Filmed and Edited by Xu Zhang
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Filmed and Edited by Xu Zhang
Some people celebrate the New Year by going out New Year’s Eve and drinking large quantities of their favorite adult beverage. I celebrate by throwing a scrumptious New Year’s Day Brunch.
Of course, there are adult beverages for those who need the “hair of the dog” or for those who abstained the night before.
Here’s the video of the New Year’s Day Brunch 2015. I hope it makes you hungry and inspires you to throw your own brunch!
Filmed and Edited by Xu Zhang
* Fresh fruit salad (GF)
* Apple fig crumble (GF)
* Greek yoghurt (GF)
Smoked salmon platter (GF)
* Capers, sliced tomatoes, sliced onions, sliced Persian cucumbers and pickles
* Bagels and cream cheese
* Shakshuka (GF)
Lamb hash (GF)
* Roasted Tomatoes (GF)
* Roasted fingerling potatoes (GF)
* Rugelach (chocolate, prune, cinnamon)
Coffee
Tea
(GF) Gluten Free
* Vegetarian
The idea for this blog came to me after an elaborate Thanksgiving feast at my home. The menu included roast turkey, of course, three kinds of cranberries, mushroom herb stuffing, Moroccan vegetable stew, baked yams with maple syrup, mashed Yukon Gold potatoes, roasted purple potatoes, roasted root vegetable salad; and as a starter, whole wheat pizzas with mushrooms, fontina cheese and truffle oil.
The table was set with exquisite bone china, a damask table cloth from Italy, my Mom’s sterling silver candlesticks and a seasonal centerpiece — kind of like my Mom’s Thanksgiving. It was very elaborate, totally magical and stress free.
My guests were surprised at how calm I was and how smoothly the evening flowed. They asked lots of questions and of course requested recipes.
Based on their reactions and questions, I realized that the art of stress free entertaining and sharing meals with family and friends was something that seemed to be lost. It was too hard, too time consuming, too expensive and just too stressful.
I recognized that beyond the recipes for great food, I knew how to throw a great party. I knew how to plan it so it was stress free. I knew how to execute it so it was lively and fun.
From the beginning, my intent in creating this blog was to invite you to come to the party, to be a guest in my home, to join in the celebration and inspire you to create your own magical celebrations.
The photos, recipes and detailed tabletop descriptions give you a glimpse of what my parties are like, but now you get to actually be there through the videos.
At the same Thanksgiving that I described, I met Xu Zhang. My daughter Vera asked to invite a friend, and of course I said yes. Xu arrived at my home with beautiful flowers and was interesting, engaging and charming. She also liked to eat — my idea of a perfect guest!
Xu also turned out to be a gifted filmmaker and storyteller. I asked her to do the videos and bribed her with leftovers. I knew her to a be a talented writer and director who recently graduated from the MFA program at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. (One of Xu’s films, En Route, which I have seen and loved, has been accepted into several international film festivals.)
I told her to do whatever she wanted. Xu was a guest at each of these parties. She had complete control over the filming and editing of the videos.
Many thanks to Xu for coming to the parties! Enjoy!
Judith
Filmed and Edited by Xu Zhang
I am very lucky to have so many great memories of cooking with my mom, planning parties, watching her meticulously decorate platters and charm her guests.
My parents had a very long (over 50 years) traditional marriage and my mother was in charge of all the cooking and entertaining. My father helped. He loved to eat good food and he loved having guests at the house. This was the perfect compliment for a woman who took immense pride in her cooking, her exquisite food presentation and her picture perfect table.
Thanksgiving we all helped, starting early in the morning. I toasted the bread for the stuffing while my father chopped the onions. Of course, there was a large roast turkey with all the sides, but there were also pork chops baked with sliced apples and a New York strip loin.
Each dish had special garnish. I remember generously piling sweet shredded coconut into canned cling peach halves. I was assigned to watch the broiler as the coconut toasted. There were giant stuffed mushrooms on the turkey platter, for the steak loin; and on and on.
I remember for one of my father’s birthday parties making the meat sauce for the enormous pans of lasagna. For another party, my mother and I made rumaki chicken livers wrapped in bacon. We bought too many pounds of livers and after an hour of rolling bacon around raw livers, we began to laugh uncontrollably and vowed to never again make rumaki.
My mom Minerva passed away peacefully in her sleep several weeks ago. She had a great life and I miss her.
Cooking is not only a source of joy but also a source of comfort. So while I am still cooking and spending time at home with friends, the parties themselves are on hold for awhile. I will continue to post and share what I’m cooking and eating.
Also, videos of the actual parties are coming, so stay tuned.
