This next confession: far less charming. When it comes to sharing, where my kitchen is concerned, I’m firmly in the does not play well with others category. Mostly, what it comes down to is that I’m a control freak, plain and simple. When I’m hosting, I typically have a clear vision of the menu in mind—infused vodka!, rainbow cakes!—most of the time, it’s about the challenge. Think Dinner Impossible: The home version where nothing is camera ready.

All of which is to say that when my friend Jared was visiting from Seattle and suggested we host a dinner together, I’m fairly certain he had no idea what he was getting into.

Here’s how the planning went down:

Jared mentioned Asian inspired dishes.
I came back with the idea of Asian and Mexican fusion… Because I had an event title that I thought would be funny.
I started highlighting recipes. Jared told me I should relax. Things would come together, and we could just have someone bring dessert. I started looking for dessert recipes with a vengeance, ultimately settling on sweet potato ice cream. If Jared thought this was odd, he did not say so. I sent a suggested menu plan. Jared told me he would take care of everything, and he figured that I could just relax and drink a beer while he cooked. I sighed. One of our mutual friends, upon hearing this, guffawed. I bought groceries. Jared bought groceries.
We cooked in the same kitchen. At the same time. No small feat, given that my kitchen is generously 10′ x 10′.

And, everything did come together, and, I did have a beer while Jared cooked, in case you were wondering. But I finished about a third before getting back to my own cooking because, after all, I had a standard to maintain.

Here’s the menu:

The East Meets [South] West Coast Dinner

Salsa Cruda
Guacamole
Roasted Tomato Salsa

Chicken Tacos
Miso Glazed Cod Tacos

Stewed Black Beans (this recipe, but with half of the beans blended for better texture)
Lime Rice
Pickled Watermelon Radishes
Red Cabbage Slaw

Sweet Potato Ice Cream
Spiced Chocolate Cake

Stay tuned for a flurry of recaps.

About that. I think it’s time I come clean, lest you think that I’m completely insufferable.

There’s something very important that you should know about me. Once I’ve had a few drinks, I begin planning elaborate events. And, so, although I had toyed with the idea of hosting a New Year’s Day brunch for a few weeks before making any sort of decision, it was only two days before that I was willing to commit. I was at another party that I had helped plan and keeping track of my wine glasses solely by the charms on them.

I’m reminded here of that famous Mark Twain quote, Always do sober what you said you’d do drunk. That’ll teach you to keep your mouth shut.

I’m overstating here, as I was making plans and really just looking for a reason to take the leap. If you’ve been reading along here, I’m sure that my love of brunch is apparent. But, I knew that hosting one on New Year’s Day would mean waking up early to make sure that everything was just so because who wants to start their year off with lukewarm eggs and soggy bacon? And, I wasn’t confident in my ability to do so—on most weekends I’m not. It seemed wise that I should plan for any and all contingencies. And, so: strada.

Do you know about this? It’s essentially a savory bread pudding. It’s rich although adaptable—you can make it with milk if heavy cream seems a bit much. It’s infinitely adaptable and—mind you, this is the best part—it needs to be made at least eight hours ahead. In other words, this is the ultimate brunch dish. On the day of, all you need to do is let it warm to room temperature while your oven is heating. Then you can enjoy it with your guests. And, isn’t that the whole point of brunch, anyway?

Acorn Squash and Kale Strada

3 cups kale, with stems removed
1 acorn squash, diced
1 large onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 cup water
3 TBS olive oil, plus an additional 1 tsp reserved for greasing the baking dish
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
8 cups french bread, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 cups grated sharp cheddar
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
8 large eggs
salt and pepper to taste

The night before:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Toss the acorn squash with 2 TBS olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake until the pieces are beginning to get soft and brown, 30-45 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool to room temperature.

While the squash is baking, place a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 TBS olive oil. Once it was warmed, add in the onion and the thyme and saute until the onion is translucent, approximately 5 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Add in the kale and stir. Add 1/4 water to the skillet and allow the kale to steam until it has wilted, covering as necessary, and stirring occasionally. This should take approximately 5 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool.

