Spring

BUTTERMILK BERRY CRUMB CAKE

Sara Forte · April 24, 2014

I'm reading a few different baby books. I read a little of one or the other each night. Just enough to gather a bit of advice I find helpful, tell Hugh about it, and then doze off. One is about pregnancy, and while I have gotten pretty lucky by way these 10 months go, these last few weeks have been more trying in regards to how I feel physically. So tired and fatigued merely from the task of carrying around a mini person in my mid-section all day. While these books bring up pretty obvious points, I am fascinated by how innate and instinctive the qualities are that take over in the last month or so. The nesting, cleaning, preference to withdraw a little bit... In my moments of fear and angst, I try to remember how natural this is, how we've been making babies since the beginning of time. Maybe part of some womens' nesting includes cooking, but I assure you it is the absolute last thing I feel like doing. Ironically, our cookbook manuscript is due next week so food is powering through this kitchen regardless. Head down and go. I also really wanted to stay in the habit of having people over and enjoying a meal with friends, so this season has been... intresting.

We have friends coming for coffee tomorrow, another couple for dinner, and my parents here helping in the yard on Saturday (yea, about that whole final month recluse deal...). I needed a breakfast snacking cake that would last through a few days of visitors. While I do prefer it, my grain-free baking is hit or miss, so I went a more traditional route for this recipe. This cake has a tight crumb, almost dense in the most charming of coffee cake ways. A cake that requires you to take small bites between sips of coffee. We ate it with some loosely whipped cream and extra berries because if you're going to have cake, you must really have cake. Maybe even a la mode for the evening crowd. However, aside from the personal whipped cream preference, this coffee cake is relatively lowfat with some of its classic butter content being replaced by the mashed banana. It's these everyday sort of cakes I like in my back pocket for cooking and non-cooking days alike.

(update: for the few of you that asked in the comments. I have really liked the Dr. Sears books. I read The Pregnancy Book and The Vaccine Book by them and have The Baby Book as well but have only read the first two chapters. A friend recommended The Birth Partner and while dense and detailed, it has a lot of information for natural childbirth. I just started Happiest Baby on the Block and while it's a bit corny, I think there are some helpful tidbits.)

BUTTERMILK BERRY CRUMB CAKE // Serves 8-10

Loosely adapted from 101Cookbooks

For the sake of substitutions, I think you could replace the buttermilk with a non-dairy milk and a tablespoon of lemon juice. As for making it gluten free, I would try a blend of almond meal, oat flour and flaxmeal but I hesitate to given proportions without trying it myself first. I am sure an all purpose GF flour would be worth a shot as well.

I still don't completely trust the oven at our new place so you'll have to report back if you try this and come up with a different baking time. My oven and thermometer say different things and I don't exactly trust either. Bare with me. One day I will fix its uncertainty or my lack of faith.

3/4 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 medium ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup / half stick unsalted butter, melted
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 cup muscavado sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
scant 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
little grate of fresh nutmeg
2 cups mixed berries, chopped small, divided
/ crumble /
1/4 cup / half stick unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1/4 cup natural cane sugar
1/4 cup muscavado sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 325'. Line a springform pan with parchment and grease the bottom and sides.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the buttermilk, mashed bananas, melted butter, eggs and vanilla. Mix well to combine and set aside.

In another bowl, mix the white whole wheat flour, all purpose, muscavado, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg and stir to mix well. Add one cup of the berries to the dry mix and toss to coat. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir to combine in as few stirs possible. Being careful not to overmix to keep the cake tender.

In another bowl, make your crumble. Mix the softened butter, oats, flour, cane and muscavado sugars, cinnamon, ginger and salt together and mash everything with the back of a fork to combine. It will be sandy in texture.

Pour the batter into the pan and sprinkle the remaining berries on top. Distribute the crumble on top of the berries. Put the springform on a baking sheet (just in case it leaks, I prefer to play it safe) and bake on the middle rack for 55-60 minutes until golden on top and you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean. The cake is fairly low in fat, be careful not to overbake and dry it out.

