Joseph Mallozzi's Weblog

April 23, 2013: Some friends check in! This ‘n that! Let’s get cookin’!

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1Well, look who it is.  Yes, it’s writer/director/producer/Golden Boy Martin Gero, recent winner of the 2013 WGC Screenwriting Award for Best Writing in a TV Drama (The LA Complex: “Down in L.A.”).  This pic was sent to me via my good friend, Anne-Marie Perrotta (who picked up a Writers Block Award on the same night) who, I’m guessing, orchestrated Martin’s kidnapping and transport from Los Angeles to Toronto for the gala.  I see the Writers Guild of Canada spared no expense in the accommodations.  That’s an Imperial Cell Suite.  It comes with free newspaper and Continental Beating.  But I would suggest passing on both.

I also heard from my former Toronto nemesis, Tara Yelland (tarayelland) the other day.  She’s been busy of late, working on a series, booking a commercial, and generally missing yours truly.  But the most interesting thing about her email was the discovery that her middle name is Ashley.  Ashley!  My Vancouver nemesis’s first name is Ashleigh!      Coincidence?  I would say yes but if the internet has taught me anything over the last few days, it’s that there’s a conspiracy in absolutely everything, no matter how asinine the theory.

Over the past couple of months, I’ve attended a number of dining-related events.  Most required the purchase of online tickets, usually through Eventbrite,”a provider of online event management and ticketing services”.  Today, I received an email from Eventbrite that included some suggested upcoming “Event Picks” chosen just for me.  I assume it’s sort of like Amazon recommendations.  If you liked THIS novel, you’ll probably enjoy THAT novel.  So, given my recent attendance of a foie gras feast and offal dinner, Eventbrite assumed I would be interested in a Women in Mining Annual Cocktail Reception, My Dream Wedding/Spring 2013, and, of course, a Strolling Tour of the Sex Work History in the West End.

Hey, look who’s been cast in the new series Carl Binder is show running: Teryl Rothery Cast in Hallmark’s Cedar Cove

Well this is interesting: Johnny Mnemonic TV Series In Development

Okay, who’s ready to do some cooking?  We’ve got eight recipes of YOUR recipes to test out, so let’s get crackin’ – in the case of the desserts, otherwise, choppin’.  First up is

1Sparrow_hawk’s Chicken Breast with Brown Butter and Fried Sage Leaves

Step 1. Toasted Pine Nuts

½ cup pine nuts (pignolli) (or more if you love them)

Heat a frying pan over a medium high heat. Add the pine nuts and heat for about 5 minutes until lightly browned. Set aside. Hide them so you can’t nibble on them while you cook.

Step 2. Fried Sage Leaves

20 sage leaves
1 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp flour
½ cup olive oil

Rinse and pat dry the fresh sage leaves.
Heat ½ cup olive oil in the frying pan.
While the oil is heating, dip the sage leaves one at a time in the milk then dredge in the flour.

When the oil is hot, add the sage leaves and fry until lightly browned. The light flour coating keeps the sage leaves from getting overdone and bitter. Drain on paper towels. Don’t eat them all before you finish cooking the chicken.

Step 3. Parmesan Chicken Breast

16 oz boneless Chicken Breasts (about 3)
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 cup Italian Flavored Bread Crumbs
4 cloves Garlic
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 egg
1/2 cup Grated Parmesan
4 Tbsp unsalted butter

1. Cut the chicken breast into 4 oz. pieces and pound to about ½ inch thickness.
2. Beat the egg with about 1 tsp. water and place in a shallow bowl.
3. Combine the bread crumbs and grated Parmesan in a second shallow bowl in preparation for breading.
4. Put the flour into a plastic bag and add a couple of pieces of the chicken breast. Shake to coat.
5. Dip the chicken pieces in the egg and then then crumb/Parmesan mix to coat.
6. Lay on a plate for about 15 minutes to let the coating set.
7. Repeat until you have coated all the chicken pieces.
8. Heat the butter and olive oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat.
9. Give the garlic cloves a whack with the flat of a knife and remove the skin.
10. Put the garlic in the oil and butter and heat until lightly browned then set aside.
11. Saute the chicken pieces until golden brown on each side (about 5 minutes on a side) and cooked through. Don’t crowd them or they won’t brown well. You will probably need to do this in three batches.
12. When the chicken is cooked, place on the serving platter and keep warm.
13. Add the last 4 Tbsp of butter to the pan and return the garlic; heat over medium high heat for about 3 or 4 minutes until the butter just starts to brown. Add a little of the olive oil you used to fry the sage leaves and put into a bowl.
14. Toss the pine nuts over the chicken and arrange the sage leaves around the border of the platter. Serve with the brown butter.

