This month’s Weekend Cookbook Challenge, (which I almost forgot about — oops!), is all about party food. So, to accomplish this, I turned to a book all about parties, entertaining and proper hostessing — I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence, by Amy Sedaris. It’s very funny, kitschy, deadpan in tone and is sprinkled with hilarious photos of Amy and (quite honestly) some very unappetizing food photos. Ah, so what? I love this book. There’s also some handy and practical advice for entertaining:

A good trick is to fill your medicine cabinet with marbles. Nothing announces a nosy guest better than an avalanche of marbles hitting a porcelain sink.

or

Have toilet paper.

Genius!

While looking through the book I was tempted to make a cheese ball (one of her “famous cheese balls”), but figured another stick of butter is one of the last things jwa and I need right now. Instead, a recipe in the book submitted by Paul Dinello caught my eye. Paul’s Zucchini Fritters. The suggestion for serving these is at a “grieving party” but I say they just make a tasty breakfast, dinner snack or happy party snack! No one has to die!

The original recipe also included no measurements. Apparently Paul finds cooking without specific measurements, “exciting.” Huh. Okay. So, I’ve listed the measurements below that I used when making these. Help yourself. For the more adventurous, disregard those and just wing it like Paul. Oh and I added the mint and red pepper flakes and halved the amount of onion in my version. I just couldn’t help myself from making a couple of tiny changes, that is my way.

For a party, I’d make little fritters to serve as finger food. To make a meal of fritters, form larger patties, as I did, and serve three to a plate. The below amounts will serve about 3-4 as a meal. On the side, I whipped up some plain yogurt with garlic, tomato and cucumber. Excellent.

Paul’s Zucchini Fritters
2 medium zucchinis
2 cloves garlic, sliced or minced
1/2 a white onion, diced
8 oz feta cheese, crumbled
2 eggs
6-8 tbsp flour
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp fresh mint, chopped
Dash of red pepper flakes

Grate the zucchini. It’s important to get as much water out of the shredded vegetable as possible. It helps to salt it and then place a heavy lid on top it and press down. You can also wrap the grated zucchini in a tea towel and squeeze until you can’t squeeze anymore. Paul says, “When you think you’ve got all the water out keep pressing, because I can tell you, you haven’t.” He’s right about that.

In another bowl mix six tablespoons of the flour, eggs, onion, garlic, parsley, mint and feta. Combine with the zucchini and some salt and pepper. Add more flour if it seems too liquidy. Oh and don’t forget the red pepper flakes.

Coat the bottom of a hot frying pan in olive oil. For best results, make sure your pan is good and hot before adding fritters. Scoop a fist full of mixture from the bowl and shape into a small patty and place in skillet.

Let cook about 4 minutes on each side for larger fritters, 2 minutes per side for smaller ones.

I made medium-sized fritters and I got about 10 from this recipe, but if you made them slightly smaller (and depending on the size of your zucchinis), you could probably get 12. I’ve also doubled the original recipe (which said you could get 20-40 fritters from one zucchini) but I’m not really sure how that’s possible. They would have to be pretty damn tiny fritters.

I took two leftover ones today to work for breakfast and ate them cold. Wow. Still so very good. I think I’m going to definitely make these again. Thanks (as always) to Sara for hosting!

There’s something about the Fall and early Winter that makes me want to chop fresh herbs — specifically sage, rosemary and thyme. Oh hell, parsley too. And this raisin compote has them all.

We had this very recently with a roast chicken (sort of like a pre-mini-Thanksgiving) and it was quite good. The original recipe called for all raisins, but I used half golden raisins and half currants. I’m thinking of making this to go with our traditional Christmas Cornish Game Hens next month.

The recipe that I use for those is out of the same book that the raisin compote is in — The Cook’s Illustrated Complete Book of Poultry. This book is worth it’s weight in gold, if you ask me, even with the new name.

Raisin Compote with Rosemary & Thyme
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup dark raisins or currants
1 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 cup minced parsley leaves
1 1/2 tsp minced rosemary leaves
1 1/2 tsp fresh minced thyme leaves
1 tsp fresh minced sage leaves
salt & pepper

Bring the raisins, juices, sugar, cayenne, and 1 1/2 cups water to a simmer in a heavy-bottomed pan. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the raisins plump, about 15 minutes.

