Dennis & Chloe Need Help

My pals Dennis and Chloe just relocated to New York City and all their stuff is still in London. Ugh. It’s made for a bit of a tough holiday cooking season.

Dennis asked for some help: “Okay – we have a cooking challenge for you! Our stuff still hasn’t arrived from London, so we have 1 small mixing bowl, a large wok, a 2.5Qt casserole dish and a small baking tray. We spent the last few days making cookies and mac & cheese over and over… so we REALLY need a change. Any thoughts????”

Dennis makes it sound like they have nothing when, in fact, they are already doing a lot with those tools. Still, I put together a short list of recipes that would take advantage of the bounties of the early Winter and their limited tools, but also make them feel like they were still experiencing the holidays like a gourmand. Here goes:

- Rachel Ray does a play on Pizzoccheri (a northern Italian dish) called Cabbage and Straw. You should be able to boil this stuff up in your walk and toss it on a plate with cheese, or throw it in your casserole dish with a little broth and bread crumbs to mimic the more authentic dish.

- The girls at Big Girls Small Kitchen did a nice play on this dish that’s more like a gratin. Mmmm.

- I do also adore Mushrooms on Toast as a quick, low-effort dinner. Smitten Kitchen’s version is fancy but you could keep it simple w/any good local New York City bread.

- For dessert, try Giada’s Espresso Brownies. Hopefully, your baking tray was low sides to it. If not, you could line your casserole dish with parchment paper.

- My favorite holiday dessert is Mascarpone and Espresso. It’s so easy too. I make a version of this (with eggs) each Christmas and pour it on top of toasted pandoro or pannetone.

- Instead of cookies, why not try brittle? I made some Salted Pistachio Brittle this weekend. It was easy and made me feel all fancy. Alas, it’s not so easy on the teeth but… it’s the holidays!

- Or you could forgo food altogether and just shake up some Homemade Baileys in a jar. (Make sure to whisk the eggs first if you go that route…) Drink liberally and often!

What would YOU recommend they make with the tools they have?