Dinner Party: when did we grow up?

I am still shocked to discover, somehow, while we weren't watching, my friends and I became sulf-sufficient, and could merit the title of adulthood -- if at least, only nominally.

My college friend invited me over for dinner at her apartment which she decorated around this chandelier.

It was a lovely evening of wine, good food and better conversation.

Clockwise from top: Rolf Beeler Hoch Ybrig, Raw Milk Taleggio, Pata Cabra Goat Cheese

I could not get enough of this cheese plate. If she had just served this and the wine, the dinner party would have been a success in my book.

Upon her mother's instruction, my friend didn't season these scallops at all, and they were very flavorful. So maybe we're adults with a bit of momma's help. No shame in that.

This piece of halibut is gigantic. I can't imagine these thing flopping its way out of the sea.

It made for some hefty portions.

Brace yourself: she cooked this corn in the microwave.

I swear, one of these days I'm going to nuke a live lobster and see if it really does keep the juices in.

The tea she served with dessert was a little bit gimmicky. You dump this ball of tea leaves into a pot of hot water.

And slowly this miniature floral arrangement reveals itself. This gimmick more than worked. I was enthralled.

The baklava came with high hopes, as she grabbed it from a shop in Queens. I figure anything that comes from one of the other boroughs, has got to be authentic. Lo and behold, there was corn syrup in the ingredient list!

Now that just doesn't seem quite right. And neither did the fit of my pants when I left their apartment.

Livin' on the Cheap

This whole eating on a budget thing is hard for me to grasp. In the second incarnation of homemade baguette sandwiches (first: ham and cheese), I went with a stirato from Sullivan St. Bakery because it was pouring rain and I figured that would be the best bet at the Whole Foods, since Whole Foods baguettes blow chunks.

Now I know that Jim Lahey of Sullivan St. brought us the joy of no-knead bread via Mark Bittman, but the stirato must have lost something in the transit from bakery to Whole Foods because it was pretty tough, the kind of tough that makes your jaws ache a bit after the conclusion of your sandwich.

Aching jaws are still better than Whole Foods baguettes though, and the quick trip downstairs for bread allowed me to quickly put together this sandwich: spicy arugula, gruyere, crisp bacon and sliced green apple with a bit of mayo.

I hear that PB&J or just PB is the way to go if one truly means to go budget. I'm going to need some time.

Pavlova with Lemon Curd and Berries

For Easter dessert I decided to make Pavlova, that New Zealand favorite.

The path towards creating what turned out to be one of my roommate's favorite desserts involved some learning experiences along the way.

My handheld mixer broke, so I had to use the whisk attachment for my immersion blender, and by the time I got to stiff glossy peaks, I also had glossy meringue freckles and blobs all along my arm up to my shoulder.

And let's take this moment to pause and admire my beautiful copper bowl. I always feel like a queen bee when I take it down for a whirl. Sometimes a rather exuberant whirl.

I apportioned the meringue for generous but not ridiculous portions.

And failed to realize that they would rise and expand in the oven. And had to go in part way to do some surgical separation. Let's just say it's a good thing I'm not a doctor and responsible for the lives of any conjoined twins.

Then I whipped together the lemon curd per instructions, which went surprisingly well. Who knew lemon curd was so simple to make?

But I didn't realize that I should have followed all of the instructions, including baking the meringue on parchment instead of Matfer silicone sheets because the bottoms of the meringue were decidedly -- chewy.

But it was still good, and next time blessed with my new found wisdom, I'm sure I'll be able to make a beautiful Pavlova cake with the best of the New Zealand mothers and pastry chefs!

Don't laugh. One is allowed to dream after all.

Easter Entrees

In summation, the completed Easter main courses. One with sea bass.

One with rack of lamb. And yes, I can't plate worth anything.

Asparagus with Morels and Tarragon

Roasted New Potatoes Tossed in a Spring Herb Pesto

Minted Pea Purée

Wild Striped Sea Bass en Papillote

Rack of Lamb with Fresh Herbs and Garlic

Wild Striped Sea Bass en Papillote

Normally it's a pain to figure out how to serve some protein to my fake vegetarian, sort of pescatarian friend. She insists that she's fine just eating sides, but it seems absurd to leave her out of a main dish, even if she doesn't even like main courses all that much.

This time however, I felt brave enough to try a fish and discovered this simple but delicious preparation for Sea Bass en Papillote. With all the extra ingredients, I've subsequently made it again for myself with perch, and it was still great.

Rack of Lamb with Fresh Herbs and Garlic

After much hemming and hawing, I settled on serving rack of lamb, since there were only going to be five people at the table, and with my cholesterol freak-out I can handle the amount of leftovers there would be with a leg of lamb, and because braised lamb shanks screams cool fall and frigid winter months to me.

