Easy Perfect Holiday Dessert

Ok...so last week I blogged about a certain pineapple upside-down cake debacle, and the recipe is from the above book by the brilliant Thomas Keller. The beauty of this recipe is that it is really simple and you can use any fruit in it. After making ten of these cakes with fig, I can assure you it works perfectly and makes for a really lovely seasonal dessert. Way easier than making a pie...way easier. So, here it is. The dessert you should make for your friends and family come Thursday. No thanks necessary! The only thing you need that you may not have, but should have anyway so it is a good excuse to buy one is a 9 inch silicone cake pan.



Fig Upside-Down Cake / Variation of Thomas Keller's Pinapple Upside-Down Cake

Ingredients:

For the pan shmear: (which you can make days before you bake the cake)

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick/4 ounces) unsalted butter at room temp
• 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 teaspoon dark rum
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla paste/vanilla extract
• kosher salt

• 6 Figs

For the cake batter

• 1 1/3cupscake flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick/4 ounces) unsalted butter at room temp
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoonvanilla paste/vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of milk

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, combine butter honey, rum, brown sugar, and vanilla and beat until smooth and well blended.
• Spread 1/3 cup of shmear over the bottom of the cake pan. (you will have leftover smear that you can freeze and use again for the next holiday feast day)
• Sprinkle the shmear with salt.
• Cut 4 figs in half and then place around the edge of the cake pan face down with the tops of the figs facing inwards.
  
• Cut 2 figs into quarters and place a quarter slice of fig at the top of each half slice, making a sort of flower in the center of the cake.
• Sift the flour and baking powder together and set aside.
• Put the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle and mix on low speed to combine, then beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes until light and creamy, scrapping down the sides as necessary.
• Beat in the milk. Add the flour mixture in 3 batches, beating until just combined.
• Pour the batter into the pan and spread over the figs. Bake for 15 minutes then rotate the pan for even browning and bake for anohter 20 to 25 minutes until a wooden skewer or knife comes out clean.
• Run a butter knife around the edges of the cake, put a plate over the top of it and flip it over onto the plate.
  

Ta Da! A delicious little cake perfect for any occasion. This is an easy cake to dry out by over baking, so I would check it early and if there is a few crumbs on the knife pull it out. Have a Great Thanksgiving Everyone! If you make this cake let me know how it worked out!

The Upside Down Debacle

In the past 2 weeks I have made 12 upside down cakes. This long yet entertaining odyssey began with Chef's longing for Thomas Keller's Pineapple Upside Down Cake recipe from his new cook book Ad Hoc, which by the way is fabulous and if you have anyone in your family who likes to cook get them this book for the holidays. It is full of recipes that are simple, beautiful and brilliant...I mean it is Thomas Keller, and I will always shamelessly promote his genius as a matter of patriotism.

The simple pineapple upside down cake is one of Chef's favorite cakes of all time. He decided he was going to make it himself one weekend, but then I told him that "I love to bake, I will make it for you babe." This little offering led to a much bigger baking extravaganza than I could have ever imagined.

I didn't get around to making the first cake until about 2 weeks later. It was remarkably easy and I was proud of my lovely little cake. Three mamas and lil' ones came over for a coffee play date and I served it up. Of the four of us women, three are pregnant and I had to put the brakes on because we would have devoured the whole thing, and Chef had not had a slice yet.

The mamas left and I went to put Lil' Bit down for a nap. I left the cake perched on my grandmother's crystal cake plate sitting dead center in the middle of our dining room table, with only one chair anywhere near it. When I returned 10 minutes later the cake was gone but for a trail of crumbs and our little mutt Pumpkin was scurrying out of the dining room. Never underestimate any dog with Jack Russel in their blood.

I felt terrible that Chef who had waited patiently for this cake would not have a bite to himself. That being said, I went ahead and made another one that day. This time it turned out even better than the last. I gave half of it to my grandmother and the other half Chef, Lil' Bit and I enjoyed together.

Five days later, Chef threw me a curve ball, and of course I took a swing. We were doing a special 4 course prix fixe at the restaurant this week in honor of Douglas Gayeton's new book Slow: Life in a Tuscan Town, and the dessert course was a fig upside down cake. I asked what I could do to help, because that is my nature. "You know what would really help...if you could make the fig cakes." I took the bait.

