PopBetty

A Love Letter to Pop Culture

Chicken With Plums

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Chicken With Plums

Chicken with Plums, by Marjani SatrapiBooksellers at my store can check out hardcover books for two weeks for free. Recently, I picked up Summer At Tiffany (a pleasant if feather-light memoir about working at Tiffany’s in 1945) and Chicken With Plums, Marjane Satrapi’s newest book. Plums is about Satrapi’s great-uncle Nasser Ali Khan and the eight days before his death; chicken with plums was the dying man’s favorite meal. Despite the rushed ending, I loved it.

In honor of the book, I made some Chicken with Prunes (above), recipe courtesy the Perfect Pantry. Tweaks: I used chicken breasts with a touch more oil instead of chicken legs, and cooked it in enameled cast iron pot, not a tagine. The end result was tasty, although I’m interested in trying other variations–in the book, the recipe called for tomatoes and turmeric, and I’ve seen a few that call for garlic and leeks. Suggestions welcome!

Reading List: 11/08/07

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Reading List

One of the joys and pitfalls of working at a bookstore is the proximity of tempting books and films. Four recent finds:

  • Fashion Babylon, by Imogene Edwards-Jones: An “up the skirts” view of the fashion industry, it seems like every fashion blogger has read this. Dishy, fun, and shocking in a totally unsurprising way.
  • The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick: An innovative and well-done mix of illustrations and text, focusing on film pioneer Georges Méliès (remember the Smashing Pumpkins’ “Tonight, Tonight” video? It was based on Méliès’ A Trip to the Moon). I like how the book’s construction evokes intertitles.
  • The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov: Just started this, so not much to say other than the first fifty pages are brilliant.
  • The Beauty Academy of Kabul: A solid documentary about an American beauty school in Afghanistan (now defunct). Watching the interaction between the Afghani students and the American teachers is fascinating, occasionally cringe-inducing, and for me (the daughter of a Salvadoran) somewhat familiar. See a short documentary here about the film.

Children’s Picture Cookbook: Date Sticks

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I bought the Children’s Picture Cookbook on my trip to 14th Street Antiques, with the intention of sharing it with you all. Margaret Gossett wrote the recipes and Elizabeth Dauber designed the book (I think she did the illustrations, as there are no other credits).

Below is the recipe for date sticks–haven’t made them, but they sound intriguing:

Retro2

Retro

What would you like to see next: cocoa, applesauce, or popcorn balls?