Mini Progressive Dinner

When I first rented my apartment, the real estate agent told me that our neighbors would be a couple from Seattle and that we would love them. He was right- we do. Matt and Paul are such peas in a pod, and besides all the hanging out we do as couples, Sabine and I have a standing date for a monthly Ladies Dinner. Now Paul and Sabine have bought a house and they are moving away (4 minutes away, but still). To say good-bye Sabine and I decided to have a mini progressive dinner- she and Paul provided cocktails, salad, bread, and dessert  and Matt and I made the hors d'oeuvres, main course and (more) dessert.

It's been really cold out the past couple of weeks, so I wanted to make something truly cozy. I settled on this amazing lamb ragu. It's really simple to make- the hardest part is all the vegetable dicing- I loath chopping. Since it's the holidays, I wanted dessert to have a festive feel so I bought ginger snaps and Shatto ice cream and made the tiniest ice cream sandwiches. Hors d'oeuvres were provided by my talented new boss- he makes pate every Thanksgiving and he gave me a large portion, along with cornichons and fancy mustard- all I had to do was make the toast points.

It was a perfect evening, and I'll miss our lovely upstairs neighbors!

Old fashioned to start

Pate, courtesy of my wonderful new boss

I brought dinner upstairs in my much-loved Le Creuset and plated there

Lamb ragu, topped with ricotta and mint

dinner is served

dessert

Sunday Dinner: Lamb Tagine & Monkey Bread

It's starting to get very cold here- I broke ice chunks out of my hair after my walk to work this morning. Having spent so much of my life in Florida, I spent a lot of my time in New York and Cleveland complaining about the cold weather. I accept it now- it's time to hibernate and I embrace it. 

For Sunday dinner, I decided to make two things that evoke "holiday" to me- a lamb tagine (for the sweet, spicy scent) and monkey bread (because, cinnamon and butter and see below). 

This tagine is called Liz's Lamb Tagine (yay) and it's close to my heart not for the name, but because it was the first meal I made for one of my favorite dinner guests, Kate (in my teeny tiny galley kitchen). Like most of what I make, this is a very low-work/high-yield meal- there's a lot of chopping, but once you're done with it, you can walk away from the simmering pot and go about your life until it's finished. I also tried something new- as the author suggests, I used chicken broth for the couscous (my own! I just made my very own broth for the first time) and it made all the difference in the world- the couscous was so different from what I usually make. 

I took pictures of the finished meal but they look awful, so I won't include them. 

So, what to do as the tagine is stewing? I decided to make monkey bread, mostly because Matt loves cinnamon rolls so much and the recipe is so close to that of a cinnamon roll (especially if you include the dipping sauce, which I did not because of a lack of bourbon). 

This recipe is insanely easy (I used this one) yet I still managed to screw it up (baking is really not my strong suit). The result was very ugly, yet very delicious monkey bread. The recipe specifies that the bread tastes best eaten immediately, which is good because we ate almost half in one evening...

Take the monkey bread of out the oven and let rest for no more than 5 minutes...

Then, invert!

The soundtrack to all this was eclectic- I was in a christmas-y mood when I began so I had to listen to this. Then I listened to my two latest band obsessions as kind of palate cleansers- this and especially this.

A short culinary tour of South Florida

My family is the kind that talks about what we are going to have for dinner while eating lunch. So every trip home, every family vacation, every visit is centered on food. My trip home to South Florida for Thanksgiving was no exception.

Thanksgiving, of course was the first order of business. Because of complicated family traditions we have: fried turkey, roast turkey, and baked ham and at least 5 sides (baked mashed potatoes, string bean casserole, tater tots, stuffing, spoonbread pudding). No matter how many people are coming to visit. My dad is in charge of the fried turkey:

I was in charge of getting to know the newest member of our family, Molly:

The next day my sister and I went south, to Miami Beach. For one glorious year I lived at 8th and Euclid in Miami Beach, in the loveliest apartment ever. Miami is one of my favorite cities. 

Jane and I went to Lincoln Road and lunched at Doraku- amazing sushi and $3 happy hour beers!

Saturday we did some more exploring- Delray Beach, which feels like Kennebunkport in South Florida- complete with a J. McLaughlin shop. We lunched outdoors at Linda Bean's Maine Lobster, which is owned by a member of the L.L. Bean family. Further completing the Maine-in-Florida feeling, there's a Colony Hotel in Delray Beach- sister to the Colony in Kennebunkport, Maine. We loved Delray Beach. 

