Buttermilk Fig Cake

When most people think of figs, they think of dried Calimyrna figs, those light brown sticky figs that my grandfather used to bring home along with bags of assorted nuts. While an excellent snack (and all the more so because, dried, they're available any time), in my opinion they are nothing compared to fresh black Mission figs. Not very sweet, these have an almost musky taste and, in all honesty, often pair better with savory foods than sweet.


That said, upon deciding one day that I had a hankering for figs, I decided to use them in a sweet preparation -- namely, a buttermilk fig cake. Now, I'm a very nervous (and inexperienced) baker, so I'm always wary to diverge from a recipe. However, I just couldn't find a recipe that incorporated everything I wanted! You see, the older I get, the more my sweet tooth disappears. So I couldn't have a cake that was terribly sweet (sacrilege, I know). And that meant I wanted a mix of fresh figs and dried. I also wanted lots of spices, since gingerbread is one of the few cakes the vegetarian is truly fond of. And some nuts to cut the sweetness.


I ended up combining several recipes and, much to my delight (because I kept muttering under my breath that it would never work), the cake was both delicious and not very sweet! More like a spice cake than anything else, it would be wonderful with afternoon tea. We shared it with friends, who were big fans as well. I hope you agree!


Buttermilk Fig Cake
adapted from Fresh and La Mia Cucina

• 2 eggs
• 2 egg whites
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 7 1/2 ounces fig preserves
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg, ground
• 1 teaspoon allspice, ground
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves, ground
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups fresh figs, chopped
• 1/3 cup pecans, chopped
• 15 dried figs, chopped
• cooking spray

The Glaze

• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier

Preheat oven to 350F. Beat eggs and egg whites in a mixing bowl until frothy. With beaters still running, add in granulated sugar, vegetable oil and fig preserves. Sift together flour, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, cinnamon, kosher salt, baking soda and baking powder. Add sifted dry ingredients and buttermilk, alternately adding a little of each, to egg mixture. Mix very well (it helps if you have an extra set of hands -- one person adds ingredients while the other mixes). Mix in vanilla extract. Fold in fresh figs, pecans and dried figs. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray. Pour batter into pan. Bake 55-65 minutes, until a chopstick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine buttermilk, powdered sugar, baking soda, cornstarch and butter. Bring to a boil. Cook 2 minutes, stirring. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely. Stir in vanilla extract and Grand Marnier. Remove sides from springform pan. Drizzle glaze over cake. Enjoy!

Make It a Meal: So your guests still have room for dessert, precede this cake with a light dish of Olive Oil Roasted Eggplant with Lemon, served over fresh pasta. The cake is wonderful topped with vanilla ice cream or even whipped cream.


Drink Pairings: A Zinfandel, such as 7 Deadly Zins was great with the main meal, but, since you've already opened the bottle of Grand Marnier, why not spice things up a bit and make Sangria? I recommend White Zinfandel Sangria; it would even work with the cake!



Leftovers: Leftover cake makes a wonderful breakfast the next morning. It also works as an afternoon pick-me-up, particularly with a cup of tea!


Links to other fig noshes:

• Figs! from Simply Recipes
• The best fig tart from Chez Pim
• Grown-up Fig Cookies from 101 Cookies
• Fig Galette from Simply Recipes
• Roasted Figs with Goat Cheese and Balsamic Agave Glaze from Kalyn's Kitchen

Coriander and Cumin-Rubbed Chickpeas, Charred Corn Relish, Steamed Okra and Fried Onions

Coriander and Cumin-Rubbed Chickpeas, Charred Corn Relish, Steamed Okra and Fried Onions

Corn is, to me, one of the most quintessential summer foods. While it is available year-round, I buy it almost exclusively during the summer when it seems to be at every Greenmarket booth. As I see it, it's a great, simple addition to almost every meal (as you can see from many Make-It-a-Meal suggestions). Normally I just steam it, enjoying the corn fresh with butter. Every so often, however, I get the urge to do something more creative. At those times, I turn to cookbooks -- in this case, Courses: A Culinary Journey. A complicated book (by a chef on a cruise line), I find it's best for inspiration. In there, I found a recipe for Charred Corn Relish. That seemed simple enough, but certainly not enough for a meal. It was served with catfish -- not an option when cooking for the vegetarian, though, if you're so inclined please feel free to try it out! Instead, I opted for chickpeas, one of my favorite legumes. I have to say, these battered and fried chickpeas were one of the best things I've ever made. While they were great with all the accompaniments, they'd also be a wonderful appetizer, served with drinks.

