Reviews, a rant, a recipe
SG-1 10.09 - "Company of Thieves"
* Seasons 9 and 10 have been really hard on the ships on this show.
* Aw! They put Vala in the final credit shot of the team going up the gate ramp, and she's running to catch up.
* This episode does win major points for (1) remembering that Vala has connections the US military doesn't, and can acquire ships and other equipment, and (2) remembering that Vala singlehandedly stole the Prometheus and is quite capable of repairing/hotwiring similar systems, and (3) having Sam and Vala work together, which was excellent. Together, they could take over the universe, and look damn good while doing it.
* This episode loses major points for (1) forgetting that Sam is is a professional soldier who has been dealing with hard losses for 10 years and having her fold like a pack of cards to Dracula, and (2) making her go weepy over Dracula shooting the Colonel right then, instead of holding it together until the crisis was over and losing it in private.
* And yes, it was driving me crazy that Anateo seemed so familiar until I figured out that the actor played Dracula in "Buffy vs. Dracula." I'm surprised there was much of the Odyssey left after he got done chewing the scenery.
* The utter shoddiness of the ship Vala managed to acquire was surprisingly humorous, as was her approach to the life support failure (disable the annoying alarm!). I liked the way it showed up how fly-by-the-seat-of-the-pants she still is despite having joined SG-1, and how much that makes the rest of them clutch their heads.
* Speaking of flying by the seat of the pants, it says something about Cam that his reaction to losing most of his team by doing the most gonzo, risk-taking thing possible to get them back. It's almost like he needed to not only find a way to rescue them but to do so in a way that explicitly made him share in their risk by putting himself in enemy hands as well. Which is why it must have been doubly crushing that his plan led to Teal'c's capture--the capture of the one member of the team who wasn't already in trouble.
* I thought there were few things as boring as Jaffa politics. Apparently, Lucian Alliance politics is one of those things. And their uniforms are super Star Trekky. Also, I have a hard time believing that they're worried about Earth--the Tau'ri have pulled off some impressive feats, but mostly in conjunction with the Jaffa or inter-goa'uld conflicts or conflicts between the goa'uld and the replicators.
* Dr. Daniel Jackson--Worst. Captain. Ever.
* Huh. I actually did not see the twist that Cam went from impersonating the other Lucian Alliance guy to impersonating Natan. Mostly because Cam's impersonation of the other guy kind of made me cringe.
SGA 3.09 - "Phantoms"
My bar for this show is so low that it actually may be below my floor, but I actually enjoyed the hell out of this episode.
* Because I have watched television before, it was obvious to me almost from the outset that the Wraith device was causing the people who stumbled on it to turn on each other, so the fifteen or so minutes of waiting for the characters to catch up to the audience were a little draggy, but after that the writers made good use of the mcguffin to illuminate the characters--Rodney's fear that he won't quite be able to divert disaster in time, Ronon's fear that he's still being hunted by the Wraith (we already knew that, but they didn't spend much time on it), John's guilt over not being able to go back and save a comrade. Probably the most interesting out of the four, because it was the most different, was Carson's hallucination of the dead soldier, who encouraged him to save the still living one--he's a caregiver, not a fighter, and neither he nor Rodney experienced the aggressiveness the soldiers did.
* One of the most compelling things about Sheppard, to me, is that he's fiercely responsible for his team, and this episode showcased that quality well.
* There was a plausible explanation for the existence of the mcguffin, too.
* I'm glad that Teyla's Wraith DNA came up again. It should be an ongoing issue; it's a literal connection to the enemy.
* The POV switch, from the forest on an alien planet to Afghanistan, from us seeing the characters start to behave oddly to being inside John's hallucination, was rather well done. And they've laid enough groundwork about John having been shaped by unknown events in Afghanistan that it didn't come out of left field.
* Everybody got shot! That was probably the best part, because the writers actually went there--sure, nobody was responsible for their actions, but they actually did shoot each other. This episode was not kind to the redshirts, but it wasn't that kind to the regulars either.
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We had glorious Indian Summer weather in the city this weekend. I spent a lot of time couch-shopping, and think I have located a sleeper sofa that I can actually have delivered to my house before my parents arrive for their mid-October visit, since my goal for this visit is to not be turfed out of my bedroom. (This is a very important goal, since not being turfed out of my bedroom comes with the distinct benefit of not only not having to clean my closet, but also being able to throw a bunch of crap into it at the last minute.) It's the kind of weather that makes me want to gorge on late-summer tomatoes and start thinking about squash. I am very fond of squash. And in the brief window of time when I was home, I finally perfected (I think) my recipe for butternut squash, pancetta, and sage risotto.
