What a weekend — it’s sunny, sparkly and 60 degrees in New York today. Tomorrow, we’ll retreat inside to eat chips, dips and wings while watching an M&M’s commercial about why the green one chose to trade in her heels for sneakers, and ignoring all of the football game. And on Monday, my favorite, flower-filled holiday comes around again. I have no plans to cook that day — I’ll (hopefully) be munching on the fancy box of chocolates I heavily hinted at wanting and going to one of my favorite restaurants for deep bowls of pasta to celebrate. Staying in and cooking, though, are the cutest couple in Maine, Emily Schultz & Will Ryan. They shared their menu making chat with us, plus all of the recipes they landed on just in case you could also use some V-Day recipe inspiration. What we are cooking for is the Super Bowl, so if you’re thinking of throwing a last-minute party, or just want to eat like you’re at a Super Bowl party, we’ve got you covered with our plans.
SO YOU WANT TO DO VALENTINE’S DAY LIKE EMILY SCHULTZ AND WILL RYAN?
Will: Our Valentine’s Day menu would start like any other menu Emily and I ideate on — I throw out my favorite foods and suggestions haphazardly like a toddler with fantastic taste. Things I always yell out are bo ssäm, Caesar salad, pozole, and other comfort foods that I could never have imagined making in my house until I met her. When it comes to the menu I am more of the ideas guy and she makes it into something cohesive and beautiful. I will be the first to say that she does the hard work. I do the dishes as a small act of thank you.
Things Will always yells out: bo ssäm, Caesar salad, pozole.
Emily: One of Will’s favorite nighttime activities, after the phones have been put away and we’re about to go to sleep, is shouting out yummy foods he wants me to make next week. Because of the pandemic, we pretty much cook Monday-Friday. And because I’m lucky enough to get to work from home, I’m able to prep in between meetings and when I need a 10-minute focus break. Since Valentine’s Day is on a Monday this year, we thought we would cook.
Will: Always begin with martinis. Emily makes them on the rocks, and I make sure we always have blue cheese oliveskicking around as both an addition to this delicious beverage and also as an amuse bouche, especially since Emily doesn’t let me in the kitchen while she’s cooking to pick.
Emily: I like making weak but flavorful martinis, mostly because I don’t want to black out in my living room. I love dry vermouth, so I'll make a 50/50–2 oz. vermouth and 2 oz. gin (Hendrick’s, Beefeater — I don’t really have a preference). I make them slightly dirty, with 1 oz. of olive juiceto 4 oz. of liquor, and then strain into a rocks glass with a big ice cube. This may be sacrilegious, but I’m the clumsiest person I know and this way I don’t spill. Plus, you can have three without posting something embarrassing on Instagram Stories.
Will: Most of our more indulgent meals include some sort of salad or a lettuce wrap. I like this because I can then convince myself that I at least ate some sort of roughage that day. The Caesar is classic and is something I would eat everyday (and did when I was single, out of a bag). Emily makes a far better one.
Emily: Okay, so we’re doing martinis and Caesars so far — I’m really not surprised. I love prepping the Caesar dressing in advance, and using fish sauce instead of anchovies. It’s so much easier to prepare, and hi! I’m already making the dressing from scratch anyways.
Will: My favorite meal is something that is customizable. This philosophy came about because I enjoy the fact that I can have 4-7 small meals in one meal. My favorite of the customizable meals is bo ssäm. I can have spicy ones, sweet ones, and maybe even a vegetable-forward one should I choose. This meal also serves as a vehicle for my two favorite things, gochujang and chili crisp. I could eat a piece of paper covered in either.
Emily: Okay… no <3. We’re not having Cae Sal/martinis and bo ssäm. Stay with me: Caesar salad steak lettuce wraps. I’ve never done this but feel like it could be good? So rather than having a Caesar salad and a steak, you put it all in one. This is customizable — you can add as much dressing as you want, throw in a crouton, cram in lots of parm with your steak — the possibilities are endless. And if you don’t want to lettuce wrap it in front of your date, you could always eat these separately. Will makes the best steak ever, so this would really be a team effort which is always my favorite. To accompany these Caesar salad steak lettuce wraps I’d serve Chris Morocco’s burnished potato nuggets, which is my absolute favorite way to eat potatoes at home.
Will’s best steak ever + Emily’s favorite way to eat potatoes at home.
Will: Dessert is simple. We are a high-low couple. For such an important occasion I would head down to our local 7/11 (the most diverse and important meeting place in Portland, Maine) and grab pints of Ben and Jerry’s. Emily allows me to curate her flavor experience, while I always choose New York Super Fudge Chunk. Emily describes this flavor as “having too much stuff in it”. What can I say? I am an opulent man. We will enjoy ourselves on the couch watching Wife Swap and talking. This is our little life and I love it.
The Wife Swap-Ben & Jerry’s crossover you never thought you’d see.
SO YOU’RE THROWING A SUPER BOWL PARTY?
We interrupt the romance to discuss eating chicken parts and multi-layered, dairy-laden dips. Here’s what’s on our (Court & Gab’s) Big Game menus this Sunday a.k.a. Valentine’s Eve:
Gab:
My boyfriend and I invited all of our friends over this weekend with the promise of Mexican Feast, spinach artichoke dip, and a cake shaped like a football. You’re probably wondering, what is Mexican Feast? Well, picture a spread of sautéed peppers and onions, a protein: sometimes ground beef or broiled chicken thighs, this time, pernil, a big pot of beans, shredded cheddar, iceberg lettuce, lots of lime wedges, a chopped cilantro and raw red onion mix, guac, rice and warm tortillas, left for you to plate as you wish. That’s Mexican Feast. Our spinach artichoke dip recipe of choice is obviously Alison Roman’s, because there is no one in this city her recipes don’t have an inescapable chokehold on. Just make sure to shower the top with parmesan and broil it before serving —this step turns the dip into a hot and stretchy situation that’s best eaten with a sturdy and salty pita chip. As for my football cake, I’m planning on using my favorite chocolate cake recipe to build the layers, and will be winging the shaping process, so stay tuned.
The Joe Burrow of spinach artichoke dips… beautiful, but also outstanding.
Court:
As I have mentioned before, when I cosplay as a Sports Fan, I do it big. That means pizza and wings are non-negotiable on Super Bowl Sunday. For pizza, I want focaccia-esque, fluffy-yet-crispy-edged pies with cheese sprinkled all the way to-and-onto the edges. This week I did a dry run and was more than pleased with the results. This dough made with rapid rise yeast — after a 45-minute rise then another 20 or so on a well-oiled sheet pan — was shockingly light and bubbly for such a quick turnaround. Hot tip: in addition to sprinkling low-moisture mozzarella on top, cut little cubes of cheese to place around the edges; this creates little pockets of frico for maximum Detroit-style crispy cheese edges. Top to your heart’s delight then bake at 400-425 (or higher) for 10-15 minutes. As for chicken wings, the promise of crunchy “oven-fried” wings sounds too good to be true, like a protein bar that actually tastes like ‘chocolate cupcake’ or a president that actually cancels student debt. But thanks to capital ‘s’ Science (and Serious Eats) it is possible, with the help of one special ingredient. An overnight dry brine helps draw out moisture, but isn’t even necessary because baking powder reacts with the chicken skin in a hot oven to create a myriad of little bubbles on the wings’ surfaces that is pure magic. They come out über-crispy and ready to be devoured. Toss them in the standard Frank’s-butter mix and enjoy all of the above with ranch; yes, even the pizza. Fight me!
Frico pockets!!!!
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