Everyday Food (April 2011)
Just a couple weeks ago we said that crostini and other party snacks can "get a little tiresome."
Let's retract that statement, shall we?
Because these Minted Pea and Prosciutto Crostini are anything but tiresome. They're fresh, filling -- and easy, to boot.
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With Easter coming up this Sunday, food magazines are full of lunch and brunch ideas to fit the occasion. We're actually having some friends over for brunch on Sunday, and we're excited because Zach's mom is sending us an Easter ham from the Loveless Cafe in Nashville!
[Updated: Check out this Spicy Zucchini Frittata, these excellent Morning Glory Muffins, and lots more great brunch ideas!]
Here are some of our favorite recipes for an Easter brunch. Whether you're planning more of a breakfast-y brunch or a lunch-y brunch (or some combination of both), we think you'll love these dishes!
Have any of your own faves? Let us know in the comments!
If you want a breakfast-y brunch...
If you want a lunch-y brunch...
Shaved Raw Asparagus with Parmesan Dressing Bourbon Mint Tea Sugar Snap Pea and Radish Salad Pineapple-Mustard Glazed Ham Spring Shells and Cheese Butterflied, Rolled and Roasted Leg of Lamb with Fresh Mint Sauce Popovers Perfect Carrot Cake Tres Cocoas Leches Cake
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Everyday Food (April 2011)
When you have guests over for dinner -- or any get-together, really -- it's always nice to have some snacks for them to nibble on. After all, depending on how the cooking is going, you may have some time to kill. We've served more than our fare share of late dinners while entertaining, so we're always sure to have some sort of snack on hand in case, you know, dinner actually ends up being served at 9 p.m.
And while crudités, crostini and a bowl of nuts are great, they can get a little tiresome, so it's always good to have a few other tricks up your sleeve. We love to serve something that's easy to make but also impressive on the plate, like pinwheels: pre-made dough filled with flavors of your choosing, rolled up, sliced and baked.
For our book club meeting last week (where we also served Bagna Cauda Dip with Assorted Vegetables), we wanted something simple and tasty, so we were happy to see these Garlic-Herb Pinwheels in Everyday Food. And they inspired us to try our own version -- a Harissa-Sausage Pinwheel.
Continue reading "Garlic-Herb Pinwheels and Harissa-Sausage Pinwheels" »
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Bon Appétit (April 2011)
Food magazines frequently have a page toward the back of an issue where they'll pull together some of the recipes featured that month into little menus for different dinners or events.
We often find these menus a little humorous, just because they can be oddly specific, like "Bridal Luncheon" or "Poker Night." Like, "We'll, I hadn't thought of throwing a baby shower, but gosh this menu sounds good..."
Anyway, the joke's on us, we guess. Last night, we hosted a meeting of our book club. And there at the back of the April issue of Bon Appétit, right at the top of a menu labeled "Book Club," was this Bagna Cauda with Assorted Vegetables.
Continue reading "Bagna Cauda Dip with Assorted Vegetables " »
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Fine Cooking (February/March 2011)
Growing up in the small-town South, our Chinese food options (at least in the 1980s and 90s) were pretty limited. The kinds of Chinese places in our hometowns were bland, strip-mall eateries with long buffets filled with steaming trays of overcooked brown noodles; limp, watery vegetables and greasy, fried egg rolls. (And because it was the South, you were just as likely to find trays of fried okra or mac 'n' cheese alongside the Beef Lo Mein and General Tso's.)
It's not that those suburban Chinese buffets were bad food. It's just that they weren't really anything special.
But our entire notion of Chinese-American cuisine got turned on its ear about four years ago, the first time we ate at Shun Lee West on New York's Upper West Side. It's not that Shun Lee is the most authentic Chinese place in New York -- it's dozens of blocks from Chinatown, and the original Shun Lee Palace only opened in 1971. But it's the first time we ever realized that Chinese food could be upscale and made well, that Chinese cuisine could highlight fresh, great-tasting ingredients. (By the way, our other life-changing Chinese food experience was House of Nan King in San Francisco. Absolutely phenomenal.)
