i8tonite

Category: Cookbooks

i8tonite with Abby Dodge, Pastry Chef and Cookbook author … and her Lemon Ginger Mousse Soufflés
What began as a love for baking at a young age, developed into a passionate and successful career for Abby Dodge. A widely respected, award-winning expert in baking and cooking for both kids and adults, as well as a popular food writer, instructor and media personality, Abby has a simple mission: To streamline baking and cooking for home cooks of all ages.

She studied in Paris at La Varenne and worked under superstars Michel Guerard and Guy Savoy, specializing in pastry. She has held food editorial posts at Parents and Woman’s Day, and has contributed to over seven dozen special-interest publications focusing on baking and family cooking. Abby is currently a contributing editor at Fine Cooking magazine, where she has been on the masthead since its first issue in 1994. She founded the magazine’s test kitchen, has written and contributed to over eighty articles to date, and serves as the magazine’s guru for all things baking.

In addition to her regular blog postings, Abby hosts a Baking Boot Camp video class on the popular site Craftsy.com, where she teaches and encourages an international group of bakers of all skill levels to become better bakers.

Her tenth book, The Everyday Baker ~ Recipes & Techniques For Foolproof Baking (The Taunton Press, Dec. 2015), has just been released to much critical praise – including my own! I love this book – and have recommended it far and wide. It’s the most comprehensive – and interesting – baking cookbook I’ve ever seen (and I own more than 5,000 cookbooks). I love the detailed instructions (with photos), as well as the creative, intriguing recipes (176 of them!). I’ve reviewed many of Abby’s cookbooks through the years – they are all amazing, and keep getting better. Highly recommended.

Abby’s Ten Popular and Award-Winning Cookbooks:
- The Everyday Baker ~ Recipes & Techniques for Foolproof Baking, 2015 (Washington Post Top Ten Cookbooks of 2015; Dorie Greenspan Top Baking Cookbooks of 2015)
- Mini Treats & Handheld Treats ~ Delicious Desserts to Pick Up & Eat (September, 2012)
- Desserts 4 Today – Flavorful Desserts with just FOUR INGREDIENTS , 2010 (a viral & critically acclaimed sensation)
- Williams-Sonoma Mini Pies, 2010
- Around the World Cookbook, 2008 (Good Morning America Top 10 Cookbooks of 2008; Parents Choice Recommended Award 2008; Cordon d’Or Culinary Academy Award 2008)
- The Weekend Baker, 2005, reprinted 2008 (Food + Wine Top Ten Cookbooks of 2004; IACP Cookbook Award Finalist)
- Kids Baking, 2003 (Over 347,000 copies in print, translated into Spanish)
- Williams-Sonoma Dessert, 2002 (Over 300,000 in print, translated into Spanish)
- The Kid’s Cookbook, 2000 (Over 368,000 copies in print)
- Great Fruit Desserts, 1997 (Translated into six languages)
Abby has also contributed or co-authored many cookbooks, including:
- Baking Out Loud (Hedy Goldsmith, Clarkson Potter 2012)
- B. Smith’s Southern A to Z (Scribner, 2008)
- The Joy of Cooking, 75th Anniversary Edition, 2006
- Savoring America, 2002 (James Beard Award finalist; Ben Franklin Award winner)
- Cookies for Christmas, 1999
- The All New Joy of Cooking, 1997
Banana Rum Truffle Tart

Food Questions (with a nod to Proust):

What is your favorite food to cook at home?
Eggs. Easy & options abound.

What do you always have in your fridge at home?
Unsalted butter.

What marked characteristic do you love in a person with whom you are sharing a meal?
Keeping it real – no posers at my table.

What marked characteristic do you find unappealing in a person with whom you are sharing a meal?
Open-mouth chewer.

Beer, wine or cocktail?
Yes, please.

Maple Pear Slab Pie

Your favorite cookbook author?
I’m promoting a book so.. me.

Your favorite kitchen tool?
My Oxo kitchen scale

Favorite types of cuisine to cook?
French… Italian… Greek… Spanish… don’t make me chose.

Beef, chicken, pork, or tofu?
Easy: Chicken

Favorite vegetable?
Brussel sprouts but ask me again tomorrow, I happily bounce all over the veggie aisle.

Chef you most admire?
Alfred Portale – insanely gifted, a bear to work for & surprisingly shy.

Food you like the most to eat?
Cake. Make mine chocolate and in big pieces, please.

Food you dislike the most?
I’ll take some heat for this one but… beets. Chalk it up to a bad childhood experience.
Don’t ask.

What is your favorite non-food thing to do?
Watching RHOBH with my darling daughter- a guilty pleasure.

Who do you most admire in food?
Michael Rulhman. A straight talker and brilliant writer worth listening to.

Where is your favorite place to eat?
On a warm day, I’ll be sitting at an outside table, preferably by the water. Please pass the Rose.

What is your favorite restaurant?
See above.

Do you have any tattoos? And if so, how many are of food?
My Motto: Don’t answer questions that you don’t want your kids to read.

Lemon Ginger Mousse Souffle

Recipe: Lemon Ginger Mousse Soufflés from The Everyday Baker

Serves 6

These light, billowy individual soufflé-like mousses are a variation on a pie filling in my book, The Weekend Baker. Instead of adding heavy cream to the mousse, I use puréed ricotta (for a smooth texture) to add richness without heaviness. The lemon and fresh ginger make for a refreshing flavor profile, but it’s the ginger cookies hidden inside that are the surprise ingredient. Softened by the mousse, they bring texture and a burst of ginger flavor.

Adding a collar of parchment adds additional height to the ramekins. This way you can mimic the impressive height of a baked soufflé without the need for any last-minute fussing.

