I get hungry every time I watch a movie with food in it. Thanks to Alex’s great idea, we decided to share this easy way to enjoy a meal AND a movie! Make these terrific dishes before the film begins and satisfy your craving while watching!
The previous post explored drunken food fights, classic ramen noodle soup AND legendary Italian pasta pie…not full? Good! Time to continue the food-obsessed movie-going guide, with recipes! Onto movies #7-5:
7-Ratatouille. Meet Remy. Remy is one of the greatest undiscovered chefs in Paris. And he’s a rat. Don’t hold that against him, because his love for food transcends his background. You have to give credit to Pixar for not only making a film about a rat, but for the amazing amount of attention to detail in the film as it relates to food. They actually take the time to explain what “mis en place” is! And of course, they hired Thomas Keller as a consultant to make sure the recipes were done right…brilliant. This is a funny, touching animated movie that celebrates our love for food…so make yourself the Ratatouille recipe from the movie and pop it into the blu-ray!
The recipe for Thomas Keller’s Confit Byaldi, the accordion-fanned version of ratatouille used in the movie is available on the French Laundry website, but buy the gorgeous cookbook as well…my friend Michael Ruhlman co-wrote it with him!
Ratatouille’s Ratatouille
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
1 cup tomato puree (such as Pomi)
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 small eggplant
1 small zucchini
1 small yellow squash
1 red bell pepper
fresh thyme
Salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Pour tomato puree into bottom of an oval baking dish, approximately 10 inches across the long way. Drop the sliced garlic cloves and chopped onion into the sauce, stir in one tablespoon of the olive oil and season the sauce generously with salt and pepper.
Trim the ends off the eggplant, zucchini and yellow squash. trim the ends off the red pepper and remove the core, leaving the edges intact, like a tube.
On a mandoline, adjustable-blade slicer or with a very sharp knife, cut the eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and red pepper into very thin slices, approximately 1/16-inch thick.
Atop the tomato sauce, arrange slices of prepared vegetables concentrically from the outer edge to the inside of the baking dish, overlapping and alternating vegetables.
Drizzle the remaining tablespoon olive oil over the vegetables and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the fresh thyme over the dish.
Cover dish with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit inside the dish.
Bake for approximately 45 to 55 minutes, until vegetables have released their liquid and are clearly cooked, but stiThea bit firm. You should see the tomato sauce bubbling around them.
You can serve with soft goat cheese on top, alone, or with some crusty French bread..
6-Eat Drink Man Woman. has there EVER been a love letter to Food as romantic and joyous at this 1994 film from Taiwan? Director Ang Lee came to America later and directed “The Ice Storm” and “Brokeback Mountain” among others, but here he tells the story of Senior Master Chef Chu, who lives in a large house in Taipei with his 3 unmarried daughters. Life revolves around their ritualistic weekly dinner, and their love lives…ther is SO MUCH FOOD shown in this movie that I have included the following link, which will take you to more than a dozen!
Thingsasian.com/stories-photos/3108
Now for our final recipe, from the #5 movie that follows…
Quick Tarte Tatin
Total Time: 48 min
Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 33 min
Oven Temp: 425
Ingredients
3 pound(s) (5 to 7 large) Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, and cut in half
2 tablespoon(s) butter
3/4 cup(s) sugar
1 (half 17.3-ounce package) sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed as label directs
Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place apples in 9-inch glass pie plate; cover with waxed paper, and cook in microwave on High 7 minutes.
Meanwhile, in heavy 10-inch skillet with oven-safe handle (or with handle wrapped in a double layer of foil for baking in oven later), melt butter over medium-high heat. Add sugar and cook about 5 minutes or until amber in color, swirling skillet frequently. Immediately remove skillet from heat (caramel will continue to darken).
With tongs, transfer apples from pie plate to skillet, coating flat sides of apples first with caramelized sugar. Then arrange apples, rounded side down, rotating them slightly to fit in a single layer in skillet.
On lightly floured surface, unfold puff pastry sheet. Fold in each corner of puff pastry about 2 inches and press down to form an “octagon.” With lightly floured rolling pin, roll dough into 12-inch round. Place dough round on top of apples in skillet; tuck in edge of dough around apples. With knife, cut six 1/4-inch slits in dough to allow steam to escape during baking. Bake tart about 25 minutes or until crust is golden.
When tart is done, cool in skillet on wire rack 10 minutes. Center large platter upside down on top of skillet. Wearing oven mitts to protect your hands, and grasping platter and skillet firmly together, quickly invert tart onto platter. Cool 20 minutes to serve warm…
5-Julie & Julia. Slice into your caramel apple tart and enjoy Meryl Streep, who was once again nominated for her performance as Julia Child in this 2009 ode to the legendary cook, and the young annoying woman who tried to cook like her. There you have it, the only flaw in this list – the modern day Julie (no fault of actress Amy Adams, who was directed this way) was so annoying and self-centered that she almost ruined the pure joy of watching Meryl Streep inhabit the heart and soul of the legendary Julia Child. Her half of the movie is terrific, and the love affair she has with her husband, and with food, is a joy to behold.
You can find a ton of recipes from Julia Child in her legendary cookbooks as well as online, but this is a nice, easy way to celebrate everything Tasty and French!
johnrieber 
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