For the Locavore, Baker in Your Life

Do buy a copy of Laura C. Martin's beautiful new book, "The Green Market Baking Book" recently published by Sterling. "It's a book to devour," as I offer as a quote on the back jacket. "There is something to learn, experience and marvel at on every page," including Laura's gorgeous full-color illustrations. They are the culinary equivalent of Audubon's birds. Including 100 recipes -- many of which are low fat, wheat-and-dairy free -- the book's guiding principle is that the sweeteners used are natural, and take the place of refined sugar, corn syrup, and artificial ingredients. These include honey, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, barley malt syrup, and agave nectar. Several are new to me. In addition to Laura's original recipes (wait until you try her pecan pie and moist apple cake!), are recipes from many of the best chefs and bakers in the business, including Alice Waters, Molly Stevens, Tom Douglas, and Dan Barber. When Laura reached out to many in the industry, everyone, including me, enthusiastically embraced her mission. Laura, who lives with her family in Atlanta, is passionate about locally grown, organically produced food, but when it came to desserts wanted to preserve the idea of wholesome eating by choosing sweeteners with integrity. So you will find sweet and savory recipes made with fruit, vegetables, nuts and grains that are as good for you as they are for the planet. Cookies with a conscience, so to speak. In addition to substitutions for refined sugar and corn syrup, there are substitutions for cow's milk (soy, almond, rice milk); for eggs (mashed bananas, soft tofu applesauce, pumpkin puree or pureed prunes), and ideas for lowering fat and reducing calories with still-decadent results. Divided by seasons, this book creates immediate temptations. Winter includes recipes for Maple Sugar Angel Food Cake, Orange-scented Chocolate Cupcake with Chocolate Frosting, and a very nice Chocolate Honey Tart (with a whiff of lavender) -- contributed by me! (you can find a version of this recipe in one of my blog posts.) Instead of the usual chocolate, however, Laura substituted grain-sweetened chocolate chips, which she uses exclusively throughout the book. This is a lovely work with an important message, offering treats for helping sustain the planet, and your family's health. After opening your Christmas gifts this morning, why not take a stroll to your closest farmer's market -- many of which are open today -- and think about making Laura's delicious apple pie (try using a new variety of apple) or her incredible pecan pie (she is from Georgia, after all). Merry Christmas!

Laura Martin's Pecan Pie

Perfect for this holiday week, try this served slightly  warm and dolloped with crème fraîche. (rg)

1 9-inch piecrust 3 eggs 1/2 cup maple syrup 1/3 cup brown rice syrup 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 pinch salt 1-1/4 cups pecan pieces 3 tablespoons butter

Makes one 9-inch pie

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 2. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs until frothy, then add the maple syrup and brown rice syrup. 3. Add the vanilla extract and salt. 4. Sauté the pecan pieces in butter in a large frying pan for 3 to 4 minutes, then allow to cool. 5. Add the cooled pecan mixture to the egg mixture and stir until all ingredients are well blended. 6. Pour into an unbaked pie shell. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until set. 7. Serve with sweetened whipped cream.

Farmer's Market Apple Cake

1 cup maple syrup 3/4 cup brown rice syrup 1-1/2 cups very lightly flavored olive oil 3 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 teaspoons cinnamon 3/4 teaspoon salt 4-1/2-5 cups apples, peeled and chopped, such as Granny Smith 1-1/4 cups coarsely chopped pecans (or walnuts) 1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Glaze

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter 1/2 cup maple syrup 1/2 cup heavy cream Makes one 9x13-inch cake

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. 2. Measure the olive oil in a glass measuring cup and pour into a large bowl. Use the same cup to measure the syrups. Add the vanilla, and mix until well blended. 3. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. 4. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. 5. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing well but not overmixing. 6. Fold in the apples and nuts (and raisins if using). 7. Pour into a greased and floured 9x13-inch baking pan. Bake for at least 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. 8. Leave the cake in the pan as you prepare the glaze. Melt the butter in a saucepan, then add the maple syrup and stir, cooking over low heat for 2 minutes. Stir in the cream and boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. 9. Leave the cake in the pan and poke holes all over with a fork or skewer. Pour the slightly cooled glaze over the cake, making sure to distribute it evenly.

