Continued: Let foodie films inspire Oscar fete

If you're like millions of film fans, you'll tune in to the Academy Awards ceremony Sunday. But why watch the festivities alone? Instead, invite a few movie-loving friends to enjoy the red-carpet spectacular with you. Oscar night is a great excuse to give a party.

An Oscar night party is easy to host. The entertainment is simple. Just keep the TV tuned to the merriment all night, raising or lowering the volume at your favorite spots. The rest of the party planning is straightforward, too. Let your favorite flicks inspire the food and drink.

You might theme the evening's meal after "American Gangster" and serve soul food, or go with classic '70s hors d'oeuvres and a martini tasting for "Charlie Wilson's War." Cowboy favorites such as baked beans and barbecue pairs well with this year's movies set in the West, such as "There Will Be Blood" and "No Country for Old Men."

If you're a perfectionist, like the therapy-needing chef played by Catherine Zeta-Jones in "No Reservations," create a hopelessly complicated, flawlessly prepared buffet. Of course, if you're the sort of host who hates to cook, go with "I Am Legend" and dole out canned food.

But for the absolute, hands-down, unsurpassed inspiration, turn to this year's finest foodie films, "Ratatouille" and "Waitress."

Disney's Pixar animated film "Ratatouille" helps us to appreciate each bite we take and motivates even takeout devotees and die-hard noncooks to venture into the kitchen. In the movie, Remy, a Parisian rat, teams up with a totally inept kitchen helper to prepare stellar dishes for a failing French restaurant.

To help create the menu for the movie's fictional restaurant and to give the animators a peek into professional food preparation, the filmmakers turned to celebrated chef Thomas Keller, owner of award-winning restaurants the French Laundry (in California) and Per Se (in New York City).

For the movie, Keller created a version of the classic French dish ratatouille, which is usually a veggie stew. In his more gorgeous version, Keller alternates slices of yellow squash and green zucchini slices, fanned out like an accordion (recipe follows). This stunning and delicious creation will be the star of your buffet table.

You start by making a sauce of roasted peppers. Then create a pretty fan pattern of yellow, green, red and white veggies, which are slow-baked. Just before serving, top it with simple vinaigrette. The long list of ingredients might be a little intimidating at first, but the dish really isn't hard to make, and it's definitely one you'll want to serve again and again. You'll love the rich, deep flavor from the roasted peppers. And even though the dish is light and vegetarian, it makes a hearty, satisfying meal. Serve it with white wine, crusty bread and an assortment of wonderful French cheeses, and the "Ratatouille" part of the menu is complete.

Now onto dessert ...

"Waitress," an offbeat comedy about the transformation of a gifted piemaker stuck in a yucky marriage, will give even first-time hosts encouragement and confidence. The movie's star creates amazing pies, which she gives whimsical names such as "Falling-in-Love Pie" or "Kick in the Pants Pie."

Some of the pies described in the movie include:

• "Pregnant Miserable Self Pitying Loser Pie ... lumpy oatmeal with fruitcake mashed in. Flambé, of course."

• "I'm Having an Affair Pie ... you smash blackberries and raspberries into a chocolate crust."

• "I Don't Want Earl's Baby Pie ... quiche of egg and brie cheese with a smoked ham center."

• "Baby Screaming Its Head Off in the Middle of the Night and Ruining my Life Pie ... New York style cheesecake, brandy brushed, pecans and nutmeg."

• "I Hate my Husband Pie ... You take bittersweet chocolate and don't sweeten it. You make it into a pudding and drown it in caramel."

How to make a pie

When I consulted with Christopher Kimball, founder of Cook's Illustrated magazine and host of the popular television program "America's Test Kitchen," on how we might go about re-creating some of the pies talked about in "Waitress," he laughed, warning me, "Don't play with your food!"

Instead, Kimball offered advice on piemaking based on recipes he and his team at "America's Test Kitchen" have carefully developed.

According to Kimball: "The most important part of a pie is the crust. Nothing beats homemade crust. Not even close."

Fear of crustmaking is the No. 1 reason most of us give for not making pie, so I asked Kimball for crust secrets. "Pastry crust can be difficult for home cooks," he said. "There are two things going on that are contradictory. You need to add water to the crust so you can roll it out. But if you add too much, the crust will be tough."

Kimball proposed two solutions. One is store-bought crust. "We tested Pillsbury Just Unroll Refrigerated Pie Crust at our test kitchens," said Kimball. "And while the flavor was bland, it wasn't offensive, and it was definitely flaky." A second option is to try "America's Test Kitchen's" foolproof pie crust recipe, which has a secret ingredient -- vodka. Do you need to go high proof to get foolproof? Not at all. According to Kimball, "the alcohol in the vodka totally evaporates in the baking, so you get a moist dough for rolling out but that bakes up perfectly. It's never tough" (recipe follows).

Besides the great foolproof vodka pie crust, Kimball shared his tried and many times tested recipes for Deep Dish Apple Pie, which uses this easy-to-make crust.

Another must-try recipe for your Oscar night party is America's Test Kitchen Chocolate Cream Pie, for which you can use a store-bought graham cracker crust or make your own. Once you master the basic recipe, you can try endless variations. For example, you can omit the cocoa and chocolate for a plain Vanilla Cream Pie, and then add bananas for Banana Cream Pie or toasted coconut for Coconut Cream Pie.

No matter who ends up getting Oscars, your party is sure to be a winner.