"Okay, I can make the cakes." Why? Why do I do it to myself?

This was on Sunday and the cakes had to be made by Wednesday. My mood over the following three days immediately soured. Chef kept asking "Are you aggravated with me?" And I would say "No, our daughter has unleashed her inner toddler and I am having a tough time with her." Which was true, but the reality is that I was wicked stressed out about the cakes. I have never baked ten cakes at once before, and given that they had to be fresh it really left no room for error given that the only time I could focus my hormone fogged brain well enough to follow the recipe was when Lil' Bit was asleep. Ugh.

Monday night I made the shmear which goes on the bottom of each cake. It is the yummy golden caramel like goo that the fruit bakes in at the bottom of the cake. Tuesday night, with all my ingredients laid out I began the great cake bake...hoping to do all ten before 10 pm. Fat chance.

I put the first five in the oven at around 9 pm, and prepared to start my second round of batter. 15 minutes later I smelled smoke. One of the cakes had bubbled over, maybe 2 tablespoons of batter was burning at the bottom of the oven. I opened the door and the smoke came billowing out. Knowing that it is a big no no to pull a cake out of the oven before it is done, I saw my 5 beautiful cakes and panicked. I frantically called Chef at work. He told me to pull them out, which I did but the batter in the oven kept burning. I slammed the oven door shut and locked the smoke it, but it was too late a haze had filled the house.

I threw open all the doors and windows and turned on the fans. I was terrified that the smoke alarms were going to go off and wake the baby. Chef came home and looked at the cakes. "I think we are going to have to throw them out." I gave him the death stare and responded, "No way. You are going to take those cakes to the restaurant right now and finish baking them and try to salvage them." There was no discussion. There was no way in hell I was going to let those cakes go down without a fight. He loaded them up and raced off to the restaurant.

As I watched the headlights pull out of the garage I heard Lil' Bit on the monitor. She was screaming. At this point I wanted to sit down and cry, but I put on my game face and when to her. I thought maybe the smoke had snaked its way upstairs and that she was choking and gasping for air, but she had just crapped her pants in her sleep. Poor thing. I changed her, sang her a lullaby and put her back down to sleep. Her room was smoke free.

Downstairs was terrible. The kitchen was a mess. There was no way to continue baking because Chef had made the executive decision to put the oven on the cleaning mode. This was one of those moments when I thanked God for dishwashers. I loaded everything imaginable into our machine and hit the start button. Then, I decided it was time for me to go to bed. Around 1 am Chef came into the bedroom and told me that the cakes were perfect and amazingly delicious.

The day of the event, Wednesday, I whipped out the last five fig cakes four hours before the dinner, and they too were wonderful. Our customers devoured them, and Chef told me our fellas in the kitchen said "Nan killed the cakes!" Code for...amazing job done. Whew.

Meatloaf Virginity Lost

I recently popped my meatloaf cherry. Yes, I now feel like I have entered the hall of true domesticates. I made my first meatloaf, and in some strange manner reminiscent of the Nuclear Age, as I pulled it out of the oven I felt as if some right of passage had taken place.

Being that this blog is about ecology, our relationship with the world around us, and food...meatloaf is a definite dish that has a reputation in the world. In its various mutations, meatloaf is a comfort food, a hearty meal that sits in the stomach and has blessed family dinners for thousands of years. Ground meat mixed with bread crumbs or stuffs has been utilized throughout history as a means to spread meat out in times of hardship, to utilize leftover meat rather than waste it, and to make less appetizing meat more edible. Meatballs, the mini meatloafs, have been around for ages.

While most ancient meatloaf recipes used already cooked meat, left overs, variations of mince, or what have you, thanks to the industrial revolution raw ground meat was made inexpensive and readily available in the 19th century for American culture. But it wasn't until the 20th century that meatloaf made its way into the cannon of American cookbooks, probably due to better refridergation, (ground meat is more perishable.)

My current pregnancy craving is ground meat...which admittedly is disgusting to confess, but there you have it. I made spaghetti and meat sauce one night and the next decided that meatloaf was in order. I chose an Ina Garten recipe because her recipes are fool proof, and have a certain elegant panache that I felt would some how make this humble dish a bit more interesting, without compromising its essence.