An Amazing Meal at Zuma

Unexpectedly, last night, I had one of the most extraordinary meals in recent memory. Two days before Christmas, in Miami, Florida, I had hoped for little more than a heap of  stone crabs and a pitcher of mojitos.  At the behest of close friends, Alan and Claudia Omsky, who live a speedy 20 minutes from the Epic Hotel where Zuma is housed, we zoomed to a meal of a lifetime.  The atmosphere was electrifying, overlooking the water and a smart new Philippe Starck apartment complex.  Inside, the vast open kitchen looking much like a linear park of ingredients, chefs and whirling activity (plus one chef texting under his cutting board), fine-tuned by a feng shui consultant, signaled an evening of contemporary Japanese delights.  If creativity was a deadly sin, then it looked like we were headed for trouble.  And sinful it was.  Scrumptious, too.  And I experienced a few real "firsts."  My sister-in-law, who lived in Japan for years, once told me that real sushi should melt on your tongue.  Eureka, it finally happened.  Squares of fatty toro, accompanied by shaved-at-the-table Himalayan salt, actually did "lay on my tongue" like a magic carpet which then gently floated away.  In the casually elegant, on-trend, style of Japanese izakaya dining, the meal was one continuous progression of courses, perhaps 15 in all, choreographed by über general manager, Stephen Haigh; executed by master chef Bjoern Weissgerber, and delivered by waiter Luis Arrascaeta (a Basque name.) The three performers in this culinary operetta helped us, and hundreds of other diners (how do they do it!?), navigate the pleasures of exquisitely presented Japanese cooking.  The kitchen is set up into three areas -- the sushi station (designed for serving sushi and sashimi at the perfect temperature); the "robata" wood-grill for cooking seafood, poultry and beef, and the main kitchen, fueled by sheer creativity (and fire.)

Thanks to the largess of our hosts, some of our dishes were strewn with fresh white truffles, or flecks of edible gold (yes!), or dabbed with salmon caviar.  There were extraordinary morsels of wagyu beef and miso marinated black cod wrapped in hoba leaf.  To die for.  But it was the robata vegetable preparations -- squares of grilled eggplant topped with aka dashi miso, like the fatty toro it, too, laid upon my tongue until it floated away; charred fresh artichokes, sweet corn with shiso butter, and spicy fried tofu -- that really got our attention.  Dessert, including a dulcet chawan-mushi (they are usually savory), yuzu sorbet, and a warm chocolate cake that flowed like lava -- and jewels of fresh fruit, arrived looking like a huge Christmas gift.

Wish you could have been there.  Zuma, a five-restaurant chain, with locations in London (where it began), Istanbul, Hong Kong, Dubai, and Miami. was created by maestro Rainer Becker, who spent years in Japan learning the complexities, and the subtleties, of this ancient cuisine, gone modern.

Here's a radically simple homage to chef Bjoern Weissgerber.  Merry Christmas.

Honeydew-Kiwi Sorbet with Chartreuse The color?  Jade green with tiny black dots.  The flavor?  Intriguing and herbal from an unexpected jolt of green Chartreuse.  Sake would also be nice. If you can find a beautifully ripe Galia melon, use that instead of the honeydew.   The result?  A refreshing green and red ending to your Christmas meal.

1/2 cup sugar 4 cups chopped ripe honeydew or Galia melon 1-1/2 cups chopped peeled kiwis 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice 6 tablespoons green Chartreuse or sake thin slices of ripe watermelon handful of edible flower petals

In a small saucepan, boil 1/2 cup water with the sugar, stirring until the sugar dissolves.  Combine the melon, kiwi, lime juice and a pinch of salt in a food processor; process until smooth.  Combine the fruit puree and sugar syrup in a large bowl, cover and chill well.  Freeze in an ice cream maker, add 3 tablespoons of the Chartreuse or sake halfway through freezing.  Serve scoops on watermelon slices and sprinkle with flower petals.  Drizzle with the remaining Chartreuse.  Serves 6

Merry Christmas.