Judith
Sometimes one or two pieces can inspire and set the tone for the entire party. In this case, the pieces were the table fabric and the vases.
The vases were just something I fell in love with but had no idea when I would use them. I just had to have them. I found the fabric at one of my favorite closeout stores and made the tablecloth. The fabric was so unusual and contemporary I thought it would make a spectacular tablecloth. I never thought about using them together until I pulled out one vase to check its colors and voila: They looked great together!
The idea behind this baby shower was to honor tradition and celebrate this new baby girl with a contemporary flair. The tabletop expressed this idea: Yes, there was pink in the flowers, the tablecloth and the napkins. The overall style was contemporary with a touch of my usual decadence.
The metal risers are those you have seen me use before (available at my Amazon Affiliate Store). The various heights create a dramatic table. I mixed different types of platters that worked well together and with the tablecloth. The plates are the same white ones I’ve used before. It’s always good to have a set of simple white dishes. The dessert plates with the single black rose are Rosenthal and found them on Ebay. I used ceramic place cards to identify each dish. These can be erased and reused, making them versatile and a handy addition to your tabletop collection. For the flowers, I did something very simple but fabulous. Here is a tip: an abundance of one type of flower in one color always creates a “wow” effect.
I hope the tabletop inspires you for your next get-together.
Here is what’s on my table:
Everyone raved about the rosé I served at the Moroccan Feast. The flavor was delicious and of course it was pink.
I wanted to make a specialty drink for the Baby Shower using this fabulous rosé. I came up with a Strawberry Rosé Spritzer which was perfect for a luncheon.
STRAWBERRY ROSÉ SPRITZER
EVENT: Baby Shower
Ingredients
1 pint strawberries hulled and sliced
1 bottle of rosé
2 cups soda water
1/3 cup Aperol
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Directions
1. Combine strawberries and wine in a pitcher. Cover and chill at least 3 hours to infuse flavors.
2. Strain wine and reserve strawberries.
3. In a large beverage container, combine wine, soda water, Aperol and lemon juice.
4. Garnish with a lemon twist and strawberry.
5. Serve in a martini glass to make it extra special.
This is another one of my go-to appetizers for parties.
The richness of a triple cream brie or a camembert combined with the sweet surprise of fig jam is always a hit. It’s perfect when you are having a large number of guests and want to have something already out while waiting for everyone’s arrival. Even though people might be on a low fat diet, when this appetizer appears—they dig in.
I always keep a small jar of fig jam in my pantry, so I can put this together at a moment’s notice.
You can buy fig jam at gourmet stores, or you can do what I do and buy it at World Market or an ethnic market for a lot less money. But don’t skimp on the quality! The brand I buy is Dalmatia Fig Spread (available at my Amazon Affiliate Store).
For the Baby Shower Brunch, I served it at room temperature. I have also put the cheese with the jam in a warm oven and let it melt a bit. Use your imagination when garnishing the platter. I use nuts, dried fruit and candied ginger; but you can also add grapes, sliced apples or pears and fresh berries.
At this party, I chose a small wheel of cheese. For a larger party or holiday buffet, I use the biggest wheel I can find.
Try it. Fig jam will become a staple in your pantry.
CAMEMBERT WITH FIG JAM
EVENT: Baby Shower
SERVES: 10 People
Ingredients
A wheel of camembert or triple cream French brie *
A variety of crackers or a thinly sliced baguette
For garnish:
Dried apricots
Dried or fresh figs
Sliced apples
Sliced pears
Fresh berries
Pecans
Walnuts
Hazelnuts
Directions
1. Take a thin knife and slice the top of the cheese. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect: The jam will hide it.
2. Cover the top generously with fig jam.
* A NOTE: I buy camembert or any triple cream French brie at Costco.
When I was growing up, my mom made chicken that we lovingly called “crummy chicken”. She cut up a whole chicken, bathed each piece in melted butter and coated it with a mixture of seasoned breadcrumbs, grated Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper.
I later saw recipes that called this Parmesan Chicken but I will always remember it as “crummy chicken”. Every time she made this, we devoured it.
As my taste became more sophisticated and my palate more educated, I no longer wanted a big piece of chicken breast or even thigh. I wanted a bit of chicken mixed with other flavors like goat cheese, olives and sun dried tomatoes. But I still wanted the “crummy chicken” coating. So I put it all together to create this dish.
The boneless skinless chicken breasts are pounded to 1/8” thickness and filled with a delectable mixture of ricotta, goat cheese, Parmesan, sun dried tomatoes and Kalamata olives. This filling is so yummy I take any leftovers—and you may have some depending on the actual size of the chicken breasts—and smear it on toasted baguette slices or bake it with pasta shells. I roll the filled chicken breasts in melted unsalted butter and then coat in the Parmesan breadcrumb mixture—my nod to the “crummy Parmesan chicken”.
