gone hikin'

Dan and I are in Vermont spending some much-needed time with friends and fresh air. See you in a few weeks!

link-o-rama

It's hard to believe it's almost Memorial Day weekend. Whether you're throwing a barbecue for 20 or bringing a dish to a potluck, here are some links for inspiration. Have fun!

Homemade ginger beer for cocktails or just straight [via Lottie + Doof] The Leland Palmer (gin, jasmine tea, limoncello, lemon juice, and grapefruit juice) [via Bon Appetit]
Lamb tacos [via Pithy & Cleaver]
Burger and brat recipes [via Saveur]
Salted toffee chocolate graham cracker squares [via Pink of Perfection]

Grilled desserts (grilled pound cake with Mexican chocolate sauce and tropical fruit) [via Food & Wine]

And from the Dinner Party archives:

Main dishes:
Chili dogs
Oven-fried picnic chicken
Salads & sides:
Kitchen sink salad
Spring panzanella
Pasta salad with chickpeas, tomato, and feta
Shrimp rolls
Snacks:
Chile-lime peanuts
Charred onion dip
Green goddess dip
Tomato-mango salsa
Desserts:
Chocolate peanut butter squares 
Lemon bars 
Oatmeal-coconut-raspberry bars

What are you making this weekend? Please share in the comments!

what's for dinner, tamara reynolds?

Today we continue our two-part Q&A with the ladies behind the great book Forking Fantastic! Put The Party Back In Dinner Party. Co-author Tamara Reynolds (isn't her headshot awesome?) shares her favorite simple dessert ideas, love of Sabra hummus, and why seasonal produce is the best menu inspiration. Thanks, Tamara! (Click here for part one of the interview with Zora O'Neill)

1. Name, occupation, and city
Tamara Reynolds, freelance cook, food writer, hostess of the Sunday Night Dinner in Astoria, and co author of Forking Fantastic! Put The Party Back In Dinner Party.

2. When was the last time you threw a dinner party, and who was invited?
The other night I had my upstairs neighbor and her visiting family over for dinner. It was a very casual thing; mushroom risotto, braised artichokes, salad, and peas with romaine lettuce and mint, but it felt so good to cook some spring food (finally!!). We ran out of wine and just as we were about to go into the liquor cabinet for after dinner libations, my husband came home from a very long workday. Probably the best end for a Monday night!

3. What is the best menu you've ever made for company?  
My God. One best? I seriously cannot play that game. What I can say is that any dinner that has started with "I just had to cook dinner because these artichokes/figs/asparagus/ramps/melons/etc were so beautiful" always turns out well. I am often inspired by seasonal produce.

4. What's your preference: wine, beer, cocktails?  
They all have their place--- beer is especially refreshing on a hot day outside, or with very spicy food, cocktails are an excellent aperitif that prime your tastebuds, but for dinner, wine is always my choice. It is not just a drink, it is a food-- made from grapes! And when paired well it can enhance your dinner- bringing out sympathetic flavors, etc. So much more than just a thirst quencher!

5. What's your favorite dinner party soundtrack?
I want to listen to music that matches my mood. Or puts me into the mood I want to be in. Karl often takes a couple of songs or artists that I suggest and makes a playlist-- he is especially adept at that. Peter owns a bunch of 70's Ethiopian pop on vinyl that I love to listen to when I am at his and Zora's house. It always sounds so good late at night.

6. Some friends are coming over for a last-minute dinner. What do you make?
I would probably ride my bike to the produce stand and butcher down the street. Maybe chicken thighs braised in olive oil, wine, garlic and olives over some saffron rice and a salad? Some other vegetable that is in season? Mmm, that sounds good!

7. Do you usually cook everything yourself, or do you have help?
I usually cook everything myself, although I love to cook with close friends. There is something very intimate about cooking with someone else- especially in small NYC kitchens. Karl is especially great at dessert; when he is around, I love to have him tackle desserts I want to eat but don't have the patience to make.

8. Do you ever buy store-bought food, or is everything on your table made from scratch?
I tend to make everything from scratch except Sabra hummus. Zora and I joke that it is the equivalent of crack. They do such a good job with it, truly I have no improvement to offer. Otherwise, I enjoy the challenge of making things from scratch. Plus, then there is no doubt of what it contains-- I made it.

