The Cookie of the Month Club: A Gift for my Father

My father is a man of simple pleasures. He loves watching the Yankees win, pouts when the Giants lose, and aims to always beat his lowest score on Sundays at the golf course. When it comes to food he enjoys unassuming tastes; hot dogs and hamburgers, a good steak, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The one food I could call him a connoisseur of is the cookie. He loves cookies. He even has a nightly ritual of eating one or two with a small Tupperware cup of milk either hanging around the kitchen or watching the end of “the game” on the couch.

This past Christmas I wanted to come up with a creative gift for him. It always feels like I’m giving him a Yankees t-shirt or a new box of golf balls (which are surprisingly expensive, by the way!). I searched. I thought. Finally, an idea dawned on me: The Cookie of the Month Club. A homemade batch of cookies delivered directly to my parent’s doorstep with a new flavor every month. An idea that would support his love of cookies and my love of the post office and baking!

Throughout middle and high school I did a lot of baking, almost always with a set purpose: a youth ministry picnic, Key Club bake sale or to be sneaked into a crush’s locker for Valentine’s Day. Eventually I started getting complaints from my dad and my brother that there were never any cookies left for them. Now with me in living in Manhattan, baking more than ever, and my parents a few hours north of the city the situation hasn’t changed much. There’s plenty being made, and little getting to my dad. The Cookie of the Month Club allows me to share what I bake with my dad all year long. I love the excited text message or phone call that comes once my dad receives the monthly shipment and the feedback he gives on flavor and texture.

New Year's Eve 2012: Jazz, Drinks, and Hors D'Oeuvres

New Year's Eve 2011 was a night longed to recapture throughout the entire year following it; the first party I threw on my own. So as New Year's Eve 2012 (and my birthday) rolled around again I was excited to celebrate in style and aimed to match or top last year's Moroccan fête. The Moroccan bug had bitten me hard last year. There was no turning back once I'd set the menu - full of tagines and salads. I waffled a lot over this year’s theme but finally decided on “Jazz” and opted to serve only appetizers. The idea carried through tremendously well.

This year's party was in my new apartment, which is luckily a lot bigger than my old place . Throughout the course of the night almost everyone that had been invited, plus guests of theirs showed up! My home felt full and joyous, never crowded and stuffy. Everyone brought sparkling wines, and their own beverages of choice. A few of my friends even brought a signature cocktail - the Wild Hibiscus Royale made with whole hibiscus flowers in syrup, rose water, mint and topped with sparkling wine. Floral and bubbly - just my style! As the jazz music improvised and played on a full and vibrant menu was served.... 

To start, I decided I had to have a homemade vegetable platter – done in my style. The ladies of my family always make their own vegetable platters for parties; why pay someone to breakdown and arrange raw produce? My way includes: celery and carrots (never baby carrots), red pepper (no need for gassy green or other colors), cucumber spears (better than crinkle cut rounds), green beans (a favorite of my Aunt Maureen’s vegetable tray), and finally cauliflower (a different splash of color than broccoli and one of my favorite things to eat everyday). The arrangement was done by alternating the green selections amid the rainbow of colors around a dish of homemade (but admittedly rather flavorless) yogurt and herb dip:

Next was creating a fruit platter I’d want to see served at a party. In general I avoid fruit salads when I’m out and about in the world. So much melon! Damn filler fruit! My guests deserved a mix of luscious fresh and dried (it is winter, after all) fruits. Blood oranges made an appearance last year in the romaine and orange flower water salad so they were in, along with navel oranges. Grapes, watermelon, blueberries and strawberries are always party pleasers so they joined, too. Then I happily found cherries at Fairway so they made the cut and for dried fruit I chose apricots and cranberries. In all, it was the most colorful platter on the table:

For the main appetizers I went with a mix of hot and room temperature choices to make for easy timing throughout the evening. Last year’s planning happened quickly and organically way ahead of December 31st thanks to Paula Wolfert’s wonderful tome on Moroccan cuisine. Literally a few days before this year’s party I found myself scrambling for hors d’oeuvre ideas I could easily make without too much preparation. I hit the cookbooks hard and came out with a stellar mix of recipes from some of my go-to cookbook authors and a few creations of my own.

Cheryl Sternman Rule’s Ripe became one of my favorite cookbooks in the time it took me to get home on the 6 train from the IACP Book and Blog Festival this past April. I’d made her Watercress Butter over the summer and saw it spread on water crackers and being gobbled down by my guests. My predictions were spot on and full mouths questioned “mmm, what is this!?” The garlic and lemon laden appetizer was a total pleaser.

