Short Stories, Film Reviews, and Recipes

Category: Recipe Help-Films (Page 3 of 4)

Basil’s Recipe # 4: Black Bean Salsa

In Food Processor, Blend the following:
can of Black Beans drained
½ cup Corn
1 tsp Cumin
1 tbsp Chili Powder
Juice of 2 Limes
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
½ cup Chopped Cilantro
After Blending, In a Metal Bowl, Stir in the Following:
can of Black Bean drained
½ cup Corn
1 cup Tomato diced
½ cup Red Onion diced

In 2010, Basil’s featured the Black Bean Salsa with the Tuna Tacos. It’s a simple recipe that you can make in ten minutes. The recipe uses a 15.25 oz can of black beans.

The instructions mention that you blend of a can of black beans, and you mix of a can of whole black beans at the end. This measurement doesn’t have to be exact.

After draining the beans, pour them into a clear measuring cup. Grab a little less than half of the beans to blend in the processor. If you want the salsa to have a thicker consistency, use half of the beans.

If you like your salsa hotter, add a quarter cup of diced jalapenos.

Currently, Basil’s uses the salsa in this month’s Chef’s Features. It’s featured with the new Tuna Tacos and the Santa Fe Chicken salad.

This summer, when you’re able to purchase locally-grown tomatoes, try making this recipe again. I really like the salsa, but it’s even better with home-grown( that’s what I use) or farmer’s market tomatoes.

Film Review: Doctor Sleep ⁕⁕⁕

Image result for doctor sleep images not copyright protected

Baseball Boy: Are you going to hurt me?

Rose the Hat: Yeah.

Since the 1976 film Carrie, Hollywood has turned several of Stephen King’s works into movies. King is a prolific writer whose vault of horror has enticed screenwriters, directors, and producers for the past four decades.

From 1976 to 1999, King’s works inspired twenty-seven films. Since 1999, countless television films, television series, and films followed, but the best ones, in my opinion, were made during the first twenty-three years. These include Carrie, The Shining, The Dead Zone, Cujo, Misery, Pet Sematary, Creepshow, The Running Man, Stand by Me, The Dark Half, and The Green Mile.

I’ve been a fan of Stephen King since I was nine years old (an appropriate age to start reading horror). One afternoon in Texas, I quietly pulled a copy of Cujo from my grandmother’s shelf and read for a few hours. I threw the book aside when my mother noticed I was reading a horror novel.

Although I was too young to understand why a character in Cujo was pleasuring himself over a bedspread, the terrifying and depressing story drew me in.  

I continue to enjoy King’s novels, and unlike some of his die-hard fans, I like many of the movies based on his work. Most of his work is challenging to translate into films.

King admits that he suffers from “diarrhea of the word processor”. He includes a vast amount of details and characters in his novels, and sometimes they’re too numerous to include in a screenplay.

Controversy often accompanies the opening of a Stephen King film, and Doctor Sleep is no different. Some critics complained that a scene involving the torture of a young boy was too brutal. It’s a harsh scene, but it’s based on a violent novel. Critics also slammed It for displaying acts of violence towards children.

Children always play a significant role in King’s novels. They are the heroes and often the victims. If you consider how dark and violent the stories It and Doctor Sleep are, you can’t complain about the brutality of the films.

It involves a demonic clown that terrorizes and kills the children of a small town every 27 years. Doctor Sleep centers on a traveling clan of magical killers. They roam around the country, torturing and killing children who possess the shining.

Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining did not please Stephen King. Kubrick’s version wasn’t faithful to the book, and to this day, the great Horror King of New England cannot understand why people consider The Shining as one of the greatest and scariest horror movies.

I understand why. Stanley Kubrick wasn’t concerned with making an utterly faithful adaption of King’s work; he wanted to make a horror film his way. The film’s rhythm is what makes The Shining so scary.

It’s not the type of horror film that makes you jump; it’s the type that causes the hairs on your arm to rise. I read The Shining and watched the movie, and I like both. King’s novel is scarier than Kubrick’s film, but I treat them as separate entities.

