Oscar Eats: Christian Bale’s Kale Salad

Christian Bale’s Kale Salad
Serves four

This salad is a version of one made weekly with a crew of girls knighted "The Bang Gang" (it refers to a one-time hairstyle preference, not anything lascivious) when we’d gather to watch the best show on television, RuPaul’s Drag Race. It also seems the perfect meal for those of you looking to shed poundage the way Christian Bale did in his outstanding performance, one that will surely earn him on Oscar on Sunday, in The Fighter.

Salad:
4 packed cups de-stemmed, finely chopped kale
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 Gala or Fuji apples, diced
1 avocado, diced
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds

Dressing:
2 tablespoon tahini
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 small shallot, minced
1 teaspoon honey
dash cayenne pepper, or to taste
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

In a large bowl, toss kale with olive oil and allow to wilt slightly while preparing other ingredients.

Dice apples and avocado and toss in lemon juice to prevent oxidizing.

Mix all of the dressing ingredients in a small dish, mashing the tahini with the back of a spoon until there are no clumps remaining.

Toss kale with dressing and gently add in apple, avocado and sunflower seeds, tossing to combine. Serve and enjoy!

Members of the Bang Gang tranny-ified at a Tranimal Event in late '09...

And one night's Drag Race Dinner. The kale salad is the lower half of the plate.

Oscar Eats: Caviar Bardem, Pomegranate Rose Dessert Tapioca

Caviar Bardem
Serves four

For surprise Oscar-nominee Javier Bardem, whip up this tapioca dessert play on caviar. Like the Spain actor, it’s unexpectedly sensual and also filled with antioxidants. Oh! Not that Javier is filled with antiox…sigh, forget it. It’s a textural delight and flavor bombshell.

1 cup pomegranate juice
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup quick-cooking tapioca pearls
1/4 cup sugar
pinch salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon rose water
1/2 cup milk (coconut milk can be substituted)
pomegranate seeds to garnish
edible rose petals to garnish (optional and if available)

Place pomegranate juice and 1/2 cup water into a heavy saucepan. Sprinkle with the tapioca and let sit for 5 minutes.

Stir in sugar, salt, vanilla, rose water and milk.

Bring slowly to a simmer and cook, stirring often, until tapioca is translucent and cooked through, about 5 minutes.

Spoon pomegranate tapioca into serving dishes and chill for at least 2 hours. Serve topped with pomegranate seeds and edible rose petals (if using).

Oscar Eats: Chicken a la King's Speech

With the hours to Oscar dwindling, it's time for another recipe. This one bows before the film most likely to unseat early front runner, The Social Network, for the crown of Best Picture...

Chicken a la King’s Speech
Serves four

I like to think of this as chicken pot pie fit for a king. It’ll make you stutter and stammer it’s so good!

2 whole chicken breasts, bone in, skin on
Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
4 puff pastry shells
3 tablespoons butter
2 -3 scallions, trimmed, sliced with tops
1/2 cup crimini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1/2 cup chantrelle mushroom, cleaned and roughly chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 10oz bag frozen green pea and pearl onions, thawed
3 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 can cream of mushroom soup (not condensed!)
minced Italian parsley to garnish
truffle oil to garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper and roast for 30-40 minutes or until juices run clear and meat is no longer pink. Cool and remove skin. Cube chicken, set aside.

Reduce oven temperature to whatever is recommended for puff pastry shells and bake them according to package directions.

While the puff pastry is baking, place a large skillet on medium high heat. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter and sauté scallions, mushrooms and bell pepper until soft, about 5 minutes. Add thawed peas and onions, cook another 1-2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and reserve in a bowl.

Return skillet to heat, melt remaining two tablespoons of butter and whisk in flour. Whisk in milk and soup and cook over medium heat until a thick sauce forms, about 2-3minutes. Add reserved vegetables and cubed chicken and warm through.

To serve, spoon the choppy Chicken a la King’s Speech into the puff pastry shells and top with parsley and truffle oil (if using).

It'll make you say "Piss, shit, bugger" it's so yumtastic.

Oscar Eats: Winter's Roasted Marrow Bone

After yesterday's True Shrimp and Grits, how do we honor Winter's Bone, the indie darling that triumphed at Sundance and landed in the Oscar race for Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor?

Meth souffle? Nah, it's not really in season. By roasting a winter's bone of course.

Winter’s Roasted Marrow Bone
Serves 4

1 crusty bread or baguette, sliced into at least 8-12 pieces
2 whole garlic cloves, peeled
8 center-cut beef marrow bones (ask your butcher to cut them into3 inch long portions. They should total 3 to 4 pounds)
1 cup Italian parsley, chopped
2 shallots, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons capers, roughly chopped
1 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons white truffle oil
juice and zest of one lemon
Coarse sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Rub each slice of bread with raw garlic and toast lightly.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Place marrow bones, cut side up, on a lightly greased foil-lined baking sheet. Roast 10-20 minutes, depending on size of bone, until marrow is soft and has begun to separate from the bone, but before marrow begins to bubble over.

While bones are roasting, combine remaining ingredients except sea salt and pepper in a small bowl.

Serve garlic-rubbed toast, roasted marrow bones, parsley-truffle oil dressing, bowls of sea salt and cracked pepper to guests and invite them to scoop out marrow onto toast, sprinkle with salt and pepper and top with parsley salad.

Oscar Eats: True Shrimp and Grits

Everyone knows I love a good pun, especially a good food pun, so to celebrate this Sunday's Academy Awards, I'll be posting recipes all week long that honor some of 2010's greatest accomplishments in cinema and will play with your tastebuds just as much as their titles play on words.

First up, one of my favorite films of the year, the Coen Brothers' True Grit, nominated for 10 awards including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress, though, sadly, Matt Damon will not be recognized for his brilliant Matthew McConaughey impression. If you don't get what I mean, watch this and remember the moment when Damon leans back in his chair, peels his coat to the side to reveal a tin star and drawls, "I'm a Texas Ranger."

True Shrimp and Grits
Serves 4

These whiskey-drenched smoky shrimp are right up Rooster Cogburn’s alley. Served with cheesy grits, this is one meal you’ll never want to bid "A-dios."

2 cups chicken stock
1 cup quick grits
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup sharp cheddar, shredded
1 cup Monterey jack cheese, shredded
2 slices bacon, chopped (high quality turkey bacon may be substituted)
1 yellow onion, diced
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup whiskey
juice of one lemon
4 tablespoons Italian parsley, chopped
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

In a large pot over high heat, combine water and stock and bring to a boil. Add salt and pepper to taste and stir in grits. Reduce heat to medium-high and cook, stirring constantly, until water is absorbed and grits are tender, about five minutes. Stir in butter and cheese and cook until cheese melts. Remove pan from heat, taste for salt, cover and set aside.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook bacon until fat renders and bacon begins to brown, about 5-7 minutes. Add onion, cooking until it softens and begins to caramelize, another five minutes. Add garlic, scallions and shrimp, sauté just until shrimp turn pink, about three minutes. Add whiskey, lemon juice and parsley to pan, season with salt and pepper to taste and remove from heat.

To serve, ladle cheesy grits into serving bowls and top with drunken shrimp.