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Just logged in quickly and realized it had been a month (plus!) since my last post. Yikes. No excuses and can’t promise it won’t happen again, but c’est la vie, no?
At least the fun hasn’t stopped during my online absence.
And what better welcome back than with a dinner party?
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This one was a few Saturdays ago – during a particularly busy weekend in San Francisco. It was Fleet Week with the Blue Angels of course, America’s Cup, the 49ers & Giants at home, plus Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in the Park, just to start.
Our good friends Katy, Michael, Alex & Zak came over — and we didn’t realize all that was on the books when we found an open night for all of us. But the festivities all around seemed to just add to the merriment.
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Dinner was simple fare, but my favorite kind. Pâté and rillettes from Fatted Calf, farmer’s market crudité with homemade aioli and a martini or few started the night, and kept us lingering a bit while checking out the game.
Once we moved to the table it was moules frites – with the mussels steamed with white wine, garlic, leeks and fennel and twice-fried fries. Only hiccup was since I don’t often make fries, I didn’t realize how long they take. I did the first fry earlier in the day, but even so, they may have been the reason for that extra martini before dinner. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Oh, and there was a simple green salad with a bunch of different greens and radicchio, but surprise, it didn’t receive too much attention.
I know we aren’t supposed to try out new things on guests, but let’s face it, I don’t really have fries on a Tuesday with just me and B on the agenda. At least not at home anyway.
Keeping in fall and the vaguely French take on dinner, dessert was tarte tatin. I prefer mine with a puff pastry crust, but the carmel sauce didn’t get quite as dark as I like and the apples were a smidge soft, if being honest. I read a post on Smitten Kitchen after the fact that speaks to this exact problem, so I may have to try her route next time.
But with enough wine and espresso and Armagnac come dessert time, who really noticed?
It was a super fun night, and one I hope to repeat again soon. And if I get my ducks in a row, I can share it too!
Some dear friends from college recently started a clothing line, k o r o v i l a s, and we had a little trunk show at my house on Friday.
It was a great chance to check out fun new up-and-coming designers, try on their fabulous (made in Los Angeles) wares, sip some wine and catch up with friends.
Since it was a Friday after work, and the focus was all on the dresses, we kept the nibbles super simple … just jazzed up items from the market. I’ll do a separate post on my favorite fixes to trick out grocery store apps — super easy (and inexpensive) things we can all keep in our arsenal.
Thank you to all you lovies who came out; Maria, Kristina & Katie — love the line; and if their clothes are new to you, I highly recommend checking it out! www.korovilas.com
xx
It is no secret that I am super lucky in the fact that my friends like to cook as much as I do. Not only are meals such a treat, but I love learning their tricks too.
But one of my favorite occurrences is seeing what they choose to serve. Many of us have the same go-to cookbooks and websites, like those of Heidi Swanson & Yotem Ottolenghi - but we pluck different recipes out of the fold.
Take for instance a gorgeous feast that Maya & Geoffrey put together on Sunday.
After a superb cheese & cocktail coarse, we had grilled rib-eyes, grilled peach salad with orange blossom water, salmon (that Jimmy JUST caught) with a pineapple salsa, roast potatoes & broccoli with eggs and gazpacho. It’s apparent that we weren’t very hungry!
Of {particular} interest here are the salads: while I love grilled peaches in any form, and often include them in salads, I would have breezed right by the orange blossom dressing. Now I know my mistake – the combination was floral yet warm and totally intoxicating. Maya & Ottolenghi are a very good combination!
And the roast potatoes & broccoli with egg from Super Natural Everday, also known as Roasted Potatoes & Broccoli Gribiche – a new favorite. I have been smitten with the idea of gribiche since I read about it on Orangette eons ago, and have in fact made it to serve with salmon and potatoes, but this combo was particularly great.
Until the next dinner at a friends, perhaps I’ll just have them flag my cookbooks…or I guess, that is what pinterest is for! 
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images via my iphone & instagram feed (@caitlindentino)
I don’t necessarily crave pasta — when I make it, particularly on a weeknight, it generally more of a convenience, and also code for there isn’t much else in the house.