Reading horror gives me a different feeling than watching a horror film. I don’t get upset when everything I visualized from a novel isn’t displayed the same way in the movie.

I mention the Kubrick version of The Shining because Doctor Sleep desperately tries to replicate its mood, characters, and music. The opening notes of Doctor Sleep repeat the roaring Wendy Carlos soundtrack of The Shining. I like hearing Wendy Carlos again, and it’s one of the few “Kubrick tributes” that doesn’t irritate me.

Too Much Heartbeat

Mike Flanagan wrote and directed Doctor Sleep, and for the most part, he did a decent job. There’s solid acting, stylish visual effects, and plenty of frightening moments. However, Flanagan went overboard when his Kubrick man-crush affected his better judgment.

The slow, repetitive, heartbeat sound effect from The Shining established suspense in the first film, but Flannigan uses the beat so much that it becomes a common feature of the soundtrack. It doesn’t add to or increase the tension in the scenes but becomes a constant thump in the background.

Another aspect of the Kubrick love fest that doesn’t work is the use of different actors to portray Jack Nicholson, Scatman Crothers, and Shelley Duvall’s characters from The Shining. I understand that it’s practical to use new actors when you’re producing a sequel forty years after the original.

Scatman Crothers is no longer with us, and any digital representations of the original actors would’ve inflated the budget by several million. Henry Thomas (Elliot from E.T.) plays Lloyd the bartender/Jack Torrance, Carl Lumbly plays Dick Halloran, Roger Dale Floyd plays young Danny Torrance, and Alexandra Essoe plays Wendy Torrance.

The acting by this new group isn’t horrible, but as hard as they try to look and act like the originals, they can’t pull it off. It gives you a weird feeling when Danny Torrance doesn’t have the correct hairstyle in Doctor Sleep.

Danny Lloyd, the actor who played Danny Torrance in The Shining, had a hall of fame “bowl cut.” I’m an expert in the field of bowl cutting because I had the same haircut until 1983.

Roger Dale Floyd’s cut is puny and misshapen. It doesn’t hold a candle to Danny Lloyd’s massive bowl. The stylist from Doctor Sleep didn’t use the correct eight-quart mixing bowl to cut Floyd’s hair.

If you look fast, you’ll see Danny Lloyd, the true lord of follicles, in a cameo during the magic show.

Ewan McGregor plays a subdued Dan Torrance, and he’s right for the role. McGregor, like many talented actors from the UK, plays an American more convincingly than most American actors playing British roles.

Have you watched Keanu Reeves or Winona Ryder attempt a British accent in Bram Stoker’s Dracula? If you haven’t, it would be better if you only imagine it.

Dan Torrance is a recovering alcoholic, burdened with guilt, who can’t find his purpose in life. He moves to a small town in New Hampshire to live simply and forget the horrors of his past.

While working as a custodian in a hospice, he sees a cat scurry into a patient’s room. Azzie, the cat, knows when someone is close to death. When Azzie lays down on a patient’s bed, they pass away that night.

Dan uses the shining to speak to the dying men telepathically. He reassures them that there is life after death, and he describes death as a long sleep. One man nicknames him Doctor Sleep.

Dan finally finds a use for the shining that doesn’t involve the ghosts from his past. He’s content with the calm of his new life until Abra contacts him.

Kyliegh Curran & Rebecca Ferguson

Abra, played by newcomer Kyliegh Curran, is a teenager with powerful psychic abilities. She has the shining, like Dan, but her powers are more focused and refined.

She can locate people who are hundreds of miles away, with her mind. She reads people’s thoughts and tears into their brains to find hidden memories. Dan finds a message on a blackboard in his room sent telepathically by Abra, and he corresponds with her in the same way for eight years.

When Abra’s shine allows her to witness the killing of a young boy, she cries out in terror. The cry knocks Dan to the ground, and it forces Rose the Hat to pause her murderous act.

Rose the Hat, played by Rebecca Ferguson, is the wicked leader of the True Knot. Her clan travels in a caravan to find and feed on gifted children. The kids release “steam” when they’re tortured, and the group inhales it to extend their lifespan.

