A Listening Kind Of Party

Last week the New York Times Food section ran an article by Ben Ratliff, about Japanese listening bars.This is where patrons go to hear jazz ,carefully curated by the bartender as they sip drinks or in some cases coffees and lattes. An idea came to me. What about a listening party? What would you serve for food and drink? It 's an open book.

I like this idea for both classical and jazz music. Listening bars are not meant for conversation. They're meant for savoring the notes and tunes. Add a layer of food and it can be a pleasurable experience. Parties , especially now, can be fraught with too many polarizing politics. These do nothing for the gathering, except cause all sorts of fighting and sniping. Forget eating.Guests are either too riled or too dyspeptic to enjoy any kind of hors d'ouevres. Yet a group solely listening to various jazz artists or Beethoven could turn a social occasion into a Zen happening. You do need a good audio system and vinyl albums or CDs. Which is better?Some prefer vinyl records because they have a warmer,fuller sound. You get to hear the music as the band intended it to be. Of course CDS also work as does a tablet playlist. The best bet for a listening party is pick one artist.Have his or her work on rotation for the duration of the gathering. Seating arrangements can be one table with the food and drink,. Scatter  chairs and small tables for setting down the refreshments and food.

As for the food, keep it to savory hors d'ouevres and dessert bites.For jazz listening, think a New Orleans themed listening party with spicy miniature po' boys. Add oysters for a more decadent bite. Create baked rice cups in a muffin or mini muffin pan and fill with gumbo and/or jambalaya. A variety of pastes and pates  served on slices of cocktail bread (which can be found at any major supermarket's deli counter).The pastes and pates can easily be made from deviled ham, chicken and beef, Add anything from a drop of champagne to scallions to make the pastes truly unique. This can also work for a classical music listening party. Have people take plates of raw veggies and dips to their seats. You can set up a dip bar with such varying dips as a simple vinaigrette to homemade French and ranch dressings.Cheese and crackers will never go amiss.Think a cheese board with Brie Edam, and Gouda for a start .Aldi has an excellent cracker box , with an array of crackers, ranging from butter to sesame and poppyseed. Dessert can be cookie cups filled with fruit and cream.If you're listening to classical, then think both classy and classical. Go with homemade petit fours and macarons (the last can be bought) Start the evening off with wine or champagne. End with demitasse and different teas.

A listening party is a great summer party. Guests can enjoy good food and good music. That's it. No debates. No opinions save for liking or not liking the music choice.In short, the perfect get together.

Dainty Bites

With shower and outdoor tea season  in full swing , it's time to think about dainty bites, those sweet little two bite cakes that are perfect with tea or punch. Surprisingly, they're just as easy to make as they are to eat.

Petit fours are the classic dainty bites.Many home bakers are put off ,one by their small size, and two, French name, One of the simplest recipes, from All Recipes just requires a sponge cake base. It's basically two of everything, from egg yolks to cups of flour to two teaspoons of baking powder.If this is too daunting , then use a cake mix. The frosting can be a buttercream or melted white chocolate similar to  the little cakes that Swiss Colony sells. The last is more elaborate because it needs corn syrup for gloss and body  Fillings are usually some kind of jam , lemon curd or orange marmalade. Remember the cake does have to be sliced so that there's three layers. Some home bakers shave off the cake's top layer for a more even surface. Another idea is soaking the layers. This is simply using a pastry brush to brush liqueur over them to give a boozy zing. That's up to you. Some more experienced bakers do tiny buttercream roses on top. If you're not that adept, then use real violet buds or any kind of sprinkle . Candy confetti will do just fine. Clear a place in the fridge to set the icing and keep the petit fours cool.If you're serving them outside, try to set the table in a shady spot so the icing doesn't melt and slide off.

Fairy cakes are primarily a British treat, being the star of many a child's party. Yet they can be a lovely accompaniment to the petit fours.They're a smaller version of a cupcake (think mini cupcake)usually made up of a sponge cake with an icing. The famed baker and Great British Baking Show judge, Mary Berry, has several excellent recipes for them. There is one that 's a basic sponge cake with a simple confectioner's sugar icing. A chocolate one  has the taste of a brownie and is topped with a sculpted swirl of dark cocoa buttercream icing. There are even   plain ones, sans, icing , flavored with only chopped apples or jam. These would be the perfect foil for those fancier frosted bites. because of their simplicity.Of course the most popular dainty bites are macarons. These, too, can be daunting for home bakers.The recipe is pretty simple though and you can make a vegan one using aquafaba or bean water, the liquid that chickpeas  come packed in. The consistency is similar to egg white and makes a very good and delicate treat. They do require a lower temp oven to bake than macarons made with egg white.. Macarons can be dyed in a variety of pretty colors and flavored with everything from lavender to chocolate to fruits, They also make cute favors for guest to bring home.

Dainty bites are the perfect sweets for an outdoor tea or brunch. They have the right amount of flavor without being overpowering. Serve them with iced teas or tea punches for the perfect Spring Sunday gathering.

