kevin & scotty – Page 3 – Ultimate Macfarlane

Side Dish: TV Dinners (January 4, 2010)

Jan 4, 2010Apr 27, 2016 admin Press No Comments

04/01/2010

On a recent trip to our neighborhood grocery store Kevin sarcastically commented as we strolled through the frozen food aisle that perhaps I should consider adding a few frozen entrees to the menu at San Estephe.

“Who doesn’t love Salisbury Steak?” he joked, looking at a box featuring two glistening, almost-edible-looking Salisbury Steaks. “And it even comes with dessert, too!” Kevin said, pointing to the brownie on the package.

“Very funny” I muttered, as we proceeded to the deli counter. But it got me thinking — the TV dinner market must be a multi-million dollar industry and I’m sure those frozen little trays have come a long way since Americans first sat down with Swanson’s in front of their TV to watch John Glenn orbit the earth and Jack Paar in color.

Maybe they were worth a second look. In terms of convenience, a TV dinner you can cook in 5 minutes while doing nothing more strenuous than peeling back plastic and stirring once, seems like a no-brainer. We’re all short on time. All of our lives are hectic (especially mine over the last few weeks with Kitty’s illness!) And, if the pictures on the boxes were to be believed, these dinners might not be so bad after all. And if I can have dinner ready in 5 minutes (with almost nothing to clean up afterwards), I can spend more time with the people I love. I was sold.

So as Kevin considered the difference between Bratwurst and Bockwurst (he loves his sausage), I scooped up a few frozen dinners to taste and review. As I loaded my basket I also got to thinking, with restaurants adding gourmet versions of home-cooked classics to their menus all the time (Mac and Cheese, meatloaf, etc.) maybe I’d find inspiration for one or two new menu items in one of these frozen plastic trays. Maybe Kevin was right about everyone loving Salisbury Steak.

But maybe not.

Below are some of my findings:

Fettuccine Alfredo: Mushy noodles with a side of Nursing Home Vegetables just like Grandma use to make. After she got dementia.

Pumpkin Squash Ravioli: The aroma of autumn in northern Vermont, the taste of a wet sleeping bag. No thank you.

“Healthy” Ham and Cheese Panini: Gummy texture and hot hot hot. I can’t tell you what it tastes like for it burned my buds off!

Gold Rush Chicken Pot Pie: This was my top pick by far. The flakey upper crust is a miracle. “There is gold in these here mountains” It, however, had the longest cooking time of any of the meals. And finally we come to it…

Salisbury Steak: This meal featured very eccentric multi-phased cooking instructions: “Cut and remove the plastic around the brownie. Cook. Remove the brownie. Cook some more.” I think this kind of contradicts the image of a starving guy looking for food: “Fee Fi Fo Fum, hold on a second until this crappy brownie is done” The main protein of this meal were two truly terrifying Salisbury steak-like meats. Stay away. No one should eat this. It will never be near the menu at San Estephe. In fact, I will cook a meal for any of you who have eaten one of these as my way of exorcising those demons from your system.

So there you have it. We may be able to put a man the moon but the frozen dinner is still mostly gravity-locked. And the idea that these meals are “convenient time savers” really doesn’t hold up to me. In fact, watching the Salisbury Steak slowly turn as it cooked, I was reminded of a basic tenet of cooking: Slow food is good food. I believe that cooking a meal is a way of preparing for a moment when time stops.

A fine and balanced forkful should freeze us in time until we finish chewing. So what’s the rush? If you take the time to cook, your “food” becomes a “meal” and you get all that time back.

Side Dish: Playing with food (December 7, 2009)

Dec 7, 2009Apr 27, 2016 admin Press No Comments

07/12/2009

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Last week at San Estephe as we were prepping for the evening’s dinner service we had a young visitor in the kitchen: our saucier Steve’s 8-year old son Ricky had stopped by with his mother. In that way only kids can, he announced that he was thirsty so I offered to get him a drink.

“Are you going to use that soda gun thingy?” Ricky asked, his eyes lighting up.

I replied: “I was…unless…you wanted to do it yourself.” You would have thought I had just told him he never had to do his homework again. He was ecstatic.

