Party
399 recipes found
Blackberry Caipirinha
This blackberry caipirinha has a bold hue and complex fruity flavor for a cocktail sure to brighten your happy hour. Grab your muddler and enjoy!
Butter Mochi
Tender and chewy, this big-batch dessert — as comforting as cake and as fun as bar cookies — is always a hit at parties. Mochiko, sweet rice flour, not only gives it its distinctive marshmallow-like softness, but it also lends a natural sweetness. This version of butter mochi uses only coconut milk for its richness and subtle nutty taste, but you can substitute equivalent amounts of whole milk, evaporated milk or a combination of those liquids. Butter mochi develops a crackly top that stays crunchy the day it’s baked, making it a delicious dessert to eat without adornment. But, if you’d like more crunch, you can sprinkle dried shredded coconut evenly over the top before baking, or, for a tangy, colorful top, you can coat it with the passion fruit glaze below. (Watch the video of Genevieve Ko making butter mochi here.)
Asparagus, Goat Cheese and Tarragon Tart
Because you don’t have to make your own crust, this gorgeous asparagus-striped tart is so easy it almost feels like cheating. But it’s not. It’s just simple yet stunning, effortlessly chic and company-ready. As there are so few ingredients in this recipe that each one makes an impact, be sure to buy a good all-butter brand of puff pastry. If you can manage to serve this tart warm, within an hour of baking, it will be at its absolute best, with crisp pastry that shatters into buttery bits when you bite down and still-runny cheese. But it’s also excellent a few hours later, should you want to get all your baking done before your guests arrive. If tarragon isn’t your favorite herb, you can use chives, basil or mint instead. And if you can manage to trim all the asparagus to the same length, this tart will be especially neat and orderly looking.
One-Pot Whole Roasted Chicken and Rice
Cooking a whole chicken with rice in the oven makes for a fun and cozy meal that is also fantastic for entertaining. You need an oven-safe pot that is large enough to accommodate the chicken – a 6-quart Dutch oven works well, for instance. The rice cooks in the same pot as it soaks up a turmeric- and saffron- stained broth. Just make sure that the rice grains are fully immersed in the liquid. This is not a dish where the chicken skin is meant to be crispy, but do take care not to pour the water on top of the chicken when adding it; drizzle in the water from the sides of the pot instead. Serve with a tangy arugula salad or a side of fresh herbs, like mint and basil.
Sheet-Pan Chicken and Potatoes With Feta, Lemon and Dill
In this simple but elegant sheet-pan dinner, chicken thighs and potatoes roast together at a high temperature, coming out crispy and golden. A generous squeeze of lemon juice, along with a scattering of fresh dill and feta cheese, elevates this dish from weeknight meat and potatoes to dinner-party fare. While the chicken will still be delicious if marinated for just 30 minutes, marinating it for several hours will yield the best results.
Mezcal Royale Punch
This bright, thoroughly modern combination of lime, blanc vermouth, mezcal and Cognac is topped, in a nod to classic Champagne punches, with sparkling red wine. If you don’t have sparkling red, opt for a dry Lambrusco, sparkling rosé or even a sparkling white. Using a sparkling white eliminates the festive color but keeps the effervescence. When choosing glasses or tea cups or ceramics to serve punch, be sure to err on the smaller side. Punch should be served in smaller portions — and refilled often.
Classic Philadelphia Fish House Punch
Rum and Cognac mix with a muddled sugar and lemon mixture, known as oleo-saccharum, and peach brandy in this classic punch, which dates back to the early 18th century. If you can’t find peach brandy (a dry, high-proof brandy distilled from peaches, not the saccharine peach-flavored liqueur) swap in a fruit eau de vie, such as apricot, plum, apple or pear. While this recipe is written to be served cold, it can also be served warm: Skip the ice block and gently warm the punch in a large saucepan or Dutch oven before ladling into small, heatproof mugs or tea cups. Hot or cold, finish each serving with a dusting of freshly grated nutmeg.