Meatloaf is a phrase that for some reason I find slightly unsettling. It just sounds slovenly in some way, and I don't think it is necessarily due to the stage name of a certain musician. As I took the five pound of ground meat into my hands to knead and shape into a loaf, I tried to stifle the gross feeling that filled my gut...because while a meatloaf may not be pretty to look at, by god it is delicious.

The recipe I chose used 5 lbs of ground turkey, which being 95% fat free made the loaf a little lighter in theory than its beef counterparts. But let me tell you, this massive wedge of steaming meat fresh out the oven is far from what would classify as a light meal, but the amazing thing is that this is a relatively healthy dish! I mean look at it...would you ever guess?

According to Chef, it was cooked to perfection. "And now you have a meat ball recipe too!" Two dishes with one bird...the possibilities are endless. I encourage everyone in these upcoming cold months to indulge in this timeless dish. It is pure satisfaction.

Good Life Recipe #14 / Turkey Meat Loaf / Ina Garten
Ingredients:

• 3 cups chopped yellow onions (2 large onions)
• 2 tablespoons of good olive oil
• 2 teaspoons of kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (1/2 teaspoon dried)
• 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 3/4 chicken stock
• 1 1/2 teaspoons tomato paste
• 5 lbs of turkey breast
• 1 1/2 cups plain dry bread crumbs
• 3 extra large eggs, beaten
• 3/4 ketchup

Directions

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees
• In a medium pan cook on medium-low heat, cook the onions, olive oil, salt pepper, and thyme until the onions are translucent but not browned, approx. 15 minutes
• Add the Worcestershire sauce, chicken stock, and tomato paste and mix well
• Cool to room temp.
• Combine the ground turkey, bread crumbs, eggs, and onion mixture in a large bowl. Mix well and shape into a rectangular loaf on an ungreased baking sheet.
  
• Spread ketchup evenly on top.
• Bake for 1 1/2 hours until the internal temp. is 160 degrees and the meat loaf is cooked through.
  

Ohhh Rats!

The other night I was on the phone with one of my best friends who had just had a baby. She was telling me her harrowing story of a home birth that resulted in an emergency C-section, and at one of the most climatic moments I heard a strange noise coming from our dining room. I went to check it out, flicked on the light and there I found Mazy, our persnickety tabby, crouched over a dead rat chewing off its head.

With Chef at work, I was on my own to deal with the situation. I interrupted my friend to tell her my shocking discovery and she said "Eww. Do you want me to let you go?" Without hesitation I replied, "No, I am going to just let her do her thing and deal with it later." With that I turned around, flipped off the light and left her to her gnaw. Granted, I could have shooed her away only to have to deal with the remains myself, but knowing Mazy I knew she would handle them herself in her own way.

Mazy and I have a long history of her bringing game into the house...birds, rats, moles, the whole gamut, and me having to deal with the aftermath. She is a well fed cat, and like many people, she hunts for sport and then indulges in her prize. She always chews the head off, leaves two organs which I think are the liver and stomach, and then takes the rest of the carcass back outside through the cat door.

When you live with a predator, there is little to be done about its natural instincts. You can't exactly punish a cat for being itself. Mazy is an indoor/outdoor animal and sometimes she forgets the distinctive difference between the those two worlds.

Sure enough, I returned to our dining room half an hour later and the rat and the cat were gone, and there were two organs laying on the sea grass rug. I picked them up and threw them out. I decided to wait until Chef got home before figuring out how to get the rat blood off the sea grass.

You can not scrub sea grass with soap and water the way you can other rugs. In fact, you can't even spill water on sea grass without having to clean it up by pouring starch on it and vacuuming the moisture out of it. I am all about natural fiber textiles, but do not recommend sea grass to anyone who has children or pets, or an f$%@&ing life for that matter.

About an hour later I heard Mazy vomiting in our living room. My first thought, You have to be kidding me. She puked up pink tinted bile, and at that point I lost it. I called her a disgusting animal and threw her out of the house, shut off all the lights, and locked myself in the bedroom for the rest of the evening. I was done.

There are many ecological benefits of living with pets, but primal dining experiences are not one of them.

Halloween Hog from Hell

Happy Halloween! So this is pumpkin #2. I carved it yesterday with a dremel. This was my first time using a power tool on a gourd. It was remarkably fast, but I definitely had to be careful because a slip of the hand would have been disastrous.

I decided to carve a butchers diagram of primal cuts of pork as an homage to our famous pork chop at 29 South. I spent the afternoon working on it and Chef whisked it away to the restaurant when the clock hit 5.

