Twin Peaks Star Kyle MacLachlan Invites Us to Celebrate Thanksgiving in Wine Country
Entertaining 2011 GiltTaste.com/entertaining
Cheers to Bubbles this Thanksgiving 5¢ shipping through Thanksgiving at GiltTaste.com/entertaining
Our Wine Director, Jeffrey Meisel, is giving thanks this year with a trio of organic, biodynamic sparkling wines, each produced by single vineyard growers with distinct styles reflecting their sense of place and terroir. [Biodynamic Bubbles: $199.00, for 3 bottles]
• As guests arrive, Jeff will be pouring Kante’s KK Brut, and passing trays of raw Island Creek Oysters. • Fleury’s vintage blanc de blancs is the richest and most powerful of the bunch. • Jeff describes the Vouette & Sorbée as the “most vinous” of the three— meaning that it tastes the most like wine and can go head-to-head with turkey.
Welcome As the weather cools, it’s only natural that we steep ourselves in the warmth of the people we love the most. This is the time of year when we fly across the country with boxes of chocolates in our suitcases and turkeys tucked under our arms (yes, that is how we travel). We start throwing cocktail parties and making stews and baking pies. In this catalog, we focus on all of our favorite ways to celebrate–a pot luck wine country Thanksgiving, great new cocktails, a classic all-American tailgate and doughnut decorating with the cutest kids on the block. From Amish Heritage turkeys and biodynamic sparkling wines great for Thanksgiving to Ruth Reichl’s favorite fish sauce and the perfect enamel-lined tea pot, you can shop each story at GiltTaste.com/entertaining. We hope you’ll be inspired to throw your own party and give thanks! Jennifer Pelka Managing Editor, Gilt Taste
Actor Kyle MacLachlan on location in Walla Walla, Washington, picking fresh vegetables for our dinner.
The Cheat: Dumpling Party
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The easiest brunch you’ll ever make By Whitney Chen
All-American Collegiate Tailgate
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The best Bloody Mary recipe and 10 tips for tailgating By Whitney Chen
Kyle MacLachlan’s Wine Country Thanksgiving
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Actor and winemaker invites us to a Thanksgiving feast By Jennifer Pelka
The Royal Fizz
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Host your own holiday cocktail party with remakes on the classic recipe By Tejal Rao
Doughnut Decorating Gilt Taste kids get all sticky-fingered with the sweetest pastry chef in New York City, Stephen Collucci of Colicchio & Sons By Tejal Rao All photos by: Whitney Chen, Jennifer Pelka, Tejal Rao, and Gilt Groupe creative team.
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THE CHEAT: DUMPLING PARTY SHOP THE PARTY 2
Dim Sum means “to touch your heart,” but let’s be honest— filling, rolling and wrapping dumplings for a large group is a tedious proposition. Instead, prep frozen ready-made pot stickers with our foolproof cooking technique. Brighten up the basics with three simple, flavorful sauces, and showcase it all with bamboo steamers and a tea set. With a subtle kick of spice, micro-mizuna’s feathery and glossy green leaves make a gorgeous garnish. [Micro-Mizuna: $12.95, 4 oz]
Perfect Pot Stickers 1 dozen frozen pot stickers (fully cooked, but frozen) Vegetable oil Water or chicken stock 1. Lightly coat the bottom of a large skillet with oil and set over medium heat until shimmering. Neatly arrange the frozen pot stickers in the pan starting in the center, and then around in circles until the skillet is full. 2. Turn the heat up to medium-high and cook until they begin to brown on the bottom—about 3—5 minutes. After they begin to brown, continue cooking for 1 minute. 3. Pour ⅓ cup of water or chicken stock over the pot stickers and immediately cover the skillet to steam the tops of the pot stickers. Turn the heat down to medium. 4. When all the water has evaporated after about 2 minutes, repeat with another ½ cup of water. Repeat if necessary. If cooking pot stickers with raw meat filling, repeat 1—2 more times to ensure the meat is fully cooked. 5. Flip pot stickers out onto a platter (the same way you would remove a cake from a mold) and serve. Garnish with chopped scallions or micro-greens.
You’ve never had fish sauce like Red Boat. Mellow, aged in wood, it smells almost like a great cured ham and packs a booming umami depth for all your cooking. Mix 1:1 with lime juice, sweeten and dilute to taste with sugar and water for a classic Vietnamese dip.