Add the herbs and simmer five minutes more to blend the flavors. Cool to room temperature, season with salt and pepper, and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Quick Synopsis of the Cook’s Illustrated Roast Chicken
1 chicken
3 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp of that melted, the other 2 softened
salt & pepper

Set the oven to 375 degrees and preheat the roasting pan and oiled rack as well. Push softened butter up under the skin of the breast. Drizzle the melted tablespoon over the chicken, then sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Roast on a rack, wing side up for 20 minutes. Turn chicken over, other wing side up and roast for 20 more minutes. Turn breast side up. Return to oven and continue roasting until a thermometer inserted into the breast reads 160 degrees and the thigh reads 170 (25-30 minutes longer). Let rest for 10 minutes.

And I will definitely be posting about the Cornish hen recipe in the next couple of weeks as it really does make a wonderful holiday meal!

Wondering what to do with the leftover turkey and other side dishes from Thursday, I came across this recipe from Giada of Everyday Italian. Although this recipe was originally intended as a Thanksgiving meal for two, I figured it would work well enough with leftover, cooked turkey (as opposed to the raw, ground turkey she uses). It did. I made one other alteration to the original recipe — I added some ricotta cheese to make it a bit creamier. I was quite pleased with the way these ravioli turned out.

Oh and speaking of Everyday Italian, whenever I watch that show and she talks about her husband, Todd, I visualize him as The Todd from Scrubs. And then I laugh and laugh.

Turkey and Cranberry Ravioli
1 cup diced leftover turkey, a mix of dark and white meat (my turkey had fresh herbs — parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme under the skin, so I skipped the fresh parsley listed below)
3 tbsp cranberry sauce
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
3 tbsp grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp bread crumbs
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 egg
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
20 store-bought wonton wrappers

For the sauce:
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp parsley leaves, chopped
1 sprig fresh thyme

In a medium bowl, stir together the turkey, cranberry sauce, cheese, bread crumbs, parsley, egg, salt, and pepper.

You could also place all of those ingredients in a food processor and pulse a few times. This will give you a smoother filling. It’s what I did. It’s really personal preference and whether or not you have a food processor.

Place a wonton wrapper on a work surface. Brush the edges lightly with water, using a pastry brush or your finger. Place 1 tablespoon of the turkey mixture on each of the wonton wrappers. Top with another wonton wrapper. Push out any air bubbles and press the edges tightly to seal.

Repeat with all the wrappers. These are very big ravioli and about five per person is a good serving. I used a whole package of wonton wrappers (about 30) and froze the extra ones. I also had some filling leftover. I popped it into the freezer to use in some butternut squash lasagna I’m going to make next weekend. Oh and also in the freezer? More diced turkey, goat cheese and potato soup, carrot & parsnip soup, extra stuffing, extra gravy and two pieces of pumpkin-orange-marscapone pie. I tell you, one day in February is going to be Thanksgiving II.

But, back to the ravioli. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.

Add the ravioli and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Be gentle with them and also just do this at a simmer. Meanwhile, in a small pot, heat together the butter, olive oil, garlic and parsley. Stir until warm and the butter is melted. Drizzle sauce over the cooked and drained ravioli and garnish with a little fresh thyme and Parmesan cheese.

A nice pre-dinner cocktail for this meal is the Grapefruit Cosmo, inspired by a drink I recently had at Wildwood.

Grapefruit Cosmo
1.5 oz really good vodka — Ciroc is awesome
1 ruby red grapefruit, cut in half and juiced
1 lime, cut in half and one half juiced
splash of cranberry juice
ice

Add ice to a cocktail shaker and add in the juice from the whole grapefruit, half the lime, the cranberry juice and the vodka. Shake and strain into a martini glass. Cut a slice of the remaining lime for a garnish. Ahhhh, refreshing.

***

Je Mange la Ville has a new holiday/Winter look. Also, I have added a spam-fighting device for comments. To post a comment now, please do the simple math problem you get when you add your name, email and comment. Sorry to have to add this feature but I am getting sick of deleting comments about tranny pics and viagra. Ew. Ew. Ew.

Leftovers, as taken by jwa to work on Friday morning.

