Pot Roast is an institution. Every country has their own version. Meat gets browned all over and then slowly cooked over hours in a low oven. The fat melts and bastes the meat and it becomes sticky, fall apart and melts in your mouth. The juices and fat from the meat, drip into the potatoes and the flavor is off the charts.

This is the kind of meal that you cook on a slow and lazy weekend. It’s about an hour or slightly less of prep and then off you go with your day and the oven does all the heavy lifting. You are then rewarded with a thing of beauty. The lightly caramelized onions provide sweetness to the savory slow cooked beef. Everyone will be helping themselves to seconds. Click here to see me cooking this dish!

Pot Roast Pommes Boulangère

Serves 6

Ingredients

Read more

Our annual Summer Party is always a fabulous night. I do it every Summer and the planning and prep is significant but over the years I have honed son how to throw an amazing gathering where I spend little to no time in the kitchen during the party. So many elements go into the throwing a party that people remember and one would think the food and decor are a big part… but it’s actually the people. The menu and flowers and tablescape are all a part of it, but the main ingredient is the people.

this is an antique french jardiniere I got from a vintage shop. here I am using it as a champagne caddy

The whole point of this party is gathering friends from our different walks of life and bringing them together. The only rule of the party is that every year I have new faces there. This party has grown over the years, but the hosting elements stay the same. I have been doing this all of my adult life. I did this in a tiny flat in London and a small rental in Costa Mesa and now do this in our beautiful back yard. The venue isn’t important. The gathering of friends is what people remember. I am going to break the party down by all the elements below so that you can recreate this at whatever size, budget or space you have.

i used 3-4 different plates on each table. mismatched wine glasses i have thrifted over the years. vegetables and fruit as decor

Guest List:

Every year we have a group of core friends who come. Then we have 4-6 new people who come every year. That is non-negotiable. That means that another group of guests rotates. They will rotate out for a few years and then back in. It can be tricky as sometimes people get a little put off if they rotate out, but nearly everyone understands. I had 2-3 tables and usually put the new guests on my table. I have name cards out and put a lot of thought into sitting people by each other who I think will have a lot in common. The seating chart is a big part of the success of the party. If you have a large group, people will naturally gravitate toward people they already know and then they won’t meet new people. If I have more than 8 people coming to a party, I always make a seating chart.

my guests come from all parts of my life. college friends, friends from growing up, mom friends and new friends. i sit people next to people that i think they will like and have commonalities

Tablescape and Decor

I love making tablescapes and we know that I have a serious collection of dishes. Most of them have been found over the years at estate sales, thrift stores, vintage shops and ebay. In the past, I have started thrifting about a month before the party. This is how I got all of my wine glasses, cocktail glasses, plates and serving platters. You don’t have to have everything be matchy matchy. I love how the different plates and glasses allow for a more interesting table. I always buy new tablecloths for the party. These green checkered ones are from Amazon and I loved the tassel detail. They are usually the only new thing I buy for the party. I set the table on Wednesday. I then turn over the wine glasses and cover the tables with another tablecloth. This keeps the bugs and dust off them until the day of the party. I do this little trick anytime I am hosting a larger party where I am going to town on the tablescape. It can be a little time consuming to design the table and always takes me longer than I think it will. Getting this done 3 days early is a huge time saver.

the tables were majolica themed this year and i created centerpieces filled or topped with fruit and vegetables. the guests ate the grapes and cherries for dessert

Next up, I choose a theme. Some years it’s been south of France and I did tablescapes inspired from the famous Club 55. Other years it’s been lemon themed. This year I designed everything about Majolica. You want to make sure all the decor is not too high so that guests can see over it and still talk. I love using fruit as a decor item as it can be eaten, it’s beautiful and it’s usually cheaper than flowers. Same thing with vegetables. I often use them in my tablescapes. This year I used grapes and cherries and then some beautiful purple cauliflowers and green romesco. Throw in some baby fennel and it’s gorgeous. I did the decor the day of the event and it’s one of the only things I do the day of. That way the cherries and grapes stay fresh in the fridge. I will do a run through the day before if I feel I need to and then put the items back in the fridge. The centerpieces stay inside in the air con until an hour before the party to keep them fresh.

these beautiful romescos were found at the farmers market and were perfect on top a footed majolica cake stand

For the lighting, I like using little tea lights. I get these from Amazon as well and reuse them in subsequent dinners. They create intimate lighting and you can’t have too many. I have also thrifted votives that are higher and dot those throughout to give light at all heights. I have our outdoor lights on a dimmer (highly recommend all your lights be on a dimmer) and turn those down to low to give just a hint of overhead light.

these tea lights i use at every party. you don’t want harsh overhead lights ever. put out tons of tea lights if you don’t have your lights on a dimmer. this is a mixture of my overhead lights on the lowest setting and tea lights

This year I went a little heavier on the flowers. Usually I keep it super simple as the flowers are second to the fruit and veg decor. I get the flowers from Trader Joes and then bring out all my little short vases that I have been collecting. I use Mint Julep cups, small teapots, tea cups and other small cups. These are the perfect size to create small little floral arrangements. Sometimes I get the little daisy looking chamomile flowers from Trader Joes and just use those. It can be a simple or extravagant as your time and budget allows. We did the flowers the day before and kept them inside until an hour before the party so that they didn’t wilt.

flowers are kept small and low and i use vintage sugar jars, tea cups, mint julep cups as small vases

Bar and Drinks:

Usually I will do a Signature Cocktail ( this year I didn’t but in all years past I have). This is something like a Hugo Spritz. I pre-make them in batches and have them ready to go as guest walk in. Then I create cocktail stations around the hosting space so that people aren’t gathered around just 1 spot. I will make a Champagne and wine area. For this I love using antique Jariniere’s for wine buckets. They are gorgeous and are so much prettier than anything else. You can also look for an old large copper jam bowl. That would work well too. I used my jam bowl for an ice bucket this year. Then I create the cocktail station somewhere else in the backyard. I simply do vodka, tequila, sodas and mixers. Then beers will be another station. This can be another ice bucket. I used our outdoor clamshell for the sparking waters. We used 10 bags of ice this year as you can never have enough.

sparkling waters in an antique clam shell. sometimes i serve wine in here

Menu:

This is where the most planning takes place. This year, I had the most people I have ever had at the party, 33. So I knew I couldn’t be in the kitchen while guests where here. Also, it was 85 degrees that day…so I also didn’t want to serve hot food. That means I chose all dishes that could be served cold or room temp. This means all the cooking and prep was done the 2 days before the party and an hour before guests arrived, we assembled them all. I put out these amazing fly machines I got from Amazon and the food was already out, coming to room temp, as the guests started coming through the door. The only dishes I assembled during the party where the shrimp and gazpacho and the wedge salad with Greek yogurt dressing. Those took less than 10 minutes to plate and assemble and that is the only time I spent in the kitchen while my guests were here. Full list of the recipes below. You will notice they are nearly all vegetarian. This was done so that the food could sit out and come to room temp and not spoil. Lots of potato dishes, lots of tomatoes which are perfectly in season and also pasta. No one even clocked on that almost everything was vegetarian.

the bagna cauda is served at almost every gathering i have. everyone loves it, even people who think they don’t like anchovy. it’s always one of my most popular dishes

When I prep and cut the vegetables for things like the bagna cauda, I cut them and then store them in ziplock bags. I line the bags with cold wrung out paper towels and that keeps the vegetables fresh for the day. When I cooked the orzo and the pearl cous cous, I cooked them 90% of the way and then rinsed them in cold water. You want to remove all the starch or they will become claggy in your dish. You can then drizzle them with olive oil to keep them from sticking.

smashed baby potatoes with pickled fennel

I also created a menu that was predominantly side dishes. It was almost like a Summer time Thanksgiving. When doing this, you don’t need to make each dish for 33 people. Aim at making each dish for 23-25 as people will be taking a smaller portion of each dish as there are so many.

simple tomato pasta sauce with orzo and torn basil leaves

All sauces were made on Thursday and stored in quart sized restaurant containers. Vegetables were stored in the ziplock bags as was the cut up pieces off frittata. Everything was labelled with a label or a post it note and stored in the fridge close to the other items in the dish.

Serving dishes are all placed out the night before. I served this buffet style on my dining table and each dish also had a post it note on it to show what we were serving on it. Then I place a serving utensil on top of each platter or bowl.

Small touches, each table as small little details on it that just go the extra mile. I have thrifted salt cellars over the years so each end gets a little salt cellar with Maldon in it. I also put a bottle of good drizzling olive oil on each table, this year it was Masseria. Each end of the table gets a ramekin of my compound butter and then I break up baguettes into thirds and place them on the table almost like decor. People can help themselves. Like I said, these are extra touches that just go above and beyond.

i use this as a wine decanter. i collect unusual items like this as they just add to the whimsy

The Cigarette station, yes we have cigarettes at our parties. I always create a little plate or fill up a Mint julep cup with them and put lighters and ash trays out. Of course not everyone smokes, but for those that do, you are taken care of. Also, we have a lot of guests we just smoke occasionally and this party is one of those occasions. Again, it’s just one of those small touches that makes guest feel like they are seen.

parliament lights are set out in a small silver tray and also in an antique lighter

Gift Bags, this is a new addition. In the past, I have gifted a small bottle of olive oil or a little woven basket bag with a lip gloss or things like that. This year, I chose to give out a bag of my absolute favorite items from brands that I have been working with this past year. This is entirely an extravagance, but one I feel lucky to have been able to do.

Alice lane home donated these cute bags and we stuffed them with all of my favorite items to give to the guests

Gift bag items :

My favorite hand cream

Good drizzling olive oil

My nightly drink that makes you sleep like a log

Beautiful glass jewelry or candle dish

Best smelling hand soap ever

*************************************************************************************************************List of Recipes plus Notes on how to Modify for a Party and links or PDFs to the recipes

Iceberg Wedge Salad with Greek Yogurt Dressing - *note on this - this can’t be cut ahead as the iceberg might discolor. Make the dressing 1-2 days ahead and store in right back in the yogurt container. Precut the spring onions and store in a restaurant container lined with a damp paper towel. 20 minutes before serving, cut the iceberg, plate them and then drizzle with the dressing and spring onions. This dish can’t sit out because of the yogurt dressing.

Simple Tomato Pasta with Orzo - *note on this - only cook the orzo partially and then rinse under cold water so it doesn’t become claggy. Make this the day before and store in a large ziplock or restaurant container. The orzo will soak up the sauce but won’t stick because you rinsed it. It’s actually better the next day. Plate it up an hour before guests come so it has plenty of time to come to room temp. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil and torn basil leaves over the top.

