Plain Jane

I tend to like things simple.  This is not to be confused with liking simple things.  In fact, sometimes the simplest things can actually be the most complicated

Take the perfect little black dress.  So simple. yet so elusive.  I know this for a fact because I have my fair share of LBDs in my closet and not one of them is perfect.  I keep buying them, convinced that "this will be the one that I wear for the next 20 years", but so far  it's been a no-go.  I've come close a couple of times, but so far I haven't hit on perfection.  (FYI: The closest I've come is with one I bought about 15 years ago at Barneys.  It fits at the moment, and whenever else it's fit over the years, I still wear it.)

For me, the perfect LBD is perfectly cut, without any embellishment.  No bows, no sashes, no collars.  No nothing.  Just a dress.  But a dress that fits like gangbusters and makes me feel like a million bucks. (It does not, by the way, have to cost a million bucks.)  It has to be timeless.  Nothing trendy for me.

The same goes for cake.  Yes, cake.  I love simple cakes.  I don't like a lot of bells and whistles when it comes to my cake.  Plain, not too sweet, simple, and yes, perfect.  I love the cakes that know no time of day -- they work equally well as a dessert or as a little something extra at breakfast.  Moist and with a perfect crumb, maybe accented with just a little extract or zest, but nothing too overwhelming.

This olive oil cake fits the bill.  It is deceptively simple and doesn't call for a lot of ingredients.  In fact, you probably have everything you need to whip up hiding in your pantry.  If you don't have an orange, use a lemon.  I think it would be equally as good.  Because what makes this cake perfect is the same thing that makes a dress perfect.  It doesn't try too hard.  It relies on good lines and simplicity.

Recipe:  Maialino's Olive Oil Cake
(Food 52 / Genius recipes)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/4 cup whole milk
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tablespoon grated orange zest
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup Grand Marnier

Directions:
Heat the oven to 350° F. Oil, butter, or spray a 9-inch cake pan that is at least 2 inches deep with cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper. (If your cake pan is less than 2 inches deep, divide between 2 pans and start checking for doneness at 30 minutes.)

In a bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and powder. In another bowl, whisk the olive oil, milk, eggs, orange zest and juice and Grand Marnier. Add the dry ingredients; whisk until just combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour, until the top is golden and a cake tester comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a rack and let cool for 30 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan, invert the cake onto the rack and let cool completely, 2 hours.

Life Changing?

I tend to be dubious of anything that proclaims that it's "life changing".   After all, I have a bathroom cabinet full of serums, creams, and potions, all of which lured me in with proclamations of life changing-ness.  While my skin may be pretty damn good for a woman of my age, I'm here to tell you that none, repeat none, of those creams, potions, or serums has, despite their claims, actually changed my life.

Lately Deborah has been making this "life changing bread". No, that's not what she calls it.  The name of the recipe is  actually Life Changing Bread.  I kid you not.  Nothing like putting on the pressure.  In fact, I think "life changing" is a lot of expectation to put on bread.

But that's just me.

I have to tell you that, at first glance, this is not a bread that really sounded like something I would like.  There are some very strange ingredients called for in the recipe.  Phyllium seed husk?  What the hell is phyllium seed husk?

I'm still not sure, but there are two things you should know about phyllium seed husk.  First of all, you won't find phyllium seed husk in the department where the flax seeds or the chia seeds are.  Instead, you will find phyllium seed husk in the "health and wellness" department at Whole Foods, right next to all the other high fiber colon cleansing items.

Okay, so perhaps the phyllium seed husk has left you scratching your head.  All the other ingredients are found in the grocery aisles, not in the colon cleansing department, so let's move on from there.

I'm not going to lie to you.  This is one strange recipe.  Basically you mix the ingredients together and then let it sit on your counter for at least four hours, although I found that overnight was even better.  What happens during that time is that the oats and all the other husks and seeds soak up the liquids and sort of expand into a congealed loaf.  You then bake the bread for 20 minutes, at which time you remove the loaf from the pan and bake it face down on the oven rack for another half hour or so.

Sounds strange?  It is.  It's also surprisingly tasty.  Ted even liked it, and he rarely likes anything with any obvious health benefits.  There's absolutely nothing bad in this bread.  Rather, it's full of nuts and seeds and oats and phyllium seed husks, all of which are good for you.

While I'm not quite sure that this bread changed my life, it's worth a try.  Who knows? Maybe it'll change yours.

Recipe:  The Life-Changing Loaf of Bread
Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients:

1 cup sunflower seeds
½ cup flax seeds
½ cup hazelnuts or almonds
1 ½ cups rolled oats
2 Tbsp. chia seeds
4 Tbsp. psyllium seed husks (3 Tbsp. if using psyllium husk powder)
1 tsp. fine grain sea salt (add ½ tsp. if using coarse salt)
1 Tbsp. maple syrup (for sugar-free diets, use a pinch of stevia)
3 Tbsp. melted coconut oil or ghee
1 ½ cups water

Directions:
In a flexible, silicon loaf pan combine all dry ingredients, stirring well. Whisk maple syrup, oil and water together in a measuring cup. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix very well until everything is completely soaked and dough becomes very thick (if the dough is too thick to stir, add one or two teaspoons of water until the dough is manageable). Smooth out the top with the back of a spoon. Let sit out on the counter for at least 2 hours, or all day or overnight. To ensure the dough is ready, it should retain its shape even when you pull the sides of the loaf pan away from it it.

Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C.

Place loaf pan in the oven on the middle rack, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove bread from loaf pan, place it upside down directly on the rack and bake for another 30-40 minutes. Bread is done when it sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool completely before slicing (difficult, but important).

Store bread in a tightly sealed container for up to five days. Freezes well too – slice before freezing for quick and easy toast!

The Never Ending Winter

I have recently become convinced that winter is never going to end.  Day after day we are hit with temps in the 20's and snow, snow, snow.

What's a girl to do?

Make pot roast.  Let's face it, when it's cold and dreary outside, who's in the mood for a light little piece of fish?  Not me, that's for sure.

Rather, I crave comfort food.  Macaroni and cheese.  Pot roast.  You get the idea.

Unfortunately, while I have a hankering for pot roast, what I do not have a hankering for is browning a big piece of meat and then having to clean up my stovetop.  That's what I love about this recipe: no browning required.  I also love that this recipe calls for just a few ingredients, all of which I'll bet you have in your pantry.

Pot roast is the perfect slow cooker food.  So even if the weather outside is far from perfect, you'll have a nice, comforting dinner to look forward to.

Recipe:  Slow-Cooker Pot Roast
(Martha Stewart.com)

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon cornstarch
8 medium carrots, cut into thirds
2 medium onions, each cut into 8 wedges
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 beef chuck roast (3 pounds), trimmed of excess fat
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

In slow cooker, stir together cornstarch and 2 tablespoons cold water until smooth. Add carrots and onions; season with salt and pepper, and toss.

Sprinkle roast with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; place on top of vegetables, and drizzle with Worcestershire. Cover; cook on high, 6 hours (or on low, 10 hours).

Transfer roast to a cutting board; thinly slice against the grain. Place vegetables in a serving dish; pour pan juices through a fine-mesh sieve, if desired. Serve roast with vegetables and pan juices.

Riff-Raf

As those of you who are You Little Tarte regulars know, I am not a big Asian food fan.  Sure, I'll occasionally humor Ted and go out for Chinese or sushi, but for the most part I let that be something he does with Charlie.  Ditto the Asian cooking.  Just not my thing.

But surprisingly, I do like dumplings.  Not enough to ever attempt making them at home, but I do enjoy a good dumpling every now and again.

Anyone who cooks dinner every night knows how boring it can sometimes be.  I mean there are only so many things you can do with chicken before you start to get a little bored.  This is why I am diligent about reading the NYT Dining section everything Wednesday.  More often than not, dinner comes from those pages.

Back to the dumplings.  Apparently Melissa Clark isn't all that enthusiastic about making dumplings either.  But she does like them, and being far more adventurous than I am, she offered up this riff on pork dumplings deconstructed.

There's a fair amount of chopping and measuring in this recipe, but it's not nearly as labor intensive as actually making dumplings would be.  And when I served it for dinner Ted was so happy.  "Could Nadine finally be embracing my love of Asian food?" Maybe not, but dinner sure was good.

Recipe:  Spicy Ginger Pork Noodles With Bok Choy
(Melissa Clark, A Good Appetite, 2//5/2014)

Ingredients:

12 ounces baby bok choy (3 or 4 small heads)
1 ounce ginger root (1 fat 2-inch-thick knob)
Kosher salt
8 ounces rice noodles, not too thin
2 tablespoons peanut or safflower oil
1 pound lean ground pork
1/4 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 fresh Thai or habanero chile, seeded if desired, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil, more for drizzling
Cilantro or torn basil, for serving
Black vinegar, for serving

Directions:

Trim bok choy and separate dark green tops from white stems; leave tops whole and thinly slice stems. Peel ginger and finely chop half of it. Slice remaining ginger into thin matchsticks.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add noodles and cook according to package instructions. Drain and run under cool water; drain again.

Heat 1 tablespoon peanut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork and cook, breaking up with a fork, until golden and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Season with salt, 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce and 1/2 tablespoon rice wine vinegar. Use a slotted spoon to transfer meat to a bowl.

Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to skillet. Stir in half the scallions, the finely chopped ginger, the garlic and the chile. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add bok choy stems and a pinch of salt. Cook until bok choy is almost tender, about 2 minutes. Toss in leaves and return pork to skillet.

Toss noodles, remaining 1/4 cup soy sauce and 1 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar into the pan. Cook until just warmed through.