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, milk, heavy cream, and nutmeg, whisking until the eggs have all been combined. Set aside.

Using the remaining oil, butter a shallow oven safe baking dish. Spread one third of the bread cubes at the bottom of the baking dish. Top evenly with one third of the kale, one third of the acorn squash, and one third of the grated cheddar. Repeat the process twice, ending with the cheese. Pour the egg mixture over evenly over the layered bread and vegetables and cover the baking dish with plastic wrap. Chill for at least eight ours.

Day Of
30 minutes before you are ready to bake the strada, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and remove the strada from the refrigerator. Let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Remove the plastic wrap and bake, uncovered, in the middle rack of your oven until the strada has turned golden brown, puffed up and cooked completely through. This will take 45-55 minutes. Allow the strada to stand at room temperature for 5 minutes before serving.

Serves twelve

Let’s do a run down of the short list, shall we? There’s Tumblr, for musings; twitter, for even shorter musings (and, integrated with Tumblr, natch); flikr, for hosting; google plus+, for, well, I’m not really sure for what but everyone was using it for a short time, anyway; facebook, for, again, I’m not sure, but because everyone is using it; foursquare, for no apparent reason, really; wordpress, for this very thing; and on and on. You get the idea.

All of this and, at least today, ensconced in warmth of my apartment, the last thing that’s on my mind is being social.

Maybe it’s because it’s cold and snowing here in New York City, and growing up we thought of these as perfect Chinese food days. Or, did, until my mother and sister ended up getting rear ended on New York Avenue, before our local Chinese Restaurant changed locations and, though (thankfully) everyone was okay, this meant that I had to greet the music teacher on my own, which in turn meant a double lesson and if you ever heard me play clarinet when I was in middle school well, you’d know what I’m getting at here. There may have been a period of time where my parents made me practice in the basement of our house. With the door closed. Then again, I chose to play clarinet because it was one of the smallest instruments to carry around aside from the flute, and my sister played the flute and was actually good, and I didn’t want to compete.

Clearly I was never going to be a virtuoso.

I do, however, make a fantastic bowl of hot and sour soup. Without mushrooms and tofu, since it’s my house and I get to do whatever I want. I’ve included the adapted recipe below. It’s just the thing for a cold night such as this one.

Hot and Sour Soup
Recipe adapted from Serious Eats

1 cup cooked and shredded chicken
8 cups chicken stock, with 1/4 cup set aside
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 TBS cornstarch
Sriracha, to taste
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 eggs
1 can bamboo shoots, drained
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drainted

In a medium pot, heat chicken chicken stock.

In small bowl, combine sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, Sriracha and black pepper. Add to soup. Taste, adjusting the heat and sourness of the soup with additional Sriracha or rice vinegar, as needed. Combine cornstarch and reserved chicken stock, stirring whisking until the cornstarch has been well incorporated, forming a slurry. Add the slurry to the soup.

Bring soup to boil.

In a measuring cup, whisk the eggs together. Slowly pour in the beaten egg in a tiny stream, stirring the soup to break up the stream of eggs.

Reduce heat to simmer. Add bamboo shoots and water chestnuts. Simmer for five minutes.

Serves 4 as a main dish, 6 as an appetizer.

Almost a year ago, I started a new job.

I was ready.

It was a race to the finish, as leaving a job always is. For me, it culminated in a farewell party where I was still making blues corrections—consider yourself lucky if you’re not sure what that means—to promptly coming down with the worst cold ever. Instead of having lots and lots of drinks to celebrate the transition, my last day of work ended in a trip to the local drug store where I tried to spend the rest of my FSA on anything that would make my eyes stop tearing and my nose stop running.

Still, I was ready.

Mostly.

Even though I had four and a half jobs (it’s a long story, best told over many drinks), at my previous employer, each time I changed, I had to learn the job. That’s it. I had the systems down, I knew who to follow-up with and for what. This time, not so much.

Each little thing I learned was a small victory—I could get coffee! I remembered everyone’s names! Small things, to be sure, but I found myself taking count. It had been a long time since I had gone through this, and simply put, my brain was on overload.

I was ready.

Sure, but ready for what?

