New England Boiled Dinner/The Master

Woah dudes, it's been a while. How have you been? Hoping to do some more posting now that the dregs of winter are almost over.

almost.

I actually saw The Master months ago when it came out, but it was actually on a disastrous first date. Note to the dudes: if you haven't met a girl in real life before, don't take her to a super long cerebral film and meet her there minutes before it starts. I think we maybe said three words to each other before the film, walked around Kendall Square for about ten minutes after, as I kept rejecting each bar he suggested stepping into, and then awkwardly said goodbye. I may have promised a second date and then not followed through. Whoops.

Sorry about that tangent. I truly hope he is doing well. Hear me out on the connection between the film and the dinner. As some of you may know, it was St. Patrick's day this past weekend. Back in the day, I remember my mom making corned beef and cabbage for this glorious occasion. Being the adventurous "chef" I am, I decided I wanted to do my own corned beef completely from scratch. I'm not talking about getting the kit with the meat and the seasoning. I'm talking about buying a huge slab of meat, making the rub from scratch using my brand spakin' new mortar and pestle, and slowly curing the meat for a few days in a huge dutch oven in my fridge (my housemates just loved that part).

ANYWAYS, back to the food/film connection. In order to get the meat to cure correctly and remain that characteristic pink color (what I like to call "corning" the meat), you need this little compound called Sodium Nitrate. Once I learned that this is a necessary component, I added it to the list. Four grocery stores and a very frustrated Kim later, I learned that it is not really available in commercial grocery stores (finally found it at this awesome place). Apparently, it is also used in smoke bombs, pyrotechnics, and most importantly for this entry: solid rocket propellant. If you have seen The Master, you know that Freddy's signature drink sometimes includes a healthy dose of rocket fuel. BAM. Mind blown.

If you have time, I would absolutely recommend corning your own beef. It was a lot of fun, and so incredibly delicious. Hash was made the next morning, as is tradition. I didn't find one recipe that I absolutely loved anywhere on the internet, so I used a combination of this one from my new favorite blog Serious Eats, and this one from a blog called relishingit that I wish was called relishit. Enjoy!

Recipe: Scientifically Savvy New England Boiled Dinner

Pickling Spice Ingredients:

2 tbsp mustard seeds

2 tbsp black peppercorns

2 tbsp coriander seeds

2 tbsp hot pepper flakes

2 tbsp allspice berries

2 cinnamon sticks

4 bay leaves

2 tbsp whole cloves

1 tbsp ground ginger

Corned Beef & Veggie Ingredients:

2-5 lbs high quality brisket

1 1/2 cups diamond crystal kosher salt

1/2 cup sugar

4 teaspoons NaNO3

3 cloves garlic

4 tablespoons pickling spice (above)

2 onions

1 head cabbage

1 lb potatoes

1/2 lb parsnips

1/2 lb carrots

whatever root vegetables you can fit/think are appropriate

Directions:

Toast the mustard seeds, peppercorns, and coriander in a pan until brown and popping. Using a mortar and pestle or spice grinder, grind these to a fine powder. combine with rest of the spices in the pickling recipe. Set aside. Note: ground spices can be used, but the flavor will simply not be as good. You decide what the right choice is here.

In pot large enough to hold your meat (I used a large dutch oven), bring one gallon of water with the sodium nitrate, salt, and two tablespoons of the pickling spice to a boil, and boil until everything is dissolved. Let the liquid cool completely in the fridge or outdoors if the weather is cold enough. Once the liquid has cooled, toss that big hunk o' meat in there. Refrigerate for 5-10 days, turning the meat once a day.

After you have brined your meat, rinse it off. Slow cook it! You can take some liberties here. To cook an entire 5 lb brisket, you either need a huge slow cooker, or you need to use the dutch oven. The downside of the dutch oven is that you can't really set it and go off to work - you need to be around the live stove all day. Anyways, rub the remaining two tablespoons of pickling spice on the brisket and add it to the pot with all of the chopped vegetables. Cook it low and slow for about 10 hours, checking it every once in a while if it's in the dutch oven. Once it's done, eat it! It goes really well with some soda bread. You can find a recipe for that pretty much anywhere; it's super simple to make.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Toast the mustard seeds, peppercorns and coriander to a golden brown.