Ink-black and so thick it’s almost syrupy, Yuasa Tarujikomi soy sauce starts with just a kiss of salt, then rounds out like a great dark beer: sweet, malty, earthy. Feature it simply, and revel in it. [Yuasa Tarujikomi: $51.95,
Lao Gan Ma makes one of the most complex Chinese hot sauces we’ve ever tasted. Deeply caramelized garlic, chiles, soybeans and peanuts give this chili paste layers of flavor and texture, while Sichuan peppercorns add a mouth-tingling zip.
[Red Boat: $33.95, 2 liters]
720 ml]
two 7 oz jars]
[Lao Gan Ma: $11.95,
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[Japanese Arare Iron Tea Pot: $93.95]
A PROPER POT OF TEA
This black Arare iron teapot is more than just a pretty face. With a traditional Japanese enamel cast-iron base, it seals in tea’s heat and is one of the most durable teapots you’ll ever find.
Five Mountain Tea’s founders adopted the ways of the monastic lifestyle including the sacred tea tradition. They now share their expertise and love of organic, sustainably-harvested teas with the world.
Soraku Sencha, Considered the original green tea of Japan, this sencha traces back to Five Peak Mountain in Hubei, China. A monk brought the dark, leafy plant back to Japan where it grew as a hybrid. [Soraku Sencha: $19.95, 3 oz]
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Sun Ripened Pu’er, When Five Mountains’ Jason Creech was a young monk in Asia, the elders refused to let him drink Pu’er, which was reserved for the oldest and wisest. The fermented heirloom tea was originally intended to preserve the leaves for long journeys along the Silk Road. [Sun Ripened Pu’er: $19.95, 2 oz]
SHOP THE TEAS
Iron Wu-Long is a tea for coffee lovers. The roasted leaves release rich, tawny flavors like coconut and dried peach. As a rolled tea, the leaves are formed into small balls in round, cloth bundles. The leaves unfurl as they steep, creating new layers of flavor just as a wine changes as it opens up. [Iron Wu-Long: $14.95, 3 oz]
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ALL-AMERICAN COL Where better to spend a brisk fall morning than near a sun-soaked stadium, basking in the glory of good food, drink and the promise of a great football game? The pregame fete is just so spirited. So collegiate. It’s a uniquely American event. At some campuses, tailgating isn’t just a beloved tradition, it’s a sport. 4
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LLEGIATE TAILGATE By Whitney Chen
There are places where die-hards start cooking for game day on Thursday. Where linens drape picnic tables. Where fans wear their Sunday best on Saturday and where happy hour starts at 5 o’clock—in the morning. Even though we’re all for pickup Shop the story at GiltTaste.com/entertaining
trucks, hot dogs and beer, we had a blast dressing the part and sipping Bloody Marys at our all-out, preppy, old-school picnic.
Top Left Image: Clockwise from top-left: Gilt Taste’s Lindsey Bramell, Blogger Cara Eisenpress, Will Wright, Cara Wolinsky, Gilt Taste’s Natalie Johnson, Wallace and Ryan Turner. Top Right Image: Blogger Phoebe Lapine of Big Girls Small Kitchen. Bottom Right Image: Park & Bond outfitted our guys in the American classics. Harvard and Brown buddies Ryan, Will and Scott rock classic collegiate prep. Shop the look at parkandbond.com. 5
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Bayley Hazen Blue, an American cheese we can get behind. [Bayley Hazen Blue: $19.95, 8 oz or, ½ lb]
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Kick off the party with an affordable bottle of bubbly, like Campania's first sparkling wine. [Selim Spumante: $18.95]
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The only plastic glassware trusted by professional sommeliers, Go Vino’s 100% BPA-free tumblers project aromatics like crystal. Cheers to that! [Go Vino: $25.95, 8 glasses]
Every tailgate needs a mascot. This guy can high-five. Not a prerequisite, but a nice party trick.