The clan’s eyes glow blue when they take steam. Their wounds heal, their grey hair turns brown, and their abilities increase in power. They cuddle each other after killing a young boy. The True Knot are sick puppies.

After Rose becomes aware of Abra and how powerful she is, she decides her group needs the girl. Slowly Killing Abra would give the group a jackpot of steam. Rose, using her mind powers, pursues Abra but realizes the little girl is stronger.

I like the interactions between Rose and Abra. The teenager, brimming with psychic energy, taunts the experienced killer and injures her. Most horror movies feature a villain who terrorizes his victims, but in Doctor Sleep, the victim torments the villain.

The mind battles between Abra and Rose are incredibly entertaining. Special effects play a significant role in the action, and the way they represent telepathic travel between the heroes and the killers is unique.

However, the attractive visuals would mean nothing if the acting reeked. Have you watched Kevin Bacon in Friday the 13th? He’s so bad, you’re relieved when he’s skewered.

Horror movies are notorious for bad acting, but Doctor Sleep is different. Ferguson’s performance is a standout. Her ghoulish killer is charming, cruel, and attractive. She’s evil but somehow likable.

Another high point of the film is Curran’s role. She’s new to the acting world, but she’s a talented performer. She brings humor and humility to her compelling character.

Doctor Sleep is a worthy sequel to The Shining and more enjoyable than most horror produced today.

Its excellent acting and nifty effects boost the morbid tale, but the numerous Kubrick love notes interfere with the storytelling. I ‘m sorry, Stephen King, but Stanley Kubrick (God rest his Soul) managed to infect your vision once again.

Basil’s Recipe #3: Cilantro Aioli

Ingredients

4 Cloves Roasted Garlic

½ cup Fresh Cilantro

4 Lemons juiced(zest from 1 lemon)

Pinch of Salt

1 cup Sour Cream

4 cups Mayonnaise

Instructions

1) Roast the unpeeled garlic cloves in a skillet on medium heat. Turn cloves over after a few minutes to toast the other side. Remove cloves when all sides are cooked and remove peels.

2) Place cilantro, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a food processor and mix for 30 seconds.

3) Add remaining ingredients to the processor and mix for 1 minute.

4) Store and in a plastic container and refrigerate for 1 hour until ready to use.

I introduced this recipe in 2010 when we served Fried Green Tomatoes. It complements fried seafood and vegetables, but it can also be used as a sandwich spread.

Rather than using mustard or mayonnaise on your sandwiches or burgers, try using Cilantro Aioli. Fresh lemons are much better to use in this recipe than bottled lemon juice.

Parmesan & Black Pepper Bread

Ingredients

½ tbsp Instant Yeast

2 ¼ cups Warm Water

1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1½ tsp Kosher Salt

4 ½ cups Sifted All-Purpose Flour

1 cup Shredded Fresh Parmesan

1 ½ tsp Cracked Black Pepper 

Instructions

1) Mix yeast and warm water in a large metal bowl with a whisk.

2) Add olive oil and 1 tsp salt.

3) Add flour one cup at a time. Use a whisk for the first two cups, then use a rubber spatula to add remaining flour.

4) Fold in parmesan and cracked black pepper.

5) Form the dough into a ball. Remove dough from the bowl, spray the bowl with baking spray, and return the dough to the bowl.

6) Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 1 hour.

7) Press dough down and fold into a ball. Return the dough to the bowl with the seam side down.

8) Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 30 minutes.

9) Place dough on a lightly-floured counter and fold into a long cylinder. With a sharp knife, score the top of the dough. Sprinkle the remaining ½ tsp salt over the dough. Preheat the oven to 400° F. Allow the dough to rise, uncovered on a greased pan, for 20 minutes.

10) Bake for 20-22 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before slicing.

This bread is perfect for sandwiches and Italian pasta. Most bread recipes require a separate bowl to mix the dough and one for rising.

