May Dinner and a Movie: Shirley Valentine (Loukoumathes)

 

This month’s  Dinner and a Movie, hosted by Marc of No Recipes and Susan of Sticky Gooey Creamy Chewy, is the 1989 film “Shirley Valentine”.

Before this month’s D&M I had never heard of the movie, and when reading the summary about it on Wiki, I admit I was sceptical.   Its about a 40 something English woman who is treated like a door mat by most the people in her life, especially her brutish husband.  She basically lives to serve everyone else, so lonely and beaten down she talks to the wall in her kitchen.  When a friend wins two tickets to a resort in Greece, she makes a last minute decision to realize her dream of travelling, and takes off for new parts.  After her friend promptly ditches her for a man she meets on the plane she has to discover the island on her own.  She then begins to find out what she wants and what she actually needs.

Although I felt iffy about the ending, I was surprised how much the movie actually touched me.  It actually gave  me the push I needed to make a major change in my life that I had been avoiding for a very long time.

This is what brought me to my choice of recipe, Loukoumathes. 

In Greek these are λουκουμάδες, pronounced loo-koo-MAH-thes.  These little yeasted balls of dough are deep fried until puffed and golden and then drizzled with lots of honey and sprinkled with cinnamon.  A New years eve tradition in parts of Greece, I thought they were perfect for a movie based on change and getting a new start.  They are light and airy, and despite being covered in honey, they are not overwhelmingly sweet.  Adjust the amount of cinnamon you sprinkle to your taste, Mr. BotC liked it very liberally covered.  These must be serve immediately as they are fried, and will become soggy if left to sit.

Loukoumathes

Ingredients

• 1 pk -Active dry yeast or 30 grams compressed yeast
• 1 c Milk; lukewarm (110 F)
• 1 tb granulated white sugar
• 1 Egg; beaten
• 1/4 c Butter; melted
• 2 Cups All purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 cup Honey; warmed
• Ground cinnamon
• Oil (of your choice) for frying

Directions

1. In small bowl stir yeast into 2 tablespoons of the lukewarm milk.  Let sit 2 to 5 minutes until yeast is mostly dissolved.
2. In large bowl mix together remaining milk, sugar, egg and lukewarm melted butter. Add dissolved yeast.
3. Sift flour and salt and gradually stir in mixed liquids. Beat until smooth and continue beating for 1 minute.
4. Cover bowl with warm damp cloth and leave in a warm place for 1-1/2 hours until batter doubles in bulk with bubbles on the surface. I like to put the bowl into a cold oven, and place a pan full of boiling water at the other end, and then shut the oven door. This gives me a beautiful rise every time.
5. Line large baking sheet with parchment paper, and then with a layer of paper towel
6. In small pot over very low (minimum) heat, set honey to warm while frying the dough, until nice and fluid.
7. Remove cloth from bowl of dough, stir dough well then drop teaspoonfuls into pot of deep, hot oil (375F) 4 to 5 at a time. Do not crowd puffs or they tend to stick together. 
8.   Turn puffs to brown evenly and remove with a slotted spoon to drain on lined baking sheet.  Watch very closely as each puff only takes about a minute to cook.
9. When all are drained, arrange on serving plate. Drizzle each with the warmed honey and sprinkle with cinnamon. Serve hot.

Adapted from The Greek Cookbook by Tess Mallos

Dinner & a Movie: Wedding Crashers –Look at Them Melons… Sorbet

Dinner and a Movie is co-hosted by Marc of No Recipes and Susan of Sticky Gooey Creamy Chewy, where a new movie is picked each month to watch and inspire you to create a dish based on said movie.  I’m excited as this is my first month participating, and this month’s movie, Wedding Crashers, proved to be quite a challenge!

I wanted to stay away from anything “wedding-y”, as I figured that would be too easy, but food isn’t a large feature of the film…unless you count Owen Wilson’s character sickening his love interest’s fiancé with Visine! (my Visine is staying safely in the medicine cabinet, thanks!).

One of the actresses in the movie is Jane Seymour, playing the part of Kathleen (“Kitty Kat”), the mother of the Crashers love interests.  She is not so much the cooking-baking, knitting, book circle type of mom though.  She likes the drink, and although married, takes a heated interest in Owen Wilson’s character, John. 

In the scene that inspired my dish, Kathleen walks into the room where John is putting on his shoes and announces to John she’s had certain “aesthetic” work done.  She refuses to let him leave amid his protests until he inspects the work for himself.  Of course, with him being amazed how “realistic” the aesthetic work is,  he doesn’t give the response she had hoped for, and with disgust calls him a pervert and storms out!  Given that Jane Seymour was 54 when this scene was shot, where in Hollywood anyone past 25 seems to be deemed “over the hill”,  I say kudos for her!  So without further ado, and without need for further explanation, my recipe:

Honeydew Melon Sorbet

Ingredients

• 1 pound, 5 ounces diced honeydew melon, seeded and peeled (about 3/4 of a large melon)
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 cup white granulated sugar

Directions

Place the seeded and peeled melon in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. Add the lemon juice and sugar and process for another 30 seconds. Place the mixture into the refrigerator until the mixture reaches 40 degrees F; if you don’t have a thermometer, this will most likely take a couple of hours, you want the mixture thoroughly cold.

Pour the chilled mixture into the bowl of an ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer's directions.  It can be served immediately if thick enough or transferred to an airtight container and placed in the freezer.

(Adapted from Alton Brown, Good Eats, episode: Melondrama)

This sorbet has a gorgeous bright flavour, and a creamy texture that would have you believing it contained dairy of some kind.  The sugar can be adjusted based on the sweetness of the melon you choose and your personal preferences.  When choosing a honeydew, you want to get one that feels heavy for it’s size and is a creamy yellow colour…green most likely means it is not mature yet.  You also want to avoid any with overly soft or brown parts.  California honeydews are not in season right now (our melon was from Costa Rica) so I would care to bet this would taste even more delicious when they are.

This went perfect with the gorgeous warm weekend we just enjoyed, inspiring the coming days (and not soon enough!) of summer.

You can check out the April Dinner and a Movie Round up for all submissions over at Marc’s blog.  Hope to see you at next month’s Dinner and a Movie!   Happy Eating!