The fog is getting thicker...

When I graduated from college, I wanted a job that would require me to fly around the world. Business travel seemed so glamorous and exciting.

Sadly, I never did get that globetrotting job. Now, over ten years later, my business travel is limited primarily to Seattle. And the far-from-glamorous reality of travel set in: long security lines, cramped seats, and most difficult, jet lag and sleep deprivation. That's not to say that I don't love seeing different parts of the world - it's one of my favorite things - visiting new places, trying new foods and being immersed in new cultures. I even love the planning and researching process (after all, I used to be a planner by profession).

I'm just terrible at the actual getting from point A to point B part of the traveling process. Some people can manage this...just not me. My Reel Tasty Brooklyn partner, Jason, is constantly flying around the world for work and leisure. He is currently in California and recently spent time touring Russia and the Baltic region. Eric and I got back from India about a month ago (I know, I know...I still owe you some posts on that) and I still don't think I've fully recovered.

With all this talk of travel, it seemed only fitting that the third Reel Tasty Brooklyn movie was Airplane. While incredibly dated almost thirty years later (smoking on a plane seems like such a strange concept today), this is an all-time comedy classic that combines the absurd ("Why, I can make a hat or a brooch or a pterodactyl...") with the good-naturedly offensive ("Oh stewardess, I speak jive"). The quotes are too many to count ("Have you ever seen a grown man naked?"). And having seen this movie at least 34 times, there are still little things I pick up with every viewing (when I was in high school, my group of friends would watch this movie repeatedly...around the fifth time of seeing Ted Striker pour water into his eye, one of my friends said, "Oh, I get it! A drinking problem!").

The night was a little touch and go at the beginning - like a bad cliche, one dark cloud hung over the area threatening to open with torrents of rain on our little dinner party. Fortunately, the wind was in our favor and the evening cleared up into a beautiful night. We had a great mix of repeat visitors, old friends (including an old Digitas co-worker and a childhood friend from Maynard and her husband), and new guests. But everyone quickly became friends over some white wine sangria and candied bacon and peanuts (after all, it wouldn't be an airplane without any peanuts). Our menu for the evening:

Snacks

• Candied bacon and peanuts
• Goan avocado salad with mini pappadam

Appetizers

• Grilled steak and onion bruschetta with blue cheese and arugula
• Fresh corn and shiitake mushroom fritters with smoked tomato sauce

Entree

• East Indian roasted chicken with chickpeas and pearl cipollini onions
• Israeli couscous with grilled vegetables and roasted tomatoes and onions
• Grilled tiger prawns with a cucumber-mint yogurt sauce

Desserts

• Nectarine and berry shortcakes with vanilla bean whipped cream
• Chocolate ganache ice cream

A special thanks to our crew for the evening. As always, our friend Kun was on hand to take the amazing pictures that are posted here. Eric and Jason's brother Anthony helped keep the evening running smoothly (running out for ice and olives, answering the door, pouring drinks, entertaining guests, drying dishes and general clean-up and break down) and our neighbor Ross took dishwashing to a new level, turning this chore into a full-contact sport.

All in all, another great Reel Tasty Brooklyn event thanks to great food, good friends and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Oveur, over.

Grilled Hangar Steak and Onion Bruschetta
This recipe is more of a guide rather than hard and fast measurements. It really depends on how much you like each ingredient - and can be adjusted as you see fit. The steak can also be marinated for a half hour while the grill is heating, the blue cheese is being crumbled and the onions sliced. Just make sure that the steak is at room temperature before putting on the grill.

1 hangar steak
Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large onion - sliced into 1/2 inch rings
1 baguette - sliced in half lengthwise
4-6 ounces blue cheese - crumbled
3 ounces of arugula
Juice of one lemon

Light grill to medium high heat. Coat hangar steak with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Carefully skewer onions with two skewers so that the rings stay intact while grilling. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Cook steak on grill for 6-7 minutes per side for medium rare (depending on thickness of steak). Grill onion skewers until soft and lightly charred. Remove onions and steak and let rest for 10 minutes.

Drizzle bread with olive oil and place on a grill briefly - just long enough to toast the bread (and get some attractive grill marks). Remove from grill and top each half with crumbled blue cheese.

Slice steak thinly and spread evenly over bread. Remove skewers from onion slices and separate rings. Spread across the beef.

In a small bowl, toss arugula with lemon juice and a little olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle across baguette halves. Slice bread into small pieces.

Serves 6 as an appetizer.
Or can be made into sandwiches for 3.