J. Elliott's Blog: News From the Lotus Lodge, page 4

Cabbage Rolls with Sausage and Hamburger and the Secret Ingredient –Chili Garlic Sauce

I was watching a cooking show recently and got excited to try cabbage rolls. There are some great videos out there on social media too with step-by-step instructions.

It’s a bit time consuming, but well worth the effort. You have to work in stages. If you’ve never attempted this before, don’t be intimidated. It’s not hard, just a little time consuming. If I can do it, you can!

Ingredients:

Cabbage

sausage

hamburger meat

1-2 eggs

spaghetti sauce

chili garlic sauce

mushrooms

yellow onion

garlic

spring onions

grated cheese

butter or olive oil

Sorry I don’t have exact measurements — I’m bad that way. You’ll have to eyeball the meats you select and the size cabbage — you know, if you are just cooking for yourself, you might do a half a package of hamburger and a half a roll of sausage and only use some of the cabbage… If you have room in the freezer, I found that one tube of sausage, a poundish of hamburger and a good-sized cabbage worked out quite well.

Cook the cabbageMake your fillingStuff the cabbage leavesTop with sauce and bake

I went to an Asian market and found a squatty, green cabbage. Wish I’d taken a photo, it had smooth leaves, not a Chinese cabbage, though that would work too, and might be easier to wrap with.

Cooked the cabbage and set it aside to cool while I chopped mushrooms, onions. I sauteed them with garlic powder (because I forgot to buy garlic–grr!) and set that aside.

Secret Ingredient — You should be able to find in an Asian market.

I browned a combination of half sage sausage and hamburger, to which I added a few hefty dollops of chili garlic sauce. Depending on how much meat you have, you might add one or two eggs as a binder. I forgot, and it was okay, but it would have held together a bit better in the cabbage with an egg. When this was evenly browned, I added back in the chopped onion and mushrooms.

When the cabbage was cool, I peeled the leaves off and cut out the thick stemmy part at the base of each leaf. If you have the space, you might set the leaves out on a board or pan to dry–they retain a lot of moisture. I was in a hurry and didn’t have a big board or cookie sheet, so I just patted them dry with paper towels.

I filled a leaf with three spoonfuls of the meat mixture, rolled it into another leaf and set it snug in a glass pan. As the cabbage leaves got smaller, I ended up using three or even four leaves to a bundle. My leaves were able to keep the bundle shape without toothpicks, but you can use toothpicks if you prefer, just remember to remove them later!

Yes, I cheated on the sauce. I used a jar of sauce to cover the rolls. I chopped up some spring onions and scattered them on the top, then sprinkled with grated cheese.

I baked the rolls in the oven at 385 degrees for about 35 minutes. Served with basmati rice on the side. Paired with a red blend wine. Heaven! The chili inside the rolls was a nice contrast to the tomato sauce on the outside, gave it a bit of zing.

So since the chili sauce with garlic was a success, I’m thinking that a vegetarian version would substitute zucchini for the meat, and green chili sauce instead of red chili sauce. Zucchini and corn? lima beans? I’m looking forward to trying this next. I love green chili sauce. Will post the update when I do.

Green and red– perfect comfort food for the winter holiday season!

Fitzcarraldo 1982 (German w/subtitles)

Director: Werner Herzog Klaus Kinski, Claudia Cardinale

BAFTA Award: Best Foreign Language Film

Golden Globe Award Best Foreign Language Film

Cannes Film Festival: Best Director

This became a controversial film relating to whether Herzog exploited the indigenous people of the Amazon during the making of it. Filming was originally supposed to take three months and star Jason Robards and Mick Jagger. But 40% into filming, Robards got sick, delays conflicted with Jagger’s schedule, so the film was scrapped and re-written for Herzog’s “Best Fiend” (no, not a typo), Klaus Kinski. If you aren’t familiar with Kinski, he was a talented but extremely volatile actor. He and Herzog had one of the strangest bromances of all time, they loved each other, respected each other, but often contemplated killing one another or dying together. I should add here that Kinski was willing to stay on the boat to film it going through ridiculously dangerous rapids and said something to Herzog to the effect that if you go down, I will go down with you. Eleven months in the jungle making a monumentally difficult film would test anyone. Doing it with Kinski… Herzog was approached by one of the indigenous extras who asked if Herzog would like him to kill Kinski. Herzog’s reputation wasn’t exactly magnanimous either–he could be quite the task master. But clashing egos was just one side of this daunting, complicated, hubris-packed project.