Cookies While You Sleep

As promised, more holiday cookies.  The first one, curiously called "Cookies While You Sleep," lets the nighttime do its magic.  Put glossy heaps of wet meringue into the oven before bedtime and in the morning you will wake up to dreamy crisp meringues.  The ultra-white mounds crackle in your mouth and then melt like snow.  Made with egg whites (save the yolks for another style of cookie), sugar, and miniature chocolate chips, these are truly child's play with fun visual cues along the way. Visual cue #1 -- the egg whites (beaten with a bit of salt) are whipped until they hold their shape and get stiff and glossy.  Visual cue #2:  It should look like Marshmallow Fluff.  Mounded onto parchment-lined baking sheets, put them in a hot oven and then immediately turn the oven...off!   Go to bed. In the morning, eat one or two of these cookies and begin the next recipe:  Nutella Sandwich Cookies.  The ubiquitous chocolate-hazelnut spread (that comes in a jar) flavors both the batter and serves as the filling for the sandwich.  This is a four-ingredient cookie that makes milk an imperative.  Have a little patience when cutting the warm cookies in half, sandwich-style, through the equator.  Use a large serrated knife and go slow. These cookies taste even better the next day (if they last that long)...and the next...as the cookie "crumb" (the texture) softens.

And here's a crazy idea I invented using frozen wonton skins.  Not sure what possessed me to slather them with melted butter and shower them with cinnamon-sugar. Baked for 7 minutes, they become crisp and tasty as can be and serve a variety of purposes.  They are great as is, served with a cup of green tea.  They are wonderful for dipping into a pint of slightly melted ice cream.  Stacked with layers of ripe fresh fruit and honey, they become trendy "napoleons."  Most fun of all is to have your guests guess how they're made.  No one ever does.  Most surprising of all is...they're healthy!  Only 33 calories per cookie.  And you can make them with olive oil instead of butter.  They last a long time and look really cool in a glassine bag tied up with holiday ribbons.

'Tis the season.

Cookies While You Sleep (from Kids Cook 1-2-3) 3 extra-large egg whites 7/8 cup sugar 1 heaping cup miniature chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Beat the egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer until they begin to thicken.  Add a pinch of salt and gradually add the sugar. Beat for several minutes, until the mixture holds its shape and is stiff and glossy.  Continue beating several minutes until it is very thick.  Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment.  Gently fold the chocolate chips into the batter.  Drop by the tablespoonful onto the baking sheets.  Place in the oven on the middle rack and close the door. Immediately turn the oven off.  Leave the door closed until morning.  Makes about 28

Nutella Sandwich Cookies 13-ounce jar Nutella 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature 1 extra-large egg 1-1/4 cups self-rising cake flour

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment.  Beat together 1/4 cup of the Nutella, the butter, and egg.  Slowly add the flour until a wet dough forms.  Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead gently, adding more flour if necessary; the dough will be sticky.  Divide the dough into 18 pieces and roll each into a perfect ball, flouring your hands as you go.  Place several inches apart on the baking sheet.  Bake 12 minutes until firm.  Cool 10 minutes on the sheet.  Using a serrated knife, split each cookie in half horizontally.  Spread each bottom half with 1 heaping teaspoon of Nutella.  Replace the tops, pressing lightly.  Makes 18

Cinnamon-Sugar Crisps You can keep these super simple by brushing them with melted butter and sprinkling them with cinnamon-sugar.  I have deepened their flavor with some five-spice powder and sesame seeds.  You can find wonton wrappers in Asian food markets; they are generally frozen.

1/4 cup sugar 3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder 24 square wonton wrappers 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 1/3 cup sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, cinnamon, and five-spice powder.  Place 12 wontons on each of 2 ungreased baking sheets. Using a pastry brush, brush each with melted butter.  Sprinkle heavily with the sugar mixture and then with the sesame seeds.  Press the seeds in lightly.  Bake for 7 minutes until golden and crispy; cool.  Makes 24

Radically Simple Holiday Cookies

For the first time in 20 years, I had saltines in the house (the ones in that big green tin) and made the Saltine Cracker Brickle from this week's food section of the New York Times (12/15).  Not bad, actually.  Part cookie, part candy, it was made from just a handful of ingredients.  Such is the magic of butter, sugar and chocolate.  The paucity of ingredients had me thinking about the cookies and confections I've created during the past two (saltine-free) decades!   Some people are grateful for the three-ingredient gluten-free cookies I invented using roasted chickpea flour; beg for the little sandwich cookies made with Nutella; crave the simplicity of cinnamon crisps made, unexpectedly, from wonton wrappers; are intrigued by the cookies made from halvah, and charmed by the notion of "Cookies While You Sleep"-- crisp meringues that look like small snowdrifts.   These are little gifts from "me to you," so that they can be "from you to yours."   Maybe it's time to buy a nice big cookie jar.  (The big green Saltine tin would also work!)  Here are two favorites, but stay tuned for more!

