells him stories of his 'adventures' in Africa, which are all lies. On the other hand, his wife is harsh and stern and terrorizes the child and her husband. Mr. Baines has fallen in love with an employee of the embassy. When the boy followed him one day, he saw him in a coffee shop with the girl, Julia who said she was leaving the next night because there is no hope in their relationship. Phile joined them and had pies and tea with them, which Mrs. Baines absolutely forbids. While the 2 adults are talking the boy hears everything, including the part when Mr. Baines said he will ask his wife for his freedom. To make the story short the wife died accidentally after she and her husband argued about Julia. When the police came to investigate, Phile tried to save his dear butler and friend by lying to the police. But with each lie he unwittingly made Mr. Baines look more and more guilty that you will start to think, what an obnoxious boy, shut up already. But the movie has a happy ending, the police found out for themselves how Mrs. Baines died.
The things I love: the child is wonderfully natural, he is not a professional actor but the son of a French couple immigrants in England. Carol Reed himself enacted the parts for the boy to copy and both he and the boy did an exceptionally good job. I love the simple but memorable story, the intelligent dialogue and the beautiful visuals.

Longaniza

I wrote about longaniza last year but haven't made them since, until today. I was going to serve them as longaniza burgers but everybody prefers garlic fried rice with vinegar chili dip, Pinoy kasi. I made some thick patties and the rest I stuffed in hog casings. I love longaniza with everything: rice, pandesal, pancakes, waffles, I should try them next with thick fries.

Longaniza

2½ pounds very cold fatty pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch pieces
1½ tablespoons kosher salt
½ cup sugar
1 head garlic, finely minced
½ - 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup annatto powder
½ cup very cold coconut or cane vinegar
hog casings, softened in warm water and rinsed

• Mix pork with salt and sugar. Grind using large die. Transfer into a standing mixer bowl with paddle attached. Add the rest of the ingredients except casing. Mix on low speed for 2 minutes. Form into patties or stuff into hog casings. Refrigerate for 5 days before storing in the freezer.

longaniza breakfast with garlic fried rice and vinegar chili dip

Pollo Al Chilindrón (Chicken With Sweet Bell Peppers)

This Spanish recipe is adapted from my cookbook The Food of Spain and Portugal by Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz. The chicken stew has very few ingredients but very tasty. I love its vibrant color on the plate with the steamed asparagus and fresh fava beans.

Chicken with Sweet Bell Peppers
2 pounds boneless chicken thighs
salt and freshly ground pepper
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 sweet bell peppers, sliced into ¼ inch strips
2 ounces serrano or prosciutto ham, chopped
4 tomatoes, seeded and chopped

• Season the chicken with salt and pepper. In a large frying pan, heat the oil and saute the chicken pieces until golden brown on both sides. Transfer to a casserole or large pan. Add the onion to the frying pan and cook until soft then add the garlic, saute for 2 more minutes. Add the peppers and ham and continue to cook until the peppers are soft. Add the tomatoes until everything is well blended. Add the mixture to the casserole with ¼ C water, season with salt and pepper and cook over low heat for 30 minutes. The sauce should be quite thick. Have lots of dinner rolls or french bread to soak up the wonderful sauce.
  

• Variation: If you prefer the dish hot, you can add a small hot red chili, chopped, to the sauce. You can also add sliced green or black olives during the last few minutes of cooking.

I have some homemade mayonnaise that I served with the steamed asparagus, a teaspoon is enough to flavor the vegetables. Hollandaise sauce also goes well with the asparagus.

Mochi & Mache

Sweet mochi is one of our favorite snacks/desserts specially ice cream mochi and the ones filled with sweet azuki bean paste. I have tried making them once before, about 4 years ago, but was unsuccesful. Thankfully, several good recipes have been popping up online using mochiko (glutinous rice flour) and canned Japanese sweet azuki beans, which are readily available from Asian stores. Tip: Buy only the Japanese beans. I do not recommend the Korean or Chinese, both are too watery and you will have to cook it further until it has the right consistency, it's a waste of time, in my opinion.

Mochi with Sweet Azuki Beans
1 cup sweet rice flour (mochiko)
2/3 cup water
2 tablespoons sugar
a bit of pink food coloring, optional
1 can Japanese sweet bean paste
1 cup toasted soybean or rice flour for dusting

• Transfer beans into a bowl, stir until smooth, store in freezer for 30 minutes while preparing mochi. In a medium bowl mix together rice, water and sugar. Microwave on high for 30 seconds, stir thoroughly, microwave again and stir, 4 more times until smooth and gluey. Cover with a damp towel to keep it warm while shaping/filling. Have the bowl of toasted flour near your work area. Sprinkle the work surface liberally with toasted rice, dip hands on bowl. Scoop a golf ball size of cooked mochi and drop on the toasted rice, form into a round shape, flatten to about 3 inches, fill with a tsp of sweet beans. Gather edges to cover beans, all the while pinching and form into a ball. Place on a container seam side down. Refrigerate leftovers.

Mache is the Filipino/Chinese cousin of mochi, they have a common ingredient, sweet rice flour, and both of them are filled with sweet stuff. The difference is the filling, mache has sugar and toasted sesame seeds. This is the first time I made mache, I have no idea how to cook them, I just guessed and steamed them. They turned out sooo good. I will use toasted black sesame and boil them (like palitaw) next time I make them.

Mache
1 cup sweet rice flour
¼ cup water + 1-2 tablespoon, if needed
sugar
toasted sesame seeds
toasted rice flour

• In a small bowl mix water gradually into the rice, adding more water if necessary until it has the consistency of galapong. Mix the sugar and sesame seeds in another bowl. Scoop out 1 ½ T of rice mixture, form into a ball, flatten, raise edges and put 1 tsp sugar & sesame seeds in the middle. Pinch edges together and form into an oval. Steam on a parchment-lined bamboo steamer for 10 minutes. Roll in toasted rice powder.

the sugar has melted inside the mache, so sweet, so good