"TCM (Turner Classic Movies) Movie Night Menus," & "The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous Cookbook" - Pizza and Pasta for Oscar Night 2017!

Date I made these recipes:  February 26, 2017 – Academy Awards (Oscars) 2017

TCM (Turner Classic Movies) Movie Night Menus – Dinner and Drink Recipes Inspired by Films We Love by Tenaya Darlington and Andre Darlington

Published by Running Press

ISBN: 978-0-7624-6093-9/© 2016

Recipe:  Bowtie Pasta with Spicy Vodka Cream Sauce – p. 35 (Menu intended for the 1933 movie, "Female" along with a Vodka Tonic and Boozy Olives, the last two recipes not listed here.)

The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous™ Cookbook – Recipes and Entertaining Secrets from the Most Extraordinary People in the World by Robin Leach

Published by Viking Studio Books

ISBN: 0-670-84245-1; © 1992

Purchased at Barnes and Noble (Used) – Roseville, MN

Recipe:  [Wolfgang Puck's] Whole Wheat Pizza with Chanterelles and Eggplant – p. 117

Sometimes it is a good thing to be woefully behind with these posts because it gave me the opportunity to talk about the kerfuffle at the end of this year's Oscars when the Best Picture winner was announced.

In case you missed it, here's what went down:  Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway (a/k/a Bonnie and Clyde, the movie of which is now 50 years old), came on stage to announce the winner of the Best Picture.  They read the list of nominees, then Warren opened the envelope but appeared puzzled by the envelope's contents.  After turning the envelope practically inside out, he showed it to Faye.  She thought he was stalling, said "You're impossible," and announced the "winner," the film La La Land.

And so there was much rejoicing and the La La Land crew came up to give thanks and a couple of them started their acceptance speeches.  Suddenly, the stage was filled with other people all looking at the envelope as well as some of the show's staff talking into headsets, and then the third speaker from the film finished up his speech by saying "We lost by the way."

What?  What was he talking about?  Turns out, there was an envelope mix up and the Best Picture went to Moonlight, not La La Land.  So the La La people cleared the stage, the Moonlight people took the stage, gave short and stunned acceptance speeches and then the program ended.

Immediately, people went to work figuring out what went down and it wasn't long before we learned that Warren and Faye were given the wrong envelope by the team representing the accounting firm, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, the firm that has been tabulating the Oscar votes for the past 83 years.  Oops.  Turns out PwC keeps two sets of each "winning" envelope on hand which is a good idea, unless the envelope handed to Warren and Faye was the envelope of an already-announced award (Best Actress, Emma Stone), in which case it was a bad idea.

So okay, to recap:  Warren and Faye did not read the right name, PwC goofed with the envelope, the producer for La La Land took the bull by the horns and practically shoved the correct envelope into the camera showing that Moonlight won (way to take control of the situ, dude), the show ended, everyone went to the after-parties and so the end, right? 

Wrong.  Within hours, there was call for an "investigation" and I'm sorry, what?  This was not Watergate.  This was not a matter of national security, this is the Oscars folks. Oscars are about films.  And in the end, this incident, unintentional as it was, likely helped Moonlight more than it hurt.  Historically, most people have a hard time remembering who won Oscar's most prestigious award, but not this year.  This is the year that Moonlight made history on many levels (African-American picture, African-American cast and director of a movie about African Americans and LGBT issues), and to me, this boo-boo only ensured we will remember this film and so it's a win-win all around.

Still, this was not my favorite award show snafu moment, not by a long shot. In 2010, a very stoned (drunk? other?)  Elizabeth Taylor (she had trouble with pain meds and, apparently, alcohol) was selected to present the 2001 Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Drama, and to this day, that debacle is my absolute favorite award-announcement-gone-wrong moment.

First, she thought the nominees were listed inside the envelope and so started to open it (the winner is inside the envelope).  When the audience clued her in, she said "Whaaaat?  I don't open this?" and then "I'm new at this.  I usually like to get them [awards]!"  Ha!

Then host Dick Clark stepped in to help her out saying "read the nominees first."   Then she said "What is this [envelope] for?  Oh I see."  Oh dear God.

So then she read the nominees (finally) and then opened the envelope and started pulling it apart looking for the name.  (I am laughing as I write this).  And finally, she said "And the winner is...and it's flashing 'envelope'." Yes, Virginia, she read the message on the teleprompter, the message that said "envelope" as in "Read it already" and seriously, I about slid out of my chair.

Finally – finally, she read the winner's name and the way she said "Gladiator" (Best Motion Picture – Drama) was hilarious. She sounded half surprised, half delighted and again, half out of it.  And as if that wasn't enough, she tried to close out the show, thanking everybody for coming and Holy Snort-able Moment, Batman, can someone get this woman offstage and quickly? Here's the clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGT-NUBNTZc

Naturally, and just like this year's Oscar debacle, this video went viral.  Saturday Night Live did a spoof of it as did an actor friend of mine who used to throw his arms out dramatically while at the same time saying "Glaaaaaaadiator."  You might have had to be there but it was hilarious.  Poor Elizabeth.  Still, every year without fail, I not only re-watch the clip, but I do my own imitation of her presenting the award.  Priceless!

So sorry, Warren and Faye, as good as this moment was, Elizabeth takes the day!

And now on with our story, (already in progress) - the 2017 Oscars and what I made on movie night.  Actually, we need to take another slight detour because one of the books I used on Oscar night was TCM Turner Classic Movies Movie Night Menus and Robert Osborne, long-time host of the TCM channel passed away last week at age 84. 

