Lessons from Gordon Parks' The Learning TreeHow you doin’? I want to take a moment to celebrate Black History Month and a dear friend who was the producer and director of my second major feature film. You see I am not only skilled in working with food, but prior to designing and operating restaurants I was a motion picture and television production designer and that’s where I met the amazing Gordon Parks. The fall of 1969 marked the first time a major motion picture studio in Hollywood released a film directed by a black filmmaker. Internationally known photographer, filmmaker, musician, author and Kansas native son Gordon Parks was that groundbreaking pioneer. “The Learning Tree“ was produced by Warner Brothers-Seven Arts Studios. Along with Bill Conrad (executive producer), Bernie Guffey (cinematographer), Jimmy Liden (associate producer) and me (production designer), Gordon directed wrote and composed the soundtrack for the film. “The Learning Tree” is based on Parks’ semi-autobiography 1963 novel of the same title, about growing up in a Midwestern small town in the mid-late 1920s when life was made difficult by segregation and poverty. The film is centered on the lead character, Newt Winger. Parks portrays Newt as a young teenager who struggles with racism, discrimination and poverty, while also having to deal with the emotions of first love, conflict, and fear of death in the fictional town of Cherokee Flats, Kansas. Gordon and I chose his hometown of Fort Scott and various locations to film The Learning Tree in 1968. Looking back, some of the same bigotry and poverty still existed as it did when Gordon was growing up. He told me it was important for the sets to be as realistic as possible and not to fall into the typical stereotypes depicted in films of the day. When he looked at the interiors of the family home he bristled--my mother would never have paint peeling off the walls and cracked windows. She kept our home in perfect condition. Overnight I had our painters and scrapers come back through the set and clean it up. He was right. When I was invited for a fried chicken dinner at his mom’s house it was spotless and well organized—just as it was when he was growing up. Dinner was fantastic as well—more to follow on pan-fried chicken below. I took my learning on being true to the period when it came to the segregated jail cell in the city lock-up. I designed a small cube cell with writing on the wall which he described to me in painful detail. The set builders and painters could only do so much to make this set come alive. One night I came into the studio with buckets of oatmeal and sour milk and threw it against the walls. With in a day or so it started to smell… to finish the atmosphere, I came in every night for a week and pee’d on the wall. When Gordon got back from the Fort Scott location, he was checking out the sets. The refurbished family home was spot on. The judge’s house was just as he remembered it, Chappy Logan’s Tavern and house of ill-repute was spot on. However when he walked into the jail cell—Gordon threw-up. Both the site and smell instantly took him back to where he had spent time as a young man growing up in a different time. This is a coming-of-age story about a young man who grows up dealing with bigotry, poverty, violence, conflict and love, along with the unwavering support and love of his hardworking family. The film realistically portrays the severity of social and racial injustices and inequality. There are several moving and emotional scenes throughout the film; one of them is when Newt talks with his mother, Sarah, about living in Cherokee Flats (Fort Scott) and dealing with his conflicted emotions about his home and who he is growing to be. Gordon Parks was born 112 years ago. The camera was Gordon’s choice of weapon to fight against racism, discrimination and poverty. This film provides an important message we all can learn from, showing us how to learn to live and love and not live to hate. It illustrates the importance of equity and social justice for all, not just for the select or privileged. We are inspired to learn to accept and respect the differences in people in other races and cultures, not to judge, disenfranchise and suppress others with different standards, boundaries and obstacles. We are reminded that everyone has worth and feelings, and not to devalue, shame or discourage anyone. Gordon Parks’ Mother’s Kansas Cast Iron Skillet Fried Chicken This classic recipe is made-from-scratch Southern-fried chicken which was served by Mother Parks. It is crispy and juicy, and it's sure to be a favorite for your family. The two-part batter simply consists of dredging the chicken in a buttermilk and egg mix, then giving it a quick shake in seasoned flour. This dish calls for bone-in pieces—however, other recipes use boneless chicken breasts or boneless chicken thighs with delicious results. Prep time: 20 minutes Chill time: overnight Cook time: 25 minutes Cool time: 10 to 15 minutes Ingredients 1 whole fryer chicken cut into 8 pieces (4 to 5 pounds) 3-1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt, divided (I prefer Lawry’s) 2-1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, divided 3 cups buttermilk, divided 3 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup cornstarch 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon onion powder 1 teaspoon paprika 1/2 teaspoon chili powder 3 large eggs 2 teaspoons hot sauce 6-8 cups peanut oil for frying Directions
