“Have more potlucks.”
That’s the advice of Kristin Donnelly, author of “Modern Potluck” (Clarkson Potter, $27.50). In her first cookbook, the former editor for Food & Wine magazine is sharing recipes and lots of practical information for hosting or being a great guest at your next potluck event.
There’s no question we’re hosting more potluck dinners than ever. This form of collaborative entertaining has become the default way to gather with friends. Donnelly’s book answers the question, “What can I bring?” with 105 recipes in chapters from “Snacks, Dips & Drinks” to “Sweets.”
The inspiration for the book came from her own life. “My daughter is now four years old and after she was born, it was hard to host dinner parties and cook for people the way I used to. I had time to make one dish, but not more. So I began hosting more potlucks,” she said in an interview from her home in Pennsylvania.
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“But I realized that classic potluck food is often very rich, starch-heavy and there often aren’t many vegetables. Coming from Food & Wine, I loved vegetables and global flavors and buying local. I felt potluck food as a genre could use an update.”
One of the things she appreciates about potlucks is that not only does everyone share in the labor, but they also share in the cost. “If you want to buy grass-fed beef or organic vegetables, you’re only responsible for one dish so it’s not such a blow to the wallet.”
Donnelly started working on her book by looking at what people like to bring to potlucks – dips, salads, oven-to-table dishes, casseroles – and thought about what kind of dishes hold up well at room temperature for an extended period of time. “I wanted vibrant looking food that was flavorful and satisfying but not too out there. Potluck food has to be crowd pleasing.”
Her default dishes to take to a potluck these days? “You know, I didn’t have a potluck go-to dish before. It’s been fun having the book provide me with the solution to that problem. Often I take the Spice-Roasted Carrots with Lentils that is the cover photograph for the book or the Flank Steak Lettuce Cups with Lime-Hoisin Dressing. The Potato Chip-Crusted Magic Bars and Lemon-Berry Bundt Cake are also really popular.”
Donnelly has a few suggestions for hosting and guesting your next potluck.
“Deciding how much to make is tricky. I try to think about it this way. Think about the way you take a little of this and a little of that at a potluck. If it’s a dish I made that would serve four if that’s all you were eating, I find that it might serve as many as 30 if everyone just takes a small spoonful.”
“If you’re offering a dip, serve it with vegetables that are in season, not the ones in a premade grocery store tray. They’re going to have a lot more flavor.”
“If you want to bring dessert but can’t make it, get dessert from a good bakery. You don’t need to buy a huge quantity, but you want what you bring to be delicious. And remember that something like the Magic Bars or Jam Bars in the book use ingredients from your pantry and are easy to make.”
“When you leave, take your serving dish with you. I hear this from potluck hosts all the time. Don’t make them responsible for returning things to you.”
If you’re the host of a potluck dinner, chances are good you’ll be the one providing the main dish. Here are three ideas from “Modern Potluck” by Kristin Donnelly (Clarkson Potter, $27.50). In addition to being delicious, they’ll all smell wonderful while cooking, enticing your guests from the moment they reach your doorway.
Justin’s Swiss Chard Slab Pie with Salt and Pepper Crust
Justin Chapple interned with Donnelly and is now a recipe developer for Food & Wine. This slab pie is his creation.
The only thing “tricky” about this recipe is handling such a large sheet of pastry. We found that rolling out the bottom crust directly on the parchment paper eliminates one tricky transfer of dough. For the top crust, be sure to keep the dough chilled, resting it in the refrigerator if needed to make sure it makes it to the top of the slab pie in one piece.
Swiss chard makes a delicious filling, but you can combine it with other greens like mustard or collards if that’s what’s appealing at the local market.
To make this dish ahead, mix up the filling and roll out and refrigerate the pastry up to a day ahead. Then assemble right before baking. The pie can also be baked early in the day and kept at room temperature until the party.
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, cold, cubed
2/3 cup ice water, or as needed
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large red onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Kosher salt
1 tablespoon coriander
1 tablespoon ginger
Red pepper flakes, to taste
3 pounds Swiss chard, stems separated and cut into 1/2-inch pieces, leaves roughly chopped (about 6 bunches)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup sour cream
Black pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Om the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, salt and pepper and pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with some pea-size pieces remaining. Sprinkle ice water over the crust and pulse until dough just comes together. Scrape dough out onto a work surface and gather into a ball. Divide in half and pat each half into a 6-inch square. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until well chilled.
While dough is chilling, make filling: in a saucepan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic and generous pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until just softened, about 5 minutes. Add coriander, ginger and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add chard stems and cook, stirring occasionally, until just softened, about 6 minutes. Stir in chard leaves in large handfuls, letting them wilt slightly before adding more. Add wine, reducing heat to medium, and cook, stirring occasionally until leaves are tender and liquid has evaporated. Transfer mixture to a colander and cool completely.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
On a lightly floured piece of parchment paper, roll out one piece of dough to a 12-by-16-inch rectangle. Slide the dough and parchment paper onto a rimmed baking sheet.
Move chard filling to a large bowl and stir in sour cream. Season to taste with salt, pepper and more red pepper flakes if desired. Spread filling evenly over dough, leaving a 1-inch border.
