The Primetime Emmy Awards air next Monday, August 25. While there are many superb dramas honored with nominations, I have to admit that I'm rooting for a little black comedy/crime drama about a mild-mannered family man and school teacher who makes a big change in his life after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Emmy Update - Breaking Bad won big. Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Writing, and Outstanding Drama Series of the Year. Congrats to the cast, crew, and creator Vince Gilligan. (Click here and find out what Vince said about writing that Marc and I wholeheartedly agree with!)
To save his family from financial ruin, Walter White breaks bad and pays his medical bills by entering the criminal underworld—not as an amateur sleuth. More like an amateur criminal. He uses his knowledge of chemistry to make meth with a hapless former student. The results are a mesmerizing odyssey of comedy and crime; tears and terror. It's one of the best written television shows I've ever seen, and (no surprise) it's up for a slew of well-deserved primetime Emmy Awards, including Best Drama, Best Supporting Actor and Actress, and a Best Actor nod for series star Bryan Cranston.
***
Breaking Bad, an offbeat AMC TV crime drama series is a basic cable show, up for multiple Emmy Awards. The awards show takes place Monday night 8/25.
***
So why am I featuring Breaking Bad in my weekly recipe blog post? Because, frankly, the show features a lot of cooking.
Okay, much of that cooking involves Walter White cooking up a narcotic called Blue Sky (aka Blue Magic). But...his distribution partner owns a chicken franchise called Los Pollos Hermanos, and the legit food looks mighty good, I must say.
Okay, much of that cooking involves Walter White cooking up a narcotic called Blue Sky (aka Blue Magic). But...his distribution partner owns a chicken franchise called Los Pollos Hermanos, and the legit food looks mighty good, I must say.
The show’s culinary legacy also involves a corrupt executive from a German food conglomerate. One unforgettable episode opened with a taste-tester sampling new dipping sauces created by its food lab.
What happens next, I won't spoil. Instead, I'll focus on the intriguing mention of a dipping sauce the lab called "Franch."
Described as a combination of America’s neon-orange French dressing and traditional Ranch, a "recipe" for Franch went viral as soon as it was mentioned on the incredibly popular show.
*****
NOTE - If you choose to use bottled dressing,
the key to success is getting the ratio right when you
mix the two dressings. I give you a quick tip on how
to do it in my second Franch recipe below. ~ Cleo
NOTE - If you choose to use bottled dressing,
the key to success is getting the ratio right when you
mix the two dressings. I give you a quick tip on how
to do it in my second Franch recipe below. ~ Cleo
Cleo Coyle's (version of)
The Breaking Bad
Franch Dip and Dressing
 |
Cleo Coyle has a partner in
crime-writing—her husband.
Learn about their books
|
Marc and I will be whipping up a new batch for the Emmy Awards show next Monday. Whether you're breaking bread or Breaking Bad, we hope you enjoy the show...and eat with joy.
~ Cleo
~ Cleo
To download this recipe in a
free PDF document that you
can print, save, or share, click here.
 |
| To download this free recipe PDF, click here. |
Makes about 2 cups
Ingredients
2/3 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped (or 1 teaspoon dry)
1 tablespoon fresh chives, chopped (or 1 teaspoon dry)
1 teaspoon fresh dill, chopped (or ½ teaspoon dry)
3 whole scallions, minced (including the green part)
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons ketchup
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon red hot sauce
½ teaspoon cider vinegar
3 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lime juice
2/3 cup mayonnaise (more or less) to thicken
Directions: Blend all of the ingredient, except the lime juice and mayonnaise. Add the lime juice and blend again. Adjust spices for taste, and then add mayonnaise, 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time, until the dressing reaches desired thickness. Store in an airtight container and refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving. Dressing will stay fresh for up to five days.
Cleo's Criminally Easy
Franch Dip and Dressing
Ingredients
2/3 cup of bottled Ranch Dressing
1/3 cup bottled French Dressing
Directions: Combine well and enjoy. Like the scratch version, this recipe works wonderfully as a salad dressing and makes an excellent dip for raw veggies, chicken nuggets, onion rings, and French fries. We even enjoy it as a sandwich spread, and it's quite tasty on hamburgers, too.
