Daylight Savings

I may be one of those "light sensitive" people because I begin to shudder at the eclipsing of the sun, day by day, then minute by minute -- until such time, at the end of December -- when day (as defined by the presence of light) -- ends at 4:20 p.m., or earlier! I feel bad for kids whose joy is diminished from playing outside, for older folks who "don't drive at night," and for myself who turns a bit inward when darkness arrives prematurely. The solution? Turn up the lights and the music and...start cooking! Since my husband is away on a business trip (he is creating five restaurants for a new hotel in northern India, but is headed for Singapore where the design firm is located) I will make a radically simple recipe I learned in Asia, accompanied by jasmine rice and stir-fried cabbage (made from yesterday's enormous head of leftover cabbage). My daughter and I (and any unexpected guests!) will finish with a dessert guaranteed to restore the sunshine zapped by today's encroaching darkness. How about a wobbly, tropical, bright yellow, pineapple flan, fashioned from only three ingredients? It will make you smile.

Asian Chicken with Scallions There are few more interesting or radically delicious ways to prepare chicken. You can use large bone-in chicken breasts halves with skin, about 10-ounces each, or large bone-in chicken thighs. You may marinate the chicken for up to 24 hours but I will marinate mine this morning and it will be ready for dinner tonight at 7:30 p.m. (about 8 hours of marinating.) And ssshhh...don't tell anyone that the secret ingredient is Thai fish sauce! In summer you may do this on the grill, but it is perfect cooked in a very hot oven.

4 large, bone-in chicken breast halves, with skin, about 10 ounces each 1/4 cup Thai fish sauce 4 large scallions 1 large clove garlic

Cut each chicken breast in half crosswise. Place in a bowl and pour the fish sauce over. Discard the top 2 inches of the scallions. Cut the remainder into 1/4-inch pieces. Add to the chicken with the garlic, pushed through a press. Toss and cover and refrigerate 8 to 24 hours. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Lift the chicken from the fish sauce, allowing some of the scallions to remain. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and roast 12 minutes, until just cooked through. Turn the oven to broil and broil the chicken 2 minutes, until golden. Serves 4

Amazing Pineapple Flan Here, just three ingredients--eggs, sugar and pineapple juice -- form a luscious, creamy (but creamless) custard bathed in caramel.

1 cup sugar 4 extra-large eggs, plus 4 extra-large egg yolks 1 cups unsweetened pineapple juice fresh mint sprigs or edible flowers for garnish, optional

Preheat oven to 375. Melt 1/2 cup sugar in a small nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, 3 minutes, until a clear amber caramel forms. Carefully divide among 5 (5-ounce) custard cups. Place the cups in a deep baking dish. Using an electric mixer, beat the whole eggs and yolks. Add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and beat 1 minute; beat in the pineapple juice. Divide mixture among the custard cups. Add 2 inches boiling water to the baking dish. Bake 40 to 45 minutes until firm. Remove the cups from the pan and let cool. Cover and refrigerate until very cold. Unmold onto plates and garnish. Serves 5

Ultimate Comfort

My 14-year old daughter loves "cabbage and noodles" as much as I did as a child.  She insists she wants to eat it every day of the year. Cabbage!  But Shayna is merely following in the footsteps of an ancient history -- the one that connects generations through food and recipes. For more than 50 years my mother and I expressed our deep connection by cooking special things for each other all the time.  We used to derive the greatest pleasure by surprising the other with her favorite dish.  In my case, my mother made me cabbage and noodles -- a homey Hungarian standard that she, too, ate in her childhood.  It was our ultimate comfort food and I never knew exactly when a steamy, buttery bowl would make an appearance on her dining room table.  Until the day she died, I delighted in its random offering and in the joy she showed in preparing it.  My mother would always say, "It's not as good as the last time," but it always was. I have learned that some recipes, even more than photographs, provide the most intimate transfer of information from mother to daughter. As victims of a horrendous time in history, most of our Hungarian relatives never made it through World War II.  This simple dish is a witness to our past.  It is a poignant conduit of things unspoken.

Sometime in 1930, somewhere in Astoria, Queens, my maternal grandfather and great-grandmother (whose wedding ring I wear) opened a Hungarian restaurant that featured...cabbage and noodles.  Naturally. Sometime in the mid-90's I had an epiphany:  It was the moment I realized that this complex-tasting, deeply satisfying dish was made with only three ingredients.

Marion Gold's Cabbage and Noodles My mother was gorgeous, inside and out.  More Zsa Zsa than Julia in the kitchen, she cooked her heart out and still managed to look glamorous. The goal in making her special dish is to squeeze the water from shredded cabbage after it is salted and left to wilt and then to "melt" it in sweet butter until it is transformed into dark golden strands.  It can be served as a first course or as a felicitous side dish with pot roast or roast chicken; or it can be eaten all by itself on wistful days.

3-pound compact head of green cabbage 1 stick unsalted butter 12 ounces wide egg noodles

kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Cut the cabbage in half and remove the core.  With a sharp knife, shred the cabbage into 1/8-inch thick slices.  Place cabbage in a large colander and sprinkle with 1-1/2 tablespoons kosher salt.  Toss well.  Cover with a plate and put a heavy object on it (a filled tea kettle) to weight it down.  Put the colander in a pan to collect any liquid or set it in the sink.  Let sit 4 to 6 hours.  Press down hard and squeeze the cabbage with your hands to extract as much water as possible.  Melt the butter in a very large skillet and add the cabbage.  Cook over medium-high heat for almost 1 hour, until the cabbage is very soft and dark brown.  Cover from time to time to help soften it. Add salt at this point, if needed.  Cook the noodles in a large pot of salted rapidly boiling water.  Cook until tender and drain very well.  Add cooked noodles to the cabbage and heat gently.  Add freshly ground black pepper.  Serves 4

Star Fish

Ben Sargent, a friend for years, is known by many "names" -- including Hurricane Hopeful and the Surfer/Chowder Dude, if you get the idea. But I like Star Fish.  Ben's new show called "Hook, Line & Dinner" debuted on the Cooking Channel last night.  This hour show, which aired at 9 p.m., was both travelogue (from the streets of Brooklyn to the seashore of Maine) and cooking show and I learned a lot.  It was fun to see how one seduces an eel and edifying  to watch the back-breaking work involved in digging for clams.   Ben is passionate about the sea, the people, and the creatures who inhabit that landscape.  And if any of it, or them, can be eaten, so much the better.  Ben has made chowder in my kitchen and I loved watching him work.  I also enjoyed watching him, not long ago, in another television series "Art Race across America" -- where Ben had to create art in exchange for food.  He began in California and worked his way back home (to Brooklyn.)  Clearly, he's fearless.  But he's also confident, funny and warm and quite attached to his Yankee roots.  That's where we really connect. My father grew up in Brockton, Massachusetts and one of his favorite activities when we were kids was to buy a dozen lobsters and cook them in his lobster  pot in our apartment in Queens.  Lobsters were only .99 cents a pound in those days.  My dad had a special way of cooking them, in water as salty as the sea. We ate them all weekend long.   I loved to watch his huge hands break down a lobster into delectable morsels (the knuckle meat was his favorite.) My handsome dad could also crush a lobster claw with his bare hands.  He was, after all, a full back for the University of Tennessee and scored the winning touchdown in the Sugar Bowl, Jan. 1, 1943. (I have the football.)  After that he was drafted by the Washington Redskins. (I have the contract.)  It all came to a screeching halt sometime in his 20's because of shin-splints and residual war injuries -- but the lobster weekends continued forever, clarified butter and all.

In Radically Simple, I share an updated recipe for lobster.

Salt-Water Lobsters, Healthy Drawn Butter Calling the drawn butter "healthy" is a bit of an exaggeration, but it is better for you and lower in saturated fats than the unadulterated stuff.  The secret is to mix olive oil with a small amount of melted salted butter and spices.