Chickpea Flour Shortbread I first became familiar with chickpea flour in the south of France where I attended a cooking school run by Roger Verge.  It is the essential ingredient used for making socca, an indigenous pizza-like snack, thin and pliable, and blackened from wood-fired ovens.  This flour is also used for making fournade, a simple soup from Burgundy, and for panelle, little chickpea flour pancakes, familiar in the south of Italy.  I became so enamored with the stuff that I started experimenting and created this addictive little cookie, perfect for gluten-free diets.  Roasted chickpea flour can be found in Middle Eastern food markets and health food stores.  Plain (unroasted) can also be used. Instead of sprinkling them with powdered sugar at the end, you can dust them with multi-colored granulated sugar for a "holiday look."

1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature 1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar 2 cups roasted chickpea flour, plus more for dusting

Beat butter in bowl of electric mixer until light and fluffy.  Add 1 cup confectioners' sugar and pinch of salt.  Mix well.  Stir in chickpea flour and mix until dough forms a smooth ball.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes.  Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Sprinkle pastry board lightly with chickpea flour. Roll out dough to 1/4-inch thick.  Using a cookie cutter, cut out into desired shapes (I use a fluted cookie cutter), about 1-1/2 to 2 inches in diameter.  Squares are also nice.  Prick each several times with a fork.  Place on ungreased baking sheet.  Bake 25 minutes until golden and just firm.  Let cool.  Sprinkle generously with remaining sugar pushed through a sieve. Makes about 36 cookies Sesame Seed-Olive Oil Cookies (from Radically Simple) These taste like cookies you might expect to find at an old-world Italian pastry shop.  The olive oil gives them an interesting texture and flavor.

2 cups self-rising flour 2/3 cup sugar 2 extra-large eggs 1/2 cup olive oil 2 teaspoons almond extract 2/3 cup toasted sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment.  Combine the flour and sugar in a large bowl.  In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil and extract.  Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until a smooth dough forms; it will be crumbly and slightly oily.  Form the dough into small ovals, about 1-1/2 inches long and 3/4 inch wide.  Roll the top and sides of each cookie in the sesame seeds.  Place 1 inch apart on the baking sheets.  Bake 25 minutes, until golden and just firm.  Cool  Makes 24 

Herbs in Desserts

Sometime in 1980, I had an extraordinary lunch at restaurant Troisgros in Roanne, France.  One of the mandatory go-to restaurants on every foodie's list, it was a shrine to gastronomy in the days of nouvelle cuisine when the world's first celebrity chefs were French.  While there were many aspects of that 4-hour lunch that are worth a thousand words (I was there with New York master chef Richard Burns who headed the kitchens at the Palace -- once the most expensive restaurant in the world!) there was one dish that stood out among all others.  It was the simplest dish of the meal, too: an apple tart with fresh tarragon.  I never forgot it. Since then (that's 30 years ago!), I have been slipping fresh herbs into my own desserts.  I, too, now make an apple tart with tarragon plucked from my window box, and add fresh slivered basil to ripe summer peaches. And I have found pine-y rosemary to be a felicitious gracenote to sweet offerings.  I've concocted a dulcet gremolata (grated lemon zest, minced fresh rosemary and sugar) to adorn lemon sorbet.  I strew snippets of fresh rosemary atop an olive oil cake I invented (the only recipe I never share) and created the following dessert, which I am very happy to share, for Cooking Light magazine over a decade ago.  The recipe can also be found in my cookbook for teens called Eat Fresh Food...'cause everyone seems to love them!  These little confections magically separate into custard with a layer of cake floating on top.  The vibrant fresh flavors of lemon and rosemary make more magic in your mouth.  Sophie Hirsch, one of the teens who helped test recipes for the book, said the following.  "I loved the Rosemary Custard Cakes so much!  There was an extra one and we all fought over it.  I will make this all the time.  They are amazingly great." I guess one is never too young to be a foodie.