Neutral oil (safflower, canola, vegetable, or corn), for the
ramekins

For the mousse
3⁄4 cup (180 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 envelope (1⁄4 oz./7 g) unflavored powdered gelatin
11⁄4 cups (111⁄4 oz./319 g) ricotta (part skim is fine)
3⁄4 cup (51⁄2 oz./156 g) granulated sugar
1 Tbs. finely grated lemon zest
2 tsp. finely grated fresh ginger
Pinch of table salt
4 whites from large eggs (4 oz./ 113 g), at room temperature
1⁄2 tsp. cream of tartar
1⁄2 cup (2 oz./57 g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted if lumpy

12 gingersnap cookies + more for the crushed cookie topping
(I use Nabisco or homemade molasses cookies)

Blackberry Compote (recipe in the book) or other berry sauces, optional

Have ready six 6-oz. (180 ml) ramekins (31⁄2 inches wide and 12⁄3 inches high/9 cm wide and 4.25 cm high) arranged on a flat plate or quarter sheet pan. Cut parchment into six strips 21⁄2 inches (6 cm) wide and 12 inches (30.5 cm) long. Wrap one strip around each ramekin so that the paper covers the ramekin and stands 1 inch (2.5 cm) above the rim; secure with tape. Lightly grease the inside of the paper rim (I use a paper towel dipped in a bit of neutral oil).

Make the mousse
1. Pour the lemon juice into a small heatproof ramekin (or keep it in the measuring cup) and sprinkle the gelatin evenly over the top. Set aside to soften. Once the gelatin has absorbed the liquid and is plump (about 3 minutes), microwave briefly until it is completely melted and crystal clear, 1 to 2 minutes. This can also be done in a small saucepan (instead of the ramekin) over low heat.

2. Put the ricotta, granulated sugar, lemon zest, ginger, and salt in a blender. Scrape the lemon–gelatin mixture into the blender, cover, and process until the ricotta is smooth and the mixture is well blended, about 11⁄2 minutes, scraping down the sides once or twice. Pour into a medium bowl and refrigerate, stirring frequently, until the mixture is cooled and thickened, 20 to 30 minutes. It should be as thick as unbeaten egg whites. For faster cooling, set the bowl over a larger bowl filled with ice, stirring and scraping the sides frequently until cooled.

3. Put the egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or in a medium bowl and using an electric handheld mixer fitted with wire beaters) and beat on medium speed until the whites are frothy, 30 to 45 seconds. Increase the speed to medium high and beat until the whites form soft peaks, 1 to 2 minutes. Continue beating while gradually adding the confectioners’ sugar, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat until the whites form firm and glossy peaks when the beater is lifted.

4. Scoop about one-quarter of the whites into the thickened lemon mixture and, using a silicone spatula, gently stir until blended. Add the remaining whites and gently fold in until just blended.

Assemble the mousses
Arrange one cookie in the bottom of each ramekin. Using a large spoon, fill the ramekins halfway with the mousse. Arrange a cookie on top of the mousse and evenly portion the remaining mousse on top of the cookies. Using a small offset spatula, smooth the tops.

Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 6 hours or up to 1 day.

To serve
Using a sharp paring knife, carefully peel away the parchment from the ramekins (up to 3 hours ahead). Just before serving, place each ramekin on a small plate and top with some of the crushed ginger cookie or a little of the blackberry compote, passing the remainder at the table.

MAKE AHEAD
The soufflés can be prepared, covered, and refrigerated for up to 2 days before serving.

– The End. Go Eat. –

Recipe and author photo courtesy and copyright Abby Dodge. Recipe photos courtesy and copyright Tina Rupp [finished dishes] and Sloan Howard, Taunton Press [how-to photos]
January 29, 2016
i8tonite with Anson Williams: Entrepreneur and Happy Days Icon
What do stars of iconic television shows — such as Anson Williams from Happy Days — do after their show goes off the air? Do they continue to act like The Mysteries of Laura Debra Messing, leaving lovable Grace Adler of Will & Grace behind? Or do they create entire behind-the-cameras careers, such as Laverne & Shirley’s Penny Marshall, who went on to much acclaim directing Tom Hanks in Big and Madonna in A League of Their Own? How about the Olsen Twins from Full House – Mary-Kate and Ashley — creating a billion-dollar fashion business? Williams, who played the adorable Potsie from Happy Days, turned out to be all those things and more. He’s directed many television shows, including episodes of the fabulous Melrose Place and The Secret Lives of An American Teenager. But he also became an incredibly successful entrepreneur with Joanna Connell, a Hollywood make-up artist. For the past 18 years, Connell and Williams have created a mini-empire with StarMaker Products, a skin line used by a variety of television actors.

Williams, QVC’s Bob Warden and nutritionist Mona Dolgov

After a trip to his local store, there was a lightbulb moment when the actor-director-entrepreneur saw the 100 calorie snack packs. Williams said, “I realized it was all about portion control. I can eat all the foods I love, but I need to keep it at 100 calories.” Williams approached QVC’s Bob Warden and nutritionist Mona Dolgov to help him create The Perfect Portion Cookbook. Over a two-year period, testing and re-testing, writing and re-writing, tasting and re-tasting, Williams – along with his team of Warden and Dolgov – developed his vision, starting off with this debut cookbook. Eventually, Williams will turn the perfect portion into a library of cookbooks and healthy products.

Fundamentally, all the recipes in the book are divisible by 100 calories, creating the perfect portion. Each recipe has a graph, calorie count, and how much is in that portion. For example, follow the instructions for the Pumpkin Pie cookie and once made, each sweet is 100 calories. Simply, it’s not so much a diet, which is restrictive, as it is a change in eating habits. Nothing is taken away, as much as everything is counted.

At the age of 66, with four kids, Williams – who over the phone sounds as if he’s thirty — states, “I’m as buff when I was in my 30s. I did the 100 calorie portion. Sixty is the new sexy.” And a new food trend is born.

Food Questions (with a nod to Proust):

Guacamole Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes

What is your favorite food to cook at home? Gosh. Definitely Saturday and Sunday morning breakfast with my kids. I love getting together and making French toast as a family.

What do you always have in your fridge at home? It’s what stays in the fridge when you have four kids. We are always adding to it. Always greens. Quick proteins. Healthy drinks. Mostly stuff for the kids.

What marked characteristic do you love in a person with whom you are sharing a meal? Connection with that person.

What marked characteristic do you find unappealing in a person with whom you are sharing a meal? Self-involvement.

Beer, wine or cocktail? Red wine. I love finding small, family-run vineyards.

Bob Warden, Williams and Mona Dolgov

Your favorite cookbook author? Bob and Mona. We put the cookbook together. Giada de Laurentis is good, too.

Your favorite kitchen tool? Blender.

Favorite types of cuisine to cook? I’m not an expert cook, but I do love family recipes. Food that has meaning. My wife Jackie, who is Swedish, cooks family recipes handed down to her.

Beef, chicken, pork or tofu? Chicken and tofu. But all of them in moderation are good.

