VittlesVamp

New Year's Curry

I'm woefully late on my New Year's post, but the truth of the matter is my New Year's Eve wasn't any major shakes. It involved a bagel and watching the last few episodes of "Game of Thrones" on-demand. (Now, don't get jealous of my crazy, New York, glam lifestyle!)

Still, I didn't feel the need to do anything special on New Year's Eve. I'd already had plenty of good times, good friends, good food and good drink a few nights prior.

That's the thing about a really good dinner party. It can carry you through a few weeks -- especially when the dinner party was really an all-day affair.

In this case, the affair began with my Spice Hunting pal Max. (Get your mind out of the gutter!) We had always wanted to cook together. (Once again, get your mind out of the gutter!!!) It was the time to make the dream a reality. We hit Chinatown with a vengeance and returned to my Brooklyn kitchen with a bevy of ingredients, including sesame seeds, supremely fresh fluke, green curry paste, freshly hacked chicken parts, frozen coconut milk, baby bok choy, fresh ginger, sesame seeds, serious soy sauce, rice cooking wine, stalks of lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, and of course, this essential...

Okay. Now you can put your mind in the gutter! And while you're there, let me regale you with the dinner preparations...

*Max's rich and fragrant Chicken Curry with Eggplant and String Beans beginning a two-hour journey on my stove top...

*Baking up mixed nuts with melted butter, brown sugar, sea salt and Japanese Seven-Spice Powder for a perfect nibble with cocktails

*Slinging a sharp knife to finely dice the fluke with a bit of miso paste, sesame seeds, ginger and scallion, for a Japanese tartare that made a fish-hater swoon.

*Pouring decadent, deep chocolate ganache over a Chocolate-Orange Cake...

As you can surmise, the meal didn't suck. In fact, it was nothing short of fantastic.

Next on the docket with my Spice Hunting pal: a trip to Little Italy (or dare I hope, Arthur Avenue?) and a day filled with pasta-making and cucina Italiano.

Seriously. Who needs to blow it all out on New Year's Eve when you have the whole of 2012 to enjoy?

My 2nd Annual Faux Thanksgiving

Suddenly what is faux is what is real -- at least at Chez VittlesVamp. For the second year running, I have followed up my Philly Chinatown Thanksgiving a week or so later with a full-on turkey spread, surrounded by friends and enough food to feed a small army (okay, perhaps a large army!).

This time around, I got the turkey from Paisano's Meat Market on Smith and dry brined the bird for three-days straight a la Chef Judy Rodger's famous "Judy Bird." One taste of the bird's gloriously succulent flesh and I knew that the "Judy Bird" was justly famous.

But man does not live by turkey alone. At least not at my table!

There was a Butter Lettuce Salad with Radishes and Scallion Buttermilk Dressing, Haricot Verts Almondine, Stuffing with Cremini Mushrooms and Andouille Sausage...

...Homemade Gravy with Turkey Drippings, my friend Martha's Brussel Sprouts with Red Grapes, Toasted Walnuts and Yogurt...

...Cranberry, Quince and Apple Chutney, and -- compliments of a recipe in Garden & Gun -- Sweet Potato Casserole with Sorghum. Check out the deets here.

(Warning: Your rendition will never be as good as mine, because my sorghum came from a friend's farm in Stinking Creek, East Tennessee. Seriously. It is of the utmost importance to know your sorghum's terroir!)

And if that wasn't enough to send us off into a blissful food coma, there was dessert...

This gorgeous Pecan Pie, as well as Martha's apple beauty, were enhanced by the creamy goodness that is my pal Max's Scotch Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. If you want the scoop on said frozen confection, here's a link to Max's recipe up on Serious Eats.

Feeling full yet?

Now, if the links above to the sweet potato and ice cream recipes aren't enough for you, hold tight. One of my personal T-day recipes will coming your way shortly. Stay hungry!

Beauty, Thy Name Is Porchetta

My friend Dori recently graduated from culinary school. I know it was a tremendous slog, alongside a full-time job and being a full-time Mom. That said, having the pleasure of eating at her home last night, I can say without hesitation that the slog was worth it -- at least for me and my tastebuds.

The star of the show (besides Dori herself) was a dark brown, caramel crackling, hunk of porky love in the form of a succulent Sara Jenkins-inspired Porchetta. Pictured above, it was truly a thing of majesty, providing heaps of porcine pleasure unabated.

The rest of the spread was mighty fine as well...Tiny Latkes topped with fig jam and duck confit...Crostini slathered with bone marrow butter, slivers of radish and a sprinkling of sea salt...Farro Salad glossed in brown butter, served with butternut squash, cauliflower and goat cheese...

The bar was dutifully stocked as well, and her Blood & Honey Punch -- featuring bourbon, honey, blood orange juice and more -- was downed right quick.

All in all, I'm a little concerned.

Still no kitchen and I already feel like I need to get my culinary game on. How else can I continue to claim the title VittlesVamp? Once that kitchen is done -- please let the countertops come tomorrow! -- I'll be grabbing my whisk and game on!

Dori best come hungry.

Another Tripe Adventure

No sooner do I mention my fondness for tripe, when my chef-type pal Stan admits that he has always wanted to tackle tripe in the kitchen, but never had a dinner guest who would oblige his fascination with bovine stomach line.

What can I say? I'm very obliging.

Good thing too, since his hearty Roman-style rendition served over Parmesan-scented polenta was utterly delicious. And, with my baking an Olive Oil-Lemon Cake to bring up the rear, a well-rounded meal was had.

