The Broke and Chic Project

I first tasted Hibiscus soda at the Brooklyn Farmacy and was smitten. I love the slightly sour, kind of zingy taste of sorrel tea (sorrel, or red sorrel, is an alternate word for Hibiscus in the Caribbean) and the soda is a milder, sweeter version. While I really admire the P & H Soda Company’s Hibiscus soda, which is served at all the hip eateries in Brooklyn, I had two tasters who complained that it is too much on the sour side. So, I decided to play around a little while I was making the Hibiscus syrup. I added some ginger, vanilla bean and black pepper and came up with a pretty delicious, subtle-tasting soda. I am going to try spiking it, to make cocktails, but just as is it makes a refreshing, unusual soda, perfect for summer entertaining. Hibiscus soda would go really well with the Jamaican Dinner Party menu.

This is a seriously easy, fast project. Essentially, you are making tea, and then a simple syrup (adding sugar) with the tea. The resulting syrup is a thick, dark pink liquid which lasts, refrigerated, for thirty days. We found that the ideal ratio was about 1/8 of a cup of syrup to 1 cup of seltzer but we like it on the dry side.

Hibiscus Syrup for Soda

• two teaspoons dried Hibiscus flowers (c. 9 flowers)
• 1 two-inch piece of fresh ginger, sliced
• 1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
• 1/2 inch piece of vanilla bean, sliced and seeds scraped
• 2 cups granulated cane sugar

1. Bring two cups of water to a rolling boil and remove from heat. Add Hibiscus flowers, ginger, pepper, and vanilla. Allow mixture to steep for twenty minutes.
2. Strain mixture with a sieve, allowing the liquid to drain into a new, clean sauce pan. Bring the liquid to a boil and add sugar and stir until dissoved. Reduce heat and allow to simmer for five minutes. Remove pan from heat and let cool for 30 minutes.
3. Strain cooled Hibiscus syrup into a clean glass jar. Store in fridge for up to 30 days.

Go Greek! This has been the request for the Father’s Day dinner party I am throwing for a few of my favorite fathers. Greek flavor combinations – olive oil, lemon, oregano, garlic – are some of the best, especially in the warm weather. The menu centers around a magnificent (oven) roast leg of lamb that has been marinated for at least 24 hours, with boiled potatoes in olive oil and fresh mint, and a tomato, cucumber and onion salad. This is easy cooking, and the only real money you need to spend is on the leg of lamb. Traditionally, lamb in Greece is served well done and this recipe produces thoroughly cooked meat. If you would like it rarer shave 1/2 hour off the cooking time. This menu serves six hungry people.

Greek Roast Leg of Lamb

• 1 bone-in leg of lamb (5-7 lbs)
• 14 cloves of garlic
• 2 Tablespoons dried oregano
• 2 Tablespoons dried rosemary
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 cup dry red wine
• The zest of two lemons
• 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (juice of 2 lemons)
• 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1. Pat lamb dry.
2. Chop eight cloves of garlic and place in a large Ziploc-type bag or glass dish large enough to hold the lamb. Add 4 teaspoons each of oregano and rosemary, 1/4 cup of the oil, wine, lemon zest and juice.
3. Place lamb in the marinade, toss to coat. Leave in the fridge to marinate overnight.
4. When ready to cook crush six cloves of garlic and stir with 2 teaspoons each of oregano, rosemary. Stir in the mustard.
5. Remove lamb from refrigerator and let it sit one hour.
6. When ready to cook pre-heat oven to 375. Remove lamb from marinade and pierce in several places with a sharp knife and cover the whole thing in the herb-mustard-garlic mixture.
7. Coat with two tablespoons of oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
8. Place on rack on roasting pan.
9. Roast uncovered in a 375 oven for 1 1/2 hours. Turn lamb over for another 45 minutes.

Greek Salad Dressing

I make this salad with chunky slices of tomatoes and cucumbers and some sliced shallot. You could happily add avocado, feta, and or/some chopped romaine lettuce.

• 1 garlic clove, minced finely
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cane sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1. Combine all ingredients and let sit at least half an hour before serving.

Potatoes with Fresh Mint

• 2 1/2 – 3 lbs of small potatoes
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small bunch fresh mint
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• salt to taste
• black pepper to taste

1. Boil the potatoes until soft yet still firm, approximately twenty minutes.
2. While the potatoes are cooking, add the olive oil to a big bowl. Chop the mint and add the mint and garlic, salt and pepper to the oil. Stir.
3. When the potatoes are cooked, pour them into the bowl with the prepared mint and garlic mixture. Toss the potatoes to coat thoroughly.

“Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels,” is Kate Moss‘s motto. But I have to say, I think if she tried these meatballs she might change her tune. They are fluffy yet rich, a little garlicky and the best friend a plate of pasta ever had. They are also easy to make ahead and store in the freezer and if you are feeding a group of kids they will make you a kind of folk hero. There are only a few persnickety things to do in preparation: you need to make fresh breadcrumbs. I stick pieces of stale baguette (two days old) in the Cuisinart and process. You need fresh grated Parmesan.  Also, the meatball mixture has to sit at room temperature for half an hour before you cook. And, in an ideal scenario, your marinara sauce would be homemade.

But aside from those things, this is truly a simple recipe which produces such a good meatball. My secret ingredient is the ground cloves which give them an unexpected, deep flavor.

The Perfect Meatball

serves 6- 10 depending on degree of hunger

• 1 1/2 lb ground sirloin
• 1 1/2 lb ground pork
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 small – medium yellow or white onion
• 2 eggs
• 1 heaping teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 2 cups fresh bread crumbs
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup warm water
• around 1/2 cup canola oil (to fry meatballs)
• homemade marinara sauce

1. Combine beef and pork. Add garlic, onions, eggs, cheese, oregano, salt & pepper. Use your hands to mix and really get things stirred up. Blend bread crumbs into the mixture.
2. Let sit at room temperature for 1/2 an hour.
3. Slowly add the warm water, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing it in thoroughly. The mixture should be very moist but hold its shape when rolled into meatballs.
4. Heat canola oil over medium-low and fry meatballs in batches.
5. At this point if you are going to freeze the meatballs let them come to room temperature, then seal in a container and freeze. If you are ready to eat simmer the meatballs in the marinara sauce for 15 minutes.

By far my favorite new tipple, the Christchurch (named after the city in New Zealand…have a better name? I’m open for suggestions…) is a wondrous concoction of flavors. It’s unusual — light, full of cucumber, kiwi and fresh lime juice and the same color as grass in the sunshine. If you are planning on having some friends over for drinks I highly, highly recommend it. The other thing that’s wonderful about the Christchurch is that it’s just as delicious without vodka, as a bubbly cooler for the kids or anyone who’s avoiding booze. The kiwi-cucumber mush is meant to stay in the glass, not get strained out. Bottoms up!

The Christchurch

makes one generous serving

• 1/2 kiwi fruit, peeled
• 1 2 inch piece of peeled, seedless cucumber
• 1 ounce fresh lime juice
• 1 ounce simple syrup
• 2 ounces (or to taste) vodka (optional)
• ice
• seltzer water to fill

1. Mash kiwi in a glass with a fork; grate cucumber into kiwi pulp and stir.
2. Stir in lime juice and simple syrup and vodka (if using).
3. Add ice cubes and top off with seltzer.

Make ahead notes: So far this recipe seems to double, triple, quadruple etc really well. You can make the cucumber-kiwi mash about an hour ahead of time (step 1) and add the lime juice and simple syrup. When you’re ready to serve divide the pulp, add the vodka and top off with seltzer.

These are by far the best chocolate chip cookies I have every tasted and on the chance that you don’t have this recipe, I’m posting it. And I am definitely not the only one who loves them! These cookies really are so delicious that even people who think they don’t like nuts in their cookies love them. There’s something about the toasted pecans that just enhances the chocolate in a way that produces a kind of Platonic ideal of chocolate chip cookie taste. It’s like, as you bite in, you realize that this is what chocolate chip cookies are supposed to taste like. The vanilla, the butter, the chocolate and the pecans all combine in a sort of alchemy tasting pleasure.

These cookies are a dinner party secret weapon because they are perfect even after a fancy meal. They are ideal after a heavy dinner or a light one; in summer with a little bit of vanilla ice cream and in winter with hot chocolate. They also accompany other deserts without overpowering them — the aforementioned ice cream, fruit salad, other cookies, even a cake or pie. They really go with everything. And when you don’t feel like making anything too serious, pulling out a plate of these at the end of dinner will make everyone smile.

The recipe is from David Lebovitz’s The Great Book of Chocolate. He explains that he got it from a now de-funkt, legendary San Francisco bakery called Blue Chip Cookies. The only thing I would add to the following is to be careful not to burn the pecans when you roast them –– about seven minutes at 350 does the trick in my oven.

Blue Chip Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 8 tablespoons [1 stick] unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/4 all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup lightly toasted pecans, chopped roughly

1. Adjust the rack to the top third of the oven and pre-heat to 300 (f). Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Beat the sugars and butter together until smooth. Mix in the egg, vanilla, and baking soda.
3. Stir together the flour and salt, then mix them into the batter. Mix in the chocolate chips and nuts.
4. Scoop the cookie dough into 2-tablespoon balls and place 8 balls, spaced 4 inches apart on each of the baking sheets.
5. Bake for 18 minutes, or until pale golden brown. Remove from the oven an cook on a wire rack.

