running with tweezers

Sugar Coma - The Redux!

Remember these babies? They caused quite a stir a few months back. They're frosting shots from Little Cake Bakery in Atlanta, one of our many stops on the wildly successful Sugar Coma tour of our city's sweeteries. The brainchild of The Broke Socialite, it highlights all things sweet in our fair city. We had an absolute blast last time.

I'm THRILLED to report that Sugar Coma is happening again in Atlanta! Sugar Coma - The Redux will take place on May 1st. Two tours - one in the AM and an afternoon one - will tool all over town (in a luxury shuttle) to taste the best that Atlanta's bakeries, sweet shops and restaurants have to offer. I'm honored to say that I will be following in Helen's footsteps as Sugar Mama of this edition of Sugar Coma. While touring the town, we'll be chatting about all things foodie. I'm SO excited about getting to spend the day with sweets & lots of sweet folks.

  If you'd like to join us - and I can't imagine you WOULDN'T - visit the Sugar Coma Redux event page for all the necessary information and for access to registration. I can tell you tickets are going LIGHTENING FAST so secure your seat quickly if you want to take part in the festivities. Hope to see all of you on May 1st!

melt with you

I've been around sweet stuff all week. Literally - a three day shoot of nothing but chocolate drizzles, whipped cream dollops, and mango martini pours. For most folks, this would be a dream come true. In my case, the days of drinks and desserts (and a good bit of finger licking) had me longing for veggies, bread and nothing fried. I vote savory over sweet any day.

This recipe has been on deck for a week or two now - it was in my in-box courtesy of Everyday Food. I have always been a fan of their recipes for their simplicity and ease of finding the ingredients. Despite the fact that this recipe takes about 25 minutes from start to finish to make, I just couldn't get any cooking done this week. Today, on my first real day off in a while, these beauties were my lunch - and they were good.

It's a pretty straightforward recipe. I've, of course, tweaked it slightly. Rather than chopping garlic for the mayo these veggies sit on, I threw together some mayo & great sun-dried tomato pesto (loaded with garlic & capers, as well). The gouda was replaced by shredded mozzarella cheese - I think you could use ANY cheese for these melts and they would be great. While this combination of vegetables was delicious, I think this is a great application for any crusty bread & random produce you have lying around your house. Toss them with a glug of oil, a little seasoning and heap it all on some thick cut bread for an instant and mostly healthy meal.

Portobello, Broccoli, and Red Pepper Melts - serves 4 - original recipe found here 

    •    1 small head broccoli, cut into small florets (stalk discarded)
    •    1 tablespoon olive oil
    •    Coarse salt and ground pepper
    •    4 portobello mushrooms (stems removed), sliced 1/2 inch thick
    •    2 red bell peppers (ribs and seeds removed), sliced 1/2 inch thick
    •    1/4 cup light mayonnaise
    •    2 tablespoons good quality pesto, olive or sun-dried tomato tapenade
    •    4 thick slices crusty whole wheat, Ciabatta or country bread
    •    1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

- Heat broiler, with rack set 4 inches from heat. On a rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, toss broccoli with oil; season with salt and pepper. Broil, tossing once or twice, until broccoli begins to char, 4 to 6 minutes.
- Add mushrooms and bell peppers to sheet; season with salt and pepper, and toss to combine. Broil, tossing once or twice, until vegetables are tender, 8 to 10 minutes more; set aside.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine mayonnaise and pesto or tapenade; season with salt and pepper. Place bread on a work surface. Dividing evenly, spread with mayonnaise mixture, and top with vegetables, then cheese. Place on baking sheet, and broil until cheese is melted and lightly browned, 2 to 4 minutes. Serve immediately.

making strides

Those of you who have read this blog for any length of time are likely doing a double take right now. You're not imagining things - that's carrot soup. The much maligned vegetable has - until recently - only made guest appearances in my kitchen in recipes like beef stew or chicken soup. On it's own, I've had an aversion to them most of my life. I'm not sure if it's because of the horrific dilled carrots my mom used to make (bless her heart, she could cook anything...except carrots) but I've cultivated my disdain for them for years.

