Beginnings

Blogging always seems like a good idea when you start doing it. Yet. eventually the reality of having to keep it up hits and then it becomes a sort of chore, like having a job. For those of you who actually have real jobs that probably doesn’t seem like a big deal. But for me, who left the daily grind by the wayside a while back, it’s a little more than I bargained for.

Still I do enjoy sharing something when there is something to share. It’s now January, a time for new beginnings. We just got past the ultimate new beginning, New Years Day. Habit, or ingrained work ethic makes me want to start something new and satisfying. The great thing about new recipes is that you not only get a new challenge, but also something to eat! Win Win.

This is not actually my recipe. Steve spotted it first and mentioned it as something he wanted to do. Well, if he wants to cook, who am I to stop him? A new type of recipe usually means that I will participate in some way, even if it is only shopping, making suggestions, or hanging around the kitchen with a glass of wine while he cooks.

So it’s January, cool weather even in California, and soup seems appropriate. Cioppino is a fish stew which Wikipedia says originated in San Francisco. Usually made with catch of the day which can include any number and types of fish like crab, shrimp, mussels, squid and fish. It is related to fish stews from countries like Italy and Portugal and, I suspect from practically any fishing area locale. The local name comes from “to chop” as in chopping up various leftover of the days catch. In any case Steve spotted the recipe in the LA Times and the article about it claimed it was easy, calling it “no work” cioppino which helped sell it. It apparently is a dish from a restaurant in San Luis Obispo.

With the holidays over we are settling back into normal routines, which we dearly love. That includes cooking and eating a little different than we do over the holidays. Lighter, hopefully because we are acutely aware of all that holiday overeating because of being faced with so many choices.

Steve made this last Saturday for us and we invited his mom and sister to enjoy the food. I added a small salad comprised mainly of Point Reyes blue cheese, a few greens dressed in a light vinaigrette and with some slices of pear. We served the cioppino with a hearty bread to help mop up the sauce. We all voted a thumbs up on the recipe- It was wonderful! Delicious flavors, satisfying and beautiful.

My impression was that the most tiresome part of prep was the cutting up of the vegetable and herbs. We believe that you can prepare the sauce a day or two ahead and keep in the refrigerator and then heat up when ready to add the fish and use. The fish don’t take long to cook so it really can be a last minute preparation as far as that part goes.


Ciopinot's 'no work' cioppino

Servings: 4
Note: Adapted from Ciopinot in San Luis Obispo.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1/2 pound (about 1½) leeks, ends trimmed, halved lengthwise and sliced diagonally ½-inch thick
1 small clove garlic, pressed or minced
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 dried bay leaf
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads
1 1/2 cups peeled and diced tomatoes, cut into ¾-inch dice
8 ounces tomato sauce
1 cup dry white or red wine
1/2 to 1 cup clam juice
Salt
Hot sauce
4 to 6 ounces large shrimp (16 to 20 count per pound), shelled and deveined
1/2 pound large scallops
6 ounces firm, light-flesh fish steaks (such as swordfish), cut into 1½-inch pieces
2 tablespoons cold butter, chopped
Freshly chopped basil and oregano, for garnish

1. In a medium, heavy-bottom pot heated over medium-high heat, add the oil, then stir in the onions, leeks, garlic, parsley, bay leaf, oregano, thyme, pepper and saffron. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is translucent and the herbs are fragrant, 6 to 8 minutes.
2. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato sauce and wine. Cover and simmer gently to develop the flavors, 30 to 45 minutes. Thin if desired with 1/2 cup to 1 cup clam juice. Season with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 tablespoon hot sauce, or to taste. The cioppino base can be made ahead of time to this point; remove from heat, cover and refrigerate up to one day (reheat before continuing).
3. To the pot, add the shrimp, scallops and fish. Cover and simmer gently just until the fish and shellfish are firm and opaque, about 10 minutes. Uncover the pot and remove from heat. Stir in the chopped cold butter, stirring just until the butter melts to add a little richness to the broth. This makes about 5 cups cioppino. Ladle the cioppino into wide bowls, garnishing each serving with freshly chopped basil and oregano. Serve immediately.


Happy 2012! Bon Apetit

LET US EAT PIE

As much as I like my routines and the familiar, every so often I feel a need to challenge myself. In life, this can be taking on a new responsibility like a new volunteer gig; or as simple as working to see something from another person’s point of view that is totally different than mine.

