Recipe: Grilled Pork and Peaches

Hmm ... seems that not too long ago I was trying to post recipes on Thursday so that they'd be out there for the weekend. How'd that turn out?

So here's one from Men's Health magazine that combines grilling out and stone fruits in a lovely, late-summery, healthy sort of way.

2 pork chops
2 firm peaches or nectarines, halved and pitted
2 Tbsp. pine nuts (or not - they're expensive)
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup crumbled blue (bleu) cheese
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Preheat grill. Brush pork chops with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill for 4 to 5 minutes per side; chops should be lightly charred but not burned. While chops cook, brush peach halves with oil and put on grill facedown. Grill for 5 minutes or until soft. Remove, slice and toss with pine nuts, onion, blue cheese and vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste. Top each pork chop with half the mixture before serving.

Serve with a light salad of fresh arugula tossed with olive oil and lemon.

Link me, m'dear

Life seems a little disjointed to me these days. This is art my blog imitating life. Or something.

Most recently watched: Oldboy, the 2004 Cannes Grand Prix winner by South Korean director, Chanwook Park (whose Lady Vengeance I watched not too long ago). Simply incredible movie. It's similar to Lady Vengeance - Park seems to have a recurring revenge motif - in that the protagonist is imprisoned for a long time and then, once released, sets out to take revenge upon his jailer. Again, gorgeously shot (American movies seem so cluttered after watching these Korean films), a little long, terrifically violent (I had to watch the oral surgery scenes through my fingers) and utterly compelling. Great stuff. Steven Spielberg and Will Smith apparently want to remake Oldboy to which I vehemently say: NO F'N WAY.

Maple Bacon Toffee : available for only a few more days ('til 8/31!) at swanky San Francisco confectioners, Recchuiti. I think this sounds just scrumptious. The store site also has a recipe for applewood smoked bacon gougeres, which look like teensy little biscuits, and a way coolio blog that I intend on exploring soon (there's mention of a maple bacon donut ...). Thanks to Blonde Ambition for the tip!

Latest job that I wish was mine: writing the blog for the National Confectioners Association.

And lastly, Thursday I read that the Weather Channel's "hurricane expert" thinks that ol' Danny might "miss New England ... and hit the southeastern coast of Maine." Um, yeah. Since when is Maine not part of New England? Jackass.

Restaurant review: Street & Co.

Street & Co., a fine dining seafood restaurant on Wharf Street in Portland, Maine, certainly doesn’t need my help in advertising: it is a Portland institution, serving fine, fresh fish and shellfish in the same lovely space for twenty years now. But, since Mr. Mouse and I went there twice in four days, and since I need a blog post, here’s a review of our recent experiences.

Last Saturday we went with two other couples for a 7:45 p.m. seating. The restaurant was hopping, as it always is. There were several tables outside on the Wharf Street cobblestones; the air-conditioned bar and the two non-air-conditioned dining rooms were packed and turning over quickly. The dining rooms have tables at very close quarters: the staff certainly does not rush you out, but the set up is not conducive to lingering, particularly in the summer in the center dining room which also contains the open kitchen. It’s a super-cozy place to sit in February, however.

Mr. Mouse had beer (bottles only, and only a few local brews); the rest shared a bottle of white (Guy Bossard muscadet, $25.00 – rather sour to my taste) and a red (which was quite nice, but unfortunately I don’t recall what it was). Each couple shared their own appetizer: the Mouses had the ubiquitous mussels Provencal, a very generous panful served in a garlicky, buttery wine sauce ($9.95), with lots of fabulous Standard Baking bread for sopping. Another couple split an order of the mahogany clams: $1.00 more than the mussels but with many fewer shellfish.

