Oscar Nibbles: Cracker Jack

The Bacon-Wrapped Blue Cheese Dates are great with sophisticated, romantic Oscar-winning fare. But when you're watching a nail-biting, heart-pounding thriller you want something you can smash between your teeth. You want popcorn. And this homemade Cracker Jack is just the ticket.

Cracker Jack is the snack brand of caramel popcorn with peanuts. It's sold with a small toy surprise as well. This homemade version comes together quickly and is a fun alternative to plain popcorn. Pair this snack with the Nebraska, Gravity, American Hustle and Captain Phillips cocktails.

Homemade Cracker Jack
Adapted from a recipe by Brown Eyed Baker, as adapted from Ezra Pound Cake

10 cups freshly-popped popcorn
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, plus more for buttering the bowl
1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tbsp. water
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup roasted peanuts

1. Preheat oven to 250 F.

2. Coat a large mixing bowl with butter and put the popped popcorn in the bowl.

3. Combine 6 tbsp. butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, water and salt in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer, whisking ingredients to combine and cook until the mixture reaches 250 degrees F, about 3 to 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and whisk in the vanilla and baking soda. Immediately pour the mixture over the popcorn and carefully fold the caramel into the popcorn using a spatula then gently stir in the peanuts.

4. Transfer the coated popcorn/peanut mixture to a lined, rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes. Remove baking sheet from oven and set on a wire rack to cool. Gently break up the popcorn and serve immediately or store in an air-tight container for up to 5 days.

Oscar Nibbles: Bacon-Wrapped Blue Cheese Dates

Along with the Homemade Cracker Jack, this is my other Oscar party snack this year. It's a little more sophisticated, the kind of savory finger food that goes well with a sweeping epic drama with a bit of romance. Something like Titanic, The English Patient or Shakespeare in Love.

This recipe is really pretty easy. Handling the dates can get sticky, but that's about the most difficult part.

The roasting time will vary depending on the bacon used. I buy the thick bacon from the meat counter at Whole Foods, so I needed to roast this longer than if I'd used something thin. Just keep an eye on it and be sure to turn them over occasionally or they could get burnt on the bottom.

Pair this appetizer with the 12 Years a Slave, Dallas Buyers Club, Her and The Wolf of Wall Street cocktails.

Bacon-Wrapped Blue Cheese Dates
Adapted in part from Bacon-Wrapped Dates Stuffed with Cream Cheese and Almonds, Food Network

18 medjool dates
3 oz. blue cheese (I used maytag blue)
6 strips of bacon, cut into thirds
18 toothpicks

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.

2. Cut a slit down the length of the side the date. Pull it open and remove the pit. Also remove the hard part where the date was attached to the plant, if not already removed. Place a piece of blue cheese cut to fit in the cavity left by the pit and squeeze the date closed (it probably won't close all the way, which is fine).

3. Wrap each date with a slice of bacon and secure the bacon with a toothpick pierced through where the bacon overlaps and through the date to the other side. Place the wrapped dates in a roasting pan and roast for 10 minutes if using thin bacon and 20 minutes if using thicker bacon, turning them halfway through. When the bacon has crisped, remove from the oven and set on paper towels to cool.

Oscar Cocktails 2014: All the Recipes

Here, in one place, are the recipes for all 10 of this year's Oscar Cocktails, with links to the original posts if you want the story for each drink, plus the recipe photos at the bottom. Cheers! Raise a glass to your favorite film as you watch the Oscars this Sunday night on ABC.

American Hustle: Looks and even tastes like a Pimm's Cup but is actually a forgery made with other ingredients.

1/2 oz. American dry gin
1/2 oz. sloe gin
1/2 oz. Campari
1/2 oz. yellow Chartreuse
1/2 oz. Orange cognac liqueur (such as Grand Marnier)
3 dashes orange bitters
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Cucumber slices and mint leaves (garnish)
Club soda

Combine gin, sloe gin, Campari, Chartreuse, orange liqueur, orange bitters and lemon juice in a shaker with ice. Shake until cold. Fill a collins glass with ice layered with a few slices of cucumber and mint leaves. Strain mixture into glass, top with club soda and stir to combine. Serve garnished with a cucumber slice and mint sprig.

Captain Phillips: (Captain) Morgan Rum plus (Phillips) Screwdriver ingredients is the formula for this cocktail sweetened with a Somali-spiced syrup.

