On the Side: Steve Poses @ home

Within minutes, Steve Poses' rules for home entertaining - for boosting it 10 percent! - were going out the window of his apartment above Rittenhouse Square, swan-diving toward the fountains and dog-walkers below.

They are perfectly sensible rules, evolved over his years of restaurateuring and, more specifically, big-time catering at Frog Commissary - plan ahead (like way ahead, 10 days if you're having a serious dinner party), don't bite off more than you can chew. Jot each chore on a repositionable sticky label. Move it across the cabinet door as you complete that task.

Oh, and make sure - riiight! - to relax.

But there are rules. And there is real life. This was real life: I'd invited myself over to test-drive Poses' new hybrid cookbook/Web site, At Home.

I'd given just 48 hours' notice. (Ixnay on the 10 days!) A photographer was heading over. The five-year project would get its first real scrutiny.

In fact, the cookbooks were shipping that day (Oct. 9), encoded with customized instructions to activate the Web site (on which you can search for and print out new recipes, and some of Poses' golden oldies).

So of course Murphy's Law had a field day. In small ways (the coffee grinder that was to be used to fine-grind the peppercorns had broken) and in larger ones (there was simply no time to hollow out the dainty sugar pumpkins that were to contain the dessert course of pumpkin ice cream), one was reminded that battle plans are fine - until the war starts.

Steve Poses aproned up. And in the end - which ended an hour later than the plan called for - everything was groovy.

No matter that the aromatic red lentil dip got scratched. No matter that the rosemary lemonade (savory and refreshing) seemed redundant, since we'd long since cracked open a bottle of white, then red.

No matter that the pumpkin ice cream with Poses' crunchy pecan praline never firmed up in the countertop freezer that labored groaningly for hours.

The centerpiece fried green tomato sandwiches were just terrific, meaty and cleverly interspersed with fresh, ripe tomatoes. The autumnal slaw was crunchy (though it could have marinated longer). And I'm a fan of crisp, roasted parsnips, so that was an easy sell.

Was my takeaway message that home entertaining was a snap and that I ought to do it 10 percent more? Nope, Poses was looking a bit tuckered out even though I'd intermittently helped out.

Was it that this particular cookbook contained some special secret? Hard to tell. Though some recipes (the za'atar grilled pita chips) seemed far simpler than I imagined, and others that I flipped to (Korean tacos) seemed harder to follow.

Was it that when you come to the table with good will, having shared in the shredding of the celery root and stepped over Izzy, the snoozing black Lab, and had a glass or two of wine, you are likely to be filled with an abiding sense of affection and well-being?

Well, yes, indeed.

Which is the point, after all, let the rules be damned.

Steve Poses looked as if he'd dropped a few pounds.

The catering heavyweight is 62 now, his own diet being strictly monitored by his wife Christina Sterner, a manager for years for dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov's foundation. She has put him on a 2,300ish-a-day, calorie-controlled regimen. So every day, except nights that they dine out, he eats only the contents of an insulated feed bag of sorts that shows up on his doorstep from an outfit in New York called Fresh Diet.

A typical dinner might consist of microwavable grilled chicken with a "gelatinous, but not too bad" sauce, whole-wheat pasta, and pureed carrots.

Not Poses' cup of tea, exactly. Not exactly "local," either. But he has in a matter of a few months lost a good 20 pounds. Maybe more.

The Poses scorecard has its share of wins and losses. But two entries stand out: In 1973 his little storefront café called Frog was at the leading edge of Philadelphia's glorious restaurant renaissance.

And in 1985, the Frog Commissary Cookbook he authored with two friends became the sacred text for a generation of first-time home cooks. It sold 150,000 copies and, like The Silver Palate Cookbook, which dates from the same era, has achieved the rare feat of life everlasting. The paperback version (which tends to fall apart after a decade or two) is still very much in print.

But that was then. Now Poses (with his wife managing the day-to-day affairs) still operates the Frog Commissary catering business that spun out of those early successes.

It lost a couple of high-profile clients - the Mann Music Center and Urban Outfitters in the Navy Yard. But in an environment he candidly describes as "challenging," it has regained the contract for Ben's Bistro in the Franklin Institute, where his catering business is relocating its Northern Liberties kitchens.

So this cookbook/Web site venture isn't his second act so much as his third or fourth. But if he was leading the pack in 1973, going online with recipes and party advice is not exactly virgin territory in 2009: it's the wave of the present, and the pool is getting a little crowded. (As for his mantra, "Increase Home Entertaining 10 Percent," Poses acknowledges it's pretty much a marketing slogan.)

In the teeth of the recession, home-cooking books are resurgent. Emeril has one coming out. They are Rachael Ray's bread and butter. And multi-platform kitchen aids are all the rage, even as restaurants go belly-up and even old-line caterers scramble.

Poses' view of Ray, Paula Deen, and Sandra Lee? "It's all about them." His own book: "It's all about you."

Nowadays home cooks can search online, USA Today reported last week, "watch cooking shows, flip through personality-driven magazines [though not Gourmet anymore], read food blogs. It's a world of celebrity chefs, social networking, recipe cyber-swapping, and specialized Web sites. . . ."

Martha Stewart herself, the aging queen of the home-entertaining kingdom, is due at Williams-Sonoma in Center City on Nov. 2 to hawk her latest offering, Martha Stewart's Dinner at Home.

But Poses' At Home, self-published, not stocked in bookstores, and available only through his Web site, www.athomebysteveposes.com, has one thing the others do not - the home-court advantage.

The menu was hand-printed on sticky labels pasted neatly on the cabinet doors.

