Archive for December 2009

EVENTS: Family Hanukkah Brunch at Uncle Michael and Aunt Cindy’s; Surprise-Ingredient Sunday Night Dinner
DISHES: Forgotten Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars; Potato Latkes; Oven-Fried Flounder with Parsley Aioli
MAIN INGREDIENTS: Chocolate, Potatoes
FISH & LATKE PHOTOS BY: Alex

Paradoxically enough, I spent last Friday night, the first night of Hanukkah 2009, decorating Christmas cookies with Phoebe at Kate’s house, in preparation for the following night’s holiday party. In between icing a stocking and a candy cane, we lit the first two candles.

I spent…

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Shortcut Applesauce
Makes about 1 cup

Read the original post here.

Ingredients
2 apples
1 tablespoon sugar, or to taste

Peel, core, and roughly chop the apples. Put them in a small saucepan with about 1/4 cup of water and the sugar. Bring to a boil, then cover, turn heat to low, and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the apples have disintegrated. Mash any remaining large pieces, then taste and add any extra sugar to taste.

Serve with latkes on Hanukkah-or any other time.

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“Forgotten” Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Makes 36 squares

Read the original post here.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Make 1 recipe of this milk chocolate-dark chocolate cookie dough.

Press the dough as evenly as possible into an ungreased 9×13″ pan. Bake for 25 minutes until the top is just firm and the edges are barely golden. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then gently remove it and cut into rectangles, diamonds, or squares.

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EVENT: The Kenner Family Christmas Party
VENUE: Kate’s Parents’ Apartment, Upper East Side
PARTY SIZE: 100
TYPE: Large-Scale Holiday Dinner Buffet
MENU: Beef Bourguignon; Scalloped Potatoes; Corn Pudding; Roasted Brussels Sprouts; Just Salad Fixings; Lemon Bars; Pecan Bars; Chocolate Fudge; Christmas Cookies; Cranberry Punch; Spiked Cider

The holiday season is an especially busy time for us Quarter-Life Cooks. Among our twenty-something friends, our expertise is in high demand for planning, prepping, and decorating all sorts of festive gatherings. But one particular grown-up…

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Blog-To-Book Deal: Big Girls, Small Kitchen
By Helen Rosner

“Cara Eisenpress and Phoebe Lapine of Big Girls, Small Kitchen have been tapped by Harper Studio to write Cara & Phoebe’s Quarter-Life Kitchen, which Publisher’s Marketplace describes as “the story of two best friends and their sophomore year in the “real world,” told through a series of cooking adventures, homemade recipes, and shared meals.””

Read the full article here.

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Arugula and Beet Salad
Makes 2 servings

Read the original post here.

Ingredients
4oz baby arugula
1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
1 tbsp minced pickled shallot (recipe here)
1 roasted beet, minced (see how to roast beets here)

In a small bowl, mix together the dill, beet and shallot. Season with salt, add a tablespoon of pickling liquid, and drizzle in a tablespoon or two of olive oil.

Toss the pink mixture together with the arugula, and serve. For a more substantial salad, add a Dill Turkey Burger to the bed of greens.

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DISH: Pink Greens; Arugula and Beet Salad
MAIN INGREDIENTS: Beets and their Greens

I don’t know why, but I always seem to over-estimate how many beets I will need for any given meal that features them. There was certainly no exception when it came to our latest catering gig—I roasted nearly double the number of beets I would need for my relish, and still came away from the baby shower with leftovers of that to add to the beets still sitting in my fridge. Despite the fact that cooking these pink veggies en masse transforms…

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VEGGIE-CARNIVORE DINNER PARTY MENU: BBQ Chicken Satay; Soy-Sesame Tofu Skewers; Teriyaki-Dressed Soba, served warm; Mixed Greens with Creamy Mango Vinaigrette; Coconut Shortbread

When I turn to tasty soba noodles to offer me some sustenance, I’m more likely than not to dress them with julienned raw veggies and the sesame oil vinaigrette I threw on these rice noodles I made a while back. For a recent mag club, though, I wanted something a little different-but I also wanted something different from the hearty fall dishes like gratins I was starting…

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EVENT: Mary’s Baby Shower
VENUE: Rebbecca’s Apartment, Chelsea
PARTY SIZE: 40
TYPE: Afternoon Sit Down Tea
MENU: (Cocktail Fare) Caprese Skewers with Pesto Dipping Sauce; Deviled Eggs; Asparagus in Parmesan Puff Pastry; (Sit Down) Sexy Ugly Caramelized Onion Tarts; Green Apple & Brie Sandwiches with Honey Mustard; Turkey & Beet Relish Sandwiches with Dill Mayonnaise; Mixed Greens with Lemon-Basil Vinaigrette; Zucchini & Walnut Bread; Chocolate Chip Banana Bread; Cherry Scones; Apple Cinnamon Scones; Magnolia Cupcakes

Our friend Jocelyn is lucky…

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Caprese Skewers
Serves 15

You can really make as many of these bites as you want to fit your party size. We offered around 1.5 bites per person, which is always a safe assumption.

Read the original post here.

Ingredients
25 cherry tomatoes
25 basil leaves
25 bocconcini (bite-sized mozzarella balls)
1 cup basil-parsley pesto (recipe follows)
toothpicks

Thread the cherry tomato, followed by a basil leaf (folded in half) through the toothpick. Top with a bocconcini ball pressed halfway through with the skewer so the end is not revealed.…

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