Rosemary-Lemon Custard Cakes 3 extra-large eggs 1/4 cup plus 1/3 cup sugar 2 large lemons 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature 1/4 cup flour 1 teaspoon finely minced fresh rosemary, plus small rosemary sprigs for garnishing 1-1/2 cups milk 1 tablespoon confectioners sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Separate the whites and yolks of the eggs.  Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt at medium-high speed in the bowl of electric mixture until foamy.  Slowly add the 1/4 cup sugar, beating until stiff peaks form, about 4 minutes.  Grate the zest of both lemons and set aside.  Cut the lemons in half and squeeze to get 1/3 cup juice.  In a separate bowl, beat together the 1/3 cup sugar and butter until creamy, about 2 minutes.  Beat in the flour, lemon zest and juice, and rosemary.  Add the egg yolks and milk and beat well.  Use a rubber spatula and gently stir in the egg white mixture.  Spoon equally into six 5-ounce custard cups or ramekins.  Place the cups in a baking dish and add very hot water to the dish to a depth of 1 inch.  Carefully put dish in oven and bake 45 minutes until firm and golden.  Remove the dish from the oven and remove the cups from the dish.  Let cool.  Cover and refrigerate until very cold, at least 4 hours.  Sprinkle with confectioners sugar, pushed through a sieve, and eat from the cups.  Or you can unmold from the cups: Using a butter knife, loosen the custard around the edges of the cup, place a small plate on top and turn them upside down.  Garnish with a sprig of rosemary.  Serves 6

The World's Best Carrot Cake

I am a bit ashamed of myself.  It is 6:35 in the morning and I have my finger stuck in a 1/2-inch layer of cream cheese frosting atop a 6-inch wedge of the best carrot cake I've ever eaten.  This is the third day in a row that I've done this.  It all began on Friday night when we had a pre-Thanksgiving celebration at the home of Anne Kabo in Margate, New Jersey.  Anne is one of the best home bakers I know and I shared that with the world on page 318 of Radically Simple.  There you can find her radically delicious cheesecake, simple and decadent enough to rival any blue ribbon winner.  Everything beautiful Anne bakes is always best-of-show and this weekend alone I had sampled her almond-kissed cranberry "pie" for breakfast, a delicate lemon cake with a gossamer slick of orange icing, the moistest pumpkin-nut bread, and what I now consider...the world's best carrot cake.  I am naturally prejudiced (since we love Aunt Anne and Uncle Richard) but not overly so.  When it comes to sweets, I can be acutely objective.  The fact that I even had room for dessert after the preternatural turkey dinner (that too was delicious -- Brussels sprouts with pine nuts, sweet potato puree with streusel, carrot-flecked stuffing were highlights) was testimony to its value.  The fact that I had a second helping was sheer gluttony. Aunt Anne has been making this cake for 25 years with the only change being its shape.  It has gone from square to round.  I love that it is not iced all over but instead shows off two thick layers glued together with an addictive cream cheese frosting and then topped, as though it was the universe's largest cupcake, with a heavy blanket of much more frosting.  There is a little frosting on my computer keys right now.

Aunt Anne was kind enough to share her recipe with all of us.  Perhaps you will make it today for your company on Thursday or consider bringing it as a Thanksgiving offering...wherever you may be going.

Anne Kabo's Carrot Cake 4 large eggs 1-1/2 cups canola oil 2 cups sugar 2 cups unbleached flour 1 tablespoon cinnamon 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 3 cups grated raw carrots (use large holes of box grater) 8 ounce can crushed pineapple (in juice), drained well 1 cup black raisins 1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cut 2 rounds of parchment paper and place in each of two deep 8-inch round cake pans.  Lightly oil insides of pans.  In bowl of electric mixer, beat eggs, oil and sugar several minutes until well blended.  In another bowl, mix together, flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Slowly add this mixture to the egg mixture and beat until just blended.  Add carrots, drained pineapple, raisins and nuts.  Beat until just blended.  Bake 45 to 55 minutes  until done, and inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Cool and invert cakes.  When totally cool, ice the cakes as desired.  (Anne adds a thin layer in the center, a thick layer on top and leaves the sides exposed.)

