The event of the year is finally upon us: the Academy Awards are airing tomorrow night, and after so many months of anticipation, we really couldn’t be more excited. Whether you’ve prepared by spending your winter break camped out in the movie theater, making predictions of your own, or fantasizing about your dream Oscar wardrobe, tomorrow evening’s show is sure not to disappoint.

In celebration of my favorite event of the awards season, I have decided to host a screening party of my own, complete with a few homemade movie-inspired dishes. Epicurious.com made the selection process quite easy, creatively compiling nine multi-course menus inspired by this year’s Best Picture nominees. Though Hush Puppies (Beasts of the Southern Wild) and Philly Cheese Steaks (Silver Linings Playbook) were incredibly tempting, I also had to consider that a college student’s time and financial budget are pretty limited. It was for this reason I settled on two more simple, yet still delicious, dishes to satisfy my roommates’ insatiable appetites ring in this cinematic celebration. Sure, my meal is lacking a main course, but who isn’t willing to skip straight to dessert anyway?

Tabbouleh (inspired by Zero Dark Thirty)

You may be familiar with this Middle Eastern side dish, especially since it is a mainstay in the Blue Room sandwich line. This refreshing salad is surprisingly easy to make, with ingredients that are readily available at every super market. Don’t be intimidated by its foreign spelling, let alone pronunciation (ta-boo-lee?, ta-boo-lay? Who knows…) – this one is quick, easy, and can compliment any entrée. [Read more →]

In middle school I went through a quick-bread-making phase. They were all banana breads, but I would put a whole bunch of other things in there. I made pear bread with walnuts. Then I made apple bread. Then carrot cake bread. And maybe, if I was feeling unoriginal, I made some plain ‘ole banana bread. Baking was something I did when I was extremely bored, and, while it was fun, I don’t think I was getting the point yet.

Maybe it was because I was just baking. I continued to sporadically bake throughout high school, but since I had exhausted the quick bread (may it rest in peace) I had to expand my repertoire. My new baked goods of choice were cakes, because I liked decorating them (and pretending like I worked at Charm City Cakes…a back pocket career move that I’m still saving). But baking’s downfall is that no one really wants to eat what you make. Baked goods are extra. Put them on the table in your home or dorm, and people will devour them when stressed out or drunk, but that’s not very glamorous. My cakes were pretty, but they would usually go to waste unless I forced any and all visitors to have a slice.

But cooking a meal is different. People really want to eat a meal. If you make dinner (especially if you time things wrong and it’s not ready until 9:00 p.m. and your family almost wishes you would just go back to college so they could eat at a decent time of night) people will be hungry when it’s served. Remember: hunger is the best sauce. They will be planning on eating your food, and they’ll spend more than a minute doing it.

It took me until this past winter break to start seeing why cooking is fun and fulfilling and communal and delicious. And I wouldn’t have delved into such a wonderful pastime if my little brother, Ben, had not recently become so interested in the culinary arts. Fortunately, I had nothing to do over break — a time I usually devote to a combination of eating and sleeping — so I became his devoted sous chef. Preparing meals with Ben soon became a part of my busy schedule. We made lamb filled wontons, duck gumbo, bibimbap, salted caramel ice cream, black bean burgers, and potato leak soup, among other things. I even learned how to use a mandolin to cut fruits and vegetables so thin that you could see through them.

But the mandolin (to to be confused with the instrument) wasn’t the only thing I learned about. Cooking, especially with someone whose company you enjoy, can change the way you think about food. And if you’re anything like me, food is a HUGE part of your life. Check out some things I learned that you can apply to even the smallest cooking excursions (like when I make an adapted Tiramisu in the Ratty) after the jump:

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Thanksgiving is a welcome distraction from the dreaded arrival of finals — you know, those unspeakable evils that are looming over the semester’s end. In my current midterm “lull” that always precedes final exams, I decided to get a little bit creative and plan a makeshift Thanksgiving meal for my roommates on the eve of our respective departures home. Now that we’re college students, we have limited time and limited funds, so I chose to explore the idea of a $10 (and maybe only 10 minute) Thanksgiving meal. This amount is not quite arbitrary – it happens to be the credit card minimum at East Side Mini-Mart – but it inspired me to get a little bit crafty in my procrastination spare time. Since we’re a week out from Turkey Day, I decided to take that $10 cap and compare the “feast” options available at both East Side Mini Mart and CVS. Check out the results of the investigation after the jump.

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Spring Week has come and gone (goodbye, collection of fratty tanks…), and reality has begun to sink in; the end of the semester is fast approaching.  As much fun as I had over Spring Weekend, I was more than ready to start using my kitchen again to create some delicious (and healthy) homemade meals after a week of Sno-Cones, popcorn, tater tots and an (over?)abundance of Baja’s. After buying all of the fruits and vegetables Eastside Marketplace had to offer, I set aside an entire afternoon for cooking, during which I made enough food to feed me for the week.  Of these dishes, my favorite was the one that gave me an excuse to eat my favorite meal — breakfast — three times a day.

