Hungry? Want a huge feast will little effort? Host a potluck, but make sure your guests don't bring their feasts in pots they take with them.- Potatoes. Cheese Curds. Gravy. Yum and oh my! Corey Mintz investigates Smoke's Poutinerie, and offers solid places to pick up poutine in Toronto.
- Recipes Galore: Indian Popcorn, Tipsy Turtle Bark, Southwest Pita Chips, Frosty Snowmen, Molasses-Spice Lemon Sandwich Cookies, Lebanese Lentil Soup with Spinach and Lemon, Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Posts with tag potluck
Potlucks, Poutine and Loads of Recipes - The Toronto Star in 60 Seconds
The deliciousness that is pimento cheese
A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend the Philly-area food blogger potluck. I love these gatherings, because it is an opportunity to taste a huge variety of foods, all prepared by people who more than usually interested in such things. At the last potluck, someone had brought a tray of what looked like plain tea sandwiches. Triangles of white bread, crusts removes, and a thin layer of orange-y cheese in the middle.
I steered clear of this particular tray for sometime, a little appalled that someone would have brought something so seemingly basic. Then, as I was talking to a friend, she said, "Have you tried the pimento cheese sandwiches? They are amazing!"
Upon her urging, I walked over to the food table and picked up a triangle and bit in. I discovered that what I had taken for soul-less white bread was actually a bit chewy and sour, with a fresh, newly baked aroma. And the cheese that was holding the slices together? Pimento cheese that was pungent, sharp, tangy and wonderful. These were not my Aunt Doris's tea sandwiches.
Earlier this week, Cookthink ran a post about the many ways that it's possible to reinvent pimento cheese, which made me start thinking of those potluck sandwiches. I think that there is pimento cheese in my very near future.
Have a meal with a neighbor on January 12th
In 2002, the state legislature of Pennsylvania passed a resolution, declaring that the second Saturday in January was to be known as "Invite your neighbor to dinner day." That just happens to be this upcoming Saturday. And no, I am not kidding. Their intention was to foster goodwill among people who live within close proximity of one another and to encourage people to reach out to the neighbors that they might not know well. They chose the second Saturday in January because they couldn't find any major holidays that would conflict with it and thought that it might also be a way for people to beat the post-holiday blues.
As a big proponent of communal eating, I love this idea and so thought I'd pass the word around. It's a great idea, even if you don't happen to live in the Keystone State (as I do). There's also a website that offers tips on ways to make dinner with a neighbor doable for you as well as a little history about how this movement got started. Even if you can't do it this Saturday, why not make a plan to get together with some neighbors for a meal. Keep it easy on yourself and make it potluck (this pasta bake makes a great potluck dish, if you need a little inspiration). Just have a meal with a neighbor and make your community a little closer.
Asian inspired homemade pickles
My friend Wendy is an terrific cook. She is the one who made the gorgeous and tasty cheesy pita chips I mentioned awhile back. Despite the fact that she isn't actually a food blogger, she stopped by my place last Friday for the potluck and brought with her a couple very excellent dishes. One was a Vietnamese tofu and rice dish. I got to keep the leftovers and ate them the following morning for breakfast. The thing she brought was a batch of quick homemade pickles. These pickles were delicious. They held onto a fresh crispness while still absorbing all that puckery vinegar goodness.
At the end of the night there were but three lonely spears floating in a dish full of pickling liquid. With Wendy's permission, I poured those leftover spears and all the pickling juice into a jar. The next day I sliced up some of my own cucumbers and popped them into the jar, thus extending the life of her pickles for another week or so. Luckily today she sent me the recipe for the pickling liquid, so when this batch runs out, I'll be able to make my own. I recommend you do the same, as they bring such brightness, both in taste and in color, to fall and winter meals.
An autumnal casserole
Sometime last week, while I was on the phone with my mom, she said, "Just a second, there's a recipe I want to read to you." Pulling out an ancient pumpkin cookbook, she proceeded to narrate a recipe that consisted of pumpkin, potato, cheese and egg, all mashed together and baked in a casserole dish. It sounded yummy, but a little plain, and so I tucked it into the back of my mind to let it hang out for a couple of days.