Needless to say, we both felt very well-rounded at the evening's end. Well, more round anyway. In fact, rather roly-poly.

Next time, I have to get obsessed with rice cakes. Plain rice cakes. Dry rice cakes. Much better for the waste line.

But then I won't be able to use the phrase "roly-poly" in the resulting posting. Hmmm...Tough call.

Tripe stew it is!

The Gelatin Conversation

Some discussions can only be had with a good friend. Preferably, a good friend from the Deep South.

Such was the conversation I had with my Arkansas born-and-bred pal Elisabeth, who graciously offered expert insights into the culinary delights of gelatin molds -- both savory and sweet. I wasn't going for Bill Cosby's Jell-o advice, but bona fide Dixieland wiggly, jiggly aspic intelligence.

The reason: A request for a Tomato Aspic at an upcoming Cajun-theme soiree.

The whole notion of it sounded daunting and nauseating at once.

Elisabeth concurred that the usual jellied specimen was a ketchup flavored mess. But, after a half-hour of discussing the merits and pitfalls of a series of Ambrosia and Cranberry gelatin ring mold recipes, among others, I now feel confident about forging ahead with a spicy Vamp-ified version of the classic Tomato Aspic.

I'll let you know how it turns out in a few weeks when I throw my Bayou bash. And, if it's as tasty as I hope, I may even share the recipe, wiggles, jiggles and all.

Third Floor Dinners

As a cost-saving measure, several of my third floor neighbors and myself have decided to have monthly rotating dinners at our apartments.

This time around, the group supper was at Mr. P and Mr. L's place. The meal included talk of the 'hood, talk of workplace trials and tribulations, talk of bad reality TV and talk about the moan-worthy meal we were savoring, including Mr. P's luscious rendition of Craig Claiborne's Chicken Bourgogne (pictured above) from The New York Times Cookbook. Mr. L's still-warm-from-the-oven Dark Chocolate Molten Cake topped with scoops of Vanilla Ice Cream also drew sighs of pleasure.

Unsurprisingly, we all agreed: THIS is most certainly the way to get through a recession!

Lost Party Underway

The table is filled with Southeast Asian Meatballs, Honey Lacquered Duck with a Cucumber Mango Salad in a Thai Vinaigrette, Spicy Tiki Noodle Salad and Coconut Rice.

But before the episode kicks off, Max's punch making is underway.

Witness the fruit-infused iceberg that he has created for the occasion.

Reminds you a bit of a certain island, doesn't it?

More on the festivities later...

Dharma Dining

I'm on tenterhooks. Tomorrow night is the season premiere of "Lost."

Hafta admit that I'm totally and undeniably hooked. So much so, that I'm once again hosting a "Lost" party, complete with Pacific Rim, tropical island-theme fare and a doozy of a Polynesian punch compliments of Jack the Horse's gifted bartender Maxwell Britten. And, for dessert there will be a ridiculously delicious riff on one of the Dharma-branded foodstuffs above.

Log on tomorrow evening, before the new episodes start rolling out at 9pm, for a live blogging look at the repast.

Christmas Day Española

My friend Laurel has spent 2008 trying to perfect the culinary craft of making Tortilla de España. Well, it may have taken her a whole year, but as you can see from the photo above, practice certainly did make perfect.

And, to show off her hard-earned Spanish cooking skills, she decided to take it up a notch inviting a gaggle of guests to her Inwood home for a Christmas array of tapas. From her flavorful Pan con Tomate to garlicky good Champiñones al Ajillo to Sherry-doused Gambas con Pimiento...

...it was like I was transported back to Barcelona.

Christmas Eve in Italy. Christmas Day in Spain. It does make me wonder where I'll end up for New Year's Eve.

The Vamp's T-Day Contribution

You didn't expect me to show up to my friends' Thanksgiving dinner empty-handed, did you?

The two bottles of wine were a forgone conclusion. Still, I needed to bring more to the table than Australian Sauvignon Blanc and Argentine Malbec. So, with all the customary sides already claimed by others, I decided to whip up a few pre-dinner hor d'oeurves for good measure.

Happily, my Marinated Mushrooms with Fresh Thyme were gobbled up at a steady clip. But, it was my Tomato and Fresh Ricotta Bruschetta (pictured above) that seemed to vanish all too quickly. Not as quickly as the platter of Deviled Eggs, mind you, but they did come in a close second...

Tomato and Fresh Ricotta Bruschetta
(Serves 5 - 6 as a pre-dinner snack)

1 pint grape tomatoes
1/4 cup and 1 TBSP olive oil
1 large garlic clove (minced)
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
pepper to taste
1 baguette
1 cup fresh ricotta
Fresh basil (chopped)

Toss tomatoes with 1 TBSP olive oil, minced garlic, sea salt and freshly cracked pepper. Place in a pan and bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees in a pre-heated oven. If the tomatoes haven't blistered, put on broil for an additional 5 minutes and then remove from the oven. Mash tomatoes slightly to remove a bit of the liquid.

Slice the baguette on a diagonal for 15 pieces about 1/2 inch thick. Place a 1/4 cup olive oil in a cup or bowl and use a pastry brush to lightly coat both sides of the slices and place on a cookie sheet. Brown both sides in the oven, about 3 - 4 minutes each side on broil. Remove and place on a rack to cool slightly.

Once cool enough to handle, spread each toast with fresh ricotta and then pile some of the warm tomatoes on top. Sprinkle chopped fresh basil over each of the bruschetta. Serve.