Favorite vegetable? Spinach.

Chef you most admire? Hope Berk. She is our eighty-four-year-old next door neighbor and has made all the kids their birthday cakes for years. She’s been a huge influence on our family. Making food for us that has been generational.

Food you like the most to eat? Bob’s Pot Pie from our cookbook. Best thing I’ve ever eaten.

Food you dislike the most? I despise fast food. I think the companies are corrupt and greedy. They created an addiction.

Boneless BBQ Ribs

What is your favorite non-food thing to do? Before the kids, I sailed planes. Now, I love being with my kids and spending time with them. I love creating. Writing scripts. I do more now than ever.

Who do you most admire in food? Bob and Mona.

Where is your favorite place to eat? Home.

What is your favorite restaurant? Café Escobar in Malibu. All the food is made from family recipes and is really delicious. Inexpensive. No pretense. I can sit at the bar, have a great meal and a glass of red wine.

Do you have any tattoos? And if so, how many are of food? No tattoos.

Anson’s “Hot Cocoa” Pretzels (Adapted from The Perfect Portion Cookbook)
- 100 mini pretzels
- 1 large beaten egg white
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. In a mixing bowl, mix the egg white and vanilla. Toss in the pretzels and coat well.

In a smaller bowl, combine the sugar and cocoa. Taking 2/3 of the sugared cocoa mixture, toss with the pretzels.

Spread evenly on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with the remaining sugared cocoa. Bake for 20 minutes, turning the pretzels over after the first 10 minutes. Cool slightly before serving.

The End. Go Eat.
January 15, 2016
i8tonite: Chef’s Questionnaire with Michelin-Starred Chef and Author Greg Malouf
Michelin-starred chef and cookbook author Greg Malouf has inspired a generation of cooks, transforming the global restaurant scene with his love for the flavors of the Middle East and North Africa.

He was born in Melbourne, Australia of Lebanese parents. After serving his formal training in several of Australia’s finest restaurants, he went on to work in France, Italy, Austria, and Hong Kong. Drawing on his cultural heritage and European training, Greg has forged a unique style of cooking that combines Middle Eastern tradition with contemporary flair. Greg is in constant international demand for chef master classes, media interviews and guest-chef appearances in leading hotels of the world.

He is the co-author, with Lucy Malouf, his former wife, of the multi-award-winning cookbooks Arabesque, Moorish, Saha, Turquoise, Saraban – and his latest book Malouf – New Middle Eastern Food. In 2014, Greg and his co-author, released their new vegetarian Middle Eastern cookbook, New Feast.

Greg currently resides in Dubai and has opened his signature kitchen, Clé Dubai.

‘But it’s not just brave, it’s clever…. Dishes like hummus, moutabel, muhammara, fattoush and tabbouleh are recipes we eat constantly in the region, and those which many of us will gauge a restaurant’s capabilities by. They set a benchmark, and by giving us his versions, Malouf has painted his own standard.’ – Sarah Walton, The Hedonista

From the United Kingdom Michelin Guide: While Malouf has rolled out such touches slowly at Petersham, they have not gone without notice. The editor of the 2013 Michelin Guide to Great Britain & Ireland, Rebecca Burr, says Michelin’s reviewers had been impressed with Malouf’s originality. ”The star was retained solely on the food and it was an easy decision to make,” Burr says. ”Greg Malouf has stamped his own mark on Petersham Nurseries and we are delighted to highlight his original cuisine to our readers.”

How long have you been cooking? It frightens me to think this but I started cooking at the age of 17 (1978). 37 years!

What is your favorite food to cook? My favorite cuisine is Lebanese and I love to cook with all its exotic ingredients.

What do you always have in your fridge at home?
Yogurt, olives, and eggs.

What do you cook at home?
I spend most of my time in my kitchen at work. However, when at home cooking, it’s usually for friends. Lentil tabbouleh, salmon kibbeh nayee and chicken in saj (mountain) bread are a staple for a dinner party.

What marked characteristic do you love in a customer? The willingness to leave a part of their mother’s food at home and understand what a restaurant experience offers.

What marked characteristic do you find unappealing in a customer? Customers who aren’t open to any interpretation in a restaurant.

Tupperware, Rubbermaid, or Pyrex?
Glassware = Pyrex
Beer, wine, or cocktail?
Wine and champagne

Your favorite cookbook author?
Claudia Roden – her inspiration book called The New Book of Middle Eastern Food

Your favorite kitchen tool? Mortar and pestle. Smashing garlic with sea salt and blending it with spices and olive oil.

Your favorite ingredient?
Murray River Crystal sea salt.

Your least favorite ingredient?
Brussels sprouts.

Least favorite thing to do in a kitchen? Kill and skin live eels.

Favorite types of cuisine to cook? Lebanese, Italian. and Cantonese.

Beef, chicken, pork or tofu?
Grass fed beef from Scotland, Bresse chicken from France and UK old breed pork ….. I don’t eat tofu!
Favorite vegetable?
Eggplant (aubergine).

Chef you most admire?
Raymond Capaldi. He is an unmarked bottle of poison. He’s such an explosive character and you never know what you’ll get from him and on his plates.

Food you like the most to eat?
Late night Lebanese mezza

Food you dislike the most?
Capsicum. (Bell peppers.)

How many tattoos? And if so, how many are of food?
One tattoo – a scar that produced two heart transplants

Recipe: Pigeon tagine with Dates and Ginger (Or Cornish Game Hens)
- 4 squab pigeons, breasts and marylands removed (Or Cornish Game hens)
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup of sherry
- 2 medium onions, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon saffron (1/2)
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 2 cups dates, chopped
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup parsley
- 6 cups water or chicken stock
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Prepare the pigeons or hens by cutting them into quarters. If you don’t feel confident about doing this yourself, ask your butcher to prepare them for you.

Briefly sauté the carcasses to add colour, then add the vegetables and sauté a few more minutes. Add sherry and scrape any bits from the bottom of the pan. Pour on the water and bring to the boil. Skim off any surface fat, then lower heat and simmer for an hour, skimming off any fat from time to time.

