The weekend arrived quickly when you only work 3 days of the week, thanks to well-timed vacation & snow day. Bekah was staying at her sisters Friday night so I had the casa to myself. What first comes to mind when I hear I have the night to myself is that I can make dinner as hot as I want it. So I took advantage and made myself an extra spicy meal. I do mean “extra” when I say it. I could feel the burn. Orange chicken that would likely be unbearable to the average Joe. I might be insane, I know. It’s just that I’ve had to tone down the heat as of late unless I want to start cooking for myself. I took full advantage of it being that I was all alone.
What kind of movie should I watch was the next question? With the spouse gone why not watch a foreign film. There was one that my brother kept raving about, Parasite. I have seen most the other films by Boog Joon-Oh and he is a visionary. My first experience with his films was the Host. A pretty good monster movie and a warning message about pollution. It wasn’t until the movie Snowpiercer that he became a filmmaker I would keep my eyes open for. His first English language film. A thought provoking metaphor on classism. And then there is Okja… That movie… hurt. I remember Bekah, through sobs, saying “We are never going to watch this movie again.” She literally cried herself to sleep that night. I don’t really care to watch it again. The message wounded my heart. The love between a person and an animal. Are animals more self-aware than most of us give them credit for? Films like this pull at the heart strings. In the case of Okja, it pulls those strings REALLY f***ing hard. I will admit to also sobbing like a little kid all teary eyed and snotty nosed. Not often does a movie have that kind of effect on me. Anyone that is an animal lover might be best advised to stay away from Okja. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an excellent film. Thought provoking. Had me questioning my own life. The damn movie made me question eating meat for about 2 weeks. I felt guilty craving hamburger. I felt shame.
Knowing how his last film hit me I was going into Parasite w/ trepidation. I quickly found out this was a whole other beast. I don’t wish to spoil anything so I will tread lightly. I loved the way the movie made so many sudden tonal shifts too – it starts as a sort of black comedy and ends up in a bloodbath. Sometimes that sort of rapid change in mood can be detrimental to a film, but here it’s just another big dip on the rollercoaster. The ambiguity of all the characters is another plus for me – it could easily have been a cookie cutter “poor but nice” family vs “rich but horrible” family scenario. But its more intricate than that – everyone in the film has flaws and strengths, just like in real life. I know it being in subtitles will likely turn many viewers away from it, but after about 5-10 min you don’t even notice anymore. Also, I find subtitles make you pay full attention which makes the movie leave a longer last impression upon you. Let me tell you how pleasantly surprised I was Monday morning to discover that it basically swept the Oscar awards. Best picture, best director, best foreign film & best original screen play. That’s a big win for Korean film.
For most the remainder of the night I spent listening to music in my kitchen, playing on my phone & chatting in text messages all the while enjoying some adult beverages. At some point a Quentin Tarantino marathon caught my eye so I moved to the couch. A risk, considering how often it claims people. Real exciting night alone. Pretty much on par with any other Friday night due to Bekah’s narcolepsy. I did manage to stay up a little past 1AM. Party animal, right? Actually that just comes with being a night owl. I can stay up all night with ease, but try and get me out of bed… An early bird this guy is not. So that sums up my night alone. Fun times!
Jalapeño
Bison steak w/ asparagus. I have never cooked bison before, let alone had bison steak. Bison burgers, sure, but steak, no. The only reason I even purchased the steaks was because the butcher at HEB pointed out to me that they were on sale for half off. Sold. I’m open for out of the ordinary. So what to do with these? Exactly what I would do with beef steak. It’s a very lean meat so I kind of treated them like tenderloins. Nice sear followed by a broil. They turned out to be really great. I am not a person to use A1 sauce but for some reason I had a craving for it and it went well with the steak.
HEB crab stuffed salmon. Usually I really dig this meal but for some reason this batch just doesn’t have the same quality. I did everything on my side the same. Same season, same cooking time. I don’t know what they did differently. At least the broccoli was good. Seamed with cheese.
So it was a snow day. It was cold outside and perfect soup weather. Tortilla soup! This was a nice warm batch to the body temperature up. I have been making this recipe for so long I don’t even measure or look at ingredients. Soups are probably one of my favorite things to make.
Still had enough tortilla soup for another night. To keep the meal fresh I added a can of cream of chicken to the mix. This makes it a cream of chicken tortilla soup. It’s a nice variation.
All alone to my own devices I got to make whatever I want and that turned out to be VERY spicy orange chicken. I have a couple different orange chicken recipes that I cook so I went with the Panda Express imitation. Only big difference is that the chicken I do not bread. Bekah would have b****ed about this being too hot. I was satisfied.
Sunday was imitation bunless animal style In-N-Out Burger. What a pain in the butt this is to make. It took me at least an hour to caramelize the onions to how I needed them. Constantly stirring, charring, adding beer, stirring and repeat. If you have not had an animal style burger its caramelized onion, a sauce that is basically Thousand Islands, and a burger patty coated with mustard before grilled. Although time consuming it’s still a very good burger. I now recall why I probably only ever make it once a year or less often.
Cocktail of the week: Cabernet Sauvignon
En Fuego 