With food it means trying a recipe different than what I normally would try. Recently I had the fortunate situation of receiving some WONDERFUL homegrown tomatoes from friend Sandy grown by her husband Dan. I also had some delicious sharp cheddar cheese I had left over from a recent dinner. Then one day I was in the library looking through their cooking magazines and came upon a recipe for a tomato and cheddar pie in Bon Appétit. Well, it was fate I thought. I must make this pie! It didn’t hurt that the picture they had looked amazing, and decadent Those food photographers are real pros at that. I figured that if the one I made looked and tasted anywhere near as good I would love it, and also knew Steve would love it. Fresh tomatoes, melted cheese and pastry; what’s not to like?

I bought the ingredients and mentioned to Steve that I was thinking of making this for our Sunday dinner. Sunday dinner typically might consist of pizza or bowl salads so this was a bit more but still in the spirit I thought. He thought we might invite Larry over since I was making something that should be appreciated by more than just us. Larry is a lovely guest; he’s like Mikey of the old commercials, he will eat anything. This is a good quality as we don’t have to dance around special diets or sensitivities. I am all for accommodating peoples’ tastes but sometimes it’s nice to be able to treat a guest like a family member. It makes for a comfortable experience for whoever is cooking to just make what we would normally for ourselves. Maybe it’s equally easy for him as well. We don’t make him do the dishes or anything like that. The price of admission is usually just a bottle of wine.

Well, I made the pie and impressed everyone. I say everyone because I include myself in there. It turned out as good as I had hoped. And it looked beautiful. I am used to making galettes which have a different type of pastry dough. This one is, as mentioned in the article about it in the magazine, more of a biscuit-y type of dough. Both good in their own way and it was nice to have had the experience of making this new version. Not sure what other ways it could be used but I will have to try. I had to take a picture so I could include it in this writing. To go with this I made a light-tasting corn salad inspired by all the great corn that is currently available at the farmers market. I served that under a lump crab cake purchased from my local Bristol Farms store. Yum, just thinking about it makes me hungry.


Tomato and Cheddar Pie

Ingredients

Crust
• 2cupsall-purpose flour
• 1 1/2teaspoonsbaking powder
• 1/2teaspoonbaking soda
• 1/2teaspoonkosher salt
• 6tablespoons(3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes
• 1cupbuttermilk

Filling
• 2poundslarge ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into 1/4" slices
• 2 1/2cupscoarsely grated extra-sharp cheddar (8-9 ounces)
• 1/4cupfinely grated Parmesan (1/2 ounce)
• 1scallion, trimmed, chopped
• 1/2cupmayonnaise (I substituted dijonaise)
• 2tablespoonschopped fresh dill
• 1tablespoonapple cider vinegar
• 2teaspoonssugar
• 3/4teaspoonkosher salt
• 1/2teaspoonfreshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2tablespoonscornmeal
• Special Equipment
Use a 9"-diameter glass or ceramic pie dish

Preparation
Crust
• Whisk first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl. Using your fingertips, rub in butter until coarse meal forms and some small lumps remain. Stir in buttermilk and knead gently with your hands until dough forms. Wrap dough in plastic and chill for 1 hour.
Filling
• Lay tomatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with 2 layers of paper towels. Place another 2 layers of paper towels on top of tomatoes. Let stand for 30 minutes to drain.
• Preheat oven to 425°. Roll out dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap to an 11" round. Remove top layer of plastic wrap. Invert dough onto pie dish. Carefully peel off plastic wrap.
• Toss both cheeses in a medium bowl until evenly incorporated. Reserve 1/4 cup of cheese mixture. Whisk scallion, mayonnaise, dill, vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.
• Sprinkle cornmeal evenly over bottom of crust, then top with 1/2 cup cheese mixture. Arrange 1/3 of tomatoes over cheese, overlapping as needed. Spread half of mayonnaise mixture (about 1/3 cup) over. Repeat layering with 1 cup of cheese mixture, 1/2 of remaining tomato slices, and remaining mayonnaise mixture. Sprinkle remaining 1 cup cheese mixture over, then remaining tomato slices. Sprinkle with reserved 1/4 cup cheese mixture. Fold overhanging crust up and over edges of tomato slices.
• Bake pie until crust is golden and cheese is golden brown, 35-40 minutes (check crust halfway and tent with foil if it's getting too dark). Let pie cool at least 1 hour and up to 3 hours before slicing and serving.

Bon Appetit!!