Then Friday rolled around and I needed a recipe that would be delicious, seasonal and just ever-so-slightly impressive because it would be my offering at the first-ever Philly food blogger potluck. I called my mom for the exact recipe to use as inspiration and then went my own way with the dish. The final product was amazingly good, full of acorn and butternut squashes, yukon gold potatoes, gruyere, parmesan, sage and nutmeg. It was something of a hit with the food bloggers and by the end of the night there was only a little bit left in the far corner of the pan. If you're looking for something new for your Thanksgiving table, this would be an excellent way to go.
Food Porn: Layered Carrot Cake
In the winter months I think of comfort food, and when I think of comfort food three things immediately come to mind: meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and carrot cake. Brilynn at Jumbo Empanadas is allowing me to satisfy one of those cravings vicariously with a 3-layer carrot cake she adapted from a Dorie Greenspan recipe. Certain substitutions were made after discovering she was either missing or short on a few ingredients, but I think the addition of dried cherries (to make up for a lack of raisins) would really enhance this dish.
Though she made the cake itself for a potluck lunch, the 6-layer sample shown in front was ingeniously prepared for her own tasting pleasure. I really need to remember that trick the next time I bake something.
Slashfood Ate (8): Potluck tips
Likely, if you're not throwing a party yourself this weekend, then you're going to someone else's, and that's the weekend schedule from now until September. It's high season for summer soirees. And likely, the parties will be potlucks because it seems more and more that potlucks are becoming a popular way of entertaining. It relieves a huge amount of pressure from the host, who needs only provide the place and perhaps a main dish. After that, it's all out of the host's hands, right?
Not so fast. A proper potluck may take some of the food preparation pressure off the host, but it still requires a little bit of savvy planning. What do you need to do in advance? Party professionals offer some tips via the Washington Post, and here are the ones that I found especially helpful:
- Hardy greens like Romaine, endive, radicchio, and frisee hold up better in salads
- Less chance of food safety problems with vinaigrettes than creamy dressings
- Place dressing in bottom of bowl, with greens on top, then toss the salad once you get where you're going - the salad wont' get soggy during transport
- Roast potatoes instead of boiling for potato salads
- If fruit isn't completely ripe, toss with orange liqueur for a fruit salad
- Use frozen cubes of watermelon, grapes, or cherries to chill drinks instead of ice
- Instead of using disposable containers, take your potluck dish in a dish that you will "gift" to the host
- Serve Asian-inspired foods in disposable Chinese takeout boxes, which are inexpensive at party stores
Lunch Clubs at work
After successfully promoting the supper club trend that has become so popular in the past could of years,
Cooking Light highlighted a new concept in this month's issue of the magazine.
Many people who work outside of their homes eat lunch out almost every day. The days that they don’t eat out they are as likely to grab a candy bar and a bag of chips out of the hall vending machine as they are to have brought something from home. Beyond a peanut butter sandwich, sometimes it can seem daunting to prepare a whole meal in the morning before you leave for work. The concept of the lunch club is that different people bring in foods on different days of the month, dividing up the cooking duties but still providing everyone in the office (who wants to participate) with a full, healthy lunch.
Holiday parties: cocktail goodies to bring at the last minute
Last night I called my husband on the way home from dropping off our babysitter. "What should we bring to the
party?" I asked. We were doing potluck with some of my best mama friends, plus hubbies and kids. I knew there
would be brie en croute (Olivia's specialty) so my husband's first suggestion was off the table. I thought a minute,
back to the snack I'd eaten in the midst of shopping at Bar
Pastiche.
Tapas, I thought.
So I stopped at my fave Italian market and ordered a range of Spanish and Italian cured meats - jamon serrano, mortadella and a new kind of salami suggested by the woman standing behind me in line (sorry for taking most of it!), and a jar full of pitted green olives. I had Oregonzola at home and, once we arrived at the party, quickly shoved some blue cheese into the olives. My husband set the lovely meats out on a platter with the olives and extra crumbled blue cheese, making dirty martinis with some of the extra olives. Cured meats, blue cheese stuffed olives, and a nice pink Spanish wine - salty and refreshing and delicious, a total hit. What do you bring at the last minute?
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