Turner Classic Movies was a start-up cable station that was owned originally by media mogul Ted Turner (thus, the name).  If memory serves, Ted initially wanted to colorize classic  black & white films, something that had the film community up in arms in two seconds flat.  You think this year's Oscar kerfuffle was bad, you ain't seen nothing!

At any rate, that idea went apparently by the wayside and today you can find a wide variety of classic films, in black and white and color, on this station with commentary and interesting trivia provided by Robert Osborn who signed on with TCM from the beginning (1994).  I loved Robert's commentary as he had great things to say about great films.  He also had insightful things to say about some not-so-great films as well. He'll be missed.

Unlike the other "dinner and a movie" cookbook I used for the SAG Awards, this one highlights only 30 films that have stood the test of time and then provides a menu for us to follow that is tailored to each movie.  Just like the other book, specialty cocktails are provided in every category.

Here's a sampling of some of the movies in this book:

• The Divorcee (1930)
• Grand Hotel (1932)
• The Thin Man (1934) - This film's menu featured a dry martini, naturally.  Nick and Nora fans will know what I mean!
• The Philadelphia Story (1940) I hate to say this but I never warmed up to this film despite it's A-list cast of Katharine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart, and Cary Grant.
• Casablanca (1942) – "Round up the usual suspects."
• Adam's Rib (1949) – possibly my favorite Katharine Hepburn/Spencer Tracy movie of all time.  Added bonus:  the hilarious actress, Judy Holiday, played Kate's legal client and she played it to perfection.
• The Sting (1973) – This movie is memorable to me because it was the first time I was asked out on a date to go to the movies.  I was 15 at the time, the guy, 16.  Unfortunately, and due to conditions of out of my control, the date never happened and it was years before I watched this movie.  (For the record, the boy was not the problem.  Just had to clarify that!)
• The Big Chill (1983) – "We took a secret vote.  We're not leaving.  We're never leaving."
• Moonstruck (1987) – Andy and I so loved this movie, we walked back up the aisle at our wedding to the tune "That's Amore."  This easily could have been a family documentary.

 So that's the sampling and I'm happy to say that I have seen 22 out of the 30 on the list which is not bad at all.  Alas, I did not see the movie, Female, associated with one of tonight's entrees – Bowtie Pasta with Spicy Vodka Sauce – but this film was released in 1933 and I am not quite up on my 1930's film viewing.  I'll have to see if I can find this and watch it sometime.

I am also happy to report that out of the list of 30 films, there are only a few of the ones I have seen that I don't like:  the aforementioned The Philadelphia Story (and also the musical that followed a few years later, High Society, staring Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby, and Frank Sinatra); Giant (1956); and An American In Paris (1951).  Let's parse these!

It is rare that I hate on Katharine Hepburn, but I just did not like her character in The Philadelphia Story. She played the very snotty and spoiled Tracy Lord and I just could not deal.  That said, I did like the way she said Cary Grant's character name:  "C. K. Dexter Haven."  Nice ring to it, no?

Then there's Giant, a film staring Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean, a movie that was sort of the precursor to the TV show, Dallas.  I read the book, Giant, by Edna Ferber, but just did not like it on the big screen.  Rock Hudson's character in particular just drove me nuts.  He played a Texas cattleman with an ego as big as the state of Texas.  At any rate, put me down for "no, thank you."

You may be shocked to see An American in Paris on the list but try as I might, I just cannot get into this story because there's just too much music and dance and this is hilarious because I like music and dance!  That said, the movie's music, written by George Gershwin, is the stuff of legend and I've performed many of the movie's songs both in my community band and as a vocalist at various and sundry performance venues.

I could go on and on also about some of the rest of the movies but we would be here all night so let's move on to the second featured cookbook, The Lifestyles of The Rich and Famous Cookbook by [the show's host] Robin Leach.

The title of the cookbook is the same title as this show that aired pretty regularly from 1984 to 1989, and then very sporadically until 1995 before disappearing from the airwaves.  The show was hosted by a Brit – Robin Leach – who brought us into the living room and lives of the rich and famous so we could all see how the other half lived, lucky us.

The thing that I remember most about the show was not who was showcased but Robin Leach himself.  The guy had a booming voice, prompting one comedian, I don't remember who, to mimic the guy in a sketch:  "I'M SHOUTING AND I DON'T KNOW WHY!"  I still use that line from time to time even though nobody ever knows what I am talking about!

Since it had been a long, long time since last I saw the show, I went to YouTube to reacquaint myself with Robin's intro and was surprised/not surprised to see it

featured a brief clip of a very young Donald Trump walking with a much younger Michael Jackson.  Wow.  Talk about doing the Time Warp again!  Indeed, this book is stuck in a time warp and so let's discuss the who's who and the what's what of my second featured cookbook.

The book's recipes are broken into categories, and within each category is a recipe submitted by someone a) rich, and b) famous because that's how this thing works.  Our categories for best rich and famous people's recipes are: "Extravagant Affairs;" "Casual Entertaining;" "Relaxing at Home," and "Favorite Recipes of the Rich and Famous."  I feel like I'm playing a special edition of Jeopardy!

Under "Extravagant Affairs," we have an entry titled "Congratulations Elizabeth and Larry," and what do you know, no sooner did I talk about Elizabeth Taylor above than here she is featured with her 8^th (and final) husband, Larry.....somebody.  (Had to look that one up.)  Actually, Larry Fortensky to whom our Liz was married from 1991-1996.  Larry and Liz's wedding feast was featured in the book and included "Fettuccine with Seafood" and "Roast Chicken with Morel Sauce."