As long as all of the flour ends up in the dough when you mix it, you don’t have to put the dough in another bowl for rising. Save yourself the trouble of cleaning two bowls and just use one.

I made this bread for my cousin Amy and her husband when they visited last year. They enjoyed it, and I hope you will too.

Pumpkin Bread with Streusel

The Streusel adds a sweet crunch.

Ingredients & Instructions

4 tbsp Unsalted Butter

15 oz. can Pumpkin Puree

1 tbsp Ground Cinnamon

¾ tsp Nutmeg

1 cup Light Brown Sugar

Stir all of the above ingredients in a small saucepan. Cook on medium heat, frequently stirring, until the mixture begins to boil. Reduce to low, continuing to stir, and simmer for 20 minutes. Set aside to cool. Mix the following in a large measuring cup or bowl:

2 eggs

1 tbsp Half and Half

1 ½ tsp Vanilla Extract

Mix the following in a large metal bowl:

1 cup All-Purpose Flour

½ tsp Salt

2 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Baking Powder

Preheat the oven to 350 ° F. Mix all ingredients in the large metal bowl. Place the mixture in a greased 9-inch bread pan. Mix the following in a bowl to prepare the streusel:

1 tbsp Melted Butter(salted butter)

¼  cup Ground Pecans

2 tbsp Powdered Sugar

1 tbsp Brown Sugar

¼  tsp Cinnamon

2 tsp All-Purpose Flour

Spread streusel evenly over pumpkin mixture and bake 50-52 minutes. Check to make sure the bread is done by inserting a toothpick. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Carefully remove from the pan and place on a cooling rack for 10 minutes before slicing.

I tested this recipe on people, including myself, who dislike pumpkin pie. They loved it.

Be sure to use a pumpkin puree rather than a fresh carving pumpkin. Pumpkin puree is made from sugar pumpkins, which have a much sweeter flesh and are not as stringy as Halloween pumpkins.

Unlike other Pumpkin Bread recipes I’ve made, this one requires cooking the puree. It may seem like a pain and an extra step, but it removes excess moisture from the puree and brings out the sweet pumpkin flavor.

If you’re worried about losing some of the streusel topping when you pop it out of the pan, I have a solution.

First, use a rubber spatula to loosen all four sides of the bread from the pan. Next, place a piece of wax paper over the top of the bread. Last, invert the pan and pop it onto a cutting board.

It is a sweet bread, but it isn’t too sweet to place a scoop of vanilla ice cream beside it. I hope you enjoy it! I did.

Film Review: Anna

Continuing his tradition of featuring strong female characters, Luc Besson makes another attempt with Anna. Sasha Luss plays the assassin Anna, and her performance is the highlight of the film.

Anna is a drug-addicted prostitute who, after the death of her pimp/boyfriend, becomes a superhuman KGB killer. She works as a supermodel in the daytime and kills her targets at night.

The story takes place in Moscow in 1985. KGB agents race around the city and arrest several suspects. A CIA agent identifies one of the suspects when someone sends a severed head to his office.  

Don’t you miss the Cold War? It was a simpler time with well-defined enemies and blood-soaked packages.

The film quickly shifts its focus to 1990. Anna decides to leave her job selling Russian dolls to become a fashion model. The scenes of Anna posing for her fashion shoots are incredibly long and dull.

I’m not sure why the director chose to spend so much time with the fashion scenes. Maybe he wanted to prove that Sash Luss, who is a successful model in real life, can play a supermodel. Can a tall, beautiful, blonde supermodel play a tall, beautiful, blonde supermodel in a film?

After boring us with fashion, Anna shifts back to 1987 and displays Anna’s rough life as an abused prostitute. Then, once again, the film shifts forward to 1990.

Time after Time

For a movie that has nothing to do with time travel, there are countless flashbacks and flash-forwards. There are so many that you become oblivious to the film’s location or time.

I like films that follow a non-linear path, but Anna’s time shifts seem unnecessary and frustrating. The poorly developed plot is hindered even more by this gimmick. The plot can use all the help it can get.

Strangely, the film never focuses on the year that Anna trains with the KGB.