Verdict: what was I so afraid of? I seared the suckers and was worried that they would be cooked halfway through, the amount of meat on these New Zealand racks of lamb were so little, but as you can see everything turned out fine. The best part: I only gave each person three pieces, and people were so stuffed from the other courses, that no one asked for more, and the next day for lunch I got to eat six pieces of rack of lamb down to the bone, with extra salt, sitting in sweat pants in front of the television. An awesome Sunday afternoon moment.

Minted Pea Purée

I don't get it, most people loved this recipe best. It was the easiest of the bunch, and a repeat from last year.

One thing I'd like to try is running the mixture through a food mill to get rid of all of the pea skins, and get a truly luxuriant mouth feel.

Roasted New Potatoes Tossed in a Spring Herb Pesto

This is an amazingly simple dish that I advise everyone to add to their repertoire. Granted, out of all of my guests, I was the only one who voted this as the favorite, but I'm usually right about these things, so you'll just have to excuse my friends.

It's Roasted New Potatoes with Spring Herb Pesto, courtesy of Bon Appétit. There is something about the salty crisp potato skin melding with the warm mealy roasted potato flesh.

Swimming in aromatic herbs. I could eat buckets.

Asparagus with Morels and Tarragon

What is the fascination of morels? I suppose for those of the mushroom hunting nature, they signal the onset of spring. I've decided that their delicate flavor doesn't resonate with my personality. I like a fungus with a little more oomph.

Now asparagus I can get behind. Especially roasted asparagus, though these underwent merely a quick blanch before being sauteed with the morels.


It was a useful experiment, this typical dish of spring on a plate. Spring must mean different things to different people. I'm tempted to think of those who would love a dish of sauteed asparagus and delicate fresh morels to be the romantic type with more than her share of sentimentality. (For recipe, click here.)I personally would like a spring platter of vegetables that included ramps with red pepper flakes, maybe quickly tossed in olive oil and sea salt and thrown on a hot grill. Give me some punchy stinky onions any day. I'm not sure what that says about my personality, but the word obnoxious comes to mind, and that seems a fair assessment.

Shaved Fennel and Radicchio Salad with Seared Jumbo Scallops in a Kumquat-Tarragon Vinaigrette

This appetizer came from Epicurious.com. Though I have shelves full of beautiful cookbooks, I oftentimes turn to Epicurious.com because it has reviews and I can print them out. When I cook, I like to slavishly follow the recipe the first time 'round. Slavishly follow unless I'm adding extra of something I deem "the good stuff." Heavy cream, cheese, fresh herbs, garlic all qualify as good stuff.

The Kumquat-Tarragon vinaigrette really drew me to this recipe: Seared Scallops with Fresh Fennel Salad and Kumquat-Tarragon Vinaigrette. I think my name for it would sell a bit faster on the menu.

The scallops I grabbed from the mother ship known as Dean & Deluca. The salad made me really happy that I own a mandoline and a fairly sharp knife. Mandoline for the fennel. Knife for the radicchio. Note on mandoline: yet again nearly sliced off the tip of my finger. Those things are tricky.

I seared the scallops and plated them right before serving. My mother flipped out when she found I served each guest three scallops for an appetizer, and told me I should have sliced them in half, horizontally, so that they would have seared faster and would have been more economical. This is why I can't be a restaurateur, I don't know how to skimp on a dish I'm excited about, especially dishes I'm excited about for people I love most. After our conversation I looked up the menus of some favorite restaurants like Gramercy Tavern, and indeed the first courses often comprised some relatively humble ingredients expertly handled. Well, that's why I'm an exhuberant home chef. So there mother.

Escolar Sashimi with a Toasted Pine Nut, Scallion, Jalapeno and Ginger Soy Vinaigrette

Crap logic. I have this recipe for tuna tartare, but for some reason I got it into my head that that didn't seem like spring, nor did it seem like it would go with the rest of the dinner menu. Switching to white escolar (oftentimes referred to as "white tuna") made some sort of twisted sense. Maybe because I knew there were going to be scallops on the salad, and they're white, and the escolar is white, so it would match?

Crap slicing. Since the marinade had soy in it and I didn't want to muddy the color of the escolar, I decided to just dollop the mixture on last minute. By the way, I have new found respect for the sashimi people at the Japanese sushi restaurants. It's actually not so easy to get a perfectly smooth, even slice of fish. Any wavering in the angle of the knife really shows up in each slice. Lucky for me, the photo is overexposed so you can't tell.

Crap skills. And if only I could keep my mouth shut about my crap skills, you might never have known that I can't slice fish. I often think that my roommate is mentally shaking her head when I reveal that I let slip unnecessarily yet another foible.

***
The ginger soy vinaigrette is from Cocktail Food, by Mary Corpening Barbre and Sara Corpening Whiteford with Lori Lyn Narlock.

