This is one of the fabulous recipes from Food52 – which is a wonderful hors d’oeuvres for a dinner party (just make sure to have plenty of napkins) or perfect side dish next to a hardy soup. Check out the original recipe here or follow my slightly modified version below.
Makes 12 crostinis
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 2-3 minutes
- 5 oz of seasoned spreadable goat cheese (we love Chavrie goat cheese with basil and roasted garlic)
- 1 pinch fleur de sel
- 1 tablespoon each of freshly chopped tarragon, chervil, dill, parsley
- 1/4 cup of finely chopped red onion
- 1 large bunch broccolini
- 1 tablespoon fresh meyer lemon juice
- 1 sourdough baguette cut in 1″ slices, toasted
- 3 tablespoons excellent quality olive oil
Mix the goat cheese, tarragon, chervil, dill, parley, onion & salt together in a bowl with a fork. In a large pot of salted, boiling water, blanch broccolini for 2 minutes. Remove and run under cold water. Coarsely chop and put in bowl. Top with pinch salt, olive oil and lemon juice. Lightly toast the baguette slices, and smear the chevre spread on. Top with broccolini making sure to include a small drizzle of olive oil too.
The New York Times has come out with their list of top 30 coffee spots in the city – Here are some highlights and our favorites to add to our Top 5 coffee in NYC:
ABRAÇO There’s barely room enough for six standing adults, never mind the dozen or more who can crowd in during prime time. And yet in this cramped space the baristas turn out some of the city’s best cappuccinos and drip coffee. There’s a small, exquisite selection of baked goods, including a memorable cookie with cured olives. The owner, Jamie McCormick, will start roasting beans soon in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. 86 East Seventh Street (First Avenue), no telephone, abraconyc.com.
BLUE BOTTLE COFFEE The sleek Williamsburg location of this San Francisco import has single-origin espresso from a vintage San Marco lever machine, five Japanese slow-drippers that take 12 hours to make iced coffee and other unusual gadgets. All beans are roasted on the premises. 160 Berry Street (North Fifth Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn; (718) 534-5488, bluebottlecoffee.net.
LA COLOMBE TORREFACTION A Philadelphia company known for its darker roasts. It opened a loft-like TriBeCa storefront in 2007 and a more streamlined coffee bar in SoHo in 2009. 319 Church Street (Lispenard Street), TriBeCa, (212) 343-1515; 270 Lafayette Street (Prince Street), SoHo, (212) 625-1717, lacolombe.com.
KAFFE 1668 In some ways, Kaffe 1668 is a neighborhood cafe; in other ways, it’s an orthodox coffee bar. For New Yorkers on the run, there are lattes in paper cups and jumbocookies. But for the obsessed, there is drip coffee from a Clover machine, or seasonal single-origin espresso, which the baristas refuse to serve in a cappuccino because the milk would mask the flavor. 275 Greenwich Street (Warren Street), TriBeCa, (212) 693-3750, kaffe1668.com.
MOOMAH CAFÉ An arts and crafts center for stylish TriBeCa children where the coffee is as good as at any of the hip spots in Williamsburg and Greenpoint. Stroller parking out front. 161 Hudson Street (Laight Street), TriBeCa, (212) 226-0345, moomah.com.
NINTH STREET ESPRESSO Each Ninth Street Espresso feels different, and yet the harried shoppers at the Chelsea Market, the parents with strollers across from Tompkins Square Park and the laptop crowd at the original Ninth Street location all enjoy uniformly excellent coffee. Last spring, the owner, Ken Nye, did the next best thing to roasting his own beans by creating the Alphabet City Blend with Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea. It’s good in a cappuccino, great in a macchiato and exquisite in an espresso — which is only available to stay. 700 East Ninth Street (Avenue C), East Village, (212) 358-9225; 341 East 10th Street (Avenue B), East Village, (212) 777-3508; in the Chelsea Market, 75 Ninth Avenue (West 15 Street), (212) 228-2930; ninthstreetespresso.com.
Crosby Street Hotel Skip lunch and opt for the delicious (and filling) afternoon tea with a New York twist and sit among the beautiful people and the beautiful decor at the Crosby Street Hotel
Ippudo Excellent traditional ramen at this lively Tokyo spinoff . Try sitting at the communal table for a more intimate experience!
Angelica’s Kitchen Extremely healthy, sustainable, plant-based cuisine in a warm bohemian east side atmosphere. The place to go when you’ve over done it!
Cafe Sabarsky Located in the Neue Gallery in the Upper East Side, Sabarsky serves refined Austrian favorites including an incredible array of delectable tarts, cakes and strudels – and they always serve their delicious coffees on a silver platter. Now who can resist that?