Alas, Larry and Liz were unlucky at love as were two other celebrities listed in the "Casual Entertaining" section:  Ivana Trump, The Donald's first wife, and Wolfgang Puck and Barbara Lazaroff. Wolfgang is known as the official caterer of the Academy Awards Governors Ball and up until they got divorced, wife and business partner, Barbara Lazaroff worked in the business with him.  No matter as Wolfgang's food is good and was a perfect pairing to go with the TCM Cookbook's pasta dish.

Another couple who bit the dust were the "Relaxing at Home" team of Bruce (now Caitlin) and Kris Jenner, and unless you've been living under a rock, you know how that whole story played out so no need to go there.  Also found under the "Relaxing at Home" category were former pro baseball player, Steve Harvey, and his wife Candace Garvey and wow, you want to read the saga of someone who "played the field" (sorry, I could not resist the pun), check out his bio on Wikipedia.  Let's just say the man had a lot of women and children in his life, plural.

Then we have "Favorite Recipes of the Rich and Famous," and I don't know why some of these people were listed here and not elsewhere in the book, but I did not write the book so there you go.  It is here we find recipes from actress Joan Collins, actors Jerry Lewis and Roger Moore as well as Regis and former TV show partner, Kathie Lee (now Kathie Lee Gifford).   Rounding out this category was a submission from The Beverly Hills Hotel that made me laugh because the book is all about rich and famous people and then, inexplicably, a building appears.

Given that tonight was a night celebrating movies, I really wanted to make a recipe from someone associated with Hollywood versus someone who made a name in another field, but that was somewhat hard to do as the latter outnumbered the former.  So I decided finally that Wolfgang Puck was close enough because of his famous Oscar party connection and so I was good to go.

I was all set to make a Wolfgang pizza (he's famous for his pizza) and even selected one – "Black Forest Ham and Goat Cheese Pizza" - as that sounded delicious, but I started getting a nagging feeling I made that before, and sure enough, I did!  Check out my blog postings from February 2009 and there you will find it.

Since I knew I wanted to make pasta from the other cookbook, I just simply substituted another of Wolfgang's pizzas and it was a winner.  The recipe is for a Whole Wheat Pizza with Chanterelles and Eggplant and it was great even if I did make a few adjustments that are noted in the recipe recap below.

And so, dear reader, we had ourselves a pizza and pasta Oscar-viewing night and it was grand but I have to tell you that I felt like I was dining out at a Sbarro restaurant.  Anybody remember Sbarro?  It was a fast-casual pizza and pasta place, popular in the 1980's and maybe early 90's.  And do you know what kids?  They are still operating!  And not only are they still operating, but apparently they are in the food court in the Rosedale Mall, a mall I just visited this afternoon.  I guess I don't get out much anymore.

This then concludes Oscar Night 2017 with its attendant trauma-drama as well as all the dirt that's fit to print about some of the celebrities involved in this and past Oscars.  Good times.

Until next year....

Bowtie Pasta with Spicy Vodka Cream Sauce – serves 2 – from TCM (Turner Classic Movies) Movie Night Menus

1 jar (12 ounces) roasted peppers in olive oil, drained (Ann's Note:  it would figure that the minute I needed to find roasted peppers in oil, I couldn't, not even from an Italian grocery store!)

1 small clove garlic

2 tablespoons tomato paste

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

¼ cup vodka

½ pound bowtie pasta

¼ cup heavy ream

1 sprig fresh basil, leaves sliced into ribbons, for garnish

Freshly ground black pepper, for garnish

(Ann's Note:  notice that tomatoes are nowhere to be found in this recipe.  Instead, it's red peppers and tomato paste.  I must say though, I thought it was refreshing!)

Puree the peppers and garlic in a blender until smooth, then pour the mixture into a saucepan over medium heat and add the tomato paste, pepper flakes, and vodka.  Stir.  In a separate pan, start cooking your pasta, according to the box instructions.

Simmer the vodka sauce for 7 to 8 minutes, or until the sauce tastes sweet-hot, without being too bitter.  (If it still tastes bitter, cook it a few minutes more or add a teaspoon or two of sugar.  The cream will also mellow it.)

Add the cream to the sauce and stir.  Heat gently.  Drain pasta and separate into warmed bowls.  Ladle sauce over the pasta and top with fresh basil and black pepper.

Whole Wheat Pizza with Chanterelles and Eggplant – serves 4 – Wolfgang Puck's recipe is from The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous™ Cookbook – Recipes and Entertaining Secrets from the Most Extraordinary People in the World

For the Whole Wheat Dough

Ann's Note:  I cheated an purchased an already-made and non-whole wheat pizza dough to save time, but if you like to make dough, then rock on.

1 enveloped active dry yeast

¼ cup warm water

1 cup cool water

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

Pinch salt

3 ¾ cups whole wheat flour

For the topping

1/3 cup olive oil

2 medium eggplants, trimmed and sliced ¼-inch thick

Salt and freshly ground pepper

½ pound chanterelle mushrooms, cleaned and sliced ¼-inch thick

2 cups freshly grated mozzarella cheese

¼ pound fresh goat cheese, cut into ¼-inch cubes

3 to 4 garlic cloves, minced

1 medium leek, cleaned, trimmed, and thinly sliced

4 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage

1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano

Fresh thyme sprigs

Ann's Note:  As you'll see, the recipes calls for you to sauté only the eggplant and mushrooms, but I took it up a level and sautéed all but the tomatoes and I loved the result.  Leeks are great when softened and I wasn't sure I wanted that full flavor that raw ones bring.  It's up to you but I think you'll like the result. That said, the by-the-book instructions follow.

To make the dough

In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let proof for 5 to 10 minutes.  In a separate bowl, combine the cool water with the olive oil, honey, and salt.  Place the flour in the bowl of a food processor.  With the motor running, slowly pour the olive oil mixture, then the yeast through the feed tube.  Process until the dough forms a ball around the blade.  Transfer to a buttered bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled in bulk. 