Sounds tasty, no?  You have all this week to prepare.  We’ll compare and discuss the results next Tuesday when I’ll also be posting our next recipe.

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32 responses

  1. Tam Dixon Avatar
    Tam Dixon

    That’s some post! Witty, amusing and at the end you had me drooling. 😆

    Reply
  2. gforce Avatar
    gforce

    “It comes with free newspaper and Continental Beating.”

    Ha! I wonder if you actually get beaten with the newspaper? Bad writer! BAD!

    Looking forward to trying this recipe! I hope it keeps fairly well – I’ll probably be bringing the leftovers to lunch for a day or two after.

    Reply
  3. Deni Avatar
    Deni

    I hope I can make this sometime this week, but I’ve got my hands full all of a sudden. Gumbo (the old Springer Spaniel) woke up with a swollen face (just one side) over the weekend. I figured it was a tooth, and I was right, so we took him in for a dental and an extraction. I was worried because he is really old and didn’t know how he’d handle the general anesthesia, but really had no choice. He also has had this awful-looking cyst on his neck that fills up with disgusting fluid every so often, then pops open and spills its contents on whatever he’s on, so I asked my vet to get rid of that, as well. He’s a pansy ass about having his nails cut, so I had them do that while he was under, as well. Turns out he’d broken a nail, so they had to repair that, and tonight he’s home with staples in his neck, a bandage on his foot and stitches in his mouth. He’s on antibiotics and plenty of pain meds, so he’s pretty loopy. He already has a hard time getting up (we usually have to help him, and he’s no lightweight), and having him half out of it has been a blast tonight. Meanwhile, my daughter left me with the baby while she went to jiu jitsu, saying he was asleep for the night, I should have to do nothing. I should have known… The kid woke up having a major meltdown at the same time Gumbo decided he wanted to get up (he’s very vocal about his desires, and not in a good way), and nobody else was home. I tried picking the baby up and putting him on my bed while I lifted the dog, but the kid wasn’t having any of that (tomato-faced crying at this point). I got Gumbo halfway up and he went back down (in the dog bed, no worries), and decided I’d just have to wait until I took care of the kid or somebody got home to help with the dog. I fed the baby and got him to bed (FINALLY), Mr. Deni got home, carried the dog out and brought him back in after a long pee. Oh yeah, meanwhile, Cody got into my room and decided to remove Gumbo’s staples (he didn’t). Then, Gumbo got up on his own and pooped in the dining room. The end. 🙂

    Reply
  4. baterista9 Avatar
    baterista9

    Teryl is tweeting shoot photos @TerylRothery. One of her subjects may be Elise Levesque (@atleastlevesque).

    Reply
  5. dasndanger Avatar
    dasndanger

    @ Joey – Deni really needs a blog dedication…SOON!

    😉

    das

    Reply
  6. DP Avatar
    DP

    I’ve been thinking about the rapid response teams of asinine theorists. The internet has created a perfect storm for them and previous tragedies have created some clustered organization so that it comes out early and emboldened now. I’m a bit fringey myself so I’ve known enough of them and I’ll tell you an inside secret: it’s the introverted version of narcissism.

    I believe as long as personality disorders have a population cap, the most annoying of the asinine theorists will, too.

    I don’t put anything past anyone so it’s not that I’m offended by questioning a sacred cow. But if you cringe at the content of what they say, you never get to look them in the eye. You have no idea how dysfunctional the simplest conversations with them are. They don’t either.

    Reply
  7. Ponytail Avatar
    Ponytail

    Your Vancouver nemesis’s first name was Ashleigh, now you find out your Toronto nemesis, Tara Yelland’s middle name is Ashley. Your world would be complete if you found out your blog nemesis DasNDanger’s real name was Ashlee. Then it would really be a conspiracy. But Das would have confessed by now. Or maybe she is just toying with you…

    Well, I put my chicken in the refrigerator to thaw. I’m just wondering why you didn’t start with an appetizer, then salad, then main meal, then dessert. Don’t listen to me. I’ve been watching too much Chopped!