Wanting to include a green vegetable, I decided to go with okra, one of the few green vegetables that the vegetarian is extremely fond of. Being lazy, and knowing how flavorful the rest of the dish would be, I steamed the okra and tossed it with butter (similarly to how I usually cook corn). However, in order to up the flavor quotient of the rest of the dish, I allowed myself to be inspired by Stir-fry Okra, Chillies & Shallots from. So even though my okra was simple, I used lots of spices for the rest of the dish.


This "dish" is actually several different components. Feel free to make only one part, or several -- whatever works for your time constraints and tastebuds. Everything works well together or separately. At the end of the post, under "leftovers", there are some suggestions for how else to use each component. Bon appetit!


Coriander and Cumin-Rubbed Chickpeas, Charred Corn Relish, Steamed Okra and Fried Onions
adapted from Courses: A Culinary Journey and Ahaar


For a non-vegetarian alternative, you could substitute catfish filets for some or all of the chickpeas.

• 2 lbs. chickpeas
• juice from 1 lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds, ground
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• grapeseed oil, for frying
• kernels from 3 ears fresh corn
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 shallot, diced
• 3/4 cup canned black beans
• 1 green jalapeno pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• juice from 1 lime
• juice from 2 lemons
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
• 2 teaspoons Italian parsley, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ancho chile powder
• 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
• grapeseed oil, for frying
• 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper, ground
• 3 cups okra
• 2 teaspoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper, ground

Drain chickpeas. Pour in a large bowl and squeeze lemon juice on top. Season with mustard, cumin and coriander seeds. Toss well to combine. Make seasoned flour by combining flour, salt, turmeric, paprika, cumin and cayenne pepper in a large bowl. Add chickpeas and toss well until coated. Remove chickpeas, reserving remaining seasoned flour. Heat grapeseed oil in a heavy saute pan and fry chickpeas for 6 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and let drain. (If you were to make this with catfish, now would be the time to cook it -- treated the same way as the chickpeas.)

Charred Corn Relish

Heat a heavy pan (cast-iron if available) until very hot. Add corn kernels to pan and allow to char, cooking undisturbed. Add bell peppers and cook, stirring, 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and add garlic and shallot. Cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat, add black beans, jalapeno pepper, olive oil, lime juice, lemon juice, cilantro, parsley, salt and chile powder. Keep warm.

Separate onion rings and dredge in seasoned flour. Heat grapeseed oil in heavy saute pan (the same one used to fry the chickpeas) and fry onion until lightly browned. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Let drain and keep warm.

Clean okra and trim stems. Steam 8-12 minutes, whole. Once cooked, chop into 1/2-inch chunks. Toss with butter, salt and pepper.

Serve chickpeas topped with corn relish and fried onions, okra on the side. Enjoy!

Make it a meal: This dish (or dishes, depending on how you see things) is really a meal in itself! Serve with

Separate dishes

 a rose -- I'd recommend a 2010 Biohof Pratsch. Bon appetit!

Leftovers: Because there are so many components, I'm going to suggest leftovers for each one. Toss leftover okra and fried onions with kasha. Combine corn salsa with chopped kumato tomatoes to freshen it up. Serve with tortilla chips. Finally, combine some cultures (and add extra seasoning to packaged food) by heating leftover chickpeas (or catfish) with creamy polenta with spinach & carrots, courtesy of Trader Joe's.

Links to other fried onion noshes: 

• How to Make French Fried Onions from Gluten Free Mommy
• Onion Strings from The Pioneer Woman
• Oven-Fried Onion Rings with Dipping Sauce from Brown Eyed Baker
• Red Lentils with Cumin and Fried Onions from eCurry
• Peperonata from Simply Recipes

Canard aux 4 epices et coriandre

Duck and my giant mound of Carrots

It's been beautiful here the past few days, so I wanted to spend as little time indoors as possible. It was also in the 80's this weekend, though, so I needed something a little spicy for dinner. On Friday I had no classes, so I had the time to cook and decided I wouldn't mind something more interesting that the turkey breasts I've been pan-cooking for myself. And I had a container of Creme Fraiche sitting in my fridge begging to be used up before it expired. So I searched through some blogs and found this duck recipe on Mijo's Je Mijote, a down-to-earth French cooking blog with some really enticing recipes. What really caught my eye about this recipe was that it needs to marinate for several hours, so I put it in the fridge while I went and read outside, then came home after sunset and cooked it up. I was as loyal to Mijo's recipe as I know how, though I threw in a couple of dried cayenne peppers for extra punch. The play of spicy cayenne and sweet 4 epices blend (it has nutmeg, ginger, cloves and white pepper) was perfect. As you can see, I served it with a giant mound of boiled carrots that worked very well in the excess sauce. Although I forgot to buy bread, I would strongly recommend a nice crusty baguette.

Canard aux 4 epices, coriandre et cayenne
Very gently re-worked from Mijo's recipe.
Serves 2 meat-eaters as the main course.

