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Film Released: 2005
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Starring: Will Smith, Eva Mendes, Kevin James, Amber Valletta
Directed by: Andy Tennant
The
film is set in modern day New York where Alex "Hitch" Hitchens played by
Will Smith, is a professional "matchmaker" who concentrates his efforts on
coaching men in the art of wooing the woman of their dreams. A very exclusive
"consultant" the only way to get his services is via referral from one of
his former clients and then, if he accepts you as a client, he will only coach
you on your first three dates.
His latest client is Albert Brennaman played by Kevin James, a clumsy
overweight "nice guy" tax accountant who has fallen head over heels in love with
one of his firm's clients, society celebrity Allegra Cole played by Amber
Valletta. Hitch sets to work on Albert who, following Hitch's advice,
finds himself on a date with Allegra who is currently being tracked by gossip
columnist Sara Melas played by Eva Mendes, a single minded career girl who
has given up on men.
Whilst working with Albert, Hitch coincidentally meets Sara in a bar and ,
having seen her brush off the advances of another man trying to pick her up,
decides to put his talents to work on his own behalf ....just for the challenge.
He manages to get a date and surprisingly finds himself falling for Sara.
Meanwhile,
Sara's best friend is very upset at having been used as a "one night
stand" by a man who Sara now mistakenly believes was a client of "The Date
Doctor" (who incidentally Hitch turned down as a client) and is determined to
unmask and ruin him. When she finds out that Hitch is the date doctor, she
outs him as someone who just helps men have flings with women. In
the process, Albert is tarred with the same brush in the media and Allegra, who
had actually fallen for Albert believes he was only out for one thing too.
In an effort to put things right, Hitch finds Allegra and convinces her that
Albert is genuinely in love with her whilst at the same time, managing to
convince Sara that his feelings for her are also genuine.
The food element occurs on one of
Hitch's dates with Sara when they attend a mass cooking lesson. As a
sampler, a waiter hands out "Coquille St. Jacques with a reduced lemon
butter sauce". It's actually a Scallop served on what looks like an
endive leaf - not like any Coquilles St. Jacques recipe we've ever come
across. So here's a recipe for a traditional Coquilles St. Jacques.
Happy Cooking!
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Coquille St
Jacques HT HD
30mins
Serves 4
Hot Seafood Vegetables Alcohol Hors d’oeuvre Starter
Appetiser Eggless
Ingredients
4 Large Scallops or 8 Small Scallops
90ml/3fl.oz. Dry White Wine
150ml/5fl.oz. Water
Salt and Pepper
25g/1oz Butter
8 Button Mushrooms, roughly chopped
25g/1oz Plain Flour
4 tbsp Single Cream
Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
A Small amount Mashed Potato (Optional)
Instructions
1. Place the scallops in a small saucepan together with the wine, water, salt
and pepper, bring to simmering point then cook very gently for 5 minutes.
2. Remove the Scallops from the pan with a slotted spoon, cut each scallop into
quarters and set aside.
3. Bring the cooking liquor to the boil and continue to boil rapidly until
slightly reduced.
4. Meanwhile, heat the butter in a medium sized pan, add the mushrooms and sauté
until soft.
5. Add the flour, mix well and cook for 1-2 minutes then gradually add the
stock, stirring constantly and simmer gently until the sauce thickens.
6. Remove from the heat, add the cream and mix well before adding the scallops
then cook over a low heat for 1-2 minutes until heated through
7. Preheat the grill to hot. Lightly grease the deep halves of the scallop
shells if you have them or 4 small shallow flameproof dishes. If using mashed
potato, pipe it around the edges of the dish then divide the scallop mixture
between the shells/dishes. Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese and grill until golden
brown and bubbling.
Variation:
A layer of hot cooked spinach can be placed in the shells before adding the
scallop mixture.
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