Food with Friends: The Art of Simple Gatherings, written by Leela Cyd, features an assortment of sweet treats and savory bites perfect for entertaining. A few highlights include Irish Soda Bread with Rum-Plumped Figs & Candied Walnuts, NYC Black & White Cookies, Dutch Orange Blossom Hagelsag on Toast, South Indian-Style Veg Cutlets, and Turkish Red Lentil Soup. I will also be sharing her recipe for Matcha Egg Cream following the review.
Disclosure: I received this book as a part of the Blogging for Books program in exchange for my honest review. All comments and opinions are my own.
Leela Cyd
Leela Cyd is a photographer, stylist, and food blogger based in Santa Barbara, California.
She is a longtime contributor to The Kitchn and has been featured in Food & Wine, Sweet Paul, The New York Times, Kinfolk, and more.
Leela is also the author of Tasting Hygge and Styling for Instagram.
Food with Friends
Leela begins Food with Friends by sharing a short list of some of her favorite pantry ingredients to help boost the flavors of a dish- including cheese, finishing salts, oils, and mustards.
I enjoyed the personal touch of the Style File section with beginner tips on where to source food props, how to set the table, style the food, and photograph it.
Chapters are divided based on the type of gathering: Secret Ingredients, Style File, Breakfast & Brunch, Teatime, Happy Hour, Potlucks & Picnics, Desserts, and Tiny Takeaways.
What stood out the most for me was the absolutely gorgeous photography taken by Leela herself with food styling by Ayda Robana. Every single recipe includes a photo, generally of the finished product and often full-page.
A couple of the more complicated dishes also have step-by-step photos to accompany the instructions, such as how to braid the Chocolate-Orange Challah with Saffron or brush edible flowers onto Sugar Cookies.
Every recipe includes a headnote describing the dish, its inspiration, serving ideas, and substitutions. Pre-planning and storage notes are also mentioned. Measurements are provided in US Customary.
Matcha Egg Cream
I first came across Egg Cream while visiting New York City and had such fun with this Matcha Egg Cream variation.
Contrary to its name, you won’t find any eggs or cream in the ingredient list. Leela was inspired by the traditional Jewish Egg Cream with seltzer water, chocolate syrup, and milk. She adapted it a bit by substituting matcha (green tea powder) for the chocolate and adding some sweetened condensed milk.
The drink comes together quickly by simply shaking together the matcha and milks in a tightened jar, then pouring into an ice-filled tall glass and topping with carbonated water. It reminded me of a green tea flavored cream soda.
Serve immediately after assembling.
Matcha (Green Tea Powder)
Matcha is a powder created by grinding whole green tea leaves.
Be careful when storing matcha. It can become stale and brownish when exposed to oxygen. I have been able to find matcha at the local markets with Japanese ingredients and more recently in the tea section of larger supermarkets.
Sift the matcha well before shaking with the sweetened condensed milk and whole milk to help create a more smooth texture. You can also whisk the powder with a couple large splashes of hot water first before adding to the jar.
Looking for more recipes with matcha?
Try my:
Other dishes
I also made the Spiced Strawberry-Balsamic Lassi, The Queen Bee, Coconut Lamingtons, and Maple Kettle Corn.
This wasn’t my first time trying a Strawberry Lassi, but I loved Leela’s take on it. She adds a bit of spice to the strawberry yogurt-based drink with the addition of balsamic vinegar, honey, date, and black pepper. It is so refreshing, plus easy to prepare with just the whirl of the blender.
The Queen Bee is one of the a few types of Tartines and Small Toasts in Food with Friends. I bought bee pollen from the local farmer’s market and have been looking for new ways of using it other than in smoothies and yogurt bowls. I loved sprinkling it over toast! Toasted slices of bread are spread with butter, then topped with toasted wheat germ, bee pollen, and honey.
Coconut Lamingtons are Australian squares of pound cake coated in a layer of chocolate and shredded coconut. Leela takes them a step further by incorporating even more coconut. Coconut milk is added to the batter of the pound cake itself and the cut squares are coated in large coconut flakes instead of the small shredded pieces.
Leela includes three toppings for homemade popcorn. The Maple Kettle Corn caught my eye first. Popcorn kernels are popped on the stovetop in a little coconut oil and coated in a caramel made from maple syrup and sugar. It is finished off with a sprinkling of smoked salt.
Food with Friends is a great pick for those who enjoy entertaining, but don’t want to spend all day in the kitchen. Many of the dishes are sweet-based, but there is a nice blend of savory treats and offerings as well. I appreciated that beverages were not forgotten, though meat-lovers won’t find anything here. There are even a handful of vegan-friendly snacks.
Many of the ingredients are readily available in the average American grocery store. A few may require further searching such as whole cardamom pods, tahini, bee pollen, orange blossom water, harissa, and fresh flowers.
Matcha Egg Cream Recipe
Excerpt from Food with Friends
Matcha Egg Cream
Ingredients
- 2 cups (280 grams) ice
- 2 teaspoons (4 grams) matcha green tea powder, sifted
- 1/2 cup (120 milliliters) whole milk
- 3 tablespoons (44 milliliters) sweetened condensed milk
- 1 1/4 cups (300 milliliters) carbonated water
Instructions
- Place 2 large glasses full of ice into the freezer to get frosty.
- In a screw-top pint jar, combine the matcha, whole milk, and condensed milk and screw on the lid securely.
- Vigorously shake the jar until the contents are uniformly combined.
- Take the glasses from the freezer and pour half of the matcha milk into each glass.
- Top each glass with carbonated water.
- Swirl with a large spoon and enjoy immediately.
lk529
I really want to try matcha. The cookbook sounds fun, too. We have friends here who are vegan and I’d love to be able to responsibly invite them over for dinner.