Cooking with Giada, an Asian Tapas Dinner Party & What I Cooked Last Week
Making potstickers with Giada De Laurentiis, Thai drunken noodles, baked crunchy beef tacos
Hi everyone,
Hope you’re having a great week! My cookbook, Maxi’s Kitchen, comes out in less than a month, which feels so surreal. The book is all about finding your go-to recipes, because once you have those, cooking becomes so much more enjoyable. It always makes me a little sad when people say cooking feels like a chore, the same way laundry does. My hope is that once you have a handful of dishes you feel confident making, you can relax a bit more in the kitchen. I really hope the recipes in this book help you get there.
Also, I just wanted to let you know that every book tour ticket comes with a signed cookbook, since the price of the book is included. You can purchase a ticket here 🤍! My mom and I would absolutely love to meet you :)
Today I’m sharing a couple of things I did last week: cooking from my book with Giada De Laurentiis and hosting an Asian tapas-style dinner for friends the next night, inspired by the Dumpling Party menu in my cookbook. At the end of the book, I included six menu pairings so you can mix and match recipes when you’re hosting a dinner party:
First, here’s a recipe for Thai drunken noodles I made last week. Legend has it they earned their name because they’re the perfect late-night snack when you’re a little tipsy, and they’ll supposedly cure any hangover the next day. I hope you give them a try!
What I Cooked Last Week! ↓
Thai Drunken Noodles
These noodles are spicy and savory, and packed with veggies and protein. Plus those chubby rice noodles are perfect for absorbing all the delicious flavors.
You can download the PDF recipe above and watch the video here :)
Baked Crunchy Beef Tacos
These are so good that I couldn’t stop eating them. They’re made with a delicious spiced-beef filling, green salsa, cheese, and fresh toppings. Baking them in the oven gets the tortillas super crispy
Cooking with Giada & Dumpling Party
Giada and I first met after she cooked one of my recipes with her daughter. About a year ago, when she was getting ready to publish her most recent cookbook, we filmed two recipes together and had such a fun time. So with my book coming out soon, I reached out to see if she wanted to cook again. She was so generous and immediately made time, even offering to come over. I also love the women on her team, so it felt great to have everyone back together.
When Giada arrived, she spent the first half hour flipping through the book, which was so thoughtful. As she went through each chapter, she pointed out things she noticed and shared advice for when I’m doing press. She told me to choose three recipes I’d like to talk about, along with the stories behind them, and to make sure they’re dishes with really vibrant photos since media often picks images to run alongside the recipe. It was such smart advice and not something I had considered. She also reminded me that every stop on a book tour will feel different, so I should try to stay present and enjoy it all.
Once we finished chatting, we started cooking. We made my mom’s chicken potstickers, one of our signature dishes. Giada said folding the dumplings almost felt like making Asian tortellini. Since she has lots of experience with stuffed pastas, her instincts were perfect and she picked up the folding technique right away. The potstickers turned out great, and everyone loved them so much they kept going back for more. It’s such a delicious recipe and I can’t wait for you to try it.
Giada also loved that I included illustrated guides and QR codes for video tutorials whenever a technique is a bit more involved, like folding dumplings. I was so glad those details spoke to her, especially since I grew up watching her on TV and have always admired her. She’s so kind, genuine, and talented, and having her as a mentor figure means the world to me.
The next night, Doug and I had two friends over and I made a meal inspired by the Dumpling Party menu from my cookbook.
I always like to put out a little something when guests arrive, just to give them a snack while I finish cooking. We started with honey-soy glazed edamame, which is packed with bold sweet and savory flavors.
Then I made fried wontons, a twist on the boiled version in my book. It’s something my family has made for years, especially around the holidays. You heat about three inches of peanut oil in a large pot until it reaches 350ºF on an instant-read thermometer, then add the wontons and fry until golden. I like to serve them with sweet and sour sauce and a little S&B hot mustard.
For a veggie side, I made an Asian watermelon radish slaw. I sliced the radish into thin strips and tossed it with shredded cabbage, avocado, cilantro, scallions, and an Asian-style dressing. I finished it with a sprinkle of furikake that I brought back from Japan. Here’s the recipe:
Watermelon Radish Slaw
Ingredients:
Dressing
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Salad
1 large watermelon radish (or sub daikon radish), thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
2 cups napa cabbage, thinly sliced
2 scallions, sliced
⅓ cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro
1 avocado, sliced
Furikake, for finishing
Instructions:
Make the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the sesame oil, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, garlic powder, and pepper until the sugar dissolves.
Make the salad: To a medium bowl, add the watermelon radish, cabbage, scallions, cilantro, and avocado.
Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss gently to coat, adding all the dressing or to taste.
Sprinkle with a generous amount of furikake and enjoy!
Total time: 10 minutes
Serves 4 as a side dish
As a main course, I served the potstickers (I had leftover dough from the day before with Giada) along with my mom’s Benihana chicken fried rice.
For dessert, I brought out two brownies from Erewhon and cut each one in half, so everyone got a half brownie with a scoop of Häagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream. I drizzled some high-quality olive oil on top and sprinkled with a pinch of flaky sea salt.
Sometimes when I host, I can get a little stressed and turn it into a big production, prepping for days. But this dinner party ended up feeling easy and relaxed. Excited to do it again soon with another menu pairing from the book.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend and hoping you’re staying warm!
Love,
Maxine
I can’t wait for your cookbook! I’ve probably already commented somewhere and said that—but I can’t wait!!