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Coronavirus Edition #2: The Best Food for Movie Nights

May 22, 20204 min read

Updated: Jun 5, 2020


One of the worst aspects of the coronavirus outbreak has to be the absence of new movies and movie theater experiences to enjoy. While Hollywood has promised massive blockbuster entertainment in the near future, such as Christopher Nolan's "Tenet" (who has often praised the silver screen experience), "No Time To Die", "Black Widow", "Wonder Woman 1984", "Dune", "A Quiet Place Part 2", and "Godzilla vs. Kong", the uncertainty of a guaranteed return to form for these events has left a gaping hole in many cinephile's, and even just casual movie fans', hearts. Part of the movie-going experience has always been the food: starting with simple snacks like popcorn, processed hot-dogs, and boxed candy, in recent years chains (such as the Alamo Drafthouse) have expanded to gourmet menus of restaurant-quality food, with a lot of gluten-free options available. While there are a lot of ways to enjoy movies (and quality shows) at home, with streaming services such as HBO Max, Disney+, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV+, the experience isn't fulfilled without the food to go along with it. While nothing at home will upstage the movie theater emprise, I thought I would share some GF recipes that will make your movie night slightly more memorable, from the appetizers to the desserts.

 

Appetizers


Chips and Dip:


The best way to start any movie night is with chips and dip. With its heat factor, chips with either Salsa, Guacamole, or Queso pair great with any fast paced and/or intense movie (Action, Drama, etc.). By making corn tortillas and frying them in oil, you can have a chip with a better flavor and texture than most store-bought tortilla chips.



Here are 3 GF chips and dip recipes that will work great for any movie night (or similar event):






Popcorn:


Popcorn, the classic movie theater food, is luckily very easy to make gluten-free, as most recipes and brands of microwave popcorn are GF. However, if you want to take your popcorn game to the next level, I have some recipes that work to elevate a movie night.












Fondue:


While the first thought that comes to mind, when thinking about fondue, is often beer (which contains gluten), many fondue recipes either do not have beer, or can be replaced with gluten-free beers (such as Omission Beer, although you have to be careful if you have Celiac's disease, even with Omission's guidelines of less than 20ppm of gluten)(https://www.bonappetit.com/drinks/beer/slideshow/10-gluten-free-beers-that-actually-taste-good). While bread is not an option (although GF bread could be used), apples are great for dipping into Cheese or Chocolate Fondue. I have three great savory fondue recipes that you could utilize for a great movie night, one using GF beer and GF flour (article on GF Flour) (or cornstarch) as a substitute.



No Substitutions Needed White Cheese Fondue - https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/cheese-fondue-231492


Substitutions Needed Melting Pot Cheddar Fondue - https://copykat.com/melting-pot-cheddar-cheese-fondue/

 

Desserts


Fondue:


The best thing about dessert fondues is that it is often very gluten-free friendly in terms of both the recipe itself and the dipping ingredients. Strawberries, bananas, apples, and marshmallows are all great gluten-free ingredients to dip into dessert fondues; however, gluten ingredients such as pound cake, graham crackers, and even unconventional dipping ingredients such as cookies or brownies, can be made gluten-free with GF flour (article on GF Flour). To make this even more movie night themed, popcorn balls make a great dipping ingredient.






S'mores


Campfire or not, s'mores are a great dessert to make for a spectacular movie night; just use homemade GF graham crackers or store-bought GF ones. If you want to go crazy, you can even use cookies (substitute GF Flour for regular flour) instead of graham crackers.



Muddy Buddies


Muddy Buddies is probably the easiest dessert to make, but it is also one of the best. With 3 classic main flavors: Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Powdered Sugar, these never disappoint. Since the recipe is so simple, there are also offshoot versions of the recipe such as Lemon and Spicy Muddy Buddies. Chex cereal is gluten-free (besides Wheat Chex), so no substitutions are needed.






 

I hope that these recipes will help you have the best movie night, or party, possible. Although these recipes are meant to aid people of boredom during these times, they are not meant to replace the experience of going to a movie theater once they open with safe guidelines. While you should be extremely careful when choosing to return to a movie theater, the movie theater industry is currently in dangerous waters with this situation. If you are economically safe and you love going to theaters, please don't stop yourself completely from returning, although you should definitely take precautions to keep yourself safe from the virus, such as wearing a medical grade mask and socially distancing yourself from people outside your party. However, movie nights are a fun alternative to returning to the theater that minimize the risk of catching the virus. With a growing digital library of content (from streaming services) and higher quality televisions being sold for cheaper prices, movie nights are getting closer to the quality of movie theater experiences; the biggest contributor to a great movie night, however, is, arguably, the food.

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