1 1/2 oz. Captain Morgan spiced rum
3 1/2 oz. orange juice
3/4 oz. Somali spice syrup (see recipe below)
2 dashes orange bitters
Orange wedge, for garnish

Combine rum, orange juice, spice syrup and orange bitters in a rocks glass with ice. Stir well until combined. Garnish with orange wedge.

Somali Spice Syrup

½  tsp. cumin seeds
2 tbsp cardamom pods
1 tsp cloves
1 cinnamon stick, broke in half
¾ cup water
¾ cup sugar

Toast cumin seeds in a saucepan until fragrant, about 3-5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and increase heat to bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Allow mixture to cool in pan and strain out spices. Transfer to a container to chill in the refrigerator.

Dallas Buyers Club: a Gin & Tonic riff inspired by Ron Woodruff's quest for better treatments to improve his health and prolong his life.

1 1/2 oz. barrel-aged gin
1/2 oz. ginger liqueur
3 oz. tonic water
Lime wedge garnish

Add gin, ginger liqueur and tonic to a rocks glass with ice. Stir to combine and garnish with lime wedge.

Gravity: Made to look like outer space with enough booze to make you feel weightless. 

1 oz. sloe gin
3/4 oz. Kahlua
3/4 oz. blue curaçao
2 dashes Peychaud's bitters
Lemon zest

Combine sloe gin, Kahlua, blue curaçao and bitters in a cocktail mixing glass with ice. Stir until mixed and cold then strain into a cocktail glass. Sprinkle with lemon zest.

Her: Gin cocktail inspired by the film's colorful production design and refreshing take on modern relationships.

1 oz gin
½ oz Aperol
½ oz Campari
½ oz ginger liqueur
2 oz. Italian lemon soda (San Pelligrino limonata)
Lemon wheel
Rosemary sprig

Combine gin, Aperol, Campari, ginger liqueur, and lemon soda in a rocks glass with ice. Stir to combine. Garnish with lemon wheel and rosemary sprig.

Nebraska: Beer cocktail with moonshine and other ingredients inspired by the film's namesake state.

4-5 mint leaves, plus a sprig for garnish
1 oz. fresh lemon juice (juice from 1/2 lemon)
1 oz. moonshine
1/2 oz. St. Germain elderflower liqueur
1 tsp. honey
6 oz. American pale ale

Add mint leaves and lemon juice to a shaker and muddle. Add ice, moonshine, St. Germain and honey and shake well until cold and mixed. Strain into a highball glass with ice. Add beer and stir to combine. Garnish with mint sprig.

Philomena: A cold dessert cocktail riff on Irish Coffee inspired by the film's connection to Ireland and America.

1 oz. bourbon
1 oz. Bailey's Irish cream
1 oz. Kahlua
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 dashes chocolate bitters
Cinnamon stick (garnish)

Combine bourbon, Irish cream, Kahlua, vanilla and chocolate bitters in a cocktail mixing glass with ice. Stir until combined and very cold. Strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with a cinnamon stick.

12 Years a Slave: Saratoga cocktail modified to represent Solomon Northup's journey from freedom to slavery.

Absinthe, scant amount
1 oz. rye whiskey
1 oz. sweet vermouth
1 oz. apple brandy
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1/2 lemon wheel (garnish)

Rinse a chilled coupe glass with absinthe. Combine whiskey, sweet vermouth, apple brandy and angostura bitters in a cocktail mixing glass with ice. Stir until combined and chilled, then strain into the chilled coupe. Garnish with lemon wheel.

The Wolf of Wall Street: Like a shady business deal, this is a vodka martini tinted green like money and sweetened with a little powder (sugar, that is).

1 1/2 oz. vodka
1/2 oz. green chartreuse
1/2 oz. dry vermouth
1/2 oz. lemon juice
1 tsp. powdered sugar
Lemon twist (garnish)

Combine vodka, green chartreuse, dry vermouth, lemon juice and powdered sugar in a shaker with ice. Shake until cold and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with lemon twist.

(Bonus) Blue Jasmine: A blue, jasmine-flavored Stoli martini inspired by the movie's title and main character, Jasmine.

2 1/2 oz. jasmine tea-infused Stolichnaya Stoli Citrus vodka (see below)
1/2 oz. Lillet Blanc
1/2 oz. blue curaçao
Lemon twist

Combine tea-infused vodka, Lillet Blanc and blue curaçao in a cocktail mixing glass with ice. Stir until mixed and very cold. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with lemon twist.

