It is a shame that Presidents' Day comes in February, when sour cherries aren't in season. They are the essential fruit for patriotic icon George Washington's equally iconic dessert. I just happen to have some in the freezer leftover from last summer's sour cherry picking frenzy. We have a cherry tree growing in our neighborhood, and my dear friend Linda West Eckhardt and I seem to be the only two people who want to risk life and limb (our limbs, not the trees) by climbing up a shaky ladder to grab the shiny pale red orbs. You will be able to find frozen sour cherries at the supermarket, or certain a big natural food store like Whole Foods. But the key word is "sour." Sweet bing cherries just don't have the correct flavor, color, or texture for sour cherry pie. Here is how to make the VERY BEST sour cherry pie.
When the weekend arrives, the "fast and easy" recipes are filed away, and I look forward to a meal that has been leisurely simmered on the stove, filling the house with comforting aromas. Spaghetti and meatballs is the kind of dish whose excellence seems to be in proportion to the time it spends bubbling on the stove. I am planning a dinner party this weekend, and was wracking my brain for a meal that everyone would enjoy. It didn't take me long to decide on this, my go-to spaghetti, from I LOVE MEATBALLS. (Photo by Ben Fink.)
When I was a caterer, I served mountains of caviar at parties...and at my own soirées, too! More than once I was faced with what to do with a pound or so of leftover caviar. Obviously, the answer was to make a pile of blini and invite friends over for an indulgent meal. If you are lucky enough to have some caviar for your New Year's Eve celebration, try this authentic recipe made with buckwheat flour and sour cream. And remember, these are pancakes that should not be served hot. In fact, the heat would warm the cold caviar. So make them a few hours ahead of serving, but keep them at room temperature. With some sparkling wine to wash it all down, blini and caviar are a fine way to bring in the new year.
Here's a way to take a good thing and make it better...at least in my opinion. I don't have any blue cheese haters in my group of friends (I simply ask them to fill out a simple form with food likes and dislikes--only kidding), so this is a big hit whenever I serve it. When you want a show-stopping main course to serve with a great bottle of red wine, I don't think you can do any better than this recipe. Now, if you have friends who are challenged (if not offended!) by blue cheese, make the Rib Roast au Jus instead. Remember, than unless you get your hands on USDA Grade Prime meat, which is unlikely unless you have ordered it well ahead from the best butcher in town, it isn't really Prime Rib Roast. You are probably roasting a Choice Grade cut, and that is just fine.
Whether you are planning a buffet or a sit-down dinner, baked ham is a great choice for your main course. I have created many a baked ham recipe over the years, but this is my go-to recipe. It touches all of the bases--an easy recipe for a sweet, sticky, and fruity glaze with a little savory kick to balance the salty meat. Always start with a bone-in ham. When I bought a ham for my mom recently, she told me NOT to bring back one of the pre-sliced ones because they are too salty for her. She's right--in order to compensate for the juices lost from pre-slicing, most companies pump the meat with "sodium solution" a.k.a. salt water. If you can't find pineapple preserves, use peach or apricot.
My friend Bruce Aidells wrote a great book on cooking with beer (look for a used copy), and he asked me to come up with a contribution. I offered this stout gingerbread, and the recipe now makes an annual appearance on my Christmas baking list. The caramel notes in the stout work beautifully with the molasses and brown sugar. It keeps forever...but it doesn't last more than a couple of days in our house. Make it as a single cake, and it is a perfect addition to a holiday potluck. Bake it in individual mini-Bundt pans and they are terrific gifts. One tip that I have recently learned that I want to pass on: Never put a Bundt pan on a baking sheet for baking. The inner tube must get hot to bake the cake properly, and the baking sheet would block the heat.
Sarabeth Levine is known as the Grande Dame of Manhattan bakers. I was lucky enough to work with her on her first cookbook, SARABETH'S BAKERY: FROM MY HANDS TO YOURS, which quickly established itself as a must-have for anyone who wants to learn how to bake her famous specialties. One of the many baked goods that no one bakery makes better is her holiday stollen, a buttery sweet bread studded with rum-soaked raisins, dried fruits, and nuts. The traditional Christmas bread of German-speaking countries, commercial versions abound, but there is nothing like her home-baked stollen. Maybe I'll bring a loaf or two to the Christmas Eve party I'm attending. What do I mean "maybe"? (As for this photo...do not eat the holly!) Here's the recipe.
Yesterday, when I was on Martha Stewart Radio with my buddy Sandy Gluck, the subject of meatball lasagna came up. What makes Christmas meatball different is that the ground meat not simply added to the sauce, but rolled into small meatballs first. I hadn't made it since testing for I LOVE MEATBALLS, and my mouth started to water as I described the recipe. Now, I have already planned my Christmas dinner (roast pork of some kind), but I will find room for this delectable pasta on the table sometime during the holiday week.
Food snobs, read no further: I am about to celebrate Jell-O salad. When I was growing up (and I bet when you were growing up, too), it simply wasn't a holiday meal without a gelatin salad. For Christmas, we were served red raspberry and green lime Jell-O, Thanksgiving meant orange and yellow (lemon), and Easter was green and yellow. The canned fruit cocktail remained the same.
A few years ago, my good buddy Beth Hensperger and I were chatting about the gelatin salad tradition, and how to make it better. Beth had the brilliant idea to use wine for part of the liquid, and I took it to the next step to make this sangria version with fresh fruit. It now graces my table at either Thanksgiving or Christmas, and I highly recommend it for a solid dose of tasty nostalgia.
If you like this recipe, try (but mine is better!):
For a guy who has created hundreds (if not thousands...it's true!) recipes over the years, it is difficult to choose my favorite recipes. But, this roast pork, which I created for the folks at Driscoll's Berries, is up at the top of the list. It is absolutely perfect for the holidays. The roast can be wrapped in the pancetta a day ahead and roasted just before dinner, and the pan deglazed with the premade sweet and savory sauce. Blackberries are not a traditional holiday ingredient, but they are in season in California and you will find plump, sweet purple berries in your market this week. They add an element of surprise to the classic holiday roast.