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Even in your finest, no tailgate is quite complete without a pickup game of football. [Men’s Clothing: parkandbond.com]
We pulled together our favorite food world bright-young-things, including Gilt Taste’s gourmet food buyer Lindsey Bramell and resident truffle hunter Natalie Johnson, Sir Kensington Ketchup’s co-founder Scott Norton, and the lovely ladies behind the popular food blog Big Girls Small Kitchen, Phoebe Lapine and Cara Eisenpress, for a
tailgate-inspired (no cooking necessary) picnic in the park. While undergraduates at Brown University, Scott Norton and Mark Ramandan started experimenting with ketchup. While other guys were organizing beer pong tournaments, this duo was inviting dozens of friends to their dorm
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Payard Patisserie’s financiers are perfect little bites. Gilt Taste’s Samples Coordinator Natalie Johnson looks just gorgeous with them, doesn’t she? [Payard Financier: $50.95, 33 pastries]
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Byrd’s lemon pomegranate cookies are petite and sweet. [Byrd Cookies: $15.95 per 1 lb, (about 110 cookies)]
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We love these adorable peace sign wine stoppers from Napa Valley’s Spit Bucket. They make a statement while keeping flies at bay. [Spit Bucket: $61.95, 12 coasters and wine stoppers]
No-cook desserts: Manhattan Fruitier’s gorgeous produce basket. [Manhattan Fruitier Sugar Hill Basket: $60.95]
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The Frankies Spuntino cookbook features the New York restaurant’s best recipes, from ricotta cavatelli to pork braciola. [Frankies Spuntino cookbook: $25.95]
room to sample all-natural condiments. Three short years later, Sir Kensington’s Gourmet Scooping Ketchup is leading the pack in the all-natural ketchup movement. Eisenpress and Lapine’s cooking friendship began in middle school as a rivalry over chocolate-chip oatmeal cookies. Though the dispute was never Shop the story at GiltTaste.com/entertaining
settled, they’ve been cooking together ever since. Now at Big Girls Small Kitchen, they come up with smart, snappy, userfriendly and affordable ways to navigate home kitchens. Since launching BGSK in 2008, they’ve garnered legions of fans in search of creative solutions to entertaining on a budget. 7
Bloody Kensingtons Serves one
2 ounces of tequila Juice from ½ a lime 2 dashes of Worcestershire sauce 2 squirts of hot sauce 2 teaspoons of Sir Kensington’s Spiced Ketchup 1 teaspoon of horseradish A dash of freshly ground black pepper Smoked salt, lime wheel, celery stick (to garnish) 8
1. Combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice 2. Shake and strain into a glass rimmed with smoked salt 3. Finish with a floater of tequila if you’re up for a real good time 4. Garnish with smoked salt, a lime wheel and celery stick [Sir Kensington Spiced Ketchup: $35.95, four 11 oz jars] [Salt Traders Guava Wood Smoked Salt: $19.95, 3.5 oz jar]
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The Bloody Mary is our go-to party drink because it's a blank canvas to introduce ingredients that are local, seasonal or flavors we simply love. Top Image: Clockwise from top left: BGSK’s Cara Eisenpress, Cara Wolinsky, Sir K’s Scott Norton, Will Wright and Ryan Turner Bottom Right Image: Gilt Taste Marketplace Editor, Next Food Network Starlet, photographer and author of this story, Whitney Chen, with her fiancé Will Wright.
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[Jamon Segovia Mangalitsa Ham: $549.00, 13 lb ham with carving stand]
KYLE MACLACHLAN’S WINE COUNTRY THANKSGIVING BY JENNIFER PELKA
AS A TWIN PEAKS FAN, I HAVE A CULTISH LOVE FOR KYLE MACLACHLAN’S BLACK-COFFEE-AND-SLICE-OF-PIE ONE LINERS AS FBI AGENT COOPER. This August, with Hurricane Irene’s wrath imminent and Brooklyn’s very existence in threat, I cozied up on a friend’s couch for a marathon of David Lynch’s 90s cult classic. Just before being asked who killed Laura Palmer, Agent Cooper sits down at a diner to order breakfast. “Nothing beats the taste sensation when maple syrup collides with ham.” My love was affirmed. I tweeted, “@kyle_maclachlan Thanks for making Irene great. We’d love to sell Pursued by Bear @gilttaste How do we get in touch?” Within minutes, he responded. Two weeks later, I was on my way to Walla Walla, Washington with our Restaurant Editor, Tejal Rao, to visit Dunham Cellars where Kyle produces his wine. In Walla Walla, Kyle served as tour guide to an incredibly vibrant food and wine community. We traipsed through vines, petted goats, and sampled some damn fine coffee. At the end of the weekend, Kyle brought together his favorite local chefs, farmers, and a mixologist for a potluck Thanksgiving dinner.