3 tablespoons chopped green onion, gree npart only
3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped jalapeno, seed removed
1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger

Mix well. Use immediately. Do not mix in advance.

Chinese steamed fish

After the cholesterol scare, and the fact that I can't quite make it up a flight of subway stairs without some discreet gasps for air, I'm making some tentative steps towards eating healthy.

Most recently I tried Chinese styled steamed skate swing pieces. Having never steamed fish before in the three plus years I've lived in New York, this necessitated a quick trip to Chinatown for supplies: a small and large shallow pan for the fish, something to elevate the pan above the boiling water, and something to grab the hot pans and lift them out of the pot. Total cost: $10. Thank you cheap Chinese proprietors willing to work for low wages.

To steam the fish I layered fresh cilantro, slivered scallions and julienned ginger into the bottom of the small pan, then placed the skate wing pieces on top and topped it with more of the herb ginger mixture. I didn't salt the fish before hand, so I drizzled a little soy sauce and sesame oil on top and steamed the combination for 7 minutes. Five minutes may have been enough, but the joy of steaming is that you get a bit of leeway before the fish dries out. When the fish was done, I topped it with more fresh herbs and ginger and over that I poured a few tablespoons a sizzling hot vegetable oil to flash fry the herbs. A bit more soy sauce and sesame oil, and soon the fish was making its way to my stomach.

Baguette Sandwiches: ham and cheese

I can't stand how most of the bread at the New York delis blow. Especially if you want something on a baguette.

Fed up, I decided to make my on sandwich on a baguette. I went with a baguette from Balthazar's even though their taste is "inspid," according to Cornell Professor Stephen L. Kaplan, Goldwin Smith Professor of European History at Cornell University and certified bread snob (NYMag calls him "the world's preeminent French-bread scholar"). For full article on the best New York baguettes, click here.

A smear of mayonaisse, a dab of dijon mustard, some gruyere plus a bit too much ham, and there you go: a ham and cheese sandwich fit for an adult.

Sick in Bed

So despite getting a flu shot and downing Emergen-C like it was the next best thing since crack, I managed to get sick during the winter holidays.

After a few rounds of Devon & Blakely's Chicken Dumpling soup (fantastic) and Whole Foods Chicken Rice soup (too salty), I decided to make my own.

I had chicken/turkey stock in the freezer, so it was a pretty simple matter. Feeling rather poorly, I cheated and purchased the pre-diced onion and the celery and carrot sticks from Whole Foods. I sauteed those a little in oil until they were softened a bit before throwing them in the pot for half an hour with some thyme and a little dill.

When everything was cooked through, I threw in some egg noodles and diced chicken thigh for 8 minutes. I put in some hand ripped dill in the bottom of the bowl and poured in the steaming soup over it.

Unexpectedly, this experiment in chicken noodle soup taught me finally, why homemade chicken broth is so much better than store-bought. The chicken noodle soup was really rich and savory, and I'd have a hard time using store broth to make chicken soup in the future. I'd probably be willing to use store broth if I was ever in a pinch for any other dish where the broth isn't the central feature.

Of course, my mom being my mom, when I told her that I was having chicken noodle soup, she flipped out and talked about how it was too fatty, and a beef and cilantro soup would really be so much better. Then she started in on how I had better not be having any oranges or cold water. Apparently both aggravate coughs.

She just called to tell me that she has brewed a lovely noxious broth of Chinese herbal medicine that she's going to overnight tomorrow. I think it's funny how people romanticize the natural benefits of Chinese medicine, when it's mainly boiled tree bark. Sometimes you'll get some cicada exoskeletons or dried seahorses thrown in. I've been downing the brews my whole life, so it's not such a big inconvenience to drink them for me, but they sure don't beat a lovely steaming bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup.

Holiday Cocktail Party: Cheating and Late

After guests had arrived, we managed to roll our a few more dishes. The Lamb Meatballs actually came out last as there wasn't any more room on the table until later in the evening. I had already baked them, so it was just a matter of reheating and sliding them onto some plates.

Meat and Cheese Board. Always a welcome guest.

Last minute preparations. A good bunch of guests had already arrived, but I refused to cancel this dish after I had gone through the nuisance of peeling and de-veining two pounds of shrimp. This sauce is mind bogglingly easy. Throw in some olive oil and butter, then some cream, then lots of Cajun seasonings, let it come to a simmer and thicken, season with salt and pepper.

Toss in shrimp, and look happiness.
And finally, D of carbonara fame brought over these Bouley macaroons. Mmm. Judgment in comparison to Laduree and Pierre Herme macaroons of Paris? The Bouley ones had more filling, so the sweetness and creaminess overwhelmed an opportunity to appreciate the perfectly baked light and airy macaroon shells. Aren't they gorgeous though? Really is like eating jewels.