In Praise of the Ordinary

I found this recipe somewhere recently and it called out to me since I had been seeing carrots at many of the stands at the Farmers Market recently. When I see that with any fruit or veg it indicates to me that they are in prime season. I have to admit carrots are not a particularly interesting vegetable, at least to me. They don't have the exotic quality of say, artichokes. I know celebrity Chefs are always coming up with out-of-the-ordinary items fixed in interesting ways - Cardoons come to mind. Not every new thing is successful since many of us would agree with Fran Leibowitz that "if someone has not thought to put together those items before perhaps there's a reason". With carrots I suppose their familiarity is what appealed. Well, that plus their bright color. We all know what a carrot is, even or especially children. This Spring I seem to be on a roll, using carrots far more than I remember ever doing in the past.

This would have been a great dish to take a picture of for all to see. But alas, I made it last week and did not take a picture. I almost didn't write about it but was going to send the recipe to daughter Bonnie because it was so simple and good and vegetarian. I had already sent the recipe to friend Maureen since she had heard me talking about it and asked for the recipe. Then I thought, why not write about it? Lots of people would like a dish that's simple and good and vegetarian.

Nothing is ever as simple as we think, I suppose. Through this recipe. I was exposed to some new things. I discovered that buying good fresh carrots like you get out of the farmers market or perhaps your own garden, does make a difference. Until I started cutting up these carrots which I made a point of buying fresh from the farmers market, I had not seen how moist carrots can be. All the ones I remember seem pretty dry by comparison.

And there were other discoveries. As I stood at the counter matchsticking all those carrots,a tedious task, I wondered why there wasn't an available tool for easy "matchsticking/julienne" of vegetables like this. Well there is! Afterwards, I visited two kitchen gadget stores in my area and found the tool, which I haven't bought yet. I have to figure out how often I do julienne vegs (not often). I do have another recipe where I matchstick carrots, zuccinis and summer squash but it hasn't seemed quite as laborious as just carrots. I don't know that it's important to have a special gadget for just that. One thing leads to another. Life becomes more complicated all because of a simple vegetarian recipe.

But getting past all that, it is a good recipe. I added a parsnip to the mix since I like the flavor and texture of parsnips and they are the same shape as carrots. I only added one because I was aware that the bright color of the carrots was an important factor for the dish and I did not want to overshadow that. The parsnips tasted great and next time I will add two! The fresh tarragon that's called for was wonderful and distinctive on this too.

Maybe next time I will remember to take a picture.


Braised spring carrots & Leeks with tarragon

(Serve this sweet springtime dish as a starter or side dish, or as part of a vegetarian main dish with grains or pasta)

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 pound leeks halved lengthwise, cleaned and sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 pound carrots, peeled, halved or quartered lengthwise if thick, then cut in 2-inch lengths (matchstick)

1/2 cup water

Salt to taste

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

3 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon

1. Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan or lidded skillet over medium heat. Add the leeks and a generous pinch of salt. Cook gently until just about tender, about three minutes. Do not allow the leeks to color. Add the garlic, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds to a minute. Add the carrots, water(I used chicken broth) and salt to taste, and bring to a simmer.

Cover and simmer 10 to 15 minutes until the carrots are tender when pierced with a knife. Stir in the lemon juice and tarragon. Taste and adjust salt. Transfer to a platter if desired, making sure to scrape out the tasty residue from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon or spatula. Serve hot, or allow to cool and serve at room temperature. If serving at room temperature, sprinkle with additional fresh tarragon just before serving.

Yield: Serves four.

Advance preparation: You can make this a day ahead without the pasta or grains and reheat gently. Then add to your selected starch. Add more tarragon before serving.

I put this on 1/2 lb of linguine. I imagine that fettucini or penne would be just as good but used linguine because Steve likes linguine.

Doldrums A period of stagnation or slump. A period of depression or unhappy listlessness So says the dictionary.

This time of year seems to have this atmosphere. Although I am aware that in some parts of the country January, February and March have more exciting weather than we do. In southern California mostly it is pretty blah. When we have what I call “real weather” it is not a good thing. Right now the calendar says it’s Spring. Really. officially a couple of days ago.

As relates to food, these months are also pretty uninteresting. I don’t have to try to impress anyone as chefs in restaurants do, but I do try to cook with what’s in season. Perhaps impressing myself is inspiration enough and I do become more inspired by seasonal produce. In midsummer when I walk through the farmer’s market and see stacks of ripe tomatoes I can’t help wanting to do something like a tomato tart or confit or as my friend Alice says,, just have big slices of ripe tomato on bread with mayonnaise. And then there are figs to have with good cheese, and fresh peas, asparagus…well, I could go on and on. But this time of year, particular creativity is called for.

