As you may have noticed, tonight featured a large array of new posts. That’s because I start school again tomorrow and things may get crazy. I won’t neglect you, no, but I won’t be able to spoil you like I have these past few weeks. So as a final capper on five weeks of fun, here’s another exciting movie for your enjoyment. It features myself, my friend John and Lisa who you know and love. In it we conquer that most exotic of New York foodie destinations: Chinatown. (We considered throwing in Roman Polanski “Chinatown” humor (“It’s a dumpling! It’s a won-ton! It’s a dumpling! It’s a won-ton! It’s a dumpling AND a won-ton!”) but decided against it…maybe for the best!) Anyway, here we go: Lisa and John starring in “We Eat Chinatown.”
As a special treat for you, my dedicated readers, I present a video I made from the weekend. Yes I, your beloved Gourmet, lugged a video camera aboard the Amtrack train and proceeded to leave the connecting wire in Lauren’s apartment before I left. I bought a new one today and spent HOURS making this video, so I hope you enjoy it. (And, in case you’re curious, the song is by The Magnetic Fields.) Happy Viewing!
Who is the man who makes a complicated French dish and videotapes it at the same time? Shaft? No! Moi!
Tonight I made Boeuf Bourguignon from The Barefoot Contessa’s new cookbook: “Barefoot in Paris.” It came out looking thusly:
The broth was great but the beef was a little underseasoned. I seasoned it, but apparently not enough. Very tender though. And her idea for serving it on top of a piece of bread is not only a good one, but practically essential. It soaks up all the broth and is the best tasting part of the whole experience.
But enough yapping. You want to see movie magic. Well here you are, my cinematic francophilic masterpiece…
PS: This film features my brandest newest piece of cooking equipment: my Le Crueset oven, which is beautiful and perfect and completely the product of the help Brian W. gave me in Kitchen Queries. (Apparently the site he linked to no longer features the Halloween special that saved me so much money.)
PS2: This film features me LIGHTING SOMETHING ON FIRE. That should be worth the price of admission alone. [The idea to use scissors to hold the match was my own inspiration. That technique will forevermore be known as the Amateur Gourmet wuss maneuever.]
Wow. It is 3:24 am and I am still exhilerated. What an evening! Pumpkin, spices, songs and magic and a beautiful cake to show for it. Where do I begin?
I know where. Epicurious.com. That’s where I found this recipe for “Stunning Spiced Pumpkin Cake” which Lisa and I decided to bake together tonight in honor of Halloween. (We decided not to do the chocolate leaves on top. Thank God. Or it would be 5:24 am and my eyes would be bleeding). Ricky came over and joined us too.
Let me tell you about our hijinks:
- We accidentally used an entire CAN of pumpkin instead of a cup of pumpkin and had to throw away the entire first batch of batter. A travesty!
- While the cakes were cooling, we went costume shopping. I bought bunny ears. I came home and tried them on and Lolita (the cat) had a NERVOUS BREAKDOWN. Seriously. She began hissing and growling this horrible low grumble like something from a Stephen King novel. I think she scared me more than I scared her.
Anyway, back to the cake. The frosting is wild—butter, molasses, brown sugar, orange peel:
Add two packets of cream cheese and it looks like this:
I have to give Lisa a TON of credit for being a good judge of cake-doneness. After the recipe-suggested 25 minutes I thought the cakes were done. She didn’t. She was right. They were still wet inside. We let them cook 5 minutes longer and they came out PERFECT:
Then there was the cooling. That’s when we went costume shopping. Ricky ate a calzone.
We came back and frosted the cake.
Lisa applied her expert touch:
The finished product:
Beautiful, no?
But I’m not done with you people yet!
Lisa, Ricky and I have made for you a MUSIC VIDEO that defies all your wildest expectations and dreams. It fuses music, cooking, pumpkin and humor for one of the greatest cinematic experiences of your internet life. (I only hope you like show tunes.) There’s costumes, singing, egg-cracking and more MUCH more. You must must must watch this movie. I beg of you. It’s my Halloween gift to you. Happy Halloween! And enjoy…
How lucky you are that I value you, my loving audience, more than I value Criminal Procedure. Tonight, I could have been locked away in a coffee shop but instead I made you a short ridiculous film with bunny sock puppets and Nigella Lawson’s carrotcake cupcake recipe. Ladies and gentelemn, I give you:
Katy makes the best pie you’ll ever taste and here’s the movie that shows how she does it. Nectarines seem a strange filling for a pie, sure, but take my word: they work incredibly well.
Incidentally, I’m up now at 3:26 am because halfway through editing the film my computer froze and I had to start all over again. So forgive the hasty production values and focus on the pie: it was crazy delicious.