For entrees, Mr. Mouse had what he always has, blackened swordfish ($26.95) while I had the bluefish ($24.95): both were off the menu and served with broccoli and smashed potatoes. Another diner had my perennial favorite – scallops in Pernod and cream ($26.95) and their spouse had grilled lobster - a whole lobster, split and served in the shell over linguini ($29.95) The best deal on the menu went to the third couple: they had the lobster fra diavolo ($42.95 and intended for two to share). Loaded with lobster and shellfish, and served over linguini in a spicy tomato-based sauce, they took home as much as they managed to eat.

On Tuesday, Mr. Mouse and I returned to Street & Co. to polish off a $50.00 gift certificate. We took the last two spots at the bar where we had a great view of the shucker serving up succulent oysters on the half shell. We shared a bottle of chardonnay (Sonoma-Cutrer, $34.00; very drinkable) and split a baby spinach salad with hard-boiled egg, Dijon vinaigrette and plenty of house-cured bacon, and an order of the mussels. These Tuesday mussels were tasty enough, but served with rather less broth than the weekend edition.

Street & Co. has been Mr. Mouse’s favorite Portland restaurant for years and has long served as our special occasion go-to place. The portions seem to be shrinking somewhat while the prices remain the same; whether this is in response to the economy, the dwindling fisheries or the fact that the longtime chef Abby Harmon left four years ago to start her own high-end eatery, Caiola’s. No matter. It’s still an excellent restaurant and a more sophisticated Maine seafood option when you’re tired of fried clams and lobster rolls.

It's the most wonderful time of the year

The fall viewing season is rapidly approaching - thank goodness there'll be new t.v. soon! I've trimmed down my schedule a bit (in part because I may be giving up my DVR for a while (nooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!)) but Mondays are still triple-booked at the 8:00 p.m. (EST) slot ... here's what'll be on at the Mouse House:

Mondays
8:00 - How I Met Your Mother (CBS/Sept. 21), House (Fox/Sept. 21), Heroes (NBC/Sept. 21)
10:00 - Castle (ABC/Sept. 21)

Tuesdays
8:00 - V (ABC/Nov. 3)
9:00 - The Biggest Loser (NBC/Sept. 15)

Wednesdays
9:00 - Glee (Fox/Sept. 9)

Thursdays
8:00 - Flashforward (ABC/Sept. 24)
9:00 - The Office (NBC/Sept. 14)

Fridays
9:00 - Dollhouse (Fox/Sept. 25)

Also, Lost comes back to ABC in "early 2010" and darling little Better Off Ted (also ABC) will return "later."

So, also, thank goodness that I can probably catch Heroes online because even if I do keep the DVR, I can't access three shows at once and Heroes, since it has been so entirely el sucko lately, will just have to wait. Yes, I will continue to slog through the recaps for you because I am eternally hopeful that the writers will get their heads out of their asses and bring this show back to its shiny S1 potential. But you just know that's not going to happen because (1) the dang trailers are ALL focusing on frakking Hiro and his stupid time-travelling and (2) I've heard that Claire Bennet is going to have a bi-curious relationship when she goes off to college.

Now, I am absolutely in favor of same sex relationships on popular television shows. Done correctly (BtVS, Torchwood, etc.), they are healthy, normal, not titillating and something that is lacking from mainstream programming. But I have no faith whatsoever that Heroes will handle this well: it's going to be the blonde cheerleader snogging another girl for ratings. It'll be bullshit and, worse, it'll be damaging to those folks who are trying to portray same sex relationships in a positive and unsensational light. Stupid Heroes.

Enough ranting. What will you be watching?

DVD review: GRΣΣK: Chapter Three

ABC Family’s GRΣΣK (rated TV-14 for language and suggestive dialogue) returns for a third “chapter” (covering the last couple of months of the school year) with this DVD release. This impressive television dramedy series, focusing on the social lives of a group of college students at the fictional Cyprus-Rhodes University, picks up where Chapter Two left off, as school resumes after Spring Break in Myrtle Beach.

