Witchy Kitchen

Tag: 90s

  • Get Hooked on Southport Fisherman’s Stew

    Get Hooked on Southport Fisherman’s Stew

    I like typically well regarded films. I gravitate toward arthouse films, heavy with plot and symbolism, featuring nuanced, often heartbreaking performances. I appreciate artistic vision, thoughtful scores, clever screenwriting. High scoring films on Rotten Tomatoes! I like good movies.

    I also LOVE late 90s/early 2000s teen horror! It’s not that these movies aren’t good or lack the aforementioned qualities. I’ll argue they’re great, the iconic Scream especially, just that they’re not exactly regarded as high art or as “transcending genre” as some (not me) like to say. If you believe in guilty pleasures (yes me. Somehow the concept just makes it feel more fun), you can safely call these guilty pleasures.

    The Faculty, Urban Legend, Disturbing Behavior – at the risk of dating myself, I was the perfect age for these movies when they came out and saw a lot of them in the theater, munching nervously on popcorn and gasping at jump scares with my school friends. I’ll admit that a lot of my affinity is rooted in nostalgia. But with entertaining storylines, beautiful actors in glorious 90s fashion, and slick references to horror classics, these movies are genuinely, unironically valuable, not to mention very fun.

    I Know What You Did Last Summer, the 1997 slasher written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Jim Gillespie, is quintessential teen horror. It features a collection of actors who seem like they were in every late 90s movie (Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillipe, Freddie Prinze Jr.), and a distinctive villain characterized by his fisherman’s jacket and hook.

    It was filmed largely in the quaint beach town of Southport, North Carolina, and as I spent my summers as a kid on the Carolina coast, this was another draw for me. The small town is atmospheric, and is instrumental in demonstrating how everyone’s lives fell apart after the inciting incident. It’s tragic when Helen escapes to New York to be an actress and then has to return somewhat humiliated when “it didn’t work out.” It’s tragic when Ray becomes a fisherman and it’s implied that he’ll never leave and that’s all he’ll ever be. Southport, which seemed charming at the beginning of the film, when the friends were happy and carefree, becomes a symbol of their guilt and failure.

    I’m definitely on a regional seafood kick this summer (see last month’s Jaws-inspired Amity Island Shrimp Boats), so for a recipe, I immediately thought of Fisherman’s Stew. The North Carolina version of this dish is one of those that is traditionally made in a huge pot for a crowd, a la Frogmore Stew or other seafood boils, though this particular recipe is family-sized. Bacon is crisped up to later be crumbled on top, then a tomatoey mixture is cooked to season the broth. Then, potatoes, onions and garlic, and a firm fish (like red drum, sheepshead, cod, or even snapper like Julie’s mom makes for her when she returns home) are layered, brothed up and simmered – no stirring! Lastly, a layer of eggs are cooked on top.

    Serve topped with hot sauce and crusty bread or cornbread for sopping. What are you waiting for?

    Southport Fisherman’s Stew

    • ½ pound bacon cut into 2-inch pieces (my kids don’t eat pork so I used turkey bacon. It’s not as oily, so if using, add some cooking oil to help it fry)
    • 6 ounce can tomato paste
    • large pinch or two chili flakes
    • 2 bay leaves
    • 2 pounds red potatoes, peeled and sliced (you can put them in a large bowl of cold water while you prep so they don’t turn brown)
    • 1 large onion, quartered and sliced
    • 4 cloves garlic, sliced
    • 2 pounds firm fish (I used cod), cut into 2-inch chunks
    • 6 eggs
    • Salt to taste

    eat a pot and cook bacon, stirring, until crisp. Remove and reserve.

    Stir tomato paste into the hot oil, along with chili flakes. Stir for just a minute and remove from heat.

    Add bay leaves and layer the other ingredients twice, sprinkling each layer with salt. Add enough water to just cover. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer and cook, covered, until fish is cooked through and potatoes are tender but not falling apart, about 15 minutes. Check the broth for seasoning, add more salt if desired.

    Crack eggs in a single layer on top and poach.

    Serve topped with sliced/crumbled bacon, hot sauce, and crusty bread or cornbread.

    First published on Nightmare on Film Street.

  • Crypt Keeper Crunch

    The wacky horror anthology Tales from the Crypt premiered on HBO on June 10, 1989 and entertained audiences with its tawdry tales until 1996. Based on the EC comic from the 1950s, it teeters between humor and horror, often with a morbid twist. I have semi-fond memories of being a little teenage babysitter watching alone in the dark after the kids went to bed…and letting it thoroughly crack me up and creep me out!

    Each episode begins with a journey through the Crypt Keeper’s haunted mansion, winding through hallways down to the catacombs. Here we meet the cackling corpse himself popping out of a coffin. The Crypt Keeper’s pun-filled quips are the framework for each scary tale.

    If you’re a Tales from the Crypt fan, then you know it’s a specHACKular popcorn-munching program, so popcorn is the base of this freaky fun recipe. Peanutty caramel corn is both Halloweeny and carnival food (as there are several carnival episodes). This particular one’s a little SALTY too, like the wisecracking Crypt Keeper – and the MORGUE the merrier! It’s studded with darling little pretzel bones.

    Crypt Keeper Crunch

    For the popcorn
    1 bag minimally flavored popcorn (the least salt and butter you can find)
    ½ cup roasted peanuts
    ½ cup honey
    ¼ cup sugar
    1 teaspoon salt
    ½ cup peanut butter

    Prepare a cookie sheet lined with parchment. Pop the popcorn and pour into a large bowl, being careful to not transfer any unpopped kernels. Sprinkle with peanuts.

    In a small saucepan, heat honey, sugar and salt until sugar is completely melted and mixture is foamy and just begins to darken in color. Remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter, stirring until smooth. Pour over popcorn and toss lightly to coat. Spread over parchment and cool.

    For the pretzel bones
    20 pretzel sticks
    80 mini marshmallows
    6 ounces white chocolate chips

    Prepare a cookie sheet lined with parchment. Gently slice each pretzel stick in two, and stick mini marshmallows on the ends. In a bowl, microwave white chocolate chips at 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until melted, about 1 minute and a half.

    Dip each “bone” into the white chocolate, turning with forks, shaking off the excess, and placing on the parchment. If the white chocolate becomes too hard, zap and stir and continue. Place bones in the fridge for 10 minutes to solidify.

    Break up the peanutty caramel corn into a large bowl and gently toss with the bones. SCAREf them up for your next FRIGHTfest!

    Until the next time, boils and ghouls, pleasant screams.

    First published on Nightmare on Film Street.