Kumquat Grand Marnier Cake with Rosemary Lemon Glaze

If I could only have one fruit for the rest of my life, it’d be the orange.

Think about it — it’s food and juice. It’s sweet and tart. You can candy the peel or spritz it into a cocktail. The pith adds a welcome bitterness if you want to change it up.

Kumquats are like super-charged oranges, which make them perfect as pops of contrasting flavor in a rich cake. Because you can eat the skin, you get the bitterness along with juice, sweet, and tart.

To me, kumquat is a very adult flavor because of its mouth-puckering flavors. Adult taste, adult beverage, so I added a healthy dose of Grand Marnier to soak the kumquats. Rosemary amps up the somewhat savory notes of kumquat and adds a lovely aroma — if the kumquats and booze weren’t doing that already.

RECIPE

1 3/4 cup kumquats
1/2 cup Grand Marnier

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of kosher salt

1 1/2 stick butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup Greek yogurt

3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
6 sprigs rosemary

Thinly slice the kumquats and add to a medium bowl. Pour the Grand Marnier over them and allow to soak. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 9-inch bundt pan.

Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and set aside.

In an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until incorporated. Reduce mixer speed to low and add one-third of the flour, then half the yogurt, then one-third the flour, then the rest of the yogurt, then the rest of the flour. Add kumquats and Grand Marnier.

Gently pour into prepared Bundt pan and smooth out top, careful not to the smoosh the fluffiness. Bake for 60 minutes, rotating midway.

Remove cake from oven and immediately start making glaze. Mash three sprigs of rosemary with the lemon juice. Strain, then add infused juice to powdered sugar. Mix thoroughly. You will think you need more liquid, but you don’t. Keep mixing until you reach a stiff but still fluid consistency. Invert Bundt pan onto wire rack on top of a baking sheet (to catch the dripping glaze). Immediately pour glaze on top and top with the rest of your crushed rosemary. The cake must be glazed while the cake is hot, so work fast!

Raspberry Biscoff Tiramisu

I tend to think of desserts in categories. For Thanksgiving or Christmas, I must bring 3/4 of these flavors:

1. Nuts

2. Apples

3. Pumpkin

4. Citrus or Berry*

*#4 is never up for debate -- it’s an essential ending to any long meal. You want something bright and fresh to cleanse the palate.

Keep in mind, I didn’t say “light”. I’m talking bright… but also rich, indulgent, and over-the-top.

So that’s how I came up with my raspberry tiramisu. I wanted to play with tiramisu flavors, but also felt coffee and cream wasn’t enough to jolt your burdened tastebuds. Raspberries were introduced. Then freeze-dried strawberries to boost the sweet-tart berry flavor. And then Chambord -- the raspberry liqueur -- to bring out the berry notes of the coffee.

The rest of the players are the same: ladyfingers, heavy whipping cream, mascarpone. And just one more thing for contrast. Heavy is to bright as creamy is to… crunchy!

Yes, I added Biscoff cookies, which everyone knows are amazing on their own, but really make this a crowd-pleaser. (Just watch people perk up when they hear, “Biscoff”!)

This is a dessert recipe for savory cooks. You can taste and improvise as you go. Feel free to add more or less sugar or condensed milk. Amp up the booze or add another type of crunch. Just do me a favor — if you don’t use coffee and mascarpone, call it a trifle instead of tiramisu.

RECIPE

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1.2 oz freeze-dried strawberries (I got mine from Trader Joe’s)
1/4 cup sugar
11 oz sweetened condensed milk
16 oz mascarpone
18 oz raspberries

20-30 ladyfingers (I used Casa Rinaldi brand)

3 tablespoons strong coffee or espresso
3 tablespoons Chambord

20 Biscoff cookies (also called speculoos)

Beat 2 cups heavy cream with a pinch of salt in an electric mixer on medium-high until you achieve stiff peaks. Use a spatula to transfer to another bowl (don’t worry about removing all the cream). To the same mixing bowl, add freeze-dried strawberries, sugar, condensed milk, mascarpone, and one third of the raspberries. Mix on medium until everything is well-incorporated. Gently add three quarters of the reserved whipped cream until mixed well. Swirl the rest of the whipped cream into the mixture, so you get some white streaks.