Melt the butter and oil and fry the onions and garlic over a medium heat until softened. Add the pepper, saffron, cinnamon and ginger and stir well. Season pigeon pieces with salt and sauté in the spicy mixture for about 2 minutes, until well coated. Add the stock and bring to the boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Then add the chopped dates and stir in well. Cover again, and simmer for a further 20-30 minutes – check to see when pigeon pieces are nice and tender. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve with plain buttered couscous or a simple rice pilaff.

The End. Go Eat.
December 1, 2015
i8tonite: New Zealand’s Annabel Langbein’s Chicken and Leek Gratin
Several weeks ago, I was sent a cookbook The Free Range Cook: Simple Pleasures by a lovely celebrity cook, Annabel Langbein, from New Zealand. From the onset, Ms. Langbein seems to be the country’s answer to Martha Stewart – prettier, younger, and from a whole different continent.

She has a line of cookbooks – 21 and counting — a television and radio series plus her own line of products. Her television series has been seen in 70 countries. New Zealand, as a country, has a population of under five million. The United States has a population far beyond that number, and she wants to conquer it.

She means well and seems like the real thing. Before Langbein became a cooking superstar, she was a food writer for a variety of Australian magazines. She met her husband while she was a possum trapper and he was a farmer. Her trademark term – free range – means organic living and gardening. She lives off the land, taking daily walks into her garden, locating what’s ripe, and deciding whatever is picked will be dinner that evening.

It’s a little idyllic and hard for me to believe that Langbein gets her own veggies from any garden. She’s perfectly coiffed along with an impeccable manicure. I just can’t imagine Ms. Langbein, or Martha for that matter, sending business emails from their garden. It kills the romantic ideal of owning a lake house, which Langbein mentions often. (Admittedly, in the back of the book, she acknowledges the assistants who create this picturesque lifestyle.)

Aside from being a little too picture-perfect, the recipes are easy to recreate. The idea of a Halloumi (the Greek cheese) and Papaya Salad sounds deliciously refined. There is also a Salmon Confit made with a liter of olive oil.

It’s a beautiful cookbook. I made a delicious and fairly easy, Chicken and Leek Gratin. The topping looked interesting and fun for a variety of dishes including a coating for chicken or on top of poached eggs. Simple and easy – or maybe I should say free range.

All Photos Courtesy of Annabel Langbein Publishing

Chicken and Leek Gratin (Serves 6)
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 4 large leeks, washed and thinly sliced
- 12 boneless and skinless chicken thighs (No need to go out to your garden and do your own butchering. Your local grocery store has them in a yellow styrofoam package.)
- 3 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons worchestershire
- ½ teaspoon cayenne
- 1 teaspoon thyme (She doesn’t specify from her garden. I bought some at my farmers’ market.)
- ½ cup cream or chicken broth
- And Provencal crust. (1 to 2 cups of dried breadcrumbs, 1 handful of torn parsley, zest of 1 lemon, 2 garlic cloves, 2 oz butter, coarsely grated Parmesan, 1 anchovy filet. Place all into a food processor and pulse until mixed together.)
Let’s make this puppy:

Melt butter in a large skillet. Add leek and season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 15 minutes until softened and translucent.

In a bowl, add the chicken thighs, mustard, thyme, worchestershire sauce and a couple pinches of salt. Mix well and set aside.

Remove leeks from heat and stir in cream or broth. Pour this into an oven proof casserole dish or shallow baking pan. Arrange chicken on top. Cover with the Provencal Crust.

Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. It should be fragrant, bubbly and a golden topping.

The End. Go Eat.
November 18, 2015
I8tonite with Food Person: Sasha Martin, Author of “Life from Scratch: A Memoir of Food, Family and Forgiveness
“Most people who have had a rough background will admit there’s something unsettling about finding happiness after difficulty – that even after we unwrap this gift, we don’t know how to stop searching, rummaging, pilfering for something else. We walk haltingly through life, ready for the other shoe to drop. The question is not if, but when.” – Sasha Martin, “Life from Scratch” (National Geographic Society, March 2015).

I had never heard of the food blog GlobalTableAdventure.com until I read Sasha Martin’s engaging food memoir “Life from Scratch: A Memoir of Food, Family and Forgiveness” (ISBN 978 – 1- 5462 – 8, National Geographic Society) published in March of this year. Martin’s blog is about cooking globally and bringing that experience of culture to the table, but it’s her book and story that’s the winner. “Life from Scratch” begins light-heartedly enough but as Martin’s life progresses from child to teenager, it becomes disquieting and uneasy. Once, Martin moves to Tulsa, Oklahoma as an adult, I breathed a sigh of relief. To Ms. Martin’s credit, it’s her calm style of writing that gives the reader emotional balance to understand the truth of what’s transpiring. Otherwise, one might get squirmy reading in the Lazy-boy.

Speaking with Martin on the phone is a pleasure. Her voice is like her writing — soft, easy with hints of apprehension. (Apprehension because she’s talking to me. I make people wary.) She disclosed that
Life from Scratch came about in an unusual manner. Martin was approached by a literary agent who liked GlobalTableAdventure. The agent shopped the proposal around to a variety of publishing houses — they all loved it — but Martin felt a “kinship” to National Geographic Society (NGS). Interestingly, her NGS editor really liked the story of the blog and global cooking up until the first draft. But she felt that Martin wasn’t forthcoming with her childhood history…. that she was holding back. Martin admitted she was. She explained to her editor about growing up, the death of her brother and the twelve European countries she visited with her legal guardians. She details the story of her mother letting her and her brother go into foster care. Once, the real story of Sasha Martin was out, it was the truth and book the editor wanted.

Martin said, “I never expected so much of this book to be about my past. It was supposed to be a lighthearted exploration of world cooking but digging deeper made me realize the real story wasn’t how I cooked the world but why. Being forced to face my past was a gift. I have so much more understanding and perspective now.

Punctuated with loving memories of home cooking with her mother, a lonely teenager in European and global cuisine from her blog, GlobalTableAdventure.com, such as Hungarian Paprika Chicken, German Cake and Maldivian Fire-Roasted Fish, “Life from Scratch” may turn out to be my favorite book of 2015. It offers hope and fulfillment on a spiritual scale.

“There’s a difference between poverty of resources and poverty of spirit.” – Sasha Martin, Life from Scratch.

(Correction/Revision: Previously, it was noted that Ms. Martin lived in twelve countries her foster parents. She visited twelve with her legal guardians. A correction and revision to the original post was made. )

Food People Questions: (with a nod to Marcel Proust)

What is your favorite food to cook at home? Argentinian Acorn Squash Salad with baby arugula and aged goat cheese.