I have several cookbooks that I treasure and refer to constantly--The Joy of Cooking, of course, and several more obscure ones, such as Joanne Weir's From Tapas to Meze and Gerald Hirigoyen's The Basque Kitchen and Nancie McDermott's Real Thai and Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. But I also have Jamie Oliver's Jamie's Kitchen sitting on my shelf, because Mrs. D. gave it to me for Christmas one year, and while I appreciate the gift, the book itself makes me want to beat things with a frying pan. I don't really watch food network shows, so I have no experience of Oliver as a television personality; as a cookbook writer, though, he leaves a lot to be desired. Leaving aside the annoyingness factor of titling recipes "The Best..." and "Simply Marvelous...," which I'm sure some people find cute but I find unsupportably arrogant, many of the recipes are simply poorly written, and Oliver seems to have decided that measurements such as cups and tablespoons are old-fashioned and that it's much more hip and flashy to specify alcohol in "wineglasses" and butter in "pats" and to blithely call for "6 potatoes" or "1 butternut squash" without giving any hints as to whether he means large or small potatoes or butternut squash, less than a pound total or more than three. A full wineglass, or merely a modest one? Four ounces of liquid or six? Does a typical pat of butter come to a tablespoon, or two tablespoons, or some other quantity? The reader is left to guess. The lack of precision in ingredients is especially puzzling since the book seems to be designed for novice cooks, and goes to the trouble of explaining basic kitchen equipment and providing step-by-step technique instructions with photographic illustrations. Some of the measurements he does provide are just plain wrong (and easy to spot as wrong, if you know what you're doing), and recipes sometimes skip parts of procedures, leaving readers to deduce from descriptions in Step 3 that they needed to do something additional in Step 1. And in order to look at the recipes, one must wade through pictures of Mr. Oliver lounging against the sides of buildings, Mr. Oliver cooking in front of an appropriately respectful staff, Mr. Oliver picking over produce in quaint markets, at a ratio of approximately one photograph of Jamie Oliver per recipe. I guess that's what it amounts to--you're not buying a functioning cookbook, you're buying a piece of Jamie Oliver. I don't want Jamie Oliver; I want a functioning cookbook.
Anyway, while I never would have bought this book if left to my own devices, I own it and can't give it away, so I try to use it. It does contain a few interesting recipes, and it's where I got the idea for how to cook the squash and pancetta (though I modified it quite a bit) in my own version of this risotto. Credit where credit's due. And hey, I'm probably not the greatest recipe writer either (though I at least strive for accuracy). Anyway, what are some of the cookbooks you find yourselves turning to over and over?
Risotto with Butternut Squash, Pancetta, and Sage
Yes, you really do need to stir risotto almost constantly during cooking. The stirring and the gradual addition of liquid brings out the starch in the rice and gives the dish its signature creamy texture.
For the squash:
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 2 1/2 pound butternut squash, peeled and cut in half lengthwise
- 8 ounces thinly sliced pancetta
- 12 fresh sage leaves + extra for garnish
For the risotto:
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 large yellow onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cups arborio rice
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
To cook the squash:
Preheat the oven to 375F. Scoop out the squash seeds and attached pulp and reserve. Cut the squash pieces crosswise into 1/2-inch slices. Place in a 9x13" baking pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Toss the squash pieces until they are coated in the oil and place in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes.
Rinse the squash seeds free of pulp and dry on paper towels. Spread them out on a baking sheet and drizzle them with 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Add them to the oven with the squash and toast them until they are crisp and have begun to pop, about 10 minutes, then remove them and set them aside.
Remove the squash from the oven and scatter the sage leaves at even intervals over the squash, then spread the pancetta slices over both, being sure to cover the sage leaves completely so that they won't dry out in the oven. Return to the oven and cook until the pancetta is crisp and the squash is cooked through and has been infused with the flavors of the sage and pancetta, 40-50 more minutes. Remove from the oven and chop coarsely; the squash should be soft but still hold some of its shape. You can overlap this step with starting the risotto on the stovetop; the risotto takes about 50 minutes from start to finish, so allow enough time for the squash to finish cooking before it is done.
To make the risotto:
Bring the chicken stock to a simmer in a saucepan and leave it on very low heat on the back of the stove.
Heat the olive oil and butter in a deep skillet or shallow, wide saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until it is translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for another two minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat with the fat; sauté until all of the grains have turned translucent with a solid white center, without letting them brown at all, about three minutes. Add the wine and cook, stirring, until the rice has absorbed most of the liquid. Add a ladleful of hot chicken stock and cook, stirring, until the rice has absorbed most of the liquid. Continue adding chicken stock, a ladleful at a time, and stirring the risotto until the grains of rice are cooked and no longer crunchy but still have a firm, al dente texture; if you run out of chicken stock, use a little hot water. The finished risotto should still be quite loose and a little soupy; it will get thicker as it cools. Stir in 1 1/4 cups of the Parmesan, reserving 1/4 cup for garnish, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Carefully stir in the chopped squash, pancetta, and cooked sage, trying not to break the squash up too much.
Serve with the reserved Parmesan, roasted squash seeds, and a few fresh sage leaves scattered over the top.
Serves 6-8 as a main course.
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I somehow managed to put my underwear on sideways this morning. Probably not the most promising start to the week, and probably not something you needed to know...