Buttermilk Cardamom Beignets inspired by Chef

Sometimes our Food 'n Flix picks aren't what most people would think of as a typical "foodie movie". They take us out of our comfort zone and make us put on our kitchen thinking cap. That is not the case this month. If you've seen Chef, you know it's a flick that keeps you hungry and induces different cravings from start to finish! It's about as much foodie flick as they get. You'd think this would make heading into the kitchen and cooking up something from it easier. I actually think it makes it harder. I could not decide what I wanted to make. But you know, I figured something out.

From the opening scene, Chef is a sensual experience. The sound of a knife slicing through vegetables, the sizzle of meat hitting a hot pan, the sheer focus on getting prep done for tonight's meal, the excitement of a whole pig being brought into the kitchen—it's scenes like these that make me miss working in a restaurant kitchen. But that's only the first few minutes.

The story of a successful restaurant chef who finds himself going in a direction he never imagined, both professionally and personally, Chef is a feast for the the senses. This isn't a review (though I obviously enjoyed the movie), so I don't really want to go into the story. You can find synopses of the movie all over the web if you look, I'm just here to talk about the food today.