Cream Cheese Icing 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature 1/2 box of confectioners sugar (8 ounces by weight) 1 teaspoon vanilla

In bowl of electric mixer, using paddle attachment, beat together butter, cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until thick.  Chill briefly if too soft.

The Missing Recipe

Today I'm referring, not to the missing zwieback recipe from Larousse Gastronomique (see yesterday's entry), but to the missing recipe in my very own cookbook! Pointed out to me online, in an amazon.com review, I was excited to learn that someone read the fine print (literally!) on the intro page of the meat chapter in Radically Simple and made the discovery.  An omission undetected by me (the author), the publisher, the editor, the copyeditor, assistant copyeditors, and hundreds (or thousands!) of people -- both close friends and strangers -- who have claimed to have read my book!  Clearly only one person has!  A Ms./Mr. B.J. Lewis from Highlands Ranch, Colorado.  The discovery was duly reported on November 12, 2010. Embedded in the wonderful 5-star cookbook review entitled "I've been having too much fun with this one" -- the reviewer praises Radically Simple and most of the recipes but with some personal critiques.  They are thoughtful and intelligent and so I don't mind in the least.  The reviewer, however, at the end says..."I did find one thing that puzzled me.  On page 210 Gold writes that her Flanken with Pomegranate Molasses, Ginger & Prunes, has become a new holiday favorite in some households."  I've been searching for the recipe, but so far it has eluded me.  Is it there?  Help!"

Well, Ms./Mr. B.J. Lewis, in fact, it isn't there.  Nowhere.  It was cut from the book when the book got too long and the reference wasn't cut from the intro.  There you have it.  And now you'll get it!  Thanks for letting us know.

Here it is: Flanken with Pomegranate Molasses, Ginger & Prunes Flanken is cut across the bones of the short ribs, not between the ribs.  You'll want 1 to 1-1/2-inch thick slices.  They will soften and melt in your mouth.  Pomegranate molasses can be found in Middle Eastern food stores, in some supermarkets and health food stores.  For fun, or drama, scatter some pomegranate seeds on top.

12 beef short ribs, about 4-1/2 pounds, cut across the bone 4 large oranges 1/4 cup pomegranate molasses 1/3 cup tomato paste 3 large cloves garlic 2-inch piece fresh ginger 18 large pitted prunes

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Season meat liberally with salt and pepper.  place in a large heavy casserole with a cover -- a 6-1/2 quart Le Creuset is perfect.  Peel 4 long strips from 1 orange and add to pot.  Grate rind of 2 oranges and set aside.  Cut oranges in half and squeeze to get 1-1/4 cups juice.  In a large bowl, stir together orange juice, pomegranate molasses, tomato paste and garlic, pushed through a press.  Peel ginger and grate on large holes of box grater.  Add to bowl.  Pour over ribs and stir in prunes.  Cover pot and bake 2 hours.  Lower heat to 250 degrees.  Stir contents of pot and bake 1 hour longer until very tender.  Using slotted spoon, transfer meat to a platter.  Remove fat; pour prunes and sauce over the meat and sprinkle with orange zest.  Serves 6 B.J. Lewis ends the review with..."Regardless, I'm thoroughly enjoying this cookbook.  I suspect you will as well." 

Larousse Gastronomique

Some people read the Yellow Pages to pass the time away.  I read Larousse Gastronomique. Weighing in at a hefty 6 pounds 11-1/2 ounces, it is worth its heft in historical perspective, culinary fact, gastronomic bravura, and is lots of fun to read.  I recommend it highly for our new generation of foodies whose passion runs deep but whose knowledge is short of breadth.  Not their fault. The field of gastronomy is slowing being replaced by the current vogue of anything goes, anyone can be a chef, anyone can write a cookbook, and everyone can be a critic.  Information and experience not required!  When the American version of the book first appeared in 1971, Craig Claiborne wrote, "It is a work so towering and so meticulously put together, the reader must stand back in utter awe...A volume  that should be of extraordinary interest to anyone with a serious interest in gastronomy as an art."  Encyclopedic in nature -- from A to Z -- it contains 4000 recipes and 1000 illustrations and explains every facet of classical cuisine.The first installment is abaisse -- which, according to Larousse, is a term used in French cookery for a sheet of rolled-out pastry.  The last word (or words in this case) is zuppa inglese -- a dessert invented by Neapolitan pastry cooks who settled in big European cities in the 19th century.  It was inspired by English puddings that were fashionable at the time (literally meaning "English soup"), made from layers of sponge cake soaked in liqueur, with pastry cream, candied fruits and covered in meringue.