Holiday Shopping in NYC: Ingredients

From Halloween through the New Year there are tons of recipes floating around for ways to get cooking in this cozy holiday season. All the November and December issues of our favorite food magazines beg you to cook the perfect bird, amazing sides, stunning desserts and decorative cookies and treats to gift. But sometimes it can be difficult to find what you need when making a recipe for the first time, especially when its for seasonal items. The cold weather lately had me in a restocking mode – with a full kitchen I can avoid being out in the cold after work shopping. I have a short list of places to shop in my left hand column (over there <) but I thought this would be a good time to tell you about some of my favorite places to find special ingredients in the city and most often at good prices, too.

International Grocery

Boy do I love this place! I just stopped in yesterday to refresh my grain supplies and a few spices, too. This is a little specialty food store with huge bags and full bins of grains, spices, beans, flours, nuts and more to purchase in bulk. Buying in bulk is my favorite way to stock things like arborio rice (for risottos), cornmeal (for endless dishes of polenta), dried black beans, unique flours, and nuts. Since I’m usually cooking only for myself I don’t like to buy huge supplies of things and I try to avoid packaging whenever possible. At International Grocery you’ll find things like high-gluten flour and 6 different kinds of couscous with the option to get only as much as your recipe requires. Go with a list, go with cash ($10 credit card minimum), and don’t be shy in loading up on supplies and taking notes for the future. The gentlemen working at the store will assist you in scooping and weighing everything, so a list helps expedite your visit. Also, since the shop is not too large, ask if you don’t see something you think they would have – they probably do but it might not be obvious (like octopus or yogurt stored in the cooler).

543 Ninth Ave 10018 | 212-279-1000

Kalustyan’s

International Grocery has a number of options for bulk spices, but at Kalustyan’s you’ll find a seemingly endless supply of ground, whole, mixed and unexpected spices, herbs and seasonings. The prices are excellent on most things – you can buy 3oz. packets of tons of spices at a price that is still less than buying them in a jar at the grocery store (most spice jars hold 2oz. give or take, $3-5 depending on the spice [in Manhattan at least!]). If you like to use your own spice jars or tins this is a great place for you, too, since the spices come in little plastic bags. They also have a TON of other specialty items. Come here first with your list, go to International Grocery to fill in the gaps. Also, for my Moroccan/New Years/Birthday party last year I bought nearly all of my supplies from Kalustyan's and International Grocery.

123 Lexington Ave 10016 | 212-685-3451

Happy Bastille Day!

We celebrated last year's 14 Juillet with my favorite French cookbooks, but this year I'm giving you some photo's from FIAF's Bastille Day celebration on Sunday! I had a great time eating crepes, macarons, drinking lots of wine, speaking my rusty French and watching the performers. One of my favorite day's of the year!

Here's a taste but see the whole album on Facebook: Bastille Day 2011!

Mother's Day 2011: Kathleen's Roast Beef

Last year I discussed Mother's Day's role as a food holiday and told you a little bit about my own mother. This year I'd like to shine a bigger spot light on my Mommy (yes I still call her mommy a lot) and share one of her tastiest recipes. As you may remember from my first Mother's Day post, my mom has been the most influential person in making me the culinary enthusiast I am today. In October she accompanied me to the New York City Wine & Food Festival-- where we had an unforgettable time! She has been my biggest fan in terms of the blog and even had a special talk with Santa to get me a Cuisinart food processor for Christmas! 

In all, my mother is an indispensable part of my life. As such, I wanted to share one of my favorite things she makes with you all. Since I was little one of my top 10 meals has always been my mom’s roast beef with brown gravy, french-cut green beans, mashed potatoes and rolls (yes, exactly that way). My mom does an exceptional job cooking her roast beef to just above rare doneness and it is so, so good. I asked her for the recipe, telling her it was so I can make my own roast for sandwich meat (not untrue, but not my main purpose), so I could post it here to celebrate what a wonderful cook she is! A lot of the preparation is in the way she seasons the meat and then cooking it for just enough time and letting it fully rest. 

So here is the recipe for roast beef. You can serve it hot or make it for cold sandwiches. If enjoying it hot I’d be sure to whip up some brown gravy and your favorite side dishes—don’t forget the veggies! I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. 

[FYI, this is straight from the horse’s mouth, she doesn’t write things down and this hasn’t been tested, so like I will always tell you trust your instincts!]

My mom in Little Italy in December 2010

Happy New Year! Let's make 2011 even more delicious than 2010!