Roll the remaining dough into a 12-by-16-inch rectangle and arrange over filling. Fold the pastry edges back onto themselves and pinch or crimp decoratively to seal. Brush the egg wash over the top of the pie and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until the crust is golden. Let cool at least 15 minutes before cutting into squares. Serve warm or at room temperature. Serves: 12 as part of a potluck
— Adapted from a recipe in “Modern Potluck” by Kristen Donnelly (Clarkson Potter, $27.50).
Per serving: 368 calories (percent of calories from fat, 61), 6 grams protein, 30 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams fiber, 25 grams fat (13 grams saturated), 69 milligrams cholesterol, 348 milligrams sodium.
Pumpkin Beer and Turkey Chili
Taking a few minutes to toast dried chilies and turn them into chili puree is well worth that little bit of effort. Donnelly says any number of different chilies will work here including guajillo, pasilla, ancho or New Mexico chilies, now widely available at most grocery stores. And she recommends using dark meat ground turkey if you can find it.
Make this chili up to 4 days ahead, or freeze it for a month. Use a slow cooker to keep it warm during your potluck.
8 whole dried chilies
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth or water
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 very large onion, finely chopped
4 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Kosher salt
2 pounds ground turkey or pork
1 pound peeled butternut squash, cut into bite-size pieces (about 4 cups)
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
2 (12-ounce) bottles pumpkin ale or brown ale
2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 (15-ounce) cans pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup apple cider or juice
Sour cream, chopped cilantro, finely chopped white onion, sliced jalapenos and lime wedges for serving
In a dry medium skillet, toast the chilies over medium heat, turning occasionally with tongs, until warm and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Let cool to touch.
Tear the stems off the chilies and dump out the seeds, making sure to remove all seeds. Put chilies in medium saucepan and cover with broth. Bring to a boil over high heat. Remove pan from heat and let stand until chilies are very soft, about 30 minutes. Transfer chilies and liquid to a blender or food processor and puree. Set aside.
In a large heavy saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, season generously with salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent, about 8 minutes. Add ground meat, increase heat to medium-high, and cook, breaking meat up with a spoon, until it is opaque throughout and browned in spots. Add squash, tomato paste and cumin and cook until tomato paste starts to coat the bottom of the pan and cumin is fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in cocoa powder. Add ale and bring to a boil. Add reserved chili puree, black beans, pinto beans and cider. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until chili is thick, about 40 minutes. Season to taste and serve hot with garnishes. Serves: 12 as part of a potluck
— Adapted from a recipe in “Modern Potluck” by Kristen Donnelly (Clarkson Potter, $27.50).
Per serving: 334 calories (percent of calories from fat, 34), 23 grams protein, 31 grams carbohydrates, 8 grams fiber, 12 grams fat (2 grams saturated), 60 milligrams cholesterol, 640 milligrams sodium.
Slow-Roasted Lemon-Soy-Honey Pork Shoulder
This might be the perfect potluck main dish. It cooks unattended in your oven for hours, perfuming your home and even your neighborhood. By the time your guests arrive, it will have cooked down into something so tender that the meat easily pulls away into shreds.
If your pork is done sooner than you expected, hold it in a warm oven, about 200 degrees, for a few hours. Once on the table, it will hold at room temperature for two hours.
Finding a large pork butt may be a challenge. Ask the butcher at your local store ahead of time to find or order one for you. If all you can find are smaller pieces, cut down the cooking time by an hour or so and cover the pork for most of the roasting time so it won’t dry out. Uncover it an hour before you’d like it to be done.
If you don’t have grapeseed oil in your pantry, substitute any other flavorless oil.
1 (8- to 9-pound) bone-in pork butt
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
8 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce, divided
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
2 tablespoons honey
Arrange pork butt in a non-reactive roasting pan, fat side up. Using the tip of a sharp knife, score the fat in a crosshatch pattern.
In a medium bowl, whisk together lemon juice, orange juice, garlic, salt, 1 tablespoon soy sauce and grapeseed oil. Pour this over the pork and rub it into the meat. Cover and refrigerate 24 to 36 hours, turning the pork a few times.
The morning of the party, remove pork from refrigerator and bring to room temperature.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Wipe marinade and garlic off pork and discard any remaining marinade. If you plan to use the same roasting pan, clean it thoroughly and return pork to the dish, fat side up. Roast pork 3 hours. Baste pork and then roast another 3 to 4 hours, basting it every hour during the last part of the cooking. Cook until pork pulls apart easily or the meat registers at least 180 degrees.
Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, mix together honey and remaining 2 tablespoons soy sauce. Brush over the pork. Roast for 5 minutes. Brush pork with honey mixture again and roast 5 to 7 more minutes or until the fat is deeply browned and crisp. Remove from oven and let stand at least 30 minutes before serving, covering lightly with foil if needed to keep the pork warm. Slice or use tongs to pull the meat to serve. Serves: 16
Per serving: 409 calories (percent of calories from fat, 65), 31 grams protein, 4 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, 29 grams fat (10 grams saturated), 122 milligrams cholesterol, 432 milligrams sodium.
