Dinner and a Movie™: Executive Decision and Chicken & FauxJacks

Dave and I, after much painful trial and error, have declared Sundays "socializing-free zones," which means that except for major occasions – like a friend's recent wedding – we don't make plans with other humans on Sundays. It's our day to sleep late, do laundry, cook for the week, taunt the cat about being a skinny-ass Zombie beast, read books, take a nap, sit in the yard and think about nothing... or scrap all of that and just lie in bed with the A/C cranked while watching an entire season of a TV show on DVD.

Once the chores are done, we reward ourselves with Dinner & A Movie™. Our dining room table faces the TV, so we dim the lights and sit side-by-side, just like the Alamo Drafthouse, only Paleo-Zone-friendly and free.

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This week, we had Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes & Chicken (a.k.a., FauxJacks & Chicken) and watched the Steven Seagal/Kurt Russell/Halle Berry film Executive Decision. I give the dinner 4 stars; my compliments to the cook (me!). The movie gets 2 stars for the actual movie, but 4 stars for including Oliver Platt in the cast. I love Oliver Platt!

A few things you should know before reading further:

1. I've never really been a pancake or waffle person. I like sweets, but I'd usually rather tuck into something salty and greasy. But then a friend took us to Roscoe's in L.A., and I had fried chicken and waffles. Oh, my. A drizzle of maple syrup made the juxtaposition of the crispy, salty chicken and sweet, crisp waffle magical. Saturday morning, a local TV show had J from Lucky J's Chicken and Waffles as a guest, and dang! if I wasn't craving chicken and waffles all day.

2. I love to measure and weigh my food. It makes me feel comfortable, and I like the precision of it... like being an alchemist. Feel free to be loosey-goosey with the recipe below, if you're that kind of cook.

3. Paleo-Steve published his Paleo Pumpkin Recipe this weekend. It sounded delicious, but was a little too high in fat and calories for my daily allowance, so I used his recipe as a start and modified it to work for me. You can see his original here – along with a bunch of other tasty recipes. He's a great cook!

Our Menu
Maple Almond Pumpkin FauxJacks
Grilled Chicken Thighs & Chicken Sausage
Garlic Sauteed Broccoli (gotta have veggies!)
Apple or Pear
Special treat: 100% Pure Maple Syrup

The Movie: Executive Decision
"Fasten your seat belts. Five miles above the earth, an elite team of six men must make an air to air transfer, in order to save 400 lives on board a 747... and 40 million below."

Why this movie is AWESOME:

• Steven Seagal's character is named Lieutenant Colonel Austin Travis.
  
• Every character actor whose face you recognize and whose name you don't know is in this movie.
  
• OLIVER PLATT!!!
  
• It won a Blockbuster Award (somewhat respectable) and was nominated for a Razzie award, which is "...intended to counterpoint the Academy Awards by dishonoring (or honoring) the worst acting, screenwriting, songwriting, directing, and films that the film industry had to offer."
• Halle Berry initally refused the part of "flight attendant" in this movie, but said yes when she was offered $1 million for the job. This was her first $1 million payment for a film. (This fact is most amusing when you actually sit through her performance.)
• It includes the line, "I think we're looking up the ass-end of a dead dog, but it's worth a try."

RECIPE

Maple Almond Pumpkin FauxJacks
Makes 5-6 FauxJacks (about 3-4 inches across)

Ingredients:
1 egg
2 egg whites
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
3 oz. maple almond butter (or plain)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp nutmeg
oil for cooking

Directions:
1. Put all the ingredients in a large bowl and beat with a wire wisk. It took a few minutes to make everything nice and smooth. I got a little sweaty, even. It's a nice way to work those CrossFit-built guns. Make sure you switch hands from time to time! Set the bowl aside for a few minutes so the flavors can meld.

2. Heat a non-stick skillet until it's good and hot. Add oil and swivel to coat the pan. Drop the batter in 1/4 cup servings into the pan. When bubbles begin to appear and the edges are set, flip and cook the other side. They cook pretty fast. I used 1/2 teaspoon of oil to cook each batch, and I made our FauxJacks in two batches.

3. Here's my recommendation for how to use maple syrup to marry the sweet / savory / chewy / tender characteristics... Drizzle the FauxJack with a little syrup; I ended up using 2 teaspoons. Cut a bite-sized piece of chicken. Cut a bite-sized piece of FauxJack. Spear them both with your fork and... chomp! Yummy!

I suppose you could also have these with the usual breakfast trappings, if you must.

Here's the batter being dropped into the pan.
Holding together and browning nicely!
Mmmmm... FauxJacks.
Here's our finished tray, ready to dig in.
Nutrition info for FauxJacks, per serving, not including cooking oil:
calories: 342
protein: 4g
fat: 28g
carb: 14g

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I'm excited to once again join the food punk rockers on Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade.