a southern feast

planning for a recent family birthday party quickly turned into a “what recipes have we been dying to try” gathering, as my sister-in-law and i reviewed all of the recent magazine clippings and dvr’d food network segments that we had stored. we settled on a southern theme and decided we’d need amped up versions of the classics: baked beans, pulled pork sliders, cole slaw, peach pie and a lemon pavlova (ok, that’s not southern, but we were all salivating at the thought of it).

all of the recipes were a success on their own, but together, they resulted in a divine southern feast. nothing hits the spot like a tangy, sweet, slow-cooked pulled pork, and tyler florence’s easy recipe certainly didn’t fail. we topped each toasted potato roll with a mound of pulled pork and a thin slice of cheddar cheese. also, i’ve never made pulled pork before, and i couldn’t believe how economical it was! the 7-lb shoulder only cost $8, and it easily fed 6 (plus leftovers)! 

the root beer baked beans from bon appetit were a little plain, but definitely hit the spot; however, next time i would use only half of the root beer, since the dish wasn’t as thick as i would have liked. the sweet and spicy cole slaw, on the other hand, took the sometimes too-mayonnaisey dish to an entirely new level! the recipe came from the blackberry farm cookbook, which was developed on the blackberry farm estate, a beautiful farm in tennessee famous for it’s award-winning food, cooking classes, and almost unimaginable picturesque setting.  their sweet and spicy foothills coleslaw carried far more flavor than it did mayo, and the kick from the spicy mustard, the sweetness from the brown sugar, and the tanginess from the malt vinegar just gave this dish so much life. and using both kinds of cabbage just made it look so beautiful!

as stuffed as we were from this feast, we all must have saved some space for dessert, since we each seemingly pretty decent sized slices of the lemon pavlova and the peach pie. the peach pie is a family recipe from my sister-in-law, jen, and the crust is just perfect! it’s salty, sweet and crumbly all at once, and can really be paired with any fruit. the lemon pavlova recipe she made, though, looked like it has been bought for sixty euros at a french bakery or something — it was gorgeous, and equally delicious! thin layers of lemon meringue over creamy lemon curd custard. the best dessert for any lemon lover. this photo does not even do the dessert justice.

now, i’m just wondering what the text themed dinner should be! any suggestions? greek? indian?

dueling cookie recipes

well, i guess you can’t really compare them to one another, but who doesn’t like a duel? i recently made (for the first time) the neiman marcus chocolate chip cookie recipe, and kathleen king’s double chocolate almond cookies featured on the barefoot contessa tv show.

i must say, after all of these years, i thought i would be blown away by the neiman marcus chocolate chip cookies (the whole myth about someone paying thousands of dollars for the recipe, etc.), but they were only slightly better than average chocolate chip cookie. the espresso powder used in the recipe seemed to take over the other flavors in the cookie. however, if you like espresso, this is certainly a cookie worth making! the recipe was extremely easy, and i baked each round of cookies for about 6 minutes less than instructed. perfect for coffee dipping! recipe below.

neiman marcus’ chocolate chip cookie recipe

ingredients

directions

Now, for the STAR! when kathleen king (of tate’s bake shop fame) made these with ina garten on the barefoot contessa, i think i was actually drooling. gooey chocolate and white chocolate chunks, crisp almonds and indulgent cocoa-flavored dough. sign me up! they were incredibly easy, and you can definitely play around with the type of nuts/variety of chocolate. a surefire make again! (and the winner of my “cookie duel”.) the recipe can be found below, or in the tate’s bake shop cookbook.

kathleen king’s double chocolate almond cookies

ingredients

• 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) salted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup firmly packed dark or light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup almonds, chopped

directions

ad hoc at home: thomas keller

from french laundry to bouchon, thomas keller has been one of the most acclaimed french chefs for years. (one day, i vow i will use my life savings to go to french laundry.) but who can really cook anything that complex at home? that’s where his latest book, ad hoc at home, on sale 11/6/2009, comes into play.

ad hoc at home shows the average kitchen cook how to create some of thomas keller’s most spectacular and impressive dishes at home, without any of the fuss. packed with illustrations and step-by-step photo instructions, this book is a perfect companion to any cook, beginner or advanced. keller teaches us to how master the basics (piece cutting a whole chicken, frying chicken, roasting ribs, making homeade chicken stock) in an easy, friendly and fun way. my friends and i gathered last night to test out some of the recipes from the book (while watching the finale of an undisclosed and embarassingly bad reality show). here’s what we tried:

summer vegetable gratin:

this baked medley of eggplant, zucchini, summer squash, onions and tomatoes was easily the healthiest dish of the evening. bread crumbs and parmesan on top added bite and additional flavor, but the terrific essence of fresh summer vegetables certainly emerged in this dish. and it was so easy!

scallion potato pancakes:

http://eatingla.blogspot.com/2009/11/win-thomas-kellers-ad-hoc-at-home.html

as a huge fan of scallions, i knew i was going to love this dish, and i did. the long strands of crispy potatoes and green scallions fried into perfection were the ideal brunch dish, lunchtime snack, or dinner compliment. in fact, i could go for one right now…

leek bread pudding:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/dining/282krex.html?ref=dining

i think if i had to name one, this might be my winning recipe of the evening. we toasted the challah bread first, before baking the crisped bread, sauteed leeks, eggs and cream for almost an hour and a half. decadent, filling, and so satisfying, this was the ultimate comfort dish.

cream of cauliflower soup with red beet chips:

http://www.akitcheninbrooklyn.com/2010/04/sashas-kitchen-ad-hocs-cream-of.html

this soup, was bar-none, one of the best soups i have ever tasted. the perfect mouthful, with the salty, sweet and crispy red beet chips, garlic croutons, and creamy, flavorful soup was absoulutely dream-like.

chocolate chip cookies:

http://www.foodgal.com/2009/06/tantalizing-preview-ad-hoc-chocolate-chip-cookie-recipe-by-thomas-keller/

i had read a cookie-off blog post that named keller’s chocolate chip cookies the best in existence. while that might not be so, these were pretty freaking good. they had two types of dark chocolate in them, along with a decent amount of salt and brown sugar. crispy on the outside, chewy all the way through, just the way i like them.

photos  © anita aguilar