cake 18 orange upside down cake eleganza*

caramelizing fruit and baking in a cast iron skillet, to make an upside down cake is a perfect fit for radical muffin sensibilities. Pineapple is classic, of course, but the possibilities are vast. In the winter markets, citrus is reigning, so we piled perfect blood oranges, pink oranges and baby oranges still dressed in their leaves into the basket to carry home to become cake.

when we were in high school, the vending machine outside the cafeteria held shiny wrapped rolls of Daily-C. Someone from our table would buy a roll—an offering— bring it back to the table, and pass it round: “Don’t get scurvy,” we’d say, like a blessing. Spin-off humor from some horror story in history class; popping the vitamins like candy.

if it’s oranges it must be good for you—not to be confused with food group orange, comprised of the orange things like Doritos, nacho cheese and Crush—so we recommend this cake for breakfast. Mimosas or Bellinis at brunch elevate it to eleganza, yes?

five small oranges provided enough rounds for an 8-inch skillet. Slice the peel from the fruit and reserve it for something else like hot toddies or mulled wine; throw them in a bag in the freezer if not using right away. With a long serrated bread knife, slice the oranges into thin wheels.

separate 4 cold eggs and let them hang out to warm up.

melt 4 tablespoons of butter with ¾ cup of light brown sugar in a cast iron skillet and bubble away for about 3 minutes. If you have them, a few crushed cardamom seeds added now and picked out later are lovely. Allow to rest a few minutes then lay the fruit in concentric circles in the pan. Heat the oven to 350°.

the cake recipe we used called for a 10-inch skillet. We meant to pour off some of the batter as cupcakes but forgot. The utterly full pan baked up just fine, and although the cake to fruit ratio was greater, the cake is delicious and no one is complaining.

sift together 1 ½ cups of all purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder and ¼ teaspoon salt. Cream together a stick of soft butter and ½ cup white and ½ cup turbinado sugar. Beat in the egg yolks. Grate in the zest of an orange and a lime.  Beat in the sifted flour along with 3 tablespoons of cornmeal and 2/3 cup of milk.

clean your beaters scrupulously, and whip the egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold half of the egg whites into the batter then carefully fold in the other half. Pour the batter over the fruit, smooth and bake for about 45 minutes, until the cake is golden and set.

let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes then turn out onto a plate. You want to flip it while it is still a bit warm or all that gooey, caramel fruit will stick to the pan. Boooooooo….

with a successful flip—cake self decorated with gloriously sugared fruit. Relax and enjoy.

*in nod to the new season of RuPaul’s Drag Race xoxo

roasted eggplant, caramelized onion tapenadé

when Brooklyn eggplants dream

the newest, most wonderful stuff to come from the Radical Muffin kitchen: roasted eggplant, caramelized onion tapenadé.

i know those of you I had at caramelized onions.  Others of you maybe daunted by “tapenadé,” but I assure you the French is only to denote spreadability and to make fancy what is an absurdly easy culinary feat.  Perhaps I shouldn’t contribute to the bastardization of tapenadé, originally a Provençal spread of capers, black olives, and anchovies puréed with olive oil, but “tapenadé” sounds better than “mush,” yes?  So call it relish or caponata or chutney, and marvel at its potential versatility: frittata base, ravioli filling, and, of course, spreading and dipping  à la its muse, baba ghanoush.

the quick and dirty: roast eggplant; caramelize diced onion in butter; scrape eggplant innards into onion; add salt, pepper & a generous amount of paprika; mush together; serve.

relish applause or eat in gluttonous solitude.  With wine.

the scenic route: begin by loving your eggplant.  Maybe you’ll save this recipe for when your garden’s eggplants are heavy on their vines.  We got Japanese eggplant in our farm share; we shared it with our beloved guests at a CSA celebration potluck as this dish, straight up with amazing bread.  The moody & handsome specimen in the pics is from the Cortelyou Farmers’ Market.  Head first in the basket, his plump butt made me grab him, and it was the farmer who showed me his nose.