700 grams Duck breast (fillet de canard), cut into small strips
10 grains of Coriander, smashed (I used my mortar and pestle)
2 dried Cayenne peppers, smashed
1 tablespoon 4 epices (or equal parts Nutmeg, Ginger, Cloves and White pepper, all ground)
2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
Salt and Pepper
1 Onion
1 Red Bell Pepper
Olive Oil
25 cl Rose wine (I used the one still left from WBW)
2 spoonfuls Creme Fraiche

Marinate the Duck with the Corander, Cayenne peppers, 4 epices, Soy Sauce, Salt and Pepper. Place it all in a bowl in the fridge for 3-4 hours.

Finely chop the Onion and Bell Pepper, then cook them with the Olive Oil in a pan over medium heat, until Onion is golden.

Add the marinated Duck and cook about 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Pour in the Wine and let it cook 5 minutes. If the Duck is not yet cooked (this will depend on how big your pieces are), continue cooking until it is.

Take pan off stove and stir in Creme Fraiche, mixing everything together.

IMBB #15: Creme cannelle

Cinnamon cream reversed on a plate.

When I first saw the topic for this month's IMBB, (Is My Blog Burning?) I wasn't sure I would be able to participate. The topic was "Has my Blog Jelled?" and was conceived by the imaginative Elise from Simply Recipes. (You can see her gorgeous write-up here.) I have to admit, I've always been scared of Jello, and, therefore, anything that jiggles. It may be because my cousin convinced me it was alive and would eat me when I was about five. Either way, I have never happily eaten Jello and was afraid I couldn't come up with something tasty and innocuous.

But then I started reading recipes using gelatin and found it's used for all sorts of cream-based desserts, such as Panna Cotta. I came up with this Cream, delicately flavored with Cinnamon and a little Vanilla Extract. It's somewhere between a Panna Cotta and the un-burnt part of a Creme Brulee. And the best part? It's exceedingly easy, once you figure out how to use sheets of gelatin, which, I admit, took me two attempts and some advice from Barbara of Winos and Foodies.

The only thing to watch out for with this recipe is that it really does need at least four hours and preferably overnight to set. So be sure to make it in the afternoon if you want it for dinner!

Creme Cannelle

Serves 4.

3 sheets Gelatin (6 grams)
1/2 liter Whole Milk
1/4 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Cinnamon stick
4 tablespoons Brown Sugar
2 Egg Yolks

Place the Milk, Vanilla Extract and Cinnamon Stick into a saucepan and bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes. Soak Gelatin in a cup of cold water for 5-10 minutes.

Remove Gelatin from water and squeeze dry. Remove Milk mixture from flame and strain out Cinnamon Stick and any skin that may have formed. Stir in Gelatin until it dissolves. Whip together Egg Yolks and Brown Sugar, then add them to the Milk while still hot. Cool slightly.

Pour into 4 individual molds (I used ramekins) and chill for at least 4 hours.

Agneau au safron et almondes or He's home! He's home!

The Boy came home today and there was much rejoicing. We finished the Jarret de veau for lunch and then went shopping for dinner before my acting class. He had specially requested no fish or pigeon (both of which he apparently ate a ton of in China) and said what he missed most was stew. So, knowing that he loves and is slightly in awe of saffron and since I've been craving Middle-Eastern inspired food lately, I decided to make him a lamb stew with saffron and toasted almonds, influenced by a recipe for goat I found on Chef 2 Chef.

Agneau au safron et almondes
Adapted from Chef 2 Chef

1 tablespoon Butter
1/2 sliced blanched Almonds
1 pinch Saffron powder
2 thick slices Pancetta, diced
700 grams Lamb, cubed
1 Onion, finely chopped
4 cloves Garlic, minced
3 plum Tomatoes, chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon dried Oregano
1 Bay Leaf
Water
3 medium Russet potatoes, peeled and cut into eighths

Heat Butter in a pan and saute Almonds in it over medium heat until lightly browned. Set aside in bowl, add Saffron and mix with your hands once Almonds are cool enough to handle.

Without cleaning the pan, saute Pancetta over medium heat until lightly cooked, then transfer to a pot. Brown Lamb (in as many batches as necessary so as not to crowd the pan), then add to the Pancetta. Still not cleaning the pan, saute the Onion until golden, then add Garlic, Tomatoes, Almond-Saffron mixture, Oregano and Bay leaf and Salt and Pepper to taste. Add everything to the pot with Lamb and Pancetta and mix. Put the pot over high heat and add just enough Water to cover the mixture. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and partly cover the pot. Simmer for 1 hour. Add Potatoes, pushing them as much under the meat as possible, and cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes. Serve once the potatoes are ready.

Serves 3.