Birthday Dinner for Two.

Friday was The Fiance's birthday, so to celebrate I cooked him his favorite meal - steak - with a twist of my own: blue cheese-shallot butter. I didn't use a recipe, per se, but this should get you close enough (measurements are for two). Sorry, I forgot to take pictures!

1 shallot, finely chopped
2 T. butter (not margarine or spread)
1 T. fresh parsley, finely chopped
1/4 cup blue cheese (I used Stilton)
Cracked black pepper

Melt the butter over medium heat. Caramelize the shallots in melted butter. When they begin to turn golden brown, add parsley and blue cheese. Turn down heat and stir till cheese begins to soften. Stir in pepper to taste. Serve over steak or chicken (this would be great with a spicy Cajun or Buffalo-style chicken).

I marinated a flank steak in soy, pineapple, and garlic, then grilled it. The Fiance pronounced it a delicious combination, especially served with garlicky green beans and a good red wine! Plus it's ridiculously easy to put together as long as you watch the butter...burned shallots are not Good Eats.

Not Exactly Authentic.

I love Greek yogurt. Until recently, however, I haven’t been able to find any form of Greek yogurt at my local grocery stores, although the Stonyfield Farm Organic plain yogurt does come close to both the tartness and thick texture of Greek yogurt. I’ve used it successfully in a variety of applications recently, and I’m very pleased with its taste and performance.

So I was pleasantly surprised to find Oikos Organic Nonfat Greek Yogurt in the dairy section of my local Kroger this week; since it is also made by Stonyfield Farm (in partnership with Euphrates, Inc.), I assumed it would be good quality. I bought one pot each of both available flavors, Blueberry and Honey, although I was disappointed that Plain was not available because that is my favorite, and is also the most versatile for recipes. (It is available in some markets, as noted on their website, www.oikosorganic.com.)

Sadly I was disappointed in both varieties. The blueberry flavor, with an almost jam-like “fruit” on the bottom, is very sweet, overwhelmingly fruity, and is not as thick as I expect from a yogurt claiming to be “authentic organic Greek strained yogurt.” The honey flavor fared a little better, although it too was quite sweet and was too thin to be Greek yogurt. Neither variety had any of the tartness generally found in Greek yogurt, either.

I didn’t find any substantial difference between this yogurt and Dannon or any other “higher-end” yogurt. Moreover, at $1.46 for a small 5.3-ounce pot, it’s very pricey even for organic yogurt (in comparison, Stonyfield Farm’s "home-brand" small pots of organic fruit-flavored yogurt are 78 cents at the same store). While I enjoy both authentic Greek yogurt and several of Stonyfield Farm’s offerings, I won’t be buying Oikos again.

The Hero We've Been Waiting For.

I'll let you in on a secret: I'm a woman in my mid-twenties, and I love comic book movies. Even the debacle that was last year's The Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer could not manage to quench my enthusiasm for the genre. After all, it has everything that I think makes for a great movie-going experience: hot guys in tight clothing, a little existential discussion on the nature of good and evil, and things that go boom.

I've been looking forward to The Dark Knight since I knew they were making it. I saw Batman Begins in cinemas five times, and while it's far from perfect, it opened the door for movies like this year's Iron Man, which blends a stellar cast, a bit of fun, a bunch of big toys, and some serious post-9/11 discussion on the nature of war, the nature of responsibility, and perhaps most importantly the nature of guilt. I was blown away by Iron Man and, while I hoped The Dark Knight would be as good, I couldn't imagine it would be better.

I was wrong. The Dark Knight takes the "I'm-not-really-a-comic-book-movie" ethos of Iron Man a step farther, into territory darker than most crime movies dare to go. It has more in common with hardboiled flicks like The Departed or Layer Cake than fluff like The Fantastic Four. While it's only rated PG-13, this is definitely not a movie to take your kids to: although there is very little onscreen gore, I haven't been this monumentally uncomfortable watching movie villains do their thing since The Silence of the Lambs. And The Dark Knight has more in common with that film than it'd appear to, at first. The antagonist and protagonist here also dance circles around each other in a relationship that becomes surprisingly codependent: "We could do this forever," purrs the Joker in one climactic scene, and by that point we understand why. Batman and the Joker are the Yin and the Yang of crime.

But The Dark Knight is more than just a masterful crime thriller, although it has its fair share of perfectly-timed mayhem. It's also a highly effective look at the torn post-9/11 American psyche. Batman wants to hang up the mantle and live a normal life, but he's also created a world where his very existence means he can't. He's a character compelled to continually clean up the messes of the world, but in the act of doing so he creates the possibility of endlessly worse ones. He's playing a game with an opponent who doesn't have any rules, and so he is faced with the question that haunts so many films of this type: where does one draw the line? And how does one fight a force that doesn't want anything but, as the wise Alfred puts it, "to watch the world burn"? Wisely, the film doesn't offer any tidy answers, and it doesn't put everything back together in a neat montage at the end. Things get broken that will never be fixed.

