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.

"True Grit" is Truly Impressive

At first glance, "True Grit" could be categorized simply as a Western, and given its first cinematic incarnation as the John Wayne vehicle that won The Duke his Oscar, that would make sense. But in the hands of the Coen Brothers the classic story blossoms into a soot-black comedy woven with King James Bible-brand dialogue and some of the best performances of the year.

Adapted from Charles Portis' 1968 novel, the film stars beguiling newcomer Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross, a no-nonsense 14-year-old who recruits U.S. Marshal Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to track down Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), the man who killed her father for a few horses and two California gold pieces, so she can exact avenge. As they set off into barren "Indian Territory," freshly dusted with snow, they're joined by La Beouf (Matt Damon), a Texas Ranger who's spent months on Chaney's trail.

Shot by Roger Deakins (marking his eleventh time as the Coen Brothers' cinematographer) in dusty sepia tones that give way to inky nights spent by the flickering glow of a campfire pockmarked by the occasional muzzle flash, the film looks and smells like a worn leather saddlebag—as does Bridges.

Sporting an eye patch, gin blossom nose and wheezing tobacco-charred voice, Bridges' whiskey-guzzling, sharp-shooting Cogburn is an acting high wire act. Somehow both grounded and grandiose, it's a turn so impressive, it makes you wonder if he could pull a Tom Hanks and win the Best Actor Oscar two years in a row. (Whatdayathink about that, Colin Firth?)

With brief, transfixing appearances by Brolin and the always impressive but hugely underrated Barry Pepper, the other name we expect to hear on the Academy's roll call this year (right after Christian Bale's for "The Fighter") is Damon's, who provides a great deal of the film's unexpected comedy and turns in his best work in recent memory.

The fact that Steinfeld, whose only notable credit before "Grit" was a TV movie called "Summer Camp," goes toe-to-toe with Bridges, Brolin and Damon, driving the story forward with her portrayal of a stoic, stalwart young girl hellbent on vengeance, is proof of an impressive career to come.

Lacking any sentimentality, but somehow full of heart and tenderness, unpredictably funny yet chillingly somber, "True Grit" is a genre-defying, impeccably crafted film that only the Coen Brothers could make.

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Watching Bridges and Damon on the trail, I kept flashing back to my Glamping extravaganza with Brian earlier this year, so I figured, why not resurrect that good ol' Cowboy Caviar Soup?

For the recipe, click here...

Reviewing "TRON: Legacy," "Yogi Bear," and "True Grit" on Today in LA