Grilled Shrimp in a Gazpacho Sauce - recipe coming soon

Herb Frittata with the 4 Tomato Pasta Sauce - *note on the frittata I didn’t cover the top in spring onions on this one. Bring frittata out of the oven. Let cool completely. Once cooled cut into 1’’ squares. Store in a ziplock with a dried paper towel. Frittata can be made 1-2 days ahead as well as the pasta sauce. I served it by putting a layer of the sauce on the platter and placing the squares of frittata on top. These will take around an hour to come to room temp which is how I wanted to eat them. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil over the top or even Parmesan.

Sicilian Potato and Tomato Salad - * note on this. I cooked the potatoes the day before. I cut them into the large pieces and once completely cooled, I stored them in a large ziplock bag with a good amount of olive oil. Red onions were sliced and stored in a restaurant container. Capers were fried and stored in a container. Tomatoes and feta need to be cut to serve. An hour before guests came, I cut the tomatoes and broke up the feta to go over them. Instead of the dressing, I did lemon juice and olive oil. Tear up some parsley to go over or precut it and store in a container. Again, this is served at room temp and can sit for a few hours or more.

Smashed New Potatoes with Pickled Fennel - Printable PDF of recipe is at the bottom of this newsletter.

Herb Compound Butter - recipe coming soon

Bagna Cauda - *note on this. I make this 1 day ahead. Then right before serving, I reheat on the stove top and then pour into my ramekin over the candle. That way it’s hot and read to go from the start. Also, I precut all the vegetables 2 days before and store them in large ziplocks lined with damp paper towels. This keeps them fresh. The only vegetable that might discolor is the fennel so cut that the day of.

Links to Party items

Table cloths

Tea lights

My fav champagne

Fly traps

Cocktail napkins

Water Glasses

Masseria Olive oil

Maldon salt

Click here are some fun and unique hostess gift ideas that I love to bring with me whenever I’m invited to a party!

Enjoy!

xx, Corre

Potato Salad With Pickled Fennel For Newsletter

2.3MB ∙ PDF file

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Any- Meat Greek “Tacos” with Pickled Fennel and Tomato Salad

There are so many incredible recipes in Maria’s cookbook. Chicken souvlaki, pork shoulder, leg of lam. And when you make them, you might have leftovers. or you might want to change up how you’re enjoying them the next time you make them (and there will always be a next time). That’s when you make this Greek riff on a taco. The idea is simple: grab whatever meat you have on hand, place atop a mini pita (maybe even homemade if you want ot put a little effort in, see Greek Bestie Says), along with the quick pickles, tzatziki, and a fresh, dilly tomato salad, Fold up and offer as a snack, a cute handheld appetizer, or as the whole dang meal.

Quick-Pickled Fennel

• 1 medium fennel bulb, cored and sliced very thin

• 6 tablespoons distilled white vinegar

• 1 1/2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt

• 1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar

Tomato Salad

• 2 large tomatoes, cored, and diced (2 cups)

• 1 small red onion, diced (3/4 cup)

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill

• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest plus 2 tablespoons fresh juice

• 2 tablespoons extra-version olive oil

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

“Tacos”

• 3 cups shredded cooked meat of choice (about 1/4 cup per taco), warmed

• 12 store-bought pitas, warmed

• the Tzatziki sauce or your favorite dip.

Make the pickled fennel:

Combine the fennel, vinegar, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl. Toss and let sit for at least 15 minutes, or up to a few hours.

Make the Tomato Salad:

Combine the tomatoes, onion, dill, lemon zest and juice, olive oil, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.

Assemble The Tacos:

Add meat to the middle of each pita along with a dollop of tzatziki. Top with some pickled fennel and tomato salad and serve.

*********************************************************************************************************

Now I am a sucker for a roast chicken and you all know that by now. Even better if that chicken is basted in cream while it cooks. I have been loving these combo roast chicken meals. I basically take my favorite dishes and combine them. It gives me an easy one pot meal and allows the chicken to rest while the side dish finishes cooking. This means that everything is served hot and I have one less dish to wash up. One pan tray bakes have never really been my jam. While these have the same ethos, it allows for the fact that the 2 items roasting don’t cook at the same time. It also allows you to add things to the pan to round out that side dish, while the chicken rests. This is a full 20+ minutes of resting time for a 4.5 lb bird, meaning you have plenty of time to get creative.

This one combines my truly unctuous Chicken au Poivre with my Cabbage au Poivre. The chicken is so juicy and then while it rests, the cabbage goes back in and the top becomes slightly charred and golden brown. I served this with torn up pieces of baguette that we dragged through the creamy peppery sauce and it was truly delightful. It’s peppery but not too peppery for my 9 and 12 year old. Both licked the plates clean. Click here to watch me cook this recipe.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Chicken and Cabbage au Poivre

Serves

Ingredients

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But it means I had fun. It also means that I am bloated, puffy and need to start Monday on the right foot. Thus my reset soup. But unlike a green juice (which I secretly love) it’s more filling and delicious. I always have a mixture of cabbage and eggs but this time I added in zucchini which everyone has in abundance. I also made it somewhat similar to my egg drop soup because I like the silkiness of that. It’s filling yet light and helps me hit the seemingly ridiculously high protein goals I seem to always fail at. Point is, it doesn’t feel like you are trying to eat super healthy but you are. I have it for lunch for a few days in a row and it just helps me get back to normal. This is so good I would even if I wasn’t trying to reset.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Read more

This is one of those dishes where it’s easy to get your kids to eat the vegetables. It’s soft and creamy and one bowl doesn’t seem like enough.