Punch the dough down and knead it on a lightly floured work surface for about 1 minute.  Divide into 4 equal parts and roll into tight balls.  Place on a tray, cover with a damp towel, and let rest for several hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

Ann's Note:  Hmmm....interesting that he suggested to refrigerate overnight because here's what often happens:  chilled dough does not roll out very easily. Ours was refrigerated when I bought it and then got stored overnight in the fridge and Andy had a hell of a time rolling it out.   This is not the first time this has happened and after this, I will make a mental note not to do that.   If at all possible, buy it fresh or make it fresh. 

Roll or stretch each ball into a circle 7 to 8 inches in diameter.

Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500F.  Lightly dust a wooden pizza paddle with flour or semolina.  Working with one circle at a time, place the pizza dough on the paddle. Ann's Note:  Okay....no.  We don't have a pizza stone and we most certainly don't have a pizza paddle, are you kidding me, Wolfgang?  So here's what we did instead:  we set the oven to 450 and cooked the pizza 10-12 minutes (Wolfgang's cooking time for the whole thing), and then we lowered the temp to about 350 and baked it another 10 minutes or so.  And we used a "regular" pizza pan because that's what is in most people's kitchens.  Worked fine.

One final Ann's Note:  My grandmother used a boxed hot roll mix for her pizza dough and to this day, I can still taste how glorious that crust was.  It still contained yeast but the dough ended up being thick without being deep-dish thick and I loved that.  She was also a master at spreading that dough out on the pizza pan; I am most decidedly not a master at that.  In fact, so frustrated do I get by that endeavor that I turn that job over to Andy who does a much better job with it. 

"The Hollywood Cookbook - Cooking for Causes" - Mediterranean Chicken and Coconut Rice Pudding for the Oscars!

Date I made these recipes:  February 22, 2015 – Oscar Night!

The Hollywood Cookbook – Cooking for Causes by Jackie Zabel and Morgan Most

Published by:  Silverback Books, Inc.

ISBN:  13: 978-1-56937-083-8; © 2006

Purchased at Arc's Value Village Thrift Stores

Recipes:  Mediterranean Chicken (Anne Hathaway's) – p. 116 and Coconut Rice Pudding – p. 157

Tonight was the 87^th Academy Awards show and the Oscar went to...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Clocking in at 3.5 hours, this sucker was long and might I say boring?  And predictable.  And boring.  Wait, I said that.

Once upon a time, when I actually went to a movie theater (not since 2003 folks and it seems even longer than that) and watched most if not all the Oscar contenders for Best Picture, that horse race was fun.  Heck, I even snuck in a foreign films along the way just to keep my hand in the game and for bragging rights:  "Why yes, I did see that Icelandic horror story, thank you very much.  Two words:  Total shoe-in!"  Back then though, my movie viewing had a purpose and that was to win, finally, my friend Mike's Oscar pool. You think the actual Oscars are a battle? Ha! Try winning that damned pool. Some years I came so close to winning it all (and my plastic Oscar)  it was ridiculous.  And I had my speech all ready to go, damn it, and of course it was totally original, unlike most "plug and play" speeches we hear today (well, except this year):  "I'd like to thank my [producers] [directors] [the good folks at craft food service]...."

But then.  But then everything got boring and predictable and was there any doubt about who would win anything (in a major category) this year?  No, there was not.  In fact, so slow-moving was this train that toward the end, when I was desperately fighting off sleep (and the accompanying mouth drool), I was momentarily dismayed (confused?) to see that Patricia Arquette wasn't pictured along with the rest of the ladies up for Best Actress.  And that's because she won her award for Best Supporting Actress what – days earlier?  It seemed so. 

And G-Bless Neil Patrick Harris but he did not help matters along at all.  Now, if he would have tap danced, if he would have created a work-out video or if he magically (because he is a magician) made the entire auditorium disappear (save for Oprah who never goes anywhere because she's well...Oprah!), well then maybe I might have sat up straighter and paid better attention.  But he didn't so I didn't and so there you go.

And I can't even blame my drowsiness on the fact that Andy and I ate a heavy pre-Oscar meal because we didn't.  Well okay, the coconut rice pudding wasn't exactly the lightest thing on the planet but it was dessert and we had just a small taste so we would not do what in fact we did anyway – snooze!  Poor Andy bailed 3 hours in, recognizing that he would miss out (not really) on the Best of the Best of the...whatever...categories that remained but the guy has to get up for work in the morning and as excuses go, I don't think the boss would be tickled with "Well, I was up too late watching the never-ending Oscars and then I overslept and...."  Okay, small lie:  that might work with me if I was his boss but not in a machine shop full of guys.  Just sayin'...

Okay, well, I could go on and on (and believe me, post-awards I do go on and on about the fashion), but let's get to this cookbook.

The title, if you will, is somewhat misleading because it's The Hollywood Cookbook and to some – okay me – "Hollywood" still means films.  Films that are celebrated on a night like tonight at the Oscars.  Yet this book is filled with mostly TV actors who, of course, work in Hollywood but yet it's not the same.  This is why TV actors are celebrated with the Emmy's and movie actors are celebrated with the Oscars and the twain never shall meet, or at least didn't until the Golden Globes and the Screen Actor's Guild Awards were created to split the difference.  Or at least that's the answer that I'm going with for today.

