Sicilian Orange Cake

I love this cake! It is a real treat. Lisa made this for me as my birthday cake a couple weeks ago. Very moist (thanks to the cup of olive oil), orangey, not too sweet and it has a nice crunchy edge. All you need is a good cup of coffee to go with it.  Make this!  You won't regret it. And you will make someone very happy!

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 1/4 cup unsweetened, unflavored almond milk

3 large eggs

1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice - from the navel oranges used for zest

1/4 cup Grand Marnier or Gran Gala liqueur

Powdered sugar

Candied orange zest

For the candied orange zest - 

1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
Shredded zest from 2 navel oranges

Stir the sugar and water together in a sauce pan. Heat on med high until it comes to a boil.
Add the orange zest and lower heat to med low and cook until the sugar water reduces and thickens.
Remove the pieces of zest with a fork and spread out on parchment paper to cool.

For the cake - 

Preheat the oven to 350º F. 

Oil a 9 or 10 inch by 2 inch cake pan and line the bottom with a disc of parchment paper.

Whisk the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and baking powder together in a bowl, taking care that everything is evenly combined. 

In a second larger bowl, whisk the extra virgin olive oil, almond milk, eggs, orange zest, orange juice and orange liqueur.

Add the dry ingredients and whisk until free of any lumps and combined; but do not over mix.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, tap pan lightly on the counter to remove any air bubbles and bake for 1 hour or until the top is golden and a tester comes out clean. 

Transfer the cake in the pan to a rack and allow to cool for 30 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the cake, invert and then flip back over and place on the rack and cool completely.

Once cool, place the cake on a serving plate, dust with powdered sugar and garnish with the candied orange zest.

Calabrese Pasta with Sardines and Fennel

Pasta con le sarde (pasta with sardines) is a classic southern Italian dish. The ingredients typically include sardines, fennel, raisins and pine nuts. The pasta of choice is bucatini, a thick spaghetti-like pasta with a hole running through the center. The whole thing is topped with toasted bread crumbs and fennel fronds - yeah, tha's right!

Instead of bucatini, our version uses fileja, a pasta home to the region of Calabria, Italy where many of my ancestors were from. Fileja is made by rolling a marble sized piece of pasta dough around a steel or wood rod as in the photo below. It is a wonderful thick chewy pasta that goes with all kinds of sauces. It's our favorite go-to homemade pasta. So easy to make by hand, and you don't need a pasta rolling machine. See this link on how to make it at home - How to make fileja pasta

In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil (add more if needed) over medium heat. Add fennel and onion and cook, stirring, for about 15 minutes or until softened and slightly caramelized.

Add garlic and stir for 2 minutes.

Add saffron with soaking liquid and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.

Stir in the raisins.

Add the canned sardines. 

Add ½ cup warm water and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
When the pasta is al dente, drain and add to the sardine fennel sauce. Stir together.

Make bread crumbs from good crusty country bread in a food processor to a coarse texture. Then toast in a frying pan with olive oil and a little salt and pepper. Make about two cups.

Here is a video by chef John that we based our version on - 

ENJOY!!!

Braised Lacinato Kale and Linguine

We grow lacinato kale in our garden and there is enough now to harvest some of the leaves. Lacinato is a variety of kale with a long tradition in Italian cuisine. It's also called dinosaur kale or black kale. The plant has large dark blue-green leaves with a bumpy embossed texture. Like most greens the flavor is slightly bitter but lacinato kale is sweeter with a delicate earthy taste. It is commonly used in soups or braised with garlic and served as a side dish. We decided to mix it in with linguine and have homemade hot Italian sausage on the side. This along with a bowl of cubed melon makes a really nice spring dinner.

Ingredients

About 1 pound lacinato kale, large center ribs and stems removed, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch slices

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 medium onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1/2 pound linguine

Zest of one lemon

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Freshly grated pecorino cheese

Directions

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add chopped onion and cook until soft and translucent, stirring occasionally for about 6 minutes. 

Add the garlic and sprinkle with salt; cook until onion is golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. 

Add kale and remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and toss until wilted, about 3 minutes. Cover pot and reduce heat to medium-low. Continue cooking until kale is very tender, stirring occasionally and adding water by teaspoonfuls if dry, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the linguine in a pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid. 

Add cooked linguine to the kale mixture in the skillet. 

Add lemon juice, lemon zest and 2 tablespoons reserved pasta water, toss to combine, adding more liquid by tablespoonfuls if dry. 

Serve in pasta bowls with a side of Italian sausage, dress with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle with grated pecorino cheese.

Artichokes Part II - Pan Grilled 3 Ways

This is a photo of two beautiful purple artichokes from Renew Farms in Newnan, Georgia. Yes, they are growing artichokes here in Georgia! We are lucky to live close.

Below are three easy pan grilled/pan seared fresh artichokes dishes we made. The herbs and seasonings I like to use with artichokes include thyme, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, dry white wine, sea salt & coarse black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes and sometimes shallots. Keep it simple.

Grilled Renew Farms Artichokes with linguine

Clean and prep the artichokes and cut in half lengthwise. Put in a steamer and steam for about 15 minutes. Take out and drain.

Drizzle with olive oil, add a little sea salt, coarse black pepper, thyme and lemon juice. Heat the grill and lay the artichoke halves on cut side down. I did this inside but you could easily grill them on a gas grill outside but be careful about the olive oil flaring up.

Grill until they develop some good char marks and turn over. 

Toss the linguine with garlic sautéed in olive oil (including the olive oil), sea salt, crushed black pepper, flat leaf parsley and pecorino cheese.  Add the grilled artichoke halves.

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Grilled Baby Artichokes

Unfortunately you won't find baby artichokes in a Kroger or Publix but if there is a good "for real" farmer's market near you, you might be able to find them this time of year. They are just the early versions of mature artichokes, usually about 2" - 3" long.  They are very tender and you can use just about the whole bud - no choke inside.  Just pull off a few outside leaves and trim a little.

Dressed simply with olive oil, salt & pepper and pecorino cheese. Serve as a side to roast chicken or pork.

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Pan Roasted Renew Farms Purple Artichokes

Clean and prep the artichokes, then cut in half.
Steam for about 15 minutes and drain.
Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with thyme and salt and pepper.
Put a little olive oil in a non stick pan and set on medium heat.
Add the artichokes cut side down with a sliced shallot and a couple minced cloves of garlic.
Squeeze some lemon juice, add a little white wine, more olive oil if it looks like it needs it.
Turn over when it looks like the artichokes are browning well.
When the other side is browned, turned the artichokes back over and let the juices get into and around the leaves. 
Toss in some red pepper flakes and chopped flat leaf parsley. 
Keep cooking and turning the artichokes until tender and look like the pic below.
Serve with some crusty bread

And, here is a link from Oceanmist that will fill your day with all kinds of information on Artichokes -  Oceanmist Artichokes

How to Correctly Plant and Grow Tomatoes

Cherokee Purple tomatoes from our garden last year - 2014

These are very interesting articles!  After digesting the information, I decided to try at least some of these recommendations this this spring. If you are open to new ideas, don't mind a little extra planting work and love tomatoes why not?

Here are links - 

Grow better tomatoes!

Rodale's Organic Life Guide to Planting Tomatoes