Monday, March 8, 2010

Oscar-Worthy Performance


I love movies. I love glamorous fashion. I love to get together with friends and trade pithy comments about celebrities wearing glamorous fashion. I guess that's why I love watching the Oscars so much. It's my favorite award show; one I look forward to each year. And I must say, I love that the Red Carpet broadcast begins at 3 pm in California! It's a wonderful excuse to invite some friends over to lounge around for hours on the pseudo-balcony of a sofa feeling like the Muppet judges, Statler and Walford. But of course sustenance is needed for such work and entertainment. That's why I'm lucky to have a friend like Karen who loves to cook and likes party themes as much as I do.

Since there were 10 movies nominated for Best Picture this year, we thought we'd each pick three of the 10 movies and cook a representative dish. This year's Oscar picks made for quite an array of dining options. Because I fantasize of being a Top Chef contestant, I thought we should create a bit of a contest out of it. So instead of selecting the movies, they were drawn out of a hat. Although I was prepared to embrace Avatar (blue food anyone?), I was grateful I escaped it. Instead I got A Serious Man, District 9, and The Hurt Locker. Hmmm, Jewish aliens in the Middle East? What a combo! My brother who's served in both Iraq and Afghanistan proved to be no help because he said all they ever ate were MREs (Meals, Ready To Eat). That was definitely not an option for party food. Even though I was wanking a bit about having such random movies, it turned out to be a lot of fun. The final menu was delicious and rather show-stopping. Definitely Oscar-worthy.


A Serious Man (old school Jewish cuisine): Apricot, raisin and walnut rugelach, pre-baked in this photo


District 9 (prawns in honor of everyone's favorite "prawn" aliens): Pancetta-wrapped shrimp with sage


The Hurt Locker (a rift on Middle Eastern köfte kebab): Lamb sliders on pita with a parsley-mint salad


The Blind Side (Southern tailgate staples): Potato salad with bacon and arugula, which I'm fanatical about now!


An Education (elegant French a la Julia Childs): Classic cheese souffle


Up (kid-friendly food): Edamame succotash


Posted by SB in SB at 3:12 PM

2 comments:

  1. As a frequent Oscar party hoster/participant, I thought these dishes were quite inventive and appropriate. I have to credit your camera work, which makes everything look truly scrumptious. Truth be told, I may never look at prawns quite the same way again after viewing District 9, nevertheless i think it was an appropriate dish to represent the movie. Nice work on this and your other excellent posts!
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  2. Holly -- I wanted to let you know I made the arugula/potato salad for a Easter party we had this weekend. It was excellent - thanks for posting that.

    Doug
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