All the cast regulars are back: popular junior Casey Cartwright (Spencer Grammer), her geeky younger brother, frosh Rusty (Jacob Zachar), Cappie (Scott Michael Foster) Casey’s ex-boyfriend and president of Rusty’s frat, Kappa Tau Delta; Evan (Jake McDorman), Casey’s ex-boyfriend and president of the WASPy Omega Chi house; Ashley (Amber Stevens), Casey’s best friend and roommate; Rebecca (Dilshad Vadsaria), Casey’s Zeta Beta Zeta little sister and Cappie’s girlfriend; Cal (Paul James), Rusty’s gay friend who is legacy at Omega Chi; Dale (Clark Duke), Rusty’s Southern Christian roommate.

As in the first two chapters, the campus’s Greek social life is the focus of the show although this time Cappie does actually take a make-up exam. Episode 1, “Brothers and Sisters,” details the events of Greek Week, with Rusty and Cal struggling to maintain their friendship in spite of their rival fraternities, and Rebecca struggling to regain favored status in the wake of Spring Break’s drunken wet t-shirt contest. In episode 2, “Crush Landing,” Casey is upset to find out that Evan has hooked up with Frannie, her sorority Big Sister and soon-to-be archrival, but is soon distracted as she and Ashley compete for the attentions of the same guy.

Episode 3, “Let’s Make a Deal,” is one of the strongest episodes: Omega Chi hosts a Casino Night fundraiser and Casey, Rusty and Rusty’s new hunky-but-geeky RA, Max, band together to help Ashley win enough money to get out of her credit card debt. Cappie feels uncomfortable when Rebecca tries to buy him expensive presents; and Evan chafes at the restrictions his parents have put on his trust fund. In “Gays, Ghosts and Gamma Rays,” episode 4, Cappie deals with his and Rebecca’s break-up; Casey finds herself with a crush on Max; Cal’s grad student boyfriend, Michael, takes him to a gay bar; and Rusty tracks down an elusive, never-seen Kappa Tau brother.

Episode 5, “Pledge Experience,” shows Casey dealing with having a non-Greek boyfriend for the very first time, and finding it both refreshing and awkward. After Cal and Michael join Evan and Frannie for a swanky dinner, Cal is concerned that his Big Brother has sold his soul for his trust fund – and Frannie is fanning the flames.

In Episode 6 (“See You Next Time, Sisters”), Rusty’s engineering dorm holds a blow out party at Kappa Tau and Casey, Ashley and Frannie attend the national Zeta Beta Zeta convention. Episode 7 (“Formally Yours”) covers the Spring Formal season for the Greek system, with Casey worrying about Max’s ability to small talk with the ZBZs and Rusty bemoaning the fact that he didn’t go to his high school prom. Episode 8, “The Popular Vote” shows the Casey vs. Frannie ZBZ presidential race heating up, while Rusty and Cappie try speed-dating. Episode 9 is “Three’s A Crowd,” in which control-freak Casey has difficulty handing over the ZBZ reins to the new president.

Episode 10, “Hell Week,” sets things up for Chapter Four with a bunch of cliffhangers: Max gets accepted to grad school in California and Casey gets a summer internship in Washington D.C.; Frannie continues her gold-digging and manipulative ways; Rusty worries that he won’t make the final cut to be initiated into Kappa Tau; and everyone awaits a big decision by Rebecca.

GRΣΣK continues the realistic character development begun in previous Chapters (something that other shows might want to take notes on – I’m looking at you, Heroes). These kids are growing in genuine ways that make sense, making both good and bad decisions and learning (or not) from them. This is not so much college as students’ parents want to see, but the characters in this show have to deal with real stuff: drinking, sex, time management, peer pressure, jealousy, heartbreak. Kudos to ABC Family for mixing good messages in with all the fun stuff.

There are not much by way of extras in the 3-disc DVD set: a blooper reel (which consists of people flubbing lines and giggling; several commentary tracks; and a “20 Questions with the Cast of Greek”.