To infuse vodka: Combine 3 oz. vodka with 1 jasmine green tea teabag and allow to steep for 12 minutes. Discard tea bag.

Vote for your favorite Oscar cocktail on Facebook.

Oscar Cocktails Bonus: Blue Jasmine

Blue Jasmine tells the story Jasmine (Cate Blanchett), a once wealthy Manhattan socialite who struggles to pull together a new life for herself in San Francisco after her philandering husband Hal (Alec Baldwin) is convicted of fraud. At the heart of this film is the fascinating performance by Cate Blanchett, nominated for Best Actress. The film is also nominated for Academy Awards for Supporting Actress (Sally Hawkins) and Original Screenplay.

The name alone almost writes this cocktail: something blue and something jasmine. Given Jasmine's love for Stoli martinis, I infused Stoli Citrus with jasmine tea and combined it with blue curaçao for color. Lillet Blanc and a lemon twist complete the martini.

Oscar Cocktails: Blue Jasmine

2 1/2 oz. jasmine tea-infused Stolichnaya Stoli Citrus vodka (see below)
1/2 oz. Lillet Blanc
1/2 oz. blue curaçao
Lemon twist

Combine tea-infused vodka, Lillet Blanc and blue curaçao in a cocktail mixing glass with ice. Stir until mixed and very cold. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with lemon twist.

To infuse vodka: Combine 3 oz. vodka with 1 jasmine green tea teabag and allow to steep for 12 minutes. Discard tea bag.

The Feed: February 26, 2014

The Feed is my weekly round up of interesting food-related stories from newspapers, magazines, blogs and websites.

Washington Post: “Store brands, the (now) welcome option,” by Bonnie S. Benwick.
Store brands have a bad reputation, the common assumption being that they are of lesser quality than name brands—an effort to shift volume at low cost. Benwick looks at how attention to store-brand marketing and quality is changing the reality driving that assumption, as well as how a small national chain, Aldi, is changing the playing field with its own off-name brands. Benwick also rates a selection of Aldi store products after using them in her home.

Washington Post: “The Gibson, a cocktail with movie-star status,” by M. Carrie Allan.
Here’s yet another example of how Carrie Allan has an uncanny knack for writing about exactly what I’m interested in. A few days ago I was reading the Scandi Gibson cocktail recipe in Savory Cocktails, which calls for cocktail onions. Not quite sure what that involves, I tweeted at Allan seeking her opinion on whether said onions are better homemade or bought. Her response? “This is the next column!” How cool is that?! Her column is all about the Gibson, the martini famous for its pickled pearl onion garnish. Nodding to the upcoming Oscars, I love that she recounts the Gibson’s star turn in North by Northwest, my favorite Hitchcock film. And the answer to my question? Homemade of course. She also includes a tempting recipe for a garnish-less Gibson made with red onion shrub.

New York Times: “A Taste You Hate? Just Wait,” by Frank Bruni.
Bruni’s essay looks at how our taste evolves over time. How sometimes we might “hate” something when we’re younger and then later love it. He includes a mention of Washington Post restaurant critic Tom Sietsema, who apparently used to loathe fennel, but now likes it.

New York Times: “Rich Comfort Food to the Extreme,” by Melissa Clark.
Given that it snowed today (again), I could really go for some of Clark’s Meat and Potato Skillet Gratin, which she likens to a marriage between shepherd’s pie and potato gratin.

Wall Street Journal: “Disco-Era Cocktails Are Groovy Again,” by Kara Newman.
I’m so ready for some ‘70s-style cocktails after reading Newman’s article. I’ve made a Harvey Wallbanger before, but now I’m ready to try these others, like The Grasshopper. I see a cocktail theme week in my future.

Food & Wine: “Mad Genius Tips: Just the Excuse You Need to Make Ginger Cocktails,” by F&W Editors / Justin Chapple
Using just a spoon and fork Justin Chapple, F&W’s mad genius, makes easy work of grating ginger, a task I’ve found to be a big pain with other methods (love my microplane, but not for that).

Thrillist: “Do Bottled Waters Actually Taste Different? We Found Out,” by Dan Gentile.
You may scoff at the notion of tasting bottled water, but in a world where there are actually water sommeliers, it actually makes sense. Gentile runs down the minerality and mouth-feel of a number of popular brands.

