2020 Oscar Party Recipes

And the Best Picture Oscar Entree goes to...YOU! Come and accept your award-winning chow and pass it around to your party guests so everyone has a taste of Oscar. Sit back and watch the Best Picture Oscar-nominated movie trailers below and my Oscar Entrees that are a feast for your eyes.

And click on any 2020 Best Picture Oscar Entree nominee name to be directed to the original blog post for all the award-winning recipe prose and cinematic culinary imagery.

My first Best Picture Oscar Entree nominee for 2020 is for "The Irishman" Corned Beef and Cabbage. I am a big fan of Martin Scorsese's gangster movies, but this one was torturous in length and I felt like I had been given a Mickey Finn by the time the end credits rolled. 

For a groaning buffet table of a movie, you'll at least enjoy watching Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Al Pacino chew the scenery! And load up your plate on Oscar day with my appetite-crushing Irish classic Corned Beef and Cabbage.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

My next Oscar-nominated entree, "Little Women" Blueberry Pancakes, is named for a budding group of young ladies flowering into adulthood. The lively March sisters return to the big screen in this raucous retelling and direction by Greta Gerwig of the classic novel by Louisa May Alcott.

Start your Oscar Party day with blushing blueberries sprinkled in an old school breakfast of toasty griddlecakes.

Blueberry Pancakes

The satirical WWII flick JoJo Rabbit may be the most out-there Best Picture Entree nominee of the group. Even for this Outre Chef, a child obsessed with Hitler is a bridge too far.

However, I would give the flick a shot if the movie theater concession stand serves "JoJo Rabbit" Hot Dogs with Sauerkraut and a stein of beer!  

Hot Dogs with Sauerkraut

Hey did you hear the one about the orange-faced comb-over clown? Oh, wait, not the one in the White House, I mean the grimacing white-faced and green-haired Joker on the big screen. Hey, can't you take a joke? Well, that's the problem for Joker, society doesn't get him and he makes everyone suffer for it. 

My toothsome Oscar Entree Nominee, "Joker" Green Split Pea Soup with Ham, is no laughing matter! 

Green Split Pea Soup with Ham

Parasite by Korean director Bong Joon-ho is giving America a societal wakeup call. I saw it and recommend you do too, on the big screen or small. In this timely story, the have-nots move in on the haves and turn the tables. 

With such pungent storytelling, you need an intense Oscar Entree and my "Parasite" Korean BBQ Chicken marinated in garlic, ginger and brown sugar will have your Oscar Party guests eating out of your hands!

 Korean BBQ Chicken

Best Oscar Entree nominee "Marriage Story" California Roll, is a poignant and gripping drama of a marriage on the rocks. With just 6 nominations it's the one to beat.

The movie takes place in NYC and Los Angeles. So my West Coast rolled sushi entree is as deliciously layered as the filmmaking. Showy cucumber, scene-stealing avocado, and understudy krab with rice are wrapped in a layer of umami-rich seaweed.

California Roll

All is not quiet on the Western Front in my next Best Oscar Entree nominee, "1917" Shepherd's Pie. The WWI war movie follows two British soldiers on a sprint across enemy lines delivering a message to save hundreds of fellow doughboys. 

These soldiers deserve a Victoria Cross but I bet they would gladly settle for a meal that only Mum can make, a hearty ground beef stew topped with whipped mashed potatoes!

Shepherd's Pie

Pulp culture auteur Quentin Tarantino is back in my Best Oscar Entree race with "Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood" Turkey Leg Carnitas. 

Tarantino has his cake and eats it too in this fruitcake blending of fact and fiction taking place in 1969 Hollywood. He hits all the hot spots big and small, from plush red booths at the Musso Frank Grill on Hollywood Boulevard to table 5 at Casa Vega on Ventura Boulevard. I'm not sure if Turkey Leg Carnitas are on the menu at Mexican restaurant Casa Vega, but they should be!

Turkey Leg Carnitas  

And roaring through the fish line is the Oscar Entree nominee "Ford v Ferrari" Spaghetti alla Carbonara with Bacon Bits. This race track rivalry between carmakers American Ford and Italian Ferrari is built for speed.

If you can't make it to the movie screen for this action-packed tour de force drag race then take a pit stop in your own TV room and slurp up yolk-coated strands of pasta studded with bacon bits -- on a checked table cloth covering your dinner tray of course!

Spaghetti alla Carbonara with Bacon Bits

Do try out any of my Oscar Party Entrees - you're sure to get a Standing O. So have your acceptance speech ready because the golden statuette for Best Entree at an Oscar Party belongs to you, the host with the most.

And I'll leave you with a video I made a while ago, when the Academy of Motion Pictures had an Oscar exhibit, along with a podium with a real Oscar. All you had to do was stand in line and take a picture with it -- well you can be sure I showed up for that! Just check out the video below:

2018 Oscar Party Recipes

And the Best Oscar Entree goes to...YOU! Come and accept your award-winning chow and pass it around to your Oscar party guests.