Ricky insisted on doing the whole thing himself – he took a cup, filled it with ice and then used the soda gun to make a “Secret Recipe” drink, which as far as I could tell, was made by pushing every button on the soda gun at least once. While he was proudly adjusting the ratio of Root Beer to Tonic Water, his mom yelled to him: “Ricky, stop playing with that! We’re leaving.” He secretly squirted the root beer a few more times, took one final taste and proudly nodded his approval to me as he and his mom walked out.

As I went back to work I realized that my own culinary journey was the direct result of ignoring anyone who told me not to play with my food. My earliest recipes were all the result of my wandering into my parents’ kitchen and playing with whatever we had on hand. Even now developing recipes is nothing but a slightly more elaborate and socially acceptable version of playing with my food. And while most of my kitchen accidents ended up in the trash (R.I.P. Citrus Fruit Stir Fry), some ended up on the menu at San Estephe.

When a kid plays with his food he’s called “rambunctious.” When a chef does it, he’s called “innovative.”

Legend says that Coca-Cola, potato chips, chocolate chip cookies, the French Dip sandwich, and even cheese are all foods that came about by chance; by adults who didn’t listen to their mothers growing up.

Even this morning as Kevin and I drove down Wilshire Blvd I came across yet another example of people playing with their food…this time, for a great cause. CanstructionLA is a competition between LA’s leading architects, engineers and designers who built enormous sculptures all out of cans of food.

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The structures were put on display in the building lobby at 5900 Wilshire Blvd for people to enjoy and, after two weeks, all the canned food is donated to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. Last year they raised 62,000 cans and this year it looked like even more. That’s the kind of playing with your food we can all get behind.

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While there is something to be said for having kids (and adults!) being well behaved, there is also something to be said for the brilliant wit of discovery that kids seem to best embody.

So what did I do when I got back to the kitchen?? I picked up a glass, filled it with ice and sprayed every flavor from the soda gun into the cup. Maybe Ricky was on to something. Maybe this drink would be the new Shirley Temple. Of course, we’d have to rename it after a modern child star: The Abigail Breslin? The Dakota Fanning? The Dora the Explorer?

I took a long sip, swirling it in my mouth like the finest of wines and promptly decided it would pair perfectly with my Citrus Fruit Stir Fry. In the trashcan. That’s the thing about playing with your food. Sometimes you invent the potato chip and sometimes you invent a soda combination that could strip wallpaper. But you never know until you try.

Here is a special “treat” that I dug up for you: my stir-fry recipe from when I was 9 years old. I like to think I’ve grown as a chef since then.

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Scotty’s Stir-Fry
Scotty Wandell (at 9 years old)

Ingredients
2 Oranges
1 Grapefruit
3 spoons of soy sauce
1 onion
1 piece of garlic
1 spoon of peanut oil
2 spoons of vinegar
1 packet of powdered cheese from box of macaroni and cheese*
* To a 9-year old, everything will taste better if it tastes like macaroni and cheese. This proves not to be true.

1. Heat the oil in a wok or skillet.
2. Add chopped onion and garlic, letting both sweat out.
3. Throw in cut up oranges and grapefruit (feel free to add other citrus fruits…it will taste like crap either way!)
4. Pour in the vinegar and soy sauce, tossing to coat everything well.
5. When heated through, mix in the powdered cheese.
6. Put it on a plate.
7. Throw the plate in the garbage.

On a final note, as some of you know a lot is going on in my family right now and I need to be there for them. So Happy Holidays and I’ll see you all in the New Year!

Side Dish: Red Velvet Cupcakes (November 30, 2009)

Nov 30, 2009Apr 27, 2016 admin Brothers & Sisters, Side Dish, tv series No Comments

30/11/2009

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I see gourmet cupcake shops everywhere these days and feel like I’m always hearing from one friend or another about some insanely good cupcake they’ve just eaten. It seems that the cake in its classic sliced form has been demoted; the cupcake is the confection of our time.

Cake is more stuffy, formal and reserved for “functions.” Unencumbered by the fork and plate, the cupcake is really another expression of our freedom. It is the desert of the masses, offering something for all occasions and people. Today, you’re as likely to find the ubiquitous treat at a wedding as you are at a child’s birthday party, as the energy-boosting study group snack or the forbidden sweet that derails a diet, eaten in secret behind the boiler in the basement.

