Cookbooks: Marc Vetri’s Fennel Gratin

Let’s face it, the holidays are stressful. They also creep up on you out of nowhere and suddenly your next-door neighbor’s house looks like a giant glowing carnival ride, you can’t find a radio station that isn’t playing mind-numbing Christmas carols, and the traffic here in Los Angeles is somehow even worse than it was before, even though I would never have thought that could be possible. And those Christmas jingles certainly don’t help with one’s impending holiday-traffic-induced nervous breakdown. Thankfully, it is easy to soothe the holiday headaches with the warmth, cheer, food and wine of the various holiday parties we end up hosting or attending. And like every holiday, my favorite part about Christmas is the food. But the last thing any of us want, is one more thing to stress about. So if you’re hosting a holiday gathering, or just looking to make a special holiday dinner without too much strain, I recommend making this fennel gratin recipe from Marc Vetri’s new cookbook Rustic Italian Food. It’s simple, elegant and delicious a perfect side dish to whatever you’re making this year.

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

Heather

Lightning-Fast Vegetarian Appetizer: Hummus and Pesto Terrine

My mom rolled into Thanksgiving this year with this quick and delicious vegetarian starter. We liked it so much that she whipped it up again for me and my dad the next night for dinner. I’d call this recipe “food assembly” rather than “cooking,” which makes it idiot-proof even for non-cooks. But it’s pretty; it’s healthy; and thanks to the sweet tomatoes, it tastes fresh. Serve it with chips, crackers, crusty bread, pita, or vegetables.

Enjoy!

xx Anna

Recipe after the jump.

‘Tis the Season for Seasonal Salad: Spinach, Endive and Pear Salad with Blue Cheese and Maple Vinnagrette

When it comes to food and the holidays, I have a weakness for tradition. And even though I am the kind of person who will eat anything and everything you put in front of me anytime of day (as long as there is some hope of it being delicious), for the holidays I like to stick with tradition. Because, after all, that’s what the holidays are all about; doing the same rituals year after year after year so that in an ever changing world we at least can rely on turkey on Thanksgiving, prime rib for Christmas and potato latkes for Hannukah. I find comfort in this. For Christmas dinner, which I have made every year for my entire family for the past five years, I always start with a seasonal salad. In my opinion, every elegant holiday meal should start with some hors d’oeuvres, cocktails and conversation, followed by a seasonal salad, a hearty main course and something special for dessert. This spinach and endive salad is the perfect salad for your holiday meal. It’s the ideal combination of this season’s flavors and is so easy it won’t take time away from the the rest of the meal you’ll be perfecting this holiday season.

Enjoy!

Heather

Eat, Drink, and Be Thankful: Thanksgiving Menu 2011

Thanksgiving is next week. I’m not going to be in charge of cooking this year. For that, I am thrilled and thankful. However,  I am in full anticipation of the holiday anyway because I’ve had more than a few conversations with friends who are suffering from Thanksgiving dread.  And I’m not talking about Thanksgiving food dread. I’m talking about Thanksgiving awkward-family-time dread.

One of my friends asked me the other day, “Why do I have to go to my brother’s in-law’s ranch in Texas?  I’m going to be forced to watch football and talk about investment banking. I hate both of those things.”

“Maybe you’ll get to ride a horse?” I shrugged. His eyebrows lifted and I saw a glimmer of hope in his eye and his crest-fallen demeanor shift for a moment.

“Maybe.” he whispered to himself, already lost in the daydream of horseback riding somewhere in the Lone Star state.

Another friend told me that Thanksgiving is always depressing for her because the average age at her family’s gathering is about seventy-nine-years-old and she feels like she’s eating in a nursing home cafeteria. Then there’s my friend who has given up on the holiday entirely, and uses it as an excuse to go to Cabo every year with his girlfriend. Then there are my doctor friends who are on-call through the holiday but have confided in me that they secretly couldn’t be more thankful for this excuse, as their “tolerance” for their extended family has become lower every year.

But the truth is, if you don’t have to cook Thanksgiving dinner than you’ve got it easy. Just relax and enjoy. It’s the one day of the year, when that’s all you’re supposed to do; eat, do nothing and be thankful for it. Because someone has to do the cooking. So for those of you who do have to do the real hard part, I’ve compiled a list of Thanksgiving menu options from the 3mbb archive to help you out. So whatever your plans are, eat, drink and be thankful that someone is cooking for you.