It’s important to season your food in every step of this recipe! Chicken breasts are very bland, so you need to be sure every element of the dish is very flavorful. Taste the filling, taste the crumb mixture, taste the tomato sauce!
I bake the stuffed chicken breasts covered at first, then uncovered to get the tops browned. After they are baked, I let them sit and cool and then carefully slice them. You could stop here and serve them. But why stop there? I make my favorite tomato sauce, add a splash of heavy cream and create something even more spectacular.
This is great party fare! While it seems like a complicated recipe, much of the work can easily be done the day before the party. I actually pounded and seasoned the chicken breasts, made the tomato sauce and filling the day before. The day of the party I put it all together and the house smelled like freshly baked “crummy chicken”.
The guests couldn’t wait to chow down!
BONELESS CHICKEN BREASTS STUFFED WITH GOAT CHEESE
EVENT: Baby Shower
SERVES: 8 People
Ingredients
For the tomato sauce:
3 cloves garlic, crushed
6 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
2 28-oz cans OR, 1 35-oz can San Marzano tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup heavy cream
For the filling:
16 oz whole milk ricotta cheese
11 oz goat cheese
¼ cup chopped sun dried tomatoes
½ cup chopped Kalamata olives
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
For the breading:
1 ½ cups breadcrumbs
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
Pepper to taste
½ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
For the chicken:
4 whole boneless skinless chicken breasts (allow ½ breast per person)
Salt and pepper to taste
6-8 oz melted unsalted butter
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Make the tomato sauce:
2. Heat the garlic and oil in a saucepan over medium heat for 3 minutes until garlic is translucent.
3. Add the tomatoes, lower the heat and simmer 45 minutes – 1 hour.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add heavy cream just before serving.
Make the filling:
5. Combine: whole milk ricotta cheese, goat cheese, sun dried tomatoes, Kalamata olives with ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese.
6. Taste. Add salt and pepper. Filling should be very flavorful.
7. Set aside.
Make the breading:
8. Combine breadcrumbs, salt and pepper, and garlic powder with grated Parmesan cheese.
9. Taste. Correct seasoning. Set aside.
Prepare chicken breasts:
10. Place each chicken breast between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and pound with a smooth meat mallet or a rolling pin to 1/8” thickness.
11. Season each breast with salt and pepper.
12. Place generous portion of filling – approximately ½ cup — along center of each breast.
13. Fold the bottom edge of each breast over the stuffing and roll forward until completely wrapped.
14. Gently roll the breast in melted butter, coating completely; then in breadcrumbs to coat.
15. Place breasts in a rectangular baking dish and bake covered for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10 minutes to brown.
16. Let chicken rest on a cutting board 10-20 minutes and then slice into medallions.
17. Serve topped with tomato sauce.
This is another composed salad that is simple to make and refreshing and delightful.
The key to this salad is blanching the asparagus and plunging them in ice water (shocking them). This preserves the vibrant green color and fresh flavor. The orange zest surprises the palate and makes this a unique taste experience.
This dish will only be as good as the asparagus you use, so select them with care. Also, this is the time to buy organic oranges, as the zest will be used to top the salad.
Add the recipe to your wheat free, gluten free list!
ASPARAGUS WITH ARTICHOKE HEARTS & ORANGE ZEST
EVENT: Baby Shower
SERVES: 6 People
Ingredients
1 ½ lb fresh asparagus
16 oz canned or jar of artichoke hearts (packed in water is preferable) *
Zest from 1 orange
Olive oil for drizzling
Salt and pepper to taste
Equipment
Large bowl filled with ice water
Directions
1. Remove woody ends from asparagus by gently bending the end of each spear until it snaps off.
2. Fill large pan with water. Bring to rolling boil.
3. Add asparagus and cook for 2 minutes until vibrant green.
4. Remove with slotted spoon or tongs and immediately plunge into bowl with ice water.
5. Repeat with all asparagus.
6. Remove spears from ice water and dry.
7. Remove artichoke hearts from jar or can. If packed in oil, drain well and pat to remove oil. If artichoke hearts are whole, cut each in quarters.
8. Place asparagus on platter. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil.
9. Place artichoke quarters on top of asparagus. If they are packed in water, you need to add salt and pepper. If they are packed in oil, they tend to have seasoning on them already.
10. Drizzle olive oil over entire salad. Top with fresh orange zest.
* A NOTE: I prefer to buy the artichoke hearts (packed in water) at Costco.
