Das Tagebuch Murnaus

Finally, some good news from Vancouver:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/03/06/bc-vancouver-backyard-chickens-bylaw.html

There is a scene in the movie Buckaroo Banzai where Jeff Goldblum and another guy are running through one of the laboratories. He sees a watermelon in a high-pressure chamber and asks, "What's that watermelon doing there?".

The answer, of course, is that Buckaroo was working on a way of feeding the world's poor by developing a strain of nutritious watermelon what could be dropped from an airplane and not burst when it hit the ground.

What's missing from a vitamin-rich, vine-ripened treat like this? Protein! So, we put a chicken in the watermelon and then cook it.

A DVD of the movie was released in 2002. One of the Easter eggs is, if you select the BB logo on the second screen of the "Food from the Skies?" article, you will be taken to a video clip of W.D. Richter (director of the film) called "Why?" where he discusses watermelons and shows a recipe for Chicken in a Watermelon.

Here is the recipe :

Chicken in a Watermelon

Total time : 5 hours

1 very large watermelon
1 roaster chicken, about 5 to 6 pounds
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 lemon
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon five-spice powder
2 tablespoons chilled butter.

Cut a 1/4-inch-thick horizontal slice off bottom of watermelon, so it won't roll. Discard. Cut off the top third of the melon horizontally, then scoop out seeds and enough of the pulp from both remain parts to make room for the chicken.

Season cavity of chicken with salt and pepper. Insert lemon pricked with fork, along with 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce. Brush outside of chicken with remaining soy sauce, and sprinkle with five-spice powder,

Place chicken in the larger part of the melon, and position the other piece of melon on top, securing with long skewers.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, and bake 2 hours. Then, reduce heat to 300 degrees and bake 2 1/2 hours longer.

Place watermelon on a tray and show it to guests. Return it to kitchen: remove chicken and carve. With a ladle, remove juices from watermelon and reduce in skillet until thickened; whisk in cold butter and spoon over chicken before serving.

Yield: 8 servings.

Approximate nutritional analysis per serving: 520 calories, 25 grams fat, 140 milligrams cholesterol, 1,185 milligrams sodium, 45 grams protein, 30 grams carbohydrate.