3 live lobsters, 1-3/4 pounds each 1/2 cup olive oil 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne 4 tablespoons salted butter

Fill a very large pot two-thirds full with very salty water.  Bring to a rapid boil.  Plunge the lobsters into the pot, head first.  Cover and quickly return to a boil. Once boiling, cook the lobsters for 12 minutes over high heat.  Transfer to a platter and let cool 5 minutes.  Split the lobsters in half through the undersides.Mix together the olive oil, paprika, and cayenne.  Melt the butter and skim off the white foam.  Stir the butter into the oil and serve alongside hot lobsters.  Serves 3 or 6 St

Change of Plans

Life is what happens when you're making other plans, right?  And so my little dinner party last night never happened.  My star guest was feeling very under the weather and begged for another invite.  No problem. Instead, Bob (the one writing Julia Child's biography) and I decided to attend the book launch at Chelsea Market for Amanda Hesser, Melissa Clark and Dorie Greenspan.  Three women I admire tremendously.  I am close friends with Dorie whose new book Around My French Table is a gem.  Ditto Melissa Clark's charming new book and Amanda's awesomely updated New York Times Cookbook.  All three divas signed their books and Dorie made cookies to give away. The event was a "charity do" with proceeds going to the impressive "Wellness in the Schools" program.   Lots of chefs were there to not only lend support but to ply with us with some tasty offerings -- we loved the pizza from Frankie's 347 -- made with puntarelle, anchovy and lemon.  And the pickled devilled eggs from Gramercy were interesting as well -- sour, salty and sweet.  Delicious yogurt-coated lamb meatballs, too. Saw lots of food friends -- Molly O'Neill, Florence Fabricant, Bill Telepan, and chef Michael Anthony from Gramercy.  Hundreds of young passionate foodies as well -- drinking beer and egg creams from Russ & Daughters -- vigorously stirred by Nicki -- the beautiful proprietress of the famed appetizing store.  No wine though -- so Bob and I bought a bottle of Cotes du Rhone at the Chelsea Wine Vault next door and divvied it out to anyone who was in need -- like us.

So who ate the "opinionated way to roast a chicken" and the Moroccan-inspired carrot puree?  My husband and daughter, naturally.  She also enjoyed the Valrhona chocolate bar from the goody bag I brought home.

And speaking of chocolate...

Want to try a fascinating flavor combo?  Try this one from Radically Simple...

Chocolate, Parmigiano-Reggiano & Red Grapes I use this tasting plate as a "pre-dessert."  It stimulates conversation as well as your brain.  Use 62 percent semisweet chocolate.  Tasted with the grapes, the chocolate takes on cherry overtones; with the cheese, it finds a soul mate, and the cheese brings out wine-y notes in the chocolate.

4-ounce piece Parmigiano-Reggiano 4-ounce bar 62% top-quality semisweet chocolate 4 small clumps red seedless grapes

Arrange 1 ounce of cheese and 1 ounce chocolate on each of 4 plates; add grapes.  Serves 4

Election Day Dinner

Happy election day. Don't forget to vote. And while you're in the neighborhood, why not find a neighbor, or two, to invite to dinner! If that sounds daunting, try making dinner from my new book Radically Simple. I will be doing that this evening. A new friend, Helen, is coming for dinner. She works for one of New York's top PR agencies that represents some of the country's most important celebrity chefs and restaurants. She lives near my home in Park Slope, Brooklyn yet we have never gotten together. We just seem to run into each other at book parties and on the subway platform. We're excited she's coming. Later this morning, I will also be inviting another new friend, Bob, who is currently writing "the" definitive book on the life of Julia Child. He and his wife live around the corner, but she is leaving tonight for Morocco with a group of girlfriends. Although Bob is a great cook and can definitely fend for himself, I'm hoping he feels like being social. We'll no doubt talk politics and that conversation will invariably swerve to...food. It always does.

