Chef: The Food'N'Flix Round-Up

This month, I'm hosting Food'N'Flix. I chose Chef* and invited bloggers to join me in watching it and heading to the kitchen. Click to see my invitation: here.

What a treat! This month we had quite a crew show up at the virtual Food'N'Flix banquet table. It's always nerve-wracking to host an event and just hope - and pray - that other bloggers join in the fun. Otherwise, you're just sitting there. Alone. With just your dish to eat!

Thankfully, I had tons of participants - with sweets, pasta, stew, soup and seven versions of a Cuban Sandwich. That's right. Seven.

It's nice to see so many familiar faces around the table. And it's especially nice to see some new face this month. Thanks, all, for joining in the fun!

On to the dishes...

Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm served up a bowl of Spaghetti Aglio e Olio. Wendy writes "Pasta Aglio e Olio is a wonderful, comforting easy dish to throw together and I can see a chef coming home after a long day in the kitchen and making this for someone dear to them."

Kimberly from Coffee and Casseroles made three things: Carrot and Red Pepper Soup, Grilled Cheese, and"Sugar-balls." She had handwritten an entire page of notes while watching the movie - "garlic, fennel, lime, orange, zucchini, milk, blood orange, kiwi, pork, soup, carrots, radish, kettle corn, fruit, jerky, sausage, hero sandwiches, bacon, espresso, sweet breads, french onion soup, caviar eggs, scallops, fricassee salad, lobster risotto, chocolate lava cake, wine, tequila, "pot brownies" (there was a scene where two of the characters are hanging out in the parking lot smoking and it just popped into my head)  beef cheek, saute onions, pasta, fried green tomatoes, green marinade, tuna, prongs, beef, quail with pickled radish, chives, grilled cheese, cereal, "alphabet soup" (one of the twitter scenes) hash browns, fried eggs, "breakfast sausage" (just because of the eggs and hash browns) juice, "tasting menu", brisket, octopus stir-fry..." Wow! I thought I took extensive notes. But, in the end, Kimberly shares, "The soup and sandwich was pretty much a given, but the sugar-balls popped into my head with the scene where John Leguizamo dumps cornstarch down his pants... thought was in my head and you know me, I couldn't pass this one up."

Girlichef, run by Heather, brought some Buttermilk Cardamom Beignets to the Food'N'Flix table this month because, as she writes, "Basically, you cannot go wrong with fried dough. I decided to put what might be "my" signature on a beignet, were I to have my own food truck. Aside from a slight tang from the use of buttermilk, I added a hint of cardamom; a whisper in your ear to tickle your memory months later." Agreed!

Evelyne of Cheap Ethnic Eatz baked some Berries n Cream Turnovers because "My sweet tooth was calling so I decided to make berry turnovers served with a big dollop of cream – a perfect portable version for a food truck menu!" These looks amazing. I can't wait to try them.

Joanne from What's on the List? made Childhood Cubano Stew with Ham & Roasted Vegetable. Joanne shared that she especially loves Cuban pork dishes and recreated a chickpea and ham soup made with roasted pumpkin, roasted sweet potato, roasted peppers, etc…from her childhood memory!

On to the sandwiches...

Caroline from Caroline Makes shared her Cuban Sandwiches. She reports, "I did it properly, marinading the pork the day before and cooking it in the morning that I was making the sandwich for lunch - I wouldn't normally go to this much effort when making a sandwich!"

Amy over at Amy's Cooking Adventures offered up her version of the Cubano. I had good intentions of making everything myself, but that didn't happen. Amy did it all. She made Pan Cubano and Lechón Asado before putting it all together for this...

Debra from Eliot's Eats made The Local Cuban Sandwich. Debra reminded us that "El Jefe’s menu changed depending on what city they were in and what could be locally sourced. In Austin, for instance, Carl secures brisket from Franklin Barbecue to incorporate into his sandwiches, giving them a Texas kick." So, she decided to give the Cuban Sandwich her own local spin.

Debra also let us know of a free downloadable cookbook from Chef: here. I had no idea. Thanks for the tip.

Pam from Sidewalk Shoes shared The Pretzel Cuban Sandwich. She recounts how she ended up with a pretzel bun which I, personally, think is genius! "At first I was going to be creative and try and put a different spin on the Cuban.  Replacing the pickle with chow chow – a Southern favorite and doing a few more things.  Then life happened.  Particularly prom season – and as a photographer I have been swamped photographing sparkly dresses and sparkling faces!  Besides I decided, why mess with a classic?  The only thing I did change up was the bun, substituting a pretzel roll – which worked extremely well with the sandwich."

Debbie from The Friday Friends made Cuban Sandwiches and Lava Cakes. Lamented, "I couldn't make up my mind between Cuban Sandwiches  (obvious choice, I know) and Lava Cakes (because my good friend Mitzi makes them all the time and they are a great dessert!) So I decided to do both." Lucky us! I need a good lava cake recipe. Thanks, Debbie.

Elizabeth from The Lawyer's Cookbook offered up her version of Cuban Sandwiches, too. Elizabeth's list included "andouille sausage sandwiches, french onion soup, noodles of some sort, try to make something relating to Twitter, breakfast . . . There were a ton of choices. But I decided to go the sandwich route, the Cuban sandwich route, in honor of the food truck. The sandwich was delicious. I have so much pork now though, I’ll be eating pork for a week."

And lastly, I made Cubanos with some Mojo-Marinated Pork Shoulder. I considered making some of the dishes from the beginning when Casper was trying to reinvigorate the tired menu that Riva embraces. Casper made spot prawns in a curry-carrot purée, garnished with radishes and a roast squab with pickled red onion, chilis, gochujang, and soy vinaigrette. I thought about recreating the culinary clichés from Riva's menu - that while tired are also tried and true! Think a poached egg topped with caviar, French onion soup, scallops with beurre blanc, a frisée salad, and filet mignon topped with a massive slab of butter. While not particularly cutting edge, I knew any of those choices would be delicious! But, in the end, the Cubano won me over, too.

If you haven't seen it, hopefully this round-up will inspire you to watch Chef. Thanks for all the bloggers who joined in the delicious fun.

Next month, Heather of girlichef has invited us to (re)watch The Goonies. Stay tuned for her invitation. Funny...my family and I just watched this last week. The boys finished homework early and, while I was making dinner, they dug out the DVD. I'll have to pull it out again soon...with cooking on the mind.

*This post contains affiliate links for this month's movie selection and next month's. Here...