holiday feasts
plus: brown butter brown sugar shortbread
Monday, December 18, 2023
Good afternoon!
December is whizzing by at what feels like warp speed and I blinked and missed last week’s newsletter. We had our annual Latke-Vodka Hanukkah party the weekend before and pretty much every day since has been booked, sometimes double, with something festive (holiday parties!) and wonderful (cookie exchanges!) and joyous (cute kid things!) that will also not make me terribly sad to spend at least a portion of January totally antisocial in a blanket cocoon, for balance and stuff.
Let this newsletter make up for lost time: We’re going to feast! Before the year is out, I hope you’ll have or invent at least one good excuse for a festive dinner party and I’ve got a few highly opinionated suggestions for what you might make. Many of these are also Christmas favorites, like the gingerbread yule log I already made once this month and will need little convincing to repeat this week since it’s so stinking easy. Okay, aromatically easy; it smells heavenly as it bakes.
Plus, I have a new recipe for the best cookie I’ve ever made or eaten, no small promise given that there are 92 other cookie recipes on Smitten Kitchen to date. I can’t wait for you to try it. I hope that all who celebrate it have a wonderful Christmas, filled with all of your favorite foods and people, and I’ll be back next week with (go Deb go!) another new recipe and a few fun ways to wrap up the year.
Cheers,
Deb
I’ve written three cookbooks and I’m a tiny bit biased, but I think you’d love them all. Want to buy a signed copy my most recent cookbook, Smitten Kitchen Keepers for a gift? Both Strand Bookstore in Manhattan and Books Are Magic in Brooklyn have copies in stock. Wondering what you might include from the book on your holiday table? I thought you’d never ask! I vote for the endive salad with apple matchsticks, winter squash soup with red onion crisp, tangy baked eggplant and couscous, and raclette tartiflette. And please don’t forget the thick molasses spice cookies, family style crème brûlée, and white russian slush punch. Were you looking for a list of all the recipes in each of my cookbooks? I’ve added these in a separate page and hope it makes it easier for you to find everything you want to cook.
brown butter brown sugar shortbread
New: These brown butter brown sugar shortbread with a whiff of vanilla bean paste and sea salt are the very best cookies I've ever made or eaten. Fifteen years ago, I shared a version of them ("shorties") that didn't work for everyone and promised you I'd get them perfect one day. I did not know it would take so long, but can promise you they're worth every second of the wait. Make them immediately, please.
sour cream and chive fantails
A dinner roll that springs open in the oven like a fan with buttery pull-apart segments looks fancy but is so simple to make.
cauliflower with almonds, raisins and capers
A few of my favorite ways to "fancy up" roasted cauliflower -- butter-toasted crumbs, lightly fried almonds, vinegar-plumped raisins, capers, and herbs. And by "favorite," I mean like to make it for lunch and, uh, wolf it down without sharing. When you try it, you'll understand.
endive salad with toasted breadcrumbs and walnuts
Inspired by the unforgettable endive salad at Estela on Houston Street, this is an often-requested family favorite. You can chop the lettuce and toss everything in a big bowl for a more classic salad, but we also love this spooned into leaf "boats" for handheld eating, as we do for our Hanukkah party. The crunchy, robust mix of cheeses, walnuts, garlic, and craggy crumbs can be made in advance and I never regret doubling it.
melting potatoes
These buttery, brothy, crispy and creamy potatoes are here to melt off our winter chill. The heat will seem too high, the butter too brown, the color on the potatoes too dark, and then you’ll try them and wonder why they alone don't deserve the dinner spotlight.
gnocchi in tomato broth
I adore gnocchi, but find most saucy preparations too heavy. This is better. The gnocchi is featherlight and dumpling-like and the puddle of intensely flavored broth is the ideal complement, especially with a few slivers of basil and grated parmesan on top.
short rib onion soup
For peak December coziness, I merged two of my favorite things: onion soup and braised short ribs into a decadent, rich stew-like soup that's as welcome at a casual drop-in as a big holiday dinner. Or, you can make it to just spoil yourself. It reheats fantastically.
alex's chicken and mushroom marsala
What, you don't know what's for dinner either? I pick this. The sauce is so nuanced and delicious, it's hard to believe how short the ingredient list is.
tangy braised chickpeas
"Brisket"-braised chickpeas -- that is, with all of the flavors of my favorite meaty braise -- with not a speck of brisket involved. This vegan dish is a perfect cozy and hearty holiday main, or apparently for eating straight from the fridge, as we can never seem to stop doing with leftovers.
cabbage and mushroom "lasagna"
A cozy, golden, bubbling, layered dish of mushrooms, cabbage, and thinly sliced potatoes bound with a bechamel sauce and topped with cheese is the perfect dish for laying low on a cold weekend. No pasta here (!), but you won’t miss it, either.
gingerbread yule log
The Smitten Kitchen's very first and only Yule log: a dark, deeply spiced, almost sticky gingerbread roll cake filled with slightly tangy, barely sweet cream, covered in the easiest chocolate bark, and studded with sugared cranberry gems. This feels festive, looks a little fancy, but every step is fuss-free -- no cracking cakes or piping bags, and we're not even going to separate eggs. I can't wait for you to try it.
linzer torte
This is my favorite Christmas cookie, an aromatic blend of walnuts, cinnamon, cloves and lemon zest that is distinctly, wonderfully December to me. Don't be intimidated by that pretty design -- Maida Heatter has a gift for making even the most complicated desserts doable and fun.
vanilla roasted pears
Butter, lemon, vanilla and sugar help these pears self-caramelize in a roasting dish. Then you serve them and their deliriously good sauce over ice cream or gingerbread and cross your fingers for enough leftovers to spoon over your morning yogurt or oatmeal.
sticky toffee pudding
A warm salt-flecked toffee/butterscotch sauce ladled over a simple brown sugar and date cake is the stuff luxurious winter dessert dreams are made of.
fairytale of new york
This wintery riff on an old-fashioned (and my favorite December song) will make your home smell amazing and will be the most welcome thing at the party (after you, of course).
small-batch eggnog
This fuss-free, small-yield eggnog recipe makes just enough for two tumblers, cozy and perfect for any scaled-down holiday celebrations, or for all of us eggnog lovers whose families do not share our superior taste.
shop my favorites
Ever wonder where I get my cutting boards, paring knives, offset spatulas and more than you see when I cook? I've created a page on Smitten Kitchen with links to some of my favorite kitchen items, the ones I'm asked about the most. I recently added several new favorites I’ve bought in the last year. For each item, I've attempted to provide a range of shopping links so we're not just focusing on one giant retailer.
See you next week!