That's a long-winded way of saying that you need to make these pork buns, and you need to make them today.
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Recipes from Food & Wine and Bon Appétit
When it came time to taste our 12-Month Aged Eggnog, we invited a group of friends over for the event. It ended up being a small gathering of about a dozen folks, including our friend Ralph's parents who were in town.
But we couldn't just serve something as boozy as the eggnog without also having some food on hand, so we used it as an excuse to make three recipes that we had tagged in recent issues.
The first was Ginger-Miso Sweet Pea Spread (pictured above) from the December Food & Wine.
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Bon Appétit (May 2010)
You know in old sitcoms, when the husband comes home from work, frantic, because the boss and his wife are unexpectedly coming over for dinner? And the wife (unless she's Samantha Stevens) flips out, because how can she possibly plan and cook a dinner with no notice? Especially one that'll impress the boss and help her husband land that big promotion he's up for!
These hors d'oeuvres are worth keeping up your sleeve for just such an occasion.
The little bites use all store-bought ingredients (unless you want to make your own crème fraîche, which actually is incredibly easy) and can be assembled in seconds.
They sound impressive, they look delectable and they're a snap to throw together at the last minute. Your hubby's boss will be wowed!
There's just one little problem: They don't taste all that great.
Continue reading "Smoked Salmon with Black Pepper Potato Chips and Lemon Crème Fraîche" »
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Clay had a birthday recently! Yay!
We celebrated by having our friends Drew and Ralph over for a nice dinner at home. You may recall the parade of great dishes we made for Clay's b-day last year. This year, we kept things simple, with a grilled Kansas City brisket (which we'll post about soon!) and fresh summer veggies.
But Zach wanted to do something really special as a surprise for dessert. It took him about 3 seconds to decide on Compost Cookies with Cereal-Milk Panna Cotta.
Continue reading "Compost Cookies with Cereal-Milk Panna Cotta" »
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Last fall, our friends Drew and Ralph spent a weekend in Chicago. Drew and Ralph are both big-time foodies, and they asked us for any food recommendations in the Windy City. We had a few (Ann Sather, Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill).
And we knew the perfect person to ask for more ideas: one of our readers, Rina. She'd sent us numerous great recipe ideas before, and we knew she was really plugged in to the Chicago food scene. Rina was happy (we hope!) to oblige, and she sent a terrific list of good restaurants for Drew and Ralph to try.
At the top of Rina's picks? The Bristol, a new gastropub in Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood. Rina raved about its creativity and constantly changing menu. And when Drew and Ralph went there for brunch, they fell in love with the place.
All that brings us to this: When Zach was in Chicago for work a couple weeks ago, he knew he had to make time for dinner at the Bristol.
Dinner was outstanding: An appetizer of charred spring onions tossed with crispy goat belly, topped with a light mustard cream sauce. The entree was a crisp-skinned sea trout on a bed of fava beans and flageolets. Perfection!
But then it was time for dessert.
The server came over to tell Zach the three dessert options that evening. "First," she said, "we have a chocolate sabayon, sprinkled with a little sea salt and drizzled with olive oil, and that's served with a couple house-made Nutter Butter cookies. Second, we have--"
"I'm sorry," Zach interrupted. "I'm going to stop you there. There is absolutely no need for you to continue. I have to order that."
After eating the dessert and blacking out for a while over how good it was, Zach came to. And he had a singular mission: recreating this dessert at home.
Continue reading "Chocolate Sabayon With Sea Salt and Olive Oil, and Homemade Nutter Butters" »
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Bon Appétit (June 2010)
Sometimes when we're flipping through food magazines, we can get stopped in our tracks by the mere name of a recipe. Such was the case with these Muffuletta Hot Dogs from the current issue of Bon Appétit.
There's not even a photo in the magazine, but the title of the recipe was like a bolt of lightning. Muffuletta Hot Dogs -- of course!!
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