“WHEN I COME TO WALLA WALLA, I GET OFF THE PLANE WITH MY ROLLER SUITCASE, WALK ACROSS THE STREET TO THE ROASTERY AND GET A CAPPUCCINO. IT’S A LITTLE RITUAL.” If Agent Cooper were transported to contemporary coffee culture, two decades after the final episode wrapped, Kyle thinks he’d upgrade to a double espresso. “And, you know, pie.” No longer in the role of the weirdly plummy FBI agent, Kyle himself doesn’t drink too much diner coffee these days. The owners of the Walla Walla Roastery ship him bags of beans to make in his beloved La Marzocco machine at home in either New York or Los Angeles. All fueled up with coffee we jumped into the second row of seats in winemaker Eric Dunham's dusty pick-up truck, settling in with the accessories of adventure–dusty wine bottles, a sweetly sweaty dog and an axe. This all felt so manly and rustic and freewheelings, far distant from Cooper’s buttoned-up Federal Bureau of Investigation-ways.
PREVIOUS PAGE: Wine gnomes: Kyle MacLachlan with Gilt Taste Restaurant Editor Tejal Rao and Managing Editor Jennifer Pelka in the vines ABOVE: Kyle has has been making wine with the Dunham family since 2005
[Dunham Cabernet Savignon 2008: $45.00, 750 ml bottle]
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OUR FIRST STOP WAS MONTEILLET FROMAGERIE, A SPRAWLING 32-ACRE FARM WHERE HUSBAND AND WIFE TEAM PIERRE-LOUIS AND JOAN MONTEILLET RAISE 50 ALPINE GOATS AND 50 FRIESIAN AND LACAUNE SHEEP. Cheesemaking is in their bones; Pierre-Louis is a native of Millau, France, 20 miles from Roquefort, and Joan, a wheat farmer’s daughter, grew up in Walla Walla raising a menagerie of cattle, horses and pigs. The couple met in 1978 in Oaxaca, Mexico, where they were both exploring the Zapotec ruins of Monte Alban. After an evening feasting on authentic Mexican food and dancing to a 15-person Marimba Band playing “The Flight of the Bumble Bee,” the two exchanged addresses. Six weeks later, Joan—back in Walla Walla working as the chef at the Left Bank Restaurant—received a surprise visit from Pierre-Louis, who had hitch-hiked for three days from El Paso just to see her. Today, they produce a dozen cheeses, from fresh chèvre to brebis to feta. Their Reine Blanche (or White Queen) is a supple, mellow Brie-style blend of goat and sheep’s milk; the Roi Noir (Black King) is a strong goat cheese dusted with grapeleaf and ash, which is cellared to bloom a smoky rind.
AS OUR TRUCK DOORS SWUNG OPEN TO THE SUN-SOAKED FARM, JOAN AND PIERRE-LOUIS RUSHED OVER, HUGGING AND KISSING US LIKE OLD FRIENDS.
Channeling Agent Cooper, Kyle brought us to his favorite coffee shop, the familyoperated Walla Walla Roastery. “This is, excuse me, a damn fine cup of coffee. I’ve had I can’t tell you how many cups of coffee in my life and this is one of the best.”
Eric brought a magnum of Pursued by Bear, and we were all drinking the heady, intensely plummy wine in no time. A vintage silver Airstream sits next to an enormous vegetable garden and a massive field of bleating goats. Originally Kyle’s trailer on the set of Twin Peaks, it is now used as homebase for Monteillet’s cheese interns. After a few hours petting goats and pulling vegetables for the following night’s dinner, Joan and Pierre-Louis invited us inside as twilight set in. Joan pulled out her favorite cheeses, refilled our glasses for the third time, and we all danced in the kitchen to Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Only Living Boy in New York.” As we walked back to the car, Eric said, “You always leave Joan and PierreLouis feeling better than when you arrived.”
[Dunham Syrah: $28.00, 750 ml bottle] 14
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TOP LEFT: Pierre-Louis and Joan Montiellet raise 50 French Alpine goats and 50 Friesian and Lacaune sheep on their 32-acre dairy farm TOP RIGHT: Kyle works for his supper
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BOTTOM: Kyle’s original Airstream trailer, from the set of Twin Peaks, now serves as home base for Monteillet’s cheese-making interns
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Pursued by Bear spends two years in 100% new Taransaud oak, and bottle-ages for one year thereafter. The famous bottles have been produced in Cognac, France, since 1652.