Now, the purpose of this book can be found in the subtitle "Cooking for Causes."  And so each actor, actress, or chef, listed here gives us the charity/cause they support and they are all worthy.  In some cases, I was tempted to select a recipe based on the cause and not necessarily the actor.  Then other times, I flipped it and was learning toward the actor instead of the cause.  Well, luckily, I have Mr. Not-All-That-Interested for a spouse and so I handed him the book and let him select the recipe he wanted—which really is the point of this blog, right?  And when he handed it back, it was with the caveat that he didn't care what else I made from the book, he wanted the Coconut Rice Pudding.  He loves rice pudding and he loves it so much that despite the fact that we were grocery shopping for ingredients to make this rice pudding, he was still going to buy some at Trader Joe's.  I reminded him of dinner and he put the package back.  "Another day, dear. You can buy it another day."

As to the main dish, he was leaning toward, Jane Kaczmarek and Bradley Whitford's (once married, now divorced) recipe for slow cooker cassoulet until I pointed out to him that it calls for duck (I don't like duck) and that even if we substituted that item, it called for a lot of meat and a lot of meat means a lot of money.  So I made the Mediterranean Chicken instead.  That's how well roll the week before payday!

Before we get to the recipes, here's a look at a few stars who submitted recipes, the movie they are most likely known for and their charity:

• Thora Birch - "American Beauty."  Charity: Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation).
• Michael J. Fox - "Back to the Future," of course.  Charity: The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.
• Brendan Fraser  - "Blast From the Past." Charity: P.S. Arts.
• Anne Hathaway (Mediterranean Chicken) – "Les Miserables (Best Actress winner, 2013)."  Charity: Lollipop Theater Network.
• Ron Howard – director of too many films to name but my favorite is "Apollo 13"...not to mention the star of TV shows like "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Happy Days."  Charity:  Boys and Girls Club of America.
• Jane Kaczmarek and Bradley Whitford (Coconut Rice Pudding) – Mostly TV roles, she for "Malcolm in the Middle," he for "The West Wing."   Charity is one they founded:  Clothes Off Our Back.
• Esai Morales – "La Bamba."  Charity:  TreePeople.
• Wolfgang Puck – none listed but he donates a lot of time and attention to several worthy causes as well as caters the Oscar's Governor's Ball every year.
• Treat Williams – mostly known for Broadway and TV roles like Stanley Kowalski in a TV remake of "A Streetcar Named Desire" ("Stellaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.....").  Charity:  Save the Children

...and more.

As a PS, actor James Denton – Desperate Housewives – is also included in this book and I nearly went for his southern treats before my husband decided otherwise.  James is married to a woman from MN and has been living in a Twin Cities suburb for the past couple years.  He has also been very active in Twin Cities theater productions.

Okay, so as to the recipes, both were good and I loved that I could make up the base for each, pop it in the fridge and then proceed to forget about them for a couple of hours.  Actual cooking time was minimal and so for once I was able to time them to get done at the same time – woot!

As to the chicken dish, it was tasty but I must say that the marinade was interesting.  It contained oil and vinegar and that was okay but then you added a bunch of savory items like garlic and capers and oregano and then topped it off with fruit and then topped it off further with brown sugar.  Huh.  The taste was great but you wouldn't have thought so at first blush.

The one little quibble I have is that if you look at the photo included in the book (which never seems to look like my finished product), you'd swear there were onions in this recipe.  And yet I read the instructions and the ingredient list several times and no onions were mentioned.  So there's that mystery.

And the instructions for the rice pudding puzzled as well.  The ingredients call for "1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean (scraped)."  Have we all got that?  But then there's the instruction "Remove vanilla bean pod and refrigerate..."  It almost sounded like I should leave the bean pod whole but I wasn't sure.  So I showed it to Andy who also had no idea. And so I put the entire bean pod in the mixture and removed it before chilling.   This might not have been right but it's my blog and I'll cook like I want to!

And the Oscar for this evening goes to...the food.  Enjoy!

Mediterranean Chicken – Serves 6 – Note:  marinate for 4 hours or overnight

6 boneless, skinless chicken cutlets (3 whole breasts)

¾ cup red wine vinegar

3/34 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 garlic cloves, smashed

2 tablespoons minced fresh oregano leaves (Ann's Note:  Not to sound like an idiot but I've never heard of fresh oregano leaves, only dried.  Still, my Rainbow grocery story carried them, bless their hearts, and so I bought them.)

2 tablespoons capers

1/3 cup dried apricots

1/3 cup pitted prunes

1 handful pitted green or black olives

3 bay leaves

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

¾ cup white wine

½ cup brown sugar

6 cups salad mix or rice

Place chicken in a large baking dish.  In a bowl, combine vinegar, oil, garlic, oregano, capers, apricots, prunes, olives, and bay leaves and season with salt and pepper.  Mix well.  Pour mixture over chicken breasts and place, covered, in refrigerator.  Allow chicken to marinate for 4 hours or overnight.  Ann's Note:  The oil will "set" when refrigerated but no worries, it's fine.  Odd-looking, but fine.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Remove chicken dish from refrigerator and discard bay leaves.  Pour wine over the top of chicken and sprinkle with sugar.

Place dish in oven and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.

Serve chicken breasts on a bed of rice or salad.

Coconut Rice Pudding – Serves 6 – Note:  allow one hour for milk mixture to cool, 4 hours to overnight for mixture to be refrigerated before finishing the recipe

1 cup cream, whipping

1 ¼ cups unsweetened coconut milk, well shaken

2 cups milk

3 black cardamom pods (Ann's Note:  you can get these at a co-op or Whole Foods but I couldn't find black, only green.)

1 ½ tablespoons grated lemon zest

½ cup sugar

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

2 cups cold cooked rice (preferably medium-grain)

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon vanilla bean (scraped)

Toasted coconut shavings, for sprinkling

Combine the milks, cardamom pods, vanilla bean and lemon zest in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Remove from heat, cool for one hour.  Remove vanilla bean pod and refrigerate for 4 hours (or overnight).

