Holiday Bites

Recipes for the addictive hors d'oeuvres I'm not allowed to stop making.

Last Sunday, I hosted my 23^rd annual ladies’ tea. What started as a joke after writing a Details (!) story about not having any female friends has become a highlight of my year, with the guest list now capped at 90. It’s a powerful afternoon, with incredible women reconnecting after yet another crazy year. (In 2020, we met in Washington Square Park for a BYOT.) What a way to mark time! You can read more in this piece I wrote for Doré.

This year, I bought extra canelé molds at NY Cake to keep up with requests for Dorie Greenspan’s beauties.

There is tea, of course — though some years it’s 99% bubbles — and way too much food. For the first five years or so, I made everything. When that became less fun, my friends were tapped to make some of “my” recipes: Luise still brings Rose Bakery scones (though last week, Right on Franklin’s Olivia Weiss sold us on the fruit scones in the new Mokonuts cookbook), Elliott always nails Suzanne Goin’s Meyer lemon and chocolate tart, Angela did sesame chicken tea sandwiches from Martha Stewart’s bring-it-back-please Hors d’Oeuvres Handbook, Heidi tackled Pierre Hermé’s chocolate sablés (a.k.a. Dorie Greenspan’s World Peace Cookies), and then whoever doesn’t want to bake brings a few bags of clementines. Please.

Today, so many pro-ams and actual professionals come (here’s the recipe for carla lalli music’s spin on the NYT’s plum torte, which she published Monday morning) that I can stick to the staples: Dorie’s cookies and canelés, plus Port-glazed walnuts with Stilton and smoky tea-cured gravlax with ginger butter on pumpernickel. (Even better: There are always leftovers, allowing me to invite friends over the week after to help with all those bottles of Champagne.) Those two savory recipes appeared in the December 2001 issue of Food + Wine, written by my friend Jonathan Hayes — one of the best food writers on IG — and developed by Melissa Clark.

That issue, along with the fall 2001 publication of Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course, were what inspired me to get back into the kitchen after 9/11 — and to bring people together to share a moment in a suddenly unfathomable world. So much has changed, and yet… The biggest compliment I received on Sunday? A friend said that ladies’ tea is how she marks time.

Please enjoy these recipes. I hope they start a new December tradition.

The bedroom tea summit of 2019.

Port Glazed Walnuts with Stilton
This makes enough for a big, crazy party, with leftovers. I’ve learned to set out only half of the cheese and walnuts, along with any extra syrup, for another evening or two. You can always put out more! But once the nuts get sticky, you’re less likely to eat any leftovers. (Though they’re delicious in salad with any leftover Stilton and an overripe pear.)

2½ cups walnut halves (9 ounces)
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup ruby Port
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 bay leaf
One 1-pound wedge of Stilton (not blue cheese).

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet and toast for 8 minutes, or until lightly browned.
2. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, combine the sugar, Port, pepper and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. Discard the bay leaf.
3. Add the walnuts to the saucepan, stirring to evenly coat. Using a slotted spoon, drain the nuts very well. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the walnuts on it in a single layer. Bake for 12 minutes, stirring once, or until the nuts are mostly dry; let cool. Separate any nuts that stick together.
4. Meanwhile, simmer the syrup over low heat until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 3 minutes.
5. Set the Stilton on a serving platter. (I like to stick a knife in it, so people know to crumble the cheese and spread it on a nut.) Here, you can either surround it with some of the walnuts or put them in a little bowl on the platter. Just make sure that you set aside enough nuts for a second or third evening! Drizzle the port syrup over the cheese and serve with the nuts. From Melissa Clark.

NOTE: The nuts can be stored in an airtight container for up to five days. The port syrup can be refrigerated for up to one week; gently rewarm before serving, or let come to room temperature before pouring.

Tea-Cured Gravlax with Ginger Butter
Again, this makes enough for a few more evenings, so hold back a bit when plating. This year’s discoveries: The leftover salmon skin is incredible broiled the next morning for Japanese breakfast. And cocktail pumpernickel bread? It’s back-ordered all over the city. Just buy a dense, thinly sliced loaf of pumpernickel (they tend to hide it on an upper shelf), remove the crusts and slice into rectangles or squares.

1 cup (2 ounces) lapsang souchong tea (see note)
½ cup sugar
½ cup kosher salt
Two 1-lb tail pieces of organic salmon fillet, skin on
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced chives
1 loaf cocktail pumpernickel bread.

1. Line a large glass baking dish with a double layer of plastic wrap, leaving 4 inches overhang all around. In a bowl, toss the tea with the sugar and salt. Spread half of the curing mixture in the bottom of the prepared dish. Spread the remaining half over the fish and cover tightly with the plastic wrap. Set a plate on the salmon and top with heavy cans or bottles. (Or whatever you need to move to make room for the dish!) Refrigerate for two days. Be careful when removing, as the fish will expel oil.
2. In a medium bowl, blend the butter with the ginger and chives and season with salt. Spread a thin layer on each slice of bread, then cut the slices on the diagonal. Taste and adjust seasoning.
3. Rinse the salmon, removing as much of the curing mixture as you can. Pat dry. Using a thin, very sharp knife, slice the salmon crosswise, going with the grain of the fish, into very thin slices. Place a small slice of salmon on each piece of buttered bread and serve. The salmon will keep refrigerated in an airtight container for 5 days.
From Jonathan Hayes.

NOTE: McNulty’s Tea & Coffee Co. at 109 Christopher Street sells heavily smoked lapsang souchong that works perfectly for this. Please go there regardless: It’s the last of Old New York.