And flavors? Vanilla and chocolate are so 1983. How about a cupcake that tastes like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup? Why drink a Pina Colada when you can eat a pineapple cupcake with a rum/coconut cream cheese frosting? I even saw a $4 cupcake meant to look and taste like a Hostess cupcake. This is what we’ve come to: Cupcake-flavored cupcakes. How meta.

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Don’t get me wrong. I love eating cupcakes almost as much as I love making them. And as some of you know, I bake a mean cupcake. Back when I had that toucan hairdo, I even toyed with the idea of opening an overpriced (I mean “gourmet”) cupcake shop of my very own. When I first met Kevin, his sister invited me to a party at their house and did I bring flowers or wine? No. I brought the one thing that I knew would win him over if my charm and good looks failed: red velvet cupcakes. They were both rich and sweet. I, on the other hand, was just sweet.

Sure when I first bit into a Creamsicle Cupcake or a Grape Bubble Gum Cupcake or even a Chipotle Chocolate Cupcake with Maple Glazed Bacon I knew I was tasting something special. But (and I never say this about things with bacon in them) I couldn’t help but feel like something was missing. It’s hard to believe that a cupcake the size of a softball could be missing anything, but after the initial excitement faded and my blood sugar levels returned to normal I was left feeling like they were all show and no substance. The Paris Hilton of desserts.

I’ll take one of my mom’s cupcakes – which she made from a box – any day. I envy pastry chefs’ patience and their eye towards precision and perfection, but when my mom made cupcakes she had to find the time in her busy day to do it. She did it out of love. So maybe that’s what’s missing. Maybe that’s why I made red velvet cupcakes for Kevin rather than buying a dozen at Crumbs. My cupcake might, at first glance, have seemed like one I could get at a store; they both would have had the same colors, textures and taste. Maybe the difference, as corny as it sounds, is love. I guess you could say I was looking for love at first bite.

Red Velvet Cupcakes Recipe

Cupcakes
2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons red food coloring*
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon vinegar
1 cup buttermilk**
* You can also substitute beet juice or beet puree to achieve the red color and retain some moisture.
**If you don’t have buttermilk you can add a tablespoon of distilled white vinegar to milk and let it stand for 10-12 minutes.

Cream-Cheese Frosting
8 ounces cream cheese (one bar)
1/2 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups confectioner’s sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
(Optional) Cupcake toppers or colored sugar

Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 325° F. Line muffin tins with wrappers. Mix all dry ingredients together. Mix all the wet ingredients together. Combine the wet and dry mixtures together thoroughly. Fill each wrapper about two-thirds full will batter. Bake 15 to 20 minutes. Let them cool completely. (This is hard for Kevin!)

Frosting
Mix all the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Slowly add confectioner’s sugar, mixing as you go. Next, add the vanilla extract. Frost cupcakes the cupcakes and sprinkle with colored sugar or cupcake toppers.

Makes about 24.

Interview: Luke Macfarlane

Oct 20, 2009Nov 20, 2015 admin Brothers & Sisters, interview, Press, tv series No Comments

20/10/2009

Luke Macfarlane is quickly establishing himself as a leading man in Hollywood by bringing a winning combination of charm, versatility and intelligence to his roles. He plays Scotty Wandell in the critically-acclaimed drama Brothers & Sisters – and with the season three DVD released this week, we bring you an interview with the actor about his role on the show.

You appeared in the first season of ‘Brothers & Sisters’ as a guest star. Did you know back then that you would become a cast regular by the third season?

It’s funny, but I never imagined I would be a cast regular on Brothers & Sisters – especially by way of marriage. I remember riding bikes over to one of the sets a while ago and asking Matthew Rhys [who plays Luke’s lover on the show], “What do they have in store for us?” And he said, “I think we’re getting married.” It was a total surprise to me.

Were you excited about the prospect of becoming a series regular?

Definitely. It’s always really nice when you come into something and your agents tell you, “There’s a possibility for you to become a series regular here.” However, it was a complete surprise because I had no idea where they were going with the storyline. In fact, I continue to have no idea where they’re going with it.

Was there an immediate chemistry between you and Matthew Rhys?

We always got along very, very well and there was never any awkwardness between us. Matthew was ready to jump into the gay love affair with great aplomb, which was fantastic. I don’t think we’ve ever had any tension between us. It’s always been great.

Do you receive much fan mail on the show?

