detritus of a good party: one of my favorite sights

Pre-kiddos, Chris and I used to host a holiday party every year — with loads of cocktails and hors d’oeuvres — for 20 or so friends and co-workers. That annual bacchanalia took a backseat once Rhys and then James arrived. Aching to cook for grown-ups again and wanting to have a little fun this holiday season, we decided to host an intimate dinner party with some close friends.

What I’ve learned over the years of entertaining is this: prepping as much beforehand is the key to enjoying the party yourself. This isn’t a new idea; many professional chefs have based careers and cookbooks off of this thought, but I also think that keeping the menu simple is another key to success. I don’t like multiple courses, but I think having a salad or soup before the main course is a nice way to extend the meal without being too fussy. This time of year, I really love that dessert can be a tray of homemade Christmas cookies and some delicious coffee.

The evening was full of warmth, love and joviality — Chris and I feel very lucky to have such friends. Happy holidays indeed.

Here’s the menu — special enough for Christmas dinner, in case you need inspiration:

Cocktails: Champagne, craft beers and gougeres

Salad: mixed greens with mustard vinaigrette, candied pecans spiced with cinnamon and coriander, dried cranberries and French feta

Dinner: French pork stew with brandy and prunes (From Cook’s Illustrated Best Recipe cookbook), served with crème fraiche mashed potatoes

Dessert: assorted Christmas cookies; I made these:
Mexican wedding cakes
Buckeyes (controversially dipped only half-way in bittersweet chocolate)
Coconut macaroon sandwiches with lime curd
Chewy, triple-ginger cookies
Fig bars

happy eating and much peace in the new year, -s. 

p.s. my heart aches for the families of those who lost their lives on Friday in Newtown, CT. Hug and kiss those you love and let us change our gun laws now before another senseless tragedy occurs.  What terrible loss of beautiful, precious, innocent life.

from Martha Stewart
The more I entertain, the more I realize that simple is better. A multi-course spectacle doesn’t really allow anyone to unbutton and relax. Starting with a single rich nosh and some bubbly helps the evening to unfurl gracefully — without eating too much to really enjoy dinner. My go-to hors d’oeuvre is the gougeres, or cheese puff for those who don’t parlez vous francais.
Gougeres starts with the classic pate choux — a paste of flour, water, butter and eggs. This simple mixture is the start for not only gougeres, but éclairs too. Fold nutty gruyere into the batter and you have the foundation for gougeres. From there you can elevate them with some key add-ins: minced chipotle chiles, Serrano ham, sun-dried tomatoes, black olives, etc. Once they hit the hot oven, they do just as their name indicates — they puff and crisp into golden orbs that are fairly addictive — so plan for several batches before dinner for a group of 10 or so.

My go-to recipe is from Martha Stewart – I love that you can make them ahead and reheat right before the party starts.

Happy eating, -s.
 
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday, as it is singularly focused on food and wine. Nothing better in my opinion! We will be heading to my childhood home to be with family and eat my mom's amazing food. Since the kiddos are slowly outnumbering the adults, I am bringing some kid-friendly snacks to tide us over until dinner, mainly coconut-oil-popped popcorn and sugar-glazed rosemary and cayenne-spiked nuts.

We've had a tough year and it's not over, but I'm so thankful for so many things. So thankful for our warm and cozy home. So thankful that I can nourish my boys with the food I make ... food that's full of love and other good stuff. So thankful for my strong, amazingly talented husband. So thankful for good friends who check in on me. So thankful for 332 electoral votes. So thankful that people still want to help those who cannot help themselves. 

Have a beautiful Thanksgiving.
Happy eating, -s.

I missed the last outdoor farmers’ market due to traveling this past weekend. Not the end of the world; I had stocked up enough on winter pantry staples the weekend prior that I’m set to go for this week as well — winter squashes, onions, potatoes, apples and herbs. I was gifted a huge bunch of kale from a generous co-worker, so we had some fresh greens too.

We have a crazy-busy schedule this week; not untypical, but more logistically challenging for some reason. I don’t know what my deal was, but I had a little ADD trying to focus on a healthful menu that wasn’t too tasking for the busy week ahead. Some evening prep was necessary, but nothing elaborate; I made a big batch of white beans for Wednesday and Thursday’s dinners, so there’s a two-for-one deal going on there, too. I also used some arugula pesto frozen during our warm fall as a stand-in to traditional pistou for the soupe. Friday's dinner is my riff on a delicious noodle dish from my favorite Lao/Thai restaurant, Lao Laan Xang. Without further ado, here’s what we’re eating this week.


