Review: "Eat What You Watch"

If there's one thing foodies love as much as food, it's movies involving food. You may not live the life of the character or the actor on the screen, but you can always relate to the food involved in the story. It's easy to get caught up in the excitement and anticipation in "Big Night"; who hasn't thought about slicing garlic with a razor blade after watching "Goodfellas"; and you can't but smile to yourself when in a deli eating pastrami after seeing "When Harry Met Sally...?. For those who want to further enjoy the food they see on the screen, I suggest the following cookbook for movie lovers, "Eat What You Watch", by Andrew Rea of "Binging with Babish" fame. In it, you will find over 40 recipes from films ranging from Charlie Chaplin's "The Gold Rush" to the award-winning "Moonlight", and everything else in between. One of my favourite recipes in the book is this unauthorized take on the Big Kahuna burger from one of my favourite movies, "Pulp Fiction". If you like burgers, give the recipe below a try sometime, you'll see why it's one tasty burger.

Ingredients:

120 g ground beef, divided into two balls
28 g butter
2 hamburger buns (Hawaiian bread rolls, if possible)
2 slices Monterey Jack cheese
2 fresh pineapple slices, about 1.25 cm thick
1 red onion, sliced into rings
vegetable oil
ketchup
teriyaki sauce

1. In a large skillet, heat half of the butter over medium heat until it's foaming. Add the onion and cook slowly over low heat, stirring often, until the onion is caramelized about 30 minutes. Transfer the onion to a bowl, and set them aside.
2. Wipe the skillet clean and heat the remaining butter over medium heat until it is sizzling. Add the pineapple slices and cook, turning once, until they are lightly browned on both sides. Transfer the pineapple to a plate, and set them aside.
3. Using a cast-iron skillet, heat some of the vegetable oil over high heat until it just begins to smoke. Place the balls of ground beef in the skillet a few centimeters from each other, then smash them into thin patties with a spatula. Cook them for about 1 to 2 minutes until the bottom is well browned and crisp, flip, and top each burger with a slice of cheese. Turn off the heat, but leave the patties in the skillet to allow the cheese to melt.
4. Toast and lightly butter the hamburger buns. Dress the bottom half of the bun with some ketchup and teriyaki sauce, add a hamburger patty, then top with a pineapple slice, some of the caramelized onions, and the other half of the bun.