Well. In the effort of not wasting food - and in the effort of not going out in yesterday's monsoon - I wanted to make some sort of soup out of the stragglers left in the fridge. At first, I was going to hide them in a soup with some lentils and sweet potatoes. The soup got simpler and simpler until this recipe came about - nothing covering them up. Just an accent of fresh orange juice and a little honey. It's simple and delicious. It also provided a nice pop of color on an otherwise dreary, gray day. I garnished my bowl with a little sour cream and some toasted cumin seeds - I like the smokey accent with the mellow sweetness of the soup.  You could also top this with mint or cilantro, as well as toasted pumpkin seeds or almonds.

Honeyed Carrot & Orange Soup - serves 4 as starter

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 2 cups vegetable or low sodium chicken stock
• 2 cups water
• juice of 4 medium oranges (roughly 4-5 tablespoons)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• creme fraiche, fat free sour cream or yogurt, to serve (optional)
• 2 tablespoons toasted cumin seeds, to serve (optional)

- Melt the butter gently in a medium saucepan then add the carrots, onion and garlic. Put the lid on the pot and cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have softened but not browned (about 15 minutes).

- Pour in the stock, water and a pinch of salt (if you're not using low sodium stock, save this step for last). Bring to the boil and simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are very soft. Remove from heat and allow to cool before pureeing.

- Pour cooled vegetable mixture in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Return puree to pot. Add orange juice and bring back to a simmer. Add honey and salt & pepper (to taste). Garnish with a swirl of creme fraiche, sour cream or yogurt and a sprinkle of toasted cumin seeds, if you choose. Serve immediately.

citrus and sunshine

Last week was another long shoot week. I had several long days and a nasty bug that hit at the end of the week...so not much happened in the way of beautiful cooking. Also, the weather has been so cold and dismal here that it's been a bit tough to get inspired, I have to admit.

Thankfully, today provided a much needed break in the dreary, rainy days we've been enduring here in Atlanta. The sun has been blissfully shining and it's nice enough to have the windows open. It's been nice spending the afternoon in some quiet sunbeams & doing some baking. I've had these incredible blood oranges sitting around since I posted the salad I incorporated them in. Fearing they'd go to waste, I made this simple blood orange upside down cake today.

I have to say - it's stunning. The blood oranges look like fireworks or flowers on top of the cake. The cake part comes together really quickly using ordinary pantry ingredients. If you want your cake to be less sweet, like I do, use grapefruit juice in your batter. If you want to amp the sugar up, use orange juice. I like the bitterness of the grapefruit juice with the blood oranges. A little powdered sugar or not-too-sweet whipped cream would be the perfect compliment to this cake.

Blood Orange Upside Down Cake - serves 8

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup grapefruit or orange juice
• 1/2 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 4 medium blood oranges, peeled and cut into wheels about 1/4" thick and large seeds removed 

- Preheat oven to 375 F. In to a medium size bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder & baking soda.
- In another small bowl, mix together the brown sugar and sugar in small bowl. You're trying to eliminate any large chunks of brown sugar and have an even mix of sugars.
- In a separate bowl combine the egg, grapefruit/orange juice, vanilla extract, olive oil and add 1/2 cup of the combined sugar mixture. Stir in the dry ingredients in small batches until batter is well mixed but not overworked.
- In a buttered & floured 8-inch spring-form cake pan, sprinkle the rest of the remaining 1/2 cup of combined sugar in the bottom of the pan. Arrange the blood orange slices in bottom of the prepared pan.
Pour the batter over the oranges and place in the oven.
- Bake in oven for 45 minutes until a wooden skewer inserted in the middle of cake comes out clean. Allow cake to cool for 30 minutes before inverting the pan on a large plate or cake stand. Serve with a dusting of powdered sugar, lightly sweetened whipped cream or ice cream.