This recipe I first saw on Amateur Gourmet, who gleaned it from Lidia Bastianich’s cooking show, and has been in his rotation for years – a go to weeknight dinner. His version doesn’t call for kale, which also means it can be made straight from the pantry. Pasta, beans, sun-dried tomatoes, red pepper flakes, garlic – that’s it.
I have made it before that way, but always felt it could use a little something. Last night I happened to have a bunch of kale on hand (and not much else) so it was the perfect addition to a recipe that relied on little else fresh.
I think the dark greens are key, in fact I replace about ½ the pasta in the recipe with the greens (and could’ve added more if I had more). They add interest in taste and texture, and add some nice color (and nutrients) to the mix. I add the chopped kale with the sun-dried tomatoes, but think other hearty greens or broccoli rabe would work equally well.
What are your favorite pantry pastas?
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images via my instagram feed (@caitlindentino)
What do you think about fruit in salad? Not fruit salad – but green salads with fruit in the mix. I happen to love it and the combo shows up on our table often.
In the summer, peaches, nectarines and blueberries are some of my favorites; in the fall, apples and pears of course. For winter, persimmons and pomegranate seeds are a nice touch, and come spring I can’t wait to add red strawberries to the mix. And of course, a little complimenting cheese doesn’t hurt.
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Here are a few fruit & salad combos from past posts:
Spinach with peaches, blueberries and ricotta from a Summer Grilling dinner.
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Shredded kale with apples and persimmons (with beer braised turkey tacos).
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Butter lettuce with quinoa, roasted beets and blood oranges.
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Raw kale salad with grated pear, parmigiano, toasted breadcrumbs and a lemon vinaigrette (with weeknight turkey chili).
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Spinach with apples and blue cheese (and weeknight turkey burgers).
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Super quick holiday salad with spinach, persimmons and pomegranate seeds.
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And the fruit is equally at home in grain salads …
like this wheatberry salad with beets, carrots, apples and cranberries.
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What are your favorite fruits for salad (not counting the obvious veg-seeming-ones like tomatoes and avocado)? Or do you keep it separate and stick to vegetables for the add-ins?
While many of you may be enjoying {or hiding from} the dog days of summer, our cold grey San Francisco summer has arrived full bore, calling for parkas on the way to morning coffee. But since we have had a pretty nice summer with plenty of days for seasonally-appropraite meals, I will do my best not to complain. Plus, weather talk is boring.
I only bring it up to set the stage for chili dinner in August.
A big pot of giant black beans were already simmering on the stove when I decided that chili was in order. I didn’t use a recipe, just a hodge-podge of versions I like, plus what I had on hand, plus what sounded good. I wanted something like mom’s version growing up – maybe not authentic in Texas – but a kind that hits the spot. Ground meat, or turkey generally in my case, beans, tomatoes and lots of spices. Instead of stock for extra liquid, in addition to tomato sauce, I added a bottle of beer. Once it simmered together, it became exactly what I was looking for.
We topped it with a bit of white cheddar, greek yogurt and green onion. On the side, 101 Cookbook’s Firecraker Cornbread cooked in a cast iron skillet and a raw kale salad flecked with grated pear brought it all together.
I’m not going to lie, this little dinner got me pretty excited for Fall!
Are you holding on to summer or ready for what’s next?
I can’t decide, which I guess works with the Indian Summer/foggy day combo we have coming.
On Saturday, I went to a beautiful baby shower for Brooke, a dear friend from college who also happens to live in San Francisco. Since a few friends would be coming in from out of town for the festivities, plus the local ladies, we figured it was the perfect opportunity for a girls night on Friday…which we opted to make a girls night in.
It was a weeknight, plus just good practice, so I kept things super easy – and called in back-up for apps and dessert. Tessa picked up pâté and other goodies from Fatted Calf and made great {and super simple} date, goat cheese and proscuitto bites.
I went for a version of something that has popped up on our table all summer — spicy spatchcocked chicken with salsa verde and heirloom panzanella. But to ‘catch’ the wine that was likely to be accompanying dinner, we needed something else warm (plus – it was chilly come Friday evening) and a bit hearty too.
