Menu 30 – Apres Ski!

This menu is actually good après most cold weather activities…skiing, skating, shoveling. It’s make ahead, humble and filling. We’ve even got a nod to Quebec in here this week with a very rich, very simple dessert. Forget après…how about “anytime” is more like it.

When everyone is back and throwing their wet snow pants around, get the hot toddies going. We drink these all year round and definitely when we feel like we’re getting a cold. Best elixir ever. You can make the pot pie filling in advance and cut out your dough. If you get lazy (I might), substitute puff pastry which you can easily buy in the freezer section. Puff pastry makes everything better and always looks pretty. Beets. You know, I keep trying to like them. My family razzes me about this (“how can you not like beets!”) but these have a shot. Horseradish cream got me going. This dessert can be made in ramekins or in one larger pan. I would definitely opt to serve with cold heavy cream poured over. If that’s not your thing we can’t be friends.

Tips and Notes

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/apple-brandy-hot-toddies

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2012/10/pancetta-white-bean-and-swiss-chard-pot-pies/

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/roasted-beets-with-horseradish-cream

http://food52.com/recipes/416-pudding-chomeur

Menu 27 – Ladies’ Night!

It takes forever to find a date. Babysitting/husband/partner/work/travel schedules have to align. But when that night arrives, you cherish it. You know what I mean, that evening when it’s just you and your girlfriends. The talk swings from houses to hair to new business ventures to books to how to form an LLC to the best kids’ apps to wine to how to tell your assistant her skirt is too short and on and on. Make it happen. And make it happen over dinner, at someone’s house. Restaurants are great but at someone’s house you can sit on the floor with friends and laugh and get to the table and grab a bowl of soup and then head back to the floor for dessert.

But we all know that everyone doesn’t eat everything. Now things get hard. What to cook?

The answer is soup – THREE soups to be exact…one meat, one seafood, one veg. Offer a Boeuf Bourguignon Soup (made in advance) and a side of noodles; Ina’s Seafood Chowder (made day of); and last, make Potato Leek soup (in advance) for a vegetarian option. Voilà! Problem solved.

That should cover just about anything people throw your way in terms of restrictions. Also, people always ask what to bring. Get someone to bring a salad – a great winter salad of under-appreciated collard greens and life changing crispy shallots. Ask another to bring dessert (which MUST MUST MUST be these amazing lemon bars!). Stocking up on wine goes without saying. Now go send an email to those friends and pick a date. You won’t regret it.

Tips and Notes

The Salad: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/collard-green-and-radish-slaw-with-crispy-shallots

The Soups:

http://www.marthastewart.com/296351/a-perfect-pot-of-boeuf-bourguignon-soup

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/seafood-chowder-recipe.html

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/potato_leek_soup/

The Lemon Bars! (I cut the sugar in these down to 3/4 of what it says)

http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-heavenly-lemon-bars-with-almond-shortbread-crust-recipes-from-the-kitchn-191597

Menu 25 – Almost A Week of Homemade Dinners!

The elusive homemade weeknight dinner.

We can do this.

You can do it almost ALL week. Don’t fret. Just a LITTLE prep time this Sunday and you too can exit the land of plastic container pre-made mystery food. Enlist your kids to chop. They’ll love it and feel important.

Seriously, give this a try. Below is four days’ worth of easy meals that you can have on your table within 25 minutes of taking your coat off. Do this Sunday:

Roast a chicken (on the larger side – 4.5 lbs.). Then cut off the meat and refrigerate. Throw carcass into a slow cooker. Roasting a chicken is easy. Do not be intimidated by a 4 pound dead bird.
Make rice pilaf
Chop an onion, carrots, celery, peppers and broccoli into bite sized pieces. Place them in separate containers and refrigerate them.
Steam your broccoli.
Make overnight chicken stock in a slow cooker

I can hear you fretting. I promise none of this takes long. A chicken roasts basically on its own. Pilaf is slightly fancier rice. Don’t like pilaf? Then just make rice. Pre-chopping is a god-send later in the week. And throw all of the remnants (chicken carcass, carrots, celery, some onion, bay leaf, cover with water) into the slow cooker and let it go all night. ALL RECIPE SUGGESTIONS BELOW.

Then here is what happens:

MONDAY: roast chicken breasts and rice are reheated. Make a quick salad (greens, maybe some chopped veg if you want, dressing). DINNER.

