Weeknight Cook and a Cake

The fall issue of Cooking Club magazine, which features several recipes by yours truly in the "Weeknight Cook" column (on page 46), has arrived! It was a fantastic surprise to see that I share a by-line with cookbook author extraordinaire Marie Simmons. Marie has been a friend and mentor to me since my days as an intern at Copia, and I never dreamed I’d see my name next to hers in print. What an honor! My recipes are the Pork Cutlets with Black and Green Olive Sauce, Italian Sausage and White Bean Stew, Pasta with Smoky Angry Tomato Sauce, Veracruz Baked Fish Fillets, and Mini Chipotle Meat Loaves. They’re quick and easy yet tasty and satisfying, so I hope you'll give them a try. The pasta has especially become a favorite at my house, and we had it for dinner again last night.

And for dessert, here’s a summer recipe inspired by the stops on a recent trip to the Hood River Valley. Visit a lavender farm…

A u-pick peach orchard…

And this is what you get!

Peach-Lavender Cake
Printable Recipe

3 ounces (¾ stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan
5 ounces all-purpose flour
2 ounces almond meal
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon dried lavender flowers, ground
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 large egg, at room temperature
4 ½ ounces sour cream, at room temperature
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces sugar
3 ounces light brown sugar
3 large peaches, peeled, pitted, and diced

Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Butter a 9×3-inch round cheesecake pan, line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper, and butter the parchment. Whisk together the flour, almond meal, baking powder, baking soda, lavender, and salt. Whisk together the egg, sour cream, and vanilla.

In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter, sugar, and brown sugar on high for 3 to 4 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg mixture until thoroughly combined. Add the flour mixture and mix on low until just combined, stopping the mixer once or twice to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Do not overmix. Transfer to the cake pan and spread evenly. Spread the peaches evenly over the batter, pressing them in slightly. Bake for about 1 hour and 25 minutes, or until the edges of the cake start to shrink away from the pan and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for about 15 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and finish cooling completely. Cut into portions and serve.

Makes 1 9-inch cake, serving 8. Use a springform pan if you don't have a cheesecake pan. If the diced peaches exude any appreciable amount of juice, drain it off and whisk it into the egg mixture. Also try cinnamon, nutmeg, or tonka bean instead of lavender.

Holding on to Summertime

It's funny to think that today's the last day of summer because I'm not sure we really even had a summer here in the Pacific Northwest. It's like we went from spring straight into fall this year. We only broke out the sunscreen a small handful of times, the figs on our tree are still rock hard, and the leaves are already threatening to turn. This blink-and-you'll-miss-it summer has left many of us feeling shortchanged. Luckily for those of us in denial that the season for basking in the sun is over, the markets are still loaded with summer stone fruit like peaches and nectarines. So here are some sunny Nectarine Shortcakes to help us hang on to summertime for a few moments longer. Enjoy!


On another note, my book Seared to Perfection: The Simple Art of Sealing in Flavor officially comes out next month, and I just received my copy last Friday. It was an amazing feeling to hold the finished book in my hands for the very first time. I almost passed out from pride. With an irresistible-looking steak on the cover and fiery red and orange print within, the book looks fantastic, even if I do say so myself. I had quite a moment when I put my own book on my own bookshelf, with the rest of my cookbook collection. And I had another moment when I signed a copy (with I pen I bought especially for the purpose) for the first time. (In case you're wondering, it was for my husband, the Official Taster and Recipe Testing Timekeeper.) By the way, you can get your hands on a copy right away because Amazon is already shipping.

Seared to Perfection is mentioned in Publishers Weekly's Fall Cookbooks, By the Trends under More Meat, Please (love it!) and earned a notable mention in the single subject category in The Eater Fall 2010 Cookbook and Food Book Preview on Eater National.