I hope you are all resting up and recovering from the past month and week of Holiday celebrations! If you are like me you may be looking forward to 2011 with a list full of resolutions for yourself and a heart full of promise in the newness of a fresh year and a start full of potential!   2011 can be the best year yet should we choose to live with vigor everyday. Let's make another memorable year, a great start to a new decade and an even more delicious 365 days together. 

New Year's always holds an extra layer of promise for me because it is not only a new calendar year for me every January 1st but also a new year in my life as my birthday is also the first of the year. This year I rang in a new beginning with friends at a pre-party at my house then off to a rockin' Black 47 concert just a block away from the hub-bub of Times Square. 

I served some delicious prepared appetizers from Whole Foods but also made mini beef wellington appetizers to add that special taste to the evening. I call these "Poor Girl" beef wellington because I used eye of the round steaks, which is a much much less expensive cut of meat than the traditional filet mignon but has the same shape and limited marbling. Also, phyllo dough is usually less expensive to get than puff pastry. Maybe you will make these for your next special occasion or birthday! Enjoy!

Poor Girl's Mini Beef Wellington Appetizers

JOYEUX QUATORZE JUILLET!!! French Cookbooks.

Happy Bastille Day!!!

As most of you know francophilia runs deep in my blood. My love of the French, their language, and their culture-- food included! goes back probably to when my brother was in elementary school taking French and I thought it was super-cool and wanted to learn it for myself some day! Voila! Je parle le francais (avec le plus mauvaise grammaire de tout!).

In honor of Bastille Day I compiled a list of my favorite French cookbooks and some recipe highlights. I hope you are celebrating the day of French independence (from their corrupt monarchy, bien sur!) in a special way. VIVE LA FRANCE!!! VIVE LES MACARONS!!

La Grande Dame de la Cuisine Francaise

Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volumes 1 and 2

Julia Child

I have yet to cook a full recipe from these legendary volumes, but I use them as my go-to books for any questions when it comes to execution of any French recipe or how to cook certain French ingredients (did someone say magrets de canard? you know how I feel about duck...). Must-haves for any chef and any francophile, cook or not!

Mother's Day

Back in November I realized how little I had seen Thanksgiving as a major 'foodie' holiday even though the main thing about the holiday is a whole sharing a similarly huge meal, this to is true for Mother's Day. 

There is always the idea of breakfast in bed for Mom and a big brunch. The deeper fact of the matter is that the role of cook has historically been assigned to Mom. We expect to receive the best advice on how to live well from our mothers and our grandmothers and a lot of that advice is related to how we eat. We develop our habits in our upbringing and how we eat is nigh solely influenced by how we are fed as children. Mother's Day is for celebrating, honoring, and ensuring Mom knows how special she is-- which can best be shown by giving her a day off from the kitchen and pampering her for all the hard work she does throughout the year. 

For me, my Mom has been one of my greatest culinary influences. She is the one who first taught me the science of baking, the joys of trying different flavors, the techniques of food preparation and little tips and words of wisdom not easily found compiled in any one book. My family has been truly blessed to have a very talented mother in the kitchen. Dinner was always something different, always delicious, and usually somewhat extravagant on an every day basis. There was no reason for us not to have lobster or filet mignon -- or both together-- once in a while, especially when they were on sale. She also mastered more than the daily dinner routine in the baking department; just imagine the most beautiful and delicious birthday cake you have ever had for your special day-- then imagine getting it, whatever flavor you want (even just a super fancy cheesecake with writing baked into the top!) for each birthday of your childhood AND made by your own mother! How special! We always make a lot of Christmas cookies while singing all our favorite Christmas songs. 

My mom is really the person who established my relationship to food. There is always so much to learn and always so much I can learn from cooking with her or watching her cook. She usually never uses a recipe unless its something brand new she wants to try or she needs to know a ratio to get something to come out right. She truly cooks from her heart with an innate feeling for the kitchen. She is always willing hear about a new recipe I've tried or want to try; since fleeing the nest she is ALWAYS the person I call for quick answers to how-to questions (and even before I left! I remember making souffles for the first time and having no idea how to separate egg yolks from egg whites and I called her while she was out and she knew just what to do!). I couldn't imagine I would be quite the foodie I am today without my mother's influence! 

Here she is in our kitchen on Thanksgiving with me and maybe little chef Milana (my niece) to be!

So on this Mother's day I just wanted to share a little bit about my own Mommy who is a my very own culinary master. I hope you all honored your mother in a special & delicious way today and keep in mind what sort of person you might have become without her in your life! 

I love you, Mom! Thank you for everything you do for me always and all that you have taught me these past 23 years! Keep up the good work!