The 89th Academy Awards are upon us (tomorrow night). Wolfgang Puck is heading up the menu at the Governor’s Ball, so we’re including some of his recipes for the dishes being served that you can adapt for your own Oscar party. Of course, this is Drinkhacker, so we’re also giving you five cocktails to round out your evening.

Smoky Deviled Eggs
Courtesy of McCormick Spices
6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled
1/4 cup real mayonnaise
1/2 tsp. McCormick Mustard, Ground
1/4 tsp. McCormick Paprika, Smoked
1/4 tsp. Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
2 slices bacon, crisply cooked and crumbled

Slice eggs in half lengthwise. Remove yolks; place in small bowl. Mash yolks with fork or potato masher. Stir in mayonnaise, mustard, smoked paprika and seasoned salt until smooth and creamy. Spoon or pipe yolk mixture into egg white halves. For piping, you don’t need to buy cake decorating supplies; just stuff the filling into a plastic sandwich bag, snip one corner, and squeeze out the mixture from the hole. Sprinkle with crumbled bacon. Refrigerate 1 hour or until ready to serve.

You can dust the tops with paprika if you wish. For a variation, add 1 Tbsp. of sweet pickle relish to the yolk mixture.

Roasted Nuts With Rosemary, Cayenne, Sea Salt, and Brown Sugar
Courtesy of Food Network
1 1/4 pounds cashew nuts
2 Tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1/2 tsp. cayenne
2 tsp. dark brown sugar
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 Tbsp. melted butter

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the nuts on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes until they are warmed through. Meanwhile, combine the rosemary, pepper, sugar, salt, and butter in a large bowl. Toss the warm nuts with the rosemary mixture until the nuts are completely coated. Serve warm for a sweet and spicy treat.

Stir Fried Chicken In Lettuce Cup with Thai Basil and Pine nuts
From Wolfgang Puck
3 Tbsp. peanut oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup plum wine or sherry
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
2 tsp. chopped peeled ginger
1/2 tsp. crushed chili pepper flakes
1 1/4 cups chicken stock
2 tsp. Wolfgang’s Asian Rib Sauce (see recipe below)
1 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms
1/2 cup each 1-inch cubes of yellow and red bell pepper
2 scallions, cut into 1-inch slices
2 tbsp Thai basil (if you can not find Thai basil substitute 1 Tbsp. each mint and basil)
1/2 cup pine nuts
1 head of romaine lettuce, leaves separated
4 Tbsp. (2 ounces) unsalted butter

In a 10-inch skillet or wok, heat the peanut oil until smoking. Season the chicken lightly with salt and pepper and sear, about 1 minute on each side. Deglaze the pan with the plum wine or sherry and stir in the garlic, ginger and chili flakes. Pour in the stock and reduce by half (sauce will begin to thicken). Add the rib sauce, mushrooms, peppers, scallion, basil, and nuts, and cook 1 or 2 minutes longer, stirring occasionally, until chicken is done. Stir in the butter and correct seasoning to taste. Spoon the stir-fried chicken onto the lettuce leave, arranging all the ingredients evenly throughout.

Wolfgang’s Asian Rib Sauce
From Wolfgang Puck
1 1/4 cups rice wine vinegar
1 cup honey
3/4 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup mirin (rice cooking wine) or sweet sake
2 scallions, chopped
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. fresh ginger, finely chopped
3/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

In a 4-cup enamel or stainless steel saucepan, combine all the ingredients and cook, over medium-high heat until syrupy, 50 to 60 minutes. Watch it carefully because it may burn soon after thickening. Strain into a clean container and cool. Refrigerate, covered, and use as needed. It makes a great base for barbecue sauce.