Earlier in the week, in honor of Julia Child’s what-would-be 100th birthday, I spied a zucchini tian on Food 52 that seemed perfect. Two of the ladies are gluten-free, so the rice component was ideal (no fear – they had a separate, and equally delicious panzanella). And since it was primarily zucchini, even the liquid added for the rice to cook was drained zucchini juice, it was also much lighter and healthier than it seemed.
Dessert was truthfully more wine, plus a summer favorite of grilled peaches and vanilla ice cream. We topped it with a little dusting of coconut sugar and smoked salt for fun, but it needs nothing else. I just can’t help adding some flaky salt to dessert.
Such a fun evening catching up with old friends…nights like these are the reason I like to cook!
For the recipe for the zucchini & rice dish
Weekend brunch is often done in restaurants (and perhaps with a bit of a headache from the night before), but we really must work on bringing it back home. I know I don’t do it often enough, but it is such a shame … case in point.
Last weekend, some friends were in town for Outside Lands, and we had plans to meet Saturday morning for brunch before heading to the park. But a quick glance in my fridge revealed some things that needed to be put to use, so we changed the arrangements for brunch at home.
A perennial favorite (that also made use of the arugula and spinach that were some of the must-be-used culprits) are the baked eggs with rocket, chili & yogurt from Yotem Ottolenghi’s Plenty. The original recipe calls for arugula, I have made it before with spinach, and this time I used a combo. I doubled the recipe, which gave us 8 eggs (also, # of eggs in fridge) and was perfect for 5 people. I am sure no one would have complained with 2 eggs a piece, but I was fine with one … plus all the other goodies.
To supplement the fridge basics, I did a quick run for bacon (roasted in the oven – my favorite – less work & less mess), orange juice and bread. The bread became pan con tomate, with fresh from the vine tomatoes that Audra brought straight from the farm, and the orange juice met up with bubbly for brunch-required mimosas.
A few more beverages (flat + sparkling, bloody marys and coffee) as brunch calls for LOTS of drink options, some fruit and a bit more yogurt, and well, I may just give up my standing brunch at Nopa.
Baked Eggs with Yogurt and Chili
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Last week Billy and I celebrated our third anniversary, and that night he cooked me a lovely dinner. He doesn’t often spend time in the kitchen, so a delicious dinner at home {that I didn’t have to think about at all} was much more welcome than a fancy reservation.
In an attempt however to make sure he didn’t buy the whole store, not realizing we had things like chili flakes or olive oil, I went with him shopping, and then stayed out of the way.
Can we talk about how adorable this is — he took the cookbook in the store. When I asked if he wanted to make a list, he seemed genuinely flabbergasted – why write it all down again, when someone else already had?
The menu included grilled figs with proscuitto, spicy linguine with crab and buttermilk panna cotta with raspberries. He has decided that Italian will be his area of expertise. He poured through Mario Batali, Andrew Carmellini and a few other cookbooks – with these three recipes coming from those two.
I have no idea why he doesn’t cook more, because everything was really f*ing good!! Here’s hoping that this trend continues, and we see more of his work. Italian food has a lot to offer.
Thank you for a wonderful evening and Happy Anniversary my love! Here’s to many more!!
xxo
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wedding photo © Annie X Photographie, the rest from me
On Saturday in Tahoe, the plan was barbecue chicken, smashed roasted potatoes and a big veg salad. Then the power went out on our block and so we switched the potatoes to the grill and same with the summer squash – nixing the salad that would be easiest made in the kitchen. But then, the propane ran out while the chicken was only not close to done. Half-cooked chicken is not exactly salvageable, so we scratched it all and walked down the street to dinner.
But the barbecue chicken hankerin’ has remained.
So last night I quickly grilled chicken thighs, painting on a bit of BBQ sauce at the end, just to caramelize. It was fast, easy and just what we were looking for in the weeknight version.
As for the salad, while the chicken was grilling, I added radicchio quarters to the heat, removing once they were nicely grilled on all sides. A quick blanch for the green beans, plus a basic shallot-red wine vinaigrette, made a little richer with the slightest splash of cream, toasted pinenuts, and we were just about there. Once those elements were tossed together, I finished it with basil and goat cheese. It was one of those things that came together on the fly, but will most definitely be added to the regular rotation.
Not quite as fun as the outdoor grilled version while sitting lakeside, but was a pretty close second.