Fried green tomatoes

Rémoulade

Rosemary lemonade

Celery root-brussels sprouts slaw

Grilled za'atar pita chips

Aromatic red lentil dip

Dilly beans

Crisp roasted parsnips

Fresh-made pumpkin praline ice cream

Metropolitan cookies

Poses - in his lust to show off his new baby - had bitten off more than he could chew.

The dip got skipped. The supplementary bowl of olives never got served. The spiced pumpkin seeds that Poses' son Noah had made the night before sat there, unoffered - though I was sorely tempted to dig in.

But like the tomatoes from a Plymouth Meeting farm, Poses was unarguably local and in tune with the season. I'll give At Home a fair shot; I find the site, at a glance, extremely easy to navigate.

But this much I swear. I'm not giving up my stained and tattered Frog Commissary Cookbook, not for the Web, not for searchability, not for nothing - Steve Poses and his grand new project included.

Makes 8 tacos

EndTextStartText

1/4 cup chopped garlic

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce

1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1 pound beef flank steak

2 cups sliced grape tomatoes

2 cups half-inch-wide ribbons Napa cabbage

2 cups half-inch-wide ribbons romaine lettuce

1 1/2 cups chopped scallions, divided

1/2 jalapeno, sliced

1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, loosely packed

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, plus more for garnish

8 six-inch soft corn tortillas

Salt and pepper

1 lime, cut into 8 wedges, for garnish

EndTextStartText

1. Make the dressing by combining garlic, soy sauce, brown sugar, chili garlic sauce, rice vinegar, vegetable oil, and sesame oil. Mix well.

2. Thinly slice flank steak across the grain on a bias. Pour 3/4 cup dressing over beef and refrigerate for at least an hour and up to overnight.

3. Prepare the salad by tossing tomatoes with 1/4 cup dressing. Let sit for at least 10 minutes. A few minutes before serving, toss together cabbage, romaine, 1 cup scallions, and 1 cup tomato salad with 1/4 cup dressing.

4. Working one at a time, warm tortillas on a grill or in a skillet on the stove top, turning frequently until soft and pliable, about 1 to 2 minutes. If not serving right away, wrap tortillas in a towel and hold in a 200-degree oven.

5. Drain beef. Preheat grill pan or grill. Cook beef until seared and charred, but still rare, turning once or twice. Toss with 1 tablespoon sesame seeds.

6. To assemble tacos, lay a tortilla on a plate or platter. Layer with 1/2 cup salad, a few strips of beef, about 2 tablespoons remaining tomatoes, a few remaining chopped scallions, and a light sprinkling of sesame seeds. Add optional cilantro leaves. Serve with lime wedges.

Per taco: 237 calories, 15 grams protein, 25 grams carbohydrates, 6 grams sugar, 8 grams fat, 24 milligrams cholesterol, 294 milligrams sodium, 3 grams dietary fiber.

EndText

Makes 6-8 servings

EndTextStartText

1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger

1 pound celery root, peeled

1 large carrot, peeled

1/4 cup apple-cider vinegar

3 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons prepared horseradish

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 pound Brussels sprouts

1 bunch scallions

1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley

1/4 cup celery leaves

EndTextStartText

1. Make the dressing in a small mixing bowl by combining ginger, vinegar, sugar, olive oil, horseradish, salt, and pepper. Whisk until sugar is dissolved.

2. Using a mandoline or knife, julienne celery root and carrots. If using a mandoline, take care. Better to leave some leftover vegetables than risk cutting your fingers. Place cut vegetables in a large bowl.

3. With a knife, finely slice Brussels sprouts so that they are shredded. Chop scallions. Add Brussels sprouts and scallions to celery root and carrots. Tear parsley and celery leaves with your fingers and add to vegetables. Pour dressing over vegetables and allow slaw to sit for at least 15 minutes. Toss before serving, and add more salt and pepper if desired.

Per serving (based on 8): 95 calories, 2 grams protein, 15 grams carbohydrates, 6 grams sugar, 4 grams fat, no cholesterol, 202 milligrams sodium, 3 grams dietary fiber.

EndText

Makes 6-8 servings

EndTextStartText

1 pound small, thin parsnips, peeled and trimmed

1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

EndTextStartText

1. Arrange an oven rack on the middle shelf and preheat oven to 350. Cut larger parsnips into long, thin pieces that mimic the size of your smallest parsnips. If all of the parsnips are larger, cut into long, thin, tapered pieces.

2. Using your hands, toss parsnips with garlic and olive oil, taking care to coat well. Add salt and toss again.

3. Spread parsnips evenly in a single layer on a parchment-lined, rimmed baking sheet. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, then toss parsnips. Continue baking until parsnips are lightly browned, about 15 to 20 minutes more. Remove from oven and allow parsnips to cool and crisp.

Per serving (based on 8 servings): 88 calories, 1 gram protein, 10 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams sugar, 5 grams fat, no cholesterol, 297 milligrams sodium, 3 grams dietary fiber.

EndText

Makes 4 servings

EndTextStartText

4 rounds 7-inch pita

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon za'atar

1/2 teaspoon salt

EndTextStartText

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. With a knife or your finger, poke a hole along the edge of the pita rounds and peel apart, yielding 2 thin pita circles for each round.

3. Pour olive oil in a small bowl. Using a brush, generously coat smooth side of pita. Generously sprinkle oiled side with za'atar and salt, and transfer to cookie sheet.

4. Bake until lightly browned and crisp, about 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. For extra flavor, toast pita on grill pan or outdoor grill. Break pita into large, irregular pieces. Serve with hummus or other dip.

Per serving: 285 calories, 5 grams protein, 33 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram sugar, 14 grams fat, no cholesterol, 613 milligrams sodium, 1 gram dietary fiber.

EndText