Never A Sundae

Are ice cream sundaes the phone in go to dessert of many restaurants? New York Times restaurant critic ,Pete Wells, seems to think so.His is a scathing, yet sometimes true assessment of a childhood favorite turned trite. After all, if you want a sundae , go to Dairy Queen, if you want an elegant dessert go to the right restaurant.

His  rant of sorts was the main article in today's New York Times Food section.He feels that this American classic is served in restaurants that have, as he puts it, a healthy sense of their own self-worth but don't have too many bells and whistles to show for it. These are the wine bars and gastro pubs along with the all day cafes and places where there is a young chef who has cooked somewhere in a chic European eatery.Chefs at these places are cagey. They won't tell you their dessert is a sundae. They'll describe it in detail, as a fancy flavored ice cream such as mascarpone  topped with caramel sauce and  a chocolate crumble for some variety. Mr. Wells expects dessert to surprise him, a sweet amuse-bouche to end the meal.It should . However that means hiring a pastry chef which is usually out of many a restaurant's budget. According to Shuna Lydon, who has worked and led some  pastry kitchens, large and small, famed and not so famed, there is more of a need for sous-pastry chefs It's thirty or forty grand less a year, despite the same amount of work, These have little or no experience with baking or with running a department that could turn out as many as twelve different desserts a night.

Mr. Wells , surprisingly does have some favorites in the sundae department. He does give high marks to NoLiTa eatery Uncle Boons that has a sundae built out of layers of coconut and other Thai flavors.It starts with a coconut gelato bought from Il Laboratorio, an ice cream supplier to most New York City restaurants. A thin coconut wafer and toasted curls of the fresh roasted fruit finish it as does candied peanuts and whipped cream sweetened with palm sugar.  Then there's chef ,John Fraser of Dovetail, spent his early years making the icy confections in a sundae shop. He has carried the idea to his other restaurants, Narcissa in the East Village and  his latest, Loyal on Bleecker Street. which has several afters to choose from.Loyal 's sundae has an array of candy to choose from.Sundaes do serve a purpose in a restaurant. It can be a shared dessert amongst friends and a nice surprise for kids who are bored with a restaurant's appetizers and entrees. Yet the question is do you really need a big gooey dessert to end a lush meal? Wouldn't a selection of petit fours and/or cookies along with coffee or tea be ample enough? Most people normally wouldn't have a big dessert at home, settling for a piece of fruit , cookie, or a thin slice of cake after a big meal. it's kind of gilding the culinary lily by having a lush tart or plated baked something.

Are sundaes just a phone in dessert? Maybe? Would it be better to create something new with ice cream ,syrup and whipped cream? Possibly.Yet to some diners and foodies , a sundae for an ending is better than no ending at all.

The Scoop On Ice Cream Creations

Now that's it's officially summer  it's time to get out the ice cream.Most people are happy with just a scoop of  vanilla i a waffle bowl/ Yet ice cream begs to be turned into something a bit more extravagant. Get out the scoop and get creative.

You 'll need ice cream, whether home made or store bought. If you're cranking it yourself, then go wild with different flavors. Mix rosemary and honey . Try cheesecake with pistachios.  Toss in Raisinets or Milk Duds in a homemade chocolate ice cream.  If you're buying it then stick strictly with ice cream.it holds up better ,  I think, with hot fudge and caramel. It's not as intense and works well with any add ins. One of the easiest ice cream creations to make is the sundae. It's usually just two or  three scoops , drenched in some kind of sauce  and then topped with whipped cream. For a different spin use  a homemade salted chocolate sauce  which is easy to make. It's just taking salted butter and a scant pinch of sea salt to  chopped dark chocolate  and brown sugar. Sundaes are sometimes layered with fruit. For a truly lush creation. have the first layer of strawberries or raspberries , then the ice cream. Top with the chocolate sauce and mounds of homemade whipped cream. Reserve some of the chocolate bar , and using a hasp, shave off  light puffy shards of it to decorate. You can sub in salted  caramel too for the chocolate sauce and topped with chopped  salted caramels .

Banana splits are the height of cool decadence.It's taking three scoops of the same ice cream or three different ones (usually, vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry) and placing them on a long oval dish or banana boat. Slice a banana lengthwise and place on each side of the scoops. Top the vanilla with pineapple , the chocolate with chocolate sauce  and the strawberry with strawberries or strawberry topping. Generously cover with whipped cream, wet walnuts and maraschino cherries.  You can also create a Bananas Foster split too. with vanilla ice cream for a truly decadent dessert or snack. Another fun treat is the classic ice cream sandwich. Moms across the world usually plop ice cream between two giant cookies and then roll them in sprinkles or chopped nuts. Make it  bit more sophisticated. by using pound cake, (it can be store bought) Slice a slice in two and layer softened ice cream on it. It can be placed in a puddle of sauce or coulis and topped with either whipped cream or creme fraiche. For a fancier spin cut  the slices into quarters to make ice cream petit fours. Add a  puff of whipped cream, then top with chocolate shavings, sprinkles or even edible flowers.

It is summer and that means ice cream. Go all out and create something wonderful, cool and tasty . Then enjoy!