TUESDAY: grab salmon fillets on your way home. Upon arrival home heat oven to 400 degrees. Salt and pepper the salmon; squeeze of lemon. Into the oven for about ten minutes. While they are cooking, sauté your already steamed broccoli with a little garlic. Serve them together.

WEDNESDAY: Bake some cheesy polenta. Cook your Italian sausages in a little oil. Remove when done. In the same pan, sauté your onion and peppers. Plate – polenta, sausages and peppers. Cheese on top. Easy.

** After the kids go to bed, make this recipe for Chicken-y Noodles. You already have the vegetables cut. You made stock the other day. After it’s made, put it in the fridge.

THURSDAY: heat up your chicken noodles. Add more broth if you want it soupier.

FRIDAY: ok enough already. Order pizza!

None of this is fancy but it’s also pretty doable. And good tasting. See what a little prep can do?

Tips and Notes:

Roast Chicken: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/my-favorite-simple-roast-chicken-231348?. SKIP the trussing! No need. It’s done when internal temp is 165.

Rice Pilaf: you know, a little twist on rice: http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-simple-rice-pilaf-46100. I add mushrooms to mine and cook it using beef consomme.

Baked Salmon: http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-cook-salmon-in-the-oven-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-204559

Baked Polenta http://saramoulton.com/2010/11/creamy-baked-polenta/ (NOTE the heavy oven use this week. Ovens are your friend)

Chicken and Noodles: improvise from this recipe. You’ve already got most of it prepared: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/homemade-chicken-and-noodles/

Slow Cooker Chicken Stock: this is a good one, but don’t feel the need for this level of meticulous chopping: http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2013/11/perfect-uncluttered-chicken-stock/

Menu 24 – Yes, We Can Still Ring in 2016!

I love everything about the holidays – the music, the decorations, the festivities and the ending. I love when they stop. It’s just so much of everything that by the time January rolls around I am thrilled to shut it all down and start fresh. It’s cliché but healthy to lighten up the eating, slow down the drinking, to begin anew. That is what this week is about. At the beginning of the year, we always find a need to clean out closets and drawers (partly driven by my craziness – my husband can see it coming around December 30^th when I start asking how much we really like or need anything in the house that isn’t bolted down). It’s a great time to set the budget for the year (I do a monthly budget – I can’t help it, I am a CFO of a business and my house). We plan vacations for the year which come around so fast. With all of this happening, we still need to eat. So let’s do that with a nod to lucky New Year traditions. Black-eyed peas are a must and this shrimp dish is delicious and so easy. Collards go alongside to represent money. Why not? And eating ring/round shaped cookies is a nod to good fortune (these linzers look delicious!)

It all makes donating that coat you haven’t worn for six years so much easier.

Tips and Notes

Garlicky Shrimp and Black Eyed Peas – Despite what the recipe tells you, this is a one pot wonder. The recipe suggests that you cook the shrimp separately from the other stuff. Here is what I do. I start with the shrimp, garlic and salt and pepper in the pot. I lightly cook them and then remove them to a separate bowl (make sure you get all the garlic out). Then I do the bacon and the veg etc. in that same pot. Why lose that shrimp taste? Seems silly. I add the wine and broth etc. and once that has all cooked, towards the end I add the shrimp back in. It’s just easier that way. This is great with garlic toast too – but I think everything is better with garlic toast.

Collards – try this straight up recipe.

Cookies – I have two discs of sugar cookie dough leftover in my freezer (you don’t?). Punch out traditional lucky New Year ring shapes. Bake. Decorate as you wish, or eat plain – they are delicious. OR if you don’t have extra, make these from the wonderful Lindsey http://hartandgarnet.com/l-is-for-linzer-and-lindsey/ . Who doesn’t love linzer cookies!

Also, take a moment and draw some stick figures. This is surprisingly fun. You can bring so much life into a little man or woman made only with a few marks. Give it a try.

