Stuck in the city this holiday weekend? You don’t need to hop on the Jitney to bring the easy, breezy style of the Hamptons to your Memorial Day soiree.
“It’s not just a beach destination, it’s a culture. And the culture 100 percent includes the food and the produce and the farms,” says Lexi Stolz, co-founder of Hamptons Aristocrat, a new food delivery and catering service.
In other words, a Hamptons-approved party is all about simple dishes using fresh, local food with big flavor.
Longtime NYC and Hamptons entertainers Stolz, 32, and Louisa Young, 30, launched Hamptons Aristocrat this month, delivering farm-fresh fare in a revamped 1969 Aristocrat trailer. (Young founded NYC catering company Ango in 2013, while Stolz started the personal grocery shopping service South Fork and Spoon in 2014.)
The pair specializes in natural-but-stunning presentation and food produced right in the area.
“Less is more,” Young says of their philosophy. “A delicious-tasting dish doesn’t have 18 ingredients, it maybe has three — a really nice vegetable with salt, pepper and lemon — and your guests will be thrilled.”
They say the secret to their Hamptons-chic aesthetic and fresh food can be found across the city at local farmers markets, catalogued on grownyc.org. (Or, if you’re in the Hamptons, you can go to hamptonsaristocrat.com to book Stolz and Young to cater your event.) Read on for more of their easy entertaining tips and recipes.
Lobster rolls with herbed mayo
Top fresh, cooked lobster with a homemade herbed mayo.
1 clove garlic, microplaned
¼ cup herbs (your favorites)
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. rice vinegar
Pinch of honey or sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 egg yolk
1 cup GMO-free grapeseed oil (canola oil works too!)
Combine everything but the egg yolk and oil; whisk. Add egg yolk, drop by drop, and whisk. Repeat with oil until desired consistency is reached.
Go rustic with décor
The Aristocrats deck their tablescapes with wildflowers from the farmers market, displaying them in Mason jars, old milk bottles and candy jars, available at stores like T.J.Maxx.
Popsicles
Watermelon: Juice ¹/₃ average-size watermelon and strain out seeds. Infuse overnight with 4 ounces mint, then freeze juice in a popsicle mold with stick inserted.
Blueberry and lemon: Juice one container of blueberries and strain the skins. Add juice of ¹/₂ lemon and 1 tablespoon brown sugar to blueberries, then freeze and mold as above.
Coconut water and honey: Add a spoonful of honey to 12 ounces coconut water, plus a squeeze of lime and shredded coconut pieces. Freeze.
Each batch yields six popsicles.
Let the veggies lead the way
Look online for what vegetables are in season and then head to your local farmers market to plan your menu. In May, asparagus is at its peak, so try sauteed asparagus accented with fiddlehead ferns.
Heirloom tomato salad
Cut three heirloom green tomatoes in half and pair with six to seven kiwi berries sliced in half. Mix 4 tablespoons lemon juice with ¹/₂ cup olive oil, 1 teaspoon pepper and ¹/₂ teaspoon salt. Mix together and top with feta and mint to taste. Serves six.
Chicken salad sammies
Pair your favorite chicken salad with New York apple-jalapeño chutney.
To make the chutney: Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a saute pan over medium-low until melted. Add 1 apple (peeled, cored and rough-chopped, about 1 cup) and 1 tablespoon minced and seeded jalapeño. Cook on low until apples are soft. Add a pinch of salt, transfer to a blender and purée.
Serve chicken and chutney on sourdough bread and top with microgreens.
The Kirby cocktail
2 cups gin
1½ cups lime juice
1 cup cucumber juice
1 bunch tarragon
(10 leaves for infusing, and remainder for garnish)
Pinch of salt
Pinch of sugar
Cracked pepper
Combine all ingredients in a growler. Cover with lid and shake vigorously. Pour over large cucumber ice cubes — made by juicing 2 Kirby cucumbers per cube and freezing in an ice tray. Garnish each cocktail with 2 turns of the pepper mill, a sprig of tarragon and a splash of sparkling water. Serves 12 to 15, depending on glass size.
Sweet trick
Use fresh fruit to liven up the table and provide your guests with an easy sweet treat. Young says: “What’s easier than taking 15 blood oranges and cutting them up and putting wedges on a plate?”
Blueberry-and-lavender pocket pies
Dough:
11 cups organic all-purpose flour
5 tsp. salt
5 tsp. sugar
5 cups butter
1 cup ice water
Preserves:
4 cups blueberries
2 sprigs lavender
½ cup sugar
½ cup water
Combine flour, salt and sugar and pulse with butter in a food processor until blended. Slowly add ice water until you get a doughy consistency. Let dough set for 15 minutes. Saute blueberries, lavender, sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat for 30 minutes. Remove lavender and let cool. Roll out dough and cut into rectangles, then add filling to each and fold over to create a pocket. Seal with a fork. Bake for 12 minutes at 350 degrees.
To frost, make a thick icing: Whisk together 1 tablespoon heavy cream, 1 cup powdered sugar, and 1 to 2 teaspoons jam filling for color. Add more heavy cream if necessary to get a creamy consistency. Yields 30 pies.
Feature image credit: Lexi Stolz