Sunday afternoon personal

Last night, Lucas and I watched a free movie on Comcast "On Demand": the 1977 "Island of Dr. Moreau," starring Burt Lancaster and Michael York. (I'd seen the 1996 version with Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer.) Not bad, but I found the soundtrack a little jarring and there were no captions. I think I prefer the Marlon Brando version. He was pretty creepy the older (and bigger) he got.

Well, today is the last day of my vacation. Will go to the store and launder some work clothes later. Will also make another salmon loaf to take to work and share. I'd taken one to work a while back and my co-workers loved it.

"Salmon loaf" may not sound very glamorous, but it's actually salmon croquettes without the bound breading and deep frying. Bound breading is a pain in the ass, and deep frying is fattening.

(This is bound breading:

To prepare a more adhesive bound breading--or coating À l'anglaise--begin by wiping the food dry. Then dip the dry food into a shallow bowl of seasoned flour. Have ready, aside from the flour, two other bowls. In the first bowl, put a mixture of:

1 slightly beaten egg
2 to 3 teaspoons water or milk
(2 teaspoons oil)

Stir these ingredients together with 10 or 12 mild strokes. Do not let the egg get bubbly, as this makes the coating uneven. In the other bowl, have ready: 3/4 cup sifted seasoned dry bread crumbs

As each piece of food is floured, toss it lightly from one palm to the other, patting it gently all over and encouraging any excess flour to fall off, as sketched on the left. Then slide the flour-coated food through the egg mixture, making sure the entire surface is contacted, as shown at center. Allow any excess moisture to drip off. Then place the food in the crumb-lined bowl. See that the crumbs adhere evenly to all the edges of the food as well as to its larger surfaces. If you see any vacant places, sprinkle a few crumbs on them. Pat on any excess crumbs that might fall off and brown too rapidly, thus discoloring the frying fat. Handle the food very gently, so that the coating will not be cracked. Place on a rack to dry for about 20 minutes before frying. Do not chill this food before frying, as this will tend to make it absorb an undue amount of fat.)

I've made the croquettes before, and they are wonderful, but baking the mixture in a loaf is a whole lot easier, and it tastes the same - just without the crunch. And it's delicious hot or cold.

Had some of that for lunch - cold. [Click on the photos to enlarge them. I retouched the top photo to get rid of (most of) the flash from the camera.]
 

The Island of Doctor Moreau (1996) - Marlon Brando from Xemdryam on Vimeo.

The Island of Doctor Moreau (1996) from Xemdryam on Vimeo.