But something is missing!  The flap copy says that the last word in the book is zwieback (a kind of cracker) -- but it simply isn't there.

So I offer you a radically simple recipe from Recipes 1-2-3. Sweet Zwieback This simple little twice-baked cookie is somewhere between Jewish mandelbrot and Italian biscotti.   Great for dunking, great for teething.

2 extra-large eggs 2/3 cup vanilla sugar 1 cup flour

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Beat the eggs with a pinch of salt in a standing mixer for 6 minutes until very stiff and creamy.  Add the sugar and beat 1 minute. Lower speed and add the flour (add more if it is too wet.)  Pour batter into a nonstick 8-inch loaf pan (or grease the pan lightly.)  Bake 25 to 30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool on rack.  Lower oven temperature to 275 degrees.  Remove the loaf from the pan and cut 16 1/4-inch slices. Place on a baking sheet and bake 8 to 10 minutes on each side until they begin to color.  Let cool.  Makes 16

You will learn so much, with Larousse at your bedside, that you will want to quit your job and become a Culinary Historian.

Zwieback, anyone?

We Are What We Cook

I'm appreciative, these days, when anyone takes the time to do anything "other directed!"  Whether it's a hand-written thank you note, an email from a fan wanting to connect, or an unsolicited book review (especially the positive ones!), I think of the thought and effort proffered.  "Doing onto others as you would have them do unto you," is a notion that generally informs my life and would probably modulate all of our behavior towards kindness.  Aside from niceties, however, I get a major kick out of learning what recipes people choose to make from my books!  I even enjoy the considered "critical" comments from someone I intuit knows their way around the kitchen.  Now that Radically Simple has been out for not quite three weeks, there are 21 reviews on Amazon and a handful of other reviews on various sites.  Out of 325 recipes contained in the book, those initial recipe choices not only reflect the personal preferences of the cook, but reveal other phenomenon of who we are, where we live, our skill sets, taste preferences, our general curiosity about new things, and our steadfastness for the familiar.

But perhaps other factors are at play.  One's attraction to a particular photograph or to a title (many people like "The Little Black Dress Chocolate Cake"); a penchant for learning something new and making the effort to find an unfamiliar ingredient like za'atar (an intoxicating spice mixture from the Middle East made from dried hyssop, sumac and sesame seeds. It smells like Jerusalem and looks like marijuana and is available in many spice stores and online), Sriracha hot sauce or smoked paprika.  Maybe it's the desire to be inventive, try a new combination of flavors, evoke a memory from another time or place, or daring to keep-it-simple, which is, after all, the philosophy of the book.

So here are some of your favorites so far --  beginning with breakfast and marching towards dessert -- Homemade Cream Cheese and Carrot Marmalade; Runny Eggs on Creamy Scallion Bacon Grits; Smoked Salmon, Basil & Lemon Quesadillas; Eggless Caesar Salad with Green Apple "Croutons"; Seared Salmon on a Moroccan Salad; Golden Fettuccine with Sardines, Fennel & Saffron; A Recipe from 1841: Macaroni & Tomatoes; Silver Packet Flounder with Miso Mayo; Salmon with Lime Leaves, Poppy Rice & Coconut Sauce; Sauteed Chicken with Roasted Grapes & Grape Demi Glace;  Chicken with Za'atar, Lemon & Garlic; Big Juicy Sundried Tomato Burgers; Pork Loin in Cream with Tomatoes, Gin & Sage; Creamy Potato Gratin; Sweet Potato Puree with Fresh Ginger and Orange; and..."The Little Black Dress Chocolate Cake."

Equally interesting is what the print journalists choose:  Food & Wine Magazine loved the Salmon en chemise (wrapped in smoked salmon) with its fresh tomatillo sauce;  the Washington Post chose Crunchy Crumbed Cod with Frozen Peas; the Cleveland Plain Dealer selected Sauteed Chicken with Roasted Grapes; the Oregonian singled out Broccoli Soup with Lemon-Pistachio Butter, Chicken with Chorizo, Peppadews & Fino Sherry; Lamb Chops with Smoked Paprika Oil, Cumin & Arugula, and French Yogurt Cake with Nutella.  The last recipe was also referenced by Faye Levy in the Jerusalem Post.