Minetta tavern The new venture from the team behind Balthazar & Pastis has succeeded again by creating a warm and inviting restaurant, impossible to get into, with great brasserie food. Our tip: go for brunch, when the hipsters aren’t up yet. And if you’re wondering whether you should invest the extra 10$ for the Black Label Burger, the answer is yes, it’s really $10 better!
Wildwood Restaurant & Pavilion (Vail, Colorado) Where else can you find mouth-watering fall-off-the-bone BBQ chicken 2 miles up? This is the best lunch spot after a few hours of skiing. Located at 11,000 feet at the top of Chairs 3 and 7, you’ll find the great tastes and foods of Wildwood.
Le comptoir du Relais (Paris, France) Near the Carrefour Odeon is the very popular and always bustling bistro Le comptoir, which is adjacent to the hotel of the same name. Swift service, a well composed menu and pleasant atmosphere make this a must when in Paris
L’estaminet des enfants rouge Wonderful neighborhood market & restaurant with a lovely seasonal menu and most importantly a great place to have quick Parisian breakfast
Takara (Paris, France) This unassuming restaurant is not only one of the more delicious Japanese restaurants we’ve been to but it’s also the oldest Japanese restaurant in Paris. This is an institution that excels in authentic Japanese dishes with a few modern Parisian twists
These snacks and hors d’oeuvres will do just as well for a glitzy Oscars night viewing party as for a game night! They are elegant yet hardy and most can be prepared in a cinch. We recommend popping Champagne for this, but beer will do just as well (at least that’s what we’ve been told)
Polenta-crusted chicken with honey mustard sauce
This is the lazy man’s molten chocolate cake! It’s a “pantry” type recipe: almost everyone I know has these ingredients on hand – which makes it a perfect dessert to make for an impromptu dinner party or a lazy Sunday supper. Adapted from Bill Granger’s Bill’s Food this has been a go-to recipe for years.
Serves 4 (but is easily doubled or tripled)
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 to 25 minutes
Pudding
- 1 cup of plain flour (I’ve also used spelt flour for this recipe)
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 3 teaspoons of baking powder
- 4 tablespoons of cocoa powder
- 1 cup of milk (soy milk work wonders too)
- 3 oz unsalted melted butter, cooled
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Topping:
- 3/4 cup of soft brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
- 1 cup of boiling water
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Sift flour, salt, sugar, baking powder & cocoa powder into a bowl. Add the milk, butter, eggs and vanilla extract and mix with beaters until combined. Pour into four greased oven-proof ramequins.
Stir the brown sugar & cocoa powder together in a bowl to combine, then sprinkle it over the pudding batter.
Pour the boiling water over the puddings, then bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Serve with whipped cream or the best vanilla ice cream.
Everyone will love this, kids & grown-ups, it’s sophisticated enough for a retro-themed cocktail party & hardy enough for a game-night feast…The polenta gives a nice crunch to the oven-baked chicken!
Makes: 20 to 30 bites
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 10-13 minutes
Polenta-crusted chicken
- Cooking spray
- 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour (you can also use rice flour which will make the chicken crispier)
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 1/2 cups fine polenta
- 1 tablespoon of paprika
- 1 tablespoon of Moroccan spice mix
- 1 1/2 pound of organic pastured chicken breasts & thighs, skin removed & deboned, sliced into bite-size pieces
- Salt, for sprinkling
Honey mustard sauce
- 1/2 cup of Dijon mustard
- 3 tablespoon of plain yogurt
- 6 tablespoons of honey
- 2 tablespoons of ketchup
Preheat the oven to 425 ºF. Coat a baking sheet liberally with cooking spray.
Put the flour in a small bowl. Pour the eggs into another bowl. Mix together the polenta, paprika & Moroccan spices in a shallow bowl. Working in batches, dredge the chicken into the flour. Dip the flour-dredged chicken into the eggs and then coat with polenta mix.
Place the chicken on the baking sheet and bake for 10 to 13 minutes, until crisp and goldden and cooked through. Sprinkle with salt.
To make sauce: combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Serve the chicken with little dishes of sauce for dipping.
This is pizza without the crust! It’s a wonderful recipe adapted from Giada de Laurentiis. Fun to make and easily doubled or tripled for large crowds.
Makes 16 to 20 mushroom
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
- 1/2 cup jarred roasted red bell peppers
- 3/4 cup of diced pitted green olives
- 1/4 cup of grated Pecorino Romano
- 1/4 cup of grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- 3 scallions, white parts only, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt & fresh ground pepper
- 1 pound of extra-large white button mushrooms, cleaned & stemmed
- Basil, shredded for garnish
Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a bowl, mix together the roasted red bell peppers, the olives, the cheeses, scallions, olive oil, salt and pepper.
On a baking sheet, place the mushrooms gill side up. Spoon the filling into the mushrooms cavities, mounting it slightly. Bake until the mushrooms are tender, about 20 minutes.
Transfer the mushrooms to a serving platter, garnish with the chopped basil, and serve.