After having watched three Chapters of GRΣΣK on disk now, I find I have some real affection for this show, catching myself smiling fondly at the onscreen shenanigans. I’m not entirely sure I’m going to be able to wait for Chapter Four to come out on DVD – luckily, the next Chapter comes out just next week, airing August 31 on ABC Family Channel.

Mini movie review: District 9

Dang! I can't decide whether the R rating is for all the crazy splattery bloody violence (perpetrated against both man and alien) or for the fact that variations of "f*ck" were in pretty much every single line of dialogue after the first ten minutes. I haven't heard that much cussing since I was watching Deadwood. Awesome!

District 9 is, in fact, awesome, a shining example of how to do an alien/action movie, but make it a smart allegory, include no cleavage whatsoever and do it on a tiny little budget. The F/X are fabulous, both the "prawns" and their tech (the alien mothership is a wonder to behold) and the explode-y bits. People do NOT get to outrun explosions in this movie (ahem, Michael Bay). And, holy shit: actual acting! The lead, Sharlto Copley, is fantastic. I hope this movie nets him more gigs.

Yes, the denouement is a little sappy, and the flick runs a little long, but jeesh - that ain't so bad. If you can stomach the genre and the violence, District 9 is a great sleeper movie. I think it's doing well. I'm very pleased about that.

Also, noteworthy trailers: for Jennifer's Body - can Amanda Seyfried*, geeked out in glasses, actually kick Megan Fox's ass? I sure hope so! and for Legion - Paul Bettany as an angel, I guess, here on earth to save a pregnant Tyra Collett from ... more angels? Sign me up. Ooh! and for Zombieland!!!

* Also, Kyle Gallner apparently gets eaten - is Diablo Cody a Veronica Mars fan or what?

What would zombies do?

In a heat wave situation like Maine's got going on right now? I mean, multiple days in the high 80s degrees at 90% humidity has to play hell on the ol' putrefaction, no? I suppose that's one unintended benefit of global warming: when the inevitable zombie apocalypse arrives, they'll all rot to ineffectual bits and pieces that much faster because it's so dang hot out.

Speaking of zombie bits and pieces, have you heard about these?

Never Slow Dance with a Zombie - a YA book by E. Van Lowe. I haven't read it yet nor really know anything about it, but I've seen some good reviews and really, do you need to know more than what the title tells you with this one? No, you don't. Go read it and tell me what you think.

There's a new bar in Minneapolis: Donny Dirk's Zombie Den. The bartenders dress like Shaun from Shaun of the Dead, complete with white shirt, red tie and bloodstains. It's apparently in a kind of rough neighborhood but I'm seeing positive reviews pop up on the interwebs.

Zombie Girl: the Movie is streaming for free on Hulu and SnagFilms, for the next couple of days or so anyway. This is a documentary about this twelve year old girl who is making a feature length, gory, shuffling zombie movie called Pathogen. I have got to get on seeing this - and so should you!

(Thanks to Pop Candy for the last two links, btw.)

And finally, I found this site which is really an amazing clearinghouse for all things zombie: The Inevitable Zombie Apocalypse, of course.

Dollhouse episode review: "Epitaph One"

Will someone please explain to me why FOX decided not to air this fantastic episode - which surpassed even the last two episodes of the season in tightly-written, well-acted excellence? Just as Joss intended, "Epitaph One" would have been a great series finale if Dollhouse hadn't been picked up again; conversely, it's an outstanding set-up for the upcoming S2.

It's a classic science fiction piece, post-apocalyptic, set in 2019 and flashing back to 2009 and the years between. The flashbacks tell, in tantalizing fragments, the story of the Worst Possible Scenario for the evolution of the Dollhouse's imprinting technology. This episode gave a huge amount of backstory that had been glossed over during the regular season, while at the same time moving the universe forward. Everything in "Epitaph One" is connected to something else. There is nothing in it that doesn't mean something.