This wildly ambitious project was plagued with tragedies and setbacks. A plane crash. The boat ran aground on a sand bar and delayed filming. Heavy rains stopped filming. There were accidents, deaths and major injuries including arrow wounds inflicted by an irate tribe. A cameraman’s hand was ripped open and there was no anesthesia left for the 2.5 hour surgery to put his hand back together (it had already been used up in a prior accident). (Link to article below)

The plot is simple and straightforward: a crazy Irishman, mad about opera, has a chance to get rich in the rubber industry, but to do so, he must get his newly acquired land and show signs of productivity in a given amount of time. (I think it was a year, but I may be mistaken.) He hatches a wild idea about getting the boat over the mountain and approaching the land from an otherwise not accessible river.

The story is loosely based on a true story of an Irishman in the rubber industry who got the idea to move a boat from one river to a nearby river by hauling the boat parts over a mountain and constructing it on the other side. In the film however, he hauls the finished boat over the mountain. Not wanting to rely on computer graphics, Herzog determined to haul a real boat up the mountain. (An environmental issue, there were three boats used during the film and the one that got up the mountain is still there. It was left. Not sure how it is being used currently–is it a gift shop or a rusting wreck? I don’t know.) But speaking strictly about the final product, the film itself, epic, magnificent, gorgeous, and to borrow from Ebert, “grandiose” only begin to describe this masterpiece. It could not have been made without Kinski; he is sublime. He sells it in every frame.

Thought the plot is simple, the beauty of the film and sheer magnificence of accomplishment are staggering. The underlying message and symbolism are about not letting dreams die. In the commentary, Herzog says that there were many times he thought to give up, but he knew that if he gave up on this film, he was giving up on dreaming itself. Seeing Kinski standing tall on the deck of the boat at the end, he says, “That’s me. I am Fitzcarraldo.” And even while talking of how Kinski’s behavior on set to the last was physically violent, he says with love, that it doesn’t matter. He lives in film. Yes he certainly does. He gave this film every bit of himself and was willing to go down with the ship. The ship did not sink; this film soars.

Looking for something new? Need some inspiration? Get the popcorn and set yourself down in front of this outstanding film.

Link to article about the epic problems during the making of Fitzcarraldo: https://www.factinate.com/editorial/making-of-fitzcarraldo/

FIVE MONKEYS!

Horse nettle/ Solanum Carolinense/bull nettle or “Devil’s tomato”

I’ve said this elsewhere, but it bears repeating, how in the world did Henry Flagler and other settlers decide to live in Florida? We’ve got humidity, scorching sun, a plethora of bugs that want to eat you: ticks, mosquitoes, chiggers, yellow flies, biting ants, fire ants, alligators, venomous snakes and toxic toads.

As if that’s not enough, no, we’ve also got invasive plants that are either out to get you or will just swallow everything, or both: poison ivy, green briar, black raspberries (wicked thorns!), stinging nettles, Devil’s walking stick, air potato, wisteria, Virginia creeper, poison oak, and Devil’s tomatoes. And lucky me, I’ve got all but the poison oak on my property.

[image error]

Devil tomato plant sketch from memory as I couldn’t find one to photograph at the time of this post

The Devil’s tomato was a surprise. I’d never heard of it before. I was clearing an area completely overgrown with weeds and oak saplings when this glimmer of color caught my attention. For all the world, it looked like a little cherry tomato plant…until I got closer and saw the hellish spikes all over it, on the stem, jutting out from the sides of the leaves, and set like daggers coming right out of the leaf surfaces themselves. I carefully dug it out and bagged it. When the area was clear enough, I got the mower in. I felt sure I’d gotten it. But no, the next year, there were more. And now I keep finding little starts coming up around the yard.

