Party
396 recipes found
Double Celery Salad
This dish employs two kinds of celery: the tender hearts of branch celery and so-called knob celery, also known as celery root or celeriac. It’s a nice salad in winter, for a change of pace. A bed of spicy watercress, arugula or mizuna lends even more of a green hue to this dish.
Mussels in Spicy Green Broth
Steaming a pot of mussels couldn’t be easier for a quick, satisfying meal. Cooked simply with garlic, shallots and white wine, they produce a delicious broth. For a version with more oomph, stir in this spicy butter and a squeeze of lime.
Pimento Cheese Pie
Savory and spicy pimento cheese is folded and baked into the most buttery pie dough around. Inspired by a beloved pimento cheese hand pie, this slab pie is made for a crowd and will become a fast favorite for parties. In the spirit of celebration, this dish is wholly about collaboration and combining one perfect recipe with another. Here, the pimento cheese recipe from chef Ashley Christensen is combined with my tried, tested and true pie dough to create something magical. This rich dough uses fraisage, a French technique that involves smearing butter with flour using the palm of your hand, creating a tender, flaky crust. Do not use a machine or a pastry cutter, as your hands are essential to helping you discern the temperature and feel of the dough.
Cauliflower Cheese
Cauliflower cheese is classic British comfort food. In its simplest form, the vegetable is cloaked with white sauce (béchamel) and Cheddar, then baked until bubbly. It may be served as a side dish but is often the main course for a frugal lunch or supper.
Citrus Salad With Radish and Watercress
This easy, refreshing salad is best made in winter, when citrus fruit is at its best. You may prep all ingredients in advance, but build the salad just before serving.
Pistachio Chocolate Bark
Not so much a dessert as a little something sweet to nibble on, chocolate bark is easy to make and always popular. This one calls for just two ingredients and a little time for something everyone will talk about. Serve on a platter at the center of a dinner party table, or pack some up for everyone to take home.
Wanja Jeon (Pan-Fried Meat and Tofu Patties)
These celebratory meat-and-tofu jeon — a variety of Korean pan-fried fritters, patties and savory pancakes — are peak party food. This brilliant recipe from Daniel Harthausen, the chef and owner of Young Mother, a pop-up restaurant in Richmond, Va., calls for a touch of baking soda in the meat mixture to give the patties a little lightness and lift. Unlike most traditional jeon recipes, these start on the stovetop and finish cooking in the oven, which means you can take your time assembling them in advance, then bake them off right before serving. Enjoy these meaty delights with Mr. Harthausen’s special dipping sauce (see Tip), a simple herb salad dressed with some of that sauce, as well as rice and kimchi.
Mussels and Cod Bucatini With Spicy Tomato Sauce
Simple yet celebratory, this hearty seafood pasta is a party dish that your guests will want to tuck into. White wine-steamed mussels and tomato-poached cod top a mound of bucatini coated in a buttery, brothy sauce. Calabrian chile paste adds depth of flavor to the tomato sauce and a small hit of heat. Of course, you can use as much of it as you — and your guests — can handle. If this dish is served on its own, it’s enough to feed eight. As part of a feast, it’s easily 12 servings or more. For smaller celebrations or a weeknight meal, it can be halved easily.
Ham and Cheese Sliders
Consider this cheesy, savory and slightly sweet snack the ultimate party food: Made with pull-apart Hawaiian rolls, these baked ham and cheese sliders, brushed with a buttery glaze, are much easier to assemble than individual sandwiches and are sure to please a crowd. Feel free to play around with the meat and cheese, substituting turkey or roast beef for the ham, and Cheddar, Provolone or your favorite melting cheese for the Swiss. These sliders can also be doubled for large groups; just use a sheet pan instead of a 9-by-13-inch pan for baking.
Roasted Carrots and Chorizo
In this pretty, party-worthy side dish, coins of sweet carrots roast with coins of smoky chorizo. When the carrots are tender and the chorizo is crisp, you’ll squeeze some lemon over them, stirring the citrus and the chorizo drippings together for a makeshift sauce for the carrots. Serve this dish alongside white fish, turkey or brothy chickpeas; tossed into a kale or grain salad; or piled into pita with hummus or yogurt. When shopping for this recipe, look for hard, cured Spanish chorizo (as opposed to fresh); the shelf-stable sausage is usually found near salami and other cured meats.
