Oscars 2009

Avatar - Home Trees with Ava-Tar Tar Sauce

Cut Broccoli and Cauliflower into florets. Serve with sauces:

Dip 1

Curried Yogurt Dip

3/4 c mayo

1/4 c yogurt

2 tsp curry powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp cilantro

Mix all ingredients together and chill.

Dip 2
Green Goddess Dip

1 C italian parsley

1 C watercress

2 tbs tarragon

3 tbs chives

1 clove of garlic minced

1/4 c grapeseed oil

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

1 tbsp plus 1 tsp white wine vinegar

1 c Mayo

1 c Sour Cream

Salt and pepper to taste.

Puree, the herbs, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice and grapeseed oil in blender until it resembles a pesto. Combine the mayo and sourcream together, set aside. Add the herb puree, vinegar, salt and pepper and stir well. Cover and refrigerate before serving

Dip 3

Beet Dip

6-8 med beets

1 garlic clove

6 tbs tahini

3-4 tbs chopped fresh mint

2 tsp red wine vinegar

Juice of one lemon

salt and pepper
3 T yogurt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Clean and trim each beet. Wrap in individually in foil and place on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and peel the skins, and cut into pieces. Transfer to a food processor (In a pinch use canned beets). Add garlic, olive oil and tahini and process until you have a semi-smooth puree. Then add mint, lemon, vinegar, salt and pepper and process again. Tast and adjust seasonings.

The Hurt Locker - IEDs (Incredibly Edible Delectables)

Cook up about 1/2 a package of bacon remove the bacon and let dry on paper towels, then add 2-3 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and diced. Saute in the bacon fat until soft.

Combine:
6 Cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp nutmeg
1 C buttermilk
1 tsp salt
3 eggs
2 C sugar
1 1/2 C mashed potato
1/3 C melted butter
1 tsp vanilla

Add the apples mixture, stir to incorporate, and chill overnight. When ready, deep fry. After the doughnut have cooled, top with the Maple glaze:

1 1/4 c confectioner's sugar, sifted

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 c maple syrup

Cream the sugar and extract together and then gradually add the maple syrup until you get the desired consistancy. Dip the top half of the doughnut into the glaze and then top with crumbled bacon bits.

An Education - School Girl Crush Punch

Mix in punch bowl:
1 liter Strawberry Crush Soda
1 liter Mojito Mix
1 liter Pink Lemonade Sparkling Soda
2 C Strawberry Margarita mix

The Blind Side - Super Cheesy Nachos

In a 9x9 Pyrex dish, layer from the bottom up:
Cream Cheese
No-bean chili
Salsa
Grated Monterey Jack Cheese
Grated Cheddar Cheese
Sliced Black Olives
Sliced Jalepenos

Warm thoroughly in oven or microwave.

Up - Cones of Shame

Vinaigrette:

1/2 c Rice Wine Vinegar

2-3 tbs Grapeseed oil

1/4 tsp black sesame oil

2 tbs pickled ginger (sushi ginger)

2 tbs chopped chives or scallions

1 tsp minced garlic

Season with salt, white pepper and powdered ginger

Whisk all ingredients in a bowl and set aside

1/2 c Sushi rice

1 C water

1 small cucumber seeded and finely diced

wonton skins

1/2 diced avocado

1/4 c diced or shredded crab

Bring water to a boil and add rice. Cover lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes (or until water is asorbed. Set aside.

Toss Rice, 3/4 vinaigrette and cucumber in a bowl to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a couple hours or overnight.

To make the wonton cones. Make cone molds with tinfoil, making a small cone-like form that will help the wonton retain their shape when fried. Wet one side of the wonton skin with a little water. Bring the sides together to make a cone (there should be some overlapping). Press the wet sides together to seal and place the tinfoil mold inside. Heat peanut oil to 375 and fry a few cones at a time. When slightly golden remove and set on paper towels to drain. When cones are done and have cooled, gently remove the molds (You may need to use a clean pair of tweezers or small tongs to help you). *Cones may be done a day ahead of time.

To assemble. Divide the rice salad into two bowls, with one bowl having slightly more than the other.

Divide the avocado in half and add to each bowl. Add the crab to the bowl that has slightly less rice salad than the other. Divide the remaining vinaigrette and add to each bowl. Toss each bowl to incorporate remaining ingredients. Fill each cone with a spoonful of the salad.

Up in the Air - Downsized Americans

Sliced American Cheese
Plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
Dijon Mustard
Prepared pesto
Miniature Pumpernickel bread slices
Butter

Butter both sides of bread. Coat one side of one slice with pesto and one side of the other slice with mustard. Place slice of plum tomato on one piece, and slice of cheese on the other and sandwich slices together. Repeat process for however many sandwiches you'd like to make. Fry at medium heat on each side until cheese melts. Serve warm.

