A Plate of Creepy Crawlies and Other Ghoulish Gobbles #FoodNFlix

This month Kimberly from Coffee and Casseroles is hosting this month's edition of #FoodNFlix. Read her invitation: here. She asked us to watch The Addams Family or Addams Family Values.* It seems an appropriate month for good, ghastly fun; it's Halloween month and they are releasing a new (animated) Addams Family movie this month. And you have plenty of time to join in the fun, if you wish. Posts aren't due to Kimberly until October 30th.

I mentioned the assignment and R said that he had just seen that DVD. So, he dug it out of the cabinet for me and all four of us sat down to watch it. D kept asking, "What is this movie? Why are we watching it?" Sadly, I think that he inherited my sense of humor...or rather lack of one. But the rest of us didn't complain too much and might have even enjoyed it.

On the Screen

The Addams Family opens with a scene of Christmas carolers and pans up to the housetop where you see the Addamses ready to upend a cauldron on top of those happy souls. That perfectly encapsulates the Addams' sense of humor that is carried throughout the movie and those continuous chuckles are enough to hold together an otherwise anemic plot.

As I wrote, there are a lot of funny moments. Morticia, played by Anjelica Huston, might just be the reigning witch of the one-liners. And her deadpan delivery makes her a scene-stealer. Every. Time.

In one scene she comes across Wednesday with a carving knife. "Is that for your brother?" she asks. She confiscates the knife, declaring, "I don't think so" before handing her daughter an even bigger cleaver.

In another scene, Morticia comforts her husband. "Don't torture yourself, Gomez. That's my job," she declares as she bats her spidery eyelashes seductively.

The kids are also funny, especially Wednesday who has embraced her mother's sensibilities. As she hooks her brother up to an electric chair, she tells him that they are going to play a game. "What game?" asks Pugsley. It's called, "Is There a God?" Wednesday explains.

She and her brother have an exchange with a neighborhood Girl Scout that made this organic food embracing mamma laugh.

Girl Scout: Is this made from real lemons?

Wednesday: Yes.

Girl Scout: I only like all-natural foods and beverages, organically grown, with no preservatives. Are you sure they're real lemons?

Pugsley: Yes.

Girl Scout: Well, I'll tell you what. I'll buy a cup if you buy a box of my delicious Girl Scout cookies. Do we have a deal?

Wednesday: Are they made from real Girl Scouts?

So, there are a lot of humorous moments individually. They do their job competently; they elicit a chuckle then barrel on to next one. It's not a great movie, but it's not horrible either. And it's definitely fitting for this month. I'm glad Kimberly had us (re)watch this one. I haven't seen Addams Family Values and I'm not sure I will. Also not too sure we'll watch the brand-new animated one. Maybe...

On the Plate

There was actually a surprising amount of food in the movie. From the family dinners to Lurch's school lunches for the kids. But nothing was anything we wanted to recreate. So we talked about things that looked creepy. And the boys landed on squid for the creepy crawly factor. And this was a relatively quick dinner that I served with an Asian pear and kale salad.

Ingredients

Squid

• 2 lbs fresh market squid, cleaned (HOW TO: Clean Squid)
• freshly ground salt
• freshly ground pepper

Marinade

• 3/4 C coconut aminos or gluten-free tamari
• 1 T fish sauce
• 1 T minced fresh ginger or ginger paste
• 1 T minced fresh lemongrass or lemongrass paste
• 1 T peanut butter

Chunky Peanut Dipping Sauce

• 1 1/2 C organic chunky peanut butter
• 1/2 C organic coconut milk
• 3 T water
• 3 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 3 T coconut aminos or gluten-free tamari
• 1 T fish sauce
• 1 T hot sauce  (feel free to add more if you prefer more heat)
• 1 T minced fresh ginger or ginger paste
• 1 T minced fresh lemongrass or lemongrass paste
• 3 cloves garlic, minced

Procedure

Peanut Sauce

In a small mixing bowl, blend all of the ingredients together until smooth. Adjust for heat, as needed. You may like yours more spicy.

Marinade

Mix together the coconut aminos or gluten-free tamari, fish sauce, ginger, lemongrass, and peanut butter in a large bowl to make the marinade. Set aside.

Squid

Place squid in a large pot. Cover them with water. Make sure they are submerged by at least 1" of water. Bring the water to a boil. As soon as the water boils, drain the squid.

Place the squid in the bowl with the marinade. Marinate the squid for, at least, 10 minutes at room temperature, turning once halfway through.

Preheat your grill or grill pan. Grill the squid for about 2 minutes on each side, weighing them down (I usually place a pot lid on top of them) to get the nice grill marks.

The squid will turn from translucent to opaque. Take care not to overcook as squid turns rubbery if grilled too long. Move the grilled squid to a serving plate and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Serve immediately with the peanut sauce.

Other Ghoulish Gobbles

And I thought I'd link up some other things that seem appropriate...click on the titles to go to the original recipe post.

Creepy Eyeball Martini

Cobweb Eggs

Shrunken Head Cider

Or how about these gummy brains that I posted for Fortnight of Fright when I reviewed World War Z?

*This blog currently has a partnership with Amazon.com in their affiliate program, which gives me a small percentage of sales if you buy a product through a link on my blog. It doesn't cost you anything more. If you are uncomfortable with this, feel free to go directly to Amazon.com and search for the item of your choice.