Transfer to a large bowl and toss with remaining scallions, sesame seeds, sesame oil and herbs. In a small bowl, combine ginger matchsticks with just enough black vinegar to cover. Serve ginger mixture alongside noodles as a garnish.

YIELD 4 servings

The Best Birthday Present Ever

These days birthdays aren't all that exciting.  Every passing year is jus that: another passing year.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm not complaining.  It's just that I find it hard to believe that I just turned 54.  54!  Back when I was young, say 35, 54 seemed very old.  Now, having arrived at the ripe old age of 54, I'm surprised (and quite thrilled) by how young I feel.

I can remember being around 12, and laying on the bed in my childhood bedroom (which featured orange plaid wallpaper on just one wall, as an accent).  I remember thinking that being 16 would make me really mature.  In retrospect, all that happened when I turned 16 was that the State of California presented me with a driver's license.  The San Fernando Valley was never quite the same after that.

So I guess it's all a matter of perspective.

Totally by coincidence, we went up to New York to visit Charlie over my birthday weekend.  I would love to say that we did this to celebrate my birthday, but mostly we went because it was a better weekend for Charlie than any of the other weekends in February.  I'll take it.  What could have been better now that we're all alone in our way too big for two people house, than to go and see our son, our first born, in New York?  As far as I'm concerned, any weekend that we can go and see him is a celebration.

But the fact is, now that both of my kids arel out of the house, spending the weekend with either of them (or better yet, with both of them), and having our family reunited, even if just for a day or two, is a cause for celebration.  And, since it was my birthday, this happy little coincidence made this the best present Ted could have given me.

(Note:  This did not let Ted off the hook for a nice little something tied up with a bow.)

Measurements Count

Lest you think everything I make is perfect, let me tell you about these blueberry muffins.

Let me just backtrack a bit.  I've made blueberry muffins maybe 10,000 times and they've always worked.  I think I may have even made this exact recipe in the past, and it's always worked.   Blueberry muffins are the workhorse of muffins.  You can do just about anything to them and they work.  They're forgiving that way.

So, over the weekend,  I decided that some nice little muffins would be a good accompaniment to the omelet I was making for the two of us.  I always say "why have toast when you can have a muffin?"  I checked the frig for possible fruit additions and found that I had about a pint of somewhat less than inspired looking blueberries.  (It is February, after all.)  Anyway, I set to work.

I didn't want to make the 16 muffins that my standard Ina Garten recipe produced, so I thought "why not make half?"

Well, I'll tell you why not to make half.  Or at least why not to make half the way I made half.  To say that my measurements were a little sketchy would be a vast understatement.  I actually googled how to measure half an egg (because the full recipe called for 3 eggs), but mostly I eyeballed it.  Same with the berries.

Here's a basic truth.   In fact,  if you learn nothing else ever from reading my blog,  learn this.  You can't eyeball it in baking.  You actually have to have exact measurements in baking, because exact measurements matter.  Baking is chemistry, albeit really tasty chemistry, and being exact counts and really affects the outcome.

So, having only somewhat followed the recipe, I ended up with what can only be described as a blueberry mess.  The muffins were a little flat, and that would have been okay, but when I peeled the paper muffin liner away, half the muffin stuck to it.  I clearly went overboard with too many blueberries.  The end result was a little mound of blueberry glop stuck to the muffin paper.

Moral of the story: If you're going to make half, make sure to accurately measure out half of the ingredients.  Because eyeballing just won't do the trick.

I've Got Sunshine On A Cloudy Day

Saturday was, by February standards, a lovely day.  It was in the 40's, dry, and almost sunny.  Given how cold and snowy it's been, it practically felt like summer.  Needless to say, the traffic was awful because everyone was so happy to be able to get out of the house without dressing for the polar vortex.  It practically felt like sandal weather.  It's funny how your perspective changes after a couple of weeks during which the temperature haven't risen above freezing.  Temps in the 40's feel positively springlike.

But, heaven forbid we have two nice days in a row.  Sunday was cloudy, rainy, and bone chilling.  Today it's snowing.   Saturday I thought I might actually be able to see the end of winter on the horizon.  Today it feels as though it might last forever.

So imagine my glee when yesterday morning I saw Giada make this sunshiny couscous dish on her Food Network show!  It's light, but substantial enough to be considered dinner.  It features lots of lemon, which makes everything taste a whole lot more cheerful and bright.

As an added bonus, I had all the ingredients on hand.  At least I could just observe the ugly day from my window, instead of feeling it when I went outside.

Recipe:  Pearl Couscous with Chicken and Peas
(Giana De Laurentiis)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/3 cups (about 7 ounces) pearl (Israeli) couscous
2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
Zest of 2 large lemons
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 1 large lemon)
2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
4 green onions, chopped
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1 rotisserie chicken breast, chopped to yield 1 cup of meat

Directions:

In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the couscous and cook until lightly toasted, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the broth, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered until the couscous is tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes.

Stir in the cheese, green onions, peas and chicken. Spoon into bowls and serve.