Nectarine Shortcakes
Printable Recipe

For the shortcakes:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
3 ounces (¾ stick) cold unsalted butter, shredded
1 large egg
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon heavy cream
2 teaspoons Turbinado sugar

For the sugared nectarines:
8 nectarines, peeled, pitted, and cut into eighths
¼ cup sugar

For the whipped cream:
1 cup heavy cream
¼ cup powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Make the shortcakes:
Preheat the oven to 425˚F. Whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter and, using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Blend together the egg and ½ cup of the cream in a small bowl, add to the flour mixture, and stir until just combined. Transfer to a work surface and knead a few times until the dough just holds together. Pat the dough into a 6-inch wide, 1 ½-inch thick circle and cut into 8 wedges. Arrange the shortcakes a couple of inches apart on a parchment-lined baking tray. Lightly brush the shortcakes with the remaining 1 tablespoon of cream and sprinkle with the Turbinado sugar. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.

Make the sugared nectarines:
Toss together the nectarines and sugar in a medium bowl and let macerate, stirring occasionally, for 15 to 20 minutes, or until soft and juicy.

Make the whipped cream:
Whip the cream to medium peaks. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and continue to whip to stiff peaks.

Assemble the shortcakes:
Split the shortcakes in half horizontally and arrange the bottom of each one split side up on an individual plate. Divide the sugared nectarines and then the whipped cream among them. Replace the top half of each shortcake and serve immediately.

Serves 8. Here's my secret to the most irresistible shortcakes ever: I use my scone recipe instead of a bland biscuit, and I don't skimp on the fruit and whipped cream. Work quickly and with a light touch to prevent the butter in the pastry from melting. If you can get your hands on it, use Tahitian vanilla, which has a uniquely floral character, for the whipped cream. Peaches may be substituted for the nectarines. If you enjoy this recipe, try my Strawberry Shortcakes.

Prescription for a Perfect Summer Day

Sleep in late. A visit to the farm is the thing to do, just don't forget the sunscreen. Stroll through the rows of blueberry bushes, sampling as you go.


Perhaps have a leisurely picnic lunch.


Watch the chickens scratch.


If you approach slowly, they may not scatter.


Relish the sweetness of the berries, warmed by the sun. For every raspberry that goes into your basket, one goes into your mouth. Find the biggest tree and lounge in the shade.


Follow the snake of trained blackberry vines.


You will be rewarded with the first ripe blackberry.


Then cool down with homemade frozen yogurt.


Hurray for summer.

Nectarine-Raspberry Swirl Frozen Yogurt
Printable Recipe

3 nectarines, pitted and quartered
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 cups plain yogurt
4 ounces raspberries
1 ½ teaspoons Chambord
½ teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Combine the nectarines, ¼ cup of the sugar, and 2 tablespoons water in a small pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, or until tender. Puree in a food mill using a fine disc. Let cool to room temperature and stir in the yogurt. Chill over an ice bath until ice-cold.

Meanwhile, puree the raspberries in a food mill using the finest disc. If the puree has seeds, strain it through a fine mesh sieve to remove them. Stir in the Chambord, lemon juice, and remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar. Chill over an ice bath until ice-cold.

Transfer the nectarine mixture to an ice cream maker and churn until frozen. With the motor running, add the raspberry mixture in a thin stream. Serve immediately or transfer to a container and freeze.

Makes 1 generous quart. A refreshing and fairly guilt-free treat. Peaches may be substituted for the nectarines, and blackberries may be substituted for the raspberries. If your ice cream maker doesn't have an opening for adding mix-ins, transfer 1/3 of the nectarine frozen yogurt to a container, drizzle with ½ of the raspberry swirl mixture, and repeat layering with the remaining frozen yogurt and raspberry swirl. For the best texture, enjoy as soon as possible after churning. This frozen yogurt will harden in the freezer; soften it by tempering it in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes before scooping.

Peeling Tomatoes, Stone Fruit & More

Have you ever noticed that, while the flesh of tomatoes and stone fruit will soften, the skin seems to remain intact no matter how long it cooks? And that the leathery bits of skin can just about ruin whatever dish they’re in? Tomato sauce or peach pie with scraps of tough peel—yuck. But how do you peel tomatoes or stone fruit without ending up with bruised fruit and a big juicy mess? Knives and vegetable peelers are no help here.