Soup is always good now but not as interesting to me as other types of dishes like pastas or savory galettes. Luckily recently I did come upon a recipe that did not require any of the lovely produce of summer. What it did have is one of the more basic root vegetables that I could think of – carrots! I do like carrots but tend to think of them as a boring vegetable. We all have had carrots in our childhoods, usually limply overcooked. Yes, Bugs Bunny carried around a carrot which made you think it was special in some way. But the ubiquitousness made it, conversely, not stand out somehow. However, a recent issue of Eating Well tells us that carrots are good for memory, having something called luteolin which they explain is a flavonoid believed to reduce inflammation that can lead to cognitive decline. In these days that we are all trying to be aware of nutritional elements in our food, that would seem to be a plus.

Anyhow I found this recipe somewhere and thought Aha! Something different to do with carrots which are readily available year round and cheap as well as being colorful and good tasting.As for creativity, I think next time I will substitute another of my favorite root vegetables - parsnips - for a portion of the carrots. Could be interesting.
So I tried the recipe as it is, and it was easy and tasted good. What else can we ask for in a dish. Oh yes, Steve liked it too. That’s another thing I ask for. It's very colorful as you might expect with orange carrots.

Pasta with carrots- risotto style
>8 cups Chicken Stock
5 tbsp. butter
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped
1 lb. gemelli or fusilli (uncooked) *
10 medium carrots, peeled, trimmed, and diced
1⁄2 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Leaves from 4 sprigs parsley, chopped

1. Bring stock to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to low to keep stock hot.
2. Melt 4 tbsp. of the butter in a medium heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until they begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Add carrots, stir in until coated and then add,uncooked pasta and and cook, stirring often, until pasta is lightly toasted, about 5 minutes.
3. Add 1 cup of the hot stock at a time to the pasta, stirring constantly; wait until almost all the stock has been absorbed before adding more. Continue cooking and adding stock (you may have some stock left over) until pasta is tender but firm to the bite, 10–15 minutes.
4. Remove pot from heat and stir in the remaining 1 tbsp. butter and the parmigiano. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to a warm serving dish and garnish with parsley. Serve with more freshly grated parmigiano, if you like.


* I took the opportunity to try some whole grain organic fusilli in this, trusting that the sauce could hold up to a hearty pasta of that sort. It did. With new awareness and availability of this type of “good for you product”, why not?

Greeting 2011 and Clearing Christmas

I have always loved the holidays. Thanksgiving is a lead-in for Christmas and lots of good food so what’s not to like? Christmas brings lots of things; festive décor, lighted houses and trees, cheery music and various sorts of traditions according to each person’s background. And, of course, food. We have lunches, dinners and other get-togethers specifically to touch base around the holiday. All involving special food. Many of us bake special things to give away as small, personal gifts. I know people (women) who attend cookie exchange parties – How fun is that?

Then there is the decorating the house for Christmas. This typically happens around Thanksgiving and everything stays up until New Year’s. I have to admit as much as I like Christmas, by the time this comes around I am generally ready to have it be done with. Over the years my decorating style has changed somewhat. I used to do a lot. Nowadays even though I still have the interest I have modified downward. Some of that comes from living in a smaller place than I have in the past. Space does not permit. Then there’s the getting older thing. And extreme decorating is most satisfying when you have young children to be in awe of it all. Steve does appreciate, but appreciate on an adult level. Not quite the same.

But at least I’m not like many people I know who move the tree out almost immediately after Christmas day. Too many messy needles on the floor, don’t you know. Or another friend who takes everything down a few days after Christmas so it’ll be clear when the cleaning lady comes. I can understand the inclination but I’m not that compulsive so far. I try to keep everything up until New Year ’s Day which has always signaled the official end to the season to me.

Now that a new year is here I can stop thinking about holiday food and concentrate more on the regular day-to-day stuff. This time of the year that consists of soups and stews and hearty pastas. Yum, yum, just thinking about the possibilities makes me hungry. Lasagna is always good, since having the oven on these cool evenings is a good thing. I don’t make lasagna as often as I could, for two of us it seems like a lot of trouble. And, doesn’t seem special enough for guests somehow. I will have to rethink that.

