Witchy Kitchen

Tag: twin peaks

  • Red Room Cherry Cider & Black Lodge Coffee Pie

    Red Room Cherry Cider & Black Lodge Coffee Pie

    It’s Cops ‘N Killers month on Nightmare on Film Street, and Twin Peaks, 1990’s wacky noir television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch, has plenty of both. FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) comes to the quaint, quirky town of Twin Peaks to investigate the death of local beloved teenager Laura Palmer, and the unfolding mystery is a wild ride to say the least.

    Agent Cooper is equally quirky as the town, charming, and sharp as a tack. His childlike curiosity is what makes him a great detective – and it’s not limited to crime. He has keen observations on the picturesque Pacific Northwest landscape, the often eccentric citizens, and of course the food that he’s frequently describing with glee. Mention Twin Peaks and anyone familiar can quote “You know, this is – excuse me – a damn fine cup of coffee.”

    It’s true that Twin Peaks makes amazing use of food to showcase both place and character. One of the key settings is the Double R Diner where Norma (Peggy Lipton) serves up humble small town diner fare and of course, her famous cherry pies. And it’s not limited to cherry; peanut butter pie, huckleberry pie, and more appear in the series. Cooper and team return often for sustenance and to unpack what they’ve learned about the case. Lynch has said of diners “There’s a safety in thinking in a diner. You can have your coffee or your milkshake, and you can go off into strange dark areas, and always come back to the safety of the diner.”

    Food permeates the series; there’s breakfasts at the Great Northern Inn, awkward family dinners in several awkward family homes, elaborate donut spreads at the police station. And then, as mentioned, the coffee. Agent Cooper’s effervescent personality is certainly fueled by caffeine. Whether damn fine, black as midnight on a moonlit night, or – ahem – even a little fishy, coffee is everywhere.

    You can find many recipes for Norma’s cherry pie (that look absolutely delicious) and I’m sure most of you are capable of making a damn fine cup of coffee. So for this we’re doing something a little different and slipping into the red room of Agent Cooper’s dreams. Or is it the Black Lodge? There, the dead are alive, time and space are irrelevant, and nothing’s as it seems. Things are sometimes – backwards? Like…cherry cider and coffee pie?

    Yes, we’re flipping two of the most standout Twin Peaks foods, and the result is quaint, quirky and delicious.

    Red Room Cherry Cider

    I had a brief moment of snobbery at the thought of using Jello of which I am ashamed. After all Agent Cooper is from the big city and is never is condescending. Plus, the bright red color it results in is perfectly reminiscent of the heavy velvet red room curtains.

    • 6 cups apple cider
    • 1 3 ounce package cherry Jello
    • 2 cardamom pods, cracked
    • 2 slices ginger
    • 1 cinnamon stick

    Heat all ingredients in a pot, and gently simmer for at least 10 minutes. Serve hot.

    Black Lodge Coffee Pie

    Adapted from A Taste of Home. Note: these women’s magazines are great for beautifully simple recipes particularly when you’re going for a small town feel. We’re swapping out the topping for cocoa chevrons for the iconic red room floor, whipped cream on the side.

    For the crust

    • 6 ounces chocolate wafers
    • 4 tablespoons melted butter
    • 2 tablespoons sugar
    • Pinch salt.

    Heat oven to 350°. Pulse all ingredients together in a food processor. Press evenly in a 9 inch pie dish and bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool before fill ng.

    For the filling

    • ⅔ cup sugar
    • ½ cup flour
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • 2 cups milk
    • 3 tablespoons instant coffee granules, crushed
    • 3 egg yolks, lightly beaten
    • 2 tablespoons butter
    • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    • cocoa powder to garnish, slightly sweetened whipped cream on the side

    In the top of a double boiler (or in a heat safe bowl over a boiling pot), mix sugar, flour, and salt. Add milk gradually and stir until smooth. Cook and stir until thickened, 8-10 minutes. Stir in coffee granules.

    Temper the egg yolks by stirring a small amount of the hot liquid into them, then add all to the pan. Cook and stir for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla extract. Cool thoroughly, pour into crust and chill.

    For the garnish: you can sprinkle the cocoa evenly or get crafty. Make chevron strips out of paper and arrange across the pie. Sprinkle cocoa powder between the strips, then peel them off. Serve with whipped cream on the side.

    First published on Nightmare on Film Street.

  • Leg of Lamb with Mint Pesto

    Leg of Lamb with Mint Pesto

    Twin Peaks is weird, wonderful, and absolutely full of food. Beyond the iconic cherry pie and damn fine coffee, characters are constantly cooking, eating, and waxing poetic about their favorite meals.

    It’s so full of brilliant food scenes and mentions in fact, that I have a full Twin Peaks Archive of recipes and food recaps.

    Second-tier wacky character and his nutty shenanigan Jerry Horne is the source of several good food moments. In one particular one, he bursts into Ben’s office, swinging a huge leg of lamb, gifted by the lovely Icelandic Heba. “Garlic, a little mint, that’s rotisserie heaven!”

    I’d never cooked a leg of lamb, or even a beef roast (gaping hole in my repertoire I just discovered and closed, bam), so I looked to The Kitchn for guidance. It assured me that this is one of the easiest cuts, hard to mess up if you follow the guidelines. I adjusted the cooking time since my leg was smaller; where says to cook for an hour, I did mine 45 minutes.

    It came out perfectly cooked. Thanks to the Kitchn and creepy, amusing Jerry Horne, we enjoyed it, we even enjoyed this recipe along with a mint pesto a couple years ago for Christmas Eve dinner!

