Potato Crisps, Crème Fraîche, & Caviar #MoviesandMunchies

This month the Movies & Munchies crew is watching "Hannah and Her Sisters" because it came up in a search when I put together 'Thanksgiving' and 'movie' in an internet search.

On the Screen

Let me start with this: Movies and Munchies friends, I apologize! You are either a fan of Woody Allen or you are not. I fall into the latter camp and didn't realize Hannah and Her Sisters was a Woody Allen movie.

Jake, R, and I have been revisiting movies from the 80s. This fit right in but neither of them watched all the way to the end. And, if it weren't assigned for this group, I would have skipped it as well.

The movie centers around the titular Hannah, played by Mia Farrow, and her sister Holly and Lee, played respectively by Dianne Wiest and Barbara Hershey. When the movie opens - at a family Thanksgiving dinner - Lee is in a relationship with Frederick. Hannah is married to Elliott. Holly is a recovering addict, aspiring actor, and current caterer. Hannah's ex-husband is Mickey, played by Woody Allen who is a writer and a hypocondriac.

That's about as clear as this is going to get. From there, Elliott pursues Lee who is conflicted but ends up launching into an illicit affair with her sister's husband. Mickey and Hannah share twins from a sperm donation from Mickey's previous writing partner and, I think, she has other adopted children (they never said but there were four children in their house, two of whom were of a different race); she still wants more children with Elliott. And Holly takes advantage of her sister's generosity by constantly borrowing money - to start a catering business and to stop working so she can become a writer.

Woody Allen's joke about child molestation - that "everybody's doing it" - during Thanksiging hits differently when we know now that he had a relationship with one of his adopted children. Ugh. I know there are people who think that he is an artistic genius. I just find his body of work weird and creepy.

On the Plate

Okay, enough about that. The movie ends at Thanksgiving dinner a year later. Both dinners feature lavish table settings with multiple turkeys and freeflowing cocktails. Jake joked I should make a cocktail that would joke about stealing your sister's husband. No, just no.

I decided to draw inspiration from a scene in a kitchen where Stanislavski Catering Company (Holly plus April, played by Carrie Fisher) is staging for serving. The food is never clearly on screen or in close-ups, but they do mention quail eggs, clams, and caviar.

I have already shared my Pickled Quail Eggs. I couldn't figure out what the clams appetizer was; there was nothing with shells on that table. But I was inspired by the caviar dish that also wasn't shown. I am fairly certain they said "crêpes and caviar"which is maybe more of a blini and caviar. But I opted to make mine finger food by putting caviar on chips and potatoes.

Chips and caviar are the ultimate high-low foodie marriage. Using store-bought chips make this elegant appetizer as quickly as you can open a bag, scoop crème fraîche and caviar on top. But if you want to change up the texture, twice-baked potato skins are a great swap. Additionally, you can use golden Yukons or purple potatoes to add color to your platter.

• baby potatoes, approximately all the same size

• olive oil

• salt

• chips

• Crème Fraîche for serving

• caviar for serving

Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Coat potatoes in a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Place potatoes on a baking sheet and roast in the preheated oven for 30 mins, or until crispy and fork-tender. Remove tray from oven and let cool until potatoes are cool enough to handle.

Slice each potato in half. Carefully scoop the majority of the potato out, leaving an outer layer to keep the skins sturdy. Reserve the scooped out potato for another purpose. Think gnocchi!

Raise the temperature of the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the skins back on the tray and back into the oven. Bake for another 10 minutes until the skins are crispy.

Let cool until ready to serve. Just before serving add a dollop of Crème Fraîche to the hollow. Top with caviar. Serve immediately.

That's a wrap on my Hannah and Her Sisters offering.

From the Other Gals

Since I don't really want to dedicate another post to this movie, I will be adding the other gals' creations here as they go live throughout the month. And, again, I apologize to them as it didn't seem to be anyone's cup of tea.

Debra of Eliot's Eats also created an homage to the Stanislavski Catering Company and featured several of her holiday appetizers, including pickled carrots, marinated mushrooms, and charcuterie salsa along with some goat cheese and some fresh baked sourdough bread from her husband. Read her post here.

Stay tuned for other inspired posts. I know Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm watched as well.