I am sitting here writing Friday’s newsletter on Saturday morning as I have spent the week planning, cooking and executing all the details that go into the Summer Party. I have been doing this for so many years, that the stress levels rarely get too high but this year the party is the largest it’s ever been. Cooking for 24 versus cooking for 35 is definitely another level of party but I have made some tweaks and changes to the menu so that I am not in the kitchen during the party any more than I have to be. I will be outlining the whole planning method with pics and info in the next coming weeks. But for now… we have Cream of Broccoli Cafeteria Noodles.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons butter

1 medium yellow onion diced

1 large carrot diced

1 teaspoon Maldon salt

2 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

4-6 cups of seasoned chicken stock - amount depends on type of noodle you use

1/2 cup whole milk

1 large head of broccoli - finely chopped florets only

14 ounces of homemade egg noodles - I used the Country Pasta brand

note if using normal egg noodles they cook a lot quicker and you need less chicken stock

1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream

2 ounces of hand grated sharp Cheddar

Method:

Melt the butter in a 5 quart or larger Dutch oven. Add in the onion, carrot and Maldon salt and coat in the butter. Cover and cook on medium low for 10 minutes or until the onions have softened. Now uncover and add in the flour. Cook for 2 minutes and then add in the chicken stock. I started with 4 cups. Add the black pepper, whole milk and the broccoli. Bring to a boil and then add in the noodles. Again, I used a homemade egg noodle with an 18 minute cooking time. If using normal egg noodles, which cook less, then you will not need to top the pot up with the additional 2 cups of chicken stock. If using the same noodles I am, add in more chicken stock (around 2 cups) so that the stock comes to just under the noodles. Bring back to a boil and then turn down to a medium simmer. Let cook for 10 minutes stirring occasionally so the noodles don’t stick. If you are using regular egg noodles, cook for 5 minutes instead of 10.

After 10 minutes, add in the heavy cream and give it a good mix. Turn off the heat and add in the sharp Cheddar. Again, mix well. Now put the lid back on and let sit for a further 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, the noodles are soft and have soaked up some of the remaining liquid and the entire dish is silky and saucy and luscious. I could happily eat this every single week and not tire of it.

Enjoy!

xx Corre

Chef’s Equipment:

1. 5 quart dutch oven

2. Wooden Spoon

3. Maldon Salt

Cream Of Broccoli Cafeteria Noodles

4.3MB ∙ PDF file

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It becomes the perfect base for anything to go on top. I served this with my Marry Me Pork Chops and it was Heaven. But, I also enjoy it immensely on it’s own. You can play around with this one and I will give some swaps on the bottom of the recipe. Toasted Pasta is one of those dishes you make when you are sick of rice and want something with just a bit more oomph.

Serves 4 as a side dish

Ingredients:

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I think that’s one of the reasons I love French cooking and peasant style dishes so much. They make something special out of not terribly special ingredients. It shows us that we don’t need fancy hard to find ingredients to eat well. This is one of the those times where I wanted to go out and the kids wanted to stay in. It’s hard to say no to them when they butter me up telling me they would rather eat my food. Most of the time, I feel the same way.

Full video here

My kids go back to school tomorrow and I have friends who are moving their kids into college dorms for the first time. When that time comes for our house, I think about those weekends or holidays where they come home and all they will likely want, is the homecooked meals they grew up with. Dishes like this. Ones that don’t on paper scream “special occasion”, but these are the kinds of dishes that one wants to eat again and again and that in itself makes them special.

Potato Ragout

Serves 8

Ingredients

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I still remember when I was starting out, listening to a podcast where Caro Chambers was a guest and being like, “that’s it, what’s how successful I want to be”. She had managed to create a community and a significant business alongside it, that felt real and tangible and fun. Now a few years later, I too have entered the cooking content world and I still look at her career as something to strive for.

Caro just came out with her third cookbook this week, What to Cook When you Don't Feel Like Cooking - Make it Fast which features 100 stress free recipes for those who haven’t got a ton of time to spend in the kitchen.

I gave one of them a test drive and it was everything it says on the tin. Quick, delicious and perfect for a home cook of any level. Congratulations Caro and I am confident your third book will be a roaring success! Below is the recipe, straight from her already best selling book.

You can find Caro’s book everywhere where books are sold including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Target.

TINY TOMATO PASTA

Serves 4 to 6

Starring vine-ripe tiny tomatoes and a handful of fragrant basil—this, my friends, is peak summer cooking. What to Cookers everywhere are addicted to this pasta! It’s best with the freshest summer tomatoes— especially Sungolds—but if you’re craving it midwinter, you can make it with cherry tomatoes and add a pinch of sugar. Use whatever pasta you’ve got, but I’m telling you, angel hair is absolutely elite here.

Kosher salt

1 pound angel hair pasta

6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter

6 garlic cloves

2 pounds cherry, Sungold, or grape tomatoes

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Handful of fresh basil

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan

cheese (4 ounces), plus more for serving

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until al dente according to the package directions. Scoop out 1½ cups of the pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta.

Melt the butter in a dutch oven over medium heat. Thinly slice the garlic. Add the garlic, tomatoes, 1½ teaspoons salt, and the red pepper flakes to the pot and turn up the heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes are bursting and forming a sauce with the butter, about 8 minutes. Use a spatula to carefully smash any tomatoes that haven’t burst on their own against the side of the pan. Turn off the heat.

Thinly slice the basil.

