Stolen French Bread/Les Miserables

I was really proud of myself for this pairing.

My original intention was to make some fancy French recipe like a bouillabaisse or a galette for this movie. Seeing as how I'm a wee bit behind on the Oscar countdown, it was a double whammy when I came up with this easy but relevant idea.

I'm making Jean Valjean's stolen french bread. Duh.

Before we get to that, though, I will give you an update for my Oscar picks. Once again I remind you that these are not the movies that I think are going to win; they are simply what the Academy of Kim picks (although the nominees are not what she would have picked in the first place, but we won't get into that right now.

Kim's picks:
1. Beasts of the Southern Wild
2. Amour
3. Silver Linings Playbook
4. Les Miserables
5. Django Unchained

And the Kimmy goes to...

Recipe: Jean Valjean's Stolen French Bread

Baked Peach Oatmeal/Amour

I really struggled coming up with a dish for this Academy Award nominee. As a matter of fact, if I hadn't already promised reviews on all of the movies that are up for best picture, I probably wouldn't have included this one in the blog. I'm going to stand by that promise and deliver. Just keep in mind that this movie is definitely not meant to leave you with warm fuzzy feelings. Thanks, Academy for making me sad again. Here are my rankings of the best picture nominations so far:
1. Beasts of the Southern Wild
2. Amour
3. Silver Linings Playbook
4. Django Unchained

I chose the dish for this week based on a scene in the movie. You are just going to have to see it to get it. Also, people have been going nuts about this baked oatmeal, so I decided to finally give it a shot. The original recipe is found here (this is one of my favorite blogs - I've been following Beth for years!).

Recipe: Peach Blueberry Baked Oatmeal

Gumbo/Beasts of the Southern Wild

Part one of Oscar season madness! Out of the three I have seen so far (Django  and Silver Linings included), I would put Beasts of the Southern Wild on top. I wouldn't necessarily say that I think it is going to win, but that would be my pick. I was able to find a RedBox copy, but I know a lot of the art house theaters are playing (look for a Landmark near you!), and I would recommend going that route because the film is so visually striking.

The people of New Orleans would probably be very upset with my sad attempt at making gumbo. It was my first time, and I didn't follow a recipe, so you can't fault me too much for that. Nonetheless, I think it turned out pretty good, and I will definitely make it again in the future. Maybe I will make a vegetarian version because this one is just chock full of MEAT.

Sorry Caitlin.

Mango & Pineapple Sticky Rice/Searching for Sugar Man

This week's post comes to you from my dear sister, Caitlin. Caitlin lives in Chicago. She's awesome and a better writer/photographer than me so don't expect the rest of the posts to be this great from here on out. Enjoy!

Soon I will start Academy Award Madness. I have two movies/recipes up in the queue.

Sisters! In Chicago!

Welcome to my guest post!

I'm Caitlin (Kim's sister), and I gotta say, I might not be on Kim's cooking or movie-reviewing level. But with an optimistic spirit and an undeniable sweet tooth I bring you my take on mango sticky rice as well as the Oscar-nommed documentary "Searching for Sugar Man" about a folk musician who made it big in South Africa. A warm dessert in juxtaposition with the cold streets here in Chicago... kind of like Rodriguez's snowy apartment in Detroit in juxtaposition with his fan base's lush & subtropical home of South Africa!

The recipe is inspired by my roommate last year, who is from Asia and loves Thai food. She used to dig on this sticky rice from Thai Palace, a deliciously evil Thai food place in Holland, MI. I wanted to try and recreate it with a couple of things I already had in my apartment.

I also have an insatiable sweet tooth (and my mother will let you know it), so this hit the spot! I used white jasmine rice, but feel free to use actual sticky rice. I'm just going to say that you can't beat coming home to a kitchen that smells like jasmine rice. It's the closest I'm going to get to a dog's affectionate greeting until I live in an apartment larger than your average office cubicle.

Recipe: Mango & Pineapple Sticky Rice

Veggie Stir Fry/The Last Emperor

No excuse for the lack of posting lately. I would say I'm going to try to be better about it, but that's probably a lie. Maybe some more guest posts coming up soon? Also, I'm starting to grow weary of the same 10 root vegetables I get in my farm share every week. Step up your game, Boston Organics!

This week's recipe is more about the sauce than anything else. These vegetables are great, but you can pretty much use any kind of vegetable in a stir fry (which is why they're so great). Except for beets. Don't use beets in anything. The trick is to add the vegetables that take the longest to cook first and progressively add the rest as they cook. Leafy greens are always wilted down last when the sauce is added. Feel free to experiment with other vegetables and share your experiences!

In other news, I'm going to try this month to watch every film that was nominated for best picture. Typically I see them all without trying this hard, but this year has been a slow one for me as far as new releases go. I have already seen Django Unchained (way underwhelmed) and Silver Linings Playbook (meh), so there will be no posting for those ones. I will try to make some good entries for the remaining films. In the meantime, enjoy this review from a film that won best picture for 1987!

Although I don't know how it beat out this one.