My inspiration for this writing is a recipe I spotted while browsing through magazines at Barnes & Noble recently. That’s another fun thing to do during these wintry days – visits to the bookstore and/or library. I always look through the cooking magazines even though many of them have recipes that are far too exotic for me. But, I like to look at the pictures.

So I was looking through a recent magazine and spotted a great looking pasta dish picture. As I read the recipe and saw how simple the ingredients and the preparation were, I determined that this would be my first recipe for 2011. It’s something I have heard of for years but never paid much attention to. Not a new trendy dish but one of the tried and true ones.and, after I trying it I am certain it is a “bread and butter” type of recipe. Not elaborate at all. Just sort of plain home food. That said, it is delicious and a worthy winter recipe. I made it with penne and think that next time I may try it with spaghetti. The eggplant cooks to a softness that becomes “saucey” and I think it will not overwhelm the spaghetti, which was my concern this initial time.

Pasta Alla Norma
Alla Norma after the composer Bellini's (born in Catania) Norma. This dish from Catania is usually made with Ricotta Salata cheese. The semi-hard salted ricotta gives it a distinctive flavor and should be available in specialty shops and some supermarkets. If need be, substitute pecorino for it, it will not be the same, but still delicious.

2 medium eggplants, cut into 2” cubes
1/2-cup olive oil (less if baking eggplant)
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 t fresh oregano leaves, chopped or 1/2 t dry oregano
5 or 6 leaves fresh basil, shredded
1/2 t red chili flakes, more to taste
2 lbs roma tomatoes, ripe, seeded and chopped or use 128 oz. canned Italian tomatoes
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup grated ricotta salata or pecorino
1 lb spaghetti or penne rigate
Sprinkle the eggplant with salt.
Place in colander and let stand for an hour or so. (If not bitter, omit, salting removes bitterness.)Place on paper towels to drain.
toss eggplant with olive oil, place on cookie sheet, bake in a pre-heated 450º F oven for 15-20 minutes or till nicely browned.

Heat 2 T olive oil in a pan.
Add onion and sauté till golden.
Add garlic and sauté for 1 or 2 minutes.
Add the tomato, fresh oregano, pepper flakes and basil.
Raise heat so sauce cooks at a fast bubble.
Cook about 10 to 15 minutes; do not allow sauce to dry out.
While tomato sauce cooks, bring water to a boil.
Cook pasta and drain when done.
Place in a bowl, pour tomato sauce and 1/4 cup cheese and mix.
Add eggplant and toss again.pass grated cheese at table
.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

TIS THE SEASON

It’s that time of year again. In November we give thanks for what we have. What we know. Part of that process is remembering to appreciate anew those that are present in our lives, and missing those that no longer are. Maybe we can be grateful for things too in addition to the people who add to our lives. An amazing sunset, a beautiful flower or piece of art or music can go a long way to helping to see how lovely life is. But since I retired and have the time to spend observing humanity I have to say that I just love the people! Oh not each individual and everything but the interesting and distinct personalities and thought processes. Wow! I am grateful for that!
But let’s face it; Thanksgiving is a holiday primarily about the food. A recent survey I saw stated that a large percentage of the respondents thought the side dishes were the best thing about the Thanksgiving meal. My reaction to that is “of course”. You can’t do that much with turkey. Okay, in recent years people have learned to grill, deep fry and stuff a turkey with duck and chicken (turducken?) Sounds fowl to me. So there is some added “creativity”, and I have heard people say they love the idea because it’s so unusual. Unusual is not always the best indicator of a good meal, I should think. In any case it’s usually still basically turkey and that is the preferred for the holiday.
What’s great about the sides is they do allow for a lot of variation. In this blog in past times I have featured a dish called root vegetable gratin. (Gastromusings ; Nov 22, 2008) It is wonderful tasting and everyone who has had it seems to love it. I love it because it not only utilizes vegetables that are currently in season and available, but also because they are vegetables that I normally don’t use that much. And I do love the different taste. So it’s a food holiday, really. One more reason to give thanks I suppose. That simplifies the whole process.
Speaking of simplification, desserts are pretty basic too. Regardless of how many types of ideas Gourmet, Bon Appétit, and Martha Stewart offer, the reality is most people prefer pie. And of that, pumpkin is the clear winner, backed up by other reliable favorites like pecan and apple pie. We always opt for pumpkin, since like so many foods associated with this holiday, it seems like this is the only time of year we have it. We and our dinner companions depend on certain things being the same year to year. It’s the tradition of course.
Here’s a mystery; why do we only eat those things on the holidays? Turkey, dressing, pumpkin pie are all available and good tasting all year round. I get it that when you rarely have something it makes it more special, but still, why not have dressing in say, June?
This year daughter Bonnie was prevailed upon to make her Harvest Pie. She made this pie for us some years ago before her life in the Bay area took her over and we have never forgotten how good it tasted. It qualifies as a fairly traditional dessert for the holiday, having apples, walnuts (or pecans) and cranberries, among other good things. Presumably I could have obtained the recipe and made it myself but I think it belongs to her and will only be good since she makes it.And, it definitely was!

