I was intending to take it easy this month. I promised myself something simple, like pasta and a salad. Of course my imagination ran away from me and kept going and going, like that little pink Energizer bunny.
It all started with my main dish. I really wanted another roast leg of lamb—it’s just so easy and impressive. This time I found a beautiful, Moroccan Spice-Rubbed Leg of Lamb recipe on Epicurious. When an Epicurious recipe has that many glowing reviews, I feel confident that the recipe will turn out well. So completely ignoring my first rule of thumb for dinner parties, I proceeded with an untested recipe. Now one untested recipe is usually okay, but since I’ve had zero experience cooking Moroccan cuisine, I ended up with an entire menu of untested recipes. Typically this turns out one of two ways: a complete and total disaster or, much less often, amazing.
With a Moroccan theme nailed down, it was an easy leap to couscous for a side dish. Of course I didn’t want to make just any couscous; I wanted to make proper couscous. One that’s been steamed multiple times, with each grain lovingly separated by hand. I found the perfect thrice-steamed couscous recipe in the Chez Panisse Café Cookbook. Even though the recipe sounded elaborate and time consuming, it didn’t send out any alert bells because everything I’ve made from the Chez Panisse Café Cookbook has been exquisitely delicious.
For the veggie I wanted something colorful (since everything thus far was brown). Moroccan carrot salads kept popping up in my research and I narrowed it down to one. The winning recipe was chosen because of its use of asafetida. Asafetida (a.k.a. “Devil’s Dung”) is known for its pungent, rotting smell. I’ve had a jar of asafetida languishing in the cabinet for a few months now and every time I open the door, the smell knocks me down and assertively reminds me that I need to cook with it. (In case you’re keeping track: new recipe #3).
The typical Moroccan appetizer is Bastilla, which is a savory-sweet phyllo concoction, but it looked too time consuming. Nothing else caught my eye until I started looking at Egyptian dips and spreads, which changed my dinner theme from Moroccan to North African. Du’a (or Dukka) is an intriguing mixture of ground nuts and spices that is used like a dip for bread (new recipe #4) and for my second appetizer I chose an Egyptian Fava Bean Dip (Foul Mudammes) solely because I’ve been obsessed with fava beans lately.
Some of the more traditional Moroccan desserts seemed difficult to make and most of them were deep fried (and couldn’t be made ahead of time). I started thinking about phyllo dough and the nutty, sweet, layers of baklava, and as if to reinforce this choice a few people had randomly told me that it’s quite easy to make. I did more research and discovered that there is an Egyptian version of Baklava, which is similar to the Greek except for the omission of honey and the addition of orange blossom water (new, and final, recipe #6).
Two nights before the party, I’m dripping with melted butter and swearing at the phyllo sheets that refuse to come apart, trying to remember who it was that told me making baklava was easy. I have little patience (or skill) when it comes to making desserts, so choosing to make baklava was a little like playing Russian roulette. After more than three hours of assembly and baking, I pulled the baklava out of the oven. On a whim, I had doubled the amount of nut filling so they were chock-full, but they were gorgeous! In fact, so gorgeous that I didn’t automatically swear off making them ever again, like I usually do.
The night before the party I picked up a beautiful five pound leg of boneless lamb from A&J Meats, which went straight into a Ziploc with the so-simple-to-prepare-I-wonder-if-it’s-any-good marinade. I also assembled the carrot salad so that it could marinate overnight. I wanted to give the salad a face lift, so I hand shredded raw carrots into long strands on my Japanese benriner; they were infinitely prettier than uneven hunks of carrot. I also made quick work of the two dips in my food processor. The Du’a nut mixture was driving me crazy (in a good way) because it was so fragrant while toasting and the fava bean dip barely made it to the party; I couldn’t stop eating it. It was creamy and luscious from the combination of fava beans and olive oil, and the curry tomato flavor was undeniably addictive.
This left the roasting of the lamb and couscous preparation for the day of the party. Unfortunately, the couscous was decidedly more complicated than I ever could have imagined. This was mostly because I don’t own a couscous steamer (a.k.a. a couscousiere) and had to assemble a makeshift one. And by makeshift, I mean really makeshift. The idea is to steam the couscous over flavored water three times, fluffing and separating the grains between each steaming. In order to steam properly, you need a tight seal between your water source and your couscous holder. I took a large pot and fit my largest colander inside. It was a perfect fit, except the colander touched the bottom of the pot. Excellent for boiling, not so good for steaming.
I tried a variety of items to lift up the colander and finally settled on a large biscuit cutter, but this left a huge gap at the top. I had read the proper way to create an airtight seal is to take a tea towel, soak it in a flour and water paste and mold it into place; I did the best I could with foil. This may seem like common sense, but I would like to point out that it’s important to watch the water and make sure it doesn’t boil over. I ended up with a bottom layer of gummy couscous and a stove stained bright yellow from turmeric. Luckily the ruined part of the couscous congealed into a solid mass so it was fairly easy to remove and discard.