Links to articles:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanum_carolinense

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=horse+nettle&t=h_&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fthumbs.dreamstime.com%2Fb%2Fpoisonous-horsenettle-solanum-carolinense-plant-berries-horse-nettle-82532033.jpg

Wicked Thistles

Thistle budding

Last year, there was one thistle rosette in the ground. Curious to see what it would do, I let it be. It grew tall and proud, almost bust high. Robust, if you will. Well, perhaps the butterflies will like it, I thought.

This year, we have a thistle circle. At the risk of offending any local pixies or fairies or nagas, I will be shoveling them out before the thistles set seeds as, to my horror, according to IFAS, one plant can send out 4,000 seeds…

A word to the wise. If you see a rosette, dig it up. Don’t be me. There is a perfectly terrifying photo in the article below with a field covered in these spikey, hearty thistles. Of course, if you wanted to create a no-man’s (or any creature) land, this would be quite effective.

University of Florida article: http://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/bakerco/2020/02/01/thistle/

and : https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/AG253

The Indian Scarf (1963)

A bit of explanation before I jump into the film itself. You may have seen my comments on Blood and Black Lace, the 1965 Italian giallo film, which I really enjoyed. Giallo is an Italian crime/mystery film genre that grew out of the cheap pulp fiction novels of the 50s that had a predominantly yellow cover. Early giallos were black and white, but with directors like Bava and Argento, lush, saturation of color became a signature of this form of film. Other notable signatures of this genre are stylishly-dressed, masked murderers who go on frenzied killing sprees–over hours or days not weeks and months. Often there are weird dream-like sequences. Whereas in an American film, the score of a noir film may be for subtle atmosphere, in a giallo, the score is prominent, sometimes jazz, sometimes classical, always a bit jarring to the scene. A warning to the curious, some giallo are uncomfortably violent, featuring graphic and bizarre deaths. Despite my appreciation for the many remarkable filming techniques in Argento’s Opera (1987), with gorgeous operatic selections in the score, I won’t be reviewing that one as it was too much for me. Honestly, I have to wonder if some of these films aren’t gateways to lower the audience threshold for sadism, murder and snuff films. Neo-giallo is not for me.

But before Italian giallos there were German krimis. English author Edgar Wallace, best known for King Kong, wrote over 175 novels, many of them crime novels, (see link below) which a German film company used to create their own giallo-style films, called “krimi“s. There is overlap of the two genres. (Link below with more about krimis.) Here’s the fun part– the stories are by an English author, set in England, performed in German, dubbed (badly) back into English. The early ones were primarily in black and white with the same actors appearing again and again, film by film. The atmosphere and camera work is notable; the acting is over the top, reminiscent of silent films where expressions are held for unnaturally long periods of time, actions are exaggerated, fight scenes are lame and limp-fisted, and the murders are quick and almost silly in their stagey-ness.

The Indian Scarf is a perfect and wacky whodunnit. An eccentric old man dies, the heirs gather like vultures, eager to get their share and run, only to find out that the pre-will stipulates they must all live together in the house for seven days before the real will is to be read. One by one, in rapid succession, they are killed off. Oh, and we are informed that there has been a flood so the peninsula is cut off, as is the phone. No escape and no way to call for help. The bodies are piling up in the chapel. Each victim is found with a distinctive scarf around the neck. Why does the killer leave the scarves? Does the killer have an endless supply of scarves? Scarf fetish perhaps? I wish I could tell you, but unless I hiccupped during the explanation and I missed it, none is given. There is a vague mention of India, but that’s about it.

This campy, atmospheric, wild ride has been compared to Clue for its pace and feel. As with Clue, the entire film takes place within a colossal and beautifully bizarre house. The set design, like the acting, is over the top. Now that I know the story, I will have to have another viewing just to take in all the props–wildly oversized flowers in jeroboams, massive statues, hidden passages, weird art and tchotchkes abound. In fact, early on, for no apparent reason, a box is lifted, releasing a tarantula. Why was there a tarantula there? No idea. Why was the box lifted? I couldn’t tell you. It made no sense in the storyline.

