The brilliant Bodega Party in a Box kit arrived today. The Neighbors Project seriously out did themselves in the categories of overall functionality and cuteness. I am so excited to have a Bodega Party, especially when there’s one literally steps from our apartment. Honestly, the first time I went inside our neighborhood bodega I was floored by the variety of items they offered, everything from fresh veggies and fruits to deli meats, beer and wine. Emphasis on the beer and wine, because as anyone whose spent any time in Massachusetts knows, it’s rare for even fully functioning grocery stores to carry liquor.

The kit comes neatly packaged in a produce bag and includes: invitations, a shopping bag, cookbook, and funky flag party decorations. Rachel, from the blog Coconut and Lime, even has a pasta recipe featured in the collection. You can order your kit directly from The Neighbors Project for $35. Proceeds from the sales of this product go to the Food and Liquor Project, which encourages people to buy from local corner, bodega, and liquor stores.

So who’s coming to my party and what are we going to make?!

For the record I have been so incredibly impressed with all of the Tovolo products I’ve been using over the last few weeks. The molds I used for Popsicle Week were all distributed by Tovolo and the ice cream sandwich molds I tested for this post were no exception. With the assistance of these cute contraptions making ice cream sandwiches becomes incredibly easy. You begin by baking your favorite soft and chewy cookie recipe. I made a batch of Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies, of course. Next, you allow them to cool slightly before cutting out the cookies with whichever shape you decide to use. This kit comes with a heart, star, and a squircle. I’m not making that up. They actually refer to the odd shaped mold as a “squircle.”  There’s also a kit that comes with animal shapes (a chicken, cow, and pig) if that’s more your style. After cutting out your cookie shapes let them cool completely on a wire rack. Finally, assemble the cookies by placing one cookie in the mold, adding a scoop of ice cream, topping with an additional cookie, and firmly applying pressure with the cookie press. Voila! A cute ice cream sandwich is born. If you aren’t going to eat the treats immediately you’ll definitely want to place them in the freezer as they start to melt quickly.

I can definitely imagine using something like this for a child’s slumber party, birthday party, or even as an interactive end to a grown-up dinner party. Just bake the cookie shapes ahead of time and set out the molds, ice cream, and bowls of sprinkles for your guests to use.

Note: There’s actually an “xoxo” engraved on the cookie press. I was really excited about this because it made me think of that show Gossip Girl. It’s hard to see in my photos, probably because of the type of cookie I baked, but I believe if you used a lighter colored sugar cookie or peanut butter cookie you’d be able to see the detail much more clearly.

PS: Many thanks to Anna D for giving me these as a birthday gift last month! Do my friends know me well, or what?

After a long and involved process the Limoncello was finally sampled on Saturday.  Beforehand though I spent hours in the kitchen prepping dinner.   Unfortunately several glasses of wine into the evening it completely slipped my mind to take any actual shots of the cooked food.  No doubt, a common hazard of the “job.”

In reality I served a Roasted Vegetable Lasagna (specifically Portobello Mushrooms, Red Pepper, Zucchini, and Spinach) with spicy Turkey Sausage, Baked Artichokes with Gorgonzola and Herbs, and a Strawberry and Marscapone Granita.

I should warn you that even though Giada said you can eat the artichoke leaves, I thought they were really too chewy.  So I cut up cubes of Seeduction Bread (I know…I know…I’m obsessed) and served the artichokes as a sort of mini personalized fondue.   The fact that those leaves were so gross really annoyed me because it took 20 minutes to snip off the tips of six artichokes and those ends didn’t just fall gracefully to the counter in a neat pile, they flew all over my kitchen with an audible ping.  Zoom!

As for the Limoncello…well…I sort of had a hunch that I wouldn’t like it.  I haven’t been a fan of lemony cocktails in years ever since an unfortunate incident with some Bacardi Limon in college.   But my other guests didn’t seem to mind it.  CK actually liked it!  He drank his in the form of a modified Gin and Tonic.  My friend Melissa had the best response of all:

Anyway, I have two full wine bottles of the stuff left so if anyone has any good ideas on what I can do with it (besides drink it) I’d be forever grateful.

Like many of you, my Crème Brûlée obsession stems from the movie Amelie. Who can forget that gorgeous scene where Audrey Tautou’s character cracks the caramelized top of her dessert while declaring it one of life’s simple pleasures? To that end, if there is Crème Brûlée to be found on a menu I always order it.