    Leg of Lamb with Mint Pesto

    From The Kitchn’s How to Roast a Leg of Lamb

    For the lamb

    • 3 pound, bone-in leg of lamb
    • salt & pepper
    • 4-5 cloves garlic, chopped (I could have chopped it a little more finely)
    • Fresh or dried herbs, such as mint or rosemary. I used about a teaspoon of dried mint

    Trim as much fat as you want – I removed the thick layer of fat (the fell) which has a strong muttony flavor, but I wasn’t very thorough about trimming the rest.

    An hour before cooking, take lamb out of the fridge to allow to come to room temperature (I also left mine uncovered, I think by drying out a little it helps it to form a crust?) Generously sprinkle with salt and pepper and place in a large roasting pan.

    Heat the broiler, move a rack close to the top, and broil the leg for 5 minutes on each side. Remove from oven and lower the heat to 325° and move the rack to the middle of the oven. Cover lamb with chopped garlic and herbs, and tent with foil. Once the oven has reached the right temperature, cook for 45 minutes and begin checking the temperature. I cooked mine to 340° (it will keep cooking once you remove it from the oven) for medium rare.

    Remove from the oven and let rest for at least 15 minutes before carving. Carve by cutting slices perpendicular to the bone, then cutting off the bone.

    For the mint pesto

    • 1 bunch fresh mint
    • 4 ounces blanched almonds
    • 2 cloves garlic
    • salt & pepper
    • 1/4 cup+ olive oil
    • squirt of lemon juice

    In a food processor, combine mint, almonds, garlic, salt and pepper. Slowly drizzle in olive oil to make a paste. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Before serving, freshen it up with a squirt of lemon juice.

    We ate this on Christmas Eve as sandwiches – whole wheat bun, mayo, mint pesto, slices of lamb, slice of tomato – I think Cooper would have liked it as well!

    Recipe for Fiction Kitchen Episode 5: TWIN PEAKS, in which Carrie and Diana discuss quirky characters (mostly Jerry, he’s the best), meatloaf, giant ice cream cones, soup of the day, The Great Northern’s interesting clientele, awkward family dinners and inappropriate jokes. Join us for a slice of cherry pie and some damn good coffee.

  • Food recap: Twin Peaks s01e01 (the pilot)

    I’m recapping all food from Twin Peaks! Spoiler alert…because there is SO much food it often overlaps with actual plot.

    …

    Recipes (so far) from this episode

    …

    Right from the first episode we get the motifs of coffee, cherry pie, and donuts that pretty much define the show. There’s a ton of food in the feature-length pilot, so let’s get started….

    The very first food scene we are treated to in Twin Peaks is when Pete comes in to fill his thermos with coffee and is greeted by Catherine’s resting bitch face.

    You know who else drinks coffee? Sheriff Harry S. Truman.

    Two average, not at all creepy households.
    The Palmers: some sweet product placement with Quaker oatmeal and Captain Crunch. Fruit in a basket. Shiny carafe. Coffee perhaps?
    The Briggs: Also a carafe, cute little spice rack.

    Nice big hotel breakfast at the Great Northern for the Norwegians. Braided bread? And a carafe, of course. Not food related, but this watch I’m noticing how Ben Horne is always in front of a roaring fire, à la Satan.

    First sighting of The RR! Based on the real-life Twedes Cafe. So much of our show food comes from here.

    You know who else drinks coffee? Bobby Briggs.

    Norma serves coffee, and behind Shelly is a full case of pie. This is not the last we’ll see of that pie.

    I don’t think that’s coffee.
    PS, “I thought I was your little pick-me-up” is the cutest line ever and Shelly is the best.

    Ed to James: “Buy you a coffee?” TV seems to think highschool kids drinking coffee is a thing – is it really? I guess I shouldn’t get too hung up on highschool accuracy since they don’t really bother to go to school much after the first couple of episodes, that is until Nadine becomes a mental teenage, gets superhuman strength, and joins the wrestling team.

    COOPER!!! To Diane: Lunch was $6.31 at the Lamplighter Inn on HWY 2 near Louis Fork. That was tuna fish sandwich on whole wheat, slice of cherry pie and a cup of coffee. Damn good food. Diane, if you ever get up this way, that cherry pie is worth a stop.

    From Laura’s diary: Asparagus for dinner again. I hate asparagus. Does this mean I’ll never grow up?
    Oh wow, sad. Feel the weight of that one for a minute.

    Diane, I am holding in my hand a small box of chocolate bunnies.
    This may be the moment I decided I loved Twin Peaks.

    It’s a beautiful day for a picnic.

    We don’t yet know if Audrey Horne drinks coffee, but we do know she’ll use it to eff up your desk. Audrey is way more annoying than sexy in the pilot.

    The Hornes, having a SUPER awkward tea.

    Between Husband of the Year Leo, Your Idiot Boyfriend Bobby, and actual decent people Norma and Ed – well, they are having an affair, but compared to these other two? – there’s a fair amount of beer drinking going on.

    “Do you think they spotted us?” “Get me a donut.”
    …and I guess they got donuts!

    Aaand we wrap up the episode with one of Lucy’s classic donut spreads. A policeman’s dream. Extra jelly donuts for Agent Cooper, extra decaf for Andy.

    …

    Check back soon for another damn good food recap. In the meantime, you can check our Twin Peaks episode on Fiction Kitchen Podcast!