Little Miss Sunshine
Little Miss Sunshine is one of those films that you’re thrilled exists– a wonderful family dramedy that is so well written and so well acted that it leaves you with hope for the film industry.
The movie opens with a relatively dark montage. Mom Sheryl (Toni Collette) picks up her brother Frank (Steve Carrell) from the hospital after an attempted suicide, while her husband Richard (Greg Kinnear) pushes some kind of self-help pyramid scheme to a half empty room of hopefuls, and her father in law (Alan Arkin) snorts heroin in the bathroom at home. Meanwhile kids Olive (Abigail Breslin) and Dwayne (Paul Dano) are in their own little worlds dreaming about making it big, each in their own way– Olive fawns over the beauty queens on TV, and Dwayne refuses to speak until he gets into flight school. Also he hates everybody.
When Olive finds out she’s made the cut as a Little Miss Sunshine contestant, however, the family’s weekend plans change. Time to crank up the old VW van for a 700 mile road trip inevitably fraught with all sorts of mishaps and character defining moments! Not to mention a stellar soundtrack featuring my fave Sufjan Stevens. Play me Chicago on a loop all day long and I’ll be happy. And generally, that’s how Little Miss Sunshine leaves me– happy, and very aware of the virtues of nonconformity. As Dwayne finally says, “you do what you love, and fuck the rest”.
Food is actually pretty important in Little Miss Sunshine– in addition to helping convey the obvious messages about body image, meals set the stage for several key interactions between Hoover family members. So, I’ve picked a few of the foods from the film, adjusted them a bit, and mashed them all together in one sunny brunchy meal. Hopefully it will leave you as satisfied as the movie.
The Movie
The Menu
Just like Olive, this mimosa-esque cocktail is full of passion and sunshine. More importantly, it goes really well with waffles. Mix all ingredients and garnish with an orange wheel. Feel free to multiply as you see fit! What can I say, the bucket of Dinah's southern fried chicken caught my eye-- a delicious fast food-y treat that also serves as a wonderful culinary accompaniment to the dominant emotion at the Hoover dinner table. Fear of failure seems to affect everyone but Grandpa-- no wonder he fucking hates the chicken. But also, fuck-- it's really good. Start by quick brining the chicken pieces: pour buttermilk, hot sauce, and 1/2 tsp of the garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, black pepper; 2 tsp of the paprika and 1 tbsp salt into a gallon sized ziploc. Add chicken to buttermilk brine, and refrigerate for 3-4 hours. Lift chicken piece by piece from buttermilk and dredge in flour mix, packing tightly to form large clumps of flour coating each piece. Allow to sit on a baking rack set atop a foil lined baking sheet for 5-10 mins while you set up your frying sitch. First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Then, fill a 12-inch cast iron skillet with enough oil and your bacon grease to come halfway to the top. Using a candy/clipon thermometer, raise the temp to medium high and get the oil up to 350 degrees. Add chicken, skin side down, to the hot oil. Note, the temperature will drop to around 325 degrees-- you want to keep the oil steady at this temp. Fry until you get a deep golden brown on the first side, about 6 minutes; then flip the chicken pieces with tongs and cook until the second side is golden brown, about 4 minutes longer. Your breast will take a couple of minutes longer, since its a far bigger cut. If you happen to have a whole chicken that you aren't sure how to break down, Serious Eats has you covered. And, if you have more questions about frying chicken-- here is a VERY good article listing all the things you SHOULDN'T do. Waffles are a light and fluffy necessity when it comes to brunch. This particular batch is made with olive oil-- for obvious Little Miss Sunshine reasons. Waffle assembly is all about mixing dry ingredents and wet ingredients separately before putting the batter together. Start with the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in on medium bowl. In a second bowl, whisk eggs with milk, oil, and vanilla until combined. Add milk mixture to your dry ingredients and stir-- lumpies are ok! Pour batter into preheated waffle iron-- depending on size you'll need to follow instructions but my waffle iron takes about 1/2 a cup at a time. Cook for about 2 minutes (but again, refer to your iron instructions) until waffles are golden brown. Set aside on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, NOT one atop the other or they'll get too soft. Serve immediately, or otherwise cover loosely with foil until ready to top with all the fixin's. A salty sweet treat for a salty set of characters to complete our Little Miss Sunshine brunch-- and one that I'm 100% positive all the Miss cities/states/countries/universes would appreciate. I know Olive ordered chocolate, but if she'd only known... First, add the syrup to a medium saucepan and place it over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium, and continue boiling for about 3 to 4 minutes, or until it has reduced to about half a cup. Add cream, milk, and salt and bring back to a boil. Remove from heat. In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks, and then pour 1/4 of your milk mixture slowly into your egg mixture, whisking all the time-- this will keep your eggs from going scramby. Add the egg mix to the rest of the heated cream and whisk vigorously over low heat. Add vanilla, and continue to whisk until the cream thickens so that the below happens: Pour over a mesh strainer into another bowl to get all the solids out: Chill mixture in the refrigerator, about 2 hours and then add to your ice cream device. Churn according to instructions, and refreeze as needed. And holy hell, it's better than heroin. Not that I know what heroin is like. But I'm confident that grandpa would've enjoyed it. Sweet sweetness!
Liquid Sunshine
Ingredients
Instructions
It's the F*cking Chicken
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Instructions
Just before frying, whisk together flour and the rest of the spices (those + amounts in the ingredients list). Drizzle 3 tablespoons of buttermilk brine into the flour and gently toss-- clumpies are ok. 
Move chicken back to your wire racked baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake for 15-ish minutes until the breast hits about 150 degrees at its thickest part and the other pieces get to 165. Allow to rest for another 5-10 minutes before chowing down.
Notes
Olive Oil Waffles
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Instructions
Salted Maple Ice Cream A La Mode-y
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Instructions
Epilogue
Abigail Breslin’s eyeballs should have won a fucking Oscar. Seriously, LOOK AT HER!
For more menus, check out my movie directory here!