Maple Syrup Olive Oil Pound Cake and Plums Poached in Wine: Great together or separately

Two dessert recipes that can be used together or on their own: A pleasingly dense olive oil pound cake flavored with maple syrup and cardamom and Italian prune plums poached in red wine. Recipes below.

I SUSPECT THAT EVERYBODY WHO BLOGS ABOUT BAKING has, at some time or other, done an olive oil pound cake. And I can see why. It is easy to make, the results are pleasing, and from the nutritional side, it is not as horrifying as a conventional butter-laden pound cake. But, simply because it’s everywhere, I thought, well, it doesn’t need to be here.

Then recently, Terry brought home a great pile of Italian prune plums to make last week’s grilled pork chops and Italian plums. With a still impressive number of plums remaining, he asked me to think about a dessert approach, and pound cake seemed like an ideal complement. Continue reading “Maple Syrup Olive Oil Pound Cake and Plums Poached in Wine: Great together or separately” →

Grilled Pork Chops and Italian Plums: A smoky, seasonal taste of late summer

Brining pork chops with kosher salt, brown sugar, tarragon, garlic and wine makes them tender and flavorful, especially when grilled with Italian plums. Recipe below.

IN MY WORKING CLASS FAMILY, MEAT WAS STRICTLY THE CHEAP CUTS. When I was growing up, beef was chuck turned into burgers or meatloaf or spaghetti sauce—or the occasional pot roast, slow cooked so the fat melted into it and the toughness cooked out of it (as much as it does). Chicken was chicken, all of it relatively inexpensive back then, cooked and consumed with the skin on. And pork was most often chops, well marbled with fat before that was even a term used in households. Which probably explains why I like meat so much. Continue reading “Grilled Pork Chops and Italian Plums: A smoky, seasonal taste of late summer” →

Tastes like… victory: Quick, delicious Potato and Cherry Tomato Salad

Fingerling potatoes and cherry tomatoes tossed with a lively mustard vinaigrette—something this easy shouldn’t taste this good. Recipe below.

Summer is drawing to a close—we have a real blanket on the bed, we are wearing sweaters in the evening, and we are casting around for ways to use the bits and bobs that we harvest here from our apartment garden. The nation’s corn crop may have gone to hell this year, but our tomato crop is record-breaking. Outside, we have just a tiny scrap of ground under cultivation, but it is giving us a quart of cherry tomatoes every day, on bad days—and that is to ignore the big tomatoes, which are coming in with a vengeance. Continue reading “Tastes like… victory: Quick, delicious Potato and Cherry Tomato Salad” →

Small Bites: The organic vs. non-organic story continues and the winner of our first giveaway

Feedback and fallout continue to follow the recently released Stanford study claiming that organic food is no more nutritious than conventional food. And we pick the winner of a copy of Minette’s Feast: The Delicious Story of Julia Child and Her Cat.

I love a good verbal dust-up, a spirited exchange of ideas. I’m not so sure a couple of Stanford University scientists would agree right now. They unleashed quite a torrent with their recent statement that organic foods were no more nutritious than non-organic foods. More specifically, Dr. Dena Bravata, an MD and the senior author of the study published in the September 4 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, said, “There isn’t much difference between organic and conventional foods, if you’re an adult and making a decision based solely on your health.” And that’s where the fun begins. Continue reading “Small Bites: The organic vs. non-organic story continues and the winner of our first giveaway” →

Flavor meets tender: Grilled Asian Flank Steak

Dry brining flank steak tenderizes it. Marinating it in ginger, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, scallions, hot sauce and more makes it a show-stopping main course. Recipe below.

I use the word flavorful a lot here, I know. Sometimes, I think I should reserve it for flank steak. Before going any further, let me share my own idea of what flavorful means. It’s not a one-note taste bud bomb, like a buffalo wing or a lemon wedge. To me, flavorful means engaging multiple corners of the palate at once, bringing layer after layer of tastes and combining them beautifully. If done right, flavorful means stopping conversation at the dinner table with the first bite. Which is what the flank steak pictured here did on Labor Day. Continue reading “Flavor meets tender: Grilled Asian Flank Steak” →

Organic vs. non-organic: A flawed Stanford study produces dangerous sound bites

A study just released by Stanford University scientists has found that organic foods—produce, meat and dairy—are no more nutritious than non-organic or conventional foods. The study also reports that they are no less likely to be contaminated. They’re probably right. They examined more than 40 years’ worth of research on the topic; the study used no outside funding to avoid any “perception of bias;” and, well, they’re scientists.

The problem with their research, as I see it, is that they asked the wrong question. No one has really seriously claimed that organic foods are more nutritious. And earlier studies on this very subject have already stated what the Stanford researchers were “surprised” to discover. To me, they missed the point. Their central question was kind of like asking if LED light bulbs are any quieter than conventional ones, or if fuel-efficient vehicles are any shinier than gas guzzlers. Continue reading “Organic vs. non-organic: A flawed Stanford study produces dangerous sound bites” →