Eddi Arent as Richard Bonwit

Eddi Arent stands out with hilarious comedic talent as the butler–again much like Tim Curry in Clue or Hank Azaria’s Agador in The Birdcage (1996). Looking for a fun escape? This is IT! It’s on YouTube–see link below.

Link to film on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms0HyB_NEq4

Link to blog on Edgar Wallace with list of books:

https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/edgar-wallace/

Link to list of Krimi films: https://mubi.com/lists/krimi-1959-1972

strangle scene from The Indian Scarf which I have to mention has some super sound effects

I give The Indian Scarf FIVE MONKEYS for weirdness and camp.

Mother’s Day Book Raffle

Winner will get 1 free signed copy of Monkey Mind AND 1 free signed copy of Monkey Heart.
Books will be sent to address provided.

How to enter: Send a friendly card or postcard to Hedonistic Hound Press at

Hedonistic Hound Press

PO Box 201

LaCrosse, Florida 32658

Provide : 1) your email and/or phone number. You will be contacted if you are the winner and it would be lovely to have contact info if there are any questions about the mailing address.

**USE OF CONTACT INFORMATION WILL BE KEPT CONFIDENTIAL. IT WILL BE USED SOLELY FOR THIS PROMOTION AND WILL NOT BE RETAINED OR SHARED WITH ANY OTHER PARTY. **

2) The name and address of the recipient if not you.

3) The name as you would like it to be autographed in the books as this may be different from the name on the mailing address.

Entries will be collected on April 30th and a winner will be selected so that books will arrive to the winner by May 9th. Questions? Comments? Please send to hedonistichoundpress@hotmail.com.

The Sign Part II

The Sign

When I first pictured taking over the Stinkin’ Skunk Ape Fish Camp, I envisioned a sign out by the road in pastel colors with a swooping, graceful font that read Blue’s Lotus Lodge.  This is not what happened. The rumor mill of Catfish Springs became convinced that I had hired Lorraine’s sister Lerlene to do the sign. Lerlene is our local artist; her style is noted for oversized objects in blinding colors. She has been commissioned to do a series of oversized vegetables for the produce section of the Whatcha Need Mart and just recently her Welcome to Catfish Springs sign was put out on the highway.

It looks like a catfish strung out on cocaine in blinding shades of lime green, hot sun yellow and turquoise.

My Blue’s Lotus Lodge ended up looking like a psychedelic artichoke with chaotic Chinese take lettering.

I’ll be honest. I hated it. I cried. It was all I could do to smile and thank her for it. But over the next few weeks, I had a change of heart. It was eye-catching and got lots of comments, albeit not always complimentary ones. It did make it easy to find the retreat, you sure couldn’t miss the sign.

And then a drunk driver smashed into it over Halloween and blew it to splinters. I found myself really torn. This was my chance to go back to the original design, the pastel colors, the flowy script. But my retreat had already gotten the identity, “the place with the crazy sign”. Meanwhile, Lerlene had had articles written about her in local and state magazines. She’s really getting some notoriety. When she offered to make a replacement sign, it seemed impossible to refuse and possibly stupid.

“It’ll be even bigger and better than the last one,” she’d said encouragingly, giving me a conciliatory hug.

Oh boy.

I knew she was busy with other commissions, so I didn’t expect my sign until sometime in January. In the meantime, I’d had Hey Baby, What’s Your Sign? in Gainesville make and install a  black and white utilitarian sign.

Imagine my surprise to find that the temporary sign was gone, and the new sign was in place. I had to stop the truck to take it in. The psychedelic artichoke was back but whereas before it was floating in a field of plain white, this time it sat in a fiery, rainbow lake. Multi-colored spotlights radiated out from its leaves like searchlights seeking heaven through a dreamy fog of turquoise fading to a horizon of deep plum. The colors were even richer than before. It was dazzling. I was crazy about it.