Guest Menu! Michael Granne’s Feast of the Seven Fishes…

We have a number of friends who love to eat, and a handful who love to cook. Of the latter, while they are all great, there are one or two who really stand out. One is our friend Michael Granne. We know Mike through his amazing wife Rebecca and as soon as we met, we all started eating. Mike is a lawyer by day (need a lawyer? click HERE to see Mike’s bio) and a phenomenal cook by night (really, the rest of the time). He is a multi-course, challenge your senses, artful-plating kind of cook. Yes, the chef-y kind. But he does all of this at home. He will tell you that much of his craft he learned from his father (best potato leek soup maker ever) and I will tell you that his artfulness and creativity in cooking also comes from his late mother, Regina Granne. We had the pleasure of meeting Regina on several occasions. Her artwork speaks for itself (I really like the Liberty paintings – please click here and peruse) and lives on in her son’s cooking. Finally, Mike and Rebecca have two boys, twins, who are forces of nature in and of themselves. Zachary happens to also share in his family’s artistic ways and he drew a wonderful picture of his dad’s Christmas Even menu. While this is a traditional feast of the seven fishes, I don’t know why this menu couldn’t also be enjoyed throughout the year. I’ve included a number of pictures (that I stole from Mike’s Facebook page :-)) of the dishes themselves – please enjoy and be as inspired as I am by this wonderful home chef. You can see how artistry, care and craft are passed down from generation to generation.

Menu 23 – Merry Christmas!

The big day is almost here! (still totally behind with the shopping; annual cards haven’t gone out…) but don’t panic – the menu is done!

I have the best memories of my mother’s Christmas dinner. She was a goose lady, and it was delicious, gamey and not tough. She also went whole Anglo and made English Plum Puddings with hard sauce of butter/sugar/brandy…just what a kid needs.

I am doing none of the above. Some things are meant to be memories. This year we are keeping things relatively simple but you know, awesome. We will be enjoying champagne kept cold with frozen cranberry skewers. There will be salmon dip on rye. On Christmas Eve we will prep a pork shoulder with porchetta flavors and roast it Christmas morning (everyone deserves pork fat cracklings on Christmas). The pork requires fennel fronds, so let’s use the rest of the fennel in our potato gratin and bask in potato cream and gruyere glory. Because I live in Brooklyn and fall victim to stereotypes, we are serving a kale salad with crisp lemon dressing – there’s a twist – it has brussel sprout leaves too! And last but not least, chocolate mousse. I’ve recommended this mousse before and just love it. It’s not too heavy but it’s so decadent. And it’s made in advance so there’s no whipping drama.

Merry Christmas to all!

Tips and Notes

Please click SaveGourmet Christmas 2015 Game Plan for my plan – shopping list, recommended timeline, recipes. I also included Chicken Liver Mousse (two mousse Christmas!) because I love it and might be motivated enough to make another app. Any questions, email me at savegourmet@gmail.com 🙂

Menu 20 – Eat WELL

So Thanksgiving happened and you ate ALL the pie. Not a crumb left in sight. There were also midnight drumsticks dipped in gravy and fried stuffing patties topped with cranberry sauce (creative, yes?). You drank nothing that wasn’t caffeinated or alcoholic. Elastic waistbands were required.

Friends, the holidays are long. Let’s maintain a little self-control and not totally crap the Healthy Bed (Crass. Don’t care). I overindulged last year and my memory of that Christmas is more about feeling huge than enjoying myself. You may not need rules. I do. Here are mine.

Alternate all alcoholic beverages with water. Lots of water all day.
Start the day with a protein and vegetable breakfast.
Snack on whatever you want as long as you eat something healthy beforehand. Want a cookie? Great. Have a few slices of raw chopped peppers first.
No food magazines after 9PM. This is a year round rule – late night perusing makes me hungry. Big holiday meals and leftovers don’t need any help from cravings I can avoid by say, reading a book instead of looking at food on Pinterest.
Move around. Keep up your exercise routine.

The theme => No deprivation. All excess in moderation.

Set yourself up right with a meal that isn’t 6,000 calories. A few days of virtue is a healthy way to appreciate the cookies, the butter, the creamed spinach…remember, it’s barely even December and the parties are just starting. Try this delicious and easy fish dish. Over spinach and a little rice, you will be satisfied. There should be dessert. I listed broiled grapefruit (which sounds really fun) but this would also be a great time to have banana ice cream – link below – which is delicious and best eaten the day you make it.

Let’s treat this holiday season like the marathon it should be.

Tips and Links

Thank you, Ellie Krieger: Thai Style Fish in Coconut Curry Broth

Try Broiled Grapefruit OR Banana Ice Cream!

Menu 18 – Dinner for TWO before the holiday craziness begins

Before the family arrives…before the eggnog hangover…before your house is covered in turkey and tinsel, might I suggest reconnecting with your spouse over a nice dinner for two. It’s the only responsible thing to do. You owe it to yourself as a couple. After all, you might be in the same space through the holidays but face it, you’ll hardly talk other than the occasional “Please cut Uncle Joe off and take his keys.”