    Reply
  8. Ponytail Avatar
    Ponytail

    Oh and @ Deni – Hang in there Grandma! Glad the fur baby is doing okay.

    Reply
  9. Debra From The South Avatar
    Debra From The South

    Printed it out, will pick up ingredients and give it a whirl! Looks yummy.

    Reply
  10. Kathode Avatar
    Kathode

    Ooh, I WANT to make that recipe, but can’t, since I’m doing the first two weeks of the Mayo Clinic Diet right now. I got the book out of the library, so I have to try the diet out before the book is due back. There’s too much butter in the chicken recipe to qualify for the diet. But only the first two weeks are extra-strict (the “Lose It!” phase of the plan), so I’ll just wait ’til later and make it during the less-stringent “Live It!” phase. It looks like a decent diet (actually, “way of life” would be a more accurate term for what they’re advocating), but one of their rules for this first two weeks is “No eating while watching TV, and no more TV or computer screen time (work doesn’t count) than time you’ve spent exercising.” Uh, excuse me? You want me to do what, now? Needless to say, I’ve been flagrantly disregarding that particular rule. I can exercise an hour a day, but there’s no way I’m watching TV and surfing for just one hour combined! Who can do that???

    Reply
  11. JeffW Avatar
    JeffW

    @Joe on “Event Picks”:

    I have the same problem with Amazon. I share a master account with Barbara and the kids, mostly due to the fact that it all comes out of the same bank account anyway, and as a result all of the “suggested especially for you” emails tend to be a strange mix of items.

    I’ll see “The collected works of Jane Austen”, followed by “new Goth makeup” (I’m hoping this one was from when Jackie was looking for makeup for Halloween, otherwise I may have to do a surprise inspection on David’s room 😉 ), followed by the latest V8 engine rebuilding guide. If anyone at Amazon ever reviews these selections, I wonder what their overall impression would be? Rocky Horror Toolman?

    On your nemesis, an old friend of mine had a “nemesis name” (Rachel); he insisted that he always had problems with women named Rachel. Fortunately, Rachel was not a really common name, so he had only a couple of nemeses to deal with. I don’t think I’ve really had a nemesis (are they really a nemesis if you don’t care?….)

    One recipe a week sounds right. I’ll try to make “Sparrow_hawk’s Chicken Breast” (somehow that sounded wrong) sometime in the next week.

    And I’m finally off to Chicago today (I’m currently sitting in American’s lounge in Terminal 3 at Heathrow). It will be good to be home; I want a burger! Talk to you all on the other side!

    Cheers,

    Jeff W.

    Reply
  12. mckayfanforever Avatar
    mckayfanforever

    I could be wrong but this pic was taken in the basement of the SUITE at 1 King… I sleep there every time I go to Toronto…. I would take that sort of Newspaper and Beating anytime…

    Reply
  13. JimFromJersey Avatar
    JimFromJersey

    Sparrow Hawk / Joe: Cannot wait to try that recipe. It’s got three of my favorite things: butter, garlic, sage.

    I won’t have time this week unfortunately. I’m in the midst of organizing my annual Jeep club benefit for our favorite animal shelter. Info here: http://www.theanimalorphanage.org/?page_id=323
    Also if anyone would like to donate, there are ways here: http://www.theanimalorphanage.org/?page_id=323

    The Amazon recommendation program is great. It’s very convenient, and usually spot on. Eventbrite? Apparently not so much. Unless you’re a woman involved in mining and neglected to tell us.

    Reply
  14. prof.madmax Avatar
    prof.madmax

    Congratulations to the truly talented Golden Boy, Mr. Martin Gero! (No slipping out sideways through THOSE bars though)

    Great to hear that Teryl Rothery is on board Carl’s series. I always found the vignettes that she and Don Davis did on some of the early season SG-1 box-sets to be HILARIUS!

    @Joe, I have a film/TV related mailbag question please- In “Monty Python’s Life of Brian” Exec Producer credit goes to George Harrison. Is this EP title sometimes doled out to the financier and not reflective of active participation in making the movie, or generally does it mean Grand Poobah Showrunner?

    Cheers!

    Reply
  15. shinyhula Avatar
    shinyhula

    Fried sage leaves?? Fascinating! Sage is very good for dreaming, so let us know if you have any interesting dreams. I use a lot of sage when I cook and it never fails to give me these long detailed dreams.