Lobster Roll + lemonade

Downtown Delray

On the way home, we visited ABC Carpet & Home to get inspired for both our ongoing house decorating projects. Since it was the end of the day, a very nice design consultant taught us all about very, very expensive rugs- I'm now coveting a Madeline Weinrib  chenille metallic.  

My sisters birthday was the day before Thanksgiving , and the jewel in the crown of the weekend was a trip to Southport Raw Bar for a slightly belated celebration with friends. Along with several pitchers of cheap beer we ordered:  clam chowder, onion rings, crab legs, oysters, buffalo chicken wings, and fish dip. And key lime pie for dessert. We are big eaters. 

Isn't it the truth

For Sunday dinner, like all good Jews, we had Chinese food. It was a wonderful weekend. 

Dance in Kansas City: Alvin Ailey

The first I saw the Alvin Ailey perform I was 9, we were living in New Jersey, and my mom took me to see Judith Jamison dance in Revelations. I wore my velvet coat and it was a Very Big Deal. I saw Revelations again last night and it was just as Big a Deal- just in a different way. Anything I would write about it sounds pretentious- suffice to say by the last dance, Move, Members, Move  the audience was literally dancing at their seats, clapping to the music, and shouting with joy. 

It was wonderful (and to the cute girl sitting next to me- you get up and dance if you want to. Don't let your silly boyfriend tell you what to do). 

Sunday Dinner: Carnitas

I saw this recipe for carnitas on one of my favorite food blogs, Smitten Kitchen. I knew right away it was the perfect Sunday supper- the cook time alone takes 3 hours. Like Smitten Kitchen lady says, the pork just takes a bath for three hours- she says it's a bath in a margarita because of the lime and salt. I say it's a bath in sunshine because of all that citrus-y vitamin D (in just a week and a half I'll be in sunny south Florida for Thanksgiving and I too will be taking a bath in vitamin D).

The soundtrack for the day was this, then this- I know I'm a little late to the party with Lana del Rey but I cannot get "Video Games" out of my head. Having it on a constant loop makes even standing in the Whole Foods deli section seem like a transcendent, melancholy experience. After all that lady music I needed a palate cleanser so I listened to my favorite Rolling Stones album.

You can pair these with whatever toppings you'd like- I chose avocado, pinto beans, and smoked jalapeno  peppers. Happy Sunday!

House Party, Part 2

Last Friday, the four apartments (and seven people) in my building held a progressive dinner party. It was so much fun and a huge success. I love having dinner parties, but they can be stressful- all that preparation, thought, time. Having just one course allowed everyone to really focus. 

We started at my apartment:

Since the theme was vaguely fall, I tried to keep everything kind of comforting and cozy. I made devils on horseback (this was my favorite, not just because it was delicious but also because the recipe I used is made by Martha Stewart and Joan Rivers, two ladies I love), deep fried olives, Union Square Cafe Bar Nuts, and radishes dipped in sea salt. For a cocktail I served what has become my house drink- Black Velvet. It's 1/2 Guinness and 1/2 champagne and delicious. Perfect with all the salty, fried, and fat. 

After cocktail hour, we all went upstairs to Sabine and Pauls for soup and salad. Sabines focus was pear- pear soup, salad with pear, and a delicious and WICKEDLY alcoholic pear punch. 

Her presentation was so pretty. 

Next, it was across the hall to Kelly and Michaels for the main course- comforting chicken pot pies.

Finally, we all dragged ourselves downstairs for dessert at Havis's. Havis went with a Southern theme- red velvet cake, banana caramel cake, and double chocolate cake served with planters punch. Some more friends joined us and the progressive dinner turned into a party.

Success! I can't wait to do this again- maybe in the spring. And can you imagine how wonderful it would be to have Thanksgiving this way? 

Opera in Kansas City

I'm lucky to have moved in (more or less) across the street from the gorgeous, new performing arts hall- the Kauffman Center. 

From some angles the building looks like it spontaneously sprang from the prairie.

Matt and I went to see the Lyric Opera perform "Cosi fan tutte" there on Saturday night. I love opera, but going to a performance is also a good excuse to get dressed, have a cocktail, and people watch. 

Most concertgoers had also taken the opportunity to get dressed up- I saw fur coats and stoles and even a couple of tuxedos.

