From pages to plates, from movies to mouths

Every die-hard movie fan has at least once looked at the scrumptious food that characters eat in their favorite flicks and wondered how to make the delicious treats. Whether it be the butter beer in "Harry Potter" or the Turkish delight from "The Chronicles of Narnia," the food is always notable. Fortunately, many of the dishes are easier to prepare than they look. With the help of the following simple directions, movie fans can enjoy these cinematic dishes.

Homemade Baklava
Most movie buffs have seen "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and remember the scene where Toula Portofalos (Nia Vardalos) is teased by classmates for her native choice of dining. As in the movie, Baklava, a crumbly, nutty treat, is a staple of the Greek diet and relatively easy to make.

Ingredients:
2 lbs. of butter
1 and 1/2 lbs. pecans
1 cup of powdered sugar
1 tbs. of cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
2 lbs. of filo dough
6 cups of sugar
3 cups of water
Juice of two lemons

Directions:
Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Boil the butter for 10 minutes, stirring gently. After removing the butter from the heat, set aside. In a large bowl, mix nuts, sugar, cinnamon and cloves. In large baking pan, layer one sheet of filo dough, brush it with butter and repeat for eight layers. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of nut mixture evenly over the filo. Continue layering dough and nuts until filo has run out, finishing with a thick filo layer. Slice the baklava into eight rows length-wise. Bake for an hour or until light golden. Remove the pan and allow to cool for two hours. While the Baklava cools, mix sugar, lemon juice and water in a saucepan and boil for 10 minutes. Pour sauce over the cooled baklava and allow to cool overnight.

Recipe courtesy of Eva Poulos

Fried Green Tomatoes
In 1991, Jon Avnet produced the popular film "Fried Green Tomatoes," a bittersweet story about two friends, Idgie and Ruth, in the 1930s, coinciding with the memoirs of an elderly woman. A critical scene in the film is the diner that the friends create; the diner serves its specialty fried green tomatoes, a dish that pulls the community together.

Ingredients:
4 green tomatoes
1 egg
1 1/2 cups of cornmeal
1/2 cup of vegetable oil for frying

Directions:
Combine the egg and cornmeal with salt and pepper for flavoring. Slice the green tomatoes in half inch thick slices and coat with the cornmeal batter. Meanwhile, heat oil in a small frying-pan on a medium setting. When the oil is heated, place the tomatoes in the pan. Cook tomatoes for three minutes on each side or until golden. Serve with ketchup or eat plain.

Recipe derived from SouthernCooking.com

Toffee
"Chocolat," the 2000 romance starring Juliet Binoche and Johnny Depp, is a prime example of food-based movies. Set in a small French village, the movie depicts the adventures of a woman and her young daughter as they start a chocolate business that is met with some skepticism by the village people. Making real chocolate is difficult, especially without the proper ingredients, but making sweets like toffee and brownies is easy and enjoyable.

Ingredients:
1 cup of chopped pecans
3/4 cup of brown sugar
1 stick of butter
1 heaping cup of chocolate chips

Directions:
Spread the pecans evenly on a greased 9x13 inch pan. Meanwhile, melt the butter and brown sugar together and boil for 7 or 8 minutes. Pour mixture over pecans, sprinkling the chocolate chips on top. Cover the dish with tin foil for five minutes to allow the chocolate to melt, then spread the chocolate evenly around. Refrigerate the toffee until desired thickness and enjoy.

Recipe courtesy of Mary Yentzer

Tikka Chicken
When "Bend It Like Beckham" came out in 2002, it became an instant hit, not just for the soccer elements and lithe bodies, but for its depiction of Indian culture. One its most memorable scenes is when teenager Jess telling her mom, "Anyone can cook aloo gobi, but who can bend a ball like Beckham?" While aloo gobi is a complex Indian dish, the traditional dish tikka chicken is easy to prepare and an enjoyable dish for any occasion.

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon chopped ginger root
1 crushed garlic clove
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
3 tbs. plain yogurt
2 tbs. lemon juice
1 tbs. tomato paste
3 lbs. of chicken breast
1 onion, sliced
3 tbs. of vegetable oil

Directions:
Blend the ginger, garlic, coriander, cumin and chili powder together in a medium bowl. Add yogurt, salt, lemon juice and tomato paste into mixture. Stir in chopped chicken into the spice mixture, stirring well. Allow to marinate overnight in fridge. Preheat your oven's broiler. In a flame-proof dish, add onions, oil and the chicken mixture. Cook for 25 to 30 minutes and serve with lemon juice, naan bread or Basmati rice.

Recipe courtesy of "Greatest Ever Indian"