ALMOND CAKE WITH CARDAMOM + BLOOD ORANGE

A rich, moist almond cake with a hint of cardamom and blood orange zest, with a simple side of blood orange slices... yep I gotta say, this cake is really working for me. I'm a total sucker for almond flour, my favorite ingredient in GF baking. I deeply appreciate that almond flour creations don't even try to mimic your standard wheat flour baked goods. Instead, almond flour treats have their own distinct flavor, texture, and magic deliciousness that no other flour can achieve - and I like that everything is packed with nutty protein.

Can I digress for just a moment to talk about our current citrus obsession? We are crazed around here as the winter citrus season winds down. Paul has been juicing up a storm - blood oranges, tangerines, cara caras, grapefruits, pomelos - whatever he can get his hands on. And two weekends ago, Paul and I walked over to our friend Laura's house to raid her extremely happy Meyer tree. I preserved a ton of lemons which will go to good use in the next few months - a tangy preserved lemon salad dressing seems to go with everything spring and summer.

GO WITH ANYTHING CAKE  adapted from Lucas Holloweg's Good Things to Eat

printable recipe

• 3 eggs, room temp
• 150 grams (5 1/2 ounces) powdered sugar, divided
• 175 grams (6 ounces) almond meal
• pinch of crumbled sea salt flakes
• 1/2 blood orange, juice and zest (if you don't have access to blood oranges, any nice orange, tangerine, or lemon will work here)
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• for serving: 2-4 blood oranges, peeled removed and slices 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Separate egg whites and yolks. In a medium mixing bowl, mix yolks with 125 grams (4.5 ounces) powdered sugar. Add almond flour, crumbled sea salt flakes, orange juice and zest, and cardamom. Stir to combine all ingredients - the mixture will be thick and paste-like. Set aside while you whisk your egg whites.

Before whisking egg whites, be sure to clean your whisk and bowl thoroughly so that there's not a hint of oil/grease to inhibit the eggs from whisking properly. I rub my whisk and bowl with a slice of lemon - the acidic juice cuts through any residue. Whisk egg whites until soft peaks form. Add the remaining sugar and continue to whisk egg whites they've formed stiff peaks.

Fold egg whites into the yolk/almond mixture. Don't overmix... we want some streaks of white after mixing.

Prep a 7 inch cake pan. First, thoroughly butter the inside of the pan. Then, cut a round of parchment paper to fit into the bottom of the pan - butter the paper too, just in case. Pour the batter into your prepped pan. Bake cake on the oven's middle rack for 35 minutes.

Let the cake cool on a rack before slicing. (Before removing the cake from the pan, be sure to slide a knife down around the edges to make sure it easily separates from the side of the pan.) Keep in mind... any gooey center of the cake will firm up as it cools.

Before serving, dust the cake with powdered sugar. Serve your slices of cake with rounds of blood orange on the side.

Serves 6-8

STONEHOUSE OLIVE OIL + BLOOD ORANGE BROWNIES

Back in September, Trish from Stonehouse Olive Oil hired me to shoot some new images for her website. When I got Trish's call - I was stoked at the opportunity to work for a woman who is passionate about her business, especially when that business is such a delicious one. I first met Trish almost 20 years ago when she and P worked together at Alice Waters' Cafe Fanny - as long as I've known her, she has dedicated her life to good food. I'm guessing that many of you are probably already familiar with Stonehouse from their shop at the SF Ferry Building. If you don't know these oils, you should. They are awesome, and I am totally hooked.

The photos above are from a field trip last month to Talcott Ranch in Carneros. When Trish offered to let me tag along, I jumped at the chance to walk through an olive grove at harvest time - the array of olive trees dripping with ripe fruit was simply breathtaking. Getting to see, touch, and smell the place where my food comes from always inspires me and makes me quite hungry!

Trish's life has been all about olive oil for over 15 years. Being food obsessed myself, one my favorite things about this project has been hearing Trish share her knowledge of oils and her food philosophy in general. Her enthusiasm is contagious, and I wanted to share with you guys...

Erin: So many of us food-lovers are ultra conscious of where our produce comes from, but we don't always have the same depth of knowledge about olive oil. The seemingly countless olive oils lining the market shelves can be daunting for consumers. Plus, all the controversy about bogus extra virgin oils from Europe has left me all the more confused. What are you guys up to at Stonehouse?

Trish: Here at Stonehouse, we taste through all our oils at the end of crush (harvest time) and select only the oils that are fabulous. I use our oils all the time, and we have a very loyal following that keeps us honest! We also have our oils certified but the COOC, the California Olive Oil Council, which has some of the most stringent extra virgin requirements in the world.  The COOC  is the best insurance a customer has these days to make sure they're buying the real deal.

It's overwhelming how corrupt the international olive oil industry is. Although it makes perfect sense, when you consider olive oil is one of the top commodities in the world, worth billions and billions, and it is incredibly unregulated.  It is not an exaggeration to say most of the extra virgin olive oils in the supermarket are not only NOT extra virgin, but not even 100% olive oil.  For people who want to know more, Tom Mueller wrote a great article for The New Yorker years ago, and followed it up with a book this year, for those who want to geek out on the subject. 

Erin: Name a few food artisans/cooks/purveyors who inspire you? 