Strain the cardamom mixture into a medium saucepan.  Add the sugar, salt and rice, and bring to a boil over medium-low heat.  Reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently until thick and creamy, about 40 minutes.  Stir in the vanilla extract and serve warm or chilled.  Garnish with coconut shavings.

"The Casablanca Cookbook" & "Pilar Wayne's (John Wayne's wife) Favorite and Fabulous Recipes - Oscar Night!

Date I made these recipes:  March 2, 2014 – Oscar night!

The Casablanca Cookbook – Wining and Dining at Rick's by Sarah Key, Jennifer Newman Brazil and Vicki Wells

Published by:  Abbeville Press Publishers

ISBN:  1-55859-474-4

Purchased at The Strand (Bookstore) NYC

Recipe:  Couscous Marocain – p. 25, using a spice mix found on page 15

Pilar Wayne's Favorite and Fabulous Recipes (Pilar was married to actor John Wayne) by Pilar Wayne

Published by:  PAX Publishing Company

© 1982

Purchased from Etsy - RetroMarketplace

Recipe:  Cream of Carrot Soup – p. 55

As so just like Christmas, this year's Oscar celebration came and went...and went...and went.  Honestly people, I am no expert on telecasts but really – three and a half hours for this show is a bit much.  When husband Andy finally threw in the towel (somewhere around hour three), he said "Have they even done the best actor and actress yet?"  Ha!  (Snort) "Not even close, honey.  We're still at Best Adapted....something."

And so off he went to bed (he has an early start for work) and I endured the remaining half an hour as if I was involved in some kind of Chinese water torture.  I don't remember feeling this antsy before but the older I get, the more I just have limits on how much time I want to "invest" in something like this. 

As someone who has the unofficial title of "Event Planner" on her resume, let me just offer up a few suggestions on how to make this excruciatingly long evening a success:  a) Tina Fey and Amy Poehler guest host...everything.  Not only are they funny but they move it along, Douglas!; b) no offense to the people who worked their butts off in areas like sound editing and visual effects and costuming, but let's be real, shall we:  what we want to see boils down to a few select categories, specifically:  Best Supporting Actor/Actress; Best Actor/Actress; Best Director; Best Picture.  Wait—that list is too short so I must have made a mistake.  No, upon further review, I think that sums it up.

Item c):  Really, John Travolta?  Did that toupee on your head scramble your brain?  The woman who sang the theme song from the movie, Frozen, is Idina Menzel—even I can pronounce that. Instead, the buzz on the internet today is how would John Travolta mangle your name:  Idina's became "Adele Dazeem."  Snort.  Moral of that story:  please do quit your day job, John. 

Okay, so that's the long and short of what I thought of the Oscars, let's get down to dinner.  I recently acquired both The Casablanca Cookbook and Pilar Wayne's Favorite and Fabulous Recipes cookbook and so put them aside with the intent to use them for the Oscar broadcast.  No problem.  What was more challenging was tying these recipes together – Casablanca/Moroccan recipes with Pilar Wayne's fondness for Tex-Mex/Peruvian food.  In the end, I decided the "safest" route was to pair the cream of carrot soup recipe with the couscous recipe because in my head, at the time of selection, I pictured a less creamy carrot soup than what I got.  With a less creamy soup, the carrots would have gone nicely with couscous and all its accompanying vegetables and spices.  But let me tell you, "pilgrim" (John Wayne often called someone "pilgrim") the soup was damned good.  It almost didn't turn out that way because I had an inattentive moment at the stove (thought the burner was off and it was on simmer, almost wrecking my soup ingredients) but we liked it a lot.

As to the couscous, I really enjoyed the spice mixture in this recipe.  I vacillated between making a whole batch or a half batch and decided on a whole but you can easily divide this.  To round things out, I poached two chicken breasts and mixed them into the couscous mixture.

So let's talk about the cookbooks and why they were perfect for Oscar night! 

Casablanca has to be one of my favorite movies, not so much for the love story (although it's awesome, am I right?) but because of the sheer wit of the dialog and the droll way it was delivered.  In case you have never seen the movie (making you one in about a bazillion) here's the story:  American expat, Rick/actor Humphrey Bogart, owner of Rick's Cafe American, is running his little gin joint in Casablanca in the middle of WWII. Enter his former lover, Elsa/actress Ingrid Bergman, who, along with her husband, Victor Lazlo/actor Paul Henreid, is trying to get out of Casablanca (now run by the French Vichy government) and needs Rick's help (Victor is a leader in the Czech Resistance and is trying to get back to his people). Rick sums up the situation thusly: "Out off all the gin joints, out of all the towns in the world, she walks into mine."  Damn you, Elsa!

So that's your basic plot.  It gets better and funnier ("Round up the usual suspects") as the movie goes along, culminating in the resolution to the Rick-Elsa-Victor conundrum (in a beautiful scene and you cannot tell me that you have not seen this scene before – cannot) and one of the best ending lines, ever:  "Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."  (Sniffle.)

So as you might imagine, The Casablanca Cookbook is filled with Moroccan-inspired delicacies, along with other memorable movie quotes and photos. To this day, I am still bummed that my husband, Andy, refused to wear a white formal dinner jacket– ala Rick – to our wedding (and not the tacky, modern white tux but a classic 40's and 50's white formal dinner jacket...and yes, there's a difference).  Oh well.  To soothe my soul, I'll just have to watch the movie again...and again.

And so now we turn our attention away from Casablanca to westerns.  Make that John Wayne westerns. 

Nobody, but nobody, not even Clint Eastwood, although he comes close, embodies westerns like John "Duke" Wayne.  That voice, that swagger, that stature (the guy was 6'4") all worked to turn him into a cinematic legend.  All this from a guy named "Marion" at birth – glad to see that name change worked out for him.