9. What do you like to serve for dessert?
I have gotten on a kick lately of serving fruit over greek yogurt. It is easy, and I always have both items around. Crepes are always an easy last minute thing, requiring only flour, milk, sugar, and butter. Browned butter over a crepe is pretty damned good no matter what the season.

10. If you could invite anyone over for dinner (living or dead), who would it be?
You know, as corny as it sounds, I would LOVE to feed Thomas Jefferson. He was a farmer, a vintner, wine aficionado, inventor, statesman, scholar.... all of my favorite qualities! Seriously, I think he would be a fabulous guest- he could bring wine he made, vegetables from his garden, maybe some little invention that would make my life better, and then talk about France, books, ideas, and the creation of the US. That is a dinner party I want to go to!
 [Photo credit: Patrick Harbron]

what's for dinner, zora o'neill?

Dear readers, do you know about the book Forking Fantastic: Put the Party Back in Dinner Parties? It's pretty, well, fantastic. Whether you host dinner parties on the regular, or want to try your hand at  your very first one, this book is a smart, fun, and enthusiastic guide. It is nothing like the majority of entertaining books out there, with their fussy rules and tablescapes. The authors, Zora O'Neill and Tamara Reynolds mastered the art of laid-back entertaining through their weekly Sunday Night Dinner supper club, and this book contains plenty of their recipes, game plans, and tips as well as lots of and funny anecdotes. I am very excited to bring you a two-part Q&A with the book's authors. First up: Zora.

1. Name, occupation, and city
Zora O'Neill, freelance food and travel writer, coauthor of Forking Fantastic! Put the Party back in Dinner Party, New York, NY, in the glorious borough of Queens

2. When was the last time you threw a dinner party, and who was invited?
In February, right after we got back from a recent trip to Thailand, we invited some people over for dinner so we could cook some spicy noodles and otherwise cheer ourselves up for no longer being in that land of bountiful and delicious food. We were eleven people--friends and neighbors, with one relatively new-to-the-group person. It wasn't too calculated--but I do like to keep it under a dozen people, or else it gets too loud and you get split between too many conversations. (I really like a group of six or eight, but we never manage to keep it that small.)

For this dinner my husband, Peter, had gone a little crazy shopping at the Thai grocery, and even bought some giant frozen crickets. He fried them up, but said, "I don't think I can eat these!" Our friend Katie, though, didn't even hesitate, and crunched right into one--which made the rest of us a little embarrassed, so we all had to jump in too. Katie is an excellent guest, and not just because she'll eat fried crickets!

3. What is the best menu you've ever made for company?
I still think back fondly to an Ethiopian dinner I made while living in Cairo, back in 1998. I'd never cooked Ethiopian food before, but I loved the stuff, and I had a bunch of recipes from the Frugal Gourmet, of all people, which seemed pretty credible. Getting the ingredients wasn't difficult, but we didn't have big platters to serve the food on, like they do in Ethiopian restaurants. So we just covered the table entirely in aluminum foil, and then laid the injera (the stretchy flatbread) and everything out on that. I still remember the sound of long sheets of foil being pulled out of a box--somehow loads of foil always says 'party' to me, whether it's for a table cover or a costume or some other random decorative thing.

I also remember having a minor tantrum in the kitchen at the last minute, when the injera wasn't working out--that was the one recipe where the Frug did not come through. My friend Peter--who just happened to be visiting, and didn't know what he was getting into--kept his cool, though, and we somehow fixed it and carried on. This is probably one of the reasons he much, much later became my husband.

The guests were a lot of my friends in the Arabic program I was in that year--many of whom I'm still close with today. The Ethiopian dinner was just one of many mad projects we took on to distract ourselves from too much homework and other tedious expat problems--and all that definitely brought us closer.

Oh, and I remember sneaking off in the middle of the party and taking a half-hour nap in my bedroom. I'd been cooking all day and was completely wiped. I still do that occasionally. That's how you know you're eating with real friends--they don't mind if you fall asleep!

4. What's your preference: wine, beer, cocktails?
Wine, usually, because beer makes me very sleepy, and I can't drink much without feeling too full to eat. But with spicy food, beer still kicks the ass of any riesling or whatever wine people claim is supposed to be good with chili. I especially love a good chelada--the Mexican treatment of beer on ice with lime juice, and salt around the rim of the glass.