Mix coffee and Chambord in a small bowl. Crush Biscoff cookies in a large Ziploc bag, leaving some larger pieces for extra texture.

To assemble, spread whipped cream mixture on bottom of deep glass container. Add ladyfingers and soak with coffee/Chambord mixture with a silicone brush. Add raspberries, making sure to line the edge so we can see them. Sprinkle Biscoff crumbs on top. Start again with your layers until you finish all the components.

Cover and let sit in the refrigerator. Three hours will give you half-crunch, half-crunchy. Six+ hours will give you a more uniform bite.

Cornbread with Corn Nut Streusel & Candied Jalapeno

I’m a jealous woman. The other day, my husband came home raving about a cornbread he had at a BBQ place. “It was so moist! There were bits of corn in it! It was a little sweet, but not too sweet!”

Well why don’t you marry this cornbread then???

I knew then that I’d have to make my own cornbread -- uber moist, bejeweled with corn, and a perfect balance of sweet and savory -- and give it a unique twist. A head-turning cornbread that leaves all other cornbreads in the dust.

Twist #1: Creamed corn instead of whole corn kernels. Creamed corn adds extra moisture and silkiness. Plus the corn kernels aren’t too big and jarring, they’re already soft and supple.

Twist #2: Corn nut streusel. I had a vision of a cornbread coffee cake. But what to put in the streusel? Nuts seemed out of place, but I wanted some crunch and depth. Enter corn nuts.

Twist #3: Candied Jalapeno. The cherry on top. The shaving of truffles. The nail in the coffins of all those other cornbreads (see: jealousy, above).

The husband pronounced it the best cornbread he’s ever had.

Mission accomplished!

RECIPE

Makes one round 9” cornbread

Cornbread

½ cup fine cornmeal
½ cup coarse cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon honey
2 eggs
1 stick of butter, melted and cooled  
1 can of creamed corn (14.75 oz)

Streusel
½ cup all-purpose flour
2 ½ tablespoons light brown sugar
¼ cup corn nuts (I used Incan Corn for this, which are bigger, starchier corn kernels. Either work!)
3 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces and room temp

Candied Jalapeno
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
4 jalapenos

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter or spray a 9” cast-iron skillet or pie plate.

To make the cornbread, mix cornmeals, flour, salt, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the honey, eggs, butter and creamed corn. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients until just incorporated.

To make the streusel, add all ingredients into the food processor and pulse until chunks form and everything is well incorporated.

Spread streusel on top of cornbread and bake for 25-30 minutes, until the center is firm and a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.

To make the candied jalapeno, add water and sugar to a saucepan and heat on medium-high, stirring occasionally. Slice jalapenos, removing seeds. When all the sugar is melted, add the jalapenos. Simmer on medium-low for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let rest until the cornbread is done.

When the cornbread is done, remove from oven and cool for 15 minutes or longer. Strain the candied jalapenos and add to the top. Serve with leftover jalapeno syrup.

TIPS & TRICKS

• The streusel and jalapenos make this a bit of a project, but the cornbread itself is super easy. You can do all the prep in 5 minutes.

• I am a very messy cook, so I try to minimize messes whenever I see an opportunity. One trick -- instead of using multiple mixing bowls, just mix in your measuring cup. I add all my cup measurements first. Say that’s ¼ cup sugar and ½ cup milk. I’ll add the sugar first, then fill with milk to the ¾ cup mark. Then add all your non-cup measurements, like things measured in teaspoons or singular units (ex: eggs, juice of one lemon). Bingo! You were going to dirty the measuring cup anyway, but now you’ve saved yourself one bowl (at least).

• If you don’t have time to cool your melted butter, no worries. Simply add colder ingredients first to temper the heat. Then add the eggs. If the butter is too hot, it will cook the eggs.

