Carrie and Diana talk about cold, stark islands, sticky fictional cakes, and man-eating horses, and meatballs hidden in mashed potatoes and vegetarian-gone-man-eating girls.
Pre-heat your oven to 350ºF. In a large, oven-proof pan (like a cast-iron skillet), heat the oil & fry the chorizo until slightly crisp. Remove the meat to a paper towel.
Salt & pepper the chicken & lightly coat each piece in flour. Add the chicken to the pan & fry until golden all over. Remove to sit with the chorizo.
Add the onions & garlic to the pan & sauté for a couple of minutes until just beginning to soften. Stir in the rosemary, peppers, mushrooms, olives, small tomatoes, & broth (or wine) & sauté to bubbling. Stir in the can of crushed tomatoes & cook for another minute.
Remove the pan from the heat & stir in the chorizo. Lay the chicken in the pan, skin-side up, & cover with foil. Slide the pan in the oven & bake for about 45 minutes.
Remove the foil & increase the oven temp. to 375ºF & cook for another 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool a little, & then sprinkle with the fresh parsley before serving. Great with rustic bread to sop up the juices.
Listen to the episode! Fiction Kitchen Episode 32: Pan’s Labyrinth
This wrapped pork dish is inspired by foods either mentioned or portrayed in “Moana” like pork, coconuts, taro, fish, and mango, as well as Hawaiian lau lau and Tongan lu pulu. Traditionally banana leaves are used to wrap the bundles for steaming, but foil is a substitute if banana leaves are not readily available (also, do not eat the banana leaves!). If you’re not able to get a hold of taro leaves, other big leafy greens like collard, mustard, or turnip greens are all right substitutes, though of course they each have their own texture and flavor. Also, feel free to add a little fish and/or onions to the filling. It’s a very versatile dish!
Put a large steamer pot on high heat & pour water up to the fill line. Cover & bring to a boil, & then put on low for a steady simmer.
In a large bowl, toss the 1st 6 ingredients until well coated. (The measurements are just to get you started. Depending on your taste buds, you may want to add more).
Lay a square of aluminum foil on a flat work surface (or use banana leaves instead if you can find them), & then lay 1 large (2, depending on size) taro leaf or leafy green on it.
Place a few slices of taro onto the center of the leaf, & then place several chunks of coated pork on top. Feel free to pour on a little coconut milk & more flavorings if you’d like (I like my food very flavorful 😉).
Fold the edges of the leaf (or leaves) over the filling & wrap into a bundle, & then wrap with the foil (or banana leaf). Repeat until you run out of ingredients (makes about 6-8 bundles).
Place the wrapped bundles on the steamer rack in the pot & steam for 4-4 1/2 hours (depending on the leaves you used. If you use turnip greens, steam for only 4 hrs).
Place about a cup of cooked white rice in a serving bowl. Unwrap one of the bundles & transfer the contents, including any juices, onto the rice. Add a few optional slices of fresh mango. E ʻai kākou!
Listen to the episode! Fiction Kitchen Episode 50: Moana
“What’s the menu today?”
“Endive au gratin. They’ll bring you to your knees.”—”Amelié”
Cut the ends off of the endives, remove & discard the outer leaves, & then cut the endives in half length-wise.
In a large pot, bring the water to a boil with the sugar, salt, & butter, & then lower to a simmer & add the endives. Cover & simmer for about 20minutes until tender. Drain well, reserving 1/2 cup of the liquid, & then wrap the endives in paper towels to drain overnight in the fridge.
Wrap each endive in ham slices (1-2 per endive, enough to cover the endive), & then snug them into a baking dish.
In a large pan, melt the butter on medium heat & cook until golden. Whisk in the flour to create a paste & cook until light brown & nutty. Whisk in the warm milk until smooth, & then whisk in the 1/2 cup of reserved endive liquid. Add nutmeg, & pepper to taste, & let thicken a little.
Heat your oven to 400ºF. Pour the sauce over the ham-wrapped endives & then sprinkle the shredded cheese on top. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until rubbing, & the cheese is melted & turning golden.
Listen to the episode! Fiction Kitchen Episode 38 : Amelié
Diana and Carrie discuss the newest Disney flick, “Moana”! There’s fish, pork, taro, “boat snacks”, and lots and lots of coconuts!
Intro & Outro music clip: “Moana Original Motion Picture Soundtrack”. Available for purchase here.
Diana and Carrie discuss the novel by Diana Wynne Jones as well as the Ghibli movie – with fire demon-cooked bacon, luscious cream cakes, magical honey and questionable turnip heads.
Intro music clip: “Merry-Go-Round of Life” Cover performed by Mononoke Ensemble (originally composed by Joe Hisaishi for the film). Available for purchase here.
Outro music clip: “Sosban Fach” (Little Saucepan).
Diana and Carrie discuss the 2016 Tim Burton film and the novel by Ransom Riggs that it’s based on. Giant carrots, weird little back-teeth, eyeball munching, carnival food; all very peculiar.
Intro & Outro music clips: “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children Original Motion Picture Score”. Available for purchase here.
Stir together the two ingredients in a pitcher & pour into an ice cream maker. Follow the ice cream maker’s directions for sorbet (churning until frozen, about 20 minutes or so) & there you go! If you don’t have an ice cream maker, pour the mixture into a large baking dish (like a rectangular casserole dish) lined with plastic wrap & place in the freezer. When you’re ready to serve, break the frozen sorbet into chunks & pop the pieces into a blender to make it smoother.
Serve in a pre-frozen/chilled little bowl & top with Carrie’s Stay Puft Fluff! It makes for a really neat texture experience. 🙂
This is a super easy recipe, and one that you can substitute in another green drink (like Tampico or something) if you can’t find Ecto-Cooler! You’ll need to adjust the syrup content though, which is no big deal to figure out. Simply pour your juice into a pitcher & carefully plop a (hot-water rinsed) fresh egg into it. Add vanilla simple syrup little by little until a nickel-sized circle of the egg’s shell can be seen floating above the surface. Remove the egg & then stir up the mixture & continue with freezing process. This is a trick from Zoe Bakes!
Listen to the episode! Fiction Kitchen Episode 43: Ghostbusters
In a large pot on high, bring the water & bullion to a boil. Add the cabbage & keep on high until it comes back to a boil. Cover & turn down to a simmer. Cook until the cabbage is just tender, about 5 minutes.
Add in the onions & cover again, simmering until the onions are soft, about 10-15 minutes.
Drain the shirataki noodles & rinse them under cold water. Spoon some of the soup into a serving bowl. Place a small mound of the noodles on top, then gently spread them out a bit to flatten the top of the mound, adding noodles if needed to cover any gaps.
Cut eyes, nose, & mouth shapes from the seaweed/nori & place them on top of the noodles (tweezers can help with the placement of the tiny pieces).
Now it’s ready to serve! Let the person who is eating it fold the noodles into the soup & watch the noodles gradually change color! It looks like Ooogie Boogie’s insides! (Haha, blek! But it’s tasty ;). )
Great served with buttered toasty bread. If you have black sesame, poppy, or chia seeds, sprinkle some onto the bread for effect.
Listen to the episode! Fiction Kitchen Episode 47: The Nightmare Before Christmas