A good cocktail at the start of the evening is a delectable thing, though, and can be great for stimulating the appetite. I just wish I had the foresight and calm to make one for people when they arrive...and then also was able to deliver dinner on time, before they have a chance to get too wasted on the hard stuff. Because I can't do this, cocktails are rarely served at my house, unfortunately.

5. What's your favorite dinner party soundtrack?
I'm rarely organized enough to pick out music beforehand, and the early part of guests arriving is usually just the same stuff I was playing while cooking. I delegate that job to a guest. I've had people sit and compose iTunes playlists for an hour, instead of talking to people, but I think that's great! We also have a record player, so it's fun for other people to flip through the stacks and play DJ.

Tamara and Karl (her husband) and I made playlists for various dinner situations and put them up on our book website. Karl's "Summer Fried Chicken" mix is an especially great combo of outdoor party music.

6. Some friends are coming over for a last-minute dinner. What do you make?
My default thing is something pasta-y, as it's just a good blank slate for a random assortment of things from the fridge and pantry--pull it all together, and you can wind up with a substantial meal. In the summer, there's this great lemon-basil pasta recipe I have; in the winter, it might be something more like a lamb ragu.

If it's truly last-minute, like the day before or the same day, I really just pull out whatever I've got, and try to keep extra shopping to a minimum--I figure the important thing is the people, and as long as we don't go hungry, we'll be fine. I really like the creative challenge of making something out of apparently nothing.

But if I'm planning ahead a little bit, like more than a few days, then I also really enjoy the process of sitting down with the cookbooks and figuring out a full menu where all the flavors and textures go together. Then making lists, and all that. For me, the organizing part can be just as satisfying as the cooking.

7. Do you usually cook everything yourself, or do you have help?
My husband is a good cook himself, so he usually does one or two things at least to help out. And sometimes he takes over almost entirely if the menu is more his forte--he's more confident with a wok, for instance. I occasionally set aside tasks like picking herbs from stems or grating cheese, and leave that for the first couple of people who show up and say, "What can I do? Put me to work!" But just as often, it makes me feel a little more organized just to do that stuff myself and know it's done.

8. Do you ever buy store-bought food, or is everything on your table made from scratch?
Just about everything is made from scratch--I like the challenge. I think the only product I buy is Sabra hummus, and I'll occasionally buy other mezze, such as taramosalata and stuffed grape leaves, from our neighborhood Greek grocer because we happen to have such a good one. And we have good Middle Eastern and Indian flatbreads in our neighborhood too, so I'll buy those.

9. What do you like to serve for dessert?
Something fruity, if possible--it just seems better for the digestion. Honestly, dessert is often a bit of an afterthought. After Tamara and I finished the cookbook, I realized we didn't have a single chocolate dessert--and I doubt we've ever made one together. I certainly love chocolate, but it is often just too deadly after a big meal. I don't want people to hurt themselves! I'd rather serve people yogurt with honey and a little fruit, and be done with it, than trot out some ridiculously rich confection that makes people groan with delight...and then hate themselves later.

10. If you could invite anyone over for dinner (living or dead), who would it be?
Robert Farrar Capon, who wrote The Supper of the Lamb, a beautiful and witty book about food that I often reread for inspiration. Then again, I might be a little tongue-tied if I met him in person--but to judge by his writing, he seems like he would be a thoroughly charming guest.
[Photo: Peter Moskos]

the ginjito

It's almost criminal to eat Cuban food without Mojitos. But as I reached for the rum, mint, and limes, it felt a little predictable. While you can't really improve upon a drink as perfect as the Mojito, I wanted to tweak it slightly, just for fun.

I thought about adding lemons, or replacing the rum with gin, my favorite spirit, but then I spied some knobs of ginger hanging out in the refrigerator. Ginger would play well with the lime juice and add a nice, spicy contrast to the mint. And the Ginjito was born.

