A Moroccan New Year's Eve

After a few months of many things pointing towards Morocco- posts from Big Girls Small Kitchen, re-watching that favorite scene from Sabrina when Julia Ormond and Harrison Ford go out for Moroccan and eat with their hands, and yes the Real Housewives of New York "Ya habibi" filled getaway-- I decided the best way to spend New Years Eve-into-my birthday would be with a Moroccan inspired celebration. With all the buzz around Paula Wolfert's The Food of Morocco I knew just where to look for menu planning inspiration and fool-proof recipes. 

For the party I wanted my guests to feel transported to a lush Moroccan getaway- walls draped with fabric, colorful pillows and mood lighting. With a limited budget I went with some small, multi-colored fabrics hung in one corner of my petit apartment and saved on pillows by sewing covers for my throw pillows from scrap fabric in great prints I found at Jo-ann's. I ordered Wolfert's book in November and immediately started figuring out my menu. There would be at least 8 guests and as I figured correctly, probably more once the day neared. The feast I came up with perfectly fed all 15 people who showed up with hardly any leftovers. Everything I made, following Paula's recipes, came out just right and with complete ease. I did very little prep during the week and had a day of cooking on the day of the party with very limited stress. 

The Menu

Rather than start with non-Moroccan appetizers, I selected recipes from The Food of Morocco that would be easy to eat without fork and knife, but tasty bites to get my guests warmed up for the main dishes. We were having a truly wonderful evening the whole night through, so there are unfortunately not photos for each dish. Feel free to use your  culinary imagination.

Kefta Meatballs

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From the kefta brochette recipe I made lamb meatballs. Instead of skewering and grilling the meat I made them appetizer friendly by rolling the meat mixture into average sized meatballs that I popped in the oven to cook as guests started to arrive. The recipe involves simply processing the ingredients together in a food processor then preparing them for the grill. I will definitely use this recipe again for parties-- but I will be sure to multiply it to allow 3-4 per guest- the ones I made vanished in a matter of moments! 

Photo courtesy of Khalilah Ramdene 

$5 Challenge and Melissa Clark's Genius Ratatouille

When I heard about the Slow Food USA $5 Challenge I immediately started thinking of what I might be able to make and what I could easily share with friends on September 17th. I knew whatever I made would be primarily vegetable based and that meat would probably not be included. Soups, salads, pastas and sandwiches all came to mind and then passed. When the October issue of Food & Wine arrived in my mailbox I flipped through it like I always do but was stopped short on Melissa Clark's "Speedy Ratatouille with Goat Cheese" because it looked so enticing I wanted to eat it off the page. At this point, it was less than a week away from the 17th and I realized how perfect ratatouille would be to for the $5 meal; all the vegetables it uses would be in season and at the market, I knew just who to buy goat cheese from at Union Square and a lovely locally made baguette would go great with the stew.   Also, since I wanted to picnic in the park, for serving, ratatouille would travel well and be easy to serve alfresco. I had found a winner! 

Saturday morning I headed to the Union Square Greenmarket in the crisp pre-autumn air to find all the ingredients I needed for the ratatouille. After dropping off my compost I tend to start out on the Saturday market by heading directly to Migliorelli for some zucchini, maybe some radishes or greens and then carry on. From Migliorelli I bought the eggplant, zucchini, summer squash, plum tomatoes, and basil. 

Next I made my way through the crowded market in search of those elusive red bell peppers. I found a good one at S&SO Produce Farms and the onions I needed, too. (And filled with the excitement of fall's onset I picked up a small acorn squash which got curried for dinner this week.) Next I needed some goat cheese so I headed straight for Patches of Star Dairy and picked up 4 oz. of lightly salted chèvre (which FYI is seriously amazing). At home I already had garlic that I probably bought from Paffenroth at Union Square and the only two non-local (but still pretty "slow") ingredients I used were olive oil I'd bought at Stew Leonard's and a lemon from Fairway Market. On my way home I picked up a baguette from Bread Alone at the East 82nd street greenmarket (they are at Union Square on Fridays). 

When it was time to start cooking I took everything out of the fridge and set out to do a complete mise-en-place. Melissa Clark's recipe is so wonderful because she cooks all the vegetables in shifts to keep them bright and fresh tasting and only at the end does everything stew together for about 15 minutes. So it was very important that I had everything set-up to go into the pot one at a time.