I’d say things finally started to click. And, they did, but I’m not sure that really tells you anything. The gist is this: a few weeks in, I was asked to help pull together marketing for a major proposal—collaborating and not having to take any budgets into consideration. And, nary an internal system in sight. So, I was ready. And invested. This was the professional change that I was looking for.

Then, I waited for this announcement.

And, so, now that the cat’s out of the bag, I think it’s only appropriate to share a Rachael Ray recipe. This one is for Feta and Sun-Dried tomato dip. The first time I tried it, a friend made it for me. I tried it to be polite—truth be told, feta is another one of those foods, along with olives that I just can’t bring myself to like and, much to my chagrin in the latter as it means that I’ll never have a dirty Martini and, really, who doesn’t want to order one of those?

Wait. Sorry, what was I saying?

And, just like that, I wasn’t going to be eating dinner since I had eaten half the bowl of dip. It’s not the prettiest thing (and, let’s be honest, my snapped in haste photos aren’t helping any), but it makes up for that in taste. I’d suggest serving it with plenty of vegetables so at least you have the pretense of eating healthfully.

Sun-Dried Tomato and Feta Dip
Recipe adapted from Rachael Ray

3/4 pound feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2 TBS olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon black pepper

Combine feta, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, herbs, milk, black pepper in food processor and process until smooth. Transfer to a small bowl.

You know what they say about the best laid plans.

What happened was this: the work week was brutal. Then, I was getting sick. And, please stop me from talking about the weather or this will be the most boring post that I’ve written in almost two years. You get the point, at any rate.

This week promises to be just as chaotic as the last—currently, my dresser is dismantled in my bedroom as I attempt to fix one of my drawers with hope and gorilla glue. And, tomorrow I have approximately 5 hours of meetings. So, to bed very soon. But I cannot let another week go by without finishing the recap of a meal that happened two months ago, and was already a month late.

Yeah, I know. Are you still with me here?

Cornbread Stuffing

This recipe is infinitely adaptable to accommodate a crowd. I’ve included the measurements that I used below. This served nine with leftovers that lasted for days. Feel free to scale it back or add more if necessary. The most important thing is adding the egg just before baking so that the stuffing has something to bind it.

1 loaf cornbread, cubed
1 2-lb loaf white bread, cubed
2 TBS olive oil
1 onion
8 oz roasted and shelled chestnuts
4 ribs celery, diced
2 apples, peeled cored and cubed
1 tsp thyme
2 cups vegetable or poultry stock
1 egg, beaten
salt and pepper to taste

Heat your oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat the bread and corn bread approximately 25 minutes, until it is dried out but not browned. Set aside and then raise the oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

While the bread is heating, you should saute your vegetables. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. Add in the onions and saute on a medium heat until they are translucent, adding salt and pepper to taste. This should take approximately five minute. Then add your celery, apples and thyme to the skillet, stirring. Heat for another 3-4 minutes, until the mixture is aromatic and the apples and celery have started to soften. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, combine the cooled bread, vegetables and the chestnuts. Add the stock a half a cup at a time, until the entire mixture is moist but not soggy. Stir to combine, then add in the beaten egg.

Transfer the stuffing to an oven safe serving dish and cook at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes.

Serves twelve

Excerpt for this: these lime meltaway cookies are so good that I made them twice in a week.

The first time, for my mother’s birthday I served them alongside a rich chocolate cake (rest assured, I’ll get to that recipe, too). The cake was delicious, and yet, these cookies stole the show. The lime keeps them just shy of being decadent, preventing them from becoming too cloying. After all, there’s a fair amount of sugar in the recipe.

And the texture.

It goes without saying that cookies called “meltaways”, um, melt in your mouth. They’re shortbread’s sophisticated cousin, quite and unassuming with a taste that lingers at the end, just slightly. Although, if you want a more crunchy outer texture, you can finish them with sanding sugar, rather than confectioners’, as I did with part of round two.

Either way, these lime meltaways are the perfect cookie to have alongside your post dinner coffee, and they’d be equally at home in a holiday cookie box. In other words, file this recipe away for the 2012 holiday season. They’d be perfect, too, as they’re essentially ice box cookies. So, you can make them ahead and store them in your freezer as you’re prepping the rest of your cookies.

So, as per usual, I’m out of step. You can’t really be surprised, though, given that I cooked a Thanksgiving meal two weeks after the holiday and host a “Summer” picnic each October. And, maybe sending your friends and family boxes of cookies post holiday is just the thing they need to get through the winter doldrums.

Lime Meltaways
Recipe Courtesy of Martha Stewart’s Cookies

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup confectioners sugar, plus another 2/3 cup if you’re coating the cookies in confectioners’ sugar* (Otherwise, you’ll need 1/4 cup sanding sugar)
Zest of 2 limes, grated
2 TBS fresh lime juice
1 TBS vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 TBS cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

Cream butter and 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar until it is pale and fluffy. Add the lime zest, lime juice and vanilla, and mix until fluffy.

Whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl. Add to butter mixture, and mix until just combined.

Divide dough in half. Place each half on an 8-by-12-inch sheet of parchment paper. If you’re using sanding sugar, roll the formed logs in the sugar to coat it at this point. Roll in parchment to form a log 1 1/4 inches in diameter. Refrigerate logs until cold and firm, at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove parchment from logs; cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Space rounds 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake cookies until barely golden, about 13 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Allow the cookies to cool slightly, 8 to 10 minutes. If you are coating the finished cookies in confectioners’ sugar, while the cookies are still warm, toss cookies with remaining 2/3 cup sugar in a resealable plastic bag.

Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 2 weeks.

Makes approximately 3 dozen cookies

Then, I listened.

They were performing Lear. Which just so happens to be my favorite play. (Make of that what you will.)

I’ve been harping on as of late with predictions of how 2012 is going to be a good year—the truth of that matter is that this has more to do with 2011 being—how to say this—kind of lackluster. Nothing bad happened, yes. And, for that I am grateful. But, in a lot of ways it felt like nothing happened at all, which is not to make light of some fairly significant changes. More to say that, surface changes notwithstanding, there was a lot of waiting for things to realign and feeling a bit like the ever elusive brass ring was just that. That’s the problem with having too many expectations, I suppose.

There’s no big explanation coming about why I’m going to share this recipe with you today.

It’s just that I was reminded last night of how much I loved many things, generally and New York City, particularly.

Partly because it’s the kind of place where you can hear Shakespeare on the subways.
Partly because it’s where elevated train lines become parks.
Partly because it’s where writers like Frank O’Hara are made.
Partly because it’s the kind of place that has bakeries where you can get cookies that taste like fresh corn and blueberries and cream.

In other words, a place of the unexpected. Which may be just the thing.

The recipe for blueberries and cream cookies is below.

And, in other news: I’m back to quoting Shakespeare and Frank O’Hara. If you know me, this means I’ve likely gotten about fifty percent more pretentious and annoying than usual in your estimation.

I couldn’t be more pleased.

Blueberry and Cream Cookies
Recipe courtesy of Momofuku Milk Bar by way of Serious Eats

For the Cookies
16 tablespoons (2 sticks, 225 grams) butter, at room temperature
3/4 cups (150 grams) sugar
2/3 cups (150 grams) light brown sugar, tightly packed
1/4 cup (100 grams) glucose or 2 tablespoon (35 grams) corn syrup
2 eggs
2 cups (320 grams) flour
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) baking powder
1/4 teaspoon (1 1/2 grams) baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons (6 grams) kosher salt
1/2 recipe Milk Crumb (recipe follows)
3/4 cup (130 grams) dried blueberries

Milk Crumb
1/2 cup (40 grams) milk powder
1/4 cup (40 grams) flour
2 tablespoons (12 grams) cornstarch
2 tablespoons (25 grams) sugar
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) kosher salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick, 55 grams) butter, melted
20 g milk powder 1/4 cup
3 ounces (90 grams) white chocolate, melted

To Make the Milk Crumb: Heat the oven to 250°F.
Combine the 40 grams (1/2 cup) milk powder, the flour, cornstarch, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Toss with your hands to mix. Add the melted butter and toss, using a spatula, until the mixture starts to come together and form small clusters.

