Golden Globes Party

I was beside myself to watch the Golden Globes this year; somehow, I've missed it the last couple years thanks to travel and work.  And even better that Mr. and Mrs. Soul Twin were going to be here to watch with us!

The first order of business, of course, was to decide our menu and, since Soul Twin had yet to read through Ina Garten's new one BAREFOOT CONTESSA: HOW EASY IS THAT?, it seemed we chose most of our recipes from there.  Here was the menu:

• Chipotle and Rosemary Nuts
• Baked Fontina 
• Fennel Slaw with Pistachio Pesto
• Sausage-Stuffed Mushrooms
• Celery Salad with Parmesan

We also got the ingredients for Ina's Fresh Salmon Tartare but, unfortunately, in all the hubbub we forget to even make it.  Which worked out fine because BELIEVE ME this was more than enough food.  The photos:

We ate on our new plates that my mom got me for Christmas: faaaabulous NYC dishes with all the important monuments around the rim.  And we poured lots of bubbly:

The awards were a hoot, as usual, and...I have to confess...I adored Ricky Gervais.  I mean, if you can't laugh at yourself, then who can you laugh at?  And I hear that Anne Hathaway and James Franco have been tapped to host the Oscars?  Wha....huh?!  

And the fashion...oh, the fashion!  My initial favorite was this one (all Golden Globe photos from one of my favorite blogs, Go Fug Yourself):

 But then she showed off her shoes and I about died:

Um, anyone agree that they DON'T MATCH?!  Soul Twin and I had a few choice words to say when Olivia Wilde showed these things off.  So then my fave was this:

On a red carpet doused in mourning black, I found Claire Danes to be refreshing, age-appropriate, and well-fitted.  Completely classy.

Eat, drink, and throw themed dinner parties.

Dinner parties

There is a scene I love in the movie Father of the Bride (1991 version) where Steve Martin sees his wife walking down the stairs and he's remembering their wedding day. He says, "I'll probably never remember what Nina wore that day, but I'll always remember the way she looked." I love that and I often remember that line when I see our table post-dinner-party:

Ten, fifteen years from now I'll probably forget what we ate. But I'll always remember the good friends and good conversation. And the Guitar Hero that was played afterward.

Eat, drink, and enjoy the moment.

Note: For the record, here is what we ate -

Appetizer: Salami with Cucumbers

Main dish: Melon and Prosciutto Panini; Mesclun Salad with Fried Shallots and Gorgonzola

Dessert: Kathryn's fantastic Lemon Cake

On the Menu

I just wrote two blog posts and realized I could write 10 more about all the great food I've been cooking and eating lately. Which I can't do, of course, because I need to fix lunch, plus I have a kid here who is dying to play some Clue (which is awesome, except that she always wants to be Miss Scarlet and I'm stuck being Peacock. Boo.). So here is a round-up of the food in my life lately with links to the recipes:

Saumon l'Unilaterale from French Women Don't Get Fat (remember I said recently I was getting back to my French inspiration? This was part of that pleasurable goal.)

Calamari from Giada de Laurentiis' Everyday Italian (pair it with Victory Brewery Company's Golden Monkey)

Warming Winter Pasta with Gorgonzola, Walnuts, Spinach, and Single Malt from thepassionatecook (I used Google for all the measurement conversions)

Bangers and Mash (part of our anti-Valentine's Day celebration. Drank lots of English brown ales with this and watched Monty Python's Flying Circus episodes)

Dumplings from Amateur Gourmet (good but not great. I'm going to try frying them next time and adding some spicy heat to the pork mixture. Additionally, I tried his flour-and-water concoction and it went horribly. Would it kill him to include any sort of measurements?!)Eat, drink, and look forward to each new food experience!

Giada's Melon and Prosciutto Panini

This is one of my favorite springtime meals: Giada De Laurentiis' Melon and Prosciutto Panino. It has the ideal combination of flavors and textures: crunchy bread, smooth melty cheese, sweet melon, salty meat. And the colors: peach, brick red, green, white, brown!




This is the first time this spring that I've made this (I only make it in spring) and, unfortunately, I got a little cocky this time and managed to mess it up. It really is an easy recipe:

1. bread - Giada calls for focaccia, but I usually use whatever rustic bread I have on hand
2. Brie - but any variation on the soft-rind, soft texture cheese will do (I've used the Chimay stuff before to great effect)
3. cantaloupe - one half is enough to feed me, Adam, and the kiddo
4. prosciutto - I've always used prosciutto, but I suppose you could play around with other meats. This is probably blasphemous to say since melon and prosciutto is the traditional preparation... But then, I've always been a blasphemer myself...
5. arugula - you really only need a small amount for this recipe

Seriously, that's it, people. And then you grill it. I use my stovetop cast iron grill and cast iron panini press, but you could use just a regular pan or even the outdoor grill (though I've never tried it this way).

