JUNE 28 VIRTUAL COOKING CLASS

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Join me Tuesday, June 28 from 4-5:15pm ET for my next virtual cooking class. Cooks of all skill levels are welcome and our menu is vegetarian-friendly. $40 per Zoomer.

We’ll be making three summer sides so you’ll have recipes you feel confident about going into BBQ season. (I’m looking at you July 4.) Each salad is a riot of colors, flavors and textures. They are each stand alone, knock-it-out-of-the-park sides, but they also complement each other perfectly. This means you will be praised if you make just one of them and will be worshipped if you make all three. Here is our menu…

Orzo Salad with Charred Broccoli, Cranberries and Toasted Walnuts

Corn Salad with Tomato, Cucumber and Basil

Peach and Burrata Salad with Spicy Arugula and Pickled Shallots

The Orzo Salad has all of the flavors of your typical broccoli salad but elevated. First of all, raw broccoli is…meh. It’s good but I’d choose roasted broccoli 10/10 times. We’re giving ours a little char and then we’re adding pasta to the party because who doesn’t love pasta?

Nothing says summer like a corn salad. After toasting corn on the stovetop (or you could use a grill if you have one), we’ll take it off the cobb and toss it in a bright vinaigrette. Then we’ll bulk it out with cherry tomatoes and cucumber and give it extra oomph with fresh basil. There are endless directions you can take this corn salad including the Mexican-ish vibe above with cilantro, lime and tajin.

Finally, we’ll make a peach and burrata salad to introduce a little sweetness into the menu. I think of any salad that includes fruit as a “gateway salad” – salads that entice even those so called “salad haters” out there. I love this salad with any stone fruit, so feel free to swap in cherries, plums, nectarines or a mix of all. Fruit + milky burrata = perfection.

Register for the class here. I will approve your registration, and send you an invoice and more information about the class including a grocery list, our recipes and answers to common questions. If you can’t make it live, the recording will be made available to all registrants after the class.

HOPE I SEE YOU THERE!

x

JUNE 15 VIRTUAL COOKING CLASS

Posted on by Laura Geraty – By

My next Zoom cooking class will be Wednesday, June 15 from 4-5pm ET. Cooks of all skill levels are welcome and our menu is vegetarian-friendly (though this time not vegan). $40 per Zoomer. 

The class will be short and sweet but leave you with a delicious dinner to enjoy with family or friends that night *and* an extra meal to stick in your freezer for the coming weeks/months. 

*MENU*

Now or Later Turkey (or Lentil) Meatballs

Roasted Tomato and Corn Pasta with Arugula and Ricotta

Pasta and meatballs…. what’s not to love? 

This is one of those menus that I find myself making on repeat. It comes together quickly, tastes as good room temperature (or cold from the fridge) as it does hot, is enjoyed by toddlers and adults alike, and leaves me with plenty of lunchbox leftovers and even a second meal in the freezer.

The Roasted Tomato and Corn Pasta with Arugula and Ricotta is summer in a bowl. It is made with the pasta:veg ratio I love, which is about 50:50. That way it serves double duty as the meal’s “salad.” You can toss the noodles with the ricotta so they are all equally coated with the milky cheese or leave it like I do with big, billowy pockets. The dish is so hearty that I oftentimes serve it as dinner all on its own. 

But I want to make meatballs with you, so let’s do that! In my opinion, meatballs are an essential recipe that everyone should have memorized. If you have a basic template (which I of course will be giving you) you can make endless variations to suit your tastes. The turkey (or lentil) meatballs we’re making are a basic Italian-style ball flavored with garlic, more ricotta, salty parmesan cheese and tomato paste. We’ll prepare some to serve with the pasta and freeze leftovers in your favorite jarred sauce. In my opinion, meatball recipes should always be doubled. It’s far less than twice the work, they freeze like a dream and it feels so good knowing you have them on hand when you could use the short cut later on.

Register for the class here. I will approve your registration, and send you an invoice and more information about the class including a grocery list, our recipes and answers to common questions. If you can’t make it live, the recording will be made available to all registrants after the class. If you miss this entirely or catch this post after the fact, send me a message directly and I’ll get everything to you.

HOPE I SEE YOU THERE!

xx

MY INAUGURAL ZOOM COOKING CLASS

Posted on by Laura Geraty – By

GUYS! Everyone! I am so excited to officially invite you to my very first Zoom cooking class. The class will be this Sunday, May 22 from 4-5:30pm ET at a cost of $40 per household. Cooks of all skill level are welcome. Here is our menu…

Jalisco Express

Tangy Roasted Salmon and/or Tofu

Spring Caprese

Citrus Farro Salad with Toasted Walnuts and Olives

Citrus Olive Oil Cake

Our menu will celebrate the official transition into spring. To me, that transition happens once temperatures remain above 60 degrees and real spring produce shows up at the farmers markets, not when the calendar tells us its spring in March. We are just getting there here in the North East.