if you’re doing this now, and your kitchen is as hot as ours, then put on your nothingest cooking outfit and crank up your oven to 450°.   Line a baking tray with parchment paper.  If your eggplants are small, like Fairy Tails, or long and skinny like most Asian varieties then roast them whole and give them a good slice with a sharp paring knife to let the steam escape.  If they are of the buldging type, like Prosperosa, then slice them in half and put them face down on the paper.  Roast in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour, checking every 9 minutes or so.  At the first check sprinkle with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Flip and turn it about half way through cooking, and let it go until it is falling apart.

meanwhile, over a high flame, heat your heaviest skillet—cast iron being the unsurpassed champion for this task.  Turn the heat down to low, add a few tablespoons of butter or olive oil (vegan).  Quickly dice or shred the appropriate amount of onion to your eggplant, and add it as the fat begins to bubble.  For a veggie the size of the one pictured (about a pound and a half, I think), one onion of unusual size cooked down to the right amount of sweet buttery sludge.  Turn up the heat, hot but not so hot you burn the fat.  Cook patiently, turning with restraint, for a long time.  Until they are browning and falling apart.  The eggplant will probably be done sometime before they are.  Let it hang out, cooling.

melancholy melezane

when the eggplant is cool enough to handle, scrape it onto the onions.  Cook a little longer, adding salt, pepper and at least a tablespoon of paprika.  That is if you have delicious paprika.  Ours is “Pimenton el Angel” that we picked up at Sahadis.  It is a hot paprika from Spain, and carries a smoked red taste into the dish.  Smash the eggplant, some of the onion too if you are so inclined.  Turn off the heat whenever things seem to smell right and certainly before overbrowning.  Straight out of the skillet it is a robust topping for pasta or rice.  It can warmly great guests to your table as you do final fiddling, and it can stand around just foreves at a cocktail party.  I suspect it keeps well but cannot say because we’ve never left any.

fried mashed potatoes

put a large pot of water on to boil.  scrub 6 small potatoes; I like the red ones.  Quarter them and plop them into the water at a rolling boil.  Cook for 8-10 minutes or until soft.  Drain and return to the pot if your pot can stand the up-coming beating or dump into a heavy bowl.

add three tablespoons of butter to the potatoes.  Sprinkle liberally with sea salt and pepper and herbs; pick about 2 tablespoons of fresh thyme if you have it, but this round I just used dried thyme and basil, about a teaspoon each.  Drizzle with about a ¼ cup of heavy cream.  Using one of the most fabulous inventions of all time—the hand potato masher—mash mash mash.  Save a few lumps for texture, having left the skins on helps some bits hold together (plus – pretty!).

shred about ½ a cup of hard cheese like parmesan or gruyere would be nice; we had some schmany delectable cheese I cannot remember the name of now.  Beat an egg or, to be really decadent, an egg plus one yolk.  Stir in half the egg and most of the cheese, just saving some for decorative pre-table topping, into the potatoes with a wooden spoon.  Set aside the egg in a shallow bowl and whisk in a little cream.  In another shallow bowl, spread panko flakes or bread crumbs.

heat a cast iron skillet or your heaviest, if you are not blessed with cast iron, which should acquire as soon as possible.  Add a bit of olive oil or butter or a nice half’n’half mix of the two.

form the potato mash into patties, dredge quickly in the egg/cream, press a few sage leaves into it – or one big dramatic one- then press the patty in the breading, flip and press the other side.  Fry.  A few minutes on each side, going for golden brown.  Transfer to a toweled plate to rest and drain excess oil.

you can fry two or three potato patties at a time, just be sure not to crowd the skillet.  Dredge out any escaped bits of breading before they burn and taint your oil.  This does not have to be a deep fry job; using just enough oil for things not to stick creates plenty of golden fried goodness to satisfy.

these are freaking amazing.  I cannot imagine what they would not be good with, but here are some ideas: oniony, garlicky sautéd greens like kale or collards; veggie sausage (which I like to pepper a lot and eat with maple syrup) and a fried egg; red lentils with plain yoghurt and hot pepper sauce; fried apples’n’onions…oh, yes- with sour cream.  I love fall.

