Party
396 recipes found
Miyar Taushe (Lamb and Squash Stew)
Stew is a luxury because it demands what we seem to have the least of these days: time. When making miyar taushe (also known as miyan taushe), this earthy-sweet stew from northern Nigeria, you stand vigil while lamb simmers on the stove, slowly coming undone, and butternut squash softens in the oven, its skin ready to cave in. The squash is rendered velvety in a blender, with a dusting of calabash nutmeg — woodsier and mustier than regular nutmeg — then united with the lush lamb stock. Yemisi Aribisala, a Nigerian writer and the author of “Longthroat Memoirs: Soups, Sex and Nigerian Taste Buds” (Cassava Republic Press, 2016), notes that the pot should be big enough so the stew reaches only halfway up, because it splatters. At the end, you deliver to your guests bowls of tamed sun, hot, creamy, melty, thick and earthy-sweet.
Akara (Crispy Bean Fritters)
Traditionally, àkàrà is a celebration food. The plump rounds should be cakelike and fluffy on the inside with a golden exterior, as they are in this recipe from “My Everyday Lagos: Nigerian Cooking at Home and in the Diaspora” by Yewande Komolafe (Ten Speed Press, 2023). Popular in Yorùbá cuisine, it’s a simple dish that requires a careful hand when prepared. Each step from puréeing the ingredients, mixing the batter and frying is critical to developing layers of flavor and texture. Àkàrà is best served warm as a meal when paired with ògi (a fermented cornstarch paste), as a small chop enjoyed by itself or as a sandwich filling between pillowy soft slices of agége bread.
Crispy Rice With Salmon And Avocado
This recipe for golden-crisp blocks of sushi rice topped with cool and creamy salmon and avocado is a riff on a spicy tuna and crispy rice dish created by Katsuya Uechi, a Los Angeles chef who was inspired by yaki onigiri. While the dish does require a number of steps and is best eaten right when it’s made, you can break up the work by cooking the rice and seasoning the salmon with lemon zest and jalapeño up to 24 hours ahead. (In fact, the results will be better if you do.) Right before serving, slice and fry the blocks and top with the salmon and avocado. These gorgeous two-bite treats make an excellent party hors d'oeuvres or full dinner with a cucumber salad.
Marry Me Chicken
This cozy dish, which went viral on TikTok with claims that if you prepare it for someone, you will end up getting married, features boneless chicken breasts nestled in a creamy, tomato-y sauce. With wedding bells in mind or not, this dish comes together fairly quickly and is just as great for entertaining as it is for a family meal. In this version, the addition of tomato paste adds a bright acidity to the rich cream sauce and complements the sun-dried tomatoes. Serve with crusty bread to sop up all the juices as well as tangy green salad to balance out the sauce’s richness. Or, try it over pasta, rice or polenta.
Roasted Pepper Antipasto
A simple, pretty appetizer, this antipasto can be served in individual portions or as part of a buffet table. Roast your own in-season peppers for the best flavor, and spring for top-quality anchovies.
Fish in Tomato-Basil Broth
Steamed in a savory tomato broth, the fish in this easy recipe remains exceptionally moist. For the best results, use a white-fleshed fish, like cod, striped bass or halibut. Any extra broth is great to have on hand: Make this dinner, and you'll also get about a quart of chilled soup for lunch.
Plum Crostata
This showstopping Italian-style fruit tart nestles juicy ripe plums — any type, or substitute apricots — into a sweet pastry shell. This recipe makes enough for two crusts: Save the second in the freezer so you can make a second tart any time you like.
Pigs in a Blanket
Mini hotdogs tucked into flaky and tender store-bought crescent rolls are equal parts retro, nostalgia and comfort wrapped into one bite-size bundle. Homemade pigs in a blanket are an evergreen party staple and a cinch to make. If you can’t find cocktail-size wieners, you can simply cut half a dozen regular hotdogs into 1 1/2 inch-long pieces and use those. Serve with your favorite condiments, like honey mustard or ketchup. This is a snack that never falls out of favor.
