Hello all, Sam here. I am using this Halloween weekend to introduce to you a reoccurring feature, Dinner and a Movie. In the weeks ahead, I will attempt to bring together two separate but equally entertaining evening activities that should expand your palate and your knowledge of film. For the first installment, I thought it would be appropriate to start out with a supernatural film that has just a bit to do with cooking. Â
I am referring to the 1984 Ivan Reitman classic Ghostbusters. Cooking? Yes. With the eggs, and the ‘fridge, and the oh glahvin mavin (whoops, wrong crazy scientist). And because it’s Halloween, I’m going to forgo dinner and go straight to tomorrow’s breakfast.  If you get lucky this evening and bring home a special someone (or, lets be honest, someone in a hot costume), you should be able to put together a breakfast the next morning.  It’s pretty much a requirement. And if you don’t get lucky, well, here’s a good recipe that should nurse the hangover you so diligently drank for all evening.
Hello all, Sam here. I am using this Halloween weekend to introduce to you a reoccurring feature, Dinner and a Movie. In the weeks ahead, I will attempt to bring together two separate but equally entertaining evening activities that should expand your palate and your knowledge of film. For the first installment, I thought it would be appropriate to start out with a supernatural film that has just a bit to do with cooking.
I am referring to the 1984 Ivan Reitman classic Ghostbusters. Cooking? Yes. With the eggs, and the ‘fridge, and the oh glahvin mavin (whoops, wrong crazy scientist). And because it’s Halloween, I’m going to forgo dinner and go straight to tomorrow’s breakfast. If you get lucky this evening and bring home a special someone (or, lets be honest, someone in a hot costume), you should be able to put together a breakfast the next morning. It’s pretty much a requirement. And if you don’t get lucky, well, here’s a good recipe that should nurse the hangover you so diligently drank for all evening.{{page_break}}
Ingredients List:
Bacon (cause it’s awesome, thats why)
Eggs (one or two should do)
Hot Chili Sauce (the Asian kind, for some kick)
Your favorite cheese
Vegetables, as desired
Bread, English Muffins, or Bagels
Heat up a skillet on medium-high until the pan is hot. Carefully add the bacon, uncut, in single strips across the pan (there will be grease spatter, be careful). Reduce heat to medium or low-medium, and cook the bacon until it reaches the desired crispiness (it will continue to cook slightly after you take it off the heat, so take it out just before it’s finished). Place cooked bacon on a paper towel so the fat can drain, and top with tinfoil to keep warm.
Discard most of the bacon fat into a container (you shouldn’t pour grease down the sink), and use the remaining fat to cook the vegetables in (recommended: peppers, onions, mushrooms, or tomatoes). When the vegetables are done, scoop them out (leaving any remaining fat in the pan) and put them aside for later.
Meanwhile, place your bread substance, topped with a bit of cheese, in the toaster oven or stove oven and heat until the cheese begins to melt (ideally, this will finish just as the eggs are done).
The pan should still be hot enough to instantly cook the eggs to a certain firmness. Without the fat or oil, the eggs will stick to the pan and be ruined, so if the vegetables soaked up all of the fat, throw a bit of butter in. Crack the eggs and drop them in, as is, to the hot pan that still should be layered slightly with the bacon fat. Cook them until done in your preferred style (over-easy works best). I like the yolks a bit runny, if they get two firm they dry up and lose flavor.
Take out the melted cheese/bread combo, and layer on the eggs and bacon and vegetables from the earlier steps. Throw on a bit of the hot chili sauce or other hot sauce for some kick, if that’s your thing. Add salt and pepper, to taste, and enjoy.
Ghostbusters is really the perfect date movie to watch on a Halloween evening. Bill Murray is impeccable, Ivan Reitman’s direction is fantastic, and when that theme song kicks in, you should already be in overdrive. Plus, when Sigourney Weaver’s kitchen starts going nuts, it’s a perfect, subtle time to introduce the possibility of cooking breakfast the next morning. A quick “that ghost doesn’t know how to cook eggs” should suffice.
With such an iconic cast of comedy greats, its hard for this film to fail in any way. Luckily, it doesn’t. If you haven’t seen this film, I would be shocked, as it is one of the defining films of the 80’s generation. It has some opportune snuggle moments, if that's what you are looking for, and if you can channel Bill Murray, and not Rick Moranis, you should be good to go with your date.
Thanks everyone, in upcoming installments I will try and add some cooking video instruction, as well as some even greater food movies. Let me know if there are any I must do soon, otherwise, I will just pick some at random. On the docket are Duck Soup, Ratatouille, Big Night, Julie and Julia, Chocolat, and many more. If you can think of any you would like to see, post it in the comments or drop me an email at sam {at} flixist [dot] com. Bon appetite.
