Category Archives: September

Love the One You’re With Plum Torte

Not to be bossy but, MAKE THIS DESSERT!

This recipe popped into my life just as I was looking for something purple to post in honor of the Walk to End Alzheimer’s (shameless plug and donation link here). Purple is the color of the cause. Both the cause and the color are dear to me because of my awesome mama Nina who happened to LOVE the color purple.

My first purple food efforts included braised red cabbage and some spiced beets. Both were pretty and delicious but felt a little more like weeknight homework than weekend fun. And who needs more homework in September?

Browned up, cinnamon sprinkled Purple Fantasia

Then, like magic, the New York Times offered up its most requested recipe of all time—Marian Burros’s Plum Torte, resplendent with purple plums.

There are many reasons why this recipe is brilliant. First off, it is easy, and infinitely flexible; hence, the name. In keeping with the Stillsian “love the one you’re with” sensibilities it can be made with really any kind of fruit you’d find in pie. It is made with regular ingredients (not many, and in totally memorizable quantities) you probably have on hand right now, and in whatever pan you’ve got, with a mixer or a fork. It travels like a champ, freezes easily, and is essentially un-messupable.

It’s even easier than Nina’s specialty margarita pie, and considering that the Times has printed it annually since 1983, Nina may have even made it in her day.

It took me a while to try it out because at first I couldn’t find the smaller Italian purple plums, and needed my larger black plums to ripen. They never really did, and still, it was delicious. Don’t let a lack of any specific fruit keep you from making it, because, as the recipe promises, it can be used with any seasonal fruit, from berries and stone fruit in summer to apples and pears in the fall, to cranberries and frozen berries in winter.

I literally road tested my first effort—sliced it in the pan, wrapped it whole then enjoyed it with friends from a tailgate after mountain biking. I made it again with frozen blueberries, and again with the proper, and much smaller, Italian plums. And then again with fresh raspberries. All good! Next up (obviously in this neck of the woods) apples.

An international crew of testers, albeit young and hungry, gave a unanimous thumbs up. They voiced a slight preference for leaving the plums halved, as in the original vs sliced, as suggested in some of the 2,125 comments.

So, make it with anything you’ve got, and share it with anyone you love. Or just share it with whoever you’re with because, you never know.

Love the One You’re With Plum Torte
originally by Marian Burros for the New York Times

Ingredients:

Yield: 8 servings

  • ¾ cup (150 grams) sugar
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup (120 grams) unbleached flour, sifted
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 24 halves pitted purple plums
  • Sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon, for topping

Method:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream the sugar and butter in a bowl. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and eggs and beat well.

Spoon the batter into a lightly greased and floured spring-form pan of 8, 9 or 10 inches. Place the plum halves skin side up on top of the batter. Sprinkle lightly with sugar and lemon juice, depending on the sweetness of the fruit. Sprinkle with about 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, depending on how much you like cinnamon. (I like 1 Tbsp sugar mixed with ½ tsp cinnamon, then sprinkled together on top)

Bake 1 hour, approximately, checking at 45 minutes. Remove and cool; refrigerate or freeze if desired. Or cool to lukewarm and serve plain or with whipped cream or, duh, ice cream. (To serve a torte that was frozen, defrost and reheat it briefly at 300 degrees.)

Tips

Here is where I’ll guide you to the highpoints of the rabbit hole that is the comment section at the end of  this and every NYT recipe. As proof of this recipe’s brilliance, the notes are far less snarky/judgemental and more contributory/helpful than the usual NYT comment fare.

  • To freeze securely for the apocalypse wrap the torte in plastic, then double wrap in foil.
  • For some of the most popular variations, including flour combos, its best to go to this easy guide.
  • Use whatever pan you’ve got, but DO grease and flour it—the original recipe does not mention that step, but that is a subtle plot from the baking elite to undermine the rest of us baking hacks.