The party started off great with the guests bringing a surprising array of cocktails from all around the globe. We had a wonderful twist on a Caipirinha (Brazilian), which was made with cachaça and a mint infused simple syrup. We then moved on to the all-American fuzzy navel. The best cocktail of the night (and maybe closest to being Moroccan) was a concoction of strong brewed mint tea, pomegranate juice, mint simple syrup and vodka. It was incredibly refreshing and the perfect summer drink.
The appetizers were a huge hit—despite the fact that my stove top went out and I couldn’t fry the pita breads. Oddly enough, this was a blessing in disguise because as I waited impatiently for the burner to heat up I realized that the pita breads I had bought the day before were moldy! I happened to have also purchased Lavash flat breads so no one was the wiser.
After cocktail hour we sat down to dinner. The broiled lamb was cooked perfectly and sported a nice brown crust. The lamb was juicy and tender and the flavor was outstanding. None of the marinade ingredients stood out on their own, but blended together they were complex and complimented the lamb. Despite the pains I went through for the couscous, I have to say it was worth it. Steamed couscous is an entirely different animal than boiled couscous. It’s light and fluffy with fully separated grains perfumed with the barest hint of turmeric and coriander. The cold carrot salad had a great crunch and a wonderfully exotic flavor (luckily asafetida tastes much better than it smells). Dessert was easy and delicious, albeit a bit messy. The baklava were flaky, sticky, sweet and fragrant with orange blossoms.
So six for six. Never before have I been able to successfully turn out that many new, untested recipes in one night. And not only did each recipe turn out well individually, but as a whole, the meal came together beautifully. The colors, textures and flavors were well balanced and had enough of a similar thread to tie them all together—and at the same time were unique enough to not be boring. I seem to be saying this after every Hostess Project party, but… this really was the best one yet. Either I’m getting better and better at this Hostess Project thing, or I’m damned lucky. I like to think it’s a little of both.
My friends Glenn Withey and Charles Price are the curators of the 
I noticed a green/herb motif starting to emerge, so I continued the theme into the appetizers—although my theme could just as easily have been butter, as almost every recipe contained copious amounts. Case in point: 
As I passed by 
My final stop was DeLaurenti where I sampled a few cheeses for my cheese plate and settled on a creamy French Comte, a tangy Mirableu blue cheese and an earthy Brie de Meaux. I also picked up a loaf of 
Around 5pm, the guests started showing up with wine and cocktails. It was starting to rain, but we pretended it was warm and sunny and made gin & tonics using the 
My original (sunny day) plan had been to serve the zucchini bisque cold like a vichyssoise, but the nice thing about this soup is that it’s equally good served hot. I heated it up, added the final touch of cream and a pinch of truffle salt and served it in warmed, shallow bowls. Everyone (including myself) was stunned that vegetarian zucchini soup could taste that good—it was creamy and rich without being heavy and the onion and zucchini flavors shone through. 
My friend R is a wine enthusiast, so I had asked him to bring some wines that would pair well with halibut… and tarragon—a little tricky since tarragon is such a strong and distinct flavor. R said he simply went to 
Last came the Marionberry Semifreddo Torte. Once it was served there was silence and all I could hear was the scraping of forks against plates. The semi-frozen marionberry custard was creamy, yet light in texture and was divine with the rich and buttery shortbread crust. I had made a 9 inch tart, which seemed like enough for 12 people, but we seriously could have gone through an entire second one; there were fights over who got the last piece.
For my third event I wanted to make everything ahead of time and also have the guests help out. A tamale making party fit the bill perfectly so I started researching recipes. I already had a favorite 
I decided to make and freeze the pork and beef fillings in advance, so three weeks before the party I went down to 
Zach came over early and made 
After we had assembled a batch of tamales, I started the steamer and cooked them for an hour. When they were done, I noticed the ties had bled through the cornhusks and had colored the tamale dough. Luckily it looked pretty and festive. Surprisingly, my absolute favorite turned out to be the duck. Once combined with the masa, the confit didn’t seem as salty and had a great, pure duck flavor. I also liked the texture of the confit, which was more solid and substantial than the shredded fillings. Almost everyone else liked the pork adobabo best. The meat was incredibly tender and had a wonderful, light, spicy-sweet chili flavor. A few people swore by the vegetarian ones because the pumpkin changed the texture of the masa and made it incredibly soft and delicate—not to mention an absolutely beautiful color. We all decided that the best combo would have been the pumpkin tamale dough with the pork filling. The beef tamales were good, but the others were so outstanding that the beef got left in the dust. 
All in all it was a successful night; everyone had a good time and the food was delicious. But somehow these "easy" parties leave me yearning for the seven-course, wow-the-pants-off-your-guests dinner parties I used to throw two or three times a year. Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of hosting a dinner party once a month, I’m just saying that it’s an ambitious goal and there are trade-offs. If I’m to maintain my sanity for the next year, I have to stick with the easier and make-ahead menus. 