At around 8:30 he called me to report that they lit the pumpkin, and the word "hell" was blazing through the design. My response, "Perfect."

Jack O' Lantern Boos

I carved a pumpkin Sunday. I find the process of carving pumpkins really cathartic...coming up with a design, transferring it to the pumpkin, the first stab of the knife to make the lid, scooping the gook, and the careful chiseling. All of it I enjoy. There is something wonderfully primitive about carving a gourd. I have carved spooky, animals, ghosts, ghastly faces... all the usual characters into pumpkins, and some unusual things as well. One year I even carved Dick Cheney's frightful mug into a gourd. Too bad I only make time for this type of activity once a year.

Halloween is my favorite holiday. It is one day out of the year where we let loose, celebrate the bizarre and supernatural. It revolves around trickery and sweets and I love it. Any day where we are expected to become something other than ourselves...costume our identities...I think is good for the soul.

Chef, Lil' Bit and I went to Conner's A-Maizing Acres with friends and cheated our way through the corn maze, drank sweet tea, pet cows, talked to chickens, and Lil' Bit and her best play pal spent a good 45 minutes playing in a giant corn kernel pool with a multitude of other children. It shed a whole new light on yet another use for corn the ever resourceful industrial grain.

It was wild seeing all these kids blissed out in a sea of golden kernels...it was like a farm style sensory deprivation chamber...or whole grain cesspool. Needless to say this little jaunt involved a lot of hand washing. At the end of the trip, we bought two pumpkins from the Conner's pumpkin patch...glad to support our farming partners in any small way possible.

This year for our pumpkin at home I cheated and used a stencil. With time constraints, and a pumpkin to carve for the restaurant as well...I chose a witch from the stencils that came with the carving tools. I spent two hours carving the crafty Wiccan into the face of the pumpkin. I proudly set it out for display on our porch and went to bed. Looking, back I hate to say it...but how wonderful would it have been to carve Michael Jackson's face into my pumpkin. A whole new meaning to the word Jack O' Lantern. There is still time....

The following day Lil' Bit and I went to visit family and friends in Sarasota for 2 days. 2 days. When I returned Wednesday my pumpkin was moldy and was full of flies. The 90 degree weather and rain were a recipe for rot. Although, the mold does give it a special effect don't you think? I didn't even get a chance to light a candle in it. Boo.

Jack O' Lanterns actually come from an Irish folktale about a belligerent drunk named Stingy Jack. He liked to play tricks on anyone/anything, and one day he tricked the Devil into climbing an apple tree. He put a bunch of crosses under the tree so the Devil was stuck. He cut a deal with the Devil. If the Devil did not take his soul when he died, he would let him down. The deal was made...Satan freed. Stingy Jack died a lonely drunk and when he went to heaven he was turned away at the pearly gates for being such an asshole. So he went to hell, and the Devil was true to his word, but he gave him a little ember to help him light his way through limbo. He put the flame into a hollowed out turnip, his favorite veggie...and wondered limbo for all eternity.

The Irish actually carve out gourds, turnips, rutabaga and beets and put candles in them. Irish immigrants brought the tradition to the USA with them. Little illuminated beets sound fabulous...hmmm...something to think about for next year.

Good Life Quest #9/ Carve a Pumpkin

Get a pumpkin, and a carving kit. The right tools are important to this job...if you want to go hi-tech use a dremel. Think of your pumpkin as a little sculpture. Think of an unexpected design. As you scoop the gook think about the texture. Perhaps save the and toast the seeds. As you carve it, think about the last time you did something creative in 3D. Think about this tradition and what it means to you. Any memory associations? Light it with a candle and take a picture. Set it out in a place of prominence and enjoy.

Sleep Soup

The photo above sums up my state of mind this past week...namely it has been a doozy.

I mailed off six revised manuscripts of the book I have been working on for years now...and it felt so good. Until I left the post office, after a twenty minute wait in line, and realized that in a relatively empty parking lot I parked the car in the handicap space...and the short bus was waiting for me to move. I felt terrible. The bus driver threw his arms up at me as I raced to strap Lil' Bit into her car seat. I mimed an apology and sped off to the nearest coffee shop. Sleep deprivation had obviously taken its toll, and caffeine seemed the only way I could feasibly survive the day without drifting into total oblivion.