I’ve had a number of letters from the gay community talking about the lack of role models for gay people on television and how happy they are to see Scotty and Kevin together. I really applaud the show’s creators for depicting a real romance for them. I’m glad they didn’t go for any clichés.

Do you receive more letters from women or men?

I’m always surprised that I get as many letters from girls as I do from boys. In fact, I’m always amazed at the care these people put into some of the letters. Sometimes I get drawings and it’s totally flattering. At the end of the day, we wake up really early in the morning and we go to work to do our thing. We sometimes forget that the show gets beamed out into the universe, so it’s always very touching and flattering to receive mail about it.

How long does it take to shoot an episode?

We usually work on nine-day episodes. Hopefully they give us the script about a week in advance, but as you approach the end of a season, it sometimes arrives about two days before we start on an episode. I think we’re very fortunate because we have such terrific writers and terrific actors – and there is a real sense of collaboration on the show.

Do you have much input into your character?

Sure. After the first table read, which they try to do for every episode, the actors can approach the writers and say, “I think I might want to do this.” I love the way it’s open for us to do that. From my experience on other television shows, I haven’t seen as much collaboration between the actors and the writers. We’re very fortunate on Brothers & Sisters.

Can you change the wording in the script if you’re not satisfied with it?

Well, you can talk about it with the writers and change things. With certain producers you have to say every line as it’s written in the script, but there are other producers who let you do your own thing. That’s not to say we don’t respect the scripts tremendously – but the longer the show goes on, the more the actor owns the part. The writers and producers start to encourage us to say what we want to say.

Your character marries Kevin Walker in the show, but that’s something that most gay couples in California cannot do anymore. How did this storyline come about?

I find this a fascinating story because I think the election happened about a week after the show aired in the States – and then Prop 8 didn’t pass. It was amazing that we’d done this thing that was, without foresight, very provocative.

Did you enjoy filming the wedding scene?

It was wonderful. It kind of felt like we were doing something big – and it was all done with great care. The writers spoke with someone who had officiated gay marriages, so the words were very accurate and in line. It was all really beautiful.

How well does the cast get along?

We all get along extremely well. There’s a great camaraderie on our set and everyone is very professional. We all get on with our work, but we also hang out together when we’re not working. It’s a great show in that respect.

What’s it like to work with Matthew Rhys?

It’s great. Matthew is an incredible actor and an incredible guy. We both come from theatre backgrounds, so our approach to the material is very similar. I couldn’t be happier.

And what’s it like to work with Sally Field?

Sally Field is amazing. She really makes you raise your game when you’re on set. She’s like a leader in some ways. I remember one time specifically when we were filming a dinner scene and there was a lot of chatter among the cast. It was late at night and we’d had a really long day, but she just stood up and said, “Everybody be quiet.” Everyone went quiet. She has that kind of effect.

‘Brothers and Sisters: Season 3′ is available to buy on DVD now.

Source: Entertainment Focus

Out of the closet and on to primetime

Oct 12, 2009Nov 20, 2015 admin Brothers & Sisters, interview, Press, tv series No Comments

12/10/2009

Is it me or has everyone on Brothers And Sisters suddenly turned gay? Last week’s episode of the popular M-Net drama series saw an entire episode focus on every gay character in the series and the storylines that pivoted around them were heightened ten-fold.

Fans of the show already know that there’s a focus on gay relationships to the same extent that there’s a focus on straight relationships, and this is one of the first series to depict gay interaction in a way that it actually reflects real life.

When the Brothers and Sisters first emerged three seasons ago, we were introduced to Kevin Walker (played with such ease by straight Irish actor Matthew Rhys), a lawyer and part of the hugely dysfunctional Walker clan. Kevin was also an openly gay character and, for the first time, it wasn’t a gay character dying of Aids or an uber-camp hairdresser flapping his wrists like he was guiding a Boeing into a parking bay.

With the exception of his sexual orientation, Kevin was exactly the same as the rest of his brothers and sisters – flawed, issued, sometimes irritating, always endearing. And as the character developed, Kevin soon met his life-partner, Scotty Wandell, played by Luke MacFarlane, and they eventually got married at the beginning of the third season, which we’re currently watching on M-Net.

I interviewed MacFarlane in Cape Town earlier this year and because he’s actually gay in real life, a lot of our talk turned to this very subject.

