YOUR INSTANT DINNER PARTY PLAN
Can you believe we’re already in the downhill stretch of 2023?! Tonight even marks the first night of Hanukkah—she’s early this year! Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate! As we all know, this time of year is filled with shuttling from one social engagement to another, and of course there are plenty of “extra activities” to fill up your schedules, like the kids’ holiday dance recitals, choir performances, and don’t forget your own office holiday party where Susan from Accounting will be overserved and say something offensive.
With all of that in mind, let us simplify your life by giving you two recipes that are a one-stop shop for a perfect dinner party (in case you’re the one doing the entertaining). Elizabeth’s Butterbean Hummus is a simple savory appetizer to start you off, and Anthony’s one-pot White Wine Chicken with Shallots and Tarragon is an entree that is easy and casual, yet special enough to serve to guests. Then, take a spin through our archives to find a dessert option OR outsource that course to one of your guests! 😉
WHITE WINE CHICKEN WITH SHALLOTS & TARRAGON
AU: I don’t know what to call this dish. It’s not a simple braise, and it’s not necessarily a stew, but it’s somewhere in between. What I do know is that it’s a vibrant one-pot meal that is brimming with flavor. Bonus: it will make your entire home smell divine! A foundation of halved shallots, mushrooms, and garlic is joined by boneless skinless chicken thigh pieces, a bunch of white wine, Dijon mustard, and a sprig or two of tarragon to flavor the dish as it bubbles away.
EK: These are all my favorite flavors to marry with chicken. There is something so classic and so satisfying about the combination of white wine, shallots, mushrooms, mustard and tarragon!
AU: The best thing about this dish is that it’s the whole meal in one pot! I like to take help from “Uncle TJ” (aka Trader Joe’s) and let him do some of the slicing. Buying pre-sliced mushrooms, peeled shallots and garlic cloves, and bagged baby spinach saves so much time and energy. Make a side of white rice to serve it over, or serve it with a freshly warmed baguette with really nice French butter. Your guests will swoon! Here’s how to cook it:
AU: First, you melt about 3 tablespoons of butter in a Dutch oven. If you want to make this dish richer, you could start with a little more butter. Once that butter foams, sauté a pound of shallots that have been peeled and halved (or quartered, if they’re large shallots). Because they’re essentially whole, the shallots need a lil head start in cooking—about 5 minutes. Then you throw in a 10-ounce bag of sliced crimini (also cremini) mushrooms, and two cloves of sliced garlic.
When I was developing this recipe, I was worried the mushrooms wouldn’t brown well because of the crowded pan. Boy was I wrong! (Husband, take note. I don’t say this often.) Everything browned beautifully, with some vigilant stirring to make sure everyone gets some contact with the bottom of the pan.
AU: The next step is to remove your beautifully browned mushrooms and caramelized shallots to a bowl to hang out. It’s time to brown the chicken. I cut a pound of boneless, skinless chicken thighs into pieces that were about 1 1/2 inches big. Throw them into a zip-top bag and season with salt and pepper. Then sprinkle a few tablespoons of flour over them, seal the bag, and shake to coat.
The flour accomplishes a few things: 1) it browns beautifully, creating great flavor and texture; 2) It creates a ton of fond on the bottom of the pan (as seen above), which also contributes to the final sauce’s flavor; 3) The flour helps thicken the sauce to make it silky and luxurious (as opposed to brothy).
After your chicken is sufficiently browned (you don’t need to cook it all the way through), deglaze the pot with TWO CUPS of white wine. Yes, that’s a lot of wine, but using it instead of stock or water adds the most incredible depth of flavor. This is when you should scrape up all that gorgeous brown fond on your pan, to make sure every last flavorful bit ends up in the sauce.
Return the mushrooms, shallots, and garlic to the pot. Then, add in the other stars of the show—2 heaping tablespoons of Dijon mustard and 2 sprigs of tarragon. Honestly, I could always use more mustard, so don’t be afraid to use more if that’s your thing…
EK: More mustard please! And I have to say, MarryMe Chicken has nothing on this dish. I hereby dub this dish MarryMe Chicken 2.0. The divine smells alone of the simmering chicken and Dijon mustard will make someone fall in love.
