Sunday Suppers :: Warm Robiola Cheese with Pine Nuts, Olives, and Golden Raisins

After collaborating with Shira on the menu from our Rustic Italian Dinner, she took the ideas back to the MSL test kitchen to plan everything out. Guests were thrilled at how yummy everything was (as were we!) and also most- importantly, how doable they are for home entertaining everywhere.

This week we’ll be sharing these amazing recipes with you. First up is one of the definite stars of the show: Warm Robiola Cheese with Pine Nuts, Olives, and Golden Raisins. A perfect Italian appetizer, the Robiola Bosina a.k.a. "Due Latte” is an Italian soft-ripened cheese made from the pasteurized milk of Piedmont cows and sheep. We recommend serving this with a tall glass of prosecco. enjoy!

Warm Robiola Cheese with Pine Nuts, Olives, and Golden Raisins
Serves 10 to 12

* 1/2 cup chopped homemade or store-bought roasted red peppers
* 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
* 2 tablespoons chopped oil-cured black olives
* 2 tablespoons chopped golden raisins
* 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
* 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
* 8 ounces Robiola Bosina cheese (murrayscheese.com)
* Garnish: fresh oregano

Directions

1. Mix together peppers, pine nuts, olives, raisins, oregano, and oil. Let stand for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, let cheese stand at room temperature.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake cheese in an ovenproof serving dish until just starting to melt around the edges, 5 to 7 minutes. Top with relish. Garnish with oregano. Serve immediately. (Reheat cheese in oven for about a minute if it starts to set.)

Recipe Courtesy of Martha Stewart Living
Photography by Karen Mordechai

Favors + Vendor Spotlights :: Linda & Harriett + Frankie’s Olive Oil

In continuation of supporting great local talents, we enlisted one of our absolute favorites for our paper design :: Linda & Harriett. Liz of L&H is one of the most talented stationary designers we’ve come across and we’re lucky enough that she is a local Brooklynite. For years L&H has turned out the most beautiful custom invitations + stock note cards that are whimsical and bright, artistic and unique. Recently, she has taken L&H in a new direction, and will be creating larger projects one at a time (for instance her famous calendar, and the just debuted birthday calendar).
For our paper element we needed the bar signs + labels we talked about, labels for our Frankie’s Olive Oil guest gift, and these beautiful recipe card/books. We told Liz the theme and let her run with it. She started with thick gorgeous paper and began hand dying it for that old, found in your grandmother’s attic warmth. As it turned out tea produced the best results. For a design, she incorporated a stamp she had made from handsome antique wallpaper with a floral print. We could not ask for work that sat better with our display, or was more outstanding on it’s own. It created such nostalgia, we could just see coming across it in a shop on a tiny back road of Florence, or in a kitchen stack in the hills of Tuscany. You can buy her products online here. Thank you Liz !!

Also, as our take home gift (in addition to our recipes) we gave out small bottles of Frankie’s Olive Oil. This is something fun you can do for dinner parties at home. To keep down cost, buy a big bottle and distribute it to much smaller. This particular olive oil is from some of New York’s favorite chefs – The Franks ! who own Frankie’s 457, Frankie’s Clinton Street, two Café Pedlars, and Prime Meats. Their oil is so above and beyond, they began selling it to the public. Since we used it in our dinner, we thought it was a great continuation of the theme. Now when our guests roast veggies, make tomato sauce, or just dip bread, they will be reminded of our fun cocktail party ! Definitely check out a Franks restaurant if you’ve never tasted their delectable meatballs, and you can buy their oil here.

Vendor Spotlight :: Saipua Flowers

Photography by Karen Mordechai

Incorporating beautiful floral is one of our favorite parts of every event we do. As always, local vendors are especially dear to our hearts, and local and beyond Sarah Ryhanen from Saipua is one of the most talented florists we know. The one guideline we gave Sarah was that if at all possible, we would love olive branches. Can you think of something more beautifully rustic or Italian countryside ? We certainly couldn’t, and we were lucky that Sarah could locate them. This might be a difficult item to find, but there are plenty of beautiful branches that could stand in ( look for something with that silvery hue, and perhaps a black pop in flowers to mimic the olives ). Beyond that, Sarah took the reins and arranged in some stone urns of ours and some of hers (ours from Terrain at Styers). These gorgeous touches came big and small, from statement pieces on chairs, to a sweet soft touch on the gift table. These touches gave continuity to the room and warmth to the theme. Sarah’s ability to create these organic displays with the perfect amount of movement and beauty is more than we could ever hope to create ourselves. But you can learn from the best at one of her classes, or use her services. You can visit her storefront at 147 Van Dyke Street, or her website and blog. Thanks Sarah !