 Ginjito
(makes 1 drink)
1 lime, cut into eighths
3 sprigs of mint

1 generous shot of light rum

2 Tbsp. ginger syrup*

Cold soda water

In a cocktail shaker, combine the limes, mint, and rum. Use a muddler to crush the mint and limes and infuse the rum. Continue mashing until the limes are thoroughly drained of juice. Place the top on your shaker and give it a few good shakes. Strain the lime and mint-infused rum into a glass. Add the ginger syrup and top off with soda water. Stir and taste. Garnish with a lime or spring of mint, if you desire.

*To make ginger simple syrup, place a cup of peeled chunks of fresh ginger root in a small saucepan containing 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Just before it comes to a bowl, remove the pan from the heat and let it cool for at least 20 minutes, or overnight in the fridge. Remove the ginger before using. The syrup can be stored in a jar with a lid for up to a week.

It also makes a fantastic soda. Just add a few tablespoons to a glass of cold soda water, along with the juice of one lemon or lime.

taste memories

Last weekend's dinner menu sprang from homesickness (and, really, sick-of-work-ness). I have been missing South Florida lately. A trip home isn't in the cards for many more months, so the next best thing is to cook it out of my system. Luckily some friends came over last weekend to help with the eating.

I'm not Cuban, but that's what home tastes like for me. Mojitos, plantain chips with mariquitas, arroz con pollo, boiled yuca in garlic sauce. In high school, my friends and I would pile into the orange vinyl booths at Havana and gorge on black beans and rice and sweet plantains. Many years later, I walked into that same restaurant and recognized Dan, a high school acquaintance who later became my husband. Naturally, we served Cuban food at our wedding. 

Other Florida favorites made their way onto my dinner menu as well: Key lime pie and avocado salad with raw corn and cherry tomatoes. Iced sweet tea, which makes me think of my mom and Nanny, who always have a pitcher of it in their refrigerators.

It's hard to capture a place in a single plate. For me, home is also chilled shrimp and guacamole. It is Publix potato salad, iced cappuccinos and Cuban sandwiches from Tulipan Bakery. It is fried fish sandwiches on soft, starchy buns eaten with a view of the flat, shimmering ocean. Coconut ice cream. Honeybell oranges picked off the tree.

I want to taste all of these things in one big bite. Look down on the tiny turquoise swimming pools and vast parking lots from the window of an airplane. Sit in the hot sun with a glass of something perspiring in my hand.

But I am here and not there. For now there are tender shreds of beef over rice, sweet plantains, and minty rum drinks. And I can dream.

Cuban for five
Ginger Mojitos
Plantain chips and mariquitas salsa
Avocado, corn, and tomato salad
Ropa vieja and white rice
Sweet plantains
Key lime pie

Ropa vieja
Adapted slightly from Gourmet. This was my first time making ropa vieja, and while it was time-consuming, it wasn't all that hard. Someone said, "This is the best thing you've ever made," which made all of the simmering, and chopping, and straining worthwhile.  My advice: give yourself lots of time, more time than you think. I started cooking at 5 p.m. and we ate by 9 p.m. You might even want to make the dish the day before you serve it, then reheat it on low when guests arrive. Or if you have a crockpot, this is a perfect reason to dust it off.
(Serves 8 to 10 people)

For braising beef:
3 lbs. skirt or flank steak, trimmed
2 quarts water
2 carrots, chopped coarse
1 large onion, chopped coarse
2 celery ribs, chopped coarse
1 bay leaf
3 garlic cloves, crushed lightly
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. whole black peppercorns

2 green bell peppers, cut into 1/4-inch strips
1 red onion, cut into 1/4-inch strips
4 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cups braising liquid plus additional if desired
a 14- to 16-oz. can whole tomatoes with juice, chopped
3 Tbsp. tomato paste
3 garlic cloves, minced (I recommend 5 cloves)
1 tsp. ground cumin (I recommend 2 tsp.)
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano (I recommend 1 tsp.)
2 red bell peppers, cut into 1/4 inch strips
2 yellow bell peppers, cut into 1/4 inch strips
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/2 cup pimiento-stuffed Spanish olive, drained and halved, optional
Steamed rice, about 1 cup per person

To braise beef:
In a 5-quart stockpot combine all braising ingredients and simmer, uncovered, 1 1/2 hours, or until beef is tender. Remove pot from heat and cool meat in liquid 30 minutes. Transfer meat to a platter and cover. Strain braising liquid through a colander, pressing on solids, into a bowl. Throw away the vegetables. Return braising liquid to pot and boil until reduced to 3 cups, about 30 minutes. (Stew may be made up to this point 1 day ahead. Cool braising liquid completely and chill it and the beef separately, covered.)