Spinach and Gruyère Breakfast Casserole
Filled with sautéed spinach and nutty Gruyère mixed into a nutmeg and lemon-scented custard, this breakfast casserole is a rich, meatless option for a special occasion breakfast or brunch. Like most of its kind, you can assemble the casserole the day before you want to bake it, then pop it in the oven an hour or so before serving. It will emerge puffed and golden on top, ready for its star-turn on any festive table.
Big Chocolate Tart
For how elegant this looks and how complex it tastes, this dessert is incredibly easy to put together. Instead of a dense ganache filling, this one has a shiny top that hovers between the delicate softness of custard and the creaminess of pudding. The crisp-tender cocoa crust is pressed only into the bottom and forgoes the usual sides of a tart because it’s baked in a standard metal cake pan. Not only is this easier to pull off — no rolling sticky pastry or trying to unmold it after baking — it makes a tart big enough to feed a crowd. With a pure chocolate taste that’s great on its own, it also can be customized: simply sprinkle each piece with toppings of your choice.
Seared Bone-In Rib-Eye Steaks
Rippled with fat, extrathick rib-eye steaks end up with charred crusts after an initial, intense stovetop sear, and buttery, tender centers after cooking through in a low oven. This technique is the reverse of a reverse sear, in which the meat cooks through first in a low oven or grill, then gets seared just before serving. Both methods ensure an even medium-rare on this expensive cut, but with this reverse-reverse sear, you’re not stuck at the stove, smoking up the kitchen after guests arrive. Instead, the time the steak finishes cooking in the oven can be spent washing up or enjoying a cocktail with friends. If you’re preparing just one steak, skip Step 5 and simply transfer the skillet to the oven. Once the steak comes out of the oven, transfer it to a cutting board and make the sauce as directed in Step 8.
Spiced Vegetable Phyllo Pie
In this spectacular meatless meal, crisp sheets of buttery, golden phyllo surround vegetables and chickpeas stewed with sweet spices, preserved lemon and earthy turmeric. You can prepare the vegetable stew the day before; just reheat it so it's warm when it meets the phyllo pastry. Once it’s baked, you can serve this hot or at room temperature, making it perfect for a party. Since it’s baked on a sheet pan, it makes enough to feed a crowd.
Tardivo Salad With Pistachio and Citrus
When it comes to wintertime eating, you can count on two things: chicories in abundance and the best citrus of the year. At the cozy Manhattan restaurant Raf’s, executive chef Mary Attea makes the most of both with this tardivo salad, which delivers the style and ingenuity of a restaurant-level dish to any home cook. Tardivo is a top choice for its delicate flavor and dazzling appearance, but endive is a suitable substitute, playing equally well with the fragrant schmear of puréed Sicilian pistachios. The creamy purée acts as the foundation for a bright combination of supremed citrus, sharp fennel and thinly sliced red onion. The dish is mellowed out with good-quality Italian olive oil and fresh lemon juice, and topped with salty slivers of ricotta salata. Serve as an impressive starter at your next dinner party or impress yourself on a weeknight. Either way, you’ve got a hit on your hands.
Spiced Holiday Punch for Everyone
Start with a spiced, citrus base, made with lemon peels muddled with brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, star anise, black peppercorns and tea leaves. Then, make a holiday drink your way. If you choose to spike it, reach for a favorite spirited bottle. Gin leans your drink refreshingly botanical, while whiskey feels a bit boozier and plays nicely off the base’s warming spices. If you want to make a nonalcoholic drink, simply add soda water, tonic and, if you like, a few dashes of Angostura bitters. (Note that, while the bitters lend a nice layer of flavor and depth, they do contain a small amount of alcohol, so if you’re abstaining just leave them out.) The point here is to make a drink you want to drink — and for your friend, partner, cousin or parent to make the drink they want to drink.
