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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!