spicy chickpea penne

Prelude recipe: herbed peppers

Drizzle olive oil over a hot iron skillet, and sauté yellow and red pepper strips until soft and slightly charred (about 20 minutes). Halfway through the cooking time, generously sprinkle with dried Herbes de Provence and sea salt. Store in a glass jar covered in olive oil and store until use. Keeps for weeks in the fridge, but happier on the counter out of sunlight and used in a week.
Booty Spicy Chickpea Penne

This is a great weeknight one-bowl dinner if you have pre-cooked pasta stashed in your fridge like I happened to have along with some chickpeas I had soaked and cooked. An easy lunch while I was cleaning my space today. I am usually a big slut, but in this decade of 30s, I am finding keeping my space clean helps me get more done.

If you do not have cooked pasta on hand, boil a pot of water at the outset and cook some noodles. Penne is good with the chunky sauce, and any similar short, hearty textured noodle will be harmonious.

Slice a handful of cherry tomatoes in half across their fat middles. Chop a few yellow squash spears.

Heat a big iron skillet over medium heat and toast a generous sprinkle of hot and sweet paprika and turmeric, stirring with a wooden spoon & careful not to burn. Add olive oil and turn up the heat, a medium high flame – almost a high flame, be bold about it; it is tasty when the pasta fries. Add the tomatoes and about a teaspoon of sea salt. Cook until sizzling, stir and let it sizzle again and keep at it while you drain a large can of chickpeas and rinse them thoroughly (or maybe you have soaked and cooked chickpeas for yourself this week, good for you, muffin.). Add your chickpeas and pasta. Cook—I like to let it sit unstirred for five minutes or more, searing, gathering a little crust.

Chop the oil, herbed pepper strips: either stick a knife in the jar, or cut them in the pan (it is a messy pain to pull them out and slice on a board- unnecessary!). Stir a generous amount of peppers and their oil into the pasta. Cook for five minutes or so with the squash spread on top of everything; sprinkle with more Herbes de Provence.

This dish is happy to sit in the pan with the heat on low or even off for a long time (since the pan hold the heat) while you finish a task or when family folk are trailing in and our of the kitchen, looking for food on their own schedule.

tofu scramble

Press a

block of tofu

between kitchen towels under a weight (like the joy of cooking but put a plastic bag or waxed paper under it so it doesn’t soak your book).

slice 2 or 3 celery stalks into chunky half-moons and chop a small onion. Smash, peel, and mince 2 or 3 cloves of garlic.

Heat a big fry pan—like a 12 inch cast iron skillet—and add 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil. Sauté the onions and celery for a few minutes then add the garlic. Cook until the onions are translucent. How long this takes will depend on how high your heat is and the volume of veggies you are cooking. I like to cook it on high heat, stirring often, to move things along.

Crumble the tofu into the pan. I leave it in fairly big chunks; some folks like their tofu scramble in rubbley little bits. I think it is supposed to make it more “scrambled-egg like,” but I am against pretending food is not what it is and i don’t like the texture of nubbley mush. Let the tofu brown a bit then sprinkle in 2 teaspoons or so of turmeric and a half teaspoon or so of cumin. Stir in a tablespoon of Bragg’s or soy sauce.

Slice whatever mushrooms you have into similar sized parts for even cooking. For example, slice about half a dozen crimini mushrooms into three parts each; take the stems off if they are really woody but on the very small ones especially (which you can just cut in half) you can leave the stems on. Add the mushrooms and cook the whole mess for about another 10 minutes or so, until the mushrooms are juicy. You may want to cover the pan. If you have a lot of mushrooms, you may want to cut them along with all the other veggies and just set them aside until they need to be added to the pan.

***

tofu scramble—just like omelets—lends itself to incorporating pretty much whatever veggie leftovers you have around. That pile of greens you made last night with hot sauce, that half a can of chick peas in the fridge, or some of those tomatoes your neighbor brought over because his garden exploded at the end of the summer are all candidates for tofu scramble. You can serve it with that last ½ inch of salsa in the jar. Although humble and accommodating, tofu-scramble is utterly brunch-worthy, and in my opinion, stands up to a bloody mary as well as any omelet.