Gremlins (1984)

Gremlins was our holiday-week movie selection, and it had a strong Christmas theme which was great. Billy Peltzer, the main character, lives at home and works at the bank. He is treated more like a "boy" but has the looks and job of a "young man". His father, Randall, is an inventor who can't quite seem to make his products work reliably. There's the egg machine, the orange juicer, the telephone answer-er, the smokeless ashtray, and maybe even the grandfather of today's Keurig! Mr. Peltzer buys a Mogwai from a Chinese man to take home to Billy for Christmas. Take a look at the similarity to Furbees:

Unfortunately for Billy (and the entire town), he didn't follow three simple rules:

1) no water

2) no food after midnight

3) no bright light.

Surprisingly violent, this movie was one of two that spurred the MPAA to introduce the PG-13 rating (the other was Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom). The scene where Billy's mom is fighting Gremlins in the kitchen was particularly gross--we honored it with our snack of microwaved popcorn.

Movie Rating

Plot: 3.75

Cinematography: 2.75

Acting: 2.25

Average: 2.92

Our dinner was taken straight from the movie... Billy gets a plate of leftover fried chicken out of the fridge when he thinks it's still OK to feed the Mogwai. Those tricky mofos chewed his alarm clock cord to dupe him into feeding them! This recipe was amazing and totally worth the extra work to brine the meat.

Lemon-Brined Fried Chicken (Too Good for Mogwai)

(Slightly adapted from this recipe)

Serves 6–8

INGREDIENTS

1 gallon cold water

1 cup plus 2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 cup plus 2 TB honey

12 bay leaves

1 head of garlic, smashed but not peeled

2 TB black peppercorns

3 large rosemary sprigs

1 small bunch of thyme

1 small bunch of parsley

finely grated zest and juice of 2 lemons

6 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts, halved

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 TB garlic powder

2 TB onion powder

2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 cups buttermilk

Vegetable oil, for frying

DIRECTIONS

In a very large pot, combine 1 quart of the water with 1 cup of the salt and the honey, bay leaves, garlic, peppercorns, rosemary, thyme and parsley. Add the lemon zest and juice and the lemon halves and bring to a simmer over moderate heat, stirring until the salt is dissolved. Let cool completely, then stir in the remaining 3 quarts of cold water. Add the chicken pieces, making sure they're completely submerged, and refrigerate overnight (or prep brine in the morning and cook for dinner, like we did!).

Drain the chickens and pat dry. Scrape off any herbs or peppercorns stuck to the skin.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne and the remaining 2 teaspoons of salt. Put the buttermilk in a large, shallow bowl. Working with a few pieces at a time, dip the chicken in the buttermilk, then dredge in the flour mixture, pressing so it adheres all over. Transfer the chicken to a baking sheet lined with wax paper.

In a very large, deep skillet, heat 1 inch of vegetable oil to 330 degrees. Fry the chicken in batches over moderate heat, turning once, until golden and crunchy and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of each piece registers 160 degrees, about 20 minutes. Transfer the chicken to paper towels to drain, and keep warm in a low oven while ou fry the remaining pieces. Transfer the fried chicken to a platter and serve hot or at room temperature.

We added a simple side salad of iceberg lettuce and tomato wedges with my favorite ranch dressing.

Dinner Rating

Movie Relevance: 4.875

Taste: 4.625

Average: 4.75