More is More Latke
Plus some holiday party recipe recommendations!
What I’m excited about:
🐻 The Bear lovers, unite! Courtney Storer, the culinary producer for the show, started her own Substack newsletter, here.
☕ I’m no coffee connoisseur but I’m dying to try Kann Coffee from Top Chef’s Gregory Gourdet. According to Food & Wine Magazine, it’s “one of the best coffees we’ve ever tried”. Sign me up!
🍔 Chapman’s is bringing back their burger for their “A Few of Our Favorite Things Tasting Menu” starting next week. While I don’t currently have a reservation, I would not turn one down.
🍒 Early bird tickets are on sale for Cherry Bombe’s Jubilee this April. Heavily considering…
What I’d bring:
‘Tis the damn season for holiday parties! Rule number 1: Never show up empty handed to a party. Bring something. Maybe it’s a bottle of wine that you bought from a local wine shop. Or maybeee you find a recipe that takes minimal effort but is a total crowdpleaser. Something like this Thyme and Garlic Baked Camembert or Alison Roman’s Fancy Citrusy Olives or Labne with Sizzled Scallions and Chile. For something sweet, Christmas Crack is sure to be gone by the end of the night if you leave it out in a big bowl, and would make a great party favor wrapped in individual bags if you’re hosting. An even fancier party favor? Justine’s Coffee & Cardamom Hot Chocolate Mix and TIRAMISU or SALTED SESAME marshmallows. In all honesty, I’m not much of a marshmallow person, but if anything will turn me into one, it’s tiramisu, bitch! Speaking of hosting, this is me swallowing my pride and declaring that I’m still not sick of the negroni sbagliato (which is quite festive if I do say so myself). If you over did it last year thanks to this interview, these look quite delicious and I would NOT be mad if you got extra fancy and served Paper Plane’s instead.
What I made:
Molly Baz’s Big Ass Latke from More is More because we’re trying new things! Never have I ever made a latke and I have to say I was a bit intimidated by the frying portion, which is why I gravitated towards Molly’s recipe. Instead of frying individual, small latke’s, you make a single, aptly named, Big Ass Latke. It’s topped with a mixture of sour cream, horseradish (thank you for clearing out my sinuses 🙏🏼), capers and lemon zest, as well as some quick pickled onions for that extra zing. While I highly encourage buying her cookbooks (either would make great gifts!), this recipe does happen to be available on youtube here.
Eden Grinshpan’s Classic Shakshuka with Garlicky Tahini
A few notes about this recipe. 1.) It’s from her cookbook, Eating out Loud, which is easily the cookbook I’ve gifted the most. 2.) Shakshuka is super flavorful, easy to make, and nice to your wallet. 3.) I’m very picky about my eggs, and feel like I can never get them right when I try to cook them directly in the shakshuka. Rather than disappoint myself for the sake of staying true to the recipe, I made the tried and true 7-minute eggs* and they. were. perfect. 4.) A part of me hates that I’m saying this, but I’d be lying if I said that the frozen shakshuka from Trader Joe’s isn’t one of my go-to frozen TJ’s purchases. True story: I discovered it one day when I heard a couple in the frozen section debating how many to get. The guy said to his (presumed) girlfriend “they’re always out, we need to stock up!” — my ears perked up and I immediately looked over to see what they were talking about. Sure enough, it was the shakshuka.
*7 Minute eggs: Bring water to a boil in a saucepan. Gently add in the eggs and start timer for 7 minutes. While the eggs are cooking, make an ice bath. Once the timer goes off, remove the eggs and place them directly in the ice bath to stop them from continuing to cook. Once they’ve cooled down, peel and balk in the glory of the perfectly soft boiled egg! If there’s ever a time to splurge on the orange yolk eggs, now is it!!!
Where I ate:
I’d been dyinggg to try Cobra since it opened in October in the Brewery district in Columbus. Noods and cocktails, need I say more?! Their frequently rotating menu features dishes like Crab Rangoon Dip, Dan Dan Noodles, Cacio de Szechuan and Koji Popcorn Chicken, and they stay open until 2 am (which is well past my bedtime, but worth noting).
It’s no surprise that their drink menu brings new flavors to the table, given that the owners of Cobra have worked at places like Watershed Kitchen and Oddfellow’s. I have trouble saying no to a negroni, so I got the Down & Dirty Negroni, made with Bombay Dry Gin, Martini Bitter, Rosé Vermouth, Yuzu and Genepy, poured over PEBBLE ICE *insert heart eye emoji* but have my eyes on the Above Ground Pool for the summer 👀
p.s. I couldn’t help but think about this shirt while eating Mama Chien’s Dumplings. Add it to my Christmas List. Please and thank you.
What are you making for your holiday parties this year? Let me know in the comments!