May you...
Eat with joy!
New York Times bestselling author of
The Coffeehouse Mysteries
Happy News!
Just in from
our editor...
our editor...
Our hardcover
bestseller is now
an official bestseller
in paperback!
bestseller is now
an official bestseller
in paperback!
*Starred Review ~ Kirkus
"Top Pick" ~ RT Book Reviews
"A highly satisfying mystery" - PW
"Top Pick" ~ RT Book Reviews
"A highly satisfying mystery" - PW
Billionaire Blend
A Coffeehouse Mystery
A Coffeehouse Mystery
This culinary murder mystery features
more than 30 delicious recipes, including
secret "off the menu" coffee drinks.
Read (and eat) with joy!
more than 30 delicious recipes, including
secret "off the menu" coffee drinks.
Read (and eat) with joy!
See the Billionaire Blend
Recipe Guide by clicking here.
Recipe Guide by clicking here.
***
Download a Free Title Checklist for
all 13 Coffeehouse Mysteries
(with mini plot summaries)
by clicking here.
by clicking here.
To sign up for Cleo Coyle's
fun E-Newsletter and weekly
free coffee drawings,
click here.
fun E-Newsletter and weekly
free coffee drawings,
click here.
You're so clever Cleo! At first I feared you were going to mix two bottles of dressing together:) but I'll try this one. John loves Breaking Bad, but it's too dark for me...
ReplyDeleteWith murder our stock-in-trade (so to speak!), I try to give crime dramas of all kinds a viewing, and plenty are too dark for me, too, Lucy/Roberta, and I can understand your feelings about Breaking Bad. I'm sure many more folks will say just that in the comments -- too dark.
DeleteAnd while it is a dark show, as a writer of books and plays, I was so impressed with the cast of characters and their development and journeys (so to speak) and especially the humor laced into it that I couldn't stop watching. It became addictive (not unlike the narcotic Walter, the mild-mannered chemistry teacher cooks up to save his family from those awful medical bills -- a horror in itself for far too many families). Seeing the show to its inevitable end was a dreadful pleasure. Powerful stuff.
Thanks for dropping into the Kitchen today, you are a very good sport for leaving a comment!
Cheers to you,
~ Cleo Coffeehouse Mystery.com
“Where coffee and crime are always brewing…”
Cleo Coyle on Twitter
www.CleoCoyleRecipes.com
I've never seen the show, but we only get basic channels. I don't bother to even turn the TV on most of the time.
ReplyDeleteI'll be making the bottled version, although I'm sure the from scratch one is tastier. Hubby's favorite dressing is Buffalo Ranch (Wishbone). It's ranch dressing with Redhot, which would be really easy to make from scratch even for lazy cooks like me, lol.
And that's exactly why I included the FRANCH "bottled version" of the recipe! I suspect 90% of the people who try the Franch recipe will do exactly what the Huffington Post food editors did, and you are going to do—mix two bottles!
DeleteNote, however, that my recipe for doing this is no joke…
Marc and I taste-tested various ratios. We found 50-50 far too cloying and sweet, but that magic mix of 2/3 bottled Ranch dressing and 1/3 bottled French dressing really does produce (as I mentioned in the post) a zingy, creamy result for dipping veggies, chicken nuggets, French fries, and tossing with salads.
We hope you and your hubby enjoy it, Joyce. Thanks for dropping in today and may you...
Have a delicious week,
~ Cleo Coffeehouse Mystery.com
“Where coffee and crime are always brewing…”
Cleo Coyle on Twitter
www.CleoCoyleRecipes.com
P.S. - I do need to note (someone pointed out to me) that Breaking Bad is on AMC and that is basic cable with commercials, not a paid station. Thank you, and I'll put that note in the post, too. Cheers... ~ Cleo
DeleteYou're taking me back to the days when I had a favorite bottled dressing that I loved on sandwiches. That was a long time ago. I do love Ranch dressing, and I had forgotten how good French dressing is until I had it again recently. They don't seem like they would go together but I'm not surprised that they do.
ReplyDelete