Nonalcoholic Smoky Citrus Punch
Historically, punch is an alcoholic drink, made with a spirit, sugar, citrus and spice, but this variation drops the spirit and doubles down on its other central components. Opting for smoky Lapsang souchong adds distinctive depth and character to the punch, though another black tea, such as Earl Grey or Darjeeling or a more robust green tea, can also be used. Likewise, the oranges in the lemon-orange oleo-saccharum (a muddled sugar and citrus mixture) can be swapped out for seasonal citrus, such as satsuma, mandarin or blood oranges. Bear in mind you need to start this punch the day before serving: While some of the tea is brewed hot before being added to the lemon-orange oleo-saccharum, cold-brewing the remainder of the tea ensures that the final punch is deeply flavored, smooth drinking and more nuanced than astringent. A mix of tonic and soda water to finish imbues the punch with a bubbly, quinine bitterness and helps to balance the tannins of the tea.
Tender Almond Cake
A delightfully tender almond cake that’s quite easy to put together, this recipe is from an old friend, Salvatore Messina. Everyone adores it. Since it has some similarity to other Italian almond cakes, I naturally assumed it to be his family’s, passed down from his Sicilian grandmother. But it turned out to have no Italian storyline. Sal adapted it from a recipe for torta de Santiago, the traditional almond cake from Galicia, Spain, using less sugar, more orange zest and no cinnamon. It’s heavenly.
Slow-Cooker Braised Pork With Prunes and Orange
This tart-sweet braise is inspired by porc aux pruneaux, a classic French dish, which usually involves soaking prunes in tawny port before adding them to a sauce for pork. Here, the prunes are soaked in a mix of vinegar and brown sugar, a less expensive way to amplify their mellow sweet-sour flavor. (But by all means, use tawny port instead of the vinegar-sugar combo if you like!) This slow-cooker version employs a quick microwave roux for just a bit of thickening power, and is fragrant with orange zest and tart from a generous amount of sherry vinegar to balance the richness of the pork and dried fruit. Serve pork and sauce over polenta or with seeded bread.
Eggplant and Tomato Pie
Tomatoes have another week or so to go in most farmers’ markets. This robust summer pie, topped with a layer of tomato slices flecked with thyme, is a nice party piece. It also packs well once cooled, so take leftovers to work for lunch.
Roasted Cabbage Wedges With Lemon Vinaigrette
Sliced into wedges and drizzled with a tangy lemon-mustard dressing, cabbage roasts in high heat as it tenderizes and sweetens for this easy, make-ahead salad or side. Apply some heat and the cruciferous vegetable loses its crunch, turning sweet and silky like leeks vinaigrette, with unexpected nutty notes. This salad is best enjoyed chilled, but it can also be enjoyed hot or at room temperature, making it particularly party-friendly. Because sturdy cabbage holds up better than fragile salad greens, this dish can be prepared in advance and refrigerated. Drizzled with a tangy crème fraîche-and-mayonnaise sauce that is faintly reminiscent of ranch dressing, this wedge salad is fresh and cooling, its chill an unexpected delight.
Riso al Forno With Crab and Shrimp
For a casually elegant dinner, this rice casserole fits the bill for a crowd-pleasing main course. It’s generous in the kind of meat you use and its timing: You can use any kind of shellfish, including shrimp or lobster, and you don’t serve it directly from the pot, so there’s no urgency. You can cook the rice and fold in the shellfish up to 2 hours in advance of serving, then top with shrimp and crumbs, and bake.
Figs and Pigs in a Blanket
Arguably better than pigs in blankets — or, at least, more elegant — these, flaky hors d’oeuvres will be the first things to disappear at a party. The filling of chopped dried figs and prosciutto or salami is a balanced mix of savory and sweet, but feel free to substitute other dried fruit, like apricots, raisins or cranberries, for the figs. And if you can find all-butter puff pastry, it really makes a difference here, adding a deeply golden color and rich flavor.
Za’atar Parmesan Pinwheels
These crunchy, savory snacks have the irresistible can’t-stop-eating nature of cheese straws, but with the added allure of a sprinkle of herby, sesame-flecked za’atar, a Middle Eastern seasoning mix available in large supermarkets and spice shops. Rolled into logs and sliced into pinwheels before baking, they puff into domes in the oven’s heat, turning golden, crisp and wonderfully flaky. If you can find all-butter puff pastry, it really makes a difference here, adding a rich, deep flavor and an especially bronzed color.
Fried Wontons
Crunchy on the outside with a juicy shrimp filling, these deep-fried wontons are the ultimate party food. (You can use storebought or make your own wontons with this recipe.) To make sure they cook to the ideal golden brown crispness, avoid crowding the pan of hot oil. Each batch takes only a few minutes to fry, and the wontons still taste great when served warm. Better yet, welcome guests into the kitchen and serve the wontons as they’re ready. The spicy sweet-and-sour dipping sauce can be prepared ahead, making this party dish even easier.
