The Oscars

let's toast the Oscar winners with chocolate martini (creme de cacao, vanilla vodka, and Bailey's Irish cream)
It's that time of year again, folks. Yes, my own annual Academy Awards rant night and my choice for best picture is Toy Story 3 because in my humble opinion IT IS THE BEST PICTURE of 2010. I've seen some of the nominated films and 2 of them are my worst films of 2010, the highly overrated Inception and the odious and misogynistic The Social Network. And what's up with the Academy's obsession with awarding actors playing people with disability. This year it's Colin Firth's turn in The King's Speech. Didn't the Oscars already honor lead actors for My Left Foot, Rain Man, I Am Sam, Shine, A Beautiful Mind, and the gawd awful Forrest Gump? Give me a break! Woody, Barbie, or Mr. Potato Head should win. Oh, they're not nominated. Well, they should have been.

MY best pictures of 2010

Toy Story 3
Ken and Barbie meeting for the first time is priceless. Ken: "I like your leg warmers", Barbie: "Nice ascot".

The Book of Eli
What's not to like? A machete wielding Zatoichi-like character chopping off body parts of unsavory characters trying to steal The Book he has been carrying and reading from for over 30 years. Not even the prune-faced boss (Gary Oldman) and his thugs will be able to stop Eli from fulfilling his mission.

Kick-Ass
Based on a comic book. A high school boy wants to be a superhero and becomes Kick-Ass. Without any training, he is bound to get beaten up and he is, twice. He is rescued by a team of masked father and daughter superheroes, Big Daddy and Hit-Girl. They don't have superpowers like Superman but they train in weapons and martial arts. On her 11th birthday she gets a balisong (Philippine fan knife) from her Dad who trains and home-schools her (one of her assignments is reading comic books). This movie is not for everyone and specially offensive to the politically correct crowd as the little girl swears like a sailor although her father doesn't. The best comedy action movie of 2010.

Let Me In
A sort of love story between a young girl vampire and her new friend who is being bullied at school. This film is a brilliant remake of Let The Right One In, a movie from Sweden. I saw both films and I like the American version better. Incidentally the heroine, Hit-Girl, on Kick Ass and the vampire on this movie are played by the same child actress, Chloë Moretz. She's very good.

Tron Legacy
A feast for the eyes and ears. Daft Punk's music is perfect with the visuals. I can't believe that 2 of my top favorites are Walt Disney productions.

Since this is a food blog, I recommend these 2 documentaries that are worth watching

Kings of Pastry
I was craving for small cakes after watching the judges in the tasting room.

Blood Into Wine
THE rock star, Maynard James Keenan, becomes a winemaker. He is the lead singer of the bands Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer. This is not purely documentary on wine-making. It has a little bit of his story, his cult followers, and wine tasting, with some comedic scenes too. My favorite line from Maynard: "I'm in my 40s, I can't scream forever."

A sample of Tool's music, The Pot, from the album 10,000 Days. The pot he refers to here is the pot calling the kettle black, you know, hypocrites. This video which is just the song and lyrics is dedicated to all the hypocrites out there. Enjoy!:D

The Daring Bakers: Panna Cotta and Florentine Cookies

vanilla panna cotta and Florentine cookies

The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.

All the recipes are here.

Thanks MissMallory for coming up with this delightful challenge. I love having the panna cotta and Florentine cookies together, the contrasting textures of smooth, creamy, and crunchy are just perfect. I made the vanilla panna cotta and topped it with slightly bitter orange gelée, orange slices, and a drizzle of caramel sauce. For the Florentine cookies, I made some into milk chocolate filled sandwiches, drizzled some with chocolate, and rolled a few into cigar shape which is not an easy thing to do because they set pretty quickly. I bake 2 at a time in the toaster oven and use a small offset spatula to lift and guide the still warm and very fragile cookies onto the handle of a wooden spoon resting across the cookie sheet over the 2 cookies.

vanilla panna cotta with a layer of blood orange gelée

milk chocolate filled Florentine cookie sandwixhes

drizzled with milk chocolate

I use a one-tablespoon cookie/ice cream scoop for even-sized cookies

And I couldn't resist making a panna cotta with my favorite Nutella. I crushed the cookies that broke and scattered them on the plate. The crumbs add a crunch to the creamy panna cotta.

Nutella Panna Cotta, rolled Florentine cookie and crumbs, a sliver of hazelnut brittle

Nutella Panna Cotta
1½ teaspoons unflavored gelatin powder
water
1 ounce finely chopped bittersweet chocolate
1 cup Nutella
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1½ cups heavy cream
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole milk

• In a medium bowl, whisk gelatin with 4 tablespoons cold water.
  
• Place chopped chocolate in another medium bowl.
  
• In a large bowl, combine Nutella and salt.
• In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring cream to a boil. Pour half the cream over gelatin mixture and whisk gently to combine; stir in vanilla. Pour remaining cream over chopped chocolate; whisk until smooth. Combine the two mixtures and whisk well.
• Pour a third of the gelatin-chocolate mixture over Nutella; beat using an electric mixer on low speed until a smooth paste forms. Pour in remaining mixture and milk; beat until fully combined.
• Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into six lightly oiled ramekins. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator until set, about six hours or overnight.