Riverhead Table: THE STARS IN OUR EYES
When we decided to build our next Riverhead Table around THE STARS IN OUR EYES—“a fast, fun look at celebrity culture” (Washington Post) by the luminous Julie Klam—we knew immediately that we wanted to host a Classic-Hollywood-Steakhouse-Slash-Oscars-Viewing-Party style cocktail event. There would be glitz! There would be glam! There would be mini steaks on toast and lots of champagne!
So we gathered a couple dozen friends—just the usual pals like Meg Wolitzer and Roz Chast to name a few (excuse us while we fan girl in the corner)—at the beautiful Upper East Side home of New Yorker writer Patricia Marx to celebrate Julie’s new book with cocktails, crudités, and more. We hope you’ll try some of these fun party recipes during award season!
MENU
Shrimp Cocktail
Crudités Vegetables with Remoulade Sauce
Crostini with Steak and Horseradish Cream
Mini Wedge Salads
Chocolate Mousse
+ a cheese platter from Whole Foods because, well, it isn’t a Riverhead party without a cheese platter.
(Julie Klam channeling Ina Garten)
INA GARTEN’S SHRIMP COCKTAIL (Recipe from Food Network)
Total Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
1 lemon
Kosher salt
2 pounds large shrimp in the shell (about 30)
1/2 cup chili sauce (recommended: Heinz)
1/2 cup ketchup (recommended: Heinz)
3 tablespoons prepared horseradish
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce (recommended: Tabasco)
Cut the lemon in half and add it to a large pot of boiling salted water. Add the shrimp and cook, uncovered, for only 3 minutes, until the shrimp are just cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon to a bowl of cool water. When the shrimp are cool enough to handle, peel and de-vein them. Keep cold until ready to serve. For the cocktail sauce, combine the chili sauce, ketchup, horseradish, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and hot sauce. Serve with the shrimp.
CRUDITÉS VEGETABLES WITH REMOULADE SAUCE (Recipe from Epicurious.com)
Total Time: 15 minutes
Yield: Makes 8 to 10 servings; dip makes 3/4 cup
1 bulb fennel, sliced
1 bunch radishes, trimmed
1 bunch small young carrots, trimmed and peeled
2 Belgian endive heads, trimmed and leaves separated
2 small Persian cucumbers, quartered lengthwise
4 teaspoons kosher salt
For the remoulade:
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoons capers, rinsed and chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
In a large bowl or resealable plastic container, combine vegetables with salt and 4 cups water and stir to combine. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours (and up to one day). In a small bowl, combine yogurt, mayonnaise, capers, lemon juice, mustard, and parsley. Stir well to combine and season with salt and pepper to taste. Drain the vegetables well and serve alongside the sauce.
DO AHEAD: The vegetables can be prepared, covered, and refrigerated up to 1 day ahead of time. The sauce can be made up to 2 days ahead of time.
CROSTINI WITH STEAK AND HORSERADISH CREAM (Recipe from Williams Sonoma)
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 28 servings
1 1/2 lb. flank steak, trimmed of excess fat
3 Tbs. olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 Tbs. prepared horseradish
3 Tbs. sour cream
1 French or sourdough baguette, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices (about 28)
Paprika for garnish
Season the steak and make the horseradish cream
Preheat an oven to 350°F. Place a rack in a roasting pan. Brush both sides of the steak with 1 Tbs. of the oil. Season generously with salt and pepper. Place on the rack and let stand at room temperature. In a small bowl, whisk together the horseradish and sour cream. Make the crostini Arrange the baguette slices on a baking sheet and brush lightly with the remaining olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Bake until golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a platter. Cook the steak Preheat a broiler. Broil the steak until firm but still quite pink in the center, about 6 minutes per side. Let rest for 5 minutes. Cut the steak with the grain into slices about 2 inches thick, then thinly cut the slices crosswise across the grain.
Arrange 1 or 2 slices on each crostini, top with a dollop of the horseradish cream and sprinkle with paprika. Transfer to a platter and serve at room temperature.
MINI BACON AND BLUE CHEESE WEDGE SALAD (Recipe from Brit&Co)
Total Time: 1 hour (mostly spent assembling!)
Yield: 12 servings (more if you’re conservative with your lettuce leaves)
Ingredients for the salad
1 heads iceberg lettuce
1 pint cherry or baby plum tomatoes, each one sliced in half
1 package of bacon, cooked crispy and crumbled
1/2 red onion, chopped (optional)
Blue cheese dressing (store-bought or homemade)
Blue cheese crumbles
cocktail toothpicks
Ingredients for the dressing
3 ounces blue cheese crumbles
3 tablespoons buttermilk
3 tablespoons light sour cream
2 tablespoons Lemonaise Light (or mayo)
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Pinch of sugar
Pinch garlic powder Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place your slices of bacon on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until it reaches your preferred level of crumbliness. Slice your tomatoes and onions according to the above guidelines while the bacon is cooking.
Make Blue Cheese Dressing
Full disclosure, we used store bought blue cheese dressing. (We had a limited amount of time to cook so we had to take some short cuts!) But here’s how to make the dressing if you have the time: In a small bowl, mash blue cheese and buttermilk together with a fork until mixture resembles large-curd cottage cheese. Stir in sour cream, mayonnaise, vinegar, lemon juice, sugar, and garlic powder until well blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Mini Salad Assembly
Slice a head of lettuce in half through core. Cut each half into three wedges. Cut each wedge in half again. Keep in mind that each mini salad needs around 3-4 lettuce leaves. Spear 2-3 tomato halves with toothpick and secure into each lettuce wedge or stack. Drizzle with blue cheese dressing and sprinkle with bacon bits, chopped onion, and more blue cheese if desired. Season with salt and pepper and serve!
CHOCOLATE MOUSSE DESSERT (Recipe from Chowhound.com)
Total Time: 2.5 hours
Yield: 15 cocktail servings
**We highly recommend using an electric mixer for this recipe (unless you intend to replace “arm day” at the gym with the making of this recipe—in that case by all means use a regular whisk)
5 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup very cold heavy cream
3 large egg whites (no traces of yolk), at room temperature
Sweetened whipped cream, for serving (optional)
Fill a medium saucepan with 2 inches of water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Place chocolate and 1/4 cup of the heavy cream in a large heatproof bowl. (Place remaining cream back in the refrigerator until ready to use.) Nest the bowl over the saucepan, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Melt chocolate, stirring occasionally with a rubber spatula, until smooth and combined with the cream. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and set aside to cool slightly.
Place egg whites in a second large bowl and whisk vigorously until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes (make sure the bowl and whisk have no trace of oil or fat, or the whites will not whip properly); set aside. (Alternatively, you can use an electric mixer.) Clean and dry the whisk (or your beaters if you’re using an electric mixer). Place the remaining 3/4 cup heavy cream in a third large bowl and whisk until stiff peaks form. (Alternatively, you can use an electric mixer.)
Using a rubber spatula, fold half of the whipped cream into the melted chocolate, then gently stir in the rest (try not to deflate the whipped cream). Gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate-cream mixture just until there are no longer large blobs of whipped cream or egg white (do not overmix).
Spoon the mousse or pipe it from a pastry bag into serving cups and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Serve with additional sweetened or flavored whipped cream if desired.
We have to admit -- we’re pretty good at catering parties. Give us a call if you’re interested in hiring us for your next event.
Just kidding about that. But, seriously, keep scrolling to enjoy some photos from our classic Hollywood cocktail party and don’t forget to go buy a copy of THE STARS IN OUR EYES by Julie Klam!
(Riverhead Books Executive Editor Jake Morrissey raises a glass to Julie Klam.)
(Roz Chast.)
(Meg Wolitzer.)
(Patricia Marx says a few words about THE STARS IN OUR EYES and Julie Klam.)
(A dedicated reader.)