Perhaps we are what we cook.

French Yogurt Cake with Nutella This is very moist thanks to the yogurt and butter, but it is especially delicious thanks to the Nutella!  Serve with raspberries, cherries, or whipped cream, or plain. Or dust the entire cake with confectioners' sugar pushed through a sieve.

1 stick unsalted butter 1-1/2 cups flour 1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder 3 extra-large eggs 1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt 1/4 cup Nutella

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly butter 9-inch springform pan.  Melt the butter in a saucepan; set aside to cool.  Mix together the flour, baking powder, and a large pinch of salt.  Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla until thick, 3 minutes.  Add the flour mixture, yogurt, and melted butter; mix until smooth.  Pour two-thirds of the batter into the pan.  Add the Nutella to the remaining batter and beat until smooth.  Pour atop the plain batter.  Run a rubber spatula through the batter to make a marbled pattern.  Bake 40 to 45 minutes until just firm.  Cool on a rack.  Release the side of the pan and serve. Serves 8

The Future of Cookbooks

I'm off and running this morning to an early presentation on the future of cookbook publishing.  Oy! According to Publishers Weekly, millions of home cooks to go FoodNetwork.com, AllRecipes.com and Epicurious.com every day to access free recipes from a variety of credible (and not so credible) sources.  Where does that leave cookbook publishers, many of whom are sitting on vast troves of recipes that have never been published online?  This morning, a panel of experts will illuminate the various ways publishers will begin to use the Web and apps to monetize their cookbook content. As someone who has created thousands of recipes over the years -- for magazines, newspapers, 12 cookbooks, as well as multi-starred restaurants, it will be fascinating to learn their fate...not to mention mine! But cookbooks, or at least some of them, contain far more than recipes.  Great cookbooks are much more than the sum of their parts.  Too often they are merely judged on a single recipe's outcome rather than the philosophy behind the approach or the connective tissue that makes a book whole -- and not just a collection.  You may even be surprised to know that many of my cookbooks contain touch points of real literature -- poetry,memoir, fictional essays, historical non-fiction, and theory.

So here's a poem from Desserts 1-2-3. Desserts 1-2-3 Pablo Neruda wrote odes to life; To nature, to love, to the sun,

I prefer writing odes to sweets, and worship them one by one.

Crème brûlée takes your breath away when it shatters the quiet below,

And chocolate soufflé topped with chocolate sorbet can sweeten most any woe.

In happier days, à la mode was the vogue and crowned many an apple pie.

But today it is sleek, and undoubtedly chic, to find them side by side.

For some of you chocolate gives meaning to life, for others it merely suffices.

Whether a pro or a rookie, in a truffle or cookie, chocolate is great in a crisis.

"Simple pleasures are life's greatest treasures," Neruda once whispered to me.

He then kissed my hand and gave me a pan, and slowly counted to three. by Rozanne Gold

And here's a recipe to celebrate the day. All-Chocolate Velvet Tart (from Radically Simple) This extremely elegant dessert can be assembled in less than 20 minutes.  Let it sit in the fridge until just firm, and serve with crème fraiche.

5 ounces chocolate graham crackers 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature 1 cup heavy cream 12 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 1 tablespoon crème de cassis or 1 teaspoon grated orange zest 1 cup crème fraiche

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly butter a 9-inch fluted removable-bottom tart pan.  Combine the graham crackers and 4 tablespoons butter in a food processor.  Pulverize until finely ground.  Pack the crumbs into the pan to form an even bottom crust.  Bake 10 minutes.  Bring the cream just to a boil in a large saucepan.  Reduce the heat and simmer 5 minutes.  Add the chocolate and stir constantly over low heat until melted.  Stir in the cocoa, cassis, and the remaining 1 tablespoon butter.  Pour into the crumb crust; refrigerate 45 minutes or until just firm.   Serve with crème fraiche.  Serves 10 or more.

** Be sure to leave a comment below to be entered to win an autographed copy of Radically Simple! One winner will be chosen at random. Increase your chances to win by commenting here and on my facebook fan page wall. Good luck!**

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