But it was not alone. It was flanked by two shiny, aluminum trees with branches in red, green, and gold and a forest of four-foot-tall plastic candy canes in the foreground. Green garlands wound around the legs of the sign accentuated with white twinkle lights. Three wire framed deer with white lights seemed to be prancing down the retreat road.

It was all so over the top, so unlike anything I would have done and yet wonderful, I was overcome with emotion. Knowing that I’d be out of the way, Lerlene must have had a team working feverishly to get this all done while I was gone. I loved it. I was so touched by the effort and fantastic outcome, I got choked up. I eased off the brakes and followed the deer to see what else had happened while I was away.   

–from I’ll Have a Haint Blue Christmas

Corned beef and Cabbage In a Slow Cooker

Wishing you a very happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Like corned beef and cabbage but never tried cooking it yourself? I thought this was some tricky thing — it’s easy-peasy if you have a slow cooker!

And if you don’t have one, why not? They’re so convenient and not expensive. You just put in the ingredients, push a button and walk away! You can keep stuff warming overnight– don’t even need to do cleanup! Finish the leftovers tomorrow. Done!

You will need:

a package of corned beef

a small cabbage

1-2 containers of vegetable stock

a few small potatoes

a few carrots

You’ll have to forive me, but I’m an intuitive cook. I can’t tell you how many carrots or potatoes, but you’ll want to have balance with the size of the meat so each serving will get a nice mix of meaty bits, potato, carrot and cabbage. Know what I mean? It’ll depend on your pot size and the meat size.

Corned beef comes in a sort of a baggie package with a seasoning packet. They come in various sizes, so pick a small one if you have a small crowd or a larger one if you are feeding more people. As long as it will fit in your cooker, you’re fine!

Chop up your veggies–the cabbage, carrots and potatoes into bite size chunks and put them in the cooker.

Open the corned beef package and slide out the meat, placing it over the veggies, FAT SIDE UP. Open the seasoning packet and sprinkle it in the cooker.

Add vegetable stock and/or water until it is touching the meat. Turn the cooker on to HIGH. Cook for about 8 hours* or until the meat will pull apart with a fork. Turn down to warm once it is cooked and tender.

*This will vary depending on the size of your cooker and the size of the meat. Veggies should be soft and meat should pull apart easily.

What is that seasoning flavor?

The basics in the corned beef flavor are:

Mustard SeedsPeppercornsAnise SeedsWhole ClovesCardamom PodsBay LeavesGround CorianderCrushed Red Pepper FlakesGround Ginger

So if for some reason you don’t like or are allergic to any of these, you can make your own spice and omit the one you don’t like. Or, if you really like a spice, you might add a little extra. Like it a little spicy? Add more pepper flakes or some hot sauce.

slaintѐ mhaith = good health! cheers!

https://myrealireland.com/irish-knowledge/slainte-the-meaning-pronunciation-when-to-say-it/

Well, it was going to be cold Salmon and Soba Salad but it ended up hot Salmon and Lo Mein Instead

Ingredients: sliced salmon, peppers, zucchini, lo mein noodles, sesame seeds, sesame oilSorry if my recipes aren’t exact… I’m an intuitive cook–really bad at measuring amounts!

I was clearing off my desk the other day, which led me to another pile of detritus–I ended up sorting through that and found a recipe I’d meant to try that sounded delicious: cold soba and salmon salad. Long story short, I had an incident with a road-rage-filled motorcyclist on the way to the grocery store, so my mind was no longer focused on shopping as I dashed through the store worried that Mr. Rage might be doing harm to my vehicle in the parking lot. A police officer followed me out of the parking lot and partway home to be sure I wasn’t in any danger.

Suffice it to say, my nerves were all jangly as I began to prepare dinner. I hadn’t been able to find soba noodles at all, I forgot the cucumber and was not going to wait to chill the dish as I needed to eat something.