AU: There’s just something about cooked mustard I can’t resist… I know that sounds weird. Now for the easy part—you just simmer all of that for 20-30 minutes to let the chicken cook through, the shallots will soften, the mustard will emulsify, and the tarragon will perfume the whole dish.
AU: While that’s bubbling away, cook your rice or preheat your oven for the bread to serve alongside. This is also the point where you should halve a pint of cherry tomatoes (or grape tomatoes). I’ve been obsessed with this brand at my local whole foods—they’re called Sugar Bombs and they are everything I want in a (grocery store) tomato!
Once the liquid has reduced and thickened, remove the tarragon sprigs and stir in a whole (6oz) bag of baby spinach. Like most greens, it will take one minute to go from omg-this-won’t-fit-in-the-pan to “where the hell did the spinach go?”. Then stir in the halved tomatoes—LOOK IT’S A HOLIDAY DISH: RED & GREEN!
AU: Spoon into bowls and sprinkle with some chopped parsley (or more tarragon, if you love tarragon), and serve.
A HAPPY APPY IN 1-2-3
EK: When you make a one-pot meal like Anthony’s delicious Chicken above, it’s your whole meal in a dish, which means you don’t need to serve anything else with it. That’s when a nice appetizer comes in handy…
I’ve got an appetizer that is so fast, so easy and so delicious that that you may end up making it weekly just to have on hand for when a snack craving hits. If you are like me, it will almost replace hummus in your house. It is my Butterbean Hummus.
Butterbean Hummus has such a nice ring to it—especially for a Southerner who loves butterbeans! And, it has origins in the low country...
The first time I ate at the well-loved restaurant, The Obstinate Daughter on Sullivan’s Island, the Obstinate Flatbread with olive oil, sea salt and a creamy butterbean puree was the crowd favorite, and was gone before everything else.
The dish was so simple, yet so flavorful and satisfying. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. The pale green puree tasted like a smoother, silkier version of hummus with a brightness that you don’t get from traditional hummus. The garlic was an accent and didn’t overwhelm the butterbeans.
The next day, I decided that I was going to try and make it. I googled the name of the dish looking for a recipe and though a few popped up, none were from the restaurant (and most included spices like cumin and other ingredients like parsley and onions that I didn’t taste in the dish the night before). As we both often do, I decided to re-create it based on my taste memory.
AU: Isn’t that always the case?! Elizabeth and I are big nerds, and we’ll often send each other texts like, “Just tasted the best dish—gonna try to recreate it for the newsletter!”
EK: The day got away from me and by the time I went to the grocery store, it was too late to cook the butterbeans [or lima beans] from raw, so I bought canned [cooked] lima beans. Turns out, that was key to the texture of the finished puree and makes this dish super easy to make.
AU: The thing about canned beans is they’re already cooked! Though, I do feel like canned chickpeas always need to cook longer, but most of the time it’s a case of personal preference and not an “uncooked” bean inside the can. Point is, there’s a place for dried beans, and there’s a place for canned ones, which is why I always keep both on hand in my pantry.
EK: I wanted an intense lemon flavor that you can’t get from only using lemon juice. So, in addition to the lemon juice, I peeled the lemon with a vegetable peeler and added strips of the zest to give it the brightness that I remembered. A little raw garlic for flavor, and a generous amount of tahini gives it the creamy texture and flavor that we all love in hummus. If you want a more mellow garlic flavor, you can use a spoonful of garlic confit.
AU: Y’ALL DON’T SLEEP ON THAT GARLIC CONFIT!!
EK: Using a food processor purees and emulsifies everything, and the canned lima beans are so tender that the skins dissolve in the mixture. It was everything that I remembered with a little extra zing of lemon. Since that first “experiment,” I have made it countless times.
EK: Not only is it a welcome starter with warm flatbread or your favorite crackers, I love it so much that I’ve turned it into a light vegetarian entree.
Instead of making my own flatbread, use the small plain grocery store “Naan”. I spread it with the puree and top it with multi-colored heirloom cherry tomatoes and peppery arugula. Not only is it colorful and bright—the acidity in the tomatoes and the bitter greens complement the puree and turn it from a great appetizer to a crave-able and fast meal.
I need to buy a food processor on a budget. I had a VitaMix and honestly I didn't like it, so I returned it. I'm not great in the kitchen but would love to make the hummus appetizer for this weekend. Any suggestions?