The Marshall Islands.

What do you always have in your fridge at home? Spicy mustard.

What marked characteristic do you love in a person with whom you are sharing a meal? Warmth.

What marked characteristic do you find unappealing in a person with whom you are sharing a meal? Treating their cellphone like a guest at the party.

Beer, wine or cocktail? Any cocktail with grapefruit or a Riesling spritzer with a wedge of orange.

Japanese Bento Box for kids

Your favorite cookbook author? I’m a huge fan of what Christopher
Kimball does – very methodical, reliable recipes. Every single time.

Your favorite kitchen tool? Microplane.

Favorite types of cuisine to cook? Cooking a meal from every country in the world taught me to love trying recipes from obscure-to-me parts of the world.

Beef, chicken, pork or tofu? Tofu.

Favorite vegetable? Brussels Sprouts.

Date Balls

Chef you most admire? Nigel Slater – he overcame a rough childhood and has the most beautiful way with words. Tender and Ripe are masterpieces

Food you like the most to eat? Hmmm… on most days a hearty salad, like Malaysian Herbed Rice Salad, with a crusty loaf of homemade artisan bread.

Food you dislike the most? I’m not much for eating something just for the shock value. My goal is to share international food that’s easy enough for a weeknight and elegant enough for the weekend.

What is your favorite non-food thing to do? Write or paint.

Who do you most admire in food? The millions of families struggling to make ends meet. My own mother struggled to make ends meet and yet she scrimped and saved so we could eat foods like 19-layer German Tree Cake. She taught me that food can help us see beyond our circumstances; there’s a real difference between poverty of resources and poverty of spirit.

Where is your favorite place to eat? Any patio, 75F.

What is your favorite restaurant? I have fond memories of eating at Vietnamese restaurants in Paris. Go figure!

Martin and her daughter cooking.

Do you have any tattoos? And if so, how many are of food? No. I have a theory that I could never truly be naked if I ever got a tattoo.

Sasha Martin’s Recipe: Mongolian Carrot Salad (Serves 4 hungry people)

Ingredients:
- 1 lb carrots, grated or julienned (on a mandolin is easiest)
- 1/2 cup raisins, soaked in hot water
For the dressing:
- 1 large clove of garlic, grated
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar
- salt & pepper, to taste
Toss everything together and refrigerate until needed. Best after about 30 minutes. Check seasonings before serving (be sure to use plenty of salt to bring out the flavors).

– The End. Go Eat. –
October 16, 2015
i8tonite: Facebook, Newsletter and Kim Sunee’s Beet & Apple Salad
Last week was busy at i8tonite, my newly deemed on-line lifestyle publication about food. I set up a Facebook page and then started a bi-weekly newsletter focusing on what lies ahead. I was very hesitant to create the Facebook page. The creation made the website seem realer. And that my career in public relations is morphing into an online publication. After years of promoting people to create content, I’m now creating content promoting people and food. I’ve now thrown out the middle man.

Photo by Mike Tungate

As I’m ensconced in mid-life, an age of more realized living — meaning how I want to live instead of just living — I’m now exploring the United States. With our move to Phoenix, Nick and I will travel throughout the Southwest, home to breathtaking saguaros, the Sonoran desert, and red mountains. We are planning trips to Sedona, Tucson, Santa Fé, and Tombstone. (I have always wanted to go to Tombstone, Arizona just to say I’ve been.) Laramie, Cheyenne, Aspen, Denver, the Grand Canyon and Flagstaff are also on the ticket.

At some point, we will travel to Mukwonago, Wisconsin, where Nick was born and raised. It’s a small mid-Western town. You won’t find Kate Moss standing on the corner or a camera crew blocking the sidewalk. I don’t have to worry about the paparazzi or a traffic jam being created by yet another entertainment award show. It’s a significant destination for us because that’s where Nick’s family still resides. As a boy, with his siblings, Nick went ice fishing in the mid-western winters and swam in the lake during the summers. I’ve never been ice-fishing. The closest I got to ice- fishing was in 1989. It was a New York City wet winter where I “fished” for my Marlboros in the pocket of my Moschino jacket before a Stephen Sprouse fashion show. I don’t smoke anymore; the late Stephen Sprouse is now considered retro and I don’t know what happened to that Moschino jacket.

With possibly most of my global escapades behind me, I now travel outside the States without ever leaving my kitchen, gratefully letting international flavors take me away. I decided to use Kim Sunee’s “Mouthful of Stars,” an exquisite cookbook hybrid with personal essays throughout. Published in 2014, it’s a beautiful publication containing mouth-watering images with Ms. Sunee’s sublime prose. The former food editor for the defunct Cottage Living offers her anecdotes about travels to Mexico, Sweden, Paris and her New Orléans home. As much as I would like to go to Sweden, it’s not going to happen before I get to Ecuador, Peru, Mexico or Paris again. I thought I would cook her Swedish Beet and Apple Salad…. just to do a little kitchen traveling before the beginning of my homeland discoveries. (In 2009, Kim also wrote one of my favorite food memoirs Trail of Crumbs: Hunger, Love and the Search for Home.)

The salad is tart and savory with some horseradish heat. I loved the combination with the herbal dill, the crème fraiche richness, the red onion’s bite and sweetness of the beets and apples. Easy to make and very colorful for the holidays.

Swedish Beet and Apple Salad (adapted from Mouthful of Stars, serves 2 – 3 people):

You will need:
- Two medium-sized beets, cooked (You can find cooked beets in the produce section if you don’t want to make your own.)
- 1 Granny Smith Apple, coarsely grated.
- One small red onion, thinly sliced with a mandolin.
- Tablespoon of chopped and rinsed capers (or more to taste).
- 1 to 2 tablespoons of fresh horseradish.
- Tablespoon of chopped dill (or more to taste).
- Several grinds of white pepper (Black pepper if you don’t have any is fine too).
- 4 ounces of sour cream or crème fraiche. (Use the crème fraiche if you can find it. Most stores carry it in the fine cheese section. It makes a richer dressing.)
- 2 to 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar.
Let’s make this puppy:

Chopped the cooked beets into ¼ sticks and place in a bowl. Put in the thinly-sliced onions and apple.