Rustic Italian :: Martini Bar

For the cocktail portion of our Rustic Italian party we created a “ make your own “ Martini Bar where guests were invited to mix a drink to their liking with Vodka, Vermouth, soda water, “ dirty water, “ and various garnishes ( cucumber, olives, + lemons ). In case guests weren’t confident in their martini making abilities we included a beautiful hand-stamped, coffee stained how-to sign by the very talented Liz of Linda & Harriett (more on that later).
Partially because our buffet had a lot going on visually, we kept the bar much cleaner. We used a beautiful neutral woven table cloth, and a lot of glass for a crisp, clean look. We purchased our decanters at Moon River Chattel here in Brooklyn (often a go-to for Sunday Suppers décor !) We loved their unique simple shape, with a perfect neck for hanging nametags on (also L&H). Glass was a must for our garnishes because of how beautiful simple individual ingredients are in this form. Don’t hide them ! The piece happens to be a terrarium from Terrain at Styer’s ( mail-ordered ). Of course, there are plenty of clean glass vessels in every home you could use instead—buying is certainly not a necessity. With these orderly, more modern shapes, we were sure to incorporate rusticity. To this end we used lovely tarnished silver pieces for our ice bucket, our dirty water, and out stirrers. Again, the dirty water container is simply a creamer, and the “bucket” an old bowl. Be creative !


Styling and Photography by Karen Mordechai
Styling Assistant: Lizzy Sall

Sunday Suppers :: Rustic Italian + Martha Stewart Living !!!

You might remember in the beginning of the year we said we were working on exciting things. Well here is a big one : a special edition Sunday Suppers for our very favorite Martha Stewart Living, Styled and Photographed by Karen Mordechai ! You can check out the story in MSL’s June issue on stands now and online here + we’ll be blogging about all the great details and recipes for the coming weeks.






The Concept:
As with all of our suppers we started with a concept. This time we collaborated with Shira Bocar, our guest chef who works in the test kitchen at MSL. After choosing a rustic Italian cocktail party we set to work on our buffet table and vendors. As you all know, a buffet table is a bit unusual for our suppers as they are normally seated meals. This meant working on big serving dishes that aren’t usually a part of our repertoire. We decided on four tables: the main buffet, the bar, the favor table and a dessert/espresso table. For the buffet we chose a big heavy duty old farm table. We needed this piece to ground the room, showcase the theme, and comfortably house our yummy spread.

Our Menu ::
Pasta Frittata
Warm Robiola Cheese
Herbed Flatbreads
Asparagus with Frankie’s Olive Oil
Meatballs + fresh tomato sauce
Boozy fruit
Affogatos
Sandwich cookies
And of course martinis

Styling and Tips :

Once we chose our heavy knotted wood surface, we opted for lots of white dishes – both because they would pop on the dark surface, and because the colors of the food would pop in them. Easy pieces from Crate + Barrel and Sur La Table housed our asparagus, robiola, and fruit, while household staples like a Le Crueset Dutch oven, everyday glass jars, and a cutting board held our meatballs, tomato sauce, and frittata. In true Italian style, the flatbreads went right on the table. To keep up our rustic look we used vintage serving pieces, displayed a real olive branch garland and old stone vessel with beautiful flowers (more on that later).
When you’re trying this at home be sure to keep the table visually interesting: it’s important to vary heights (just a tall pepper grinder, or a block under a pot can make a huge difference!) and shapes, while keeping it in a somewhat uniform palette. We have pops of color (mostly edible) that keep it from being dull, but the display is largely white + neutral. Our favorite part about this is how many objects you probably already have in your home—none of it is fussy. Even our menu board is just an old frame with black heavy cardboard cut to size (frame from brook farm). The very talented Brynn from Paperfinger wrote the menu is casual and playful calligraphy.

Guest List :

Our guest list at this event was a bit closer to home than most Sunday Suppers. You probably realize this class was never opened to you all to join. Instead this one was invite only (not because we don’t love all of you) and filled with local Brooklyn vendors, and New York friends we find inspiring and creative. Some guests you’ll hear about later in the week, because they also had a hand in the creating—Laura O’Neill, Ben Van Leeuwen of Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, + Sarah Ryhen of Saipua Flowers. In addition, Camille Becerra, Vincent Rotolo, Joanna Goddard, and Alex Williams joined us. Camille is an amazing Chef who created our picnic menu, is a former restaurant owner, food blogger, and most recently pop-up restaurant curator/chef, and her boyfriend Vincent is a pizza connoisseur and debt analyst. Joanna Goddard is the famous writer/blogger behind the Cup of Jo Blog and a magazine writer, while her husband Alex is a reporter for the New York Times. And of course, Karen’s very helpful husband and gaming expert, Ken Rivera was on board.

We hope you enjoy the article in MSL, as well as all of the posts to come as much as we enjoyed creating and hosting it. You can look forward to more décor (three tables !), some super talented vendor highlights, and some delicious recipes in the weeks to come. We also have a second very exciting announcement for you later this week—also a project that has long been in the works we’re giddy to share so stay tuned…






Credits:
Food Styling by Shira Bocar/Martha Stewart Living
Decor Styling and Photography by Karen Mordechai
Styling Assistant: Lizzy Sall

Featured :: Kirtsy Book

In case you aren't already familiar, Kirtsy is a website that pools popular blogposts and other online items for women, by women. They recently put together Kirtsy Takes a Bow : A Celebration of Women's Online Favorites, where editor Laura Mayes collected "top blogposts, inspirational designs, and provocative juxtapositions that bring the dynamic online world into the artful permanence of a book" (we couldn't have said it better ourselves). Sunday Suppers was featured for an earlier brunch, and we are so honored to be included among such talented women. You can check the book out for yourself at Amazon, Barnes + Noble, or Borders.