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EARLY THE NEXT DAY, WE HEADED TO THE VINES TO INSPECT THE GRAPES. IT’S BEEN A WET AND COLD SUMMER, BUT THE GRAPES ARE FARING BETTER IN WALLA WALLA VALLEY THAN NAPA AND SONOMA DOWN SOUTH. Back at the Dunham’s massive barrel room and tasting lab, Kyle sniffed and sipped and spat the fresh juice. “My initial motivation to start making wine was to learn. I don’t have the kind of mind that can remember every vintage or varietal. I’m more interested in the process of how you actually go about making wine,” said Kyle. “This is a way to really immerse myself rather than just reading books.” Kyle works with Dunham’s precocious winemaker, Dan Wampfler, a towheaded Michigan native with a warm smile, to find balance in the blend of three Washington varietals, Cabernet, Merlot and Syrah. With a sip of one vineyard’s merlot, Kyle puckered and winced (“Oooooey, needs more time on the vine!”); with another vineyard’s cab, his eyes opened wide and he smacked his lips (“That’s the good stuff!”). You can understand why a man whose face is this expressive has made a career out of performing. “In the beginning I used to spit a lot less, now I spit a lot more. You get a bit buzzed and it’s hard to remember which vintage or vineyard you liked the best,” Kyle said. “Your taste buds have to be on high alert.” In 2008, after having produced three vintages of the Pursued by Bear cabernet blend, Eric came to Kyle with an idea: why not make a Syrah? Kyle loves Washington state’s Syrahs. In fact, these wines are the reason he and Eric came to make wine together in the first place. When Kyle was searching for a wine to serve at his wedding to television producer Desiree Gruber in 2002, he read about the Dunham Estates’ award-winning 1999 Lewis Vineyard single-estate Syrah, a classic coupling with the reception’s main course of lamb with a cherry glaze. The Dunham family now bottles three Lewis Vineyard single varietal wines: a cabernet, a Syrah and a merlot, each embellished with labels painted by Eric Dunham. This “Artist Over the potluck feast, everyone gives thanks. Series” trio has become the hallmark collection that they produce. In 2005, Kyle created a Syrah of his own. Because Kyle’s first son Callum was born that same year, he named the wine Baby Bear.
[Baby Bear Syrah: $48.00, one 750 ml bottle]
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LOCAL BAR OWNER JIM GERMAN AND HIS WIFE CLAIRE PULLED UP TO KYLE’S POTLUCK FEAST FIRST, FITTINGLY SO, SINCE THEY BROUGHT A CELEBRATION PUNCH—A CHEERY BOWL OF GIN, CITRUS AND HIBISCUS WITH A GENEROUS CAVA FLOATER. “Jim crafts these incredible elixirs. He’s like a wizard,” said Kyle. Whenever he’s in town, Kyle goes to the simply appointed high-ceilinged bar, and, he says, “I just ask him to make me something. There’s always something new that he’s experimenting with.” Back in New York or Los Angeles, Kyle rarely goes to cocktail bars, but
Bar owner Jim German brings a celebration punch of gin, citrus, hibiscus and bubbly. For recipes from our weekend with Kyle, visit GiltTaste.com from November 14–18
for some reason, Jim German Bar just fits. Eric’s Tongan aunt arrived with a pumpkin tempura, a gorgeous cornucopia of fried squash, rings of sweet Walla Walla onion, and aromatic sprigs of sage and thyme. She set out a bowl of sweet dipping broth and wooden chopsticks for serving, but everyone dug in with their hands. Jamie Guerin, the chef who created the first serious gastronomic restaurant in Walla Walla, Whitehouse-Crawford, and his dining room manager Emily Riley, arrived with their arms full: A casserole of sautéed collard greens (heavy on the bacon), roasted squash with spring onions and a free-form nut and fruit tart. Guerin opened the restaurant in 2000, in a historic lumber mill and furniture factory that dates back to the 1880s. The high-beamed room has been converted to a cozy dining space and an open kitchen with a wood-burning oven that’s responsible for roasting local meats and produce. As the champagne toasts started, Joan arrived with an enormous wheel of freshly baked bread and a spread of cheeses. Chris and Island Ainsworth, chef and owner of the inventive Mediterranean restaurant, Saffron, arrived with the main event—the turkey, a local heritage bird that had been deboned, rubbed with garlic and herbs and lemon zest, larded with house-made pancetta and rolled like a classic porchetta. You could see that the skin of this “turketta” would crack with a satisfying snap like the very best chicharron. Eric manned an enormous gas grill, making “beer can chicken.” The Dunhams have rigged up the grates with flat-bottomed pipes that they fill with Riesling and fresh herbs to roast plump free-range chickens to golden perfection.