The Kauffman Center is comprised of two performance halls with one giant central lobby. It's a million miles away from my old hometown orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra. The hall they play in, Severance Hall is much more formal than the Kauffman Center. It's hard to compare the two. I did notice that the Kauffman Center has a very good gift shop- there were actually some things I wanted to buy (anyone looking for a stocking stuffer for me, please see: miniature Beethoven bust). The gift shop at Severance  Hall was always a pet peeve of mine- a hole of unwanted kitsch is the first thing that greets you as you enter the hall from the parking garage. 

The opera was wonderful- it was set in the 1920's and I loved the sets and the costumes. The Kauffman Theatre has great acoustics and the most comfortable seats- this becomes important when sitting through a three hour opera! We had a fantastic night, and I can't wait to go back. 

Daylight Saving Sunday Supper

Daylight saving ended today and it got dark at 5. I feel as if I have jet lag and I'm a little bummed that I'll be walking home from work in the cold dark until March. Oh well. It's a good excuse for a comforting dinner. I made my very favorite roast chicken- I always use this recipe. Since I had sage and rosemary in the refrigerator, I subbed that for thyme. I roasted some brussels sprouts and made a little salad with radishes as well.

festive pink radish

I love any kind of roast especially when you're feeling sleepy and kind of lazy- I put the chicken in and the brussels sprouts a half hour later, which left me plenty of time to sit around and read about very important world events while everything roasted.  This was the soundtrack- the perfect album for a slightly melancholy Sunday.

Gimbel Chili

My dad has been making the same chili since I can remember, and when I first moved out of my parents house my mom made me a cookbook with all my favorite recipes in it, including the chili recipe:

As you can see, the recipe comes from a cookbook called "The Consumer's Guide Food Processor Cookbook" published in 1976. Since I like my food much more spicy than my parents do, I use this recipe as a jumping-off point for the chili I make. 

Since Matt has a class on Sundays, I usually listen to music LOUDLY like a teenager while I cook. This Sunday the soundtrack was this.

Gimbel Chili

2 medium onions, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

2 lbs. fresh pork sausage (my dad uses Jimmy Dean's frozen mild. I used fresh spicy andouille and spicy Italian sausages. This means you'll have to remove the sausage from it's casing, which is actually kind of satisfying. 

2 cans (15 oz each) kidney beans, drained

1 can (15 oz) whole kernel corn, drained

1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce

1 can (6 oz) tomato paste

1 cup water

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

*I also added some smoked peppers I found at the Bad Seed Market. They smell so good!

1. Brown the sausage in large skillet or Dutch oven, breaking the sausage into small pieces with the back of a spoon as it browns. 

2. Lift the sausage from the skillet with a slotted spoon and set aside. 

3. Pour off drippings, reserving 3 tsp in the skillet

4. Add the chopped vegetables to the skillet and saute 10 minutes over medium heat. 

5. Add the sausage and remaining ingredients. 

6. Simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. 

Feel free to add Fritos and cheddar cheese to make Frito Pie. Also goes very well with an IPA.

Happy Sunday!

House Party

I live in a house of cooks- everyone in my building is intensely into the preparing and eating of food. It was natural that the idea of a progressive dinner party would come up sooner or later, and soon after we moved in it did. We finally set a date (next Friday November 4) and last night we met to plan the dinner.

I live in the arts district and the first Friday of every month is the First Friday Artwalk. It's hugely popular and since this will likely be the last warm-ish First Friday until springtime, and so many people will be out in the neighborhood anyway, we'll also be inviting  our friends  to join us for dessert- which one neighbor who loves to bake graciously agreed to host. 

The rest of us drew to see who would handle each course:

I have the first course!

Then we made a schedule for the evening:

I'm so excited for next Friday! I know for sure I'll be making my very favorite bar snack in all the world- deep fried olives from the Red Cat in New York. I've requested the Red Cat Cookbook from the library and hopefully I'll get it before Friday. If not, the recipe I've linked to above looks pretty close. 

Homage to Nigella Lawson

Sometimes, you just feel like you want to make something, however simple. Last year when I came home from a frenetic work trip to Las Vegas this itch led to me making pesto when I came home at 11 pm on a Thursday. I was ravenous, and had been eating overblown Las Vegas food for 3 days. I wanted to make something. By 11:30 that night I was eating pasta and pesto while watching tv on the couch- perfect. 

I'm feeling the same way today, only since tonight is the night Matt and I begin our "Godfather" film festival (we watch the trilogy, eat Italian take-out) dinner isn't an option.