Oscars Party :: The end

Ending our Oscar Party for the Post on a sweet note- we created these Pospcorn Ball Favors. Presented in a clear favor box, a sweet bow and calligraphy by Anna Beckman.

How to :: Blini Bar

To make our event less labor intensive we bought these blinis (shhh). Then, we set up a little make your own blini bar with caviar (we used American Hackleback Sturgeon), creme fraiche, and garnishes of your choice--like chives and radish for some color pop. We like this better than pre-making them because it makes for a beautiful display, and is another activity for your guests !

Recipe :: Truffled Deviled Eggs

Styling and Photography by Karen Mordechai
with Special Guest Styling by Randi Brookman Harris

12 eggs
6 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp white truffle oil
2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
salt + freshly ground pepper
black truffles (optional)

Hard-boil eggs, cool, peel, halve, and carefully remove the yolks; reserve the whites. Combine egg yolks, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, white truffle oil, and lemon juice in a medium nonreactive bowl. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper and mix well until yolks are broken up and ingredients are evenly incorporated. Evenly pipe or spoon yolk mixture into reserved egg white halves. As desired, top with thinly chopped black truffle.

Recipe :: Radish + Butter Tea Sandwich

Styling and Photography by Karen Mordechai
with Special Guest Styling by Randi Brookman Harris

We love how delicately these tea sandwiches present themselves, and they are ridiculously easy to make. Pick a thin white bread and generously spread french butter over the surface. Top with thinly sliced radishes and sprinkle with sea salt. Slice diagonally in half and really, that's all !

NY Post

Styling and Photography by Karen Mordechai
with Special Guest Styling by Randi Brookman Harris
Calligraphy by Anna Beckman

We're excited over here this morning because you can find our work in hard copy--the NY Post Page Six Magazine (free inside your Newspaper) ! So pull on your snow boots and scamper over to your closest bodega for a copy. An editor approached us and asked that we create an Oscar's party. Our friend and the very talented Randi Brookman Harris joined in on the styling, and as you can see we went for delicate and feminine glitz and glam. Perfect for Hollywood + February (if we do say so ourselves). We'll be posting about it for the next few days, so come back for recipes and tips. We think you'll enjoy the DIY ideas whether its for the awards next week, a girly birthday or any other excuse to celebrate.

Designsponge Part 1 :: Butternut Squash + Pomegranate Galette

Over the holidays everyone congregates in the kitchen. Bringing food and family together is what we do best at Sunday Suppers. When Designsponge asked us to put together a few treats for the holidays, we were more than thrilled to oblige. We wanted to share recipes that were laid-back and inviting, but delicious and gourmet nonetheless. We chose a savory galette filled with hearty veggies and a crisp pop of sweet, and a yummy olive oil cake with citrus compote. Both recipes are simple and beautiful. We found that the more pomegranate seeds you add to the galette the better—the little bursts of freshness are a wonderful complement to the warm roasted vegetables. Also, don’t skimp on the olive oil drizzle—the moisture is key. Scroll down for photos and recipe instructions for the We'll be posting the cake soon. Check out the full post on designsponge too. Enjoy and happy holidays !








All Styling + Photography by Karen Mordechai
Styling & Kitchen Assistant: Lizzy Sall

Butternut Squash + Pomegranate Galette
Makes two 12 inch galettes or one large

Savory Pie Dough :
3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
20 twist of a pepper mill
2 sticks cold butter cut in cubes
1/4 cup ice-cold water
½ butternut squash – halved and deseeded, and sliced
½ red onion sliced with root end still intact
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp chopped sage
Handful of pomegranate seeds
4 tbsp chopped toasted walnuts
Salt
Fresh pepper
Good quality extra virgin olive oil

Measure out flour, salt and pepper into a food processor. Mix well. Add the butter and pulse till butter resembles small pea size pieces. Add water while pulsing processor. Stop once the dough becomes a ball. Lay out a piece of clear wrap, lay the dough on it, flatten to a thick disk (or two) while wrapping. Allow to rest for at least ½ hour. (Dough Recipe by Camille Becerra )
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Slice the squash and cut the onion into equal width wedges—about ½ inch thick. Mix with butter, sage, salt and pepper and toss.
Roll out dough on lightly floured surface into 12 inch round and transfer to baking sheet. With each wedge beginning at center of the dough, fan squash and onions into pinwheel shape, overlapping and covering entire center of the round—leaving a few inch border. If you are making a large galette, you can form an outer row of veggies. Gently fold remaining dough over the edge of the filling, forming a freeform tart crust. Beat egg with a splash of water and brush over the crust. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until crust is golden brown and squash pierces easily with a fork.

While tart cools, sprinkle toasted walnuts and pomegranate seeds over top.

When ready to serve drizzle generously with very good extra virgin olive oil. Crack fresh black pepper and sprinkle coarse sea salt.