Because of its obsession with deep psychological issues both political and personal, The Dark Knight is Gotham Noir. It's not a happy movie. Children have guns pointed at their heads. Women get hurt. People die. Even the overall look of the film is murky. But every once in a while it shows a glimmer of very dark comedy, and surprisingly the humor in this film comes almost entirely from its darkest denizen: Heath Ledger's Joker. This performance has been talked about for months, and while I've always been a fan of Ledger (even in godawful movies like A Knight's Tale), I had to wonder whether the performance could possibly live up to the hype.

It does, and more. Nicholson's Joker was a ham with wacky clown makeup; Ledger's, a deeply psychotic, tragically wounded young man who sucks on his scarred cheeks as he talks and likes to kill with knives, he says, because he likes to "savor all the emotions" that a blade brings out. Yet he also brings a deadpan humor that verges on slapstick in some scenes: the physical comedy Ledger brings to one scene involving a malfunctioning bomb timer is nothing less than brilliant. The balance is perfect. He's disturbing to watch, but you can't take your eyes off him. I can say without reservation that he'll be not only the quintessential Joker but the gold standard for psychotic movie villains in general for a long time to come, and would have been even without his tragic and all-too-soon death.

The rest of the cast are excellent, although nobody else comes close to touching Ledger's level of connection with his character (perhaps to the benefit of the audience, as this film is emotionally draining to begin with). Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne is as slick as ever, and although the raspy voice he uses as Batman can be distracting, he holds his own admirably against his opponents - no easy feat in this film. Aaron Eckhart is your typical handsome blonde good-guy as D.A. Harvey Dent, but even before his inevitable downfall we sense there's something not-so-noble lurking under the attractive surface. Gary Oldman's flawless Gordon makes it easy to forget he's acting. Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine are, well, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine. And thankfully, Katie Holmes is nowhere to be seen, replaced by a competent if outshone Maggie Gyllenhaal.

The Dark Knight has raised the bar for not just comic book movies, but movies in general. One reviewer claims that if it gets anything less than a Best Picture nomination, he'll be outraged, and I agree, particularly with the last few years of Oscar-nominated (and winning) movies like The Departed, There Will Be Blood, and No Country For Old Men, all of which deal with the psyches of the deeply disturbed and question if any of us are really normal. My one real quarrel with the film is that, even at 2 hours 35 minutes, it's too short. I wanted in particular to see more of one character's transformation, but I think there's room for that in a third movie, hints for which are definitely dropped in this one.

Just do me one favor, Chris Nolan: don't bring back Robin.

My Ultimate Grilled Cheese.

I was in an experimental mood a few days ago and trying to clean out some leftovers, so I decided to see what I could use Stonyfield Farms plain yogurt and a large quantity of cheese for. I came up with what could be one of the best grilled cheese sandwiches I've ever eaten! It's a bit gooey, but that shouldn't be a problem for real aficionados. I don't have pictures - I devoured it before I thought to photograph! - but next time I make this, I'll take some shots.

First, I buttered two slices of bread. In my opinion this is a crucial step in making grilled cheese that can't be skipped, because it makes the bread deliciously crispy. I've seen Alton Brown use olive oil, and I've experimented with that, but in my opinion the butter just contributes so much both taste- and texture-wise that it's worth the fat. I used some sturdy sourdough I had left over, and I really liked the tartness of that.

Next (this is my "ultimate" step), I spread plain yogurt on the insides of both slices of bread. Don't go overboard with this step or you'll end up with a soggy sandwich, but this is, in my opinion, what made this sandwich so very good. The yogurt gives a wonderful tangy flavor and gooeyness to the sandwich that a regular grilled cheese doesn't have. A caution: use a thick, rich yogurt like Stonyfield Farms or Fage, because they have the body to stand up to this treatment. A plain Dannon-ish yogurt is too runny and will ruin your sandwich.

Next, I layered on some feather-shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese and a few slices of brie. I love brie in sandwiches because it melts like a dream, but combined with the sharp cheddar it is a very strong taste which some may not prefer. I guess you could use a shredded gruyere in place of the brie. Anyway, once the cheese was on, I put the sandwich, butter-side down, in a hot pan and pressed it using a plate and a can of pineapple, because I've lost my cast-iron grill press. (Sadness!) I flipped it once during cooking to brown both sides. The gooey, rich center was amazing, and I really think the yogurt added a special touch to this sandwich. I'll be making it again soon!

The Next Food Network...Moderately-Competent Cook?

This show is one of my guilty pleasures this season, although it's getting more and more painful to watch. Last week, Adam - a contestant who was openly called a "bozo" by Suzie Fogelson, Food Network's VP of Marketing - stayed on even though Bob Tuschman, the senior VP of programming and production, told him that with the exception of one dish his food "has not been good." The one dish Adam has done well in the entire competition? Cheese fries. I'm no food snob and I don't have anything against cheese fries. I love potatoes, especially when they're deep fried and loaded with cheese and sour cream. But frankly, cheese fries are dorm food. How is the ability to cook that a qualification for being the next major TV "chef"?

