Petit Riz

      

I’ll walk through the door and the small New York apartment erupts with dinner preparations, the entire space is chugging with kitchen energy, my friend stirs a pot and expertly balances several dishes on the counter, elegance and grace and a touch of disorder, carrot peels in the sink, onion skins on the floor, olives marinated in lemon peel on the table, it’s all there, the elements that make being a guest at a dinner party so wonderful and addictive. I might be eating the simplest dish, but all of a sudden it’ll seem like the most complex, exotic, flavorful, and surprising dish I’ve ever tasted. It always tastes better when someone else cooks for you, my mother says. I find this is often true with a home-cooked meal. Is it the energy, the care, the surprise of ingredients we might not naturally use in our own kitchen? I’ve stored countless memories: Rice cooked in a pot lined with potatoes, fiery curry so spicy it has us sweating as we sit cross-legged around a wooden table, beetroot blinis with salmon and pomegranate seeds, purple sweet potato moussaka, tender roasted chicken rubbed with tandoori spices, pork stuffed with sweet chestnuts and goat cheese, thick zucchini fried in peppery olive oil, duck seared on a smoking hot pan, scallops cooked in white wine and garlic, savory dutch babies eaten with hot sauce.

We don’t always see the work that goes into preparing the meal. We arrive with our bottle of wine and settle into our seat, inhaling the scents and licking our chops.

When I’m hosting a dinner I’ll change my mind over and over again. I can never settle on a menu, and I either give myself too much time or not enough time to cook. I tell myself – next time I’ll make a simpler dish. But I’m reluctant to serve my guests every-day food such as fried rice or spaghetti.

At last, I’ve found three good, simple dishes. All three come from my father and Larisara’s kitchen in LA, tested and highly approved by my little brothers.

This fish curry is bound to impress. The monkfish, with its firm, lobster flesh feels like a luxury — it shines through the coconut sauce laced with yellow spice. If you have tamarind paste, dilute a tablespoon with hot water and add a teaspoon to the curry for a tangy aftertaste. While this dish is easy to make, you should follow each step carefully. The coconut milk needs to crack or separate, and this takes stirring and patience. If the potatoes are peeled and the onion diced beforehand, the dish will be quick to assemble. I promise that you’ll find your guests soaking their rice with more curry.

The beef stew is a classic dish for a cold night, but it’s also ideal for big dinners. The beef is cooked the day before. Give yourself thirty minutes the day of your dinner to prepare the vegetables and throw everything into a pot. The meat will be tender and the vegetables cooked-through, though still intact, making for a sophisticated and colorful dish.

The chicken is a light, warmer-weather dish, packed with Mediterranean flavors. The combination of olives, onions, tomatoes, and white wine is timeless and delicate. Careful to not overpower the sauce with olives, a few will provide a briny depth. Keep a big loaf of rustic bread at hand for mopping up the sauce.

Let’s not forget dessert, of course. The clafoutis. You can make it while your guests are sipping wine. If you’re eating it right out of the oven, provide guests with spoons and let them scoop it out like custard. The apples can be caramelized and cooked in advance. I’ll only make this when I’ve invited friends for a meal, otherwise I might eat the entire pan myself.

All of these dishes serve ~4 but you can easily double the recipes.

Larisara’s coconut fish curry

      

Ingredients:
1 lb. monkfish, cut into big chunks
7 small potatoes peels, or 2-3 big potatoes cut into big squares
1/2 onion sliced
1 tsp. vegetable oil
1 tbsp. yellow curry paste
2 tbsp. fish sauce
1 tbsp. palm sugar
1 cup + 4 tbsp. coconut milk
1 tsp. curry powder

Directions:
In a heavy-bottom saucepan, heat the vegetable oil. Add the curry paste and fry, stirring, for two minutes, over medium heat. Add two tablespoons of coconut oil and continue stirring. Add one more tablespoon of coconut milk and stir until the oil separates from the curry (see photo). Keep stirring for five minutes. Add the fourth tablespoon of coconut milk. The curry should look like a thick paste with particles of red oil separating from the sauce. Increase the heat a tad and add the monkfish chunks. Stir for a minute, then add 1 cup of coconut milk. It should almost cover the fish. Add the potatoes and onions. Cover and simmer for ~25min. Check the potatoes with a fork; they should be tender. Uncover and add palm sugar, fish sauce, and curry powder. Stir and taste. Add more fish sauce if the curry isn’t salty enough. Serve with rice.

      

Note: You can serve this curry with a vinegar sauce. For this, heat ¼ cup white wine vinegar, 1 tsp. salt, and 2 tbsp. sugar in a small saucepan. Once combined and the sugar is melted, add sliced shallots, sliced cucumber, sliced green chili. Drizzle over your serving of curry.

Beef Stew

Ingredients:
1 lb. beef, cut into 2-inch pieces
Sprig of rosemary
2 whole garlic cloves
2 onions, sliced and separated
2 carrots, diced
2 tomatoes, quartered
2 potatoes, cut into big chunks
7 white mushrooms
3 tbsp. butter
3 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. tomato paste
Salt
Pepper

The day before:
Cover beef with water. Add garlic, rosemary, 1 onion, and a big pinch of salt. Boil, uncovered, for 1 hour. Skim the surface. Remove the beef, strain the broth, and set beef aside with just enough broth to cover the meat. Discard onion, rosemary, and garlic.

Half an hour before eating:
Heat the beef and broth in a saucepan. In a separate saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the cornstarch and stir quickly. Continue stirring the butter and cornstarch until it turns golden and smells fragrant. Careful that it doesn’t burn! Then add the beef and broth and lower the heat. Add the potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, tomato paste, and season with pepper and ~ tbsp. salt. Cover and cook for about fifteen minutes, until the potatoes are cooked. Taste for salt. Serve with crusty bread or rice.

Chicken with tomatoes and olives

      

Ingredients:
1 big onion, sliced
3 big tomatoes, peeled and seeded
½ cup white wine
5 chicken thighs, with the skin on
Salt and pepper
6 black olives
A few fresh sage leaves
2 tbsp. olive oil

Directions:
Season the chicken with plenty of salt and pepper. Cook the onion in olive oil until soft and golden. Push the onions to the side of the pan and add a little more olive oil. Add the chicken, skin on the pan, and cover the chicken with the onions. Wait for the chicken to brown. Flip the chicken over and brown on the other side. Add the sage ad olives, cover, and cook for two minutes. Uncover, stir, add white wine, scrape pan with the wooden spoon, add the tomatoes, season with more salt and pepper, cover and cook on low heat for ~23-30min, until the chicken is cooked through but tender. Serve with rice, pasta, or bread.

 Clafoutis de pommes

      

Ingredients:
2 eggs + 2 egg yolks
1/3 cup whole milk
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp. butter and more for the pan
80g sugar + 1 tbsp. sugar
20g cornstarch

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Peel, core and cut the apples in eighths. In a large pan, over high heat, cook the apples in the butter. Sprinkle 50g sugar over the apples and cook them until they are golden-brown and lightly caramelized. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, milk, cream, cornstarch, and 30g of sugar, until smooth. Butter a cake pan. Sprinkle 1 tbsp. sugar over the bottom of the pan. Arrange the apples over the bottom of the pan and drizzle some of the syrup of on top. Gently pour the cream-egg mixture over the apples. Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden and set.