A Serious Man - A Serious Manishewitz Whine Punch
2 Cups Manishewitz Wine
1 bottle Pink Champagne
1/2 C tequila
1/2 C Margarita Mix

Inglourious Basterds - Jewish Heroes

Party sized sub loaf of Seedless Rye Bread

2 lbs. Corned Beef, shaved

1 Can Saurkraut

Thousand Island Dressing

Assemble sandwich and cut into 2" thick slices.

District 9 - Out of this World Prawns
*winner of best appetizer!

20 each Shrimp, 21-25 count, shelled, de-veined
1/2 pound Bacon, partially cooked and cut in half
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
1/4 cup canola oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 ounces Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons chipotle pepper in adobo
1/2 teaspoon red chili flake
1/4 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoons black pepper
5 to 8 bamboo skewers

Soak bamboo skewers in water, to keep from burning during grilling. Cook bacon partially, cut in half, and let cool on paper towel. Wrap bacon around shrimp, and skewer with bamboo through the point where bacon ends meet, to keep from unraveling. Skewer 3 to 5 shrimp per bamboo. Combine all ingredients in blender, except bacon and shrimp, and puree. Separate the sauce in half, one for basting one for dipping. Cook bacon wrapped shrimp on grill over medium heat. When shrimp begin to turn pink, begin basting with chipotle sauce.

Precious - Black, Blue & Battered

Yorkshire puddings

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 c milk
3 large eggs-beaten
4 tbs canola oil

Mix the flour and slat together in a medium bowl, then gradually the milk and beat until smooth. Add the eggs and incoroporate thouroughly. All the mixture to rest for 20 minutes.

Prepare mini muffin pans with the canola oil and place in a 400 degree oven until hot. Pour the pudding mixture about one fourth of the way in each cup and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown. Set aside.

Horseradish cream
2 tbs horseradish
1/2 c heavy cream whipped to semi-stiff peaks

Fold the horseradish into the cream. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside

1 10z flatiron steak (high quality or organic)

Heat a cast iron pan with some grapeseed oil. Season the steak with salt and pepper. Sear the beef 3 minutes per side, and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting. After ten minutes, thinly slice the beef into bite sized pieces.

To assemble place a slice of beef on the yorkshire puddings, top with a dollop of the cream and garnish with chopped chives.

Notables:

Here we go again - After crashing the morning of the nominations, the old website is once and forever kicked to the curb and a new one is born... here. (Be nice!)

Note to James Cameron - stick to directing: Avatar received nine nominations but was left out of Best Screenplay. The last film to win Best Picture with out a screenplay nomination? James Cameron’s last nominee, Titanic.

All in the Family: Up in the Air producers Jason and Ivan Reitman are the first father/son producing team to be nominated for Best Picture since Mario and Vittorio Cecchi Gori for Il Postino in 1995.

Spike Lee is rolling over in his grave: Precious is the first-ever Best Picture nominee to be directed by an African-American filmmaker.

Meryl rocks: Earning her 16th career acting nomination for Julie & Julia, Meryl Streep broke her own record—again—for the most nominated actor in Oscar history. The last time Meryl Streep won an Oscar, in 1983, was before her competitors Carey Mulligan and Gabourey Sidibe were even born.

High highs, Low lows: The Hurt Locker wins Best Picture making it the lowest-grossing winner ever. If Avatar had won Best Picture, it would have been the highest-grossing winner ever. Also, with her win as Worst Actress in "All About Steve" the previous evening, Sandra Bullock becomes the first person to win a Razzie Award and an Oscar in the same year.

Best Moment: Avatar loses best picture and best director.

Best Speech: Michael Giachinno and (though this Oscarnazi was not particularly pleased to see her win) Sandra Bullock both gave a warm and genuine speeches.

Running Gag: "Oh my God, this is taking SO LONG." In a year where they trimmed the song performances AND the Thalberg and Lifetime Achievement Awards, useless time was wasted on a pointless Horror montage, wedding toast introductions for acting nominees, to Animated characters giving interviewed about what it meant to be nominated. For a show you know is going to be long and boring, they hit new heights (or lows) this year.

Worst Moment: For the Oscarnazi, it was seeing Avatar win best cinematography. Come on, people. Animated movies don't count. I'd also count playing "I am Woman hear me Roar" after Kathryn Bigelow became the first ever female "Best Director" winner as an all-time Oscar low.

Worst Speech: The winner of Best Documentary Short, "Dear Prudence" gets cut off by his co-winner, who proceeds to eat up the clock and allow her co-winner no time at all to thank anyone.

The Pool:

And the winner for the second year in a row:
Gianna with 17!

And the rest of the pool goes a little something like this:
Stacey - 16
Stephanie, Molly, Sean, Jay, Carol, Jami - 15
Tracy - 12
Annie, Sean, Susan - 11
Erica - 10
Anne, Daisy - 9
Debbie - 8
Jessica, Mary - 7
Dianne - 6
Naya - 5