Kosua ne Meko (Eggs With Pepper Relish)
A hard-boiled egg split slightly down the middle and stuffed with a chunky tomato relish, kosua ne meko is a quick Ghanaian snack sold by street vendors. Classic versions include hard-boiled eggs that have been cured by dredging them shell-on through dampened salt a day before. The relish, referred to as “raw pepper,” can taste different depending on the vendor, but it always has crushed tomatoes, red onions and chiles. For home cooks, this can be a simple dish made quickly (or ahead) to share broadly — at the beach, a picnic, an afternoon cocktail party or a potluck brunch. An asanka, a small mortar and pestle with a rough interior, is used to prepare the raw pepper, but a food processor can also step in. Simply salting the egg before adding the relish, or after, can at least hint at the salt-dredging technique.
Panna Cotta
Though panna cotta means “cooked cream” in Italian, this pudding-like dessert actually spends very little time on the stove. Gelatin and sugar are dissolved in warm milk before being mixed with heavy cream and vanilla, then poured into ramekins to chill and set. Surprisingly simple and ideal to make in advance, this recipe makes a traditional vanilla-flavored panna cotta that can be dressed up any number of ways, with fresh berries or diced stone fruit, raspberry sauce or fruit caramel. Serve directly from the ramekins for a more casual dessert, or unmold the panna cottas for an impressive and elegant end to any meal.
Frozen Watermelon Daiquiris
Fresh watermelon juice is one of summer’s most refreshing treats, and is arguably even more of a treat when used to make specialty summer cocktails. Its fresh, sweet flavor pairs well with everything from vodka to tequila to gin, and, in this case, white rum. Inspired by the ingredients in a classic daiquiri, this recipe uses frozen cubes of watermelon in place of ice for a potent, full-flavored drink. Along with freshly squeezed lime juice, a generous pour of rum and a splash of simple syrup to round things out, this is the ultimate summer party cocktail. If you think to freeze some watermelon ahead of time, you can have a pitcher of watermelon daiquiris ready in ten minutes, any day you like.
Michelada
A classic Michelada means different things to different people but its core ingredients remain constant: cold beer, lime, salt. Serve the beer-based cocktail as is, over ice, in a chilled glass rimmed with salt or adapt from there to your preferred Michelada by adding a litany of condiments such as: Worcestershire sauce (or salsa inglesa), hot sauce, Maggi seasoning, and Clamato or tomato juice, or both. If you like, switch out the salt rim for a Tajín rim.
Summer Vegetable Niçoise Salad
You’ll find the green beans, wax beans, Romano beans and fresh shelling beans for this salad at the farmers’ market, making it perfect for a summer lunch or supper. With sweet cherry tomatoes and fingerling potatoes, it makes a substantial meal. Add good canned tuna, black olives or anchovy fillets too, if you wish.
Raspberry-Nectarine Icebox Cake
Chilled, creamy and not too sweet, this simple, no-bake icebox cake is a perfect dessert. In truth, it’s even a bit like tiramisù, but with ripe summer fruit. Store-bought ladyfingers make it easy; shop at the farmers’ market for the best fruit. Make it a few hours or even a day in advance of serving for effortless entertaining.
Chilled Avocado Soup
This chilled soup couldn’t be easier to make, packing a lot of flavor into a quick dish of just a few ingredients. Fresh, green and somewhat tart, it’s quite refreshing on a warm day.
Coconut-Dill Salmon With Green Beans and Corn
A fillet of salmon, bathed in a fragrant mixture of coconut cream, lemon and dill, is foil-wrapped and set on a hot grill to steam in its own juices. The fish is accompanied by a light salad of fresh corn, tomatoes, green beans and an additional showering of feathery dill. The result, served warm or cold, is a great low-lift dish for a large party, or a meal that can be prepped in advance.