Chicken Biryani
Just as beautiful for entertaining as it is for a comforting family meal, biryani is a Central and South Asian dish of layered rice, spices and meat or vegetables. There are many variations of biryani, but here, marinated chicken drumsticks are tucked in between layers of basmati rice, fried onion, whole spices and fresh herbs. Don't be intimidated by the multiple steps: Split up the work by marinating the meat in advance, and feel free to use store-bought fried onions instead of frying your own (use about 1 heaping cup). Traditionally, biryani is sealed with dough, but in this recipe, the lid is covered with a thin kitchen towel to ensure a proper seal and catch excess condensation so the rice steams properly. Garnishing with pomegranate seeds is not traditional, but they add a pop of color and a welcome fresh bite. Serve chicken biryani with raita, if desired.
Lechon Kawali
Lechon, or whole suckling pig, is traditionally prepared for large holiday gatherings in the Philippines, but lechon kawali, a dish of crispy deep-fried pork belly, is served year-round for special occasions. (Kawali refers to the pan used for frying the pork.) To maximize lechon kawali’s crispiness, it’s important to make sure the skin is as dry as possible. In this version, the pork belly is first simmered in a savory broth of onion, garlic, bay leaves and peppercorns, then dried in a low oven. To finish, the pork is fried until the skin is crisp and crackly. Serve lechon kawali with a side of rice, and don’t skip the garlicky vinegar sauce for dipping, which balances the fried pork by adding a necessary tang.
Avocado, Radish and Iceberg Lettuce Salad
I’ve always liked this very simple salad that was served at La Taza de Oro, a now-defunct Puerto Rican diner in New York City.
Braised Chicken With Tomato and Potatoes
Long-simmered to a tender, falling-off the-bone state, this braised chicken is fragrant with smoky paprika and cumin. This dish aims to be Spanish chicken in salsa brava, but the addition of ancho chiles, traditionally used in Mexican cooking, lends a bit more heat. Along with a splash of wine and chopped tomato, it is hearty and warming, with a ruddy red sauce. Make the dish a day in advance, if you can; the longer it sits in the sauce, the deeper the flavor will be.
Arroz con Leche With Roasted Pineapple
With a touch of coconut, broiled pineapple and bright-red pomegranate seeds, this is a festive dessert. Many rice pudding recipes call for a custard, but this one just calls for simmering short-grain rice in sweetened milk — it may make you think of Thai coconut sticky rice. Serve it warm to cap a meal, and keep some for the next day. Leftovers make a fine breakfast.
Easy Crudités
A crudités platter can be as simple as a bunch of vegetables piled on a plate, or as composed as a work of art. Use a mix of raw and blanched vegetables, or just raw, keeping in mind that a variety of colors, shapes and textures will help create a beautiful platter and provide guests with more options. Keep the platter simple, or dress it up with additional snacks, such as marinated olives, artichokes, crackers and nuts, and add homemade or store-bought dips, such as hummus, tzatziki or ranch. This recipe easily scales up or down, just plan on about 1 cup vegetables total (blanched and raw) per person. Serve crudités alongside a charcuterie board for a more substantial spread.
Cheesy Pull-Apart Bread
If pulling apart slices of warm, cheesy, garlicky bread is your idea of a good time, do this: Slice crusty bread into a grid pattern, coat every nook and cranny with garlic butter, tuck in some shredded mozzarella and bake the whole thing. What was just a loaf of bread is now a worthy party centerpiece. You can prepare, wrap and refrigerate the loaf up to one day ahead. The format is adaptable, too: Season the butter with scallions, rosemary or other flavorings, or swap the mozzarella for Cheddar, pepper Jack or another melty cheese you’d use for a grilled cheese.
Spicy Carrot-Ginger Soup
Let’s proceed on the theory that everyone likes soup, and some soups are better than others. You might think of squash for an autumn soup, but this bright soup of carrots, stewed with ginger and jalapeño and finished with a good squeeze of lime and a handful of chopped cilantro, is an example of how not to make the all-too familiar stodgy too-thick purée. Still, feel free to try it with kabocha or butternut squash. If the soup is not to be served immediately, cool after puréeing, and reheat just before serving — it will taste fresher.