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Appetizer, Entrée, Snack, Spring

AVOCADO TARTINES WITH GRIBICHE EGG SALAD

Sara Forte · November 10, 2013

Avocado Tartine with Girbiche Egg Salad . sprouted kitchen

I know, the avocado toast thing has been played, but this one is my new favorite. Goodies on toast is a timeless food application, I'm sure of it. I was at a baby shower brunch for one of my dearest friends a few weekends ago at a charming restaurant in Los Angeles called Eveleigh. Life is its own sort of wonderful when you see a friend who your soul trusts and adores, growing a person inside them. Baby, your mother has one of the most tender spirits and sweetest hearts and greatest laughs of all time, you're the luckiest. I'm thrilled you'll get to receive her love. So that part is exciting. But the second most exciting was this avocado toast starter that all the ladies at the table talked about after multiple shared courses. It was quite simple - thin crispy pieces of fresh, grainy bread, smeared with avocado, a sprinkle of aleppo pepper, and then a very chunky sauce gribiche was served on the side to top your toast. I get stuck on what to make for the blog and I just listened to the table chatter about the toast and felt like I was doing blog field research - people want a recipe for this toast, and I need to eat this again.

Classically, this sauce is more of an aioli base, where the yolk emulsifies for a more cream sauce consistency than the egg salad disgrace to the French I have here. It is intended to put on potatoes, chicken, fish... Molly writes about it here if you need more persuading. She's one to be trusted. I am an easy sell as eggs, shallots, heavy on the green herbs, and ripe avocado all fall into my favorite ingredients list. I suppose you could manage this on small baguette-size toasts for an appetizer or serve it along side a green salad for a complete meal. Even if you didn't want it on a tartine, the egg salad part would be an easy to pack lunch for work with a bag of crackers. All I know is this combo will be happening here often.

AVOCADO TARTINES WITH GRIBICHE EGG SALAD // Makes 4

I don't like my egg salads super yolky, so I take the yolk out of 2-3 of the eggs and chop from there. This makes it a little less rich and I prefer it that way, but you can make that call. If it gets chilled over an hour or two, leave the egg salad at room temperature for at least fifteen minutes before serving for the dressing to be the best texture.

2 teaspoons dijon mustard
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup well chopped mixed herbs: flat leaf parsley, tarragon, thyme, chives, fennel fronds
1 small shallot, minced
1 tablespoon capers, drained
6 hard boiled eggs (see headnote)
sea salt and pepper to taste
4 slices of a grainy country loaf
1-2 avocados

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the dijon, vinegar and olive oil. Add the herbs and shallot. Give the capers a rough chop and add them too. Add a hearty pinch of salt and pepper and give it a stir.

Remove the shell from the eggs and discard any yolks if you so choose. Chop the eggs up and add them to the dressing. Stir to mix. Add salt and pepper to taste. Keep covered in the fridge until ready to use. The egg salad can be made up to a day in advance.

Toast the slices of bread. Mash the avocados well with a pinch or two of salt. Spread a layer of avo mash on the toasts and top with a few heaping spoonfuls of the egg salad on top.

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Entrée, Spring, Summer, Fall, Gluten Free

MUSHROOM BURGERS WITH ASIAN SLAW

Sara Forte · September 9, 2013

Caroline,

I remember when I first got your email. It was the week after some negative comments had gotten the best of me, I mentioned it here and you'd written just to say hi. You appreciated my work; the food, yes, but also the way I wrote. I don't consider myself a "writer." I like writing, I can write letters, and I err on the side of vulnerability... you could classify me as a journaler, perhaps. Anyway, I keep coming back to your email because you remind me that I want to be relatable here. Even when vulnerability feels risky.

"I found your blog a year or two ago, and bookmarked it just for salad inspiration. But recently I've realized that your blog has become to me inspiration not just for salads and "bowl foods" and good food in general, but for good LIVING too. In the past 3 months, I've graduated college, gotten married, started a 9-to-5, and moved to a depressed inner-city. Our car has gotten broken into, we've started paying bills, we've learned that good communication in marriage is a full-time job, and, and, and, -- you know: real life happened. The better and the worse."