In another large stockpot, cook green bell peppers and onion in 2 Tbsp. oil over moderate heat, stirring, until softened. While vegetables are cooking, pull meat into shreds about 3 by 1/2 inches. To onion mixture add shredded meat, 2 cups braising liquid, tomatoes with juice, tomato paste, garlic, cumin, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes.

While stew is simmering, in a large skillet cook red and yellow bell peppers in remaining 2 tablespoons oil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened. Stir peppers into stew with enough additional braising liquid to thin to desired consistency and simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes. Stir in peas and olives, if using, and simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes. Serve over rice.

Avocado, tomato, and corn salad 
This is almost like guacamole in salad form. Feel free to play with the ingredients.
(Serves 5 people)

2 ripe avocados, cut into small chunks
1 large handful cherry tomatoes, cut in half
3 ears sweet corn kernels, removed from the cob
1/4 cup cilantro, minced (or basil)
1 jalapeno, minced
2 green onions, minced
Olive oil
Red or white wine vinegar
salt and pepper

Combine all of the vegetables in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and a generous splash of vinegar. Carefully toss the ingredients, being careful not to mash the avocado. Salt and pepper to taste. 

crazy-good chocolate peanut butter squares

Last week was my friend Colin's birthday. His fiancé specified "no gifts" at his celebratory dinner, but I couldn't resist. Colin is one of my favorite people. Always quick with a kind word, he has the ability to hone in on the one person who doesn't know anyone at a party and ask them lots of polite, interested questions until they feel at home. Or slowly back away. He will help you move. He will come to your poetry reading/interpretive dance performance/bake sale. He is also very fun to drink with. (Unless he drinks too much, and in that case, he is fun to laugh at.) At the very least, the guy deserves some cookies.

I emailed his fiancé and asked about his dessert preferences and she quickly wrote back "anything in the chocolate family." For a second, I wondered if that was actually her dessert preference (kidding, Anne!), then I got started thinking about chocolate cookies. 

Which seemed kind of boring. As did brownies. But I needed something transportable that could be brought to dinner and consumed much later in the evening. So I grabbed my trusty dessert bible: How to be a Domestic Goddess and remembered a fool-proof recipe for chocolate peanut butter squares that I made for a party a very long time ago. It blew my mind that I hadn't made the squares a second time. They are nothing fancy, just a thick layer of chocolate atop a thick layer of soft peanut buttery crust. But they are mind-numbingly good. Like Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, but in bar cookie form. And without the chemicals.

And the kicker: you don't have to bake them. Seriously.

My only regret is that I didn't bring more to Colin's party. The Tupperware I used was not that big, so I only managed to squeeze about a dozen squares. After the ice cream cake was served, I put the container out on the table and they got gobbled up immediately. Colin, did you even get one? 

Meanwhile, Dan and I still had half a pan left at home. We are trying to not be greedy and gross and are limiting ourselves to one square (okay, two) a day, but that is something akin to torture.

Chocolate peanut butter squares
From Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess. Cut these very small when serving. Trust me.
(Makes about 48 very small squares)

For the peanut butter layer:
9-inch square pan, greased
1/4 cup dark brown sugar, scant
1 1/3 cups confectioners' sugar, scant
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter (leave it out of the fridge for a bit so it's not rock hard)

For the chocolate layer:
7 oz. milk chocolate
4 oz. dark or bittersweet chocolate
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter

In a large bowl, stir all the ingredients for the peanut butter layer together until smooth, with a mixer or with a spoon. Nigella says, "You will find, either way, that some of the dark brown sugar stays in nubbly but very small, lumps, but don't worry about that." Press the sandy mixture into the brownie pan and make the surface as even as possible.

To make the chocolate topping, melt the chocolates and butter together in a microwave (for a minute or two on medium) or over a double boiler over low heat. Spread the chocolate over the peanut butter layer. Put the pan in the refrigerator to set for an hour. When the chocolate has hardened, cut into small squares.