POMEGRANATE GRANITA

Granita. I'm a sucker for sparkly jewel-toned shards of delicious ice.

Light, refreshing, and super easy to make, granitas are my go-to dinner party dessert. While I do enjoy granitas in the heat of summer, I actually prefer them after heavy winter fare, when a rich dessert just feels like too much. This pomegranate granita would be wonderful after a hearty veggie stew, a feast of succulent roasted meat, or even Thanksgiving dinner.

Pomegranates have a tangy, tannic, earthy flavor which I find mysterious and totally irresistible. Straight pomegranate juice can be quite intense so I've added orange juice and zest to mellow things out just a bit, and the extra layer of flavor adds a wonderful citrusy brightness to the dessert.

We all need an easy recipe (which can be made in advance) to help out with the holidays, right?

 

INGREDIENTS
printable recipe

• 3 cups unsweetened pomegranate juice
• 1/3 cup tap water
• juice and zest of one large orange or two smaller satsumas
• 1/2 cup light agave nectar
• optional for serving: candied orange peel; whipped cream with a splash vanilla extract & sweetened with powdered sugar or agave

In order to thoroughly integrate all ingredients, vigorously shake up pomegranate juice, water, orange juice, zest, and agave nectar in a large lidded jar or old milk bottle (you can also use a mixing bowl and whisk if that's easier for you).

Transfer liquid mixture to a baking dish and place it in the freezer. Every hour or so, remove the dish from the freezer and scrape the solid bits with a fork. After a few hours of freezing and scraping, your granita will be ready to serve. (Keep in mind that the shallower the baking dish and more spread out the liquid, the quicker the chill.) If you forget to scrape the granita regularly and end up with a frozen block of pomegranate ice, go at it with a fork until you have a beautiful flaky consistency.

If you are a serious pomegranate lover like my kids are, serve little glasses of this granita all on its own. You can also top it with candied orange peel, or keep in mind that the granita is absolutely delicious topped with billowy sweet whipped cream.

Once it comes out of the freezer, granita melts quickly - be sure to eat it immediately after serving.

Serves 6-8. Keeps in the freezer for 2 weeks.
 
 

OTTOLENGHI SAFFRON CHICKEN SALAD {+ A BOOK UPDATE}

Whenever I buy a new cookbook, I bookmark the recipes that tempt me. Do you do that too? Well, when I brought home Ottolenghi's new book Jerusalem last fall, this chicken salad was the first thing I needed to make. It took me a while to get to it, but here I am, and it was worth the wait. The chicken salad is infused with a not-too-sweet orange syrup - its flavor reminiscent of kumquats, which I love. All the herbs and crisp fennel makes the dish super refreshing. And the sliced chili gives the whole thing a nice kick. I can see making this salad for a lunch with friends - I think they would ooh and aah at the wonderful flavors. Ottolenghi mentions the option of substituting arugula for the fennel; being that I'm a huge fan of both fennel and arugula, I think I'll toss both veg into the salad bowl next time.

INGREDIENTS closely adapted from Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamini
{printable recipe}

• 1 orange
• 2 1/2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon saffron
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 pounds skinless boneless chicken breasts
• sea salt
• ground black pepper
• 2 fennel bulbs, sliced thin
• 1 cup cilantro leaves
• 1 cup torn basil leaves
• 1 spicy chili - Ottolenghi calls for a red chili, I used a serrano
• juice of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 400.

Slice the ends off one orange. Leaving the peel on, slice orange into 12 wedges. Place wedges in a small saucepan with honey, white wine vinegar, saffron, and just enough water to submerge the orange slices. Add more water as needed during cooking. Simmer for 1 hour. In a blender, or food processor, puree cooked orange and its liquid - this syrup will be your sauce.

Heat a large oven-proof skillet (I use my beloved cast iron) over medium-high heat. Add one tablespoon olive oil to the hot pan. Sear both sides of the chicken breasts for a couple of minutes. Season generously with sea salt and ground black pepper. Transfer pan to the hot oven to finish cooking the chicken - about 15 minutes.

Place 1/2 of the orange puree in a large salad bowl. ( Save the other half of the puree for another salad dressing - or add a bit more to this salad if you so desire.) When chicken is cool enough to handle, tear it into large pieces. Toss the chicken with orange puree. Add to the bowl: 3 more tablespoons olive oil, thinly sliced fennel, cilantro leaves, torn basil leaves, and sliced chili. Toss everything with your hands. Taste for seasoning and add additional salt, pepper and lemon juice as desired.

Serve and enjoy!

Serves 6 

A little book update...

As many of you know, I have been busy writing and shooting my own cookbook. The project is a huge one, and I'm loving the challenge. It feels strange to be doing all of this cooking, and to not be able to share it with you guys until the book is done. I'm bursting! So, I thought I'd share a few photos of my little home studio with the walls plastered with book images, and other tid bits from the book work.