• Keep the seeds in the jalapeno if you want to keep them hot!

• You’ll most likely have extra jalapeno syrup. Save it! Once you strain it, it will keep in the refrigerator for 3 months. Use it for a limeade, smoothie, or cocktail. I’m partial to grapefruit juice, mezcal, and this jalapeno syrup. Muddle some cilantro in there if you’re feeling frisky.

Book Club Bites Readers Edition: Lavender Peach Macarons from Lena's Lunchbox

"We had ordered the shaved ice and candied tropical fruits, the curry ice cream with mini brioche puffs, and the lemon basil profiteroles with blueberry-oatmeal brittle. But a small army of servers brought out even more: chocolate fondant sandwiched in coconut crisps, cinnamon apple churros with maple syrup tapioca, chocolates, macarons, marshmallows. Felix delivered the petit fours himself, and whispered to me, “I’m sorry for the delay with the truffles. Try the lavender-peach macarons. They’re my favorite.” Then he smoothed his bangs back and gave me an extra-long look that made my hair stand on end." - Food Whore, Chapter 14

This scene at Tellicherry was one of my favorite to write. This is Tia's first on-the-job dinner with Michael Saltz and there's something fishy about the service. So many desserts, each more delicious than the last. 

This actually happened to me when I ate lunch with Tim Zagat as an intern at Zagat Survey. We ate at Jean-Georges and the desserts kept coming, a seemingly endless parade. 

I'm so glad this scene resonated with others, including Lena of Lena's Lunchbox who made an IRL version of my fictional creation.

Aren't they gorgeous??? See below for the full recipe and check out Lena's incredibly creative and playful recipes (I'm partial to the Big Mac(aron) and the Brown Sugar Honey Cake with Carrot Ganache and Crushed Honeycomb). And -- get this -- she's only 16. Next Christina Tosi anyone?

---

photos and words from Lena's Lunchbox

baking with lavender always makes me feel a little weird. it has a lovely taste, but using even a quarter teaspoon too much can quickly make a flavor go from ‘delicately floral’ to ‘hotel soap.’ in this recipe, finely ground lavender buds add character to the simple, meringue-based macaron cookie, and any soapiness is offset by a filling of assertive cream cheese frosting and bright peach jam.

these cookies were inspired by jessica tom’s food whore! in the book, the main character works as a secret assistant to the new york times’ food critic. their cover is blown while dining at a super nice restaurant called tellicherry, and the waiter brings them plates upon plates of desserts to try to leave a good impression: curry ice cream with mini brioche puffs, cinnamon apple churros with maple syrup tapioca, chocolate fondant sandwiched in coconut crisps, and lavender peach macarons!  it was one of the more mouthwatering chapters.

read food whore and make these (4 star) macarons!

macarons (adapted from entertaining with beth)

• 3 egg whites, room temperature
• 50 g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• purple (or red and blue) gel food coloring
• 120 g (1 cup) almond flour
• 200 g (2 cups) powdered sugar
• 2 tsp dried lavender buds

filling

• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp heavy cream or milk
• peach jam

line two baking sheets with parchment paper. beat the egg whites in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until frothy, about a minute. add the sugar, cream of tartar, and salt, and turn the mixer to high speed. whip for 8-10 minutes, or until very stiff peaks have formed (think seattle space needle). add the food coloring, making the color a little darker than desired (it will fade as the macarons bake).

combine the almond flour, powdered sugar, and dried lavender in a food processor. pulse until the lavender turns to powder, then sift the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a medium bowl. discard the larger almond pieces that remain in the sieve.

gradually fold the flour mixture into the egg whites with a spatula. be careful!! undermix and the macarons will be lumpy and cracked, overmix and they’ll be flat and won’t have feet. about 60-75 turns of the spatula when folding is the right amount of time. the batter should be thick but runny.

transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with a medium round tip. the easiest way to fill the bag with batter is to 1) twist the end of the pastry bag nearest to the tip (this prevents batter from leaking out before you’re ready), 2) place the bag in a large drinking glass and fold it around the rim, then 3) pour the batter in. pipe one-inch rounds onto the parchment-lined baking sheets, then rap the sheets on the counter to pop any air bubbles. let the macarons sit, untouched, for 30-45 minutes. this allows them to develop a skin; when they dry out, they’re forced to rise up and not spread out, giving them the trademark macaron “feet.” they should be tacky to the touch, but not stick to your fingers. during the last 10 minutes of letting them sit, preheat the oven to 300º.

bake for 20 minutes. don’t open the oven door while they’re baking. remove and let cool on pans for 20 minutes, then remove to a rack.

for the filling, beat together the cream cheese and butter in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. after a few minutes, add the powdered sugar, then the vanilla and salt. beat for 5 more minutes. add the cream and beat for one more minute. transfer the frosting to a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip.

to assemble, pipe a circle of frosting around the edge of half of the macarons. fill the hole with peach jam, then sandwich another macaron on top. makes 30 sandwich cookies. 

Thank you so much Lena!

See more Food Whore-inspired recipes here. Do you have a Food Whore-inspired dish you want to share? Email me at jessica@jessicatom.com and I'll feature you here.

Pics from Thanksgiving 2015

Like Tia, my family celebrates with a semi-traditional Thanksgiving meal. There are some non-negotiable classics: turkey, sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, cranberry sauce. Then there are Tom-family classics, curried beef samosas, foie gras, lots of veggies. Here's how I do turkey day. 

Whatever's on the menu, these samosas always steal the show. We call them "shambosh" -- wonton wrappers stuffed with curried beef and scallions, a bite-size Indian/Chinese ethnic makeup of Madagascar, where my mom was born. You might remember this wrapping technique from my Deep-fried Nutella and Raspberry Samosas video.  

I actually served these at my launch party, but told my mom to only bring 50. Otherwise, no one would eat the other food and it'd all go to waste. They are that good.

Pre-dinner we also snack on foie gras (yes, like Tia's family). I have family in Montreal and France and they bring us the good stuff. Not shown: shrimp cocktail. 

Meanwhile, my grandma and her buddies post up and play mahjongg. They play in a separate part of the house, but man between the tile clanking and lady cackling, this is very noisy (but isn't every Thanksgiving?). 

They play upon arrival, eat apps at the table, break for dinner, play again, break for dessert, then play again. One of the ladies won $97 and for some odd reason, they left $3 on the table when they left (presumably a tip???). The woman in purple is my grandma. 

Okay, dinner! Let's start with the proteins. 

My dad smokes the turkey in a jerry-rigged smoker in the backyard. It's basically one smoker that feeds into another smoker and though the house smells like a cedar shed for days, the turkey is tender, flavor-packed perfection -- even the white meat. 

We also ate roast beef (with gravy and dad's famous "horsey sauce"). These garlic-ginger-ketchup shrimp are on the table year-round, but they're great enough for a special occasion too. 

We got greens... brussels sprouts, zucchini, cucumber.

Pickled veg... a welcome sharpness during a rich meal. 

And some classics to round it out: cranberry sauce with Grand Marnier and orange peel, stuffing, sweet potato, marinated beets. Sometimes we have corn and I think at some point we had mashed potatoes, but they were phased out.

And now dessert! This is my domain. Depending on when I get in, I may do sides and dessert, or sometimes only dessert. This year, I got in at noon on Thursday (following a Frogger-like runaround with the Thanksgiving Day parade on 6th Ave), so just did desserts. 

I made these two from Pichet Ong's The Sweet Spot: salt and pepper cashew dragees with a sesame oil base note, and pistachio raspberry-rose cookies, a butter cookie fortified with cream cheese. 

This recipe came from Claudia Roden's The Foods of Spain: an almond chiffon cake with a whiff of orange and lemon peel that also happens to be gluten-free. The recipe headnotes tell me this is a Passover cake, but I liked the sound of it (and it was suitably light(ish)) so why not.