In a small bowl and the remaining ingredients: crème, pepper, dill, capers, dill and horseradish. Stir. Add the apple cider to thin out the mixture. Stir until the desired consistency. (If you want a thinner dressing add a drop more vinegar.) Pour over the vegetables and apple, well-coating everything. Chill until ready to serve. Top with dill.

The End. Go Eat.
October 12, 2015
i8tonite: with “Food Person” Victoria Granof and Recipe for Chickpea Soup

Granof. Courtesy of Granof.

With work published in T: Magazine (New York Times Sunday Magazine), Vogue, Bon Appetit, The New Yorker and many more beside such acclaimed photographers as Irving Penn, Steven Klein and Annie Leibowitz, you would assume that we would be talking about Gisele, Naomi or Kate. In fact, we are talking about, Victoria Granof – whom I’ve personally dubbed the Madonna of the food stylists. Why the comparison? Like the entertainer, there isn’t anyone like Granof. She took food styling to innovative heights using her art and culinary background to convey the editorial or advertising message. She’s everywhere. (Vogue, Bon Appetit, the New York Times? Who are we kidding – she’s worked for all the mighty publications on multiple occasions.) Lastly, she’s good. No matter what you say about Madonna, she made us dance and sing and gets paid for it – Granof makes us look at food as beauty, edible and artistic – and gets paid for it.

Having studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, Granof has been a pastry chef, cooking instructor and chef in her hometown of Los Angeles before she became a food stylist. Cherry Bombe, a print publication devoted to women and food did an in-depth profile about Granof and food styling, working with photographers and staying at the top of the food chain.

Currently, Granof published Short Stack editions cookbook with the ingredient of chickpeas. (You get to test a recipe below). Short Stack cookbooks are ingenious collectors’ item that highlight one ingredient. The mighty food stylist was asked contribute to the growing series oeuvre accompanied by likes of Chef Virginia Willis, Liquor.com’s editor in chief Scott Hocker and Jessica Battaliana, editor of San Francisco’s Tasting Table.

Photo Courtesy of New York Magazine

As we chatted over the phone for the introduction to i8tonite’s newly developed “Food People Questionnaire”, — which was created specifically to interview her and people in the food industry not in front of a stove — I could hear deep affection for her son, Theo, who played in the background, admiration for Irving Penn, the first big photographer and love of her job. (C’mon, she gets to play with food.) As far as food people go, Granof is many things besides a food stylist – she is an artist, observer, food lover, inventor, and inspirational.

Food People Questions (with a nod to Marcel Proust’s Questionnaire):

What is your favorite food to cook at home? Duck confit. I make a huge pot when the weather cools, and eat it all winter long — with red cabbage and apples.

What do you always have in your fridge at home? Yogurt, greens, milk, anchovies, miso and a jar of tomato paste covered in oil to keep it fresh.

What marked characteristic do you love in a person with whom you are sharing a meal? I’m completely in love with anyone who pauses to regard their food (even better – to close their eyes and let the aromas waft up!) – before they begin eating.

What marked characteristic do you find unappealing in a person with whom you are sharing a meal? POOR TABLE MANNERS! Also can’t stand anyone who salts their food without tasting it first.

Beer, wine or cocktail? Never beer, always wine, sometimes cocktail.

Your favorite cookbook author? Mary Taylor
Simeti.

Your favorite kitchen tool? Tongs.

Favorite types of cuisine to cook? Cuisine Mènager, Sicilian, and Ukrainian.

Beef, chicken, pork or tofu? You forgot beans! And seafood! I love a good steak about once a month, pork if I’m down South, tempeh rather than tofu and chicken only if it’s been cavorting outside and not in a factory.

Favorite vegetable? The kabocha that I smell burning as I write this!

Chef you most admire? Massimo Bottura.

Food you like the most to eat? Anything with tomatoes, lemon and salt.

Food you dislike the most? Cheese and lamb. Yes I know – blasphemous – but true.

What is your favorite non-food thing to do? Salsa dancing and flea marketing!

Who do you most admire in food? Mothers and fathers who feed their children well.

Where is your favorite place to eat? My friend Monica’s table. Which is now at her restaurant, Nickle Diner, but it still feels like you’re eating at her home.

What is your favorite restaurant? Cafe Katja in New York, during Asparagus Week. They do a whole menu based on white asparagus.

Do you have any tattoos? And if so, how many are of food? I have the sun (with the face of Pele, the goddess of fire) on one ankle and the moon (from the Mexican lotería card) on the other. Not food exactly, but I remember stopping at a shave ice truck in Kauai right after getting the sun tattoo done and having a shave ice with coffee, condensed milk and whipped cream.

RECIPE: Dead-Easy Chickpea Soup:

Chop a peeled onion and boil it in a pot with 6 cups water, 2 tsp. ground fennel seed and 2 tsp. salt for 10 minutes. Take a stick blender to it while you slowly pour in a cup of chickpea flour. Simmer another 5 minutes, and finish with 1/3 cup of good olive oil. Do NOT skimp on either the salt or the olive oil. Serve it in bowls topped with sautéed greens and aleppo pepper flakes.

The End. Go Eat.

Note: All photos were styled by Victoria Granof.

October 2, 2015
I8tonite: Charred Broccoli with Lemon and Asiago
I discovered Charred Broccoli with Lemon and Asiago absolutely tasty. Tasty enough that there aren’t leftovers the next day. I now believe roasting is the best thing for anything even broccoli which I like but isn’t necessarily my go to. So, when in doubt — roast. (My new motto.)

I discovered the recipe in “Family Table: Favorite Staff Meals, From Our Restaurants to Your Home”, compiled by Union Square Hospitality Group’s Culinary Director, Michael Romano and written by Karen Stabiner, with a forward by Danny Meyer, chef and owner of the just mentioned company. (Yes, Danny Meyer of Shake Shack fame.) I briefly worked for him as a waiter at Union Square Café back in the late eighties. Written in 2013, the cookbook’s recipes are staff meals from his restaurants that are part of the said conglomeration. These establishments include some of the Big Apple’s gastronomically acclaimed: Gramercy Tavern, Eleven Madison Park, The Modern and others. (Sadly, Union Square Café will be moving from its current space of 30 years to another area of Manhattan due to high rents.) Traditionally, staff meals are served at the beginning of the dinner shift and end of lunch.