This book has changed life at our house. Our dining room is no longer for dining, as it has become a (very messy) prop zone.  My recipe notes are bursting from their files and are covered with food stains. The daily piles of dirty dishes have been epic. Mostly, we are eating like royalty, but once in a while the redundancy of perfecting a recipe gets to be a bit much  - there are only so many muffins, quinoa salads, galettes, gimlets, etc a person can ingest in a day. The perfectionist in me is on high alert - I am testing and retesting, writing and rewriting recipes to make sure that not only are they delicious, but that they really truly work in all of your kitchens as well as they do in my own.

(No, that little note from my Lilah doesn't have anything to do with my book other than the fact that I keep it on my desk for a little inspiration. It always makes me smile)

The book is starting to feel (and look) REAL and I couldn't be more excited!

RADICCHIO SALAD WITH CARA CARAS, ALMONDS + ROASTED SHALLOTS

When I am putting together new things to share with you, I find that a few posts in a row will follow a theme usually dictated by the season's current bounty.  January was all about eating greens every which way and this month seems to be about apricots, peaches, pale rose.... not the edibles, but the colors.

Lately I've noticed that color is coming into play in my kitchen in a big and unintended way: last post I was dreaming of the warm glow of summer in the Corfu, and now I find myself instinctively drawn to a palate of blushing Cara Cara oranges, deep purple radicchio, and magenta shallots. And next week, I've got a little kumquat treat to share with you... again those colors are calling my name these days!

I've read of the importance of eating foods of all colors, not just for aesthetic reasons but for health. This instinct seems natural, so I think I'll just ride this rose colored wave until my body takes me in the next direction.

Note: this salad can be modified in many ways and this recipe is far from rigid or exacting... If you cannot get your hands on Cara Caras, use whatever navel oranges are at their peak at your market. And instead of almonds, roasted hazelnuts would be great here. And if you don't want to go to the effort of roasting the shallot, the salad will still be good. 


INGREDIENTS makes 4 salads
(printable recipe)

• 4 shallots
• olive oil
• salt
• balsamic vinegar
• 2 large heads of radicchio
• 1-2 Cara Cara oranges
• 1/2 cup dry roasted almonds

Preheat oven to 350.

Trim and peel shallots. Place peeled whole shallots in a small baking dish. Drizzle on a tablespoon or so of olive oil, a tiny splash of balsamic, and a sprinkle of salt. Using your hands, toss shallots to coat. Cover baking dish with tinfoil and place in the hot oven. After about 35 minutes, you can remove the tin foil, and roast the shallots uncovered for another 10 minutes.

Let the shallots cool to room temp, chop them up, place them in a small bowl, and cover them with 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Let the shallots rest in the vinegar while you prepare your salad.

Clean and trim radicchio, making sure to discard any wilted exterior leaves. Remove core and chop radicchio into long ribbons and divide the ribbons evenly between 4 salad plates.

Peel and slice your Cara Cara oranges using the technique in the photos below. (Cut a slice off of each end of the orange, then using a carving knife, remove the peels in strips.) Slice the peeled Cara Caras and remove any seeds you see. Layer the sliced Cara Caras onto the radicchio.

Coarsely chop almonds and sprinkle them over the salads.

Add about 1/2 cup olive oil to your macerating shallots and whisk until you have a nice thick dressing. Add salt to taste.

Lightly drizzle dressing over the salads.

Enjoy!

SPICY QUINOA WITH TANGERINES, PISTACHIOS, AND HERB PUREE

Here in Bali, we've been buying these tangerines for months now and I still am awed every time I cut one open - the contrast of the ultra-dark green skin and the bright ripe orange interior is a thing of beauty. I wanted to celebrate these stunners with a recipe for you, and I came up with this new dish that I am crazy about.

I knew I wanted to make something with quinoa, tangerines, and pistachios. After adding a little of this and a little more of that, we have a recipe that is sweet, savory, spicy, salty, and wholesome all in one bowl.

In order to get the kids to eat this dish, I served all the elements separately. Lilah, favoring pistachios and tangerine slices, ate everything but the spicy dressing. Otis helped make the puree and loved everything but the feta. P and I doused our quinoa in the verdant puree and liberally sprinkled every goody over the top. We all went back for seconds - success!

This quinoa could easily be a vegetarian main course and I think it would make a delicious accompaniment for simple grilled chicken, or a whole roasted fish.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups quinoa (brown rice can also be used in this recipe)
• 1/3 cup fresh tangerine juice
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 4 teaspoons lime juice (approximately 3 limes)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• pinch of fresh ground black pepper
• 1 or 2 jalapenos, de-seeded and chopped
• 1 (loosely packed) cup fresh cilantro leaves + extra for garnish
• 1/2 (loosely packed) cup fresh mint leaves + extra for garnish
• 1/2 cup pistachios
• 2 large, or 4 small tangerines
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta

 

Rinse quinoa several times. Then combine quinoa with 3 cups of water in a large sauce pan. Bring water to a boil. Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until grain is tender and cooked. Rinse with cold water. Let cool to room temp.