Grind the toasted spices to a fine paste. It was hard so I enlisted some help.

10 minutes later...

Mix all of the pickling spices together.

Boil 1 gallon of water, the garlic, 2 tbsp of the pickling spice, the salt, and the sodium nitrate. Let it cool

Add the meat!

This is our inventive way of making sure the meat is submerged when the lid is on. Let the meat brine for 5-10 days, turning once a day.

The day you are ready to cook the meat, chop the veggies and add them in the crock pot with the meat.

Cook them low and slow for about 10 hours.

They're not pretty, but they're super delicious.

Take the meat out and trim the fat off (if desired).

Slice the meat. Ours was fall apart tender.

Assemble your bowl. Veggies first!

Pile on dat meat!

The next morning, make hash. HOLY COW SO GOOD.

Review: The Master

Free winds and no tyranny for you, Freddie, sailor of the seas. You pay no rent, free to go where you please. Then go, go to that landless latitude and good luck. If you figure a way to live without serving a master, any master, then let the rest of us know, will you? For you'd be the first in the history of the world.

If you know me, you know Paul Thomas Anderson is my favorite director. Without getting into it too much, the reason why I like him so much is because of his honest portrayal of people. Out of any director I've encountered so far, I don't think that anybody has been able to capture the human condition as well and as consistently as PTA. That being said, I really focused on the characters of The Master, with Freddy Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) being the subject of my fascination. He will be the focus of this blog entry (otherwise this would be a book).

The film is centered mainly on Freddie's story. Freddie Quell is an ex-Navy alcoholic with some issues. Where to start with the issues. His mother is in what he calls the "loony bin", his father died of alcoholism, he has a history of incest in his family, and the film alludes the the fact that he has seen some pretty messed up stuff in the war ("I was on a ship that won 13 battle stars and won the war, what the fuck have you done?"). His "sweetheart" Debbie back in Massachusetts is also a sore spot for him, but we'll get to that later. After running away from a few jobs that he just couldn't stick with, Freddie runs into Lancaster Dodd, a man in the  early process of finding a new religion.

(I can neither confirm nor deny that this movie is inspired by/based off of Scientology)

Without giving too much plot away, I'm going to give you my two cents on what I believe to be the point of the film. Lancaster and crew (mainly his wife) are forming more of a cult than a religion. That becomes apparent pretty early on. He is irritated by criticism, and he manipulates people in a way that they are forced to either despise him or join him and commit their lives to "the cause". He is pretty good at getting people to give their lives to this cause. That is, until he meets Freddie.

Dodd knows that Freddie has some issues, and I think he sees that as a challenge. He is excellent at recruiting functional, rational people; but what could come of it if he can tame this wild soul and have him turn himself over to the cause? Not only that, but Freddie is loyal. If he can be trained and manipulated correctly, he could prove to be very useful.

And at the beginning, Freddie wants to join. Just like at the beginning of his career in the Navy, he wanted to be in the Navy (until something went wrong and he ended up under special psychiatric care). Just like at the beginning of his career as a photographer, he really seemed to enjoy and take pride in what he did. But it's like what Lancaster says in the quote I used to open up this entry: Freddie is a free spirit. He cannot be tamed. Every time he gets too comfortable with something (or someone (Debbie)), he runs. It's something both exhilarating and terrifying to me. Good for Freddie. I hope he stays like that forever.

This is my interpretation, and it is open to discussion. There is so much more going on in the film (I didn't even get into the alcoholism and sex), but that was the theme I found the most fascinating. Even if you read through this, I didn't spoil anything - go see it for yourself. Joaquin Phoenix put on one of the best performances I have ever EVER seen.