That's a lot to soak up in 3 months, lady. It wasn't the fluffy pep-you-up type of email, but the real-life-happened part of it that reminded me that we're all in a mess of things. I stop writing in fear of judgement but those aren't the people I'm writing to. We went to the beach late in the afternoon last weekend in search of a bit of perspective. I had let the prospect of a house purchase swallow me up and I needed out of my own head. I had gotten home from work in time for a late afternoon in the sun, and after a weeks-long-swell-drought there were finally some waves, so Hugh was eager to get in the water. He had been working at home all day and needed time in the waves with his buddies. I had been with people all day, so I needed to sit by myself and stare out into the ocean whose endlessness always puts things in perspective. The house was a massive decision, but not the most important we will ever make. And while it certainly comes into play, it is not the single point at which our future happiness and success will teeter upon. It is a house. Sitting there at the edge of the Pacific, so much that I had not thought about all week while I'd been wrestling with the "right decision" filled my heart.

My aunt who continues to fight cancer for the fourth time, sick and discouraged.

Friends with babies in their bellies and friends who desperately want babies in their bellies.

Health. Marriages. Lonliness. Divorce. Loss. All of it right in front of me or just a degree away.

I've re-read your email a dozen times now, Caroline. I keep the entirity of it in my personal email folder to remind me why I love this space and the awesome people I'd have never met if not for this website. Thank you for reminding me that there are people on the other side of this blog - some of whom are here for recipes or maybe the pretty photos, but most that are simply other people doing their best to craft a beautiful, meaningful life.

I hope more better than worse for you, lovely.

Best,

me.

MUSHROOM BURGERS WITH ASIAN SLAW // Serves 4

For the slaw, I have this julienne peeler and think the quality is excellent. It is easiest to use when the vegetables are fresh and cold, the firmer the better for peeling purposes. A regular vegetable peeler works fine as well, your shreds will just be thicker. A great thing about marinating vegetables or tofu is that unlike meat, you can put them back into the marinade after cooking to soak up a bit more of the flavors. That said, chicken or fish, salmon maybe, could work here too if you're making food for a more omnivorous crowd.

4 large portobello mushrooms
2 Tbsp. low sodium soy sauce/tamari
2 Tbsp. maple
1 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil/ extra virgin olive oil
squeeze of lemon or lime
pinch of pepper

2 carrots
1 small english cucumber
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp. tahini
1 tsp. low sodium soy sauce/tamari
2 tsp. toasted sesame oil
2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
2 Tbsp. fresh mint, roughly chopped
1 small bunch cilantro, roughly chopped
2 avocado
sriracha mayo*
4 buns

Wipe the mushrooms clean and remove the tough stem. Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium heat. In a shallow pan, mix together the soy sauce/tamari, maple, oil, splash of citrus and pepper. Add the mushrooms and rub the marinade into all of the surfaces. Let them sit for 5-10 minutes to soak it up.

Using a julienne peeler or vegetable peeler, shave the carrots and cucumber into thin or thick shreds respectively. Put them in a large mixing bowl with the red onion. Make a quick dressing by whisking together the tahini, soy sauce/tamari, sesame oil and vinegar. Pour it over the vegetables and toss to coat. Add the chopped mint and cilantro and give it all one more toss.

Grill the mushrooms for 5 minutes on each side or until they are soft throughout. Grill or warm the buns.

To assemble the burger, smash half of an avocado on the bottom of the bun, top with the grilled mushroom and a big scoop of the asian slaw. Spread a bit of sriracha mayo on the top side bun and enjoy.

* For the sriracha mayo, I use 1 part homemade sriracha to 2 parts veganaise or mayonaise. Stir and spread. The bottled stuff works just fine but try the homemade stuff at some point, it's a treat and has no preservatives.

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