This is a simple, almost spur of the moment, dinner party menu. It stars a summer soup, a chilled, spicy cucumber-yogurt concoction, and finishes off with seriously delicious chocolate chip cookies. All the cooking is fast and simple but the food is special enough to make for guests. If you have 24 hours notice you can make the soup and cookies the day before, but if not it’s just some concentrated cooking the day of. I made this menu when a friend, who had been in Europe for work for six weeks, came home. He was jet-lagged but super-excited to be back. We had missed him so much and wanted to celebrate his arrival but none of us felt like going out. Home was where are hearts were and this menu was fun, tasty and not very much work. Perfect for an impromptu dinner party.

Menu for an Impromptu Dinner Party

• Chilled Cucumber-Yogurt soup
• Sauteéd Broccoli Rabe
• Simple Roast Chicken
• Blue Ribbon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chilled Cucumber-Yogurt Soup

This cucumber soup is not of the minty-cool-you-down variety, but rather of the spicy-get-your-appetite going variety. For a great cooling-cucumber-yogurt soup check here. Serves 6.

• 32 ounces full fat yogurt
• 2 seedless cucumbers (“English” long-style), peeled, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 scallions, white parts only
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped roughly
• 1 teaspoon salt (more to taste)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

1. Combine cucumber, scallion, and garlic in a food processor. Pulse into a purée.
2. Add cucumber purée to yogurt in a large bowl. Stir to combine. Stir in spices and salt.
3. Chill for at least 4 hours.

Simple Roast Chicken

This is the Ur roast chicken recipe, which Thomas Keller calls his favorite, and many other chefs list as theirs, too. For six people I would make two.

• 3-3 1/2 pound chicken
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• coarsely ground black pepper

1. Place an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and pre-heat to 450 (f).
2. Dry the chicken with paper towels. Generously season with salt and pepper.
3. Place chicken in pre-heated oven. Check after 1 hour. The chicken juices should run clear when it’s cooked.

Chilled soup is one of my favorite things about eating in the summer. I love the way flavor deepens and lingers in foods that have been cooked and cooled. It’s a really different way of tasting and enjoying even familiar things when they are in their bursting, ripe summer glory. Chilled soups are a beautiful to start a summer dinner party. Usually, in the hot weather, people are less hungry and a chilled soup is a really nice at the beginning of a light menu.

Borscht is a controversial soup – some people really dislike it while others adore it. When I was little I thought it was the most disgusting thing that could be put in front of me – I loathed it with an almost violent passion which is maybe why I’m so fascinated by it now. I really love Borscht, hot and cold versions, and have experimented with many, many recipes. Borscht began its existence from trimmings of cellared vegetables that were consumed throughout the winter in the Slavic countries. Most families in Eastern European countries had a container that they kept outside to store vegetable trimmings. After the first thaw the pot was placed on the fire and the contents cooked into a soup. One of the primary vegetables of the Slavic winter diet was beets. Hence the recipe morphed into a beet soup, Borscht.

In any case, I make a very simple Borscht that produces a beautiful, intense fuschia liquid and that alchemical earthy, almost mineral-tasting soup. It really needs 24 hours to chill and let the flavors deepen so it’s perfect for make-ahead dinner party purposes. This recipe produces a Vegan soup but it’s so crucial to serve it with a dollop of sour cream that if you are serving it to Vegans I highly recommend investing in some kind of non-dairy sour cream. Also, a Cuisinart-type of apparatus comes in very handy for grating the beets. If you don’t have one, a box-grater does the trick. You might want to put wax paper down because the beets stain wood.

Chilled Borsht

• 5 beets, peeled and grated
• 2 quarts water
• 1 shallot, chopped
• salt, to taste
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• sour cream, to serve
• dill sprigs, to serve

1. Combine beets, water, shallot and salt in a medium-sized pot. Bring to a boil, then cook for 30 minutes over a low heat.
2. Add sugar and lemon juice and cook for an additional ten minutes. Take the pot off the heat and let it come to room temperature then chill for around 24 hours.
3. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and a sprig or two of dill.

Chilled Asparagus Curry

Chilled Asparagus Curry soup is brilliant on a really hot day. Thick and creamy, with a subtle curry flavor this goes especially well before cold poached salmon for a simple, deep summer dinner. If you’re making this for kids, you can reduce the amount of curry powder by half a teaspoon.

• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• two leeks, white and light green part only, halved and sliced
• two teaspoons curry powder
• 1 large baking potato, peeled and sliced
• five cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 12 ounces asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
• generous 1/2 cup sour cream or creme fraiche, plus more for serving
• pinch of curry powder (for serving)

1. Heat oil in a medium pot over low, stir in leeks and curry powder. Stir until leaks are soft but not browned. Add potato and stir. Add stock and bring to a boil. Boil five minutes.
2. Add asparagus. Bring back to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Take off the heat and puree with an immersion blender or in batches in a blender.
4. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Stir in sour cream or creme fraiche
6. Let come to room temperature, then refrigerate for four hours (minimum) – 24 hours (ideal.)
7. Serve with a dollop of sour cream or creme fraiche and a dusting of curry powder.