Well, do you remember Blanch? It’s been a while since I introduced you. Blanching is the answer! Blanching fruits such as tomatoes, peaches, nectarines, plums, and apricots will loosen their skins and make peeling a breeze.

To peel tomatoes or stone fruit, bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. The larger the pot and the more water, the faster the water will return to a boil after the fruit is added, and the faster the skin will release. And the faster the skin releases, the more appealing the appearance, texture, and flavor of the fruit will be. Keep in mind that the goal is to loosen the skin but not cook the fruit. Add plenty of salt, enough to make the water taste slightly briny. Using a paring knife, cut a small X in the bottom of the fruit.


Add the fruit to the pot of boiling water and boil for 20 to 30 seconds.


The skin of the fruit will usually start to crack. Using a slotted spoon or wire skimmer, quickly transfer the fruit to a bowl of ice-cold water to stop the cooking process, this is known as shocking.


Once the fruit is cool, drain it thoroughly. Use the paring knife to remove the peel, starting at the X.


The skin will slip right off.


This technique can also be used to peel pearl onions, fava beans, and almonds, but it’s not necessary to score them with an X first. Blanch them for about a minute, then shock them in ice water. Use a paring knife to cut off the root end of pearl onions. Break open fava bean skins with your thumbnail. Then squeeze each pearl onion, fava bean, or almond between your thumb and forefinger, and it will pop right out of its skin.

If you’re peeling a large quantity of one of these foods, blanch it in batches.

So Surprised

It had been a while since I’d been to the Vancouver Farmers Market. It was never my favorite market. But I decided to give it another chance since I was feeling too lazy to drive all the way into Portland, and I’m glad I did. I was so surprised by how it has grown!

My usual approach to farmers market shopping is to do two laps. I walk through the market once to take it all in and see what looks good, and then I do a second round, this time to actually do the buying. The Vancouver market took three passes.

That’s because everything looked so good, I just couldn’t decide. The variety of ethnic snacks was unbelievable. There were Greek, Asian, and German food stands. The gumbo was tempting.


My husband cast his vote for the tamale stand.


The aroma of the paella almost lured me in.


But I just had to go with the Uzbek food, since I happen to be from Uzbekistan.

It was the ambiguous sign that first aroused my curiosity.


But I didn’t really count on anything interesting as I wandered toward it. I most certainly didn’t expect an authentic array of the foods that I had grown up eating. I just couldn’t believe my eyes! The Vancouver Farmers Market has a vendor (Pavel & Family, 360-253-6827) specializing in Uzbek food!

I’m not sure I can really convey in words how unusual this is. I was in complete disbelief, stunned, shocked, so surprised. It’s just that most people would be hard pressed to locate Uzbekistan on a world map, let alone spend some hard earned cash to try the food. I mean, when I tell people I was born is Uzbekistan, they just look at me quizzically. They almost always respond, “Pakistan?” I explain that Uzebkistan’s a country in Central Asia. So they try again, “Afghanistan?” Needless to say, the only place other than Uzbekistan I’ve ever seen Uzbek food is at home.

But I digress. The Uzbek food looked good. Shashlik, skewers of marinated beef and pork, were sizzling on a grill.


I was told that the father of the family of cooks was a welder and made it himself. They had an enormous authentic kettle, called a katol, full of plov, a lamb and rice pilaf.


They proudly explained that they had ordered the katol directly from Uzbekistan and that the shipping had cost $1,500 (ironically, the pot itself was only about $40). They even had an authentic babushka, lending credibility to the entire operation.


I ordered the combination plate, with shashlik, plov, and salad.


A tasty and satisfying lunch for about $7.

With a belly full of comfort food, I was finally ready to do my shopping. I bought some okra, tomatoes, and corn. Then the stone fruit caught my eye.


I’ve had donut and Saturn peaches before but never flat nectarines.


So I had to get some just for the novelty factor.