To the sauce in the pot, add the cooked pasta, ¼ cup of the reserved pasta cooking water (see Learn, page 60), most of the basil (reserve a little bit for garnish), and ½ cup of the Parm and stir until all the cheese has melted into a smooth sauce. Stir in the remaining ½ cup Parm until smooth. Stir in more of the pasta cooking water until everything looks saucy and delicious. Taste and add more salt as needed.

Scoop into shallow bowls and top each serving with some of the reserved basil and more Parm.

Tip: If you’re feeding picky/texture averse eaters, blend the sauce with an immersion blender or transfer it to a standing blender before adding the pasta, basil, and Parm.

Learn: Stirring in the cheese in two batches helps it melt more evenly without clumping.

Shortcut: I will always and forever grate my own Parm in the blender or food processor. Just cut off the rind, cut it into a few hunks, and blend or process until grated!

Recipe reprinted with permission from What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking: Make it Fast by Caroline Chambers © 2026. Published by Union Square & Co., an imprint of Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group. Photography by Erin Scott.

Welcome to Coco’s Crush list where I give a handful of my all time favorite products with little to no explanation. Some I have been using forever and some might be new. None are sponsored.

1. The foundation that got an anti-foundation girl to wear it

2. An affordable face product that leaves my skin baby soft

3. Light weight, comfortable and looks good on all body types

4. A brightening sunscreen that lets me go make up free

5. My all time favorite blender

This dish isn’t difficult but it’s a little time consuming as you need to mandolin or hand slice the potatoes into thin coins in order to get that beautiful Dauphinoise. But that time is well spent as the end result is truly luscious. People will be fighting for these potatoes. Throw in a side salad and the meal is complete.

I am winding Summer down over here, even though it’s hot. My kids go back to school next week. The Summer Party is happening next weekend and that will be my goodbye to the season. I am yearning for Fall food. Soups and stews and slow braises and all the comfort food that I secretly want to eat all year round even when it’s 85 outside. So don’t be surprised if you start seeing me say goodbye to Summer early. Except for those late August/early September tomatoes… those I will enjoy until they are gone.

Chicken Dauphinoise

Serves 6

Ingredients

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Someone commented that it looked like the Jackie Kennedy Casserole and I looked it up and it’s very similar. I came across this dish in another one of my thrifted cookbooks and the name Country Baked Noodles called for me. I made some adjustments, one of which was swapping out the cottage cheese for ricotta cheese and a few others like adding the chives. This is a rich dish, so a little goes a long way. But I loved it. It felt like nostalgia on a plate.

It’s funny how as the world hurls itself forward, we often find ourselves getting pulled in by things that draw us back. Whether it is an old song, fashion and of course food. Our kids want to know what it was like to grow up before the internet and even actual phones are making a comeback. All of this longing for nostalgic things is likely a direct correlation to us not knowing what is real or not real anymore. It’s hard to trust the content we see. While I didn’t grow up eating casseroles of any kind, lately, I have been drawn to this kind of food. Soft, creamy and comforting.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

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One of my biggest hurdles with the kids going back to school is lunches. We pack the kids a lunch every day and making sure we have all the ingredients and snacks on hand used to be a challenge. Now I use Thrive Market and I don’t have to worry about running out of lunch items. Thrive Market is having their big 25% off Back to School sale and it runs through August 9^th. This means big savings on everyday items that you are going to want to stock up on before the kids return to school. My kids favs are Thrive Market Beef Sticks, Rip Von Wafers and The Good Crisp Company Crisps. This membership pays for itself - just on my most recent order I saved over $50! Plus, I can set up recurring orders & get all my items delivered bi-weekly and the headaches of daily lunches is a thing of the past.

Join here http://thrivemarket.com/CocoLarkinCooks and get $20 off your first 3 orders — take the stress of back to school off your shoulders.

Remember: join using the link and get $20 off your first 3 orders and a free gift!

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I thought I had already posted this one… but Summer brain has me feeling like I have kind of lost my mind. It’s August and I usually I do NOT want Summer to end. I love the free flowing days and loose schedules. The days that don’t start early and nights that end way too late. But this year is different. This year it just feels like I am craving the scheduled days and weeks.

Today I missed a Dr. appt for my son. I got the text message yesterday and confirmed. It was written in my schedule. And I just completely forgot. That never happens with me. I pride myself on that never happening. But not this Summer. This Summer I am the Mom that confirms an appt on a Thursday and doesn’t show up to it on a Friday. I cringe even writing the words.

I imagine I am not the only one in this boat. Bring me the days of alarm clocks, lunch boxes and set schedules. Give me a calendar filled with practices and games and work events. Give me knowing what comes next. Give me Fall. Because with Fall comes soup season. Stew season. With Fall comes order and a decided lack of spontaneity that I am happy to leave at the door for now.

None of this has anything to do with the delicious salad that I am featuring here. I just needed to blow off a little steam. This is a carrot salad that is similar to one we had at a small bistro in Paris, where grated carrot salad is an everyday dish. I am not sure why it’s never taken off over here. Carrots are available and tasty all year long and it’s just so freaking easy to make. Make this once and you will find yourself making it again and again. It also can be made ahead and sit in the fridge waiting for you to get home. I love that.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of a good flavorful olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh orange juice

1 teaspoon sherry vinegar

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 medium garlic clove - microplane grated

1/4 of a small red onion - grated

4 large carrots grated (or about 2 cups not packed down)

1 teaspoon Maldon salt

2 tablespoon finely chopped chives

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon chopped dill (optional)

Method:

I make and assemble it all in a large platter than I intend to serve it in. The wonderful thing about this salad, is that it gets better as it sits. So you can make this in the morning and serve it for lunch or dinner. You can also make it and eat it right away if you wish.

