The Theatre, RIP Celeste Holm, Spicy or Bland.

For some reason on Saturday I started thinking about the theatre. What I was mainly thinking about was the time when I went to see the production of Turandot by Puccini on film presented by Live at the Met. During the intervals, we were taken back stage and watched interviews with the various opera stars who were in the show. I enjoyed the production very much, but…. when I was involved with theatre, many years ago, part of our job as actors was to maintain the mystery and magic of the theatre. This is destroyed by going back stage during a performance or by talking to the performers who revert from fabulous characters,  be it heroes or villains, to ordinary people. Nor, when I see some of these performances, do I want to see close ups of the singer’s mouth, or the actor’s sweat, or even in less expensive performances, the odd problems with the props or wardrobe. All of that should stay their side of the footlights and should never intrude on the audience. In my opinion, the way many shows are staged on TV and film, destroys the magic and mystery which we used to be at such pains to create. When I see a show of any kind, I want to suspend disbelief and to see the characters being portrayed as those characters only. I used to enjoy leaving a performance in which I had completely forgotten the actor and just remembered the character. Sadly, it doesn’t happen much any more. As an illustration, I hold up the example of Peter O’Toole who was Lawrence of Arabia, or was definitely Henry II in Beckett. The same can be said of any part he has played. Many times I haven’t even realised it was him, he is so good; a brilliant actor. It is NOT the job of an actor to portray him/herself but to make you believe wholeheartedly in the character, and only the character. He has now retired as he has lost the heart for acting, but I understand he has  written two volumes of an autobiography Loitering with Intent: The Child and Loitering with Intent: The Apprentice which I hear are great reads. I have requested the first one from the library.

Talking of the stage and actors, RIP Celeste Holm, she left us on Sunday after having a great career. I especially remember her singing Who Wants to be a Millionaire with Sinatra in High Society. She was a very successful actress and had a long run although apparently the last year or two of her life were not so happy, she had fallen out with her children. So sad. Last night I happened to see a movie with Jessica Tandy called Camilla. Marvellous actress, so sorry she left us some time ago now.

OK, I admit it, I am a bit slow. I was talking to another English woman about the accusation that English food is bland, then I saw a recipe for gazpacho which added a jalapeño pepper – gazpacho does NOT need jalapeño. Then it suddenly hit me, no wonder Brits are accused of bland food, we don’t add chilies, jalapeños, etc. etc. to practically everything we eat which is beginning to be what happens on this side of the pond. Personally I get sick of all the spiced up recipes I see. If you want to eat Thai or Mexican, do so, but don’t just spice up things for the sake of it. These days, if it doesn’t burn your mouth off, food is considered bland. Never thought of it before, sorry for my dinner guests, they must find my food boring!!! Gazpacho is a delicious soup of blended summer vegetables the subtle tastes of which would be totally lost once you started adding hot and fiery peppers to it. If English food is bland, North American food is becoming over spiced. A language difference here, in England food with lots of chilies is/was called ‘hot’, over here its called ‘spicy’. The Brits do eat spicy things, witness the amount of Indian takeaways that have sprung up all over the country. Curry is almost a national dish and a good Vindaloo can knock your socks off. Not sure why, Indian food hasn’t caught on round here for some reason. There is one Indian restaurant I know of which my doctor, who’s background is Indian, says is not much good, other than their breads. Having written all this, we decided to have Devilled Kidneys for supper last night, they are hot or spicy enough. When I think about it, Devilling is a very old English method of preparing foods and usually involves hot mustards. We always have our Devilled Kidneys over rice although as you can see it is shown over toast here. It is made with lamb’s kidneys.

Saturday night I decided to try out a new recipe for Brussels Sprouts. I have mentioned before that I get tired of plain ol’ veg so am always on the lookout for something different. This is a recipe from Kraft and I have altered it a bit as the original had healthy options such as low fat or low salt. I thought it was delicious but a little too crunchy, needed either a bit more cooking or a bit more root cut off the sprout, not sure which. I also added just a sprinkle of salt. You can see in the picture that some of it hasn’t been cooked at all but it still comes out attractively. The serving size is for 6 half cups, not nearly enough. Matt and I split it between us.

Pan-Fried Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

2 slices bacon
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
20 Brussels sprouts (1 lb./450 g), trimmed, halved and thinly sliced

1. COOK bacon in large skillet until crisp. Remove bacon from skillet; drain on paper towels. Discard drippings from skillet.

2. ADD onions to skillet; cook on medium-high heat 3 min. or until crisp-tender, stirring occasionally. Add next 3 ingredients; stir.