And my last contribution: an apple crisp from the Tartine cookbook. Despite its homeliness, this was the only dessert that was finished in full. You basically top apples with rounds of butter-saturated, cinnamon-scented dough. Over 90 minutes, the dough drips its flavor into the softening apples. 

Grandma brought a cream cake and we drank ice wine (another piece of Montreal in New York, I guess). 

My uncle's friend is also a major dessert contributor. Here's the oh-so-appreciated tropical fruit salad. 

And dinner and activity in one: creme brulee. 

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving too! Isn't it the best?

Book Club Bites: Dacquoise Drops

Even if you’re not particularly food-obsessed, you probably have one. A bite, a dish, a sip that changes your life somehow. Perhaps an oyster started a lifetime of risk-taking. A restaurant meal introduced you to your soulmate. A family dish opened generations of stories.

For Tia, her dish was a plate of cookies. Dacquoise drops connect her with her family, give her national recognition, and finally put her face-to-face with Michael Saltz.

The cookie is light but sturdy -- a stiff meringue made even more hardy with four types of nuts. I love them with a nutty, milky coffee. Pro tip: save a packet of silica gel from some kale chips or freeze-dried fruit. They’ll help keep your cookies crisp.

RECIPE:

Bring 4 egg whites to room temperature. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In an electric mixer, whisk egg whites on high until foamy, about 1 minute. Add 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar and mix until fluffy, about another minute. Mix ⅔ cup of powdered sugar with ⅔ cup of granulated sugar. Add to egg mixture one tablespoon at a time while on medium-high speed. Continue to whisk until shiny and stiff (a peak stands up straight and doesn’t fall over). Gently mix 2 ¼ cups of chopped nuts (a mixture of pecans, pecans and cashews) and 1 cup of almond flour.

Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper. Spoon meringues onto tray with two tablespoons, leaving about an inch between drops. Turn off oven and leave in there for at least two hours and up to overnight. Makes 40 cookies.

Chewy Chocolate-Mint Brownies

And so the paradoxical summer baking streak continues. 

Well... what's paradoxical about chocolate mint brownies? It actually makes perfect sense to me. 

I got this recipe from NYT Cooking, which I'm turning to more and more these days. (It's the email blasts, I think. I love an email blast that sounds like it's written by a real person, not a click-optimizing program.) 

This recipe is adapted from Katharine Hepburn's brownie recipe but with a few important tweaks. 

First, there are no nuts. These brownies are for D's birthday and he is anti-nuts in dessert (unless they're peanut). We will disagree about this until the end of time, but a birthday dessert is no time to be contentious. No nuts. 

Second, I cut the already tiny bit of flour (1/4 cup) with almond flour. Why? I wanted to make this a practically flourless cake. And, see above, I also like nuts in my dessert but Dave doesn't. How to hide them... 

Third, I browned the butter because browned butter begets better brownies (yes, that's how I say it in my head). 

And, last, I added mint extract. Just the tiniest bit because you don't want this to taste like toothpaste! I had no way of knowing this in the beginning, but the mint extract does something interesting. This is no regular brownie. It's a cross between a brownie, fudge, and the chewy/candied part of a meringue. It's sticky yet chewy, rich yet... and that's where the mint comes in. The mint cuts the richness and brightens the flavor in the same way lemon or red wine vinegar might brighten a savory dish. 

RECIPE: (adapted from Katharine Hepburn's Brownies from NYT Cooking) 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Melt and brown butter in a saucepan. Add 1/2 cup of Dutch-processed cocoa then set away from heat, above five minutes. Add two eggs -- one at a time -- and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 3 drops of mint extract. 

In a separate bowl, mix 1 cup of sugar, 1/8 cup of almond flour, 1/8 cup of regular flour, and a pinch of salt. Add to cocoa butter mixture and stir until just combined. 

Pour batter into a greased 8" x 8" square pan. The brownies are very flat so don't worry if it seems like the pan is too big. Bake for 35 minutes, then cool slightly and cut into squares. Like all brownies, these are good warm. But because of the mint, they're also great cold. 