Now this part couldn’t be any easier. Go down with the olive oil, orange juice, sherry vinegar, oregano, garlic, red onion and give it a little mix. Then add in the carrots, chives, dill, salt and pepper and then give it a good and thorough mix. You want to make sure everything is coated and well incorporated. That’s it. It’s that easy.

Again, serve it right away or let it sit in the fridge and the carrots will soak up all that goodness but still maintain their bite.

Enjoy!

xx Corre

Parisian Bistro Salad

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These are melt in your mouth delicious. The onions become soft and tender and mixed with the beef stock, Dijon and heavy cream; they become otherworldly.

This is one of those instances where you take really humble, simple ingredients and the method in which you cook them transforms them into something truly special. While these are probably something you are going to want to cook when the weather turns and cools down a little, I simply couldn’t wait.

Serves 6-8 as a side dish

Ingredients:

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This was incredibly delicious and is the perfect thing to do while the chicken is resting. I love this as you can use any herbs you like. It’s also perfect for when you have half a bundle of herbs or the ends or just ones that are on their last legs. Throw those in to make this stunning and tasty Green Goddess Chicken.

Cook’s Note: In this recipe the herbs are dill, tarragon, rosemary, parsley, cilantro and sage. But oregano, chervil and basil would also work well, basically any herbs you can get your hands on. The chicken needs to marinate for 4 to 6 hours or even overnight.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

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This pork shoulder is perfect for that. I had it prepped and in the oven with a cleaned kitchen in under 20 minutes and then it hung out in the oven for hours and hours while I spent time enjoying myself.

I turned half the pork into a pasta sauce and the rest I saved for another dish. That pork can be made into sandwiches, tacos, paired with another sauce to go over mashed potatoes… sky is the limit.

Just because I am feeding a lot of people, doesn’t mean I want to compromise on flavor and this dish hits on all fronts.

Serves 8-10 people

Ingredients:

Cook’s Note: in this dish, the pork shoulder will cook low and slow for about six hours, so you may need to plan ahead, or make it for the following day

Bone In Pork shoulder (mine was about 2.75 pounds)

1 tablespoon Maldon salt for the pork

4 large leeks, cleaned and roughly chopped - whites and greens used

3 garlic cloves, peeled smashed and left whole

2 shallots, roughly chopped

2 rosemary sprigs - roughly chopped

1 teaspoon chopped sage

8 or so thyme stems - left whole

1 teaspoon Maldon salt for the veg

1 tablespoon olive oil

1.5 cups water to deglaze the pan

1/2 cup microplane-grated Parmigiano Reggiano

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1.5 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

24 ounces pappardelle

Salt for the pasta water

Pasta cooking water

Dusting of Parm and sprinkle of chopped parsley to finish

Method

Preheat your oven to 225° F convection.

Season the pork shoulder on all sides with salt. Brown it on all sides in a skillet, starting with the fat side down. The fat that rendered out what enough for me to brown the pork in. If yours doesn’t have as much fat, add some. While the meat browns, prep your vegetables. Place the veg and herbs in a covered casserole and season with salt and stir in the olive oil to coat everything in the oil. When the pork shoulder is nicely browned, place it on this bed of veg. Deglaze the pan with the water and skim off the excess fat. Pour this liquid over the pork, cover, and pop into the preheated oven for 6 hours. You don’t need to do anything else.

After 6 hours, the pork should be fall-apart tender. Remove the bone and any tough herbs stems. Shred about half of the pork and set aside. I find is easiest to use my hands to do this.

Skim off any fat off the top of the vegetables, remove the thyme stems and then add it to a large pan to finish cooking. To the beautifully cooked leeks, add the Parm, heavy whipping cream, and parsley and a bit of water if needed. Cook briefly, about a minute or two or three on medium heat, to thicken the sauce. Then stir in the shredded pork.

Cook the pappardelle in water salted to the saltiness of the sea. Cook until just under al dente. Then remove with a slotted strainer directly to the sauce. Finish the pappardelle in the sauce, adding some pasta water as necessary.

Plate up and spoon more of the sauce over the pasta. Finish with a dusting of Parmesan and some more parsley. This would be equally delicious served over mashed potatoes.

The other half of the pork can be used for another dish.

This was another one that Bear gave a 12 out of 10. Big big hit and it’s truly delicious without a ton of effort. You and your guests will love it.

Enjoy!

xx Corre

Chefs Equipment:

1. Chefs Knife

2. Breville Oven

3. Maldon Salt

4. Saucier

5. Dutch Oven

Pork And Leek Pappardelle

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Because inspiration for food comes from everywhere. From a photo, a market, a cafe, a friend’s house, online, books, movies… I do mean everywhere if you are looking.