And what are we having for dinner? You can simply scroll down to the bottom of my blog where you'll see some of the simplest recipes imaginable from my new book (it's only a week old!) Yes, we'll have Beet Soup with Lemon Crème fraîche. I think I'll make some fennel-cumin flatbreads to accompany it. With that, we'll have an interesting white wine from Argentina -- an unusual combination of chardonnay and ugni blanc -- the latter being the grape used for making cognac. Next, we'll have the most radical version of roast chicken -- roasted stark naked (the bird, that is!) -- with salt and pepper added only at the end. I'll give it a chef flourish of a foaming butter sauce flecked with chopped chives and a smashed garlic clove. We'll have an enlightened version of scalloped potatoes, made with half & half (instead of heavy cream), gruyere and fresh thyme. And what did I just invent this morning? A Moroccan-inspired carrot puree made with ground coriander, cumin and a pinch of chipotle. We'll open a bottle of Malbec, also from Argentina, to accompany the main course.

Dessert? My "Little Black Dress" Chocolate Cake. It's made with only 4 ingredients, is flourless, and bakes in 18 minutes. Top with raspberries and a one-ingredient creme anglaise: It doesn't get more radical, or simple, than that.

Creamy Potato Gratin with Gruyere & Thyme A gratin refers to the golden, epicurean crust that forms on the surface of savory baked dishes. Here, pungent Gruyere cheese acts as a protective layer, preventing potatoes from drying out.

2-1/2 pounds Yukon gold or all-purpose potatoes 3 cups half-and-half 4 ounces Gruyere cheese, in one piece 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel the potatoes and slice paper-thin. Put the potatoes in a 4-quart pot with the half-and-half, 2 teaspoons salt, and pepper. Stir well and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes begin to soften, 15 minutes. Meanwhile, shred the cheese on the large holes of a box grater. Transfer the potatoes and cream to a shallow ovenproof baking dish (the cream will not cover the potatoes.) Press down with a spatula; sprinkle with 1 teaspoon thyme and cover with the cheese. Bake 40 minutes, until golden brown. Sprinkle with remaining thyme. Serves 8

Enjoy dinner.  Hope your candidate wins!

Healthy Yummy Dishes

It is a chilly beginning to the first day of November, having dipped into the '30s overnight.  And so I was especially warmed by this note and photo I received when I turned my computer on this morning.  The "recipe book" referred to is "Eat Fresh Food: Awesome Recipes for Teen Chefs." It was published last year by Bloomsbury and has recently gone into another printing.  I love this book because I did not write it alone.  I had the help of a team of young chefs who helped create, shape, and cook the recipes.  Nothing went into the book that wasn't "teen-tasted."  With all the conversation these days about childhood obesity and getting kids to eat healthier, it is this part of the equation that is most often ignored:  The food needs to taste delicious and to appeal to the taste preferences of teens.  This cannot be done in a vacuum by chefs who don't include kids and teens in the process. Teen-friendly recipes also need to be "blessed" by a nutritionist who can help balance the critical nutritional  factors that make a recipe "healthy."  Helen Kimmel, MS, RD, did an awesome job in determining what to alter to make each recipe nutritionally sound.  We do not believe that kids should "eat by numbers" (meaning calories, carbs, etc.) but that, overall, each recipe should focus on fresh, unprocessed ingredients and be low in saturated fats.  For more information, take a look at this wonderful article written by Jane Brody in the Science section of the New York Times  and enjoy the numerous comments about the book on Amazon by parents and teens alike.

I am looking at the photo to determine what's on Tabbie and Kimberly's table!  I see a bowl of Carrot-Ginger-Tomato Soup (that gets garnished with crispy fried carrot tops! -- see recipe below) and Juicy Chicken with Roasted Spaghetti Squash, created by my daughter Shayna.  It's a real crowd-pleaser.

Months ago, I had the pleasure of being one of the chefs to congregate on the White House lawn to hear about Michele Obama's initiative regarding childhood obesity and the myriad health concerns associated with it -- i.e. childhood diabetes and heart disease.  I say that the issue of "self-esteem" also needs to be addressed and the importance of cultural food preferences in families.  But with all the complexity surrounding this important topic, I say there is one message that is simple enough:  Eat Fresh Food.