Peanut-Brown Butter Blondies

Call me a contrarian. I grow my hair long in summer, cut it in winter. Order the fish at a steakhouse. Make salads in the winter... and bake in the summer. I don't know why!

Forget for a moment about the heat factor. To me, summer is about easy improvisational meals. Something on the grill. A picnic of finger foods. A cocktail of two ingredients, tops. 

Baking, of course, is not improvisational. It's precise and fickle. You have to plan ahead because you can't easily substitute ingredients. But for some reason, I've had the urge to bake this summer. Just this past month I've made this tahini banana bread, these cornmeal currant thyme cookies, this "life-changing loaf", and now these -- peanut-brown butter blondies, like a cross between peanut butter cookies and toffee cake (ie: good in any season). 

I adapted this from Martha Stewart's Cookies which organizes its chapters in the same way I think about cookies: light and delicate, chunky and nutty, crisp and crunchy, cake and tender, and so on. 

Maybe one of these summer days I'll make these into ice cream sandwiches or sundaes (with some butter pecan ice cream as a comp... or strawberry ice cream for contrast). But for now, they're great au natural. 

RECIPE: (adapted from Martha Stewart Cookies) 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a 9" x 13" pan with parchment, then butter and flour. Melt 2 sticks of butter until a golden brown. Remove from heat and cool. 

Whisk 2 1/4 cups flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer, use a wooden spoon to mix the brown butter with 2 cups of brown sugar and 1/4 cup of granulated sugar. Add the paddle attachment and turn mixer on medium-high speed, adding three eggs. Mix until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add 2 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract while beating. Slowly add flour mixture, then add 1 cup of roasted unsalted peanuts until thoroughly integrated. Pour into pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. 

Excellent warm, room temp, or cold (we've been keeping them in the fridge... steamy weather mold is no joke!) 

Tahini Banana Bread

For some, this is a breakfast cake or something to nosh with afternoon tea. But if your family is like mine and doesn't like anything too sweet, then behold the perfect dessert. 

I made this for my Dad's birthday last weekend because it has all the hallmarks of a Tom-family classic. Fruity, nutty, not too sweet. This is a banana bread with a velvet cape, made luscious with sesame and tahini. 

To be totally honest, I also made a coconut-mango panna cotta that was a complete fail. I used coconut sugar with the coconut milk, so that layer was an unappealing medium-toned brown. The top never evened out, so it had a lumpy look to it. And then, it never completely set! 

So we spooned the failed panna cotta over this dessert, and that added a little fruit and moisture. But I wouldn't recommend it. 

RECIPE: Adapted from El Rey's Sesame Banana Bread, from Bon Appetit

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toast 2 tablespoons of white sesame seeds in a dry skillet until fragrant, about 5 minutes. 

Blend 4 very ripe bananas to a smooth puree. In a separate bowl, mix 1 3/4 cups cake flour, 3/4 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. In an electric mixer, whisk 2 large eggs, 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons of tahini, and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract. Add 1 cup of dark brown sugar and 1 cup of turbinado sugar and banana puree. When well blended, whisk the dry ingredients. Fold in toasted sesame seeds. 

Pour batter into an 8" x 8" cake pan and sprinkle with 1/2 cup of sesame seeds. Bake for 60-70 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Let cool completely in pan, then serve. 

Friday Links | 6.12.15

Hey there... it's Friday! 

This past week I took a little break from blogging. Next week, I'm workshopping the second 20-page installment of my next book (tentatively titled THE COOKS) and I was working pretty intently on that. I've also been thinking about how to create the best possible content for you guys  -- quality/quantity? Food/fiction (or fashion)? 

As the book launch approaches, there's also a lot more to do: galleys to send, emails to write, people to meet, events to plan. There's the private writing and the public connecting. Now have to figure out where this blog fits into that... 

So, expect some tweaks in blog frequency -- perhaps 1-3 times per week? I'll be picking up the slack on Twitter on Instagram. 

But on to links! 

This Sunday, I'll be attending the #BeABoss food and fashion event, hosted by Taste the Style and Local Creative. Panelists include female restaurateurs, mixologists, designers, shop owners and more. Ladies getting things done, on their terms. I'm there. 

I've also gotten more involved with two great groups: YaleWomen, a group of female alums (undergrad and grad) who come together for chats about life, work, and art. The second is Books for Asia, an amazing organization that sends over 1 million books a year to locations in countries in need. Not so much Japan and South Korea... but places like Nepal, Thailand, Pakistan. Everything from children's books to academic texts to novels. I'm planning two events with tthose organizations this summer. Expect invites soon! 

I aspire to cut a mango like this.

planning Near & Far / via 101 Cookbooks

This cookbook process post from Heidi of 101 Cookbooks got me thinking about my own process. It should come as no surprise that Heidi – who was on the vanguard of beautifully photographed food blogs – is very hands on with the layout and flow of her book. This is not the sort of thing you want to improvise.

But when it comes to fiction, it seems we have a bias against outliners. I know I posted that EL Doctorow quote (“Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way), but to be honest, that's not how I do it.

Why the stigma? People think that an outline takes the romance out of writing (nope). It means you're following a formula rather than feeling the rhythms of the story and characters (not at all). Outlining is for genre writers, not literary writers (um, snobby much?). To me, there's nothing romantic about fumbling in the dark. I know too may authors who start writing a novel, only to realize that it's “not going anywhere“. But then, you've lost the energy to turn back, or – even more heartbreaking – to just delete the past 50 pages and start over. If you knew where you were going... wouldn't that be better? 

I'm not sure outlining works for everyone. But if you want to storyboard – do it! Personally, I think it's very hard to create a sound plotline with believable characters while also creating artful and beautiful sentences. So – my advice – give yourself a break and plan it out.

What do you think? Are you an outliner or not?

RECIPE: If you're grill-less like me, grease a grill pan. Mine is Le Creuset. Set it on the stove and heat until very hot, when a splash of water immediately sizzles and evaporates. (Otherwise, just heat a real grill as you do.) 

Slice a peach and plum. Lay on the grill along with some cherries and cook until grillmarks show, about 2 minutes on each side.

The peaches will get the best sear (they are the driest and you can see the black against the orange pretty well). The plum is too wet to sear but it will emit the most wonderful, surprising smell. And you will feel guilty about grilling perfectly delicious cherries ($7.99/lb!), but they will be even juicier after a kiss of heat.

Papaya Lime Sorbet

Papaya and lime. They're more than nice pairings... they complete each other. 

Papaya is a subtle, low-acid fruit. It's floral, but not as insistent as lychee. It's tropical, but not as overt as mango. And so lime strengthens its lines, like a few swipes of makeup that enhances the beauty that's already there. 

RECIPE: 

Freeze 1 1/2 cups of papaya and half a banana (or, if you're like me, just keep a bunch of frozen fruit in the freezer for sorbet and smoothies). Blend in a Vitamix with one glug of almond milk, 1 teaspoon of honey and the juice of 1 lime. If the mixture isn't blending, add more almond milk.

Jackfruit Boats with Chia Seed Pudding and Coconut Flakes

There are only so many foodstuffs that can be boats. Endive boats. Gravy boats. A banana boat is a thing, but not edible. 

So when I come across a potential boat, I pounce on it. Jackfruit is not easy to find in American grocery stores, but pretty easy to find in Asian ones. Jackfruits can be huge -- up to 80 lbs -- but you can buy them in pieces. 

Word to the wise: there's another large, prickly fruit in Asian grocery stores, but you do NOT want to get it by mistake. Durian -- the notorious, banned-on-public-transportation fruit -- looks very similar. A fresh durian will smell like dirty feet so you're probably not in danger of buying it by accident. But a chilled or old durian will have a mellower or non-existent smell. Jackfruit: this. Durian: that. Got it? 