Lil' Bit is learning how to fall asleep on her own this week, which has been a nightmare. There is no other word for it. Watching your toddler cry and scream for you to pick her up out of her crib for 45 minutes straight is a true trial of love. Chef and I sit and sing and talk to her until she finally gives up and settles down to sleep. It is my fault for having rocked her to bed every night of her fresh life, but I would not give up that bonding time with her for a million sleepless nights.

Now that shades of reason are slowly beginning to wrinkle her brain, she has become more adept at understanding and it is time for her to understand that drifting off to sleep is a lovely skill, and totally necessary to sanity for all concerned.

The weather finally broke. For about 36 hours the temperature dropped 20 degrees and it felt like fall. It was wonderful. The windows at home were thrown open and the curtains billowed in the cool breeze. I wore scarves and sweaters and was just about to sport boots when climate change reared its ugly head. Alas, the brief respite from heat is over, it is now back in the 80's. The wisp of seasonal change was such a tease. For those of you living in cooler climates, the following statement may seem a bit naive, but I long for winter.

Chef made a delicious pozole on one of those fleeting fall nights. It is a dish that his Hispanic kitchen staff has made him as a treat throughout his career, and it is one of his favorite comfort foods. We both love Mexican food, and this dish was perfection.

Pozole is peasant food, a soup made of pork, hominy, and dried red chiles. A classic Mexican supper. What makes it fabulous is that it is topped with radishes, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, onions, ...and usually eaten with a tostadas. The cool crisp toppings blended with the hot hominy stew creates the perfect balance of light and hearty. It is like soup and salad all in one.

Chef chose a Rick Bayless recipe, because it's rooted in the true anthropological nature of peasant food. Pozole comes in many variations, this recipe in particular is for red. If you are not into eating pigs head, you can substitute pigs feet, if you are not into pigs feet, you can just double the quantity of meaty neck bones...which is what I requested Chef to do being that as a pregnant lady I can only stomach so much.



Good Life Recipe # 13/Pozole Rojo/Rick Bayless from his book Authentic Mexican

Makes 10-12 large servings

Ingredients:

• 4 quarts of canned hominy, drained and rinsed
• 3 medium (2 1/2 lbs) of pigs feet well scrubbed and split lengthwise plus 1 1/2 lbs of meaty pork neck bones
• 1 1/2 lbs lean, boneless pork shoulder, in a single piece
• 4 large cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
• 4 large (about 2 ounces total) dried chiles anchos, stemmed seeded and deveined
• 4 large dried chiles guajillos, stemmed, seeded and deveined (if you can't find the two mentioned chiles use 9 California or New Mexico Chiles)
• Salt, about 1 tablespoon

Ingredients for condiments:

• 1/2 medium head of cabbage, cored or very thinly sliced or 1/2 head iceberg lettuce, cored and very thinly sliced
• 8-10 radishes, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
• 1/3 cup dried oregano
• 2 to 3 large limes, cut into wedges
• 15 to 20 tostadas

Directions:

• Measure 7 quarts of water into a stockpot and add the pig's feet and neck bones, the pork shoulder, garlic, and hominy. Bring to a simmer and cook until the corn is tender

• Tear the chiles into large, flat pieces and toast them, a few at a time, on a heavy skillet set over medium heat, using a metal spatula to press them firmly against the hot surface until they crackle and blister, then flipping them over and pressing them down again. Remove to a bowl, cover with boiling water, weight with a plate to keep them submerged and soak for 30 minutes.
• Drain, place in a blender and add 1/2 cup of water. Blend until smooth.
  
  
  
  Strain through a medium-mesh sieve into the simmering soup, then mix well.
• Generously season the soup with salt, and let simmer for another hour or so.
• Remove the bones, feet, and shoulder from the simmering broth. When cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones, feet, and shoulder. (For pigs feet remove and discard the cartilage and bones, then chop what is left into 1 inch pieces). Roughly shred all meat
• Just before serving season soup with salt. Add the meat to the pot and let simmer for a few minutes to reheat.
• Ladle the soup into large bowls, top each one with a portion of shredded cabbage or lettuce and some sliced radishes. Pass the onion, oregano and lime wedges separately for each guest to add to his or her taste. The tostadas are a crunch accompaniment to enjoy between big spoonfuls of the soup.