    Reply
  16. Tam Dixon Avatar
    Tam Dixon

    So sorry you went through all that yesterday Deni. You are making a huge difference in Anakin’s life though. You know that right? I hope Gumbo is better today too.

    Sparrow_hawk: Your recipe looks divine!

    I’m trying to LOWER my “meat” fat levels and I made this instead of the chicken dish: http://twitpic.com/clmnas The irony is that my cholesterol levels are probably higher than Mr. M.’s! Can you post the cobbler recipe next? That one looks so good!

    The light went out in my fridge. I changed the bulb but it’s still not working. Who knew a light bulb would make such a huge difference? I miss light in my fridge….

    Great post Mr. M.! Loved the Ashleigh angle. Ashley/Ashleigh is such a sweet sounding name. Surely, someone with that name can’t be all bad?

    Congrats Mr. Binder!

    Reply
  17. Sparrow_hawk Avatar
    Sparrow_hawk

    Hi, everyone! I just got back from a 10 day trip to the Netherlands and Belgium. Much beer and chocolate was consumed.

    Oh, goodie! You brought back the recipes! I feel honored that you’re starting with mine.

    Mmmmm. I haven’t made this recipe in a while but my sage is starting to come back so I’ll join everyone else in making this one. Just in case you aren’t growing your own ;), you can usually find fresh herbs in the supermarket with the veggies. Pine nuts are often in the “Italian” aisle, at least they are in the stores near me.. I hope all of you enjoy it! 😀

    Regarding the recipe:

    @JeffW: Yeah, that recipe title sounds a little peculiar.

    @ Kathode: you can do it with all olive oil if it works better with your diet once you are easing back into fats. It won’t change the overall results except for the fact that you won’t have butter to drizzle over everything. I use a combination of butter and oil for this one because I like the flavor.

    @gforce: It makes great leftovers. I always make extra chicken and rice when I do this one so I can bring it to work the next day. Somehow, though, no matter how much sage and pine nuts I start with, there are never any leftovers.

    Reply
  18. Sparrow_hawk Avatar
    Sparrow_hawk

    @Joe: Fun post! I missed these while I was away. I had very limited internet access while I was in Europe, but I am looking forward to catching up on them over the next week or so.

    @Deni: I hope things are calming down and that Gumbo is back on his feet soon.

    Reply
  19. DebbieW Avatar
    DebbieW

    Yesterday afternoon I saw Gateworld’s post about a new TV series in development that has Stargate writers attached to it. And then, you link to that story in this post. Hmmm. I can’t believe that none of your regular commenters have picked up on that.

    Reply
  20. for the love of Beckett Avatar
    for the love of Beckett

    Deni! Have you ever been through it! Sending prayers for sanity and rest. Glad Anakin and Gumbo are okay. I went through a multi-tasking surgery with my older doggie grrrl once. Sending wishes for a speedy recovery for all of you. Or Deni mama might open a can of ju jitsu. 🙂

    Reply
  21. DP Avatar
    DP

    I don’t think the money for those ingredients will be happening this month. I’m defrosting some chicken tenderloins. I can make gluten-free bread crumbs out of gluten-free crackers and I have some gluten-free flour. I don’t think I’ll be able to come up with the pine nuts and sage which I do realize is probably most of the point.

    Reply
  22. Deni Avatar
    Deni

    @for the love of Beckett: Always so sweet, you! The can of jiu jitsu is sitting there, just waiting.;.. 🙂

    @das: Either that, or a bottle of good bubbly. 🙂

    Reply
  23. Kathode Avatar
    Kathode

    @ Sparrow_hawk: Olive oil would definitely fit the diet better (after this first two weeks), but I definitely want some butter in there. I don’t think I’ve ever made something with brown butter sauce, so I want to try it out. I’ll probably do a mix of the two, like you said. I have a feeling getting the butter to just the right stage of “brown” is going to be tricky for me. It’s a fine line between “brown” and “burnt”, and I’m not exactly what you’d call an experienced cook. But I’m up for the challenge. 🙂

    P.S. – Doggie (Sadie) is dreaming as I type this. I love it when her feeties are “running” in her sleep.

    Reply
  24. Kathode Avatar
    Kathode

    I actually would be interested in the Women of Mining Annual Cocktail Reception. (Need to network in hopes of getting a summer gig in the field.) I’ll have to look into that. Thanks!