Bonnie’s Harvest Pie
Serves 8
Pie crust for a 9” pie, unbaked.
For Filling
¾ cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch salt
2 lbs green apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼” wedges
2 cups fresh cranberries
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
For Topping
½ cup(1 stick) butter
¾ cup brown sugar
2 tbsp evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350
Mix first 9 ingredients in large bowl to blend
Add apples, cranberries, lemon juice and toss until well blended
Pour into pie crust, mounding in center
Bake, approx 1 1’2 hours until apples are tender, then cover with
Foil and bake 15 minutes more
Place on rack uncovered to cool.
Topping
Melt butter with sugar and milk in a heavy medium skillet over low heat,
Stirring frequently. Increase heat to simmer, mix in vanilla,
Then walnuts. Remove from heat and Pour into a bowl and let stand 10 minutes
Until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally, about another 10 minutes.
Spoon over pie, covering completely. Let stand until topping sets approx 30 minutes
Can be prepared up to 6 hours ahead. Store at room temperature


Christmas Cake

In December the eating continues. We are in agreement that it is a lovely time to get together with friends and family and almost always over a meal, formal or informal. There’s lots of food, and a lot of it is special stuff that we don’t always have so is hard to resist. This is a time to get into the spirit and just enjoy what comes, so I try to-do just that. I will get healthy again in January, I vow.
It is my tradition at Christmastime to make a small cake/bread to give to family and friends. I usually agonize over the idea that I should try something new and start looking at appealing recipes around September. Invariably I give up in confusion around this time and end up making the same thing –wine cake. It’s not for lack of desire to branch out and it’s not because I can’t find any new and interesting recipes. I can’t give out something I haven’t tried and really, the holidays seem to be the worst possible time to try new stuff. One of the reasons is that we are already eating a lot! So adding to that seems undesirable. Then there’s the time crunch. By the time I come to the point that I must get to baking somehow it has gone from early Fall to mid-December!
Even when you’re not employed and don’t have small children somehow the days get eaten up and run out quickly. So it is an act of supreme will to try to bake something that may or may not be acceptable to give as a gift. However, this year I did that. I found a recipe that piqued my curiosity enough since it is so different. I just had to try it! It is Olive Oil Cake and since it sounded so tempting and so different I gave it a try. I baked five min-loaves as my test.
I have to say it is interesting. Steve my in-house taster/tester was not enthusiastic. I, however, liked it. It’s not real sweet and has a nice texture, and as mentioned, is quite different. So the question is does “different” translate into good enough to gift? We decided yes for the ones that were already baked. So a few of the regular recipients will receive those, and the rest will get my traditional Wine Cake. Oh well.

Olive Oil Cake
Ingredients:
For cake:

3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 ½ cups whole milk
1 cup good‐quality extra‐virgin olive oil
¼ cup limoncello
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
1 ½ cups all‐purpose flour
½ cup coarse‐ground cornmeal
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
Powdered sugar, for garnish


Procedure:
For cake:
Heat the oven to 350°F and arrange a rack in middle. Coat a 9‐inch round cake pan with olive oil and flour; tap out the excess. Or use, as I did 5 min-loaf pans.
In a bowl of stand mixer, whisk together eggs and granulated sugar until well blended and light in color. Add milk, olive oil, limoncello, and lemon zest and mix well.
In another bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Switch mixer attachment to paddle and add dry ingredients, mixing until just blended (the batter will be slightly lumpy; do not overmix).
Pour batter into the prepared baking dish or pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with only a few crumbs, about 40 to 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
When the cake has cooled, run a knife around the perimeter of the pan and invert the cake onto a serving plate. Dust with powdered sugar.

The cake does benefit from a topping of fresh berries or a good jam spread.

Merry Christmas to all!