I decided to make Nigella Lawson's Union Square Cafe Bar Nuts- they are simple and I'd like a snack anyway. The internet is wonderful for recipes, but I enjoy cooking out of books too- this recipe is from my well-loved copy of "Nigella Bites". You can find the recipe here as well. 

The Union Square Cafe's Bar Nuts

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups assorted unsalted nuts, including peeled peanuts, cashews, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, and whole unpeeled almonds

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh rosemary

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons dark brown sugar

2 teaspoons Maldon or other sea salt

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 F

Toss the nuts in a large bowl to combine and spread them out a baking sheet. Toast in the oven till they become light golden brown, about 10 minutes. 

 I had some leftover rosemary, which I threw on top of the nuts as they baked. I'm not sure if they contributed anything to the taste, but they do make your house smell delicious. 

In a large bowl, combine the rosemary, cayenne, sugar, salt and melted butter. Thoroughly toss the toasted nuts in the spiced butter and serve warm. 

Snack time! I doubled the recipe, so now I have a little treat to share with  my neighbors too. 

Minimal effort, maximum reward- I now have a snack, a treat for my friends, and my house smells great. Happy Sunday!

Hello, neighbor! (guest post)

Say hello to my upstairs neighbor, Sabine:

She's always doing or making something interesting, and I've been asking her to write some things for Sweet Heartland. She did, so please welcome my first guest blogger!
So exciting!

Here's Sabine:

In the kitchen: squash in a mug

This is the ideal dinner for a cozy fall evening. Yes, it's fall alright, but the temperature is also in the upper eighties –which makes you want to eat ice-cream sandwiches for dinner instead of wintery warm soups.  Nonetheless, this recipe is a winner and I will keep it in my recipe box for whenever fall really 

decides to start.   

Matt came over to join us for dinner since his lady was out of town, partying it up in Cleveland.  He bought some local sodas which were delicious and refreshing.  My favorite was the pineapple cilantro soda; it was sweet, sparkly with an ever so slight hint of cilantro. 

 You can find more information about the sodas here.

This soup is great for little ones too and tastes even better the next day. My almost 2 year old loves it. Although I have to add a disclaimer here since she also loves sparkling water and olives- perhaps not part of most 2 year old diets. 

Bon appétit!

-SH

I followed the recipe listed here, making a few additions along the way.  I added cinnamon, allspice, cayenne pepper and nutmeg to spice it up a bit.  I also roasted the squash on a cookie sheet with a little bit of water, cut side down, in a 375 F preheated  oven for 40 minutes prior to cooking it on the stovetop with the rest of the veggies.  This made the nuttiness of the squash hit an all-time high and it makes it so much easier to peel and cube the squash as well.  The best part of trying out this recipe was that I got to use my immersion blender.  I could not believe how easy it was to use and how smooth the soup came out.  Also, the clean-up (my least favorite part of making dinner) was a breeze.  

The soup was served with grilled cheese sandwiches using extra sharp Tillamook cheddar cheese and Shatto butter (a local favorite of mine and apparently in the top 10 of best butters in the world). The most important rule you have to follow when making the perfect grilled cheese sandwich is “slow and steady”. 

 Squash in a mug recipe (modified from here)

2 tablespoons of butter

1 onion chopped

1 stalk celery chopped

3 carrots chopped

1 apple chopped

1 butternut squash peeled, seeded and cubed

32 fl ounce of chicken stock

Salt, pepper to taste

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon allspice

¼ cup of heavy cream

Garnish: some chopped up basil.  I normally also like to drizzle in a little bit of greek yoghurt or sour cream on top of the soup but I didn’t have any at home.

A short trip to Cleveland: Steve's Lunch

I made a quick trip to the Cleve this weekend to attend the wedding of the year: My friends Niki and Pants tied the knot! I've known Niki since I first moved to Cleveland. We shared an office at House of Blues, listened to Howard Stern, and gossiped. I was so excited to help her celebrate.

My weekend, summed up:

Dinner and drinks and then: Steve's Lunch. How did I live in Cleveland for such a long time and never been here? I cannot imagine going to Steve's during the day or in the evening. Steve's must be eaten at 3 am. And the hot dogs are hangover inoculation- I felt amazing when I woke up later that morning. Yes, the restaurant looks like an Edward Hopper painting. But it's crowded, everyone is friendly, and there is an off-duty cop that doubles as a food expeditor.

The next day a wedding for two lovely people:

And party time!

The next day was quiet and peaceful - Bloody Marys all around at fire, and a walk in my very favorite park in Cleveland, with two of my very favorite people (and a very nice doggy).