Hors d’oeuvres

When I was a kid, the hors d’oeuvres at Thanksgiving always stole the show. I remember often being full by the time we sat down to eat turkey because there’s only so much brie an eight-year-old can eat. So if you want to do more than a cheese plate for cocktail hour this year, here are a few appetizers to throw in to the mix.

• Pumpkin Risotto Cakes with Remoulade
• Truffle Oil Deviled Eggs
• Aunt Betsy’s Artichoke Dip
• Easy Baked Brie

Bread

We always had Nana’s Limpa Bread at our Thanksgiving table. I think you should too.

• Nana’s Limpa Bread
• No-Knead Artisan Bread

Soups

Soup is an elegant way to start the Thanksgiving meal. And the best part is that this impressive first course can be made ahead of time which will save you time and stress on Thanksgiving day.

• Anna’s Carrot-Pumpkin Soup
• Mom’s Butternut Squash Soup

Salads

There’s no better way to enjoy the Fall harvest than with a salad of seasonal fruit, cheese and nuts. All three of these will do the trick.

• Orange, Walnut, and Goat Cheese Salad with Citrus Dressing
• Pear Salad with Manchego and Cashews
• Arugula Salad with Grapes, Manchego and Toasted Pecans

Vegetables and Sides

Who needs plain-old mashed potatoes? Mix it up this year with these exciting side dishes.

• Roasted Butternut Squash with Cumin and Smoked Paprika
• Parsnip Purée
• Roasted Brussel Sprouts
• Thomas Keller’s Leek Bread Pudding
• Truffled Whipped Cauliflower
• Green Beans with Carmelized Shallots
• Sweet Potato Purée with Brown Butter
• Potato-Fennel Gratin

Turkey

There are no recipes for Thanksgiving turkey on Threemorebigbites.com. So here is a link to the turkey recipe I love to use on Thanksgiving. It’s always a huge hit.

• Cider-Brined and Glazed Turkey

Dessert

Tired of pie? Add some variety to the dessert table this year with some of these festive fall desserts. (My favorite is the date cake!!)

• Warm Date Cake with Toffee Sauce and Whipped Cream
• Carrot Cupcakes
• Orange and Goat Cheese Cornmeal Cake
• Poached Pears with Mascarpone
• Tarte Tatin with Sour Cream Pastry
• Anna’s Pear and Raisin Apple Pie

Holiday Calm: Scallops with Balsamic Cauliflower, Raisins, Marcona Almonds and Carrot Purée

Whether you’re ready to hear it or not, I’m going to break it to you. The holidays are upon us. I’ve never really been prepared for this. I begin receiving adorable Christmas cards in the mail in early December from my clearly-more-put together-than-me cousins on the east coast.  My even  more organized sister sends me family portrait cards every year. And though for eight years these consisted of just she and her husband posing on the couch for a timer shot, they now involve my nephew’s smiling face sandwiched between the two of them. This image will remain on my refrigerator for the rest of the year. I stare at these envelopes with my name and address written in flawless hand-writing equally baffled by the fact that they a) know my address and b) have time to send me Christmas cards. And even though it makes me question my maturity and ponder when I’ll ever be “grown-up” enough to collect the addresses of my entire extended family and send them cards, I love it. In fact, I love everything about the holidays, especially the food. And since we are all about to embark on a few months of rich and creamy mashed potatoes, tender braised meats, hearty roasts, mashed and roasted root vegetables, festive cocktails, egg nog, and lots of pie, I thought we could start with something lighter. This scallop recipe (inspired by Food and Wine) which I served with carrot purée, has all of the comforting flavors of fall.

On a recent visit with my family in New England, I cooked dinner. (This is becoming the norm whether I like it or not.) It was after a long day of busy, loud and “animated” family togetherness which involved a  hungover and action-packed car ride home from a wedding with a screaming two-year-old. I made these scallops for dinner. And when everyone sat down and began to chew, the table fell completely silent. For the first time that day, there was a calmness in the house. Someone once told me that when it comes to cooking the greatest compliment you can receive is silence. My sister begged me to move in and cook for her everyday. My dad kept announcing that it tasted like he was at fine-dining restaurant. And I thought to myself, who needs Christmas cards? At least I can cook.