Simplified Apfelstrudel: Baked Apple Pouches with Cinnamon and Raisins
From Live, Love, Eat! by Wolfgang Puck
7 Tbsp. unsalted butter, plus 1/2 cup, melted unsalted butter
1 pound Fuji apples, peeled, cored, halved, and thinly sliced
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup golden raisins
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 cup coarse white bread crumbs
16 large egg roll skins
confectioner’s sugar, for garnish
vanilla ice cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. To make the coarse bread crumbs, toast slices of white bread in the oven until crisp, about 10 minutes. Break into pieces and place in a food processor. Pulse the processor until the bread resembles large bread crumbs. In a sauté pan, over medium heat, sauté the bread crumbs in 1/4 cup of the melted butter until they are golden brown. Reserve the sautéed bread crumbs and the remaining melted butter separately. In a large sauté pan over medium heat, melt the butter; pour off 1/4 cup of melted butter adding it to the remaining melted butter and set it aside.

Add the apples, sugar, raisins, lemon juice, and cinnamon and sauté, stirring frequently, until the apples are tender, about 8 minutes. While the apples are cooking, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and cut 8 pieces of kitchen string, about 6-8 inches long each, and set aside.

In the sauté pan, divide the apple filling into eight roughly equal portions. Place an egg roll skin on a flat work surface with one of the points facing towards you. Place another skin on top, perfectly aligned with the first. Sprinkle dough with breadcrumbs. Spoon one portion of apple filling into the center of the wrappers and gather the corners up around the filling to create a pouch. Tie the pouch around the top with a piece of kitchen string. Don’t worry if some of the wrapper isn’t completely contained within the string. Don’t tie the string too tight. Transfer the pouch to the baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the ingredients to make 8 pouches in all. Brush the pouches with the reserved melted butter. Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake the pouches until their wrappers are golden and crisp, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer the pouches to individual serving plates and snip the strings off with kitchen shears. Dust each pouch with powdered sugar and and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Makes 8 pouches.

Note: There is a difference between egg roll wrappers and spring roll wrappers. If you use spring roll wrappers, you need to dampen them with warm water first to make them pliable. You will want to fry them in peanut oil, rather than bake because otherwise they won’t brown. They will taste just as good.

With your table set, serve up these cocktails to your guests.

Ciroc Cosmo
1.5 oz. Ciroc Red Berry
2 oz. cranberry juice
1 squeeze of lime
orange twist for garnish

Combine all ingredients in a shaker. Shake and then pour into a martini glass. Lightly squeeze orange twist and rub around the glass rim before adding it as a garnish.

The Seductress
Courtesy iPic Theatres
4 oz. Piper Heidsieck Cuvée Brut champagne
½ oz. chilled passion fruit purée
½ oz. chilled ginger syrup (Add a Tbsp. grated fresh ginger to 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar. Boil until thickened to a syrup consistency.)
1 oz. chilled Aperol
red rose petals for the garnish

Chill a champagne flute. Fill with 4 oz. champagne. Add chilled passion fruit purée, ginger syrup, and aperol. Gently stir. Top with a red rose petal before serving. 

Note: When you get the rose petals, be sure to ask the florist for edible ones. Yes, all rose petals are technically edible but you want to make sure the ones you use have not been treated with pesticides or other chemicals.

NEO Fresco
½ part Facundo NEO rum
½ part Chareau Aloe liqueur
¼ part St George Raspberry liqueur
¼ part simple syrup
½ part lime juice
Makrut Lime Leaf for garnish

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a Makrut lime leaf.

Rufino’s Zesty Pop
3 oz. Ruffino Lumina Pinot Grigio
8 raspberries
3/4 oz. fresh lemon juice
1/4 oz. simple syrup
ginger beer

Add Ruffino Lumina Pinot Grigio to a cocktail shaker with ice. Add lemon juice, simple syrup, and 6 muddled raspberries. Shake well and strain in a glass over ice, before topping with Ginger Beer. Stir briefly and garnish with 2 remaining raspberries and a lemon slice.

Svedka’s Cocktail of the Year
1½ parts Svedka Cucumber Lime
¾ part simple syrup
¾ part fresh lime juice
1 strawberry (top removed)

Muddle strawberry in a cocktail shaker; add remaining ingredients and fill with ice. Shake well and fine strain into a Collins glass over fresh ice. Garnish with strawberries and a cucumber slice.

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