Los Angeles Times: “Your guide to 5 IPAs: Decoding the different styles of this hop-intensive beer,” by John Verive.
Verive offers a useful guide for understanding the differences between IPA styles. Particularly helpful to learn what Imperial IPA is.

Slate: “Unacceptable Ingredients: How many of the groceries sold at Walmart would be banned by Whole Foods?” by Ben Blatt.
Whole Foods won’t sell products containing things like high-fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors and MSG, among a list of 78 banned ingredients. Some may cry foul—after all, they still sell soda with sugar, for example—but in general it's nice that the store pays attention to potentially harmful ingredients.

James Beard Foundation: “The 2014 Restaurant and Chef Award Semifinalists,” by JBF Editors.
Check out the list of this year’s semifinalists—the next cut, the finalists, will represent the “nominees.”

Oscar Cocktails: Dallas Buyers Club

Dallas Buyers Club looks back to the early days of AIDS, when a diagnosis of the disease was akin to a death sentence before the development and approval of the life-saving drugs available today. In the film, rodeo cowboy Ron Woodruff (Matthew McConaughey) is diagnosed with AIDS and given a few weeks to live. Unsatisfied with this prognosis and the poisonous drugs available at the hospital, Woodruff begins a quest for better AIDS treatments, starting a buyers club to supply himself and his members with unapproved yet more effective pharmaceuticals. The film is nominated for six Academy Awards, including Picture, Actor (McConaughey), Supporting Actor (Jared Leto) and Original Screenplay.

Since Ron's pursuit of treatments that will improve his health and extend his life is a central plot of Dallas Buyers Club, I used that as inspiration for the drink, a riff on the gin & tonic--"tonic" is this case could also mean something physically restorative. And the barrel-aged gin represents Woodruff's desire to do what the doctors tell him he won't: age.

Dallas Buyers Club

1 1/2 oz. barrel-aged gin
1/2 oz. ginger liqueur
3 oz. tonic water
Lime wedge garnish

Add gin, ginger liqueur and tonic to a rocks glass with ice. Stir to combine and garnish with lime wedge.

See all of this year's Oscar Cocktails.

Farro Risotto with Pancetta and Kale

Farro (which I recently learned is pronounced FAR-ō, not FAIR-ō), is a wonderful way to substitute a nutty grain for rice in risotto. I used it in last year's Multi-Grain Risotto and wanted to give it another shot with different flavors. It's typically semi-pearled, meaning part of the bran has been removed. This helps it cook faster than say, wheat berries, which are not pearled. However, that also means that technically farro isn't a whole grain unless you find an unpearled variety somewhere.

I've paired it here with pancetta, which is an Italian meat like bacon but not smoky, and kale, the hearty green that's getting so much attention at the moment. You could certainly mix this up: use bacon or ham or omit the meat to make it vegetarian. Other greens like escarole, spinach or mustard greens would be good in this dish too.

Farro Risotto with Pancetta and Kale

1 1/2 cups farro
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups water
4 oz. diced pancetta
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 sweet onion, diced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3/4 cup dry white wine (I used pinot grigio)
1 bunch of kale, stems removed and leaves chopped into 2 inch pieces
1/2 grated cup parmigiano-reggiano

1. Rinse farro then soak in about 4 cups of water.

2. Combine chicken broth with 2 cups of water and warm over medium-low heat in a medium saucepan.

3. Heat a Dutch oven or large sauté pan over medium heat. Add pancetta and cook until crisped and brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Remove excess rendered fat to leave about 1 tbsp. in the pot.

4. Add butter to pot with rendered pancetta fat. Add onion and sauté until softened, about 5-8 minutes. Drain farro and add to pot. Cook, stirring occasionally to toast, about 5 minutes.

5. Add pancetta back to the pot, then add the white wine. Stir frequently as the wine cooks down until the point when a spoon swiped across the bottom of the pot leaves bare pot that isn't immediately covered with liquid. Then, start adding the warm broth by the ladle, stirring to incorporate and cooking until each added ladle of liquid is incorporated so that the bottom of the pot can be seen when a spoon is swiped across it. Continue cooking and adding liquid until the farro is cooked enough to still be a little chewy (you may not use all of the liquid), about 30 to 35 minutes total cooking time. Add the kale and cook until wilted, about 5 minutes. Stir in the parmesan cheese and serve.