AND NOW, MY PURPLE SPIEL

Today just happens to be GO PURPLE DAY. If you’re still with me, here is my purple pitch, for how to support the Alzheimer’s Association and/or the Walk. Everyone is welcome to join the walks that happen in 600 plus towns across the country. In our hood it’s on Saturday Sept 30 starting at 9:30 at Hanover High School. Sign up right here! Catch the incomparable Cindy Pierce turn her comic genius to Alzheimer’s at Sawtooth on Sept 28, or Go Purple—today or anytime leading up to the walks—to support the cause. Finally a HUGE THANK YOU to all you purple angels who have donated to this cause that means so much to me. Come by for some torte!

 

Blueberry Breakfast Cake

And, an entire summer later, we’re back in the blogosphere. Long story short, there has been plenty of cooking and feeding going on, but not a ton of uploading and chronicling. Thanks to some kind friends I’ve gotten back to using real, hard copy cookbooks, and the Internet has been as relentless as ever serving up delicious wins and epic fails. Now, it’s time to revisit these favorite recipes so I, a: remember where they are, and b: can share them with my peeps!

We’re going to start back nice and easy. Then we’re going to get a little weird. I promise it’s all good stuff, but weird nonetheless. For now, we have Blueberry Breakfast Cake that I made more times than I can remember last summer. It’s like a delicious collision of a Dutch Bunny a blueberry muffin and a cheesecake.

This comes straight from King Arthur Flour, and it is foolproof. My only additional note is to use a cookie sheet on the rack below if you are using a springform pan, so you don’t bake any blueberry goodness onto your oven floor. Yes, I learned that the hard way.

Other than that, this is bombproof, and perfect for those late harvest blueberries or the ones in your freezer. I hope you love it!

Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Ingredients:

  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (124g) granulated sugar
  • 6 tablespoons (85g) melted unsalted butter
  • 1 cup (227g) ricotta cheese
  • 1 cup (227g) sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup (120g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 1/2 cups (255g) blueberries, fresh or frozen
  • cinnamon or confectioners’ sugar, for serving (optional)

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8″ round cake or springform pan that’s at least 2″ deep. 
  2. In a large mixing bowl, using a whisk attachment (or by hand Laura Ingalls Wilder style), beat together the eggs and sugar until thick and lighter in color. Add the butter, ricotta, sour cream, and vanilla.
  3. Add the flour, salt, and baking powder, mixing until combined.
  4. Pour the batter into the pan and scatter the berries evenly over the top.
  5. Bake the cake for 45 to 50 minutes if using fresh berries (55 to 65 minutes for frozen), until the edges of the cake are lightly browned. The cake should be set throughout, although it will still jiggle when gently shaken.
  6. Remove from the oven and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes to firm up. Serve warm with cinnamon or confectioners’ sugar (if desired).
  7. Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days.

  

Coolest Cucumber Soup

Labor Day be damned summer is NOT over yet. Well, not totally. Sadly, I was skunked at two corn suppliers yesterday, so that ship is quickly sailing. But cukes and zukes are still going strong. I’ve got a pretty epic zucchini creation coming soon (I was so busy marveling at it that I forgot to take a picture), but while we’re waiting, here’s a cool way to use up some of the many cucumbers you may be experiencing.

I discovered while searching for a soup that involved zero cooking or warming of any kind, and could all be made in the blender. Slackers delight!

This one goes out to you Californians and westerners who are feeling the heat, and the smoke, and the earthquakes. As a bonus, it involves an avocado. The original recipe calls for the avocado on the soup, but this is not my first soup rodeo. Adding the avocado to the blender adds heft and creaminess without actual cream.

I hope this soup helps you soak up every last bit of summer, and frees up some space in your fridge.