El Teddys. Courtesy of I Loved New York

Truth be told, taking all the romance out of the cookbook, along with the “familial” sappiness — the staff meals that we were given before or after our shifts came from leftovers that didn’t sell – too much chicken, Bibb lettuce getting ready to turn, fresh pasta that needed to be boiled so it didn’t go to waste. Working at the now defunct Soho Kitchen & Bar (SKB), we were served pizzas and salad pretty much every staff meal. The kitchen quickly needed to use up any dough from the day before and replenish with freshly made. The salad was at least a couple of days old but it was still had a good crunch going on. At El Teddy’s, torn down in 2004 — we were allowed to eat any of the appetizers such as chicken achiote, machaca or steak arrachera burritos, any of the salads or the quesadillas which included huitlacoche (corn fungus), nopales and a puerco. We could order as much as we wanted as the back of the house had already made the dishes with fresh ingredients for that day’s clientele. (We were eating yesterday’s.) At the Cajun/Mexican fusion of How’s Bayou – it was mostly leftover fried chicken, jambalaya, gumbo, day old enchiladas, reconstituted black beans, red rice and sometimes something green. (Not complaining about any of this. It was free food and truly delicious. The pizza at SKB was some of the best I had. I learned a lot about life, cooking, drinking and made some of the best friends ever while working in restaurants. I loved it.)

This brings me back to this recipe and cookbook…yeah, I don’t think any of the staff at my restaurants would have eaten this as “family meal”. It would have would have been sitting under the heat lamps drying out…but now that I’m older and definitely stockier — it’s pretty stellar stuff.

Ingredients:
- 2 bunches of broccoli cut into trees with stems. Trim off about two inches from the bottom.
- ¼ olive oil.
- 2 lemons.
- Several dashes of red pepper flakes.
- Italian hard cheese such as asiago, pecorino or parmesan. Two to three cups grated.
- Maldon salt, fresh cracked pepper. (Okay, you can use kosher….but I love the Maldon stuff.)
- ½ cup of Panko bread crumbs.
Let’s make this puppy:

Preheat the oven to 450 – 475 degrees. Toss the broccoli, olive oil and breadcrumbs into a large bowl coating the broccoli really well. Spread into a single layer onto a baking sheet and roast for 10 to 15 minutes, charring the ends of the broccoli but not burning them.

While the broccoli is cooking, zest the two lemons into a large bowl and add the grated cheese stirring well until mixed.

Once the broccoli is cooked, toss the broccoli in the bowl mix with juice of a ½ a lemon. Serve.

The End. Go Eat.
September 21, 2015
i8tonite: Vegetable alla Fontina
I revel going into local bookstores which sell both new and used cookbook titles. Normally, they’re independent sellers like the historic City Lights in San Francisco, Bart’s Books in Ojai, which claims to be the largest outdoor bookstore in the world, downtown LA’s The Last Bookstore or New York City’s The Strand. I know there are still many – limping along in some cases and others, alive and well. I’ve purchased some of my favorite cookbooks in them. For example, where else would I locate a copy – probably the last surviving — of Mary Meade’s Magic Recipes: A Cookbook for the Electric Blender written by Ruth Ellen Church? (Mary Meade was Church’s nom de plume.) The first chapter is “What is a Blender?” Another great find was Isaac Hayes’ (yes…the late musician) and his book entitled, “Cooking with Heart & Soul: Making Music in the Kitchen with Family and Friends.” That was $4.50 but on the half-price rack. (It came to $2.25.) His chapters include “Jammin’ to the Barbeque Beat” and “Over the Fire, Into the Fryer: Chicken for Sunday and Any Day.” Hayes accumulated a selection of guest recipes from stars such as Jenna Elfman (remember her?) with her Chocolate Pudding Cake and John Travolta and his scrumptious sounding, Hamburger Royale with Cheese. (Isaac Hayes was a Scientologist after all…I’m only sorry that Tom Cruise didn’t contribute his Spaghetti Carbonara.)

I’ve also unearthed classics from notable chefs such as Monday Night at Narsai’s by Narsai David and Doris Muscatine. (When originally purchased – not by me – it came with a free issue of Food & Wine Magazine. It says so on the jacket cover.) Narsai David was a chef-owner of his namesake restaurant in San Francisco. It opened in 1972 and closed in 1985. For thirteen years, it was one of the Bay Area establishments to eat expertly prepared dishes and drink beautiful wines. His cookbook encompasses international menus and cuisines like Creole, Austrian, French, Argentinian, and Polish and so on. I have cooked from the book here and there, although the recipes are slightly dated. It features a lot of consommés and stuffed loins (beef, veal and pork).

I went to Half Price Books, Phoenix’s local cheap bookseller located on Camelback near the Arizona Biltmore – the somewhat ritzy area. It was there I hit my pot of gold — Amanda Hesser’s New York Times Cookbook at $11.95 in pristine condition. I’ve wanted it for long time but just never purchased it. I now how it! It’s from this book which is where I found the recipe for asparagus alla fontina which I adapted to use any vegetable. Amanda Hesser states that she adapted it from former New York Times’ food writer Mimi Sheraton so this is an adaptation of an adaption. Sort of like Cinderella which was written by the Brothers Grimm and then adapted into a movie called “Cinderfella” with Jerry Lewis, which then was turned into “Ever After”, a movie produced and starring Drew Barrymore.

Vegetables (or whatever) alla Fontina

Ingredients:
- 1 or 2 zucchini or other summer squash (cut into half-moon shapes). Other options include cooked asparagus, peppers, onions, kale, spinach…you name it.
- Butter
- Fontina or gruyere (Or whatever cheese you have).
- Parmesan, Asiago or other hard cheese.
- Prosciutto or cold cut ham (optional, if you want…hell you can use any protein including baked tofu, seitan)
- 3 Eggs
- Freshly grated nutmeg….a few rubs will do.
Let’s make this puppy:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Sautee whatever vegetables you are making in a couple of pats of melted unsalted butter to al dente. Don’t cook it through.
3. Using a glass pie plate, layer the following: sautéed vegetables, protein – slivers of prosciutto, salami or seitan — and shaved fontina.
4. Beat the three eggs and pour over the layers.
5. Shake the pie plate so the egg is distributed evenly. Coat the top with the parmesan.
6. Bake for 35 minutes until puffy, golden and melty and stuff.
If you have any leftover…take it with you to the park the next day and eat it with a lovely glass of rosé. Sit in the sun or underneath a shady tree. A bite of crusty bread…scrumptious.