[Dunham Riesling 2009: $19.50, 750 ml bottle] 18
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TOP LEFT: Island Ainsworth of Saffron Restaurant with Kyle TOP RIGHT: Eric’s Tongan aunt holds a gorgeous pumpkin tempura
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BOTTOM: Saffron’s chef Chris Ainsworth carves his turketta. For Recipes from our weekend with Kyle, visit GiltTaste.com from November 14–18
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TOP: Bourbon barrel-aged maple syrup for glazing Chef Jamie Guerin’s sweet apple tamales BOTTOM LEFT: A free-form fruit tart from Whitehouse-Crawford
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BOTTOM RIGHT: Emily and Joan finishing the night off with mini-macarons and chocolates from French confectioner Richart
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Everyone headed inside to the Dunham’s private dining room, a converted airport hangar bright with Eric’s oil paintings and wild flowers. Plates were piled high with turkey and chestnut stuffing, Walla Walla onion focaccia, and Joan’s butter lettuce pulled freshly from her garden. Eric’s father, Mike Dunham, the warm and handsome patriarch of the family, raised a glass of his son’s wine and toasted to the table. It was a moment of pride. As bottles were drained, Jamie brought out a dessert, his pastry chef’s spin on a classic tamale: brown butter roasted apples with dulce de leche ice cream and bourbon barrel aged maple syrup. In the air that night, there was a sense of the fundamental human need for family. Several guests had very recently suffered losses of close loved ones, a few having returned home to Walla Walla from a funeral, others with those rites still raw in recent memory. As each guest arrived to Dunham Cellars for a feast of thanks, they embraced—extended bear hugs that signal only belonging and love. “These people have become like family to me. I’ve been coming here for almost ten years, and there’s a genuine feeling of support,” said Kyle.
THESE ARE KIND AND LOVING PEOPLE. Eric named his house wine “Three Legged Red” after a rescue dog he found in the street, a pup who became a loyal friend and fixture around the vineyards. There was a palpable feeling of generosity and kindness everywhere we went. Midway through the following morning’s 6:40 a.m. commuter flight from Walla Walla to Seattle, Kyle pointed out into the clouds. “Hey Jen, I just wanted to show you something. We’re flying over Yakima, the town where I grew up. It’s about a two-hour drive from Walla Walla.” We were some 30,000 feet above Washington, but it didn't feel far from home.
For recipes from our weekend with Kyle, visit GiltTaste.com November 14–18.
And, scene.
[Thanksgiving Wine Collection: $224.50, six 750 ml bottles]
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The Royal Fizz A New Way to Make an Old Classic by Tejal Rao
A good gin fizz is a voluptuous creature. The standard way to make a cap of froth, and give the drink some real body, is by shaking in an egg white. But journalist and author Lesley M. M. Blume (best known for her books celebrating forgotten fashions and trends) has rediscovered an old fizz technique. In her eclectic, antique-filled loft in the West Village, while her French bulldog trotted merrily around the kitchen, Blume filled us in on her secret: use the whole egg (yolk and all) to create a fluffy, velveteen froth that lingers on the palate.
Very Chic Shakes Host your own fizz-themed cocktail party, but do keep the guest list small--after all, you have to shake these beauties one by one. Check out five more fizz recipes at GiltTaste.com.
The Three Chilis Royal Fizz Makes 1 cocktail by Lesley M. M. Blume 2 ounces gin 1 tablespoon Royal Rose Three Chilis syrup 1 whole egg Juice of ½ lemon Seltzer, to taste Shake all the ingredients except for the seltzer with plenty of crushed ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass or Champagne coupe, and top with seltzer to taste.
[Royal Rose Syrups: $64.95 six 8 oz bottles]
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NBOW I A R
SPRINKLES By Tejal Rao
Decorating Doughnuts with the Sweetest Pastry Chef in Town
At New York City's Colicchio and Sons, pastry chef Stephen Collucci takes classic flavor pairings from his childhood and playfully reimagines them on the dessert plate. So a favorite like PB&J might become a rich banana cake with peanut butter mousse and Concord grape sorbet, and his family’s recipe for classic cake doughnuts might be studded with caramelized bacon and glazed with maple syrup frosting. One of Collucci’s most well-worn kitchen tools is the fryer, which he uses for beignets, cake doughnuts and fritters. This fall, he inspired us to host a doughnut-themed kids’ party. In advance, we fried up an assortment of doughnuts, whipped together a few simple glazes, and set up some containers of colorful toppings. When the kids arrived, we let them go to town.