Holiday Cocktail Party: Sweet and Savory

C made Spicy Candied Pecans, Sweet Potato Baked Chips, Cheesy Phyllo Rolls, Gingerbread Cookies, and Chocolate Crinkle Cookies.
This year, she decided not to experiment and stuck to the recipe. Verdict, don't stick to the recipe. It was good of course, but tastes really soared when she trusted her instincts.

Mmm, these were so good. I was both indignant and proud as a peacock when a guest asked where we had ordered our food. I don't think a lot of what I made looked anything but homemade, but I think these chips look positively professional.


This picture does not do this dish justice, it's all those precious phyllo scraps that have been piled on top. It's twice baked with a variety of cheeses sprinkled between each phyllo layer.

Gingerbread cookies with candied ginger, mini meringues and chocolate crinkle cookies with peppermint frosting. Now that looks like Christmas!

Holiday Cocktail Parties: Baked and Fried

I decided not to strain myself this year and do things that I thought would not be too hard. The menu included: Mushroom Risotto Croquettes with Fresh Mozzarella Centers, Fried Baked Mac N Cheese, Lamb and Currant Meatballs with Mint Yogurt Sauce, Pan Fried Chorizo on Crostini, Buttermilk Biscuit Bites, Bacon Wrapped Dates, and Cajun Cream Shrimp on Crostini.

Mushroom Risotto Croquettes with Mozzarella Centers. I soaked a hearty handful of dried porcini and morels overnight before chopping them up and adding them to diced plain white button mushrooms. For stock, I used a combination of homemade turkey and chicken stock, and the leftover mushroom water. It killed me that I had to use store-bought fresh mozzarella now that I finally know how to make it myself and have realized it's not that difficult, but there wasn't time. I made a huge put of risotto in the morning and shoved it into the fridge to cool.

Fried Baked Mac N Cheese. After baking, cooling, and slicing the mac n cheese, I rolled it in flour seasoned with chili powder and salt, then in egg wash, then in Panko. After a deep fry in Canola oil it was ready to go. Another thing that kills me is that these croquettes look so ugly on the plate. Normally we do a better job on presentation, but there just wasn't time.

People love these Lamb and Currant Meatballs. They're really easy to make. You basically dump the ingredients in, moosh, roll into balls and bake. The Mint Yogurt sauce is also simple. Just take some Greek yogurt that's already been drained, add some chopped mint, and season.

These chorizo slices I pan fried in olive oil, bacon fat, cloves and cinnamon. I really had wanted to soak some white cannellini beans, cook them in some chicken stock with sage, and then purree up the whole mess that I could pipe onto crostini and then lay a slice of fried chorizo on top. Stupid Whole Foods doesn't have white cannellini beans though, and I never got a chance to visit the mother ship otherwise known as Dean and Deluca. *sniff*

These Buttermilk Biscuit Bites came out much better than the ones I made for Thanksgiving. This time I mixed the dough in the food processor and stopped when the butter particles made the dough look like grainy sand. Then, since the refrigerator was full, I ended up stuffing the bowl of dough in the freezer to keep it cool. These things rose three or four times in height in the oven. I ended up folding a lot of layers into subsequent batches of dough as I smooshed the remnants together.

The only problem is that I made way too many. Maybe five times as much as what you see in the picture. I also had aspirations for these suckers. I was going to split them in half and smear some jam on each little bite. Alas, also no time. *waah*

Bacon Wrapped Dates. Instead of getting the super thick cut bacon from behind the meat counter at Whole Foods, I just got the prepackaged bacon, which is sliced much more thinly. If you are making this at home for just a few people, I'd advise going with the thicker bacon. Soaking the toothpicks made a huge difference, they hardly got charred at all.

Holiday Cocktail Party: Ready to Go!

C and I had our annual holiday cocktail party this past weekend, and if I do say so myself it was a success. A market success despite the snafu that arose out of a misguided, but heavy dose of confidence earlier in the day. We became convinced that preparations were on target, and then all of a sudden it was 6pm, and C and I had to form croquettes balls, make Cajun cream shrimp, make cheesy phyllo rolls, finish buttermilk biscuit bites, fry stuff, clean up, set up the tables, and change. It was horrid.

Thankfully most of our guests were late. With less than 5 minutes before start time, C dashed into my bathroom for a quick shower. Our TV was in her bathtub because we had cleared the console table to make a mixed drink bar. From 8 to 8:15pm I prayed mightily that no one would show up. V actually came on time, and bless her heart, I didn't mind that she saw me looking like the bottom of a trash bag and instead I put her to work pulling out our stemless wine glasses.

C managed to whip herself into a sleek plum cocktail dress, and then I dashed in for my makeover. I bungled taping myself into my dress and had to call C away from guests for emergency support.
In the end though, I think we both managed to be out and presentable before five guests showed up. Whoohoo! Thank you thank you for being late!