Enjoy your day. Dear Ms. Gold,

My name is Tabbie and my friend and I, Kimberly made some dishes using your recipe book. We made them for our family and friends over the summer. We enjoyed your recipes, I hope another one comes out with more delicious dishes. Thanks! :)

CARROT-GINGER-TOMATO SOUP  -- from Eat Fresh Food:  Awesome Recipes for Teen Chefs While carrot-ginger soups have become commonplace, this one enlivened with tomato, tastes a bit mysterious and especially fabulous.  Fresh ginger adds a background of "heat" and flavor.  I top it with crispy wisps of fried carrot tops.  Serves 4 or 51 large bunch fresh carrots with green tops (about 12 ounces carrots)

1 large baking potato, about 8 ounces

2 large garlic cloves, peeled 1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger 2 large shallots, peeled and chopped 1/2 cup tomato sauce or tomato puree 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Peel the carrots (saving green tops for later) and the potato.  Cut into 1-inch pieces and put in a 3-quart pot.  Add garlic, ginger and shallots. Add 4 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Bring to a rapid boil.  Lower the heat to medium and cover.  Cook 30 minutes, or until vegetables are very soft.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer the vegetables to a food processor with half the cooking liquid.  Blend until smooth, slowly adding the remaining cooking liquid.  Process until very smooth and add the  tomato sauce and butter.  Return to the saucepan and bring to a simmer.  Simmer 10 minutes; add salt and pepper to taste.  Garnish with crispy carrot tops!

Fried Carrot Tops:

1/4 cup lacy green carrot tops

Wash carrot tops and dry well.  Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a small skillet until hot.  Carefully add the carrot tops and fry for 30 second or until crispy and bright green.  Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.  Sprinkle with salt.

Happy Halloween

I woke up with a terrible headache. Just before going to bed, I ate half a large bag of candy corn.  It's my guilty once-a-year pleasure. And in that spirit, I begin to blog on Halloween day 2010. This very "farm-to-table time" of year is one of the most transitional times in cooking.  Slowly disappearing are the brightest hues of the color spectrum -- vivid tomato reds, sharp basil greens, and sunny corn yellows -- are gradually replaced by the gold, russet, ochre shades of roots and the paler tones of brussels sprouts, and other harbingers of winter.  The "winter whites" I call them -- cauliflower, turnips, parsnips, even horseradish.  I love them all. But let's not rush so quickly.  Yesterday at the farmer's market up the street from my house, located in Park Slope's Grand Army Plaza, was the most riotous offering of summer's last gasp  -- the bounty of the summer of 2010 -- all clamoring for attention.  My best friend, food maven Arthur Schwartz, who lives just a few blocks away was seduced to a farethewell.  "I bought way too much food," he reported after his morning visit.  And then...so did I.  I couldn't resist just one last tomato salad -- this time it was what I affectionately call a "Stoplight Tomato Salad" made with red, green and yellow tomatoes, topped with a shower of shaved ricotta salata and a simple dressing of olive oil, garlic, sea salt, and a splash of sherry vinegar.  I found some corn and made a corn soup -- the last I'm sure I'll savor this year -- and topped it with slivers of Granny smith apple.  I bought the biggest head of broccoli I've seen in a long time and will steam its florets and toss them bits of sauteed red onions, blue cheese and mint (recipe below).

Then at night, when the ghosts and goblins have gone, and the shaving cream and broken egg shells have been swept away, I will finish the bag of candy corn with my daughter.

Happy Halloween.

Steamed Broccoli with Blue Cheese, Red Onions & Mint This is such a pleasure to make and then eat with a steak or...instead of a steak!

