Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2023 i Food & Wine

2021 PLANETA CERASUOLO DI VITTORIA ($23) Planeta is one of Sicily’s best-known wineries. This blend of Nero d’Avola and Frappato is all cranberry and currant with hints of minty eucalyptus. It’s light enough to serve as an aperitif, but flavorful enough for main courses. 2019 RHYS SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS CHARDONNAY ($45) With this vintage, the more affordable Alesia label gets folded in under the main Rhys name. Winemaker Jeff Brinkman says, “There’s that lemon-rind citrus that comes through, then a chalky minerality.” He’s exactly right. MORTLACH 16 YEAR OLD SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY ($115) A very wintry whisky, this expression from Mortlach is the perfect post-holiday-dinner sipper as the weather grows colder. It’s full of sweet sherry-cask notes that play against its innately rich dried fruit and spicy character.…

Grape, Walnut, and Labneh Toasts With Hot Honey ACTIVE 25 MIN; TOTAL 50 MIN; SERVES 8 Toasted sourdough is topped with creamy and tart labneh, roasted red grapes, and a drizzle of hot honey in this appetizer from cookbook author Adeena Sussman. Roast the grapes just until the skins begin to split to amplify their sweetness. Serve leftover hot honey on roast chicken or fish. ⅓ cup honey¼ tsp. crushed red pepper, plus more to taste4 thyme sprigs, plus fresh thyme leaves for garnish1½ cups seedless red grapes¼ tsp. granulated sugar2 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. olive oil, divided⅓ cup chopped walnuts4 (½-inch-thick) sourdough bread slices, cut in half crosswise1 cup labnehFlaky sea salt and black pepper, to taste 1. Combine honey, crushed red pepper, and thyme sprigs in a medium…

Cooking the Classics FOR HOME COOKS LIKE ME who take their kitchen cues from the farmers market, this is such a wonderful time of year to cook for the people you love. Take this simple, elemental recipe for Silken Turnip and Potato Soup from the late Edna Lewis, who codified farm-to-table cooking in the regional Southern vernacular, starting in 1972 with The Edna Lewis Cookbook and finishing in 2003 with The Gift of Southern Cooking, her now-classic collaboration with chef Scott Peacock. Lewis and Peacock first shared the velvety soup and the Cheese Straws recipe on p. 110 in the November 1998 issue of Food & Wine, as part of a 19-recipe Thanksgiving menu that may be the largest we’ve ever published. “That [soup] was pure Miss Lewis,” Peacock told…

THE SWINGING, BULBOUS, BRIGHT GREEN GOURDS in my grandparents’ backyard didn’t belong there. After all, their tiny spot in San Francisco was often wrapped in a blanket of fog and averaged a crisp 60 degrees. It was the opposite of the steamy, tropical climate where chayote (or mirliton, as it’s referred to in the Deep South) typically grows. But despite it being geographically out of place, the squash thrived, and today it wends through memories of my home and family. The curlicue chayote vines wrapped around my nana’s clothesline, reminding me of her nimble fingers threading wet clothes to dry. On rare sunny days, the chayote shaded my grandpa while he hoed weeds, humming a tune that I still know by heart. In the early days after I was born,…

IF YOU’VE EVER WORKED in restaurants, bars, or coffee shops, or even so much as hosted a dinner party, there’s a good chance you know what it feels like to be in the weeds in the kitchen. During peak pressure points, when drink tickets pile up and chaos is everywhere, professional bartenders turn toward cocktails premade in large batches, which can be poured in seconds for dozens of customers. “Batched cocktails take the guesswork out of serving drinks,” says Kaitlyn Stewart, who was named the World Class Global Bartender of the Year in 2017 and who shares her tips and recipes on Instagram @likeablecocktails. “You get consistency from the first drink to the last, and ultimately, you get the drink in the guest’s hand more quickly.” While not every aspect…

I HAVE BEEN TO PARADISE. Today, I’ll find out if it’s still there. I’m standing on the quayside in Kingstown, the capital of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, shading my eyes against the blinding sunshine to look across the harbor at the foreboding green mountain rising out of the Caribbean Sea nine miles away. The last time I stood in this spot was nearly 50 years ago, waiting with my mother to board the mail boat to Bequia, the island refuge that changed our lives forever. If anyone had told me then that it would take so long to return, I would never have believed them. Bequia was our home away from home for three years, the first place in my young life where I had ever felt truly safe.…

THERE IS NO GREATER LUXURY than a platter of perfectly cut fruit. Just ask chefs Justin Pichetrungsi and Calvin Eng (both 2022 Food & Wine Best New Chefs), who serve thoughtful, gorgeous fruit platters as the grand finale to a meal at their respective restaurants, Anajak Thai in Sherman Oaks, California, and Bonnie’s in Brooklyn. And it’s not just impressive in restaurants: When entertaining this holiday season, consider laying out a large plate of well-sourced and -prepared fruit. Whether enjoyed at the beginning or end of a meal, the fresh, crunchy, and juicy fruit can provide a welcome respite from the endless parade of rich holiday dishes. Follow these pro tips on how to assemble a truly showstopping fruit platter at home. PLAN YOUR PLATTER 1. PICK YOUR FRUIT There…

1. ST. AGRESTIS AMARO-SOAKED CHERRIES Unlike most cocktail cherries, which can often veer toward the overly sweet, these sour cherries get a three-month soak in bittersweet amaro, adding layers of depth and complexity while intensifying their intoxicating cherry flavor. ($25, stagrestis.com) 2. BLUE HENRY DEHYDRATED FRUIT GARNISH Fancy fruit garnishes aren’t solely for professional bartenders. Blue Henry makes beautiful dehydrated lemons, limes, oranges, and blood oranges to top any drink. ($36 for a mixed pack, bluehenryspirits.com) 3. ROCKERBOX SPICE CO. PICKLED GARLIC F&W Deputy Editor Melanie Hansche loves stuffing cloves of this sweet and spicy pickled garlic into massive pitted green olives, which she then wraps in marinated white anchovies to adorn her over-the-top dirty martinis. ($14, rockerboxgarlic.com) 4. MATIZ PIPARRA PEPPERS These long pickled peppers are a key ingredient…

There Is Only One Rule AT PADMA LAKSHMI’S ANNUAL DIWALI PARTY. The invitation contains a gentle warning, and the sign on the door to her Lower Manhattan apartment reiterates it: “Kindly take your shoes off.” And if you’ve somehow managed to miss it, it’s impossible to ignore the sea of shoes piled up in the hallway. But all thoughts of footwear vanish the moment you take a step through the doorway, draped with a lush mix of striking green mango leaves and deep orange marigolds (the latter of which Lakshmi grows on her terrace). The entry hallway opens up immediately into Lakshmi’s kitchen, the beating heart of her apartment, where guests in an assortment of South Asian outfits—whether their own or borrowed for the occasion—wander in and out to grab…