Archive for March 2010

SPRING FINGER FOOD MENU: Puff Pastry Wrapped Asparagus; Minted Sweet Pea Dip; Avocado and Radish Crostini

We’ve been playing around with a lot of tartlettes and pizzettes here at BGSK. The craze in our kitchen started back at our holiday dinner, when Phoebe topped mini circles of purchased pizza dough with caramelized onions, cheese, and arugula. Since, we’ve migrated to homemade pizza dough and to puff pastry. But despite these changes, we seem to have met our match in tartlettes. They’re easy but elegant, homey but

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Frittata with Asparagus, Scallions, & Fontina • Bistro Salad Apple • Crumb Coffee Cake

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EVENT: A Weekend Away with Friends
VENUE: Kate’s House, Hudson Valley
PARTY SIZE: 10
TYPE: Friday Night Post-Drive Dinner
MENU: Chicken Marbella; Orzo; Milk Bar Compost Cookies

According to my mother, for a while in the 1980s, Chicken Marbella was all the rage. The Silver Palate Cookbook came out, and filled as it was with creative, delicious, and dinner party-worthy dishes, the surprising ingredients (prunes, capers, brown sugar??) and winning flavor combination of Chicken Marbella meant that it was served at party after party back then

When Kate invited a bunch of us out…

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EVENT: Passover Seder
VENUE: BGSK’s Extended Households
PARTY SIZE: 9; 37 (plus Elijah, obviously)
TYPE: Long, Drawn-Out Culturally Significant Dinner
MENU: Matzoh Ball Soup; Brisket; Potato Kugel with Sauteed Shallots; Nutty Passover Puffs

My Aunt Jennifer is responsible for most of my formative memories of brisket, and most of my positive experiences with passover. The highlights of the family meal were always the many chairs added year after year to make up for the many new additions to the table (remember Thanksgiving?); my undefeated record with the…

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Potato Kugel with Sauteed Shallots
Makes 1 8-inch kugel

Read the original post here.

Ingredients
2 shallots, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons neutral oil
2 medium baking potatoes (about 20 oz)
1 small onion
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup boiling water

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Put an 8-inch square pan in to preheat.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallots are quite brown and crispy, about…

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Nutty Passover Puffs
Makes 30 cookies

Read the original post here.

Ingredients
2 egg whites
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch salt
1 cup walnuts
1/2 cup blanched almonds
1/4 cup pecans
1 tablespoon peanuts
1 tablespoon pine nuts
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 300°F.

In a mini food processor, pulse the nuts with 2 tablespoons of the sugar. You want the nuts coarsely chopped, but it’s okay if some get more finely ground than…

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There are desserts that you make by opening the cupboard and mixing together six or seven ingredients. Sturdy single-layer cakes, chocolate chip cookies, brownies–these are some of the delicious results of the simple “dump and stir” method of baking.

There are other desserts, however, that require a couple of building blocks. Layer cakes filled with mousse and topped with ganache require several steps. Sandwich cookies, trifles pavés, millionaire’s shortbread–all these desserts have a bunch of components that the creator has to make separately and then assemble with care.

Often, my baking falls under…

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WEEKEND BRUNCH MENU (FOR TWO): Turkey Pepperjack Melts; Sweet Potato Fries; Cilantro Slaw; Pickles

I love a good turkey sandwich. But for some reason, I’m not really the type of person who keeps regular old sandwich bread around. In New York, that’s easy enough to remedy. When I get the craving, I’ll often just make a pit stop at my corner deli and either order their version of my go-to turkey club, or, in this case, if I have some random sandwich fixings already, I’ll ask them to just sell me two pieces…

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I love buying big beautiful butternut squashes at the farmers’ market, but my eyes are usually bigger than my guest list, and unless I am making a big stew or chili that incorporates the vegetable, I will have sections of it in my fridge for weeks. Even a small, one and a half pound squash can stretch a surprisingly long way, and I always end up with leftovers to throw on top of crostini or beneath a fried egg.

If I want to be sure to be rid of the squash at the…

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Butternut Squash Risotto with Pancetta and Pecorino
Makes 2 servings

Read the original post here.

Ingredients
2oz pancetta, finely chopped
2 shallots, sliced
2 garlic cloves, sliced
¾ cup Arborio rice
½ cup dry white wine
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 cups shredded squash
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (or other green herb)
2 tbsp pecorino
Coat a dutch oven or deep sauté pan with olive oil, and cook the pancetta until browned, about 5 minutes. Add the

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