Wondering what to serve your guests this holiday season? Ina Garten, author of the “Barefoot Contessa: How Easy Is That” cookbook, shares her fabulous recipes for entertaining friends and family.
Recipe: Chipotle & rosemary roasted nuts (on this page) Recipe: Lemon chicken breasts (on this page) Recipe: Couscous with toasted pine nuts (on this page) Recipe: Easy cranberry & apple cake (on this page)
When I have a little extra time before a party, I'll whip up a batch of these really delicious nuts. They're sweet, salty, and spicy-with lots of brown sugar, maple syrup, chipotle powder, and fresh rosemary. Roasting is the process that brings out the most flavor in nuts, and serving them warm is a particularly nice touch.
Chipotle chile powder is different from ordinary chili powder — it's ground dried smoked jalapeños and has a distinctive hot, smoky, sweet flavor.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Brush a sheet pan generously with vegetable oil. Combine the cashews, walnuts, pecans, almonds, 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, the maple syrup, brown sugar, orange juice, and chipotle powder on the sheet pan. Toss to coat the nuts evenly. Add 2 tablespoons of the rosemary and 2 teaspoons of salt and toss again.
Spread the nuts in one layer. Roast the nuts for 25 minutes, stirring twice with a large metal spatula, until the nuts are glazed and golden brown. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with 2 more teaspoons of salt and the remaining 2 tablespoons of rosemary.
Toss well and set aside at room temperature, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking as they cool. Taste for seasoning. Serve warm or cool completely and store in airtight containers at room temperature.
Serves 8 to 10
When I need to get dinner together in a hurry, this is about as easy as it gets. White wine, garlic, and oregano give this chicken great flavor. I make some basmati rice or couscous with toasted pine nuts to soak up all those delicious lemony juices plus a vegetable like steamed haricots verts and I'm done.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Warm the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, add the garlic, and cook for just 1 minute but don't allow the garlic to turn brown. Off the heat, add the white wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, thyme, and 1 teaspoon salt and pour into a 9 × 12-inch baking dish.
Pat the chicken breasts dry and place them skin side up over the sauce. Brush the chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle them liberally with salt and pepper. Cut the lemon in 8 wedges and tuck it among the pieces of chicken.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breasts, until the chicken is done and the skin is lightly browned. If the chicken isn't browned enough, put it under the broiler for 2 minutes. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and serve hot with the pan juices.
Serves 4
If you can boil a pot of water, you can make couscous. To make my life easy when I'm entertaining, I sauté the onions, add the stock, salt, and pepper and set it aside. Before dinner, all I have to do is heat the stock, add the couscous, and wait ten minutes for a delicious side dish with no stress.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onion and cook over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender but not browned. Add the chicken stock, salt, and pepper and bring to a full boil. Stir in the couscous, turn off the heat, cover, and allow to steam for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork, stir in the pine nuts and parsley, and serve hot.
To toast pine nuts, place them in a dry sauté pan and cook over low heat for 10 minutes, tossing often, until lightly browned.
Serves 6 to 8
This recipe is inspired by a cranberry pie from Sarah Chase's book "Cold Weather Cooking." My friend Barbara Liberman calls it "easy cake" — I call it delicious. It's even better served warm with vanilla ice cream.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Combine the cranberries, apple, brown sugar, orange zest, orange juice, and 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs on medium-high speed for 2 minutes. With the mixer on medium, add 1 cup of the granulated sugar, the butter, vanilla, and sour cream and beat just until combined. On low speed, slowly add the flour and salt.
Pour the fruit mixture evenly into a 10-inch glass pie plate. Pour the batter over the fruit, covering it completely. Combine the remaining 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar and 1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon and sprinkle it over the batter. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean and the fruit is bubbling around the edges. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Serves 6 to 8
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