3. STIR in Brussels sprouts; cook 6 min. or until crisp-tender, stirring frequently. Crumble bacon; sprinkle over Brussels sprouts.

Kraft kitchens tips

For added flavour, stir in 1 Tbsp. cider vinegar before topping with the crumbled bacon

Servings: 6 (1/2 cup each)

Have a great day

Turandot, Supper,

Last night I went, with a friend, to see the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Turandot on film. I quote “Franco Zeffirelli’s glittering production of Puccini’s Turandot, with Maria Guleghina in the title role and Marcello Giordani as Calàf, makes its debut on Great Performances at the Met. Marina Poplavskaya sings Liù, Samuel Ramey is Timur, and conductor Andris Nelsons makes his Great Performances at the Met debut.” If you are unfamiliar with the story of the opera, there is a good synopsis here. Most people, even if they are not opera buffs, are familiar with the aria Nessun Dorma which became Luciano Pavarotti’s signature aria and I don’t believe anyone ever sang it better, or maybe ever will. I thoroughly enjoyed the performance, it was beautifully done and the singing was wonderful. In fact one tended to forget it was a film and we started applauding. I was somewhat  flabbergasted at the size of the back stage area which we saw quite a lot of, and the actual stage itself which in a couple of finales must have held something in the region of a couple of hundred people. The costumes of the court were fabulous, and the scenery was, also, very impressive. During the intermissions a lot of the lead cast were interviewed and I was particularly impressed that Samuel Ramey has been performing at the Met for over 50 years. I will certainly go again if I have the opportunity.

Before we went to see the movie, we ate at a Thai/Vietnamese restaurant in Cambridge (the cinema was in Cambridge) and shared some spring rolls and then had noodle soups, my friend had beef and I had a seafood one. It was delicious. Quite inexpensive too. My friend’s sister joined us at the cinema and she bought a pack of liquorice twizzlers which she insisted we eat. I wasn’t thinking and had some and then asked for the sugar content, surprise, surprise they were pretty high. I did not have any more.

I have finished my library book so now I can start on Stormlord’s Exile by Glenda Larke which arrived on Tuesday. Can’t wait. I was surprised, talking to my friend, who reads much the same things as I do, she has never read the Wheel of Time books by Robert Jordan, as you may remember, I recently re-read them all and am anxiously awaiting the last book which is due out next year. I just might gradually treat myself to the books on my Kindle.

For those who like Thai, here is a recipe which sounds pretty good  to me, I love mangoes so I will definitely be trying this in the not too distant future.

Thai Chicken and Mango Stir-Fry

From EatingWell: January/February 2010

Both ripe and underripe mango work well in this chicken and vegetable stir-fry. If the mangoes you have are less ripe, use 2 teaspoons brown sugar. If they’re ripe and sweet, just use 1 teaspoon or omit the brown sugar altogether.

6 servings

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon fish sauce (see Note)
• 2 tablespoons lime juice 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1-2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 4 teaspoons canola oil, divided
• 1 pound chicken tenders, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
• 1-2 fresh small red or green chile peppers, stemmed and sliced, or 1/2-3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 4 cups bite-size broccoli florets
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 mangoes, peeled and sliced
• 1 bunch scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil, preferably Thai
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
• 1 lime, cut into 6 wedges (optional)

Preparation

1. Combine fish sauce, lime juice, cornstarch and brown sugar to taste in a small bowl.
2. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add chicken; cook, stirring, until just cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
3. Add the remaining 2 teaspoons oil, garlic, ginger and chiles (or crushed red pepper) to the pan. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add broccoli and water; cook, stirring, until beginning to soften, about 2 minutes. Add mangoes and scallions; cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the reserved sauce and chicken; cook, stirring, until the sauce is thickened and the chicken is heated through, about 1 minute. Stir in cilantro, basil and mint. Serve with lime wedges, if desired.

Nutrition

Per serving :195 Calories; 5 g Fat; 1 g Sat; 2 g Mono; 44 mg Cholesterol; 20 g Carbohydrates; 21 g Protein; 4 g Fiber; 531 mg Sodium; 557 mg Potassium

1 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 1 fruit, 1 vegetable, 2 1/2 lean meat

Tips & Notes

• Ingredient note: Fish sauce is a pungent Southeast Asian condiment made from salted, fermented fish. Find it in the Asian-food section of large supermarkets and in Asian specialty markets. We use Thai Kitchen fish sauce, lower in sodium than other brands (1,190 mg per tablespoon), in our nutritional analyses.

Have a great day.