I get that some are shying away from lettuce right now, but when the world rights itself again and you find yourself reaching for lettuce, grab a perfectly round iceberg and make this salad. I made this for my Steak House meal at home, and it was so good that Coco had thirds. Think of it as like a healthier and lighter version of Ranch dressing, but with no compromising on flavor or enjoyment. The iceberg pairs so well with it as that crunch is beyond satisfying. I love this for when it’s hot outside, but honestly, I will be eating this all year round.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

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The other day my kids asked me to recreate a steak house meal at home. We had just been to the farmer’s market and had brought home quite the haul. Pommes Puree was on the menu, butter basted rib eyes, an iceberg wedge salad and I snuck in this zucchini gratin that no one asked for. But then something surprising (surprising only to them) happened. As per the rule, every kid had to take one bite of it. No one was exactly enthusiastic. Until they tried it. Eyes widened. Corners of their mouths turned up in a smile. “Wait… this is really good!” As if somehow shocked. Bear went in for seconds. Coco’s friend who was with us and not exactly a vegetable lover but is always polite enough to try a bite, finished her portion enthusiastically. Coco even ate hers even though she was on round 3 of the iceberg wedge.

Kids are always the toughest critics and when I try out something new on them and it’s a Winner, I know everyone will love it.

Serves 4 as a side dish

Ingredients:

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Shrimp and corn is a normal combo for certain parts of the country. I see you Southern states. But where I live in southern California, the only time shrimp and corn would be paired would possibly be a salad. For me it’s an unlikely pairing but one that actually goes perfectly together. Corn is in prime form right now and both supermarkets and farmers markets are bursting with beautiful creamy white and yellow cobs.

I have been toying with how to make a shrimp gratin but I don’t love cheese and seafood together. This version has the faintest dusting of Parmesan on top, but that’s all for the cheese. It’s a lighter version, even with the cream.

I love this as it’s what I called a lot of bang for your buck. It’s minimal prep with maximum results. The corn is barely cooked and each kernel bursts with sweet joy. The shrimp is cooked until just tender and you don’t have a single bite of overcooked rubbery shrimp. It’s absolutely delightful and one I will be making while the corn is in peak season.

Serves

Ingredients

1/4 tablespoon butter for the gratin dish

Kernels sliced off of 2 ears of sweet corn

2 spring onions, finely sliced

Leaves stripped from 2 sprigs of tarragon

3/4 to 1 lb whole raw shrimp, shelled, deveined, washed, and patted dry and cut into 1/2’’ pieces

1 cup sourdough bread (better if slightly stale) cut into small 1/2-1’’ chunks

1 teaspoon Maldon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon cayenne or the smallest pinch

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons microplane-grated Parmigiano Reggiano

1 teaspoon finely chopped chives to finish

Fresh lemon juice to finish

Method

Preheat your oven to 450° F convection.

Butter an ovenproof gratin dish and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, begin to add the ingredients in layers. First the corn kernels, chopped spring onions, and tarragon leaves. Then add the shrimp, torn bread, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Finally, pour the heavy whipping cream over everything and stir to combine. Spoon it gently into the gratin dish. Give it a generous dusting of Parm and scatter pats of butter over the surface of the shrimp and corn.

Pop this into the preheated oven and cook for about 10 minutes, or until the top is golden and bubbling and the shrimp are perfectly cooked but not overcooked. Finish with a scattering of finely chopped chives and a squeeze of lemon juice for brightness.

Shrimp and Corn Gratin can easily be prepared ahead and stored in the refrigerator. Just pop in the oven and 10 minutes later it is ready to serve.

Enjoy!

xx Corre

Welcome to Coco’s Crush list where I give a handful of my all time favorite products with little to no explanation. Some I have been using forever and some might be new. None are sponsored.

1. My fav day to night dress , so good I have it in black and brown

2. The best exfoliator for mature skin

3. I place under wine bottles so my linens don’t get trashed - also holds jewelry or candles

4. I drink a glass of this religiously every night - helps me sleeps and just relaxes me

5. The neck serum stick that is my current obsession

Shrimp Gratin

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But my kids asked me, no sorry BEGGED me, to cook for them instead. They of course catered to my ego telling me that my food is so much better than that restaurant (they aren’t wrong). And I…like a sucker… quietly agreed and looked to see what was in the fridge. I found 3 large leeks, a whole chicken and some fresh herbs.

My daughter’s friend, who is with us on this trip, had asked me earlier in the day about Gracie Abrams making my famous leeks and was wide-eyed when I said yes. I had been listening to the Table Manners podcast a few weeks back where she mentioned that her Mom’s roast chicken and my leeks were her death row meal and I thought why not combine the 2. Also, if you haven’t listened to her new album, Daughter from Hell, you should. I am actually listening right now as I write this.

So that’s how this dish came about. Had I insisted we go out that night, who knows when this dish would have been born. It was exceptional. Truly next level.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

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I never really knew that potatoes and tomatoes paired so well. I don’t pair them often in other dishes I cook so this one was unusual and delightfully delicious.

I made my dressing a touch differently as I had come across some beautiful feta at the farmers market so I added that. Because that’s what travel does. It inspires. You can then bring that home and add your own twist based on what’s available to you or what you enjoy.

This salad was so good I am adding it to my Summer Party menu. I love anything that can be served at room temp and when the tomatoes are in season, you barely have to do anything to them. Cut them up into large pieces and off you go. That’s make this perfect for when cooking for a large group.

Serves 4 as a side dish

Ingredients:

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Here I am going to give a few dishes that I make that require minimal prep or that can be made fully ahead. Both work great in making the actual dinner party go smoothly.

I am going to create this on the basis of a 6-8 person dinner party because it’s around the same amount of work and food. I like to put out something light to snack on before dinner. I am not into a large cheese or charcuterie boards as it’s too easy to fill up on so I tend to go heavy on the vegetables.

Here are 3 dishes I would put out.