Last weekend I decided to try my hand at this decadent dessert, but instead of making the traditional custard I opted to use the lonely can of pumpkin filling that has been sitting in my kitchen cupboard since Thanksgiving. After all, canned pumpkin needs a home (in my belly) too. That one can of pie filling yielded another tasty treat as well, but more on that later this week.

Since I can’t be trusted in the presence of 8 dishes of fabulous dessert I cut the recipe in half and also substituted light cream for heavy cream. This brought the calorie count down to 210 per pretty pastel ramekin. Sadly I didn’t actually get to use my kitchen torch as it was out of fuel. I had to use the boring old broiler method instead. Boy was that an anxiety producing activity! Chris and I stood in front of the roaring hot stove like expectant parents watching the tops bubble, while I kept saying over and over again, “They’re going to burn! They’re going to burn!” Good times…

Pumpkin Crème Brûlée (Based on the recipe originally published by Emeril Lagasse)
Makes 4 half cup desserts

1 cup light cream
1/8 cup light brown sugar
1/8 cup sugar, plus 4 teaspoons
4 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 cup mashed cooked pumpkin

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Arrange 4 (1/2-cup) ramekins or custard cups in a large metal baking pan.

In a medium saucepan, combine the cream, brown sugar, and 1/8 cup granulated sugar. Bring to a bare simmer over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks until frothy and lemon-colored. Slowly add half of the hot cream mixture, whisking constantly. Add the egg mixture to the remaining hot cream, and whisk. Add the vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pumpkin, and whisk until smooth. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl. Divide among the prepared custard cups.

Add enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the cups. Bake until the custards are just set in the center but not stiff, 45 minutes to 55 minutes. Remove from the oven and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 3 hours or overnight.

Sprinkle each custard with 1/2 teaspoon of the remaining sugar. Using a kitchen torch, caramelize the sugar. (Alternately, preheat the broiler, and broil until the sugar melts and caramelizes, watching closely to avoid burning and rotating the cups, about 1 to 2 minutes.) Place on small dessert plates and serve.

CK here for a little guest post.

At one time I was living with my grandparents, and they instituted an “Everyone cooks a dinner” rule, meaning that even I, the 12 year old kid in the house, had to prepare a meal for the family by myself. Apparently being a glutton for punishment, I told them I wanted to make an Osso Buco dish. For some strange reason they accepted. The details are now a little hazy, but I remember being able to pull off said meal with great success.

Fast forward many a year and Erin demands an evening off from cooking (attempting to disguise this as a “please make me something nice because you love me” meal). You see, CK started the whole relationship on the wrong foot by cooking for her on one of the first dates they had. Since this was one of the things that stole Erin’s heart, she has a sweet spot for any concoction that Chef CK can come up with. As she’s heard (repeatedly) that one of my greatest triumphs was the aforementioned Osso Buco recipe, this was the logical choice for my annual cooking creation.

Once I decided to make Osso Buco, I had to find the right recipe. Going to the ever trusty Food Network site, I came across Tyler Florence’s Amarone Osso Buco. The recipe looked fantastic. I especially liked the idea of Cranberry Gremolata. We decided this was the one, and proceeded to assemble ingredients.

A few surprises were immediately presented. First, neither Erin nor I were aware that veal shanks were so difficult to obtain. We went to three markets before we realized we had to go to an honest-to-goodness specialty shop. We ended up going to Savenor’s Market, which had amazing cuts of meat (though the veal shanks were especially pricey, like they would be anywhere), not to mention a great selection of other Italian specialty foods, and was once considered Julia Child’s favorite market and preferred source of meats for her cooking shows.

The second surprise we ended up coming upon was the Amarone wine. Erin was tasked with getting this for the recipe, and headed over to our local wine shop. She quickly discovered that the wine indicated in the recipe was a $50 bottle of wine. This, coupled with the $50 worth of veal we had already gotten was putting this recipe in the running for the most expensive recipe ever featured on Erin Cooks. Seeing as we wouldn’t even get the opportunity to drink this wine straight up (the entire bottle goes into the recipe), Erin decided to save a little money here and opt for a less expensive wine from the same region.

The cooking of this recipe is fairly straightforward. My recommendations would be to pre-chop all your vegetables and have them ready to dump in when the time is right. This way you can focus your attention on properly searing the shanks, instead of trying to cut things up while cooking the meat. The thing that took me aback the most was the entire head of garlic going in. When it does, it really is just slicing it in half from top to bottom, and dumping both ends in. It’s more for flavoring than eating, so don’t worry about it too much.