Trish: There are so many!  I have to give 1st nod to Full Belly and Riverdog farms, as probably 70-80% of what I eat is grown by them.  Alice Waters and Michael Pollen get a lot of press in the food movement, and deservedly so, but the farmers themselves are the biggest heroes for me, because they really have skin in the game-- their lives on the line, their physical bodies-- in a way writers or restaurateurs do not.

And Capay Valley is a special place for me. It's been a pleasure to watch the farmers there grow and become part of the Farmer's Market revolution that has culminated with the opening of the Ferry Building in 2003, which is a kind of mecca for me.  Even after 10 years, I still feel blessed and weepy every time I walk into that building.  It's so gorgeous I feel lucky and honored to be a part of it.  And we're one of the most successful stores in there, which still blows my mind. Sometimes I think, wait, do I really have a store here? or am I dreaming?


Erin: What are your most dogeared cookbooks?

Trish:  The #1 most beat up is Fields of Greens, partially because it's 20 years old and one of my 1st cookbooks.  As a young vegetarian it was my 'joy of cooking,' my go-to bible.  Many of my standard dishes are from that book.  I guess I've turned back to it now because of my health issues and it has the 60's/70's cross cultural cooking I still like.  Remember the 1st time you made gazpacho and felt sophisticated?  

Alice's The Art of Simple Food is great - it feels like the culmination of all her years of experience.   I like the variations of the recipes she offers, so that each recipe really has 5-6 versions, which is how I cook, rarely the same exact thing twice.  Her Vegetables is a standby as well. 

Plenty, by Yotam Ottolenghi is a newer cookbook I'm cooking my way through and loving (Jerusalem is on it's way).  I'm also big on blogs these days for inspiration--Smitten Kitchen and Heidi, and of course Yummy Supper!

STONEHOUSE BLOOD ORANGE BROWNIES 

These brownies are not your standard fare. They do have all that dense chocolate goodness you want out of a brownie, plus the blood orange oil, quinoa flour, yogurt, and ample dose of cinnamon make for a surprising and healthful bite. With ingredients like these, we could even eat brownies for breakfast. Yum!

INGREDIENTS - thank you Trish!
{printable recipe}

• 1/2 cup cocoa powder (Trish suggests Valhrona, 100% cacao)
• 1 cup quinoa flour
• 1.5 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon Ceylon Cinnamon (or a 1/2 teaspoon standard cinnamon)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup yogurt
• 1/3 cup Stonehouse Blood Orange Olive Oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350.

Into a medium mixing bowl, sift dry cocoa, quinoa flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda and salt - dry whisk to mix, set aside.

In a standing mixer, or using a hand mixer, blend the eggs together then add yogurt, blood orange oil, and vanilla and mix until combined. Slowly add dry ingredients into the mixing bowl. Continue to mix until well blended.

Wipe the insides of a 8x10 inch pan with a little bit of Blood Orange Oil. Pour the batter in and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

Warm Rice Salad with Chard, Feta, Walnuts, and Blood Orange

You may have noticed.... I have greens on my mind. After converting our backyard to a vegetable plot nearly two years ago and watching the successes and failures of varying crops, I have come to see greens as the gems of the garden. Mustard inspired my last post, and for today's recipe I harvested rainbow chard and beet greens.

This recipe was a happy accident. A couple of weeks ago I steamed some brown rice and sauteed a couple of bunches of chard when I decided to throw the two together and continued to add other goodies that were complimentary in flavor. Luckily, I wrote down the details of these ingredients so I could recreate this scrumptious improvisation and share it with you. The rice salad is the kind of one dish meal that travels well and could be great to take to work for lunch, or share at a potluck. I hope you enjoy.


INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups cooked brown rice (at room temperature)
• 1/3 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
• 2 bunches chard, beet greens, and/or spinach
• 3 cloves garlic
• olive oil
• 2 blood oranges
• 2 tablespoons good quality red wine vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 ounces feta
• 1 tablespoon fresh tarragon chopped

Prepare rice and let it cool to room temperature. Brown rice is critical to the success of this dish - important both for its nutty flavor and nutritional value. Wild rice could also work, but not white.

Toast walnuts, chop, and set aside.

Wash greens. Remove stems. Chop leaves. If you are using chard for this salad, chop the stems as well. In large saute pan, heat olive oil (enough to generously coat the bottom of the pan) over medium heat. When oil is hot add chopped chard stems. Cook for about 5 minutes or until tender. Add chopped garlic. Cook garlic with stems for one minute. Add greens and a splash of water to pan. Cover and cook until greens are tender, about 6-8 minutes. Set aside.

Zest 1 blood orange and set aside for garnish.

Prepare the dressing. Juice 2 blood oranges. Add 2 tablespoons vinegar and salt. Mix. Slowly whisk in 1/2 cup olive oil to emulsify dressing.

When both rice and chard are no longer hot, but pleasantly warm, toss them together in mixing bowl. Gently fold in feta and walnuts. Top with orange zest and 1 tablespoon chopped (or "torn" - Thomas Keller's recommended preparation for herbs) tarragon. Salt to taste.

Serve at room temp. We ate this salad with grilled salmon and it was delicious.

Serves 4-6