Month: February 2011

Shadow Theatre & Northern Light Theatre: “Meat Puppet”

On Saturday, Mack and I took in a matinee performance of Meat Puppet at the Varscona Theatre, a show put on jointly by Shadow Theatre and Northern Light Theatre (speaking of which, NLT has such striking poster designs this year – the use of dolls is eye-catching and inspired, though I suppose the poster for Pervert may not be embraced by all).

This show will be the introductory production for many to the work of Leif Oleson-Cormack, though he has also written shows for the New Works and Fringe Festivals. That said, Meat Puppet’s dark nature, exploring the motivations behind a fictional television program similar to NBC’s much-maligned series To Catch a Predator, is a departure from his previous two Edmonton shows. Meat Puppet is billed as a comedy, however, so I still expected it to highlight Leif’s wit and penchant for snappy dialogue.

The banter was enjoyable, particularly between the show’s host, Chuck Dalmer (John Hudson) and his plucky producer Deb (April Banigan). On the other hand, the tone of the play was perplexing – it tried to straddle the line between comedy and drama, but probably would have been more successful if it had chosen one or the other. I suppose for me, anyway, shows like To Catch a Predator always seemed to lure viewers with a morbid curiosity, rather than those looking for a cheap laugh – so the downfall of the “predators”  always seemed more tragic than funny.

I did like the connection of this kind of train wreck journalism with the internet sensationalism that continues to gain momentum today, however – it might be even more dangerous than television because of its instantaneity and ease to be shared.

If anything, Meat Puppet was a thought-provoking play, especially in this age of reality programming, where producers and editors can manipulate – and sometimes create – the “truth”.

Meat Puppet runs at the Varscona Theatre until February 6, 2011.

The Cooking Chronicles: Stew-pendous

Eye-rolling title aside, since launching into the world of meat stew a few weeks ago, we’ve continued to crave it, and have been experimenting with different recipes to satisfy that craving.

Mushroom Stew with Beef Chunks

Mark Bittman says that his recipe for mushroom stew with beef chunks can be easily adapted into a vegetarian dish by simply using more mushrooms, but since we had a package of beef stew meat left (our dwindling cow share stash), I thought it would be a good recipe to make and compare with our previous slow-roasted version.

This stew cooks up on the stovetop, for around an hour and a half. What sets it apart is the inclusion of dried mushrooms (we used porcini), and the soaking liquid. Our entire condo was perfumed with the scent of the mushrooms, which also had the effect of lightening the dish as well, as the broth was more liquid than paste).

The beef, as expected, wasn’t as tender as when cooked in the oven for a longer period of time, but it was still pretty tasty. Both of us agreed, though, that the best thing about the dish really was the broth. No stock/wine combination could outshine the aromatic porcini liquid, especially to have been made in that amount of time.

Mushroom Stew with Beef Chunks

Mushroom stew with beef chunks

Elk Stew

Stew is great not only for its comforting aspects, but is the perfect winter meal – nearly all the ingredients for a typical stew can be found at your local farmers’ market right now. For us, this means potatoes from Greens, Eggs and Ham, carrots from Riverbend Gardens, mushrooms from MoNa…and elk from Shooting Star Ranch.

I decided to give elk stew a try after talking to Christine from Shooting Star at the Alberta Avenue Farmers’ Market. She convinced me to try using sirloin meat, and had advised me on cooking it “low and slow” (low meaning 250F) for several hours.

Of course, being the overreaching cook that I am, I thought I would be able to make this stew on a weeknight. To compensate for the time, I jacked up the temperature somewhat (about 315 for the first hour, and 275 for the second).

I realized in hindsight that a high temperature wasn’t necessary – the elk was super lean, but more than that, the consistency of the meat reminded me of liver – supple and maroon in colour (interestingly enough, it tasted slightly of liver too – some pieces that I bit in to had a faint metallic tang). Needless to say, I think I cooked the living daylights out of the sirloin, so I definitely learned my lesson: follow the instructions!

Elk Stew

Elk stew