Moving on... Jackfruit flesh comes out in little pouches that can be split into boats. The inside is filled with large seeds (which, by the way, can be boiled and eaten like boiled nuts), while the pouches themselves are encased in a matrix of fibers. It's rather tedious to prep, but at least you can snack while you work (as opposed to say, peeling garlic). 

The taste of jackfruit is basically a cross between a mango, pineapple and banana. It has a mango's tropical brightness to it, along with banana's tropical mustiness. (Also like a mango, it can cause some irritation in your throat). Add coconut, and you basically have a piña colada. 

RECIPE: There's really nothing to this besides making the chia pudding. Soak 1/3 cup of chia seeds with 1 1/2 cups of milk. I used almond milk, but this would be extra-amazing with a coconut-almond milk blend. I don't sweeten the pudding because I think the jackfruit is plenty sweet, but this is a matter of taste. 

Once the seeds are plump (about 4 hours), spoon into your halved jackfruit boats and sprinkle with unsweetened coconut flakes. 

Brûléed Peeps

Today I lived my fantasy of brûléeing Peeps. Now I want to brûlée everything that's sugar-coated. 

The appeal is obvious -- it's crème brûlée meets s'more. Unlike a creme brûlée, the sugar on a Peep is very fine, resulting in a very thin sugar crust. Think: a film of frost rather than a hard chunk of ice. 

At first, I was a little scared to use the blow torch. It's not some frou-frou Williams-Sonoma thing -- it's the real deal to solder pipes and repair cars. I assembled a kit and was kinda scared I was gonna blow up. 

But I guess my pyro tendencies took over and I got the hang of it. FIRE! 

Rainbow Fruit Salad

I take potlucks very personally.

Whether it's warranted or not, I put a lot of pressure on myself to "win". Maybe not in the potluck's spirit of sharing, but whatever.

What makes a good potluck dish? This is my internal calculus on the matter, told through the lens of our recent office Thanksgiving potluck.

1. Tastiness - Obvious. But not the be-all-end-all. (rookie mistake)

2. Table Appeal - This rainbow fruit salad was for 70 or so people. Your dish has to stand out on a crowded table. Some ways your dish can pop: color, height, an "action" (like flambé or a table-side activation like tossing or assembling).

3. Personality - Do potlucks normally have labels? I don't think so. Likely not in the spirit of sharing and collaboration? Anyway, to win the potluck the dish should be unequivocally you. If you eat healthy and clean, you should prepare something healthy and clean. If you wear dark colors, you should make something dark. Part of the fun of a potluck is guessing who made what, and this gives your dish something to remember and latch onto.

4. Comparison & Past History - What is everyone else bringing? Survey the field and know what you're getting into. I gambled that people who would be sick of pies, so made a refreshing fruit salad to counterbalance. I also knew last year's most popular Thanksgiving dishes were on the lighter side: kale salad, roasted cauliflower with buttered bread crumbs, green bean casserole.

So, did I win Thanksgiving potluck? Not sure. I got really worked up about before and after the dinner. But during? I just enjoyed myself.

Shown above: Kiwi, pear, orange, papaya, grapefruit, pomegranate in a light ginger lime syrup.

Chocolate Mint Kasha Buttons

The other day, I had a cupcake with wheatberry buttercream frosting. I made a joke that it doesn't seem possible. What's next, quinoa fudge.

And then I remembered this guy, which I made as a gift for someone who loves chocolate and mint. The crunch is similar to that of a Crunch bar, but with a bit of farminess to it, a taste of the soil along with the cooling green of the mint.

I added the tiniest bit of peppermint extract into melted chocolate, then mixed with the kasha. You can change it up with other small cereals of varying processing -- puffed wheat, Smacks. More chocolate for a bon-bon. More kasha for something like a granola bar.

I molded the chocolates in this mysterious porcelain tray I got from Fish's Eddy. The leaf adds something of a fern-in-a-fossil effect, which I may want to continue if I pursue this ancient grain-chocolate thing.