Doughnut vs. Donut Doughnut has been around much longer than donut, which started as an abbreviation and stuck. We recognize it as a variant spelling, rather than a mistake.
Basic Cake Doughnut Makes 25—30 pieces (Adapted by Liz Gunnison)
6 cups cake flour or all-purpose flour 1 ½ cups sugar ¾ teaspoon baking soda 1 tablespoon baking powder ½ tablespoon salt Zest of 1 lemon 2 eggs 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk 5 egg yolks 1 teaspoon vanilla ½ cup butter, melted and cooled 1.
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In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine all dry ingredients and lemon zest and mix gently. With the mixer speed on low, add the eggs one at a time, followed by the buttermilk, yolks, and vanilla, scraping the bowl to make sure the dough is mixed completely. Add the melted, cooled butter and mix until thoroughly combined. Scrape the dough onto a sheet of parchment paper, and place another sheet of parchment paper on top. Use a rolling pin, roll the dough until it is about a ⅜" in thickness throughout. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes to an hour, until firm. Meanwhile, in a heavy-bottomed pot fitted with a candy thermometer, heat 2 to 3 inches of canola oil until it reaches 350°F. Remove the chilled dough and, using two sizes of floured cookie cutters, punch out doughnut-shaped rings. Place each doughnut gently into the hot oil, flipping them once browned (they should take 1 to 2 minutes per side) to ensure that the doughnut is a nice golden brown all over. Remove the doughnuts from the fryer with a slotted spoon, placing them on paper towels to blot excess oil. Toss them into a sugar or glaze of your choosing while still warm, and enjoy.
Doughnut Variations •
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For a chocolate-peppermint doughnut, replace the lemon zest from the basic cake dough with a ½ cup of cocoa powder and sprinkle the glaze with crushed peppermint For a bacon doughnut, add ½ pound of bacon, cooked, and chopped For a pumpkin spice doughnut, add 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice For a cranberry-walnut doughnut, add ½ cup chopped walnuts and 1 cup finely chopped dried cranberries.
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All Grown Up
Noble Tonic No. 1 Aged in Bourbon barrels at New York’s first whisky distillery to open since prohibition, this smoky maple syrup is on reserve for Mom and Dad. [Mikuni's Noble Tonic #1: $54.95, 450ml]
Classic Doughnut Glaze 2 cups powdered sugar ¼ cup of water
Hickory Smoked Mangalitsa Bacon Made from the same breed as Spain’s famous black-footed Ibérico pig, this buttery bacon is an all-American spin on porky indulgence. [Mosefund Bacon: $31.95, 24 oz]
1. Combine sugar and water. Whisk well until glaze is smooth and lump-free. 2. To assemble: Dip warm doughnuts into glaze, then place glaze-side up on parchment paper.
Variations • • • •
For a chocolate glaze, increase water by 2 tablespoons, and add 4 tablespoons cocoa powder For a lemon or orange glaze, add 1 tablespoon zest For a maple glaze, reduce water by 1 tablespoon, and add ½ cup maple syrup For cinnamon-sugar, mix together 1 tablespoon cinnamon, 2 cups of sugar, and big pinch of salt
I’ve been frying doughnuts in my home “kitchen since high school, and I still Smoked Cinnamon We’re obsessed with La Boîte à Epice’s smoked cinnamon, a step up from a classic cinnamon toast crunch. [La Boîte à Epice, Cinnamon: $15.95, 2.5 oz]
bring them along to family functions
”—Stephen Collucci
today.
Shop the story at GiltTaste.com/entertaining
If doughnuts aren’t good enough on their own, dunk them in hot chocolate New York City’s MarieBelle Sweets make their incredibly rich Aztec drinking chocolates with the finest whole cocoa beans. [MarieBelle Drinking Chocolates: $54.95, set of two 20 oz tins]
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U O Y E R V U A H HT YO ? G T U E BO RKEY Y TU
[Amish Free-Range Turkey: From $114.95]