Place tangerine juice, olive oil, lime juice, 1 teaspoon salt, black pepper, chopped jalapeno, 1 cup cilantro leaves, and 1/2 cup mint leaves into a blender. Blend until you have a nice vibrant green puree.

Prepare tangerines: Peel 2 large (or 4 small) tangerines. I kept the peels on for the photographs because I just love the look (and my one and only knife here is duller than you can imagine!), but I wouldn't recommend eating that much peel in the salad. Check out this post, for a really easy way to slice citrus for salad.  Or, if you happen to have tangerines with tender membranes, you can just peel them and use the sections unsliced. Set aside tangerine slices/sections.

If you have picky little eaters, serve all ingredients separately. Otherwise, toss room temperature quinoa and dressing together. Scoop a mound of dressed quinoa onto each plate. Scatter tangerine, pistachios, feta, and the remaining fresh herbs over the top.

Enjoy!

makes 4- 6 servings as a side dish, or 2-3 large mains

SNOWY ALMOND COOKIES

These cookies are simple, chewy, and good!  They are made without flour - the ground almonds give rich flavor and even add a little healthiness to these easy treats. I knew they were good when my family quickly devoured an entire batch and whined for more.

Even though we are in New Zealand where it is Spring time, as native Northern Hemisphere dwellers, we have the Winter holidays on our mind. The kids and I whipped up a batch of these cookies one day and dubbed them - “Snowy” in honor of the holiday season.

Maybe it’s the holiday of year, maybe it’s the preponderance of sweets temptimg me at every cafe in NZ, or maybe it’s the adorable tiny cottage we are staying in with a white picket fence... all I know is I need to bake. For ages, I have been wanting to make my own macarons. I did some research into recipes and decided they would take way too much time, effort, and equipment for me in my temporary, basic kitchen. Plus I am way too impatient for intricate  and complicated baking recipes - not my forte. So here I am making a faux-macaronish chewy almond cookie... and I am totally satisfied.

Blood Orange, Kishu, and Cardamom Granita

Making granita is ridiculously simple, but it is not a quick dessert. If you have a few hours on a weekend afternoon to occasionally stir the slowly freezing concoction, you will be greatly rewarded.

We hung out with Abby and Jon recently and they shared a box of their beloved Kishu Mandarins with us. These juicy tangerines from Ojai are so good simply peeled and popped into your mouth like candy; mixed with a little cardamom, blood orange, and a splash of rum, they made a delicious granita.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 blood oranges
• 2 dozen Kishu or other sweet and juicy tangerines
• 3 cardamom pods, slightly crushed so the flavor releases easily
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon rum
 

Squeeze citrus until you have 2 cups of juice.

In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, stir citrus juice, sugar, cardamom, and rum. Over high heat, dissolve sugar, stirring constantly. When sugar has dissolved, remove from heat. After letting the liquid sit for 15 minutes, strain out cardamom pods and seeds.  Cool completely, even overnight if you don't yet have time to slowly freeze the granita.

Freezing: Pour liquid into shallow baking pan. Freeze 30 minutes. Remove from freezer and stir to break up any frozen bits. Make sure to scrape the edges of the pan, this is where the freezing begins.

Continue to freeze for 20-30 minute intervals. Stir. Freeze again. After two to three hours of freezing and stirring, your granita will be ready to eat.

Once you are ready to eat the granita, remove from freezer and serve immediately. It melts quickly.
 
We have made this granita repeatedly in the past few weeks and served it with a dollop of whipped cream, a little slice of brownie, or a few salted chocolate shortbread. The additions are decadently delicious, yet in truth the granita can easily hold its own as a fresh and bright end to a meal.

Makes 1 pint

Candied orange peel

Last weekend, I refrained from the temptation to buy a lovely package of candied orange peels at Ici. Still, as I begin to dream of making Chocolate Pots de Crème, I can't stop thinking of how perfect the tangy, sugary peels would be on top. I was about to swing by and pick some up, but I remembered my commitment to cooking at home. Making these treats myself is nearly free and fun to add to my cooking repertoire.

Some investigation into homemade candied orange peels showed me it is not a hard task. I am going to serve these on the pots de crème and maybe I'll make another batch or two to give away over the holidays or to serve in a whiskey cocktail. (I really am not a whiskey drinker, but that does sound good, doesn't it?)


Ingredients

• peel of 2-3 oranges
• 1 1/3 cup granulated sugar

Peel orange skin in big strips (try to avoid peeling much pith). Heat small pot of water on stove and simmer peels for 5 minutes. Remove peels, drain water, and use a spoon to scrape pith from peels. Slice peels into 1/4 inch strips.

Heat 1 cup fresh water and 1 cup sugar over medium until sugar has dissolved. Add the peels to syrup. Cook at a gentle simmer for 20 minutes. Drain liquid. (I am going to make some homemade soda or cocktails with my leftover syrup.) Lay strips out on parchment.

Fill a shallow bowl with 1/3 cup sugar. Dredge each orange strip in the sugar to coat. Done.

Save candied orange peels in an airtight container.