Spread the clusters on a parchment- or Silpat-lined sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes. The crumbs should be sandy at that point, and your kitchen should smell like buttery heaven. Cool the crumbs completely.
Crumble any milk crumb clusters that are larger than 1/2 inch in diameter, and put the crumbs in a medium bowl. Add the 20 g (1/4 cup) milk powder and toss together until it is evenly distributed throughout the mixture.

Pour the white chocolate over the crumbs and toss until your clusters are enrobed. Then continue tossing them every 5 minutes until the white chocolate hardens and the clusters are no longer sticky. The crumbs will keep in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer for up to 1 month.

For the Cookies: Combine the butter, sugars, and glucose in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the eggs, and beat for 7 to 8 minutes.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix just until the dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute. (Do not walk away from the machine during this step, or you will risk overmixing the dough.) Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.

Still on low speed, add the milk crumbs and mix until they’re incorporated, no more than 30 seconds. Chase the milk crumbs with the dried blueberries, mixing them in for 30 seconds.

Using a 2 3/4-ounce ice cream scoop (or a 1/3-cup measure), portion out the dough onto a parchment-lined sheet pan. Pat the tops of the cookie dough domes flat. Wrap the sheet pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 1 week. Do not bake your cookies from room temperature—they will not bake properly.

Heat the oven to 350°F.

Arrange the chilled dough a minimum of 4 inches apart on parchment- or Silpat-lined sheet pans. Bake for 18 minutes. The cookies will puff, crackle, and spread. After 18 minutes, they should be very faintly browned on the edges yet still bright yellow in the center; give them an extra minute or so if that’s not the case.

Makes 15-20 cookies

So, you can imagine my surprise when, by 11:30 am on New Year’s Day, I had baked cookies, started chicken stock and made a trip to the grocery store. I’m not trying to show off here, in fact, I’m still not sure how it happened, given that I didn’t go to bed until around 3 am. But, perhaps it’s a sign of a good year to come?

I think so.

At the very least, I was finally able to make a blueberry coffee cake that I’ve wanted to serve at a brunch since April, but just never quite had the time. I can only say that I’m sorry I waited—the cake comes together in almost no time at all, and, between its moist delicate crumb and the fact that there are so many actual crumbs, it was the thing on the table that I kept coming back to. Needless to say, this is going to be a brunch staple in my 2012 rotation.

Blueberry Crumb Cake
Recipe courtesy of Ina Garten

For the streusel:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

For the cake:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (3/4 stick)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2/3 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup fresh blueberries (I added some raspberries here, too)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round baking pan.
Make the streusel by combining the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter and then the flour. Mix well and set aside.

Make the cake: Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, lemon zest, and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Fold in the blueberries and stir with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out with a knife. With your fingers,

crumble the topping evenly over the batter. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely and serve sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar.

So, Notwithstanding that I still need to finish my Friendsgiving recap (1 post to go!), I’m about to begin another series: New Year’s brunch.

On the menu:

Bacon
Acorn Squash and Kale Strada
Blueberry Crumb Cake
Bagels (these were not homemade this time, but you can find a recipe here should you be so inclined)
Blueberries and Cream Cookies
Lime Meltaways

Lots of strong coffee and mimosas.

Stay tuned for the recipes. And, more from the backlog.

May 2012 be filled with good meals for you and yours!

So, the year. I lost things, yes. Sometimes in a very literal sense, but I lived.

What doesn’t kill you and all that.

2011 was a year of moving forward, professionally and personally. I changed jobs and reclaimed my closets. It was a year of some profound loss and sickness, but also continued recovery. And, it was a year of really appreciating all of the good right in front of me, even if I had to go halfway around the world to do so.

Overall, I would say that 2011 was a success. Needlesss to say, I have high hopes for 2012.

I’m keeping my resolutions close to the vest—forgive me, but I always do. All will be revealed in due time, if I can keep them up.

Here’s to a good year for all of us. In the the mean, happy New Year to all of you. And, as always, thanks for reading along with me. I don’t say that often enough, but I appreciate it more than I can say.