I would like to know how a reformed addict, with only one year of training, becomes the most lethal assassin in the world.

She’s a cold-blooded killer who rarely shoots her pistol without hitting someone in the head. She cuts through bodyguards and soldiers like they’re butter, and she uses broken plates, bar railing, and dinnerware to dispatch victims when she’s unable to shoot them.

The one time she shows emotion during her killing sprees is when she frantically stabs a large man with a fork. The action scenes with Anna are exciting and the only reason to watch the film.

Sasha Luss looks natural when performing fight scenes, and her acting is not too bad. Her character is hard to dislike, but her frequent complaints about her life as a model/killer become annoying.

Anna is tearful when she talks about gaining her freedom from the KGB, but she doesn’t shed a tear after killing fifty men in two days. She’s a complicated woman.

Luc Besson Blues

I hesitate, for a moment, when I decide to watch a Luc Besson film. He has disappointed me so many times that I always fear the worst. Anna is not the worst, but it’s close.

Besson has a talent for using beautiful, statuesque women in his action films. I commend him for promoting female empowerment, but I wish he could back it up with better writing and directing.

His plot twists and weak dialogue often prevent his Valkyries from achieving greatness. Scarlett Johansson in Lucy, Milla Jovovich in The Messenger, and Sasha Luss in Anna are all examples of strong women who perished under Besson.

I like parts of his films, but most of them involve action sequences.

His most critically acclaimed film, The Professional, is the one I dislike the most. I like Jean Reno, Natalie Portman, and Gary Oldman, but they’re not impressive in Besson’s overrated romp.

The story centers around a sensitive hitman who takes in his neighbor’s teenage daughter while he avoids a cartoonish, dirty cop played by Oldman. Although it’s loved by many, I won’t waste any more time complaining about it.

Mirren needs a Beach House

One of Besson’s worst crimes in Anna is how he uses Helen Mirren. She plays Olga. She’s a strict, KGB officer who handles Anna’s cases.

Her Russian accent is slightly believable, but her brown wig is unintentionally funny. She looks like one of The Turtles and doesn’t seem happy about it.

The head of the KGB makes a crack about her appearance when he says, “We only keep the ugly ones.” Helen Mirren? Ugly?

I’ve never thought of those words fitting together, but I’m biased toward Helen Miren. Ever since I watched Caligula in college, I’ve loved her. In Anna, there’s not much to love.

Olga is more of a caricature of a despotic, Soviet boss than a real character, and her dialogue sounds like the fourteen-year-old version of Luc Besson wrote it.

She delivers memorable lines such as “Anna, no one f#*%! with KGB”. Her broken English won’t win her the Oscar this year, but everyone needs a paycheck.

Oscar winners can’t always perform at a high level, and I don’t have a problem with that. I only wish that Natasha from The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle didn’t come to mind when I saw Mirren in Anna.

There are many theories as to why actors decide to star in bad films, but Sir Michael Caine gave the likeliest answer. When a journalist asked him why he starred in Jaws 4, he said, “I needed a beach house.”

Basil’s Recipe #2: Spinach Dip

Ingredients

2 lbs. Frozen Spinach

1 ½ cups Sour Cream

¾ cup Diced Red Onion

2 ½ cups Mayonnaise

1.4 oz(I packet) Knorr Vegetable Soup Mix

Instructions

1) Place Spinach in a colander and run cold water over it to thaw.

2) Mix Sour Cream, Red Onions, Mayonnaise, and Vegetable Soup Mix in a metal bow.

3) Press Spinach in a colander to remove water. Spinach should be only slightly moist.

4) Mix Spinach with the rest of the ingredients with a rubber spatula. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

5) Serve with Toasted Pita Bread, French Bread, or Crackers.

Spinach Dip, the only dip served chilled, is one of Basil’s oldest recipes. It’s best when you serve it with toasted pita.

If you don’t have pita in your kitchen, you can use any type of toasted bread. French bread, Italian bread, French baguette, and Ciabatta are types of bread I recommend.

