Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy

Movie stills found here

MAGYAR

(Hungarian, subtitled)

And porkolts. You know porkolts?

JIM PRODEAUX

(Hungarian, subtitled)

Yes, I've had it.

MAGYAR

It's very good. Better than goulash. 

I of course had selected our Hungarian recipe (Chicken Paprikash) before seeing this little segment in the beginning of the movie, otherwise i would have thrown some peppers into our paprikash and voila! we would have had Porkolts. 

This was such a cinematically beautiful movie, the plot was fantastic, with an abundance of talented actors. Based on the 1974 British spy novel by John lé Carré the film focuses on a retired agent (Gary Oldman) finding a mole within the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS)–who doesn't love a spy thriller? Only, this beautiful movie wasn't so thrilling that we both didn't nod off from time to time. Still, I would hesitate to recommend it–we probably just ate too much delicious paprikash!

Movie Rating: 

Plot: 4 stars

Cinematography: 4.5 stars

Acting: 4 stars 

Average: 4.16 stars

Hungarian Chicken Paprikash

Recipe adapted from the one found here

INGREDIENTS

2 lbs chicken, bone-in, skin-on (we used two breasts, two thighs, and two drumsticks)

1 large onion

2-3 tablespoons paprika

salt and pepper 

6 cups chicken broth (water would be fine too, plus this measurement is just an estimation)

1/4 cup flour

1/2–3/4 cup sour cream (full-fat yogurt would work as well)

egg noodles (prepare according to package instructions)

DIRECTIONS

Season the chicken generously with salt, pepper, and paprika. Brown the chicken over medium heat on all sides. Cover chicken with the onions. Allow the onions to soften. Pour the chicken broth over chicken and onions until covered. Simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the chicken falls from the bone. Remove the chicken and allow to cool. Put the 1/4 cup flour in a medium bowl and slowly add small amounts of broth until you form a thick paste. Keep mixing and adding more broth until the "roux" is thin enough to add back to the pot. Once the chicken has cooled, remove the bones, etc. and return the chicken to the pot along with the sour cream. Serve over prepared egg noodles. 

Dinner Rating: 

Movie Relevance: 5 stars

Taste: 5 stars

Presentation: 4.25

Average: 4.75 stars

The Iron Lady (2011)

Do people have mixed feelings about Meryl Streep, or do they assume whatever she does is going to be good, like I do? 

Meryl Streep photo found here; Margaret Thatcher photo found here

Her role as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady (2011) was well played, and I could hardly believe it was her in the segments where she was getting on in years, but the movie? Well, it sort of fell flat. There seemed to be so much potential, but compared to other biopics—even British ones, like The King's Speech—it felt sadly disjointed and barely scratched the surface of the complexity behind Britain's only female prime minister. Saving grace: I'm in Love with Margaret Thatcher by the Not Sensibles on the soundtrack.

Movie Rating
Plot: 3
Cinematography: 3
Acting: 4.75
Average: 3.6

My dinner strategy was to use an iron lady of our own: the ever-reliable, rugged cast iron skillet.

Thanks to Gabby L. for lending her skillet in this starring role!

A search of the BBC GoodFood site yielded this recipe for lamb steaks with roasted veggies. I'd suggest using pearl onions in place of red onions for relevance... when Thatcher is first deciding to run for prime minister, she's advised to lose her signature pearl necklace. This advice is met with her response, "the pearls are absolutely non-negotiable." We weren't big fans of the lamb, but it's probably just because of the strange leg steaks the butcher at Whole Foods made for me from a larger leg roast. I can imagine this would be delectable with bone-in chicken breasts or fat pork chops as well. The roasted veggies were by far the highlight of the dish.

As an accompaniment, I wanted to try making yorkshire puddings like Eric's mom makes, so I used this recipe. Had we remembered to salt and pepper the batter, they would've been just perfect. I could hardly believe we got them to puff the way they did!

Cast-Iron-Roasted Lamb Steaks and Vegetables with Yorkshire Puddings
Serves 4

INGREDIENTS
For the lamb and veggies:
2 TB olive oil
4 lamb leg steaks
salt and pepper
1 sweet potato, finely sliced
2 carrots, chopped
2 parsnips, chopped
1 red onion, halved and sliced
1 sprig fresh rosemary
2 TB whole grain mustard

For the yorkshire puddings:

1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
3/8 cup milk
canola oil, for cooking

DIRECTIONS
Heat the oven to 450 Fahrenheit.

Season the lamb steaks on both sides with salt and pepper.

Heat half the oil in a cast iron skillet over medium high, and brown the steaks on both sides. Set aside. Toss the potato, carrots, parsnips, onion, remaining oil and half the rosemary in the skillet for a few minutes, then lay the steaks on top.

Turn off the heat on the stovetop. Brush steaks with mustard and scatter remaining rosemary on top.

Once the oven is good and hot, drizzle a little canola oil in each hole of a 12-hole muffin pan and place in the oven to heat. While the pan is in the oven heating, make the batter: put the flour in a medium mixing bowl and beat in the eggs until smooth. Gradually add the milk and continue beating until the mixture is lump-free. Season batter with salt and pepper. Transfer the batter into a liquid measuring cup (or something else with a spout for easy pouring). When the oil in the muffin pan is hot, pull out the rack and distribute the batter evenly among all 12 holes of the muffin pan.

When finished, push the oven rack back in and move the full skillet into the hot oven to roast for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender, lamb is cooked, and puddings are puffed.

Dinner Rating
Movie Relevance: 4
Presentation: 4
Taste: 3.5
Average: 3.83

Of course, for dessert, we had to have tea and cookies.

There are a few typical British food items throughout the movie: soft boiled eggs, toast with "much too much butter", tea (of course!), halibut, whiskey & seltzer.