Menu: week of 12 November 2012
Monday: pasta with sautéed Italian sausage and kale
Tuesday: breaded pork cutlets with apple-fennel slaw with roasted almonds
Wednesday: cold weather soupe au pistou with crusty bread
Thursday: stewed white beans with toasted bread crumbs; served with steamed broccoli
Friday:  fresh rice noodles with ground pork, red curry-coconut sauce, and feathery, wilted cabbage

Happy eating, -s. 
before the frost: flowering pineapple sage in my yard
It was the second to the last farmers' market of the season on Saturday; a little bittersweet. While our farmers' markets heads indoors over the cold Wisconsin winter, there's nothing like the fresh air and good smells of the outdoor market to get you inspired to cook.

I slow-cooked a pork shoulder roast on Sunday to provide us with a few meaty meals throughout the week — tacos with cilantro, white onion and avocado, empanadas with hard-boiled eggs, golden raisins and green olives, and twice-cooked pork with black beans and rice. Interlaced, will be some vegetable-heavy meals to highlight our farmers' market bounty — winter squash gratin, potato-rosemary pizza, stir-fried Chinese broccoli and chicken with jasmine rice.

at the market:
apples
arugula
broccoli
carrots
Chinese broccoli
cilantro
cranberries
garlic
Italian flat-leaf parsley
 

rosemary and flowering oregano in my garden
menu: week of 3 November 2012
Saturday: broccoli, ham and cheese calzones with salsa cruda
Sunday: pork shoulder tacos with cilantro, red onion and avocado
Monday: twice-cooked pork shoulder with black beans and rice
Tuesday: winter squash gratin with mixed greens
Wednesday: empanadas with stewed pork, hard-boiled eggs, golden raisins and green olives; served with homemade applesauce
Thursday: stir-fried Chinese broccoli and chicken with jasmine rice
Friday: potato-rosemary pizza with chevre

happy eating, -s.

I love my husband for many reasons, but one of my favorite things about him is his absolute gusto when it comes to eating the foods he loves. Many years ago, early in our relationship, Chris and I went on a weekend jaunt with my sister, Heather, and brother-in-law, Mike. We ate at a delicious Italian restaurant that served, with its homemade ciabatta, a whole head of roasted garlic. Now, Chris LOVES roasted garlic and proceeded to pretty much eat the entire head himself. And the remainder of the trip, he literally permeated garlic from his pores (so much so that we had to open the car windows when driving home). Now, that is love.

On many pizzas in our house, there is no tomato sauce. Instead, I make a garlic paste that gets smeared on the crust before the cheese and toppings are applied. Over the years, I have been frustrated by inconsistent roasting of garlic; I use the same method (lop the head off, place on heavy-duty foil, pour some olive oil on top, a sprinkle of kosher salt and a wrap it up), same temperature (350-degrees), for the same amount of time (2 hours) and for some heads of garlic, they would be over-roasted, with super caramelized, hard cloves encased in their papery shells or the total opposite — under-roasted and still super "garlicky," with none of the inherent sweetness of perfectly roasted garlic. Not sure why — maybe some were older or younger, moister or drier … I’m still trying to figure it out.

Well, through trial and error (and many ruined heads of garlic), I have a pretty fool-proof recipe. It’s a little unorthodox, but it works. Here’s how:

Take one large head of garlic and separate the cloves, while still retaining their individual paper wrappings. Pack the cloves in a small, oven-proof baking dish (a ramekin, etc.) and add 1 tablespoon of water and one tablespoon of olive oil, a sprinkle of kosher salt and wrap everything up in heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 45 minutes to 2 hours.

The combination of the steamy water and oil softens the garlic slowly and makes peeling the cloves afterwards a dream! They come out soft, roasted and creamy. The remaining garlic infused oil-water is added to the cloves that are then mashed with a fork and seasoned with additional olive oil (to the consistency you want), salt and pepper. 

Try it, you’ll like it. And it’s easy.

Happy eating, -s.

 

 

 
 
Wishing you a spooky, treat-filled Halloween! Boo!