All dishes (even our cocktail!) include bright, verdant flavors – think lots of citrus, green vegetables and fresh herbs. We’ll start with a Jalisco Express – a tequila cocktail that’s the tiniest bit spicy from the addition of a jalapeno, and fresh from cucumber and basil. It’s just as yummy made virgin with soda water for those who don’t want to imbibe. We’ll make Tangy Glazed Salmon (and/or tofu) with orange, Dijon mustard and honey and discuss the many directions you can take it by switching up your glaze ingredients. To serve alongside of that, we’ll prepare my Spring Caprese, a mix of perfectly blanched spring vegetables layered with top-quality mozzarella, basil and mint; and a flavorful farro salad tossed with lemon-shallot vinaigrette, crunchy toasted walnuts and salty olives. And don’t forget about dessert! We’ll whip up a very forgiving citrus olive oil cake that gets better as it sits. You will be enjoying the fruits of our labor for days to come.

Cook along with me and enjoy the meal with family or friends or pack it up and enjoy it for lunch throughout the week. Register for the class here and I will invoice you via Venmo or Quickbooks. Once paid, I will approve your registration and send you more information about the class including a grocery list, our recipes and answers to what I anticipate to be common questions. 

This is something I have wanted to do *forever* and hope I will see you there. Thank you so much for your support!

xx    Laura

STRAWBERRY & YOGURT LOAF CAKE

Posted on by Laura Geraty – By

This Strawberry and Yogurt Loaf Cake is my latest obsession. While the yogurt batter itself is only barely sweet, the cake is baked in a crust of turbinado sugar and its top is dolloped with both super sweet strawberry jam and fresh strawberries. As the cake bakes, some of the jam falls to the bottom, some gets suspended in the middle and some stays right on top. The cake around that jam becomes a little custardy. So much to describe here but, really, you’re going to have to trust me…make this cake.

In addition, there is something about *loaf* cakes that speak to me. Like, if you give me the option of a slice of a loaf versus a traditional cake, I’ll always choose the former. My ranking is loaf cake > round cakes > sheet cakes > cupcakes. I’m sure that hierarchy is controversial. Anyone with me here?

Origin Story

This recipe in a combination of my own Strawberry Snacking Cake, Alison Roman’s Chocolate Banana Bread (that’s where I got the genius idea of lining the loaf pan with sugar), Smitten Kitchen’s Strawberry Summer Cake (another perfect recipe if you don’t agree with my cake shape hierarchy), and Julia Turshen’s Greek Yogurt Cake with Jam.

As an amateur baker with an amateur understanding of baking science, it took some tweaking to get right. (Read: I had to clean the bottom of my oven more than once while developing this recipe.) I did that hard “research” so you don’t have to.

Serving Suggestions

I hope this Strawberry and Yogurt Loaf Cake finds its way into your baking repertoire. It deserves center stage after a dinner party topped with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, or a place on your brunch table served with plain yogurt and fresh fruit. Guests will want the recipe and you’ll know where to send them.

As always, tag me in your food photos on Instagram @whatweeat.nyc and report back here.

Happy cooking!

STRAWBERRY AND YOGURT LOAF CAKE

Ingredients
  • 1/4 cup turbinado sugar (aka demerara sugar or sugar in the raw) plus 1 tbsp to top strawberries
  • 6 tbsp butter plus 1 tbsp for coating loaf pan, room temp
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract (you can be heavy handed here)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup plain, whole milk yogurt
  • Very scant 1/2 lb strawberries, hulled and halved or quartered (little less than half a box, or ~1.5 cups)
  • 1/4 cup strawberry jam
Method
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.* Generously butter a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Sugar the inside of the pan with 1/4 cup of the turbinado sugar, tapping out excess. Get right up to the lip of the pan because the cake will rise to the tippety top.
  2. Using a stand mixer or hand mixer**, beat the butter and sugar together for ~5 minutes until light in color and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and eggs. (Reserve yogurt until end.)
  3. Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Hull and halve the strawberries.
  4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Using a spatula, fold in the yogurt until fully incorporated but not over mixed.
  5. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan, smoothing the top. Use a small spoon to dollop the strawberry jam over the batter, keeping the jam more towards the center of the cake than to the sides. (If you push it to the sides, it’s a little hard to turn out the cooled cake because the jam gets sticky.) Use the back of spoon to swirl it here and there. It doesn’t have to be perfect.
  6. Finally, top with the halved strawberries, Tetris-ing them in so every square inch of the top is covered. If you have extra strawberries, those are your chef’s treat. Sprinkle the top with the last heaping tablespoon of turbinado sugar.
  7. Place loaf pan on a sheet tray (just in case) and bake until the sides of the cake start to pull away and the cake is baked through in the center, about 80-90 minutes. It should spring back slightly when pressed in the center.
  8. Cool on the stovetop or on a cooling rack for 1 hour. Use a knife to encourage the sides away from the pan. It will be a little sticky here and there but should eventually pull away. Turn out a place on a serving platter to cool for another 30 minutes before slicing.**
  9. The cake is delicious for a couple of days in an airtight container so can be made ahead. Mine has never lasted more than two days.