As far as the asparagus is concerned, I used the simplest (and best) preparation: grilled it, drizzled it with rad extra-virgin olive oil (off the grill), salt, pepper, and lemon zest. Shazam! And it was certainly more successful than this attempt...

So how did I manage to fubar this easy recipe? Totally forgot the arugula. Wanna hear something even more assenine? We mmm'ed and hmmm'ed over the meal...and I never noticed anything missing. Until 3 days later when I was rummaging through the fridge and discovered the arugula, thinking, "What the hell is this for? I don't remember..." And then I remembered. I'm such a fool in the kitchen...I suppose it's all the wine I drink while I'm cooking...

Eat, drink, and don't forget the arugula!

Laura: A Week in the Life

So here has been my week:

Monday: Children’s Book Week kick-off breakfast, hosted by the Children’s Book Council. It was held in a bank. Really. Then I ran around NYU, trying to get registered for a Food Studies class in the fall as a non-matriculated student (I failed). In the afternoon, a preview at Little, Brown. That night, my last French class of the semester. Voila! Le fin!

Tuesday: Work. Homework. Dinner. Watch “Dancing with the Stars.”

Wednesday: Work. Homework. Dinner. Bath. Call Mom.

Thursday: Preview at Random House in morning. Back to work by 1:00 for meeting. Leave work at 3:00 to go to Kew Gardens Hills to see program with Kirsten Miller (she’s awesome). Come home. Make dinner. Homework.

Friday: Career Day at the kiddo’s school where I try to make Queens Library sound cooler than Google (Adam is representin’, too – I’m gonna smoke him!). Work. Dinner. Week over.

It’s been one of those weeks. And here was my dinner menu this week:

Monday: Adam flew by the seat of his pants while I was at French class.

Tuesday: Orecchiette with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe (thanks, Giada)

Wednesday: Grilled Shrimp and Spinach Salad with Honey Vinaigrette (courtesy of Cooking Light - some of the best-flavored shrimp I've had to date)

Thursday: Penne with Vodka Sauce (thanks again, Giada…I hadn’t cooked Giada in ages so I thought I’d revisit some of my old faves from when I was just starting to cook)

Friday: Friday is the one night a week we eat in front of the TV, and we uncreatively call it “TV Dinner Night” and it’s sort of become a family ritual. Not to mention that it’s become a fun challenge to design a dinner that can be eaten picnic-style in front of the TV. So this Friday, it’s nachos.

Stick a fork in me. I’m so done with this week.

Eat, drink, and rejoice in Friday

Grape, Ricotta, Rosemary Pizza recipe

As I mentioned earlier, I recently bought Jamie's Italy by Jamie Oliver. I already thought I was in love with Cook with Jamie but, alas, that affair wasn't meant to me. It's all about me, Jamie, and Italy.

So the cookbook has a whole section on pizzas, and I want to try every one of them; truly, that's how good they sound. So this is my first go. Jamie, naturally, has a recipe for homemade pizza crust. That's all well and good, but here are my problems with that: 1) I've had horrific luck in the past using fresh pizza dough, 2) I don't have time on the weeknights to make fresh pizza dough, and 3) I have yet to find time on a weekend to make fresh dough and freeze it. So we're left with naan, thanks to Nigella Lawson's recommendation. I know naan may be difficult for some to find - I think you can easily try pita bread and/or flatbread instead. Hell, Giada De Laurentiis made something similar to this on her show*, except that she pressed the grapes into foccacia bread, sprinkled rosemary and pine nuts on top, and omitted the ricotta. So feel free to experiment, people!

So I used naan. And Jamie asks for a handful of green and red grapes, but I could only find red and black. Halve them. Put them in a medium bowl with 1 tbsp. pine nuts, "small handful of fresh rosemary", and 1 tbsp. white wine. Allow it to sit for a few minutes. Now I went renegade here: Jamie also asks for 2 tbsp. of vanilla sugar and suggests this dish as a breakfast or dessert with vanilla ice cream. Give that a try, if you'd like. But I made this savory. I added salt and pepper to the bowl of marinating grapes.

I then scattered the mixture over two naan, including the sweet juices. I added fresh, crumbly ricotta on top. Put it on a pizza stone in a 400 degree oven for about 12 minutes. When it was done, I drizzled extra-virgin olive oil over the top, and served it with a salad on the side. We drank a Spanish Rueda with this, 2006 Las Brisas, which was the same wine I used for the marinade. The label describes the ripe flavors as "racy". Indeed!

Shazam! A weeknight dinner that took me just under a half-hour to make. Take that, Rachael Ray!

Eat, drink, and don't sweat it on the weekdays.


*I tried to look up Giada's recipe for all of you, but Food Network won't give it up.