Although nominated for an Oscar on three occasions – 1949 – Best Actor Nominee for the Sands of Iwo Jima (he lost to Broderick Crawford for All the King's Men); 1960 – Producer – The Alamo (he lost to Billy Wilder of The Apartment) and 1969 – Best Actor for True Grit, he only won 1969 Oscar for Best Actor in True Grit.  Although best known for his westerns, Duke also performed in an equal number of WWII films.  Actually, any time a movie needed a "man's man," John Wayne was "it." 

Here's a list of some of Duke's notable movies:

Rooster Cogburn – 1975 – with Katharine Hepburn

Rio Lobo – 1970; Rio Bravo – 1959; Rio Grande - 1950

Chisum – 1970

Hellfighers – 1968

The Green Berets – 1968

The Son's of Katie Elder – 1965

How the West Was Won – 1962

The Longest Day – 1962

The Quiet Man – 1952

And on and on and on! 

Now I must disclose that while I loved Duke in the Sands of Iwo Jima (a film that hit home for me because my dad was a Marine on that island during the same battle), I did snort at the...I don't know....over the top portrayal of valor.  I mean, Duke went down as only Duke could go down but it was rather "Hollywood," and far less realistic than the bloodbath it actually was.  But hey, he gets points for trying.

And I must also disclose that my favorite John Wayne moment did not come from any of his movies, good though they were but from my favorite TV show of all time, I Love Lucy. In Season 5 (1955), episode 2 (the Hollywood episodes), Lucy gets the bright idea to steal John Wayne's footprint from Grauman's Chinese Theater and manages to break it into pieces.  In the scenes that follow, Lucy has to then try to get "Mr. Wayne" to redo his footprint.  Bedlam ensues.  In the end, Lucy gets to meet John Wayne, his footprint is restored and all is well as Lucy and Ethel jump up to try to kiss that very tall man.  Hopefully, neither Desi Arnaz (a/k/a Ricky Ricardo), Lucy's real-life husband and co-star nor John Wayne's wife, Pilar were put out over that innocent kiss although the massage scene (yes, you read it right) might be another matter.  Hint:  watch the episode!

 Born in Peru, Pilar Pallete met John Wayne when he was in Peru scouting locations for The Alamo.  Although John was 29 years her senior (oy!) they were together for 27 years until 1979 when John died (they separated in 1973).  Today, Pilar – actress, mother (she and John had three children) cookbook author, restaurateur, interior designer and artist – makes her home in California.  Her artwork (including many paintings of John) can be viewed at pilarwayne.com

Although Pilar just published a second edition of her cookbook, I knew I had to have her first edition the minute I spotted it on Etsy.  Although I was not a follower of John Wayne's career, I was aware that Pilar was his wife and so I put this book in my shopping cart and there it is!   This book is a great mishmash of recipes – some Peruvian, some not and – be still my heart – there's even a recipe for (Jell-O) Lime Mold.  Scoff all ye may, but I love Jell-O and would have made it had I not been obsessed with other dishes in the book.

So there you have it – Ann's Oscar Night Dinner 2014.  And the Oscar for Best Culinary Creation goes to....

Cream of Carrot Soup (serving size not given)

1 lb carrots

1 lb potatoes

2 tablespoons butter

½ cup coarsely chopped onion

6 cups chicken broth

2 sprigs fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried

1 bay leaf

1 cup cream

Tabasco (just a little)

½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

½ teaspoon sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup cold milk

Peel carrots and potatoes.  Cut carrots into rounds and cube potatoes.  Melt butter in a pot and add onion.  Add the carrots, potatoes and chicken and bring to a boil.  Add thyme and bay leaf.  Reduce heat and simmer 30 to 40 minutes until carrots and potatoes are tender.

Puree in a food processor or blender until smooth.

Return to pot; add remaining ingredients and heat thoroughly.  Serve hot.

Couscous Marocain – makes 6 to 8 servings

16 ounces couscous

1 recipe Abdul's Secret Spice Mix (see below; in the book, see p. 15)

1 cup raisins

19-ounce can chick peas

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh coriander, chopped

1 large tomato, diced

1 red onion, diced

Juice of 1 lemon

Juice of 1 orange

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups unsalted chicken broth or water

Abdul's Secret Spice Mix

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon saffron threads

1 teaspoon salt

Ann's Note:  per the book, you can also use this spice mix for Marinated Black Olives (p. 16), Goat Cheese Purses (p. 28) and this recipe.

Mix spices in a small bowl.

For the couscous:

Place dried couscous in a fine strainer.  Pour cold water over the couscous until it is completely wet.  Let drain for 30 seconds.  Spread couscous on a cookie sheet and cover with a damp towel.  Let sit for 30 minutes.  Then take couscous and pour it into a large bowl.  Separate it into grains with your fingers.  Mix in all remaining ingredients.  Up until this point couscous can be prepared ahead and refrigerated up to 3 days.  When ready to serve, place couscous in a large ovenproof dish with water or chicken broth.  Bake covered at 400F until couscous is hot and all the liquid is absorbed (about 20 minutes).  Couscous goes well with kebabs.