The fact is, America has a huge section of its viewership in what is referred to as the Bible Belt, and ratings from this sector often make or break a show.

Apparently, Dirty Sexy Money folded because these viewers believed it to be too focused on materialism and greed, Eli Stone was not re-commissioned because some Earthly being was playing God and Pushing Daisies wilted for much the same reason. The list goes on.

MacFarlane says this was a concern for the producers when they first mulled over the creation of these characters. But because there’s such a large, on-going conversation about same-sex equality in the US, this attempt to show a gay couple in this way meant a lot to American society in terms of finding real role models.

So the characters, MacFarlane says, have been received very well, just because there is this desire for people to have role models specifically in the gay community.

Another interesting fact is that Kevin and Scotty’s wedding was the first gay marriage in a recurring role on US television, so it was a very big deal. It was also the first man-to-man kiss on primetime television, that wasn’t a comedy, so they were breaking ground on so many other levels too.

MacFarlane, who has, in the past, been dogged with rumours that he’s dating Prison Break’s Wentworth Miller, says he brings a lot of himself into this role of Scotty Wandell. He says he admires Scotty’s sense of right and wrong, and his very strong sense of self.

But the thing he’s most pleased about is the fact that they actually get to show a gay relationship through a long process. He admits that very rarely do viewers get to see this kind of relationship in a show – them meeting for the first time, breaking up for the first time, getting back together for the first time and then getting married.

And MacFarlane feels that’s a very accurate portrait of any relationship out there, never mind a gay one, and that’s the due integrity that should always be given to these characters.

But are they milking the concept a little now?

Saul (played by Ron Rifkin), the brother of Sally Field’s character, Nora, has also come out of the closet. Saul is probably in his early 60s and is, for the first time, searching for the kind of relationship he was never allowed to have because of societal dictates earlier on in his life.

While the twist was unexpected, I think this storyline is becoming more about making a point than being dramatic.

I can’t wait to see who else they pull out of this closet next. A lesbian? A black woman? A back woman who’s Tonight, South Africaa lesbian?

I suppose I can live in hope.

Source: Tonight (South Africa)

Greg’s Celebrity Encounters: Rubbing elbows with Scotty and Kevin from “Brothers & Sisters”

Sep 26, 2009Nov 20, 2015 admin Brothers & Sisters, interview, Luke, Press, private life, tv series No Comments

26/09/2009

ABC’s Brothers & Sisters has its fourth season premiere tomorrow night and gay couple Kevin (Matthew Rhys) and Scotty (Luke Macfarlane) and word has it that they are considering becoming parents.

Both are such good actors and seem like good guys. I first met Luke at the 2007 LA Gay and Lesbian Center Gala. He was not yet out publicly but could not have been nicer. We spoke the next year at a TV Academy event shortly after he came out publicly as a gay man in an interview with the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail.

He said of coming out: “I’ll say that I decided to do that interview, I decided to answer those questions in an effort to make my life simpler and that’s going to continue to be my motto.”

Scotty Wandell and Kevin Walker had instant chemistry from the minute the financially struggling waiter-turned-chef walked into his law office on a legal matter. He cut through Kevin’s veneer with quirky humor and charm and you knew he had Kevin’s heart when he bit into a red velvet cupcake and smiled at the end of one of their early episodes..

“My whole experience on the show started off as just a few episodes and it’s just become more and more and more and I’m so grateful for that,” Luke told. “…I do know that the fans had a lot to do with Scotty staying around as long as he has so I’m grateful for them.”

I’ve met Matthew om several occasions and it’s always a little surprising to hear him speak in a Welsh accent since Kevin is so Californian.

It just shows what a damned good actor he is!

In one of our interviews, Matthew talked to me about why Scotty and Kevin make such a good couple: “We do have (chemistry). It’s a real joy to work with him, a pleasure. As much as (Kevin and Scotty’s) drama came from their turbulence and the conflict in their relationship, being now in this (committed) relationship opens up a world of drama for them to play out. … What’s great is they really have picked two very diverse characters, the two of us compliment us very well as characters. Kevin can be a little bit uptight at times whereas Scotty, is a little bit too much of a free-spirit. So when the two meet, it makes for humorous times.”

Source: Greg in Hollywood