The End. Go Eat.
August 31, 2015
I8tonite: Food from “Kitchen Sense” by Mitchell Davis

I stopped writing on “i8tonite”. It wasn’t going anywhere and truthfully, I wasn’t sure where I wanted to take it. It started because I love cooking. We know that. Truthfully, the sheer act of it (and craft) saved my life. I’m forever indebted to the stove, the fridge, farmer’s markets, and washing dishes. It will have been almost four years since I took on the name of “i8tonite” and the whole thing was a lark. Really. I just needed something to occupy my mind while I gave up a business, a partnership, a dog and the home that I had for more than decade.

Writing out what I was cooking on social media gave me something to look forward to while I was crying about the state of my life as it became unhinged. Then came the requests for photos. Taking the images, a little food styling, along with the hazy images became an extension. My life, as a whole, began to come together again. Then, I started this blog which has had fits-and-starts. Partially, because I only wanted to cook and I wanted to show to prospective clients that I knew about the culinary world, from a sophisticated and well-traveled home cook.

Candidly, I’m not really that interested in creating my own recipes. There are so many great chefs and home cooks out there that I just don’t feel that creative need. However, I do love reading cookbooks. I like understanding the ingredients and how they going to be appealing. I can taste the ingredients before beginning the process. It’s also important to note whether each recipe is laborious or fun. Puff pastry is laborious, making a cake or pie is fun.

I’m also not interested in reviewing restaurants. If I did, I would want to pay for my own meals and try the experience several times over. That would be a costly endeavor and I don’t think many restaurants are worthy of going to 3 or 4 times in a year, much less in a single month. (I’ve been called by friends “extremely picky” in my restaurant choices.) No, I leave that to the food bloggers and newspapers.

Therefore, I’m beginning this endeavor with a new verve with a fresher eye about food and cookbooks. My plan is over a calendar month to attempt at least 4 recipes from one single book. The idea is really to try cooking them. It’s not to review them so much as to just cook from them and then maybe add something with my own thoughts. I do own quite a few cookbooks and I’ve never used one recipe from about three dozen. I’ve read them…but never cooked from them. This will give me the impetus to execute something. Selfishly, I also want to expand my food repertoire and hopefully to whoever reads this blog…if anyone does.

For the first book, I’ve chosen Mitchell Davis’ “Kitchen Sense: More Than 600 Recipes to Make You a Great Home Cook.” Davis is also the executive vice-president and director of communications for The James Beard Foundation along with being an adjunct professor of Food Studies at the venerable New York University. His pedigree about food is astounding. It’s not a new book as it was originally published in 2006 by Random House.

It’s a vast collection around such culinary pantheons as Chinese, American, Italian and Greek and so on. Mr. Davis provides also great tips such as how to make a compound butter or “flavored butter” in a small area on various pages called “kitchen sense” or “basics”, small guidelines for executing simple home cooked gastronomic pleasures like roasted garlic or a compound butter. If you are a professional or have worked in a kitchen, you know some of these recommendations but if you haven’t, some of them are very handy to have.

There also aren’t any photos so I have to think with my tastebuds in order to pick the recipes. I want all my senses to be used as each recipe is made. Can I smell that it might need more seasoning? How does it look? Should I have used the richer Dutch processed chocolate or no? These are the things that I hope to learn as well as a little bit about myself.

Devil’s Food Cake with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting (adapted from “Kitchen Sense” by Mitchell Davis, 2006, Clarkson Potter).

Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting (NOTE: I had to double the recipe to cover the two layer cake. Although delicious and rich, the caramel flavor was very subtle. Next time, I make it I will double the caramel portion. Regardless, is was still delicious and I’m now running four miles every other day to remove it from my body.)

½ cup cold water

1 ½ cups sugar

1 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon kosher salt

3 cups (24 ounces) cream cheese (room temperature)

12 tablespoons unsalted butter (room temperature)

Place water and sugar into a medium sauce pan. Using a medium high heat, melt sugar by stirring constantly. As the syrup develops, it will thicken into a sauce and begin to darken. This will take roughly 8 – 10 minutes. (You will notice of the water to begin to darken as the sugar stiffens.) Watch carefully as the sugar can become burnt quickly. Swirl until the color of caramel. Remove from heat.

Slowly add the heavy cream and stir constantly. Replace saucepan on very low flame until all the cream has been incorporated. Add the salt. Keep stirring with a spoon or wooden spatula (do not use a whisk) until a beautiful, rich caramel sauce has developed. (You can always use this for ice cream or pour over cakes.)

In another bowl, mix the butter and cream cheese until frothy. Making sure you scrape the sides of the bowl, slowly add the caramel sauce until completely merged and, viola, you have made your frosting.

You can chill but bring to room temperature before frosting the cake. It will make spreading so much easier. It’s still delicious even though it’s a subtle caramel flavor. I think I wanted it to be overpowering like a caramel latte from Starbucks but it’s more like a European subtle instead of an American-beat-me-until-I’m-black-and-blue.

Devil’s Food Cake

Honestly, this maybe the best chocolate cake I’ve ever made. It was densely, moist with a very light crumb and an intense lovely chocolate flavor. (Will make two 9-inch layer cakes).

Unsalted butter for greasing the pan

Parchment paper

1 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Use the good stuff. I like Dutch-processed as it creates a darker, fudgier cake)

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup sugar

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup strong coffee

½ cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. (We do this first so the oven pre-heats while we gather our wits.) Butter the pans and then line with parchment. Butter the parchment. (We do this so we keep our gathered wits about us instead of the cakes sticking to the pans. Trust me on this step….it’s a life-saver.) Once we remove the cakes from the pans, they aren’t that pretty… yet. We will do a little trimming of rough edges using a LOT of frosting to cover up the wrinkles left by the parchment indentations.

In a large mixing bowl, we will sift all the dry ingredients together (flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, both sugars and salt).

In another bowl, mix all the wet ingredients together (coffee, buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla). Mix with a whisk.

Using a wooden spoon or an electric mixer on low, merge the wet with the dry.

Pour into your buttered cake pans. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes. Remove from oven once a toothpick comes out cleanly.

Take cakes out and cool on a wire rack. Frost. J

May 9, 2015