Serves 8-10 people

*I use my convection setting here. If you don’t have one, the cake might take closer to 90 minutes to be fully cooked.

**You can do this by hand but you really want to aerate that butter (make it extra fluffy) and this is MUCH easier with some equipment.

***To be honest, I’ve of course turned this out and sliced this within 30 minutes of it coming out of the oven. We’re just talking “ideally” here.

Want more dessert recipes?

CRISPY, STICKY TOFU STIR-FRY WITH BROCCOLINI AND GREEN BEANS

Posted on by Laura Geraty – By

The secret to crispy tofu is all in the prep. Some people swear by freezing and thawing tofu but my tried and true method is to give it a good press, then cube or crumble it, season it with salt and pepper and toss it with cornstarch. From there, all it needs is a short stint under high heat to get crisp on the outside while remaining bouncy and moist within. 

Use that crispy tofu however you like – as a topper for a kale caesar, on top of sesame noodles, dipped in BBQ sauce, etc. My favorite way to use it is in flavorful stir-fry like this. While this stir-fry is best hot from the stovetop, I usually double the recipe and enjoy it for lunch throughout the week.

Crispy, Sticky Tofu Stir-Fry with Broccolini and Green Beans

Ingredients

For tofu….

  • 2 1-lb packages tofu 
  • Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
  • Granulated garlic (optional)
  • 3 tbsp cornstarch
  • 2 tbsp neutral oil like grapeseed, vegetable or canola (olive oil is fine)

For sauce…

  • 3 tbsp water
  • 2 tsp cornstarch  
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1-2 inch piece of ginger, skin removed and minced
  • 5 tbsp soy sauce (1/4 cup + 1 tbsp)
  • 4 tbsp honey (1/4 cup)
  • 6 tbsp rice wine vinegar (1/4 cup + 2 tbsp)
  • red pepper flakes or favorite hot sauce like chili paste or sriracha to taste (I left out for my kiddos’ sake)

For vegetables…

  • 2 tbsp neutral oil (suggestions above)
  • 2 bunches broccolini, edges trimmed and sliced in half lengthwise if stalk is thick 
  • 1 lb green beans, ends trimmed if necessary
  • Salt and pep
  • 1-2 tbsp sesame seeds

To serve: rice of choice, fresh cilantro, lime wedges

Method
  1. Wrap tofu in paper towels or a clean kitchen cloth and press under something heavy like a cast iron skillet for as long as you have – overnight or even 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 425 (on convection if you have it).
  2. Cut pressed tofu into 1-2 inch squares or rectangles, or crumble by hand and place on a parchment lined sheet tray. Season generously with kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper and granulated garlic. Then sprinkle with the cornstarch and toss, toss, toss. It will seem like a lot but will eventually stick to the tofu. Drizzle with neutral oil and toss again. Roast for 25-30 minutes, flipping after the first 15 min. The tofu should be nice and crisp. 
  3. Make stir-fry sauce by mixing all ingredients together.
  4. Place large skillet over high heat. When piping hot, add the oil, vegetables and a pinch of kosher salt. Let them get charred on one side for about 4-5 minutes, then give them a good toss and leave them alone again to get charred on a second side. 
  5. When the veggies are cooked to your liking, turn the heat down to medium/low, add the tofu, sesame seeds and the stir-fry sauce. Toss, toss, toss again until the sauce has reduced and it is glossy and sticking to the vegetables. Serve over your rice of choice with cilantro and lime wedges.

Serves 6 people

Prep ahead – Make the stir-fry sauce a day ahead, prep your veggies up to a few days in advance, and press your tofu a day ahead. You can even cook the tofu and stir-fry the veggies a few hours ahead, but wait to combine the veggies, tofu and sauce until the last minute. This ensures the tofu is as crisp as possible. I still enjoy this stir-fry as leftovers but it is best enjoyed right away.

(Want another tofu recipe? Try this one for Crispy Tofu Spring Rolls!)