It was just as well that they didn’t have the soba noodles as they are kind of chewy and don’t absorb flavor as well as other noodles in my opinion. I am keen on lo mein, so I was happy, but I’ll put links below for recipes with soba noodles. Also, I couldn’t face waiting for a chunk of salmon from the seafood counter, so I got a package of sliced salmon instead and used the whole package. It was enough for two people but a chunk would have been nicer. The thin slices made for much quicker prep time though.

I got the water boiling for the lo mein noodles while I chopped the peppers — I got an assorted package of multi-colored small peppers–sliced up five of them and two medium sized zucchinis and browned them in a skillet with a generous amount of sesame oil. When they were done, I scooped them out, set them aside in a bowl and popped the sliced salmon into the skillet, breaking up the slices into pieces and essentially warming it thoroughly. By this time, the noodles were done. I drizzled some sesame oil over the noodles in the colander, then tossed them into the skillet with the salmon and added the veggies back in. I sprinkled toasted sesame seeds over it and stirred it all up.

For a quick, healthy, tasty dish–even put together in less than an optimal mind-frame, this came out great! It sure helped to fortify my nerves. It could have used a couple drops of hot sauce or maybe some dill… wish I’d thought to add dill. Maybe a good squeeze of lemon juice.

Links to cold soba recipes I’ve not tried but sound fantastic:

https://thejapanesekitchen.com/chilled-buckwheat-noodles-with-grilled-alaskan-salmon/

https://recipes.anovaculinary.com/recipe/sambal-honey-ginger-salmon-with-cold-soba-noodles

Oooh! And this one has asparagus and spinach! I’ll have to try this one soon!

https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/soba-noodle-salad-with-salmon-and-asparagus

Blood and Black Lace (1964)

60s/Thriller/ Suspense/Foreign

I remember this moment like it was earlier this morning. I was an early teen watching television. Commercial break, ho hum. The commercial had a creepy sing-song to it, and what I thought was a Prell commercial with Jacqueline Smith brushing her hair became a trailer for Suspiria. The hair-brushing figure turned around to face the camera with a skeleton face. I levitated off the couch and was down the stairs before I knew what I was doing.

This was my introduction to the giallo genre. Giallo is an Italian creation derived from cheap paperback thrillers popular in the 60s. That trailer terrified me so much that it took forty years for me to sit myself down and watch Suspiria. It turns out, it’s not at all what I expected. It wasn’t scary at all, in fact, at a glance, it could be dismissed as a silly 70s movie best seen while under the influence of hallucinogens. Certainly not the kind of movie that would earn commendation for a great plot, clever dialogue or anything remotely close to terrific acting. It’s campy and weird…but it’s the weird that gives it artistic merit. Strange camera angles and vivid colors create a lush dreamy/nightmarescape. Dario Argento’s Suspiria is always listed in the top must-see giallo films.

This subgenre of slasher/detective/mystery has influenced a myriad of directors and continues to have a cult following. Slasher films are not my favorite; men hunting women to cut them up does not appeal to me as the real world has too many predators, I don’t need to watch this as entertainment. I do like mysteries and artsy films. Mario Bava, like Argento, is considered a master of the giallo. I gave Blood and Black Lace a go. The plot is simple: a serial killer has targeted fashion models at a particular design house. Atmospheric, stylish, fast-paced, with plenty of suspects, this mystery was engaging and cinematically stunning. This should be mandatory viewing for film students. Look at this still for a second–the whites of her eyes matching the white white bra, the blue of her eyes, the color of the water. Perhaps it is the fake blood and fantasy (by which I mean that she’d hardly look like this if she were really murdered) that doesn’t run me off. She’s gorgeous. The shot is beautiful. Pure cinema.

Links to trailers and articles on giallo below– I’ll be on to the next one soon: The Bird with Crystal Plummage (1970). Contemplating getting a boxed set of Argento and/or Bava’s best films.

Four monkey hearts!

Blood and Black Lace Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeV29jEtqm4

Article on Giallo films by Furious Cinema:

https://www.furiouscinema.com/spaghetti-slashers-20-giallo-classics/

Article: Why Watch a Giallo?

https://io9.gizmodo.com/what-the-hell-is-a-giallo-movie-and-why-should-you-wat-1779988703