ft. ‘Bling Empire’ & Crispy Cauliflower Tinga Tacos

January 22, 2021 by Sydney Grant

TGIF! We survived another week. To celebrate, I’ve rounded up a new reality show for your weekend viewing pleasure and a taco recipe that’s so good, it might just convince you not to spend an extra $30 getting Mexican delivered instead. P.S. ICYMI, we have a new president and he’s putting in WERK. 2021! We love her!

However you’re planning on spending your weekend, enjoy these quarantivities!

Quarant-streams

‘Bling Empire’

Watch this to make yourself feel poor:

If you’ve somehow managed to evade Netflix this week (perhaps you were distracted by all the Bernie memes), then you might have missed out on the most important thing to happen to reality TV since Keeping Up With The Kardashians: Bling Empire. The show centers around a group of ridiculously wealthy Asian-American friends living it up in Los Angeles, making it essentially the Crazy Rich Asians franchise come to life. As we approach our YEAR anniversary of lockdown (awh, I wonder if rona has anything cute planned for us for V-day!), we have basically forgotten what the outside world looks like, so what better way to remind ourselves than by watching billionaires jet from LA to Paris for lunch because they wanted some caviar?? And here I am cursing myself for paying an extra $2 for guac at Chipotle…

In proper reality TV fashion, there’s also plenty of drama to keep you entertained, from more petty altercations like table arrangements to far more serious matters like one of the characters reconnecting with his biological father. Bottom line: this is peak pandemic television. I found myself crying around episode seven and, after briefly wondering what my life had come to that I was not only watching a show called Bling Empire but CRYING over it, I proceeded to promptly finish the entire season and haven’t looked back since. Don’t ask why, just hit play — you can thank me later.

Stream it via Netflix.

‘Call My Agent!’

Watch this if you want Ted Lasso in talent agent form:

The hit French comedy Call My Agent! just dropped its final season on Netflix, meaning now is the perfect time to binge it from start to finish. The series centers around Agence Samuel Kerr (ASK for short), a Parisian talent agency trying its best to keep its clients happy while staying afloat following the death of its founder. It also includes an impressive lineup of A-list guest stars playing themselves, and while Call My Agent! is certainly not the first show to do this (Entourage and Curb Your Enthusiasm, to name a few) it does put a unique French spin on things.

Whereas most of the Hollywood we know (and love?) is filled with skeezy agents and boujee dinners at Nobu, Call My Agent! is set against the whimsical Paris cityscape, existing in almost an alternate reality where the agents actually care more about their work than having a membership at Soho House. It’s wholesome, yet hilarious and although Entourage will always have a place in my heart, it is refreshing to get a glimpse into an agency where an agent actually says, “I’m not talking about money; I’m talking about dignity and loyalty.” Ari Gold could never! If you don’t mind subtitles, or perhaps want to brush up on your French (hey, it’s never too late for a quarantine hobby), give this a go this weekend.

Stream it via Netflix .

Quarant-reads

‘Outlawed’ by Anna North

Read this if you want Handmaid’s Tale-meets-Westworld:

I love a good western and Outlawed doesn’t disappoint. The book takes place in a reimagined 1800s, where the great influenza wiped out a whopping 90 percent of America. 60 years later, a cult-like society has emerged, where fertility is everything and miscarriages equate to witchcraft. If you’re picking up The Handmaid’s Tale vibes, it may start off similar but soon rides off on its own genre-defying journey through the alternate wild west.

The book centers around 17-year-old Ada, who, after months of being unable to get pregnant, begins fearing for her safety and flees her previously happy marriage for a life on the run. With a sheriff hot on her trail, she stumbles upon the Hole in the Wall Gang, a group of notorious bank-robbing feminists who take Ada in as one of their own. Together, they hatch a plan to stick it to the man, but are they willing to risk their lives for the fate of the future? Buckle up, because you’re in for a ride. Yeehaw!

Purchase now via Amazon.

Quarant-eats

Crispy Cauliflower Tinga Tacos via Half Baked Harvest

Make these for a veggie-friendly taco night:

Soft Sugar Cookies With Raspberry Frosting via NYT Cooking

Bake these if you love a good Lofthouse grocery store cookie:

Photo: Yossy Arefi for The New York Times

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE COOKIES:

½ cup/115 grams unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature
3 ounces/85 grams cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup/200 grams granulated sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups/285 grams cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Sprinkles, for garnish

FOR THE FROSTING:

1 cup/30 grams freeze-dried raspberries, finely ground in a food processor or spice grinder
1 cup/225 grams unsalted butter (2 sticks), at room temperature
2 cups/245 grams confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of kosher salt

PREPARATION

Make the cookies: In a large bowl, using a spoon, cream the butter, cream cheese, sugar and salt until smooth and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla extract, and whisk to incorporate some air and to dissolve the sugar crystals, about 1 minute. Stir in the flour and baking powder until just incorporated.
Heat oven to 350 degrees and line two rimmed sheet pans with parchment paper. Using two spoons or a cookie scooper, plop out 2-tablespoon/50-gram rounds spaced a couple of inches apart. (You should get about 7 to 8 cookies per sheet pan.) Place the sheet pans in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes until the dough is no longer sticky and easier to handle.
While the dough chills, make the frosting: In a fine-mesh sieve set over a medium bowl, sift the ground raspberries, using a spoon to help pass them through, until most of the ruby-red powder is in the bowl and most of the seeds are left behind in the sieve. (Discard the seeds.)
To the bowl, add the 1 cup butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract and salt and, with an electric hand mixer, mix on low speed until the butter absorbs the sugar. Then, turn the speed up to high and beat until the frosting doubles in size, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to ensure all the ingredients are incorporated. Transfer the frosting to a small container, cover tightly, and set aside. (You should have about 2 cups of frosting.)
Remove the sheet pans from the freezer. Roll the chilled dough into even balls and flatten them slightly with your fingers so they’re about 2 inches wide and 1 inch high. Bake the cookies for 13 to 15 minutes, rotating the pans and switching racks halfway through, or until they no longer look wet on top, are still light in color and spring back to the touch. They will puff up and crack slightly. Let cool completely on the sheet pan. (They will continue to cook as they sit.)
Using a butter knife or offset spatula, frost each cooled cookie with the raspberry frosting and adorn with the sprinkles.

Hot Toddy via The Infatuation

Make this to cozy up bc it’s supposed to rain tomorrow: