The Oscars is less than two weeks away! Last year was a bit crazy and I wanted to complete a review of what I made for the prior year, but ran out of time. This year is a bit crazy as well, with some upcoming travel, but I will try and get caught up, if possible. For the uninitiated, I used to make all 8 or 10 of these dishes in one day and posted them throughout the Oscars televised broadcast. That was insane! In 2022, I started preparing dishes beforehand, but still posting the day of. Last year, I started making daily posts leading-up to the Oscars and that is a much more enjoyable experience. This year’s Tasting Menu will start on Friday, March 1. But, if you like, you can check out my menu items from 2019, 2020, and 2021, as well. Happy viewing and cooking!
Dune - This movie was mostly long and slow. But from what I remember (sorry, this was 2 years ago now), I believe I eventually got into it towards the end. Part two is coming out on March 1, so this may be nominated once again next year. No one likes sand in their food, and it may be tough to come up with another installation for this film series, but I went with a classic cocktail, the aptly-named Blood & Sand.
CODA - I really enjoyed this film about the deaf community, much more than say The Sound of Metal. The movie followed the struggle of a hearing daughter born to deaf parents (CODA: Child of Deaf Adults), coupled with normal teenage angst and pressures surrounding who would help run the family fishing business in Gloucester if she were to go off to college at Berklee. I highly recommend the film if you haven’t seen it. I also recommend making this super simple cod dish based off of the entree you can find at Gloucester House. Make a crumb topping of crushed Ritz crackers and parsley, place on a filet of cod set in a baking sheet, spoon melted butter all over the topping, add a little wine and bake in the oven at 425 for 10 minutes. This was the favorite meal of the night for my girls…I wonder what happened to this plate though?
Don’t Look Up - I didn’t really like this movie, but Timothée Chalomet and I were in agreement when he exclaimed his love for duck-fat fried fingerling potatoes. Get my recipe here.
Nightmare Alley - This film I despised. But, strong emotions sometimes evoke strong dishes. Playing off of the film noir aspects, I decided to make bleeding eggs to go along with the otherwise accurate reflection of the breakfast served to the circus performers. This was not easy. At first, I wanted the entire yolk to be blood red, but when I tried injecting the eggs with beet juice, the yolks ran out before I could even cook them. I think it took me about 6 tries before I had to relent and pump the beet juice into an over-easy egg. If you’d like to see the video, click here.
King Richard - This was the story about the Williams sisters and their father. Once he got them into the desired tennis training school in Florida, Richard Williams enjoyed eating a burger at the club stand while watching the girls train. I decided to make a burger topped with gold leaf. Yes…this is actual gold on a burger! I wish I would’ve paid equal attention to all the details of this dish. If you look closely, you’ll see I had to use a bottle of chili sauce, because I didn’t have a glass bottle of ketchup on-hand! Here’s a good recipe for a smash burger I like to make.
Power of the Dog - This was a good, disturbing film. I made a dinner quite similar to that which was served in the movie at Red Mill. Here’s a deliciously unique take on fried chicken.
West Side Story - A modern adaptation of the classic…I think I like the classic better, but the girls enjoyed this film. I made mofongo that night, a dish I later made as part of my Top Chef Tuesday series. I shot this on top of an old film cannister we have from Megan’s mother who used to make films for the FAA.
Licorice Pizza - Yet another movie I did not like. I made a white pizza and topped it with thick squid ink noodles to mimic the appearance of string licorice. You can get my white pizza recipe here.
Belfast - I enjoyed this heartfelt movie about a family growing up during the troubles. I originally intended to make Turkish Delight, but didn’t see how I could fit it in and took the easy way out and served it with a cup of tea. This installation was a nod to one funny scene of adolescent mischief in the film, which I highly recommend.
Drive My Car - This was the film I expected to win it all, but it went to the equally-deserving CODA. There is something about foreign films that US films can’t quite capture. Most of the foreign films I’ve seen really focus on human aspects and behavior and do so remarkably well. I highly recommend this film. There was a line in the movie where the main character’s wife asks if he’d “tried any “Vladivostok specialties?” as he was away in Russia preparing and directing a new theater performance of Uncle Vanya. I decided to make some Vladivostok specialties of my own and prepared blinis topped with creme fraiche and caviar, served with some delicious Pommery champagne.
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