1. 5 Minute Dip - recipe below

2. Asian Style Hummus

3. Bagna Cauda

All of these require crudite, so slice up the vegetables the day before or the morning of and store them in a large ziplock bag. To keep them fresh I wet a paper towel and wring it out and then line the inside of the ziplock. The vegetables will stay fresh and won’t discolor. If you go with recipe 1 or 2, then make it the day before and just plate it up 15 minutes before people come. If it calls for a sprinkling of chives or parsley or olive oil or lemon juice, do that then. If you go the Bagna Cauda route, then 30 minutes before people come, start it on the stove top and then transfer it to your dish with the flame under it. It takes less than 5 minutes of cooking, which is why I serve it so often.

All 3 of these are easy, popular and leave you with very little heavy lifting to do the day of. I also will often put out something that looks similar to an Italian aperitivo. Think green olives and potato chips or bread sticks.

Drinks: for a dinner party this size, I set up a small bar area. I put out a large tray with cocktail glasses, ice bucket and then usually vodka and tequila. Next to that or on top of the same tray I will have lime wedges, sparkling water and maybe a mixer. People can make their own cocktails. I also have a wine bucket with usually 2 types of wine. A white or rose and then something sparkly. I open them before guests arrive and have them chilling in there. If serving champagne, then be sure to add coupes or flutes to the bar area. If not, then I let people know to grab their wine glass from the dining table.

For the main course, again you want something you can make ahead or something where the oven does all the work. Slow cooked meats are great for this as are pastas.

Dishes I have made recently that work well for this group size.

1. Pugliese Sausage and Potatoes

2. 4 Tomato Pasta

3. Zucchini Pasta

4. Buttery Garlic Chili Shrimp

5. Spring Frittata - I love this as it can be served room temp or cold

6. Summer Somewhat Tabouli Salad

Pugliese Sausage and Potatoes - I love this one as I sear the meat and cook the onions and cook the dish up until the point it goes into the oven. I often won’t peel the potatoes to make life easier. Then I let it cool enough to go into the fridge and then when guests arrive, I bring it out. It takes about an hourish to cook from fridge cold so I just adjust the time in the oven for when we are going to sit down and eat.

4 Tomato Pasta - a total crowd pleaser and the sauce can be made days ahead. All you are doing the day of is cooking the pasta and then mixing with the sauce.

Zucchini Pasta - again, can be made the day before making the evening very easy for you.

Broiled Buttery Garlic Chili Shrimp - prep these the morning of and pop them into the fridge. They can go straight from the fridge to a hot oven and cook in minutes. Everyone loves these and all you need is a baguette to dip into the butter after.

Spring Frittata - make this the morning of and it’s meant to be served room temp. Bring out an hour before you want to serve it. It’s also beautiful.

Summer Somewhat Tabouli Salad - love this as it’s more of a side dish than a full on salad. It gets better as it sits and can be made the morning of.

I also lean toward dishes that can be served room temp. You don’t want to serve anything that must be piping hot to be enjoyed. With every meal I serve a big salad. If I am serving something very rich, it might just be a simple green salad. If the salad is a larger part of the meal, it might add things like stracciatella or ricotta to it. I make the salad dressing ahead of time and also cut the lettuce and any veg and store it in a ziplock bag. That way, 5 minutes before serving I am simply putting it all in a large bowl and mixing it. Another good idea is to cut everything large and have that be a thing. Like cut a large heirloom tomato into quarters and serve that with greens and large chunks of cucumber and big pieces of torn basil.

Not having to cut the vegetables into small beautiful pieces saves a lot of prep time. Also, use what is in season. A big platter of perfectly ripe tomatoes need nothing more than a few cuts of a knife, flaky sea salt and olive oil. You look like a genius and it is literally zero work. Same with a plate of figs or a bowl of cherries or slices of melon draped in prosciutto. Tastes amazing in season and almost no effort whatsoever. Out of season… hard no.

Dessert for me is something store bought or when someone asks what they can bring, I say “dessert”. But if you enjoy baking and making dessert then serve something that can be made ahead and doesn’t need to be hot. Or something that is easily rewarmed. I often just put out Sees candies on a pretty plate and during these warmer months I put out big bowls of cherries over ice like they do in Italy.

The main goal here is for you to enjoy this time with your friends and family. Things don’t have to be perfect. No one will know. People are just grateful to be able to share a meal with people they love. If something truly goes wrong… order a pizza and open another bottle of wine and laugh about it. I once went to a dinner party at a friend’s house I was cohosting and forgot to pack the main course. Literally didn’t bring it and thus didn’t serve a main protein at dinner. Not a single person cared, and we still laugh about it.

I will do one soon on tablescaping as we all know that is one of my true loves. But hopefully these recipes and tricks give you some reprieve and help you enjoy the time. It should be fun and not all work.

xx Corre

5 Minute Dip

Ingredients:

Dill

Cilantro

Spring onion

You can also use whatever soft herbs you like

Enough fresh herbs and spring onions to make 1.5 cups loosely packed

1 package cottage cheese - 16 ounces

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 bird’s eye chili - roughly chopped or 1 teaspoon of jalapeno chopped

1 teaspoon good drizzling olive oil

Vegetables cut up for crudites

Method:

Roughly chop the dill, cilantro, spring onion and chili and put into a high speed blender. Add the cottage cheese, lemon juice, olive oil and black pepper. Blend for 1 minute. That’s it. Pop it into the fridge until you want to serve it. Plate it up into a dipping bowl and then serve with carrots, celery, radish, fennel and endive. Everyone loves this. Adults and kids alike.

5 Minute Dip

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