"The Sinatra Celebrity Cookbook" - Rova and Ernie Borgnine's Pevronatta a la Borgnine (ragu of sausage and peppers on pasta)

Date I made this recipe:  February 24, 2013 (Academy Award night)

The Sinatra Celebrity Cookbook – Barbara, Frank & Friends by The Affiliates Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center at Eisenhower Medical Center Rancho Mirage, CA

Published by:  The Affiliates Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center at Eisenhower Medical Center Rancho Mirage, CA

© 1996

Recipe:  Tova and Ernie Borgnine’s Pevronatta a la Borgnine (Pasta with Peppers) – p. 166

Tonight is Oscar night and if you’ll forgive me, I just have to sing the “Oscar Song” from TV’s The Odd Couple.  Ready?  “Once there was a man named Oscar.  Oscar, Oscar, Oscar.  And he turned on his best friend. Oscar, Oscar, Oscar. Oscar.  Oscar.  Aw-ah-ah-ah!”  Thanks, folks, I’m here all week….  (For those of you who are TV buffs, this is a song sung by Felix Unger, the biggest neat-freak on the planet, played actor by Tony Randall, to the biggest slob on the planet, Oscar Madison, played by Jack Klugman.  Both actors also stared in many films; Jack is best known for his role as a juror in 12 Angry Men.)

At any rate, I couldn’t resist an opportunity to sing that “song” and if you want to relive the hilarious moment, you can find it on YouTube under “Oscar Song Odd Couple” or under “Felix the Calypso Singer.”  Priceless.

So this, of course, put me in the mood to pull out a cookbook by another singer, one possibly just a tich more famous than Felix Unger – Frank Sinatra.  (But by the by, actor Tony Randall was also a very good singer.)  Frank and his wife, Barbara, filled this book with recipes from their celebrity friends – actors, singers, songwriters and even politicians.

Many of you may not know that in addition to being one of the most famous and memorable singers in history, “Ol Blue Eyes”/”Chairman of the Board” also acted and won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in the film, From Here to Eternity, starring Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr (The King and I), Donna Reed and countless others.  Set in Hawaii during WWII, this story showcases of all things, boxing and an Army company’s boxing tournament.  Naturally, there has to be some sex and women thrown in for good measure and so enter Deborah Kerr and Donna Reed!  Deborah ends up having an affair with Burt Lancaster and the movie’s sexy scene involving the two of them kissing on a beach in the surf in Hawaii (and yes, there is a real “From Here to Eternity” beach and I’ve been there) set people’s hair on fire when the movie came out (1953) and from that point on, I don’t think people cared a fig about the boxing portion of our program.  Honestly – people were shocked to see Deborah Kerr in that hussy role and weren’t too thrilled about wholesome Donna Reed’s It’s a Wonderful Life’s role as a prostitute, either.  Now of course, everything is far game and a scene like the beach one gets a “yawn” – maybe. (By the by, in the movie, Deborah Kerr was married to Captain Dana Holmes played by actor Phil Ober.  In real life, Phil Ober was married to actress Vivian Vance who played Ethel Mertz opposite Lucille Ball’s Lucy Ricardo on I Love Lucy.)

Frank’s role was that of Angelo Maggio, a company boxer. Frank was nominated for and won Best Supporting Actor for this movie and Donna Reed won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Alma, the prostitute.  Hollywood does indeed love its down-and-out characters.

Frank’s other film roles ran the gamut from tense (Manchurian Candidate) to twinkle toes (Guys and Dolls in which Marlon Brandon co-stared in a singing role.  Yes, singing role).  And between his acting, singing and Viva Los Vegas, Baby lounge acts, he managed to meet just about everybody including fellow actor, Ernest (Ernie) Borgnine, who just passed away this year.  While many of you may remember him from McHale’s Navy, the Poseidon Adventure and yes, he was even in From Here to Eternity, I fell in love with him in the movie, Marty.  Ernie won the Academy Award for that role, beating out his friend, Frank Sinatra, who was nominated for his role in the movie, The Man With the Golden Arm.  It’s kind of scary, isn’t it, how all these roles and actors connect?

When I looked through this book, I was looking for someone who, if they hadn’t won an Oscar, was a movie actor.  Many qualified (some, like politicians, didn’t) but Ernie and his wife Tova, beat out the other contenders because I liked him and because I liked this recipe.

Ernie – born Ermes Effron Borgnino – used a slightly different variation on the Italian word, perperonata for this recipe but the dish’s result is the same:  it’s a dish of sautéed peppers, onions and in this case, sweet Italian sausage and ground sirloin.  It is very rich and hearty and good.  But be warned, the full recipe, serving 4-6, calls for 10 green peppers.  I made half the recipe and used only a little green pepper (not my favorite) and had a lot left over. 

I got this dish done just in time for the Oscars telecast and that was a good thing because I didn’t want to miss out on seeing who took the golden guy home this year.  I am sadly behind on viewing new movies but pride myself on having a decent DVD library of the old classics starting our friends Frank and Ernie and more!

Pevronatta a la Borginine (Pasta with Peppers) – serves 4 to 6 (Note, I made half the recipe)

4 cloves garlic

Olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

10 green bell peppers, diced

1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casing removed

1 to 1 ½ pounds ground sirloin

Chopped parsley or parsley flakes to taste

½ pound mushroom, sliced

1 (16 ounce) jar Italian-seasoned tomato sauce

1 cup red wine

1 (16 ounce) package pasta (Ann’s Note:  choose a pasta like Rigatoni or Penne that can hold up to a heavier sauce)

Sauté garlic in oil in skillet.  Add onion and cook until lightly browned.  Stir in bell pepper and cook, turning frequently, until softened.  In separate skillet, sauté sausage and beef, stirring to crumble, until cooked and no longer red in center. Combine meat mixture with sautéed vegetables.  Add parsley, mushrooms and tomato sauce to meat mixture.  Stir in red wine.  Simmer for 20 minutes.

While sauce is cooking, prepare pasta according to package directions.  Drain well.  Serve sauce over pasta.  Serves 4 to 6.

Chicken wings or drummettes can be substituted for sausage and beef.