Fried Air and California Raisins

Do you own an air fryer or an Instant Pot? Right now, they’re two of the hottest kitchen appliances. Before Christmas, if you found out that the instant pot was Amazon’s most popular product, you might have been tempted to order one.

The instant pot is a compact, pressure cooker that can cook meat, steam rice, make yogurt, cure all disease, and improve your general well-being.

Marketing is a powerful tool in our world, and it’s particularly effective in the food and beverage industry. Appliances, produce, and products that have been around for decades or centuries are suddenly reintroduced to the public as essential items.

The convection oven, first available to the public in 1945, uses a fan to circulate hot air around your food to cook it faster. The oven’s use is not limited to culinary endeavors but is used in a variety of industries.

The aircraft industry uses car-sized ovens to manufacture parts for planes and helicopters. Convection heating isn’t a new technique. Until recently, amateur cooks had to shell out several hundred dollars for a new convection oven.

Now, you can buy one for under seventy dollars. The expensive convection ovens are still available, but their compact, economical cousins are all the rage.

These baby convection ovens are called air fryers. When I saw a commercial for an air fryer, I thought it was a gimmick that wouldn’t last.

The name seemed so ridiculous that I couldn’t believe that anyone would buy one. Fried air?

What does that mean? Is there a miniature nuclear reactor in the little fryer? Is it safe to leave it alone in your kitchen when it starts frying the air?

Like all products marketed to the general public, I was completely wrong about the air fryer. It’s a useful tool that can save you time. Since I was a kid, I’ve seen a lot of products that I thought were garbage become big hits.

The only one I was right about was New Coke. New Coke was sweeter, less carbonated, and more disgusting than any other soda on the market.

Coca-Cola managed to save themselves from a catastrophe by introducing Classic Coke. Eventually, all New Coke was replaced by Classic Coke, and the public forgot about the company’s blunder.

All of us, including myself, are influenced by marketing more than we like to admit. When I was 10, I owned a California Raisin T-shirt (it enticed bullies to beat me up).

The raisin was not a new product in the ’80s, but a marketing campaign from California made raisins seem cool and essential to all Americans. Marvin Gaye’s version of I Heard it Through the Grapevine played in commercials featuring dancing raisins.

Toy stores stocked their shelves with a variety of loveable raisin characters. I don’t think it was a bad idea to promote healthy food that is beneficial to your diet, but I think it’s strange that a clay raisin dancing to Motown influenced our eating habits.

The song, I Heard it Through the Grapevine, is about a sad guy who finds out that his woman is unfaithful to him. Why was this song used to sell delicious raisins?

Since the word grapevine is in the song, why wouldn’t you use it to promote dried grapes from California? A great song about infidelity is as good as any to use to promote healthy living.

Hoover could have increased their sales if they’d used Another One Bites the Dust to sell vacuum cleaners. Who would care if a song about a psychopath with a machine gun helped sell a record number of Hoovers?

Steve walks warily down the street

With the brim pulled way down low

Ain’t no sound but the sound of his feet

Machine guns ready to go

Are you ready- (for a Hoover?)

Are you ready for this- (house to be clean?)

Are you hanging on the edge of your seat

Out of the doorway, the bullets rip

To the sound of the beat—

Freddy Mercury’s corpse shudders at the thought!

Advertisers take risks that may seem crazy when you analyze their motives as much as I do. I’m surprised by and respect the strange ways they push their products.

Many advertising campaigns that I thought were strange or creepy became incredibly successful. If I worked for a marketing firm, I would make all the wrong decisions.

Pillsbury-1985: Poppin Fresh commercial: That obnoxious Dough Boy will not help you sell biscuits. You want people to poke him in the belly to make him giggle? Who wants to buy biscuits after seeing Poppin Fresh molested by a human finger?

Wrigley-1983: The Juicy Fruit Ski commercial: What do acrobatic, skiers have to do with Juicy Fruit chewing gum? Will a rock song with mild, sexual overtones entice people to pop that gum in their mouths?