And then the huckleberries called to me.


The friendly vendor had just picked the wild berries himself at Trout Lake on Mount Adams. They were rare perfection, with jewel-like shiny skin, an intoxicating fragrance, an even more intense flavor, and also a very steep price of $4.50. I bought just one half-pint. On the way home, I agonized over what to do with the huckleberries, would they be destined for fresh eating or a pastry transformation? Concluding that a special treasure deserves a special treatment, I tossed them with a single tablespoon of sugar, divided them between two ramekins, topped them with rolled-out scraps of Pâte Sucrée Tart Crust from the freezer, and baked them into cobblers as soon as I got home.


A dollop of vanilla whipped cream, and my tongue was blissfully happy. What in the world was I thinking when I bought just one half-pint? Now I find myself in the preliminary stages of planning a huckleberry picking expedition. I think I have a new favorite berry, at least for the rest of huckleberry season.

And did I mention, I also have a new favorite farmers market?

Too Much

Now I have so much fruit I don’t know if we can eat it fast enough. So I’ve been dreaming up some yummy ways to make it keep. Like freezing it.


Peaches & Cream Popsicles
Printable Recipe

4 large peaches, peeled, pitted, and diced
½ cup crème fraîche
¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Divide among 12 popsicle molds and insert handles. Freeze overnight, or until solid.

To unmold, run warm water over the mold for a few seconds and pop the popsicles out. Serve right away.

Makes 12 popsicles. Use juice cups and popsicle sticks if you don’t have popsicle molds. Also delicious with strawberries instead of peaches.

Fresno

We just got back from visiting my mother-in-law in Fresno, California. It was no accident we planned our trip for July. July is stone fruit season in Fresno.

Of course, I wanted to go to a u-pick orchard. I thought it would be easy to find one. There are so many u-pick options in Oregon, but I guess Fresno’s not the same. Or maybe we just didn’t know where to look. I searched the internet while my mother-in-law phoned her friends and family for leads. They sent us to visit the jam lady in Reedley, about half an hour south of Fresno. “Turn right past the river and go to the house at the top of the hill,” they said. At least it was something to go on.

It was the last day of our trip. After a beautiful drive through citrus and stone fruit orchards, we found the jam lady at the Top of the Hill Farm. She invited us in, it was like she was expecting us. The old farm house was cluttered with antique cookware and jars of jam in all of the colors of the rainbow. The jam lady offered to take us to see the pomegranate jelly being made. A private tour! I love to see where and how my food is made, but I usually have to tell my husband to create a distraction while I sneak into the kitchen.

I tasted every flavor of her jam until my teeth hurt. I picked out the Santa Rosa Plum Jam, Yellow Peach Jam, Three Berry Jam, Apricot Jam, Pomegranate Jelly, and Meyer Lemon Marmalade to take home with me.


(My belly was so full of jam, I almost skipped lunch. Almost, but not quite.)

Then I asked the jam lady where to go for u-pick fruit. She walked us right across her driveway and into her orchard.


One stop shopping, how convenient! Before I knew it we had an enormous box full of soft and juicy white peaches, nectarines, and plums.

My mother-in-law mentioned making a cobbler, and the thought stuck with me.


Stone Fruit Cobbler
Printable Recipe

2 large peaches, peeled, pitted, and cut into eighths
2 large nectarines, peeled, pitted, and cut into eighths
8 small plums, peeled, pitted, and quartered
¾ cup sugar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced, plus more for greasing the baking dish
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
¼ cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Combine the peaches, nectarines, plums, ¼ cup of the sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch, and vanilla in a large bowl and toss to coat. Butter an 11×7-inch baking dish. Transfer the fruit mixture to the baking dish.

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and remaining ½ cup of sugar in a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.


Add the cream and pulse until the dough just comes together.


Spread the crust mixture evenly over the fruit in the baking dish.


Bake for about 35 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbling around the edges. Let cool slightly and serve.

Makes enough for 6 or 8. Perfect with vanilla ice cream.