Cassava Oven Fries
Cassava (also known as yuca) is a terrific vessel for a variety of dips like ata din din and guasacaca, or doused with a cilantro-garlic sauce. The root vegetable is ideal for roasting, and these fries can be a quick snack or a wonderful side. Don’t skip the first step that calls for blanching them in hot water, otherwise, the oven’s dry heat will dehydrate the starchy root, and the goal here is a tender soft interior in a crisp, golden brown shell. These fries are best finished with salt and served hot. You can reheat any leftovers in a hot oven the next day, but they are way too delicious to save, and will likely disappear rather fast.
Roasted Salmon With Miso Cream
A whole fillet of salmon cut from one side of a fish looks spectacular but takes only a little longer to cook than smaller portions. Crème fraîche spread all over the fish keeps it moist as it roasts and adds a savory richness when a dollop of miso is stirred into the mix. That same pair is gently warmed into a sauce that’s finished with tart citrus juice so that it tastes both creamy and light. This can be served simply with salad and bread or be offered with other vegetables, like potatoes, asparagus or brussels sprouts.
Chicago Thin-Crust (Tavern-Style) Pizza With Sausage and Giardiniera
Tavern-style pizza is not particularly difficult compared with other styles, but it does take a good amount of time from start to finish — several days in fact — but it’s largely hands-off. And, on the actual day of baking, you don’t have to deal with stretching or tossing dough, making it perfect for parties or for topping with kids. This recipe is part of our complete recipe for a Chicago thin-crust pizza. View the recipes for the dough, Chicago-style Italian sausage and accompanying sauce.
Cantonese-Style Steamed Fish
This classic Cantonese dish is one of the simplest ways I know to prepare whole fish or fillets. Simply steamed lean white fish is seasoned with the umami richness of soy sauce and wine, then finished with a (careful) tableside drizzle of hot oil that sizzles and sputters, bringing out the bouquet of fresh ginger, scallions and cilantro piled on top of the fish. You’ll need a lidded pan wide enough to fit the plate you are steaming your fish on, and deep enough to cover the fish, the plate, and a steaming rack underneath. But you’ll end up with fish that is light and silky in texture and aroma, but deep in flavor.
Butternut Squash, Leek and Za’atar Pie
This comforting pie makes a great vegetarian centerpiece, ideal for a celebration. It benefits from being assembled the day before, receiving a good amount of time to set in the fridge and thus involving a lot less work on the day you plan to enjoy it. You can also bake the whole thing a few hours in advance, then just reheat it in the oven for 20 minutes, if you like. Use any extra pastry trim to cut out fun, festive shapes like holly leaves or stars to personalize your pie. Serve this alongside roasted veggies or a big leafy salad.
Spiced Squash and Phyllo Pie
This savory vegetable pie is modeled after the classic Moroccan b’stilla, usually made with squab, pigeon or chicken. It isn’t traditional, of course, but this vegetarian version is quite delicious, flaky, buttery and fragrant with spices. A diced preserved lemon adds perfume and sharpness, but you can also use a regular lemon. B’stilla normally has a layer of scrambled egg, but here, it’s replaced with a mixture of thick yogurt and feta. As with the original, everything is encased in golden, crisp buttered phyllo, sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar and cinnamon and served piping hot.
Saffron-Ginger Pears
For a stellar dessert, poach pears and let them steep in a bright yellow saffron-ginger syrup. With saffron, a little goes a long way: A quarter teaspoon will not break the bank. Prepare these days ahead of serving and store them in their syrup; they’ll only improve in flavor. Served chilled with a dab of crème fraîche or a scoop of vanilla ice cream, this dessert is sheer luxury.
Cheese and Spinach Phyllo Rolls
Tangy and bright, these phyllo rolls make for a great appetizer when you’re preparing food to entertain or to share. The star here is the sumac onion filling, which adds a wonderfully sharp surprise inside crispy phyllo. Though these rolls gain complexity from feta, halloumi, toasted pine nuts and fresh spinach, mint and parsley, they’re also quite forgiving in that you can always use different cheeses, herbs or nuts. Feel free to play around with different phyllo shapes; thicker cigars or even triangles both look great.