I really love cooking for friends but, let's face it, you're always trying to impress them. Or at least give them the best kind of hospitality you can manage. Now that I'm in my thirties, all of us are trying to make our way and prove it by talking about our stock, our real estate or our salaries at every possibility. It's exhausting, to say the least, and so are some of the parties thrown - rife with intimidating ingredients and the guilt of an organic provenance draped all over them. Some of the best parties I've been to were totally unapologetic: rolls, a vegetable platter, a fruit platter, sliced cheeses, ham and a big knife. I just like delicious food that makes you feel as if the host and hostess haven't been sweating madly and arguing over whether the vegetable brunoise is in fact a brunoise. Every dinner party I've thrown so far has made me feel as if I have been that mad hostess, except for this one. My husband came up with it, and it's a nice mix of plain but special food. Be forewarned, though: it does take a bit of time, especially if you're not used to rolling out pie dough or noodles. In that case, I would bake some cored apples with cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon rind earlier in the day to have with the ice cream.
Fresh noodles with butter and Parmesan
Pesto
Green saladApple pie
Lemon Chicken
This is a variation on Chicken Escoffier, which I gleaned from the Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook. The best part of the recipe is the use of clarified butter, which doesn't burn or smoke or cause problems when frying up the chicken. I did away with the whole problem of melting the butter and skimming off the clear butter by buying a jar of clarified butter from the Indian grocery down the street. If too much butter stresses you out, just use olive oil instead.
2 whole large chicken breasts
3 lemons
Salt and pepper
4 tablespoons clarified unsalted butter
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan
1/2 cup white wine
Cut the chicken breasts in half and salt and pepper on both sides. Zest the lemons and mix in with the chicken. Put the chicken in the fridge for 3-4 hours to marinate. Melt the butter and coat the chicken on both sides with butter, then pat the breasts in the breadcrumbs on both sides to create a crust. Let the chicken stand for 10 minutes. Heat two tablespoons butter plus two tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Put two breasts in the pan, reduce the heat to medium-low and saute for 5 minutes on each side, till the crust is a rich golden brown. Remove the chicken to a separate plate to keep warm and cook the remaining chicken the same way. When finished cooking all the chicken, squeeze the lemons into the empty pan, pour in the white wine and scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Season this pan liquid with salt and pepper and pour over the chicken breasts. Sprinkle with some flat-leaf parsley if you've got it and surround with quartered lemons to squeeze over top.
Lemon Chicken
This is a variation on Chicken Escoffier, which I gleaned from the Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook. The best part of the recipe is the use of clarified butter, which doesn't burn or smoke or cause problems when frying up the chicken. I did away with the whole problem of melting the butter and skimming off the clear butter by buying a jar of clarified butter from the Indian grocery down the street. If too much butter stresses you out, just use olive oil instead.
2 whole large chicken breasts
3 lemons
Salt and pepper
4 tablespoons clarified unsalted butter
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan
1/2 cup white wine
Cut the chicken breasts in half and salt and pepper on both sides. Zest the lemons and mix in with the chicken. Put the chicken in the fridge for 3-4 hours to marinate. Melt the butter and coat the chicken on both sides with butter, then pat the breasts in the breadcrumbs on both sides to create a crust. Let the chicken stand for 10 minutes. Heat two tablespoons butter plus two tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Put two breasts in the pan, reduce the heat to medium-low and saute for 5 minutes on each side, till the crust is a rich golden brown. Remove the chicken to a separate plate to keep warm and cook the remaining chicken the same way. When finished cooking all the chicken, squeeze the lemons into the empty pan, pour in the white wine and scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Season this pan liquid with salt and pepper and pour over the chicken breasts. Sprinkle with some flat-leaf parsley if you've got it and surround with quartered lemons to squeeze over top.