I may have overcommitted myself. I’m trying to make up for it by combining as many events and obligations as possible. I asked Zach if he’d mind having his birthday double as 
Gathering the list of pizza toppings was easy: sautéed shrimp, caramelized onions, sautéed mushrooms, roasted garlic, 
I decided to elaborate on the kid’s party theme and make a piñata and a fancy cake. I briefly thought about constructing an elaborate octopus cake (Zach loves octopi), but quickly came to my senses. I’m a horrible baker and have no patience when it comes to cakes. I needed something that was simple yet clever. Zach loves doing the crossword every Sunday, so I decided to make him a crossword cake. And by "make" I mean ask J to bake and frost one of her 
The day of the party, all that was left to do was cook the toppings and decorate the cake. I put off decorating the cake until last because I had no idea how I was going to do it. I knew I was going to make the puzzle lines with chocolate, but I have a hard time drawing a straight line on paper, let alone on a cake. J suggested we press the line pattern into the frosting with long, straight skewers, which worked great. I melted the chocolate and put it into a pastry bag fitted with a fine tip. I think this might have worked out had the chocolate not been old and slightly grainy; the tip kept getting plugged and every inch I’d have to stop and poke a toothpick inside to free it up. I gave up after the first line and just used a Ziploc with the corner snipped off. This worked much better but produced thicker lines.
After the cake was done, I had a drink and started mingling with the guests. K and B brought the drinks. I’m not sure what they’re even called, but K first had them in Venice and has been serving them ever since she got back. It’s a combination of 
There’s something strangely fascinating and beautiful about the process. After twenty minutes, the cheese was ready for stretching and I had two (eager) volunteers don yellow plastic dishwashing gloves. The cheese needs to be ridiculously hot to stretch properly and the gloves help out with the heat a bit. It’s really odd and wonderful to see full-grown adults playing like kids and there’s something about cheese-pulling that promotes this.
As the day went on and more balls of mozzarella were turned out, we fine-tuned our technique and learned a few things:
The pizzas tasted even better than they looked. The crust was perfect and shatteringly crisp. It was so good that you actually wanted to eat the crust, as opposed to hiding it under your napkin and sneaking it into the trash. The parchment paper eliminated the need for flour or cornmeal, so the crusts didn’t get gritty or dusty tasting which is something I normally hate about homemade pizza crusts. The sauce was a perfect and light base which showcased the toppings—especially the fresh mozzarella. It was great having so many different kinds of toppings, as each pizza turned out unique. My favorite was the prosciutto, Gorgonzola and arugula combination that Zach made. Every pizza that had pancetta on it was a close second.
With the main meal set, I turned to appetizer planning. I really love appetizers and would make a meal of them if they weren’t so time consuming to make and assemble. Since the meal was somewhat heavy with the beans and lamb, I wanted something much lighter for an appetizer. A while back I had made these wonderful 
The next morning I woke up early and started cooking. My first task was to make the stuffing because I knew it needed to cool to room temperature before going into the lamb. Normally, smelling alcohol first thing in the morning makes me nauseous, but the smell of prunes simmering in cognac was fantastic and I was getting excited about the lamb. After finishing the stuffing, I tasted it. It was so good. It buoyed my confidence that this was going to be a great dinner party.
Then I started assembling the smoked trout and arugula toasts. Part of the reason why this appetizer is so good is because of the peppery arugula. Unfortunately, Washington-grown arugula is in a sad state this year. I had been to several stores before I even found arugula and when I did it was wilted and old looking, but I snapped it up anyway. So even though I started with a giant bundle of arugula, I was barely able to pull off enough good leaves for 20 toasts. The first guest arrived just as I finished assembling the toasts and I popped a bottle of much needed prosecco and finally started relaxing. By the time the last guest arrived, I had finished assembling the rice cakes and was in the living room enjoying the party. 
The lamb was perfect. It was perfectly cooked inside, perfectly browned on the outside and each slice had a nice ratio of meat to stuffing. The stuffing was even more delicious when mixed with the lamb juices and I will definitely be adding this dish to my recipe file. The beans complemented the lamb nicely and were a bit plain, but I was hoping for that, since I really wanted the lamb to steal the show. What I didn’t expect was that the asparagus would steal the show. I mean, it’s asparagus. Actually the asparagus wasn’t the best thing on the plate (the lamb was), but I think the guests were so shocked that the asparagus was good that they couldn’t help but say something. My guess is that it was the mayonnaise. While herb mayonnaise is a grown up version of a dollop of mayo, it still resulted in the same child-like response: Asparagus is good with mayo!
When we were ready for dessert, I put the cakes in the oven and in about 15 minutes we moved back into the kitchen for our last course. I think the cakes were a little too molten (i.e. not quite done), but I was hesitant to stick them back in the oven because the cakes aren’t good when they’re overcooked. I topped each cake with a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream and served them. There were groans all the way around the table, "This is too much", "This dessert is huge", "I’m too full", but the groans quickly turned ecstatic.