Grilled Pork Chops With Plum BBQ Sauce
The bright, sweet-tart flavor of ripe plums comes through in this streamlined pork chop dinner. Cooking the juicy gems into a simple barbecue sauce leads to fun, fruity results. You could add your favorite spices, such as ground cumin, smoked paprika or fennel seeds, or let the vibrant plum aroma shine on its own. This would be great alongside wild rice, roasted potatoes or a big green salad.
Blueberry Crisp
Fragrant with the sunshine of lemon zest, the crackly almond roof of this summer-in-a-dish dessert gives way to jammy berries begging to be swirled with ice cream. To make this dead simple treat even easier, the crisp topping is simply stirred with melted butter, which binds together the dry ingredients while giving the mixture a sturdiness that holds up against the juicy fruit. Sliced almonds require no chopping and add a delicate crunch, but chopped pecans would be delicious here too, as would pinches of spices, such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom or even black pepper. The topping can be refrigerated for up to 3 days ahead of time. Pro potluck tip: Ask the host if you can use the oven, and if you can, bring the berry mixture in the baking dish and the chilled topping in a separate container. When you arrive, scatter the crumbs over the filling and bake to perfume the house and enjoy a warm dessert.
Baked Feta Dip With Spicy Tomatoes and Honey
Baked feta, of TikTok pasta fame, also makes a tangy, creamy dip when mixed with grape tomatoes that have been roasted in the same pan. Here the tomatoes are spiked with dried chiles, onions and thinly sliced garlic cloves, which get sweet and soft after baking. Serve this warm from the oven with sliced baguette, pita bread or crackers for dipping. To make this even spicier, add a tablespoon or two of thinly sliced fresh red or green chile to the tomatoes.
Lemon Bars
The best lemon bars are just sweet enough to temper lemon’s acidity while heightening its heady tang. Adding zest to the curd would have detracted from its comforting smoothness with chewy bits. Instead, the wisps of lemon peel bake into the cookie, which is snappier than classic shortbread to provide a contrast to the filling’s softness. Rather than cutting cold butter into flour and powdered sugar for a crumbly bottom as many recipes do, this version combines melted butter with flour and granulated sugar for a sturdy — and simpler — dough. After setting in the oven, the base is covered with the just-as-simple lemon mixture while still hot. Doing so ensures that the layers meld together into a textural ombré so that each bite starts with melt-in-your-mouth curd and ends with a satisfying crispness.
Lemon-Blackberry Shortcakes
Berry season is the time for shortcakes, a classic dessert with berries, whipped cream and freshly baked sconelike biscuits. Here, a bit of sweet-tart lemon curd, prepared up to a week in advance and perfect with blackberries, makes these particularly special. Serve these assembled, on individual dessert plates, or, if you prefer, set out all the elements for guests to build their own.
Paprika-Rubbed Pork Chops
A marinade based on salt, sugar, ground coriander and various red-pepper powders infuses these easily pan-cooked chops. Double or triple the marinade for use on any fish, fowl, meat or vegetables (eggplant is especially nice). These chops can also be prepared on the grill. They cook quickly – 2 minutes on each side – over medium-high heat. Take care, though: Loin chops are quite lean and become tough and dry when cooked over high heat.
Turmeric Potato Salad
This French-style vinaigrette potato salad, infused with Indian flavors and finished with a tadka built on cumin and mustard seeds in oil, is a delicious picnic side, with or without the lettuce cups. Choose small, yellow-fleshed potatoes, such as Yukon, and top them with cherry tomatoes, sliced scallions, chiles and cilantro for a bright, perky and robust accompaniment to summer.
Cherry Pie
In this classic and adaptable cherry pie recipe, you can use either sour cherries or sweet ones, fresh or frozen. Lemon zest and juice are mixed with the sweet cherries to add brightness and tang. But you can skip this step with sour cherries, which have their own natural acidity. Serve this pie warm or at room temperature, preferably within 24 hours of baking for the flakiest crust. Ice cream or whipped cream are optional, but very nice with the syrupy filling.