2 large or 1 very large head broccoli 2 large red onions 1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling 6 ounces good blue cheese, crumbled 2/3 cup fresh mint leaves, coarsely chopped

Bring a pot of water fitted with a steamer basket to a rapid boil.  Cut the broccoli into florets with 2 inches of stem.  Add the broccoli to the steamer basket, cover and steam 10 minutes, until tender but still bright green.  Cut the onions in half through the root ends and thinly slice lengthwise.  Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and cook over high heat until soft, dark brown, and crispy, 10 minutes.  Transfer the broccoli to a large bowl.  Add the onions, cheese, and mint. Toss, adding salt, pepper and additional olive oil.  Serve slightly warm.  Serves 4

Radically Simple Now Available

Radically Simple is now available online and in bookstores. To celebrate, here are a few recipes from the book. Be sure to sign up to receive my blog posts via email for other fun posts and announcements! BEET SOUP WITH LEMON CRÈME FRAÎCHE The color of rubies, this soup dazzles. It can be made in 60 seconds and eaten right away if the ingredients are well-chilled. If not, pop the soup in the freezer until ice cold.

2 (14-ounce) cans small whole beets 1⁄3 cup olive oil 1⁄4 cup balsamic vinegar 1 large garlic clove 1⁄2 cup crème fraîche 1 large lemon

Put the beets and liquid in a food processor; begin to process. Add 3⁄4 cup water, the oil, vinegar, and garlic. Process until very smooth. Stir in salt and pepper. Top each serving with the crème fraîche and grate lots of lemon zest on top.

(SERVES 4)

AN OPINIONATED WAY TO ROAST A CHICKEN

Even though people lament that “chicken has no taste,” I have on occasion been inclined to leave it alone and cook it stark naked (the bird, that is). No salt, even. The result is something that tastes surprisingly like, well . . . chicken; golden and moist. Only at the end, after carving, do I simply add salt and pepper to the pan juices, or give it a keen sheen of water-enriched garlic-chive butter, whisk until frothy. A small roasting pan, just large enough to hold the chicken is key: I use a small paella pan, but a metal-handled skillet will do.

4-pound roasting chicken

Preheat the oven to 475°F. Wash the chicken; discard the giblets. Dry well. Place breast side down in a small roasting pan. Roast for 30 minutes. Turn the chicken over and baste. Roast for 40 minutes longer, until cooked through. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with salt. Let rest for 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to the pan juices and boil 2 minutes. Carve the chicken and serve with pan juices or butter sauce.

(SERVES 4)

GARLIC-CHIVE BUTTER SAUCE

4 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 teaspoons finely minced fresh chives 1 small garlic clove, very finely minced

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the chives, garlic, 3 tablespoons water, and salt. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly, 1 minute. Pour over chicken.

THE “ LITTLE BLACK DRESS ” CHOCOLATE CAKE

Like the legendary little black dress, this dessert is something I can’t live without, a mousse-y rich cake with a soft, oozing center (provided you don’t overbake it). And like the L.B.D., you can accessorize it in myriad ways: with fresh raspberries placed side by side and glazed with melted currant jelly; with sweetened crème fraîche and fresh orange segments; or with my “crème anglaise” (below) or a scoop of Lemon-Buttermilk Ice Cream (page 330).

10 1⁄2 tablespoons unsalted butter 5 extra-large eggs 16 ounces top-quality semisweet chocolate, chopped 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, espresso powder, or orange zest

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment. Butter the sides of the pan with 1⁄2 tablespoon of the butter. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs with a pinch of salt until tripled in volume, about 8 minutes. Melt the chocolate and the remaining 10 tablespoons butter slowly over low heat in a heavy medium saucepan; stir until smooth. Fold the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture with a flexible rubber spatula until completely incorporated. Add the vanilla. Pour into the pan.

Bake 18 minutes: The center will be quite soft. Cool 30 minutes.

(SERVES 8 )

ONE- INGREDIENT EGGNOG “CRÈME ANGLAISE”

3 cups commercial eggnog

Bring the eggnog just to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently, until reduced to 1 1⁄2 cups, about 40 minutes. Cover and refrigerate until cold.

(MAKES 1 1⁄2 CUPS)