And finally don’t forget about the Gremolata! I was so invested in the cooking of the veal and getting and assembling all the ingredients that I forgot to make the Gremolata until we were ready to serve. It really does add a little extra “oompf” to the dish, and finishes everything off nicely.

All in all, this is a great meal to have, and if there’s only two of you, we found this to be 4 complete meals. This recipe makes two servings of Osso Buco each, as well as being able to make two days worth of soup out of the leftover sauce and vegetables, thanks to the addition of extra broth, vegetables, and some pasta or potatoes.

Amarone Osso Buco (based on the recipe published by Tyler Florence)

Osso Buco:
1 cup all-purpose flour
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 pieces veal shank for osso bucco
Extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 onion, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 lemon, zest peeled off in wide strips with a vegetable peeler
1 head garlic, cut horizontally through the middle
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 bottle Amarone wine (we used a similar, more reasonably priced wine from the same region instead)
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can low-sodium beef broth
1 (28-ounce) can whole San Marzano tomatoes, hand-crushed
Cranberry Gremolata:
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/4 cup chopped dried cranberries
2 garlic cloves
1 orange, zest finely grated
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Put the flour in a large shallow platter and season it with a fair amount of salt and pepper. Get in the habit of always tasting your flour; once it coats the veal it is harder to adjust the seasoning. Dredge the veal shanks in the seasoned flour and then tap off the excess (extra flour will burn and make the dish off-tasting). Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat and hit it with a 3-count drizzle of oil. Add the butter and swirl it around the pan to melt. Sear the veal shanks, turning carefully with tongs, until all sides are a rich brown caramel color. Drizzle with a little more oil, if needed. (Do this in batches if the shanks are big and look crowded in the pot.) Remove the browned veal shanks to a side plate. There will be a lot of flavor left over in the bottom of the pot. You’re going to use that to create your sauce.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Using the same pot, saute the onion, celery, carrots, lemon zest, garlic, bay leaves, and parsley over medium heat. Cook the vegetables down until they start to get some color and develop a deep, rich aroma. Season with salt and pepper; add a little oil if needed. Nestle the veal shanks back in the pot. Pour in the wine and let it simmer down for 20 minutes, until the wine has reduced by half. Reducing is key for intense flavor. Add the beef broth and tomatoes and stir everything together. Cover the pot and put it in the oven. Braise for 1 and a 1/2 hours. Then remove the cover and continue to cook for another 30 minutes. The sauce should be thick and the veal tender and nearly falling off the bone.
Remove bay leaves.

For the gremolata:
Finely chop the pine nuts, dried cranberries and combine. Combine this with the garlic together in a mini chopper or with a mortar and pestle. Fold that into the orange zest and parsley. Scatter the gremolata over the Osso Bucco before serving.

My love of potatoes knows no bounds. I’m especially fond of breakfast potatoes. This morning when I woke up and started rummaging around in the refrigerator for something to eat on this bright Sunday morning I was instantly drawn to last nights leftover casserole of scalloped potatoes, zucchini, red peppers and ham. “Eat me Erin! Eat me Erin,” it seemed to call from under its snug Press’n-Seal cover. I somehow managed to resist the cheesy temptation momentarily before I moved on to another, slightly more morning appropriate option. I decided to make sweetly spiced sweet potato latkes and bake them. Baking was the ultimate concession as yesterday morning I shamelessly coaxed CK into picking up a box of munchkins for us to snack on all day.

These latkes are thicker than the baked russet potato version that I made previously, and much more hash-brown like in consistency. Don’t forget to top them with your favorite condiments. I prefer sour cream, light of course — sticking with the whole donut guilt theme, but apple sauce or a fruity yogurt would also be a great addition.

Peel & Prep	Grate (the Easy Way)
Combine Potatoes & Spices	Drop by 1/3-Cupfuls
Flatten	Sweet Potato Latkes on Parade

Baked Sweet Potato Latkes (based on the recipe originally published in Women’s Health Magazine)
Makes 12 Latkes

2 pounds grated sweet potatoes
1 medium onion, grated
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick spray or use a silpat.

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Drop by 1/3-cupfuls onto cookie sheet. Flatten with spatula.

Bake for 25 minutes; flip and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Serve with light sour cream and a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg.