Wednesday Movie Night: Dark Prince

Brandon's night. He chose Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula...

"Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula tells the story of Vlad Dracula, the historical figure who gave Bram Stoker's Dracula his name. Vlad is a dispossessed noble, and a patriot who fights the occupation forces of the Turks hoping to avenge the murder of his father by Romanian nobles and the capture of his brother by the Ottoman sultan."

...So we got to make Romanian food. Big shout out to Emily that remembered the name of the 'meatcicles' we loved so much at a party hosted by a romanian friend: Mititei, or Mici (prounounced like 'meetch'). They're a popular grilled Romanian sausage, often served with mustard and beer.

Mititei (very much not for beginners)

What We Used:

• 1 lb. pork tenderloin
• 1 lb. beef
• 1/2 cup of beef stock
• 2 slices of bread
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp ground cumin
• 1/8 tsp thyme
• 1 clove of elephant garlic
• salt and pepper to taste
• The Food Processor: This thing got a workout, so I thought it might be good to list.

Note that this really isn't the traditional method of creating them... We did the best we could...

Sam started by cutting up the tenderloin and we loaded it into the bowl of the processor where it was mulched down and set aside. The same thing was done with the beef (we had a couple nice steaks that went in.) then in batches, we put the ground pork in with the beef and a bit of bread. until the pork, bread and beef were kind of a paste.

Again in batches we added pieces of the garlic and mulched again. By this point the processor was complaining loudly. I mixed it a bit with my hands and set it aside.

Sam, meanwhile, was dissolving the baking soda in the beef stock and mixing in the herbs, pepper and salt. We added the liquid to the meat and kneaded until all it was doing was sticking to Sam's hands.

The entire thing was covered with a towel and put in the fridge. It's recommended that you keep it there overnight, but we had about seven hours.

Since there was a lack of sweet things, while I was out Sam decided to make Paximade, which is a greek sweet bread/cake thing.

Paximade (beginner)

What We Used:

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon anise seed
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 white sugar
• 1/2 cup milk

I sifted together the flour, baking powder and salt, then stirred in the anise seed. In a separate large bowl, I creamed the sugar and the butter, then added the eggs in one at a time. After that, I added the flour mix and milk alternately into the large bowl with the butter mixture and beat everything together till it was incorporated.

Since I have no loaf pan, I opted to use mini-loafs!! I greased the pan and spooned the batter in, then baked it at 350 for about 35-40 minutes. If in doubt, poke the bread with a toothpick to see if it's done. Let it cool in the pan for about ten minutes, then put it on a cooling rack. It's best warm with butter and is great for breakfast!

anyway... this post is ridiculously late (due to me having pictures, then not uploading them, then discovering that the sd card had been in the computer the entire time and I didn't actually have pictures in the first place...) so here you go... we'll get back to a more regular schedule pretty quick here.

-Jess and Sam

Wednesday Movie Night: ???

Wednesday movie night again, with Mina at the helm and showing us...well... actually we have no clue what we're watching, really. All she sent us was a violence disclaimer and the following:

"It's about this guy with superhuman powers, and he's kind of mysterious and his story is told over the course of the movie. He seems to be a very dangerous guy, but as the movie goes on, you realize he's on the side of good. Once that is established, the fights are hilarious. The gore is met with "who the hell is actually THAT tough?""

So...hilarious fights, lots of violence. Apparently it's dubbed, which only adds to the awesome. Either way, I'm looking forward to a gloriously bad movie (I like them. It's a personal love of mine, bad movies)

Besides all that, we were told that it was set in Hong Kong. Lazy as we are, we decided that chinese food was the way to go and sent out a general plea to movie night participants for donations. Meanwhile, the Kitchen of Despair decided to make a favorite of Sam's: Hot and Sour Soup.

What We Used:

• 4 1/2 cups Chicken Broth (Yes! We actually had some on hand this time! I had bought a couple cartons of Campbells anticipating a recreation project i'm interested in, but we're using it prematurely.)
• 2 Boneless skinless chicken breasts (apparently you can also use shrimp and tofu and whatever else, but we're being friendly to me (I'm allergic to most seafood) and Luke (who has a wierd thing with Tofu))
• 1 cup Julienned Carrot
• 1 cup Thinly Sliced Shittake Mushroom
• 1/2 cup Bamboo Shoots cut like matchsticks
  
• 2 tbsp Rice Vinegar
• 1/2 tsp White Pepper
• 1/4 tsp Hot Pepper Sauce
• 2 tbsp Corn Starch
• 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
• 2 Green Onions, thinly sliced
  
• 1 Egg

After all the veggies and such are prepared, throw the chicken broth, chicken, carrots, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, vinegar, pepper and hot sauce in a medium sauce pan, though I used my biggest pot because I like it. Bring everything to a boil over medium/high heat, then turn it down to low and cover it. Cook for about five minutes, or until the chicken's not pink anymore.

While this is going on, stir together cornstarch and soy sauce in a bowl until smooth. Once the chicken broth is done cooking the chicken, stir the cornstarch mixture into the pot. Cook and stir until the mixture comes to a boil. ( Yes, I was vehement about not boiling your soup, but this is a little bit different. You HAVE to boil this type of soup. )

In a separate bowl, beat the egg. Add the green onions to the soup, and while it is boiling, slowly stream the egg into the soup while stirring or whisking in one direction. This should make the egg cook in the high heat of the liquid, forming long threads. Continue stirring it in one direction for about one minute, or until the egg is fully cooked.



Verdict?

"Oh my god, yum yum yum yum." -Sam

What the N00b Learned:

• Don't boil soup. Except this one, apparently.
  
• Julienning carrots makes my brain hurt

-Sam and Jess