Even Adam is not the worst, however. Jennifer, a single mom, has been guilty of creating such culinarily-confused dishes as mashed potato pizza, which I swear she called on camera a "healthier way to eat pizza" because it was low-carb. Mashed potato pizza, folks. Not surprisingly, she was finally sent home this week after a disastrous broken-glass incident in the kitchen.

On Sunday, the remaining finalists are competing in yet another challenge to prove their mettle as chefs. The assignment? Cook in front of a live studio audience with Rachael Ray. Those of you who frequently read my blog know I harbor no love for Ms. Ray, and I'm consistently irritated by her lackadaisical, sloppy, and uninformed approach to cooking. Yet she's a Food Network darling, and I think The Next Food Network Star explains why. Contestants whom the judging panel openly admit do not cook good food stay in the competition while others go home for not being "authentic personalities." But on a network devoted to food, shouldn't both count? If you have an oversize personality but all you can cook well is cheese fries, shouldn't that be a sign that you probably don't belong on your own cooking show?

The answer, at least on the Food Network, is no. After all, the last winner of this competition was Guy Fieri, whose claim to fame is his not-found-in-nature haircolor and his ability to eat six-pound hamburgers on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. And this is the network that rocketed Rachael Ray, that cross-contaminating queen of food misinformation and ignorance, to fame. Now she's going to be responsible for sending one person home, and that person will likely know more than she does about food. Which, granted, may not be saying much.

Personally, I'm rooting for the 19-year-old Shane. And when a 19-year-old is the best-informed chef on TV, it's a sad day for food, folks.

Paraskavedekatriaphobia.

That sesquipedalian monstrosity is a word meaning "the fear of Friday the 13th." Apparently, this phobia is so widespread that it gets its own Greek term.

Tomorrow is Friday the 13th, a day long held to be one of the unluckiest in the year. M. Night Shyamalan's new film, The Happening, is opening tomorrow, with what I suppose is to be a metaphorical symbolism of some sort (although if you really subscribe to superstitions, I should think you'd avoid beginning a financial venture of that caliber on the unluckiest day of the year).

However, at least if one lives in the Netherlands, Friday the 13th may be a bit luckier...at least for your property. A new study shows that "fewer accidents and reports of fire and theft occur when the 13th of the month falls on a Friday than on other Fridays." Furthermore, the number of traffic accidents reported during the study fell by 300, from 7,800 on a typical Friday to 7,500 on a Friday the 13th. Perhaps, like some of the 21 million Americans who suffer from paraskavedekatriaphobia, those Dutch people just can't make themselves leave the house.

However, not all are so lucky. A study in the British Medical Journal found that the number of hospital admissions for traffic-related injuries in Britain rose rather significantly on Fridays which were also the 13th of the month (up to a 52 percent increase).

The moral of all this? Clearly, the only place to be on a Friday the 13th is Amsterdam. Guess I need to cash in those frequent-flier miles.

I Can't Believe It's Not...Yogurt?

Recently, Stonyfield Farms Organic Yogurt has been airing a "30-Second Healthy Meals" commercial on the Food Network. In it, on a set that looks suspiciously like Rachael Ray's own "30-Minute Meals" set, a man says you can save a lot of calories and fat by substituting their yogurt for butter, mayonnaise, or oil in recipes.

I have to admit, this amuses me to no end. It's clearly a jab at Rachael Ray's fat-laden, oil-drenched "recipes," which obliterate otherwise healthy ingredients like lean proteins and vegetables by smothering them with EVOO-that's-Extra-Virgin-Olive-Oil and a pound or so of cheese. And the irony is that the commercial often airs during her shows.

Although their mild criticisms of Ray would certainly win them points with me anyway, Stonyfield's low-fat plain yogurt has also become a new favorite ingredient for my ongoing culinary experiments. It is much thicker and tarter than "regular" yogurts like Dannon, more similar to the Greek yogurt that I learned to love in London, with a great texture that stands up well in sauces and dressings (and it has no added sugar). It's delicious topped with a few berries and granola for breakfast, or as a tangy, tasty substitute for mayonnaise and sour cream. For example, yesterday I made a traditional chicken salad with shredded chicken, pecans, granny smith apples, and plain yogurt rather than mayonnaise. The result was tarter and more refreshing than the original dish, which I've enjoyed for years.

And, oh, last week, thanks to the goodness of my Secret Wren Friend, I whipped up a Five-Spice chicken with steamed broccoli and cashews, tossed with just a bit of plain yogurt at the end which tamed the heat of the spices just a bit and made a creamy sauce for the vegetables. Just delicious!

So thanks, Stonyfield Farms, for not only making a quality product but taking the time to make fun of inferior products. It's appreciated.