But the holiday list is long and daunting (and yet “Quiet Dinner for Two” never seems to make the list). So to make this happen, you’ve got to keep it simple. Simple, but delicious. We start with oysters. A pain in the ass for ten (all that shucking); a treat for just two. Then a really tasty cod dish which marries so well with chorizo. It’s hearty over beans, and in advance of 5,000 calorie a day eating, a relatively virtuous treat. To end, let’s head to Italy and enjoy a quick and delicious dessert….espresso over ice cream. It’s so good and so easy, and let’s face it, you need all the caffeine you can get. Pick a night between now and just after Thanksgiving. You and your partner deserve it.

Tips and Notes

Awesome Easy Cod Recipe

Eyeopener Dessert

Menu 17 – Real Weeknight Dinner

Evenings are hectic. We start with the best of intentions, but then the kids are tired, everyone’s starving, the milk spills. It’s a weeknight.

Do not be discouraged. Even with a messy house and tired kids, you are still minutes away from a good tasting, healthy meal on a weeknight. Yes, you are. The answer is not McDonalds. The answer is fish. Don’t assume your kids won’t like it. On this we must remain firm – they won’t like it if it never appears in front of them. We must try. I’ve seen mine eat it and my fully formed opinion is that they want to dislike it more than they actually dislike it. How can I expect them to develop their palates if I cave at their resistance? Besides, I have a secret weapon. Soy sauce. In general, soy sauce conquers all. Tonight, we cook a healthy fish meal that is ready in minutes for tired, hungry, backpack dumping kids (thank you, Melissa Clark).

When we get home the first thing the kids do after dumping their backpacks is open the fridge. I will be ready. Raw vegetables and dip…Asian inspired dip which you (yes) made ahead. This is a tactic I regularly employ – a bowl of cold vegetables for them to pick at while I cook. They are starved and it’s a great time to work the vitamin chain. While they eat that, I will quickly steam mild tasting flounder and greens. I usually have rice cooked ahead and tonight is no exception. If you still think this won’t work, offer dessert (it’s not a bribe…it’s an incentive.). A little green tea mochi (they are cute and fun) keeps the Asian theme going and provides a great bribe incentive for kids to clean plates.

Give this a try Monday or Tuesday.

Tips and Notes

Asian Style Dip (add the liquids less than recommended – if it needs more you can always add more later)

Flounder with Ginger and Garlic Mustard Greens

For the mochi, check your freezer section. A little handheld ice cream fun.

Menu 14 – Apples All The Time!

So you went apple picking…and now you’re feeling overrun. What on earth are you going to do with 85 apples? It seemed so fun at the time. The web is filled with ideas for apple overflow (pies, sauce, butter). But maybe you want to create a meal, or, surprise surprise, a menu out of your apples! There is a restaurant near us called Applewood that hosts theme dinners where an ingredient is highlighted throughout the meal. That is what I am doing here. Bring on the apples!

We start with a cocktail. Forget apple martinis – we are going hard cider here with The Pork Chop from Miami’s Yarbird. Next, a big bowl of a crisp salad from Eye Swoon (click, it’s gorgeous – and do not skip the basil, it makes it). Because you called 10 friends to join you, you need a huge pork shoulder like the one from Pioneer Woman roasted with apples and onions, and smartly paired with wild rice (we need more wild rice in life). To finish, you’re taking everyone to Russia with a simple and gorgeous Apple Sharlotka from The Smitten Kitchen. Happy eating!

Tips and Notes

But first, a hard apple cider cocktail…The Pork Chop

and then, this lovely crisp SALAD…served alongside Pork Shoulder With Apples and Onions and wild rice.

To finish, this gorgeous Apple Sharlotka

Really? You still have apples? Ok. Pickle some (http://food52.com/recipes/16743-quick-pickled-apples) and serve cold the next day with leftover pork. Chop them and mix them with breakfast sausage (more pork!) and freeze. Infuse some vodka and make this cocktail: http://www.whatkatieate.com/recipes/apple-ginger-and-cranberry-vodka-cocktail/. Mix up apple pie filling, freeze it and use in pie, a galette or over pancakes.

Still more? Jeez. Drop them in brown paper bags, create a cute drawing and give them to your dinner party friends as parting gifts (look at you the creative host).

AND then there’s THIS great idea – use the apples for the table! Look at this gorgeous table design from the super talented Little Green Notebook!