And click on any Oscar Entree nominee name to be directed to the original blog post for all the award-winning recipe prose and cinematic culinary imagery.

Let's start things off with a bang, it's the Oscar Entree nominated, "Dunkirk" Beanie Weenies!

Dunkirk - Movie Trailer

This rousing flick, directed by genre-hopping Christoper Nolan, is about WWII British soldiers stranded on the beaches of Dunkirk as the Nazis close in for the kill.

But don't worry. The British love their whistle-berries, so It's Baked Beans with Wieners to the rescue!

"Dunkirk" Beanie Weenies - Recipe

Rising from the murky depths, my next Oscar Entree Nominee, "The Shape of Water"Alligator Po'boy Sandwich, may give you the creeps.  

 After one crunchy bite, your head will swim with pungent Cajun spices and exotic reptile tastes. Alligator is very similar in texture and flavor to a pork chop, but with an extra seafood tang. An Alligator Po'boy Sandwich is typically dressed in lettuce and tomato on a slice of French bread slathered with mayo.

The Shape of Water - Movie Trailer

Is the main creature character, in this imaginative movie creation by Director Guillermo del Toro, fish or reptile - may be a combination of both? 

While the alligator flavor may leave you scratching your head, this recipe is ready for it's close-up taste test. So after viewing the recipe below, go ahead and give my Best Oscar Entree a big webbed green thumbs up!

"The Shape of Water"Alligator Po'boy Sandwich - VIDEO

My next Oscar-Nominated Entree is "Phantom Thread" Shepherd's Pie. Film director Paul Thomas Anderson weaves a quixotic yarn of a story, that is part art-house movie and British costume drama.

And the director teams with actor Daniel Day-Lewis once again, who plays a proper gown couturier, set in 1950's London, England. His character falls for a young waitress, and soon enough the sequins fly. 

The most English of entrees is a Shepherd's Pie, that commoners and royalty enjoy. It's simple pub food composed of ground beef or lamb, peas and carrots cooked in a beef and tomato sauce, finally crowned with mashed potatoes. Click here to see how this Scrooge Yoeman does it.

Phantom Thread - Movie Trailer

My Oscar Entree, "Lady Bird" Curried White Chicken Deli Salad, is based on a Trader Joe's deli favorite that struggling students, like the movie's main character Lady Bird, would surely dine on. 

This chick flick is one that guys can get into. I saw it and totally got it. The mom and daughter dynamic starring Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf, directed by Greta Gerwig, is indeed Oscar-worthy.

Lady Bird - Movie Trailer

If you don't know about our local Trader Joe's markets, they stock food that is cheap, but high quality. They carry specialized frozen and fresh packaged foods, locally baked bread, organic veggies and fruit, hormone-free meat, chicken and fish, along with a huge selection of exotic beer, wine, and spirits.

My cheapSkate version of Curried White Chicken Deli Salad is so yummy even Academy voters used to glitzy dining, would cast their vote for this Best Oscar Entree. 

Twilight Zone influenced, Oscar-nominated Get Out is a black man's paranoiac nightmare come true when he visits his white girlfriend's family. This is not your "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner" kinda movie, where everyone becomes enlightened about race relations.

Get Out - Movie Trailer

I can't give away too much about this flick - no spoilers here. But I can give you all the details for my Oscar Entree: "Get Out" Black Beans with White Rice. 

My recipe's combination of the sweet and sour Cuban-style  Black Beans, with boring White Rice, is a miscegenation of flavors. 

So let's all get along and agree that this Best Oscar Entree is horrifically delicious.

"Get Out" Black Beans with White Rice - VIDEO

To misquote Sir  Winston Churchhill: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, sweat, and cheap$kate ingredients."

And the Oscar-Nominated Entree, "Darkest Hour" Fish and Chips," delivers on all the above.

This stirring biopic of Sir Winston Churchill's leadership as Hitler swept through Europe is a rousing viewing experience. And lead actor Gary Oldman is the Best Actor to beat.

Darkest Hour - Movie Trailer

For the fish I use cheap pollack fish that is beer batter coated and deep-fried. For proper chips or fries, I use a double frying method on russet potatoes, to get extra crunchy fries.

So belly up to the bar and order Churchill's favorite drink, Scotch whiskey, along with the pub grub favorite Fish and Chips. Watch my recipe video below to see how this Cheap$kate Corker does it. My entree will lighten any dark day.

"Darkest Hour" Fish & Chips - Video

Do try out any of my Oscar Party Entrees - you're sure to get a Standing O. So have your acceptance speech ready because the golden statuette for Best Entree at an Oscar Party belongs to you, the host with the most.

And I'll leave you with a video I made a while ago, where the Academy of Motion Pictures had an Oscar exhibit, along with a podium with a real Oscar. All you had to do was stand in line and take a picture with it -- well you can be sure I showed up for that! Just check out the video below: