blog — molly yeh

cheese

harissa pimento cheese + the aperol spritz

in ,

this is a post about orange foods. 

or, orange and white foods.

because for a very long time, back in the day, i didn't eat anything else. 

cheese,

bread,

spaghetti,

butter,

the orange starbursts.

they were all the best and i didn't need anything else because i wasn't old enough to read articles that told me i wouldn't live to be a hundred if i didn't eat an abundance of leafy greens.

(damn those articles.)

mum eventually picked up on my preference for orange foods and started requiring that i ate carrots if i was going to have dessert. that's when things went downhill, or uphill, depending on how you look at it. 

orange foods are still my favorite (even though i've kind of developed a hate for the color orange) and i recently discovered two new orange foods* that i really really love. ones that i can't believe i went so long without. ones that i can trust will please pretty much any party guest, no matter how little i know them, unless they come out of the gates with something silly like, "i just don't like cheese." 

*that's a lie, one of them is a drink 

1. pimento cheese. at its core, it is cheese and mayonnaise and sweet peppers. a cheese spread that is perfect on anything, even your fingers, even a stale unidentified corn chip. having never spent much time in the south, i guess i understand why i didn't eat it growing up, but what i don't understand is how anyone outside of the south can taste it once and then not go around spreading the good word of pimento cheese. i first really learned about it from hannah, who has some great rules which i have followed and also broken. i've made it so many times now and each time i make it, no matter how offensive my interpretation is, it gets gobbled up with a smattering of oohs and ahhs, and i feel like i've tricked my party guests because it is just that easy. here, i've added harissa powder because i love a smoky spiciness. 

2. the aperol spritz. i am in an aperol spritz phase of my life, which is best described by the circumstances under which i popped my aperol spritz cherry: three months ago, over a walnut cream pizza in midtown with a newly pink-haired marian as she filled me in on her recent solo trip to disney world, which sounded like truly the most bizarre and enchanting experience that a person can have. which is to say that i intend the aperol spritz phase of my life to be 30 times more colorful and weird than the college-y gin gimlet phase and, oh god, the skim white russian phase. because an aperol spritz tastes like a grown-up fizzy orange capri sun and it is extremely fun and i love it and i want you to have one too. 

where does that leave us?

have an orange party and be summery about it. 

it's easy, i'll show you.

harissa pimento cheese

mix these together:

4 oz shredded sharp cheddar

2 oz cream cheese

1/4 c mayo

1/4 small onion, minced

4 oz pimentos, chopped

1/2 tsp harissa powder

salt + pepper to taste

serve with bread or crackers

the aperol spritz

fill a glass with ice and add:

3 parts prosecco

2 parts aperol

1 part sparkling water

garnish with an orange wedge

tweet about your #spritzbreak???

-yeh!

thank you so much to aperol for sponsoring this post!! all opinions are mine. all claims to being in an aperol spritz phase are mine. all stories are mine. go have a #spritzbreak! 

cheddar donuts

in

if there were ever any remedies in the world for waking up with a grossly sticky phone, not even the wherewithal to gauge the ferociousness of a headache, and the sneaking suspicion that yes, you did in fact stand with a microphone in front of a large group of inspiring people and call them bitches and dude bitches, it's these:

1. a long soupy shower

2. emerging from the shower and seeing a large white bed with a plop of neon ombré blue hair in the center. this would be stephanie's hair. it is fantastic and we are slumber partying in brooklyn currently. 

3. very loud ben folds

i'm going to go try to pull myself together but first, a very very large hug to all of you for this. it has not soaked in, i predict i may cry today, and i'm going to send you a proper thank you note once i can collect my thoughts and words from wherever they are hiding. 

but before i leave, let's make donuts! because it's national donut day, the best day of the year.

now listen, i don't like deep frying. so when i deep fry, i want you to know that it's worth it. it's worth the energy, it's worth taking the extra step of putting on an apron so that you don't get oil on your cardigan, and it's worth the calories. these cheddar donuts are especially worth it because they're fried challah dough stuffed with cheddar and coated in cheddar powder. think of these as slightly sweet, fluffy fried grilled cheese balls that will take a couple of minutes off of your life, but we're all gonna die anyway, so let's just do this. 

cheddar donuts

makes 24 

ingredients

dough:

2 1/4 tsp yeast

3/4 c warm water

1/4 c + 1 tsp sugar

1 tsp kosher salt

3 c flour, plus more for dusting

2 large eggs

1/3 c flavorless oil, like canola

 

 

assembly:

3 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese

oil for frying

1/2 c cheddar powder

sriracha, for serving

clues

Combine the yeast, warm water, and 1 teaspoon of sugar in a medium bowl and give it a little stir. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, until it becomes foamy on top. 

Meanwhile, in a large bowl or the bowl of stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix together the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar, salt, and flour. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and oil. 

When the yeast is foamy, add it to the dry mixture immediately followed by the egg mixture and stir to combine. Knead, either by hand on a floured surface or with a dough hook for 7-10 minutes, adding more white flour as necessary (but try not too add too much), until you have a nice smooth dough.

Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature until it has doubled in size, about 2 hours. 

Divide the dough into 24 small balls. Roll each one out, stuff with 2 tablespoons of shredded cheddar and pinch the ends shut to seal in the cheese. Place them on a sheet of parchment and let them rise for about 30 more minutes. 

Meanwhile, heat 3 inches of oil in a large heavy saucepan fitted with a thermometer to 350f. Using a slotted spoon, fry up your donuts in batches of 3 or 4 for 3-5 minutes each, until golden brown. transfer them to a paper towel to pat off any excess oil, toss them in cheddar powder, and serve.

Enjoy!

and do check out all of the other awesome donuts for national donut day!! 

-yeh!

p.s. a few orders of business: i am heading to los angeles this weekend to play the opera that i won't shut up about. can you come? can you come?? there are still tickets left! and then after that, i will be scooting to new orleans for the sustainable seafood blog conference, where graham and i will be dressing up like tara and johnny and talking about food styling. tickets are still available for that as well!!! also what do i need to eat in la and nola?

smoked gouda fondue + a fondue party!

in , ,

for the past few weeks, on evenings when we don't have volleyball games or music things or figure skating to watch, we've been plopping ourselves in front of the office with a stack of guidebooks for our honeymoon. eggboy hasn't totally figured out trip advisor yet, so we're going with guidebooks for now :) we'll be spending some time in vienna with a day trip to budapest before tinkering around the alps because to be totally honest we have just not gotten enough snow up here in winterfell and i need moarrrrr. 

my ideal vacation consists of staying in a mountainy lodge/castle, eating hotel breakfast until i get kicked out, looking at mountains, maybe doing a somersault in the snow or going in a sauna, basking in areas of no cell phone reception, and then eating schnitzel or fondue, depending on what side of the swiss/austrian border we're on. eggboy's ideal vacation consists of walking around a city and seeing historic things, especially as they pertain to alban berg, hence the vienna part. i hear they have good cake there though, so i am v excited.

perhaps the most amount of excitement for our honeymoon that i've had thus far was when we had our little fondue party last week. i was swirling the melty cheese and eggboy was playing a mahler 9 record and our friends came wearing the cutest sweaters and it occurred to me that next month we're going to be eating fondue in the alps and hearing the cowbells that mahler heard when he wrote his 6th symphony and maybe even skiing!!!!! i can't contain my excitement. this fondue party was like a little amuse bouche to our trip, it was so fun.

here was our menu:

smoked gouda fondue // with pretzel rolls, salami, grapes, broccoli, and apples for dipping

matcha white chocolate fondue and dark chocolate fondue // with strawberries, cake, marshmallows, and pretzel rods for dipping

kendall-jackson grand reserve pinot noir 

-yeh!

thanks so much to kendall-jackson for sponsoring this post!!!! all opinions are my own!!

goodies pictured in this post: fondue pot // wood board // tiered plate 

mac + cheese party!!!!

in ,

this weekend we took our imaginary little delorean back to the 90s for some fruit by the foot, neon accessories, a synchronized skating competition at the town ice rink (what!), and a party in celebration of the only food that i would eat for a bulk of the 90s: macaroni and cheese. even though i totally forgot to wear light-up sneakers and make lisa frank goodie bags, it was fantastic.

i set up a little bar with two kinds of pasta, cheesy roux, mix-ins, and toppings, and had my friends fill up cute mini cocottes before we stuck them in the oven to bake. those who wanted to fully relive the 90s in the form of hot dog mac and cheese with extra cheese and ketchup could (that would be me), and those who scoffed at the hot dog idea and wanted the healthier option of whole wheat pasta, vegetables, a teensy bit of cheese, and a sprinkling of za'atar could (oh hey, eggboy). 

while the mac and cheese baked, we had wine and salads and discussed the pros and cons of putting ranch dressing in our mac. have you ever done that?? i'm a new convert, it's so creamy and tangy! however, we did conclude that you can put pretty much anything in a pot of cheese and pasta and you won't really screw it up. except sprinkles. sprinkle mac and cheese might get weird. 

here was our menu:

for noshing // a simple mixed greens salad, so we could at least try to be healthy with all of this mac and cheese.

main course // basic cheddar mac and cheese (recipe here)

toppings // cut up hot dogs, broccoli florets, peas, chopped red bell peppers, everything bagel spice, za'atar, gomasio, crushed red pepper, sriracha, ketchup, ranch, breadcrumbs, black pepper, and parmesan.

dessert // fruit by the foot, gushers, fruit roll ups, rice krispie treats :)

to sip // kendall-jackson avant red blend

here are some tips for throwing your own mac + cheese party:

1. go completely crazy with mix-ins. i think next time i'd like to add chopped apples, crushed walnuts for a topping instead of breadcrumbs, bacon, pesto, tater tots... the possibilities have no end!

2. toss your pasta in olive oil so that it doesn't stick together while it's sitting out. this isn't totally necessary if you cook your pasta right before guests arrive, but if you'd like to cook it earlier in the day, toss it in a tablespoon or two of olive oil, let it cool, and then keep it covered and in the fridge until party time.

3. you can prepare your cheese sauce an hour or so in advance. keep it on the stove on low, and stir it often so that a film doesn't form on top. ideally, it's best to keep it on the stove on low even as guests are dishing up, but if you're going to use it immediately and want to have everything set up on one table, you can put it out on a trivet.

5. pre-heat your oven to 375 in time for when guests arrive. i found that baking our little cocottes for 15-20 minutes did the trick. you can certainly turn the broiler on to get some more color on the tops, but i didn't because i am terrified of the broiler. 

6. if you don't have mini cocottes or other little oven safe dishes, you can nix the baking step all together. for this route, cook the pasta right before it's time to dish up, and whereas for a baked mac you'd want your pasta pretty al dente, cook your pasta fully so that it's ready to eat.

7. have snacks and drinks ready for while the mac is baking. and keep them on the lighter/healthier side since mac and cheese is so darn filling. (same goes for dessert! save the rich chocolate cake for a salad party.)

-yeh!

thanks so much to kendall-jackson for sponsoring this post!!!! all opinions are my own!!