NFL-1996: Are you ready for some Football? Commercial: Hank Williams Jr. will not help you increase ratings. I feel like he’s screaming at me to watch football. Let’s get James Brown instead. He’ll put some funk into football.

I don’t believe that most advertisers are immoral or unethical, but they are smarter than we realize.

Pomegranates, avocados, and pistachios are more popular than ever. Twenty-five years ago, no one craved the juice from a pomegranate.

Their popularity is driven by clever marketing campaigns. Avocados are so popular that emergency rooms have seen an increase in avocado-related injuries.

I used to think that avocado was simple to cut open with a knife, but some people stab themselves while attempting culinary surgery.

I think that instant pots and air fryers are fine products, but I don’t have the physical space in my kitchen to include every appliance that is trending. I’m a sucker for advertising like everyone in America.

However, I try to consider if a new appliance will improve my life. Most of the time, the answer is no. For the time being, my life and kitchen are happy without fried air and digital pressure cookers.

Gluten-Free Potato & Cheddar Fritters

These potato and cheddar fritters closely resemble those made with all-purpose flour. You can use mashed potatoes and leftover corn in place of the boiled potatoes and canned corn.

I experimented with different recipes for potato fritters, but this one produces a superior golden-brown crust. It doesn’t have a sandy texture like many other gluten-free fritters.

They taste best when you serve them immediately. I tried reheating them after they were refrigerated for 2 days, but they weren’t the same.

The fritters have a firmer texture when they’re reheated. Rice flour mixes tend to toughen the fritters when they’re refrigerated. If you want to save some for later, it’s best to freeze them before they’re cooked.

I topped mine with a tablespoon of sour cream on each fritter, but Cajun Remoulade and Stone Ground Mustard are also good toppers.

Ingredients

½ cup Brown Rice Flour

1 tbsp Xanthan Gum

¼ cup Tapioca Starch

1 tbsp Coconut Flour

1 ½ tsp Kosher Salt

1 tsp White Pepper

1 ½ tsp Fresh Thyme

1 tsp Mustard Powder

2 tsp Brown Sugar

2 cups White Cheddar

2 tbsp Half and Half

3 eggs

2 lbs. boiled white potatoes

3 tbsp Olive Oil

Instructions

Mix all dry ingredients except potatoes and cheddar in a metal bowl with a whisk.

In a separate bowl, mash the potatoes and mix in Half and Half, 1 Tbsp Olive Oil, and 3 beaten eggs.

Stir in dry ingredients and fold in cheddar last.

Form into balls, then flatten in disks that resemble hockey pucks.

Heat 2 tbsp Olive Oil in a non-stick pan and cook 4-5 minutes a side.

Top with Sour Cream

Basil’s Restaurant Recipes for Your Home

Recipe #1: Basil’s Sausage Dip

16oz Softened Cream Cheese (2 packs)

12oz Spicy Italian Ground Sausage

¾ Cup Diced Vine-Ripe Tomato

¼ cup Diced Pickled Jalapeños

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 450° F. Form Ground Sausage into small patties. Sauté the sausage in a cast-iron skillet or non-stick pan for 4 minutes a side on Medium-High heat.

Drain oil from sausage and allow to cool. Blend sausage in a food processor (using the pulse function 8-10 times should be enough).

Flatten cooked sausage evenly on a non-greased baking sheet.

Bake for 10-12 Minutes (Sausage should turn a darker-brown).

Mix all ingredients thoroughly with a rubber spatula. Place dip in a small ceramic baking dish or metal pan and bake at 450° F for 15-17 minutes.

Top with grated Fresh Parmesan and Fresh Parsley. Serve with toasted Pita Bread or toasted French Bread.

With permission from the owner of Basil’s Restaurant, Jeremy Spengeman, I’m posting some of Basil’s most popular recipes.

These recipes have been scaled down for the home chef.

The first recipe, Basil’s Sausage Dip, is an old favorite. In 2005, the kitchen prepared the dip with a mixture of red and yellow tomatoes.

You’re welcome to do the same. You can also add more Diced Jalapenos if you like it Caliente. Hope you enjoy it!

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