Mostly pictures today, as I am mostly tired. I stupidly tried to go shopping with a bunch of other people and although the check-out line at Cost Plus was not bad, actually getting on the ramp to come home sucked.

The final basting. It went back in the oven for about a half hour more after this.

Oh well. I’m home now and making turkey stock. Tonight, we are taking jwa’s parents to Wildwood. As far as last night’s dinner went, I thought it went well. I will say that the brussels sprouts are better when I can give them more attention. I steamed them ahead of time and although that saved a bit of time, I think they suffered a bit for it. C’est la vie, I’m not going to dwell on it.

Starting the gravy the night before. Turkey parts, thyme, onion and chicken broth

Note to self: Next year, only one vegetable side dish. Okay, that doesn’t include the mashed potatoes. Or the sweet potatoes, butternut squash and garlic. That just means just stick to the carrots and parsnips in the honey lemon glaze. That will work fine. Are you reading this future-self? Trust me.

Pumpkin-orange-marscapone pie with amaretto cookie crust and bittersweet chocolate drizzle.

Rosemary cashews to snack on

Before we sat down, I put out some veggies and dip, cheese and crackers and these awesome rosemary cashews. The recipe is from Ina Garten and it’s so good. You will want to make some to snack on as soon as possible.

Rosemary Cashews
1 1/4 pounds cashew nuts
2 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp dark brown sugar
2 tsp kosher salt (if you are using cashews that are already salted, reduce this to 1/2 a teaspoon or so)
1 tbsp melted butter

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the nuts on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes until they are warmed through. Meanwhile, combine the rosemary, pepper, sugar, salt and butter in a large bowl. Toss the warm nuts with the rosemary mixture until the nuts are completely coated. Serve warm.

They are slightly sticky when warm but you won’t care. As they cool, they get less messy. Just set out some napkins.

This was creamy and cheesy and squashy. The color makes it look like it’s a regular cheddar mac and cheese but that’s really the color of the roasted butternut squash. Sneaky! But, of course, there’s cheese in it too, so it’s not like the meal is completely healthy. On the other hand, it’s also not completely unhealthy. It’s a nice mix of good for you and gooey, melted cheese in a bowl.

Butternut Squash Macaroni & Cheese with Sage
1 lb elbow macaroni
2 tbsp flour
3 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb peeled and cubed butternut squash (You can also use whole squash, just slice in half, remove seeds and bake it that way. Scoop roasted squash out and use that in place of the roasted cubes).
2 cups 2 % milk
1 tsp jarred rubbed sage (if using fresh sage, mince it and use a bit more)
a nice sprinkle of nutmeg
3 cloves garlic, minced
dash of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper
1 small onion, diced
2 oz goat cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 - 3/4 cup grated fontina, mozzarella or provolone cheese (or a combination of cheeses — I used the above mix)
1/4 cup bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Toss squash cubes with the olive oil, salt and pepper to season. Roast in the oven 30-40 minutes until soft and beginning to caramelize. Set aside and turn the oven down to 350 degrees.

Melt the butter in a pan and add the onion, sage and garlic. Saute until soft, over medium heat, about 4-5 minutes. Add the flour and stir to combine. Let it all cook about 2 more minutes. Then, pour in the milk and stir and let come to a boil to thicken up.

Next, add the cheeses (add as much of the grated mix as you’d like — I just sort of added a big handful, tasted and called it enough after a little bit more), cayenne and nutmeg. Stir to combine. Then, mix in the squash. Use a whisk to break it up a little.

You want some of the squash pieces to blend with the sauce but you also want some pieces to stay a little chunky. Add salt and pepper to taste. It should be so good and creamy that you taste another spoonful of the sauce just because you can. Ha! It’s good to be the cook.

Keep sauce warm and covered while you cook the macaroni in salted, boiling water until just al dente. Combine the pasta with the sauce and pour into a buttered (or non-stick spray-sprayed) casserole dish.

Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top and dot with a little butter or hit it with a little spray of olive oil or canola oil.

Bake 30-40 minutes until it’s all bubbly and the top starts to brown a little.

We had the squash mac and cheese with Everyday Italian’s Pancetta Brussels Sprouts (in a test run for Thanksgiving). They were excellent and we will be having these Thursday!