Coolest Cucumber Soup

 Adapted from The New York Times

Ingredients

  • 1 pound cucumbers, peeled, halved lengthwise and seeded
  • 2 cups buttermilk (or use 1 1/2 cups plain yogurt plus 1/4 cup water) *
  • 1 large garlic clove, peeled and smashed
  • 2 anchovy fillets (optional) **
  • 2 small whole scallions, trimmed
  • ½ jalapeño, seeded and chopped
  • ½ cup packed mixed fresh herbs (like mint, parsley, dill, tarragon, basil and cilantro)
  • ½ teaspoon sherry or white wine vinegar, more to taste ***
  • ¾ teaspoon kosher sea salt, plus more to taste (omit if using miso, then add if needed)
  • ½ avocado ****

All The Options

  • 4 slices toast of choice
  • ½ avocado, pitted, peeled and thinly sliced
  • ½ lemon
  • 2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
  • Extra-virgin olive oil, for serving
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 ear of corn, shucked, kernels sliced off
  • Fresh dill, for serving
  • Fried shallots or onions (if you’ve got ’em, why not?)

* Vegans, you have your milks. Use them here, soured with vinegar or lemon juice
**I used 2 tsp miso paste instead, for saltiness and funk, or what one might call “umami,”
*** I used 1 Tbsp lime juice (half a lime)
**** I threw the avocado intended as a topping right into the blender. Save the other half for toast…or throw it in as well. Did anyone ever complain about too much avocado? Ok, except for my husband?

Method

  1. In the bowl of a blender or food processor, combine cucumber, buttermilk, garlic, anchovy, scallions, jalapeño, fresh herbs, sherry vinegar and salt. Blend until smooth and adjust seasoning as needed.
  2. Smash avocado slices on the toasted bread. Sprinkle with crumbled feta, squeeze the juice of the lemon half over the top and finish each with a drizzle of olive oil and some pepper. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
  3. Distribute soup between 4 bowls and garnish with raw corn kernels and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve avocado toast on the side.

 

 

 

Tomato Overload

Guess what didn’t take Labor Day off? The tomatoes in your garden. It’s hard to keep up with the crop, though I’m trying my darndest, and probably headed for whatever toxic event occurs from too many tomatoes. I swear those suckers ripen by the hour. It’s all good though, except that there’s this one doctor out there on the interwebs who gets really bad on tomatoes. I just have to ignore his advice for the next couple of weeks. Same with the corn haters. Now is NOT the time.

Rather than reinvent the wheel, let’s just revisit some of our all-time tomato season favorites. Purists of course will go no further than the white bread and mayo tomato sandwich. Solid. But it uses exactly one tomato. Not helpful. When you’re looking for mass consumption of the bounty, I suggest a batch or two of sweet and spicy tomato jam. For the easiest dinner on the planet, totally appropriate for hands off entertaining, go for Best of Summer Simmer Chicken. If your job is to bring a side, embrace the heat with Summer Perfection Watermelon Tomato Feta Salad, or just go straight for Most Popular with THE Panzanella.

If those don’t use up your tomato backlog, here is an easy way to give your tomatoes (and the taste of summer) a little more staying power.

If nothing else you should go to Smitten Kitchen just to look at the picture of the pre-roasting tomato rainbow. Impressive. Mine do not look like that. BUT I assure you they taste darned good, and they are perfect to throw on a pizza, spoon on bruschetta, toss into a salad, smoosh on bread, mix in pasta, etc. You get the picture.

Slow roasted tomatoes, just hanging with the fresh crowd.

Slow Roasted Tomatoes

From Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients

  • Cherry, grape or small Roma tomatoes
  • Whole gloves of garlic, unpeeled
  • Olive oil
  • Herbs such as thyme or rosemary (optional)

Method

Preheat oven to 225°F. Halve each cherry or grape tomato crosswise, or Roma tomato lengthwise and arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet along with the cloves of garlic. Drizzle with olive oil, just enough to make the tomatoes glisten. Sprinkle herbs on, if you are using them, and salt and pepper, though go easily on these because the finished product will be so flavorful you’ll need very little to help it along.

Bake the tomatoes in the oven for about 3 hours. You want the tomatoes to be shriveled and dry, but with a little juice left inside–this could take more or less time depending on the size of your tomatoes. When they are done, you can remove the cloves of garlic and save them for another use. They’re a delish side bennie.

Use the tomatoes right away or let them cool, cover them with some extra olive oil and keep them in the fridge for the best summer condiment, ever.