ChefSecret: Serve the fried chicken alongside mashed potatoes (and gravy), coleslaw, creamed corn or another vegetable side dish. Fried chicken is also for breakfast with waffles and maple syrup. Quip of the Day: “I think it’s fun to serve comfort foods because it’s an instant ice-breaker. If somebody’s expecting fancy food and you whip out some fried chicken, they feel like, well you know, they can put their elbows on the table and the etiquette police aren’t going to come out to get you.” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide . ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America. #Entrees #Lunch #Dinner #Chicken #SkilletFriedChicken #GordonParks #TheLearningTree #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2022
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Joan’s Healthy RecipesHow you doin’? Writing and testing new recipes several times a week is a monumental task. I’m not complaining, but I am always grateful when people send in some of their recipes that they would like memorialized on the Perspectives’ Survival Guide website. Here is one of those recipes—Beet, Blood Orange & Fennel Salad—that was sent to us from the fine people at Gelson’s Markets in California. This salad is the harbinger of healthful eating. It’s dressed in a tart citrus vinaigrette with touches of fresh mint. It is a great companion for earthy sweet beets and Spanish-style blood oranges. We’ve topped the beets with slices of blood orange, onions, roasted fennel and chèvre (goat cheese)—so every forkful of salad is a delightful mix of sweet, tart, crunchy and creamy. Between the golden beets, the blood orange, and the bright green mint, this is a gorgeous salad, and ideally, it should be enjoyed with family as a side or entrée salad. As light and refreshing as it is, the beets give it a certain earthy flavor with hearty versatility. Try pairing this salad with a grilled salmon fillet or slices of rotisserie chicken. Prep time: 45 minutes Cook time: 1 hour Cool time: 45 minutes Yield: 4 servings Ingredients 2 medium golden beets 1 bulb fennel, quartered and sliced ½-inch strips, fronds reserved 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 blood oranges, peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thick 1/2 cup red onion, sliced very thin 2 ounces chèvre 1 tablespoon shredded fresh mint Flakey sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste Directions
Blood Orange Vinaigrette Ingredients 2 tablespoons minced shallot 1 tablespoon lemon juice 2 tablespoons blood orange juice 1 tablespoon champagne vinegar (rice vinegar also works) 1/4 cup olive oil 1/2 tablespoon chopped mint Freshly ground black pepper, to taste Sea salt, to taste Directions
ChefSecret: This salad has great staying power—it doesn’t wilt. It’s a great salad to take to a tailgate, brunch or dinner party or a barbecue. Quip of the Day: “I normally knock on the fridge door before I open it, just in case there’s a salad dressing.” Get it? ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America. #Entrees #SideDish #Salad #Lunch #Dinner #Beets #GoldenBeets #BloodOrange #Fennel #Vinaigrette #GoatCheese #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2022 …from the California Happy Hour BarHow you doin’? It makes no difference if your Super Bowl team is winning or losing, my Sazerac Cocktail will buoy your winning spirits or drown your sorrows in whisky. The Sazerac is a close cousin to an Old Fashioned. It has been around in one form or another since the early 1830’s. It was trademarked by Sazerac Co in 1900. The Sazerac was crowned the official cocktail of New Orleans in 2008, a designation more suited to marketers than drink mixers. The truth is the Sazerac has always belonged to the Crescent City. It is believed that the first Sazeracs were made with French brandy—Sazerac de Forge et Fils, to be exact. And it’s known that those first Sazeracs contained Peychaud’s bitters, a bright-red concoction with flavors of gentian and anise that was invented by New Orleans resident Antoine Peychaud. Add some sugar and a dash of absinthe, and you have a strong, aromatic drink that embodies the city from whence it hails. Today, the French brandy has been replaced with American rye whiskey, a spirit that grew in both popularity and availability during the 19th century. Brandy or cognac, which are distilled from grapes, yields a Sazerac that is fruity and floral, different than today’s rye-based versions, which feature the grain spirit’s trademark spicy notes. A well-made rye Sazerac is indeed a tasty cocktail, full of kick and depth. My recipe combines equal parts cognac and rye, not as an homage to a lost classic but because the two work together perfectly. The opposing pairing, when accented by the licorice flavors of absinthe, produces a cocktail that’s simultaneously soft and bold, smooth and brash—and unmistakably New Orleans. Ingredients 1/2 ounce absinthe, to rinse the glass 1 sugar cube 1/2 teaspoon cold water 3 dashes Peychaud’s bitters 2 dashes Angostura bitters 1-1/4 ounces rye whiskey 1-1/4 ounces cognac Garnish: lemon peel Directions
ChefSecret: The fresher the lemons the more lemon oil you will get when you express it into the cocktail. Quip of the Day: My wife asked me if she had any annoying habits. Then she got all uptight and annoyed when I set up the Power Point presentation. I am now sleeping in the Tuff Shed in the backyard. ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide . ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America. #Cocktail #HappyHour #Sazerac #Absinthe #PeychaudsBitters #AngosturaBitters #Cognac #2022 #Cheers# QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2022 …from the California Kitchen How you doin’? Here are a pair of recipes designed to win the heart of your favorite Valentine again (or maybe just for the first time). Many people are playing it safe and making their Valentine dinner at home again this year. We have been hearing more about people loving couple’s cooking where both people take a part in making dinner. What could be more fun that having a blast cooking together?! Here are two great Creme Brûlée recipes that are pretty failure-proof to make and bring a little more love to your favorite lover’s holiday. Where did creme brûlée originate? Well, as usual it isn’t an easy timeline to figure out. France, England and Spain all lay claim to be the country where crème brûlée had its debut. The first printed recipe for a dessert called crème brûlée is from the 1691 edition of the French cookbook Le Cuisinier Royal et Bourgeois by Francois Massialot, a chef at the Palace of Versailles. Some of the confusion maybe in the different names countries placed on similar dishes. Crème brûlée may also be known as burnt cream or trinity cream and are virtually identical to the original crema Catalana. They are all desserts consisting of a rich custard base topped with a layer of hardened caramelized sugar. For a different presentation you can turn the ramekin out and serve the custard with shards of sugar over mangos sprinkled with rum or strawberries with Grand Marnier. Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 30 minutes Set & cool time: 2 hours Yield: 6 servings Ingredients 6 large egg yolks 6 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon almond or orange extract 2-1/2 cups heavy cream 2 tablespoons light brown sugar Directions
Cheater Vanilla Creme Brûlée This recipe is for those who don’t want to go the trouble of making their own custard—not that it’s all that hard. The secret ingredient in this recipe is to substitute vanilla ice cream instead of all the other ingredients required up above. My smooth, creamy, restaurant-quality creme brûlée only requires 3 ingredients! By the way, I even use melted vanilla ice cream for a great crème anglaise when I am pinched for time. Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 40 to 50 minutes Set & cool time: 2 hours Yield: 2 servings Ingredients 1 cup high-quality vanilla ice cream 2 large egg yolks 2 tablespoons granulated sugar Directions
ChefSecret: If you have a kitchen blow torch, gently torch the sugar until golden and bubbly. Quip of the Day: “Everything French is really amazing, especially creme brûlée, but then again, anything with a little cream and burnt sugar works for me.” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide . ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America. #Desserts #Baking #Custard #ValentinesDay #CremeBrulee #VanillaIceCream #BlowTorch #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2022 …from the California Kitchen ow you doin’? Consider this the tale of two dips that are perfect for Super Bowl Sunday. Nacho toppings are perfect for dipping while sipping and rooting for your favorite team. My Macho Nacho Dip is better than the original, plus you can add as much heat as desired. I’ve already written how much I love Buffalo Wings (Cooking Lesson #410: Super Bowl Sunday Crock Pot Chicken Wings). My Buffalo Chicken Dip provides all the spicey flavor without any of the bones. Macho Nacho Dip If you’re planning to watch the play-by-play, binge-watch a TV series or indulge in a streaming movie, nachos are definitely in the Must Have category for quick snacks or dinners in front of the boob-tube for adults and kids alike. My nacho recipe is definitely for people who love to pick at the toppings. Now, you don’t have to create an architectural masterpiece by piling on all the cooked ingredients over a tower of chips. I leave all the gooey stuff in the skillet after sliding them under the broiler to melt the cheese. It’s good way to keep the ingredients warm and juicy in the pan—and the tortilla chips stay nice and crisp in an adjacent bowl preventing them from getting limp. Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes Yield: 4 to 6 servings Ingredients 1 tablespoon of cooking oil 1/2 cup chopped white onion 1-1/2 tablespoons finely diced jalapeño 1/2 cup chopped green pepper 1 pound ground beef (85%/15%) 1 cup store bought salsa (choose the heat level of your taste) 1 cup frozen corn, defrosted 1 cup black beans, drained 1 cup shredded mild Cheddar cheese or Mexican cheese blend 2 avocados, pitted and sliced 3 scallions, sliced into circles Tortilla chips, warm Directions
Buffalo Chicken Dip I thought the Buffalo Bills were going to make it to the Big Game this year—they came close but fell short—but you can still be a Buffalo winner. This tangy, creamy dip tastes just like Buffalo chicken wings. It's best served hot with crackers or chips and celery and carrot sticks. Everyone loves my wing recipe and now you can have your chicken without the bones. Prep time: 5 minutes Cook time: 45 minutes+ Yield: 20 servings (roughly 5 cups) Ingredients 15 ounces roasted chicken chunks (1/2-inch cubes) 3/4 cup pepper sauce, more if you like it hotter (I prefer Frank's Red Hot) 2 (8 ounce) packages softened cream cheese 1 cup ranch dressing (I prefer Hidden Valley) 1-1/2 cups shredded mild Cheddar cheese, divided 2 tablespoons blue cheese crumbles 1 bunch celery, cleaned and cut into 4-inch pieces 1 bunch of carrots, peeled and cut into 4-inch pieces Crackers and chips for dipping Directions
ChefSecret: With all the officiating changes over the last several years—challenges, video replays and checking with New York, game times have gotten longer—much longer. Make sure you have enough goodies to take you through at least 3-1/2 hours. Quip of the Day: For all you newbies out there, red wine pairs well with trying to understand all the new football rules… and if you drink enough, some of them may actually make sense… God knows they don’t when you’re cold sober! ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide . ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America. #Appetizers #Snacks #SuperBowlSnacks #Dips #Nachos #BuffaloChickenDip #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2022 |
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