The acting was a cut above the regular season too, largely due to the fact that Eliza Dushku was scarcely onscreen at all for "Epitaph One." Amy Acker and Felicia Day rock the hell out of their roles (although FD is given the worst dialogue), and the newcomers more than hold their own. Little Adair Tishler (formerly known as "Molly the Hero-finder" from Heroes) is just incredible. I expect great things for her career.

I read that "Epitaph One" has been iTunes's #1 download, which is possibly what FOX's marketing department was going for; I myself watched it on DVD. Hopefully the rave reviews and #1 spot will encourage FOX to keep supporting this show - which I really believe is only going to get better and better as it goes - I just wish they'd aired it as well so the widest possible audience could have gotten a glimpse.

Mini movie review: Doomsday

It's been quite some time since I saw a movie as - what's the word I want: disjointed? hodgepodge? higgledepiggledy? - as Doomsday. Take 28 Days Later (what with the infection decimating Great Britain), The Road Warrior and Max Max Beyond Thunderdome (for the post-apocalyptic, crazed car chases and general stirring up of the post-apocalyptic populace, complete with an 80s soundtrack - which I guess is there to show how nuts this populace is), and Aliens (for the badass chick heroine and the military, smug in their high-tech weaponry and vehicles getting their asses handed to them), plus a little of Serenity (for the Reavers) and some Monty Python's Holy Grail (for knights and the exploding rabbit) ... that's Doomsday.

I'm absolutely not going to try to describe the plot. It's a find the cure for the disease that's killing everyone disaster thing and there's lots of explosions and blood and gore splashing everywhere, including on the camera (which was a nice touch the first time, but kind of goofy the second time). The soundtrack kicks ass as much as Rhona Mitra (the aforementioned badass chick heroine) but this movie is just one hot mess. I really wish Neil Marshall had picked one or two genres to focus on, rather than whirling it all together; The Descent was sooooooooo good, and this movie just felt like he couldn't say no to any idea that he had. Still, for a hot day when you're looking for something brainless and noisy, you could do worse. (But I'd check to see if The Descent was available first.)

Not all books, all the time

Lest you think that I've gone all brainy on you and have been doing nothing but reading Great Works of Litracha all summer, let me tell you what all I've been watching on the vidiot box:

Glad I saw it because it's a classic, Part I: Point Break - With all the positive buzz Kathryn Bigelow has been getting on her latest film, The Hurt Locker, I thought I should take a gander at some of her earlier works and when Point Break popped up on the cable, I gandered away. Yes, it's a dumb action movie - whose legendary stunts (talking while skydiving; catching up to someone while skydiving) have been tested out on Mythbusters - but it has these points in its favor: Swayze in all his golden glory, roundhouse-kicking bad guys while wearing a wetsuit; beautifully shot action sequences (although with perhaps too much emphasis on the slo-mo effect); and Keanu Reeves actually emoting!!!

Mostly glad I saw it because it's a classic, Part II: The Brood - The horror film that put David Cronenburg on the map in 1979 left me a little cold. It's slow, for one, with lots of talking and approximately one kill per half hour. The kills aren't particularly scary or shocking or gory either, although the climatic reveal of Nola birthing a Brood baby from an external egg sac, and then licking said newborn clean, definitely ups the ick/ewww factor and sets the stage for the director's subsequent body-horror films.

In the total waste of time category: Hellbound: Hellraiser II - Speaking of slow ... I recorded this one on the DVR and then ended up fast-forwarding through 90% of it. This sequel does not maintain the shock value of the very gory first film, and squanders what goodwill it has by stealing scenes from its predecessor. The Cenobites are used to even lesser effect as well: hardly ever on screen and then when they are, being ineffectual and not scary.

Not even close to a waste of time: 21 Jump Street - is on Hulu. Did you know this? I didn't know this - I just found out. The hair, the clothes, the music (terrible Richard Marx-ish stuff, not cool New Wave), Johnny Depp c. 1987 ... this is the cure for what ails me. I've only gotten through the first five episodes but gawd, they make me soooooo happy!!!!