Brunch is a glorious thing: it both facilitates and deems socially acceptable the simultaneous consumption of eggs, bacon, french fries, pastries, sandwiches, coffee and alcohol. Brunch is one of those meals that people usually eat at restaurants, because they (like myself) are much too lazy to actually prepare such a cornucopia on a lazy Sunday.  However, after a week of barely even opening the refrigerator, I was feeling inspired, and thought I would put in the effort to make a deliciously brunch-tastic tart. [Read more →]

“Have you ever wanted to take a class from skilled culinary professionals?” asks today’s Morning Mail. “Do you want to improve your basic cooking skills?”

Dining Services has the answer! According to the information page:

We at Brown Dining Services’ Sustainability Initiative are pleased to offer Brown students on meal plan the opportunity to participate in cooking classes this semester! The classes will highlight the behind-the-scenes of Dining Services: students will cook delicious meals in the Ratty Bakeshop from locally-sourced food with the help of Brown Dining chefs Aaron Fitzsenry, the Culinary Manager for retail outlets, and Dave Chabot, the Executive Chef at the Faculty Club.

If you’re interested, you have until Feb. 23 to sign up, though there are only 20 spaces available, so participants will be chosen by lottery. For more info, check out the sign-up page!

But… let’s hope their classes don’t involve hot ham on a bulky roll or Saturday Night Jambalaya (it’s never served on Saturdays).

Image via.

I’m not going to lie: cooking at home in a real kitchen with ample supplies, tools and an oven whose temperature gauge is spot on was incredible. Not that I don’t love my amazing apartment and roommates here on College Hill, but having a car to drive to the nearest Los Angeles farmers’ market and then bake your own bread is an undeniable pleasure that my current situation does not allow for. As a result, I took full advantage of cooking everything I possibly could from scratch while at home over winter break; from cornbread to salsa to key lime pie to lamb roast and beyond. But, now that I do not have such luxuries as a food processor and several pans of the same size in my possession (goodbye, triple layer Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Cake — you were the best thing to ever happen to me…), I have made it my mission to simplify some of the favorites I made while I was being spoiled by 80 degree Southern California weather.

While taking advantage of my kitchen at home, one of my absolute favorite dishes to make was Shrimp and Cotija Enchiladas with Chile Verde. Never having made salsa from scratch before, I decided to take the long route and do the entire dish as the recipe says, though whenever I reuse the recipe here at school, I’m sure I’ll use bottled chile verde due to my lack of food processor. I had made simple enchiladas before, a sort of Mexican-style lasagna with tortillas instead of pasta, red enchilada sauce instead of tomato sauce, and cheddar or jack cheese instead of ricotta and mozzarella. This style is a go-to favorite of mine, and I HIGHLY recommend it when cooking for a crowd (the Big Game, anyone?) because you can make a couple different enchilada lasagnas based on people’s meat versus non-meat preferences. That being said, if you want to class things up a bit, these shrimp enchiladas were light and flavorful, and could be made into a quick-prep meal should you decide to buy the bottled green stuff. [Read more →]

We all know that finding the inspiration to cook can be trying at times.  I plan so many more meals than I actually crank out, as the idea of a dish is sometimes more appealing than actually doing the work.  And let’s face the facts, sometimes it’s just easier to heat a can of soup, or make pasta (again), or even run to Nice Slice for a quick dinner.  Despite this, the therapeutic qualities of cooking your own food are undeniable and I am going to share with you some of the many places where I find inspiration to put down the ramen and get out the cutting board.

One of the first places you can begin your path to culinary obsession is, of course, television.  If the Food Network isn’t enough to get you salivating, then I think you’re on a path to hopelessness.  I can remember when my love for cooking began and I started watching the Food Network regularly, my father used to come into the living room and say, “why are you watching the food porn channel?” [Read more →]

For those of you students left to fend for yourselves food-wise, the following story may be familiar:  It’s eight o’clock in the evening.  You ate Pop-Tarts for breakfast and grabbed a sandwich for lunch.  You are comfortable in your sweatpants and are much too lazy to leave your apartment again before class tomorrow.  You stare longingly at an unexciting fridge, wishing Mom were around to make food magically appear on your plate.

It seems as though you have only a few options. You could order takeout (again), though the Domino’s delivery guy is starting to ask how your exams are going, so maybe you should cool it with the usual pie and Cinna Stix.  You could also eat that box of Cheez-Its sitting in your cupboard — the temptress. Or, you could embrace the wonder that is the egg and become a breakfast-for-dinner gourmand.  Though I do argue that Cheez-Its make a damn fine meal (breaking news: Parmesan & Garlic’s secret ingredient is actually crack cocaine, the evil geniuses), occasionally it is nice to have a hot, healthy, well-balanced meal in front of you. Even better, after experimenting with eggs and the endless cooking opportunities at your disposal, you will undoubtedly realize that you can make those egg-centric dishes you order at brunch spots just as easily as the guy in the kitchen—and for much less money.

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Jeff Potter's new cookbook shows that a CS nerd can have talent on the keyboard and in the kitchen

What happens when you take a CS nerd out of the Sun Lab and put her into the kitchen? Apparently, a great cookbook. Alumnus Jeff Potter recently published his new cookbook Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food. Potter, who has no traditional culinary experience, concentrated in computer science and visual arts at Brown. In addition to providing a variety of recipes that vary in difficulty, Potter includes chapters on such geeky topics as molecular gastronomy (which he calls “modernist cuisine”) and “Fun with Hardware.”

So, CS concentrators, if you ever make it out of the CIT, make sure to pick up Potter’s cookbook for some culinary programming.