    Reply
  25. for the love of Beckett Avatar
    for the love of Beckett

    (written earlier today…)

    Fun blog! 🙂 Wish cable would carry the Hallmark channel again so we could watch Carl’s storytelling. Nice! that Stargate alumna will appear.

    Well Joe, there are Conspiracy Theories (for scary stuff), and then there’s Synchronicity, where good things align for no particular reason, and feel right because of it. They’re entertaining, and who knows? For example, two of my friends sharing a birth date, two other friends having nearly identical phone numbers, digits in my number matching a friends,’ my first or last name matching characters in a favorite show or movie, etc. When there are multiple examples with just one other person, it can make your jaw drop! 😀

    Take that new Johnny Mnemonic TV show. It just might be written by two Stargate writers whose last names also begin with M. Then I read GW’s article, and had to laugh out loud. The CEO of Seven Arts Entertainment has the same name as my dad. Could be I’ll like the show!

    The Coincidence of Ashleigh/Ashleys in your life could be synchronicity. The first was a great dinner pal, co-worker, friend to you and the blog. The second, also was a co-worker who has a fast wit and can keep up with you. Hah. Nemeses for that reason? But you know there IS a third connected Ashleigh, right? That would be Tara’s friend from her blog.

    And just a little more synchronicity for me… Today I was e-mailing with my transplanted Italian New Yorker friend. We were hunting a boarding kennel for her dog Pignoli (Yoli) while she’s away. And then I came by to read your blog, only to find Sparrow_hawk’s yummy chicken recipe, sprinkled with, what else? Pignoli!

    Synchronicity… It might be a sign that the good things in our lives aren’t so random after all. 🙂

    Reply
  26. Kathode Avatar
    Kathode

    Speaking of Women in Mining, I’d never heard of this mine disaster until today. This (short) video documentary of it is really something to see:

    http://boingboing.net/2013/04/24/lake-peigneur-salt-mine-collap.html

    Reply
  27. Duptiang Avatar
    Duptiang

    Since my fridge is bare I will try to do some shopping these next couple of days and pick up some ingredients like chicken. Oddly though, I have some fresh sage.

    Reply
  28. thornyrose01 Avatar
    thornyrose01

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy0M1MxShAI&feature=player_embedded

    no idea what the narrator is saying, but I can guess by the action on this one.

    Reply
  29. Janet Avatar
    Janet

    G’day

    Deni – Hope it all goes better in the next couple of days. get well soon Gumbo. There will be some stories to tell Michael when he is older.

    As for sparrow-hawk’s chicken recipe, I am not an adventurous cook. Plus my kids are not adventurous eaters. Will have a good look at it though. Good luck to all who are trying.

    Lest We Forget.

    Reply
  30. JeffW Avatar
    JeffW

    I made it home to Chicagoland, thanks for the travel wishes.

    @Sparrow_hawk:

    @JeffW: Yeah, that recipe title sounds a little peculiar.

    I think it was the whole avian cannibalism thing that threw me 😉

    @Deni:

    I hope today went better for you. We have our own little doggy drama tonight…Barb took our dog Lucy to the vet for a teeth cleaning (during which they knocked her out because she’s a 50lb dog). When I came home, Lucy staggered up to greet me and only whimpered (she usually does a full on Dino jump and bowls me over). Now she’s wandering around in a daze and occasionally passing out on the floor. I wonder how long it will be before the anesthetic wears off completely?

    Reply
  31. Deni Avatar
    Deni

    @JeffW: Usually dogs feel much better after 24-48 hours, but it varies a lot. When Elway had his spleen removed, he was groggy for about 12 hours and then got up to go out to pee. Granted, he was in pain and in a bit of a daze, but not that out of it. Gumbo, not so much. He’s been whining most of the day, so we increased his pain meds, which in turn make it impossible to get him to stand up and walk outside for a pee! I’m sure your pup will be fine by morning, you’ll see. 🙂

    Thank you @ Janet and @ Ponytail, you’re so sweet. 🙂

    Reply
  32. PBMom Avatar
    PBMom

    I think you should go back and think of all the Ashley’s (or name-spelling variations) and see if they were more nemesis (or would that be nemeses?) or not. Two is hardly a good sampling for a scientific approach to research.

    @Deni — Oh wow. You’ve been through a mess. I hope a week out now things are better.

    @sparrow_hawk: Welcome back.

    Reply

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