Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Prior to making this recipe, I had never had a pineapple upside-down cake. To me they’ve always seemed sort of old school—the kind of thing made by a grandmother who keeps dishes of butterscotch hard candy on her coffee table and collectible porcelain figurines on her bookshelves. Yet somehow I got it into my head that this would be the perfect dessert to take to a LOST finale party last weekend, probably because it is vaguely tropical and as ‘70s as the Dharma initiative itself.

Now that I have made a pineapple upside-down cake, I’m kind of wondering where it’s been all my life. A perfectly moist vanilla cake topped with a layer of caramelized fruit—what’s not to love? I found the recipe, appropriately enough, not on some swanky food blog or website but in my copy of The Joy of Cooking, that classic American cookbook that so much resembles an antique I find it hard to believe the recipes still work. Consider my mind changed on that one.

This recipe calls for maraschino cherries, pecan halves, or prunes as fillers for the holes in the pineapple rings. If you want to go full-out retro, then by all means use the cherries. I used blackberries because they were what I had in my fridge and maraschino cherries make me want to barf. Also because I like to think that the presence of fresh berries helps downplay the kitsch factor and brings pineapple upside down cake—in all its golden, buttery glory—into the 21st century.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake


7 slices canned unsweetened pineapple rings
9 tablespoons butter, divided
Scant ¾ cup packed brown sugar
Maraschino cherries, pecan halves, prunes, or fresh berries
2 large eggs
8 tablespoons buttermilk, divided
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
¾ cup sugar
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt

1) Drain pineapple and place on paper towel to absorb the excess juice.
2) Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a 9 inch cake pan (either in the oven or on the stovetop).
3) When the butter is melted, tilt the pan so that the melted butter coats all sides. The excess will settle in the bottom.
4) Sprinkle brown sugar evenly in the bottom of the pan.
5) Top with pineapple rings and “filler” of choice (if using).
6) Whisk together eggs, 2 tablespoons buttermilk, and vanilla.
7) Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer for a few seconds to combine.
8) Add 6 tablespoons softened butter and 6 tablespoons buttermilk and beat on low just until flour is moistened.
9) Increase speed to medium (or high if using a hand-held mixer) and beat for 1 ½ minutes.
10) Add egg mixture a third at a time, beating for 20 seconds and scraping the bowl after each addition.
11) Pour batter over pineapple in pan and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.
12) Shake the cake lightly to loosen sides from the pan (I just went around the edges with a butter knife). Let cake cool for at least five minutes before inverting onto serving plate. Serve with loosely whipped, lightly sweetened cream.

Tex-Mex Stuffed Peppers

So I’m going to get a little opinionated here for a second: I think most people eat way too much meat. I’m not saying that we all need to be vegetarians and embrace tofu, but I think the notion that meat should make up the bulk of most meals is downright ridiculous. What’s more, this idea has led to a system of producing cheap meat that is entirely unsustainable and bad for our bodies, the environment, etc.

I am by no means ahead of the curve on this issue, and have really only thought about where my meat comes from in the past year or two, after reading this book and watching this film. Since then I have made an effort to only buy properly raised meat* and adopt Michael Pollan’s philosophy when incorporating it into meals: “eating a little meat isn’t going to kill you, though it might be better approached as a side dish than a main.”

The recipe that follows is perfect for a dinner made following that principle. These peppers are hearty and filling enough to be a meal in themselves, so any meat you serve with them would be a dinner footnote, not the main event. I’m not particularly fond of meat so I’m fine eating these peppers on their own with a salad on the side, but for people like my carnivorous husband a small piece of grilled steak or chicken would serve as a great accompaniment.

I got this recipe from my friend Stefanie, and the original version can be found on her blog here. I modified it both to make it meatless and use the ingredients I had on hand. I served these with some sliced avocado and salsa on top, as well as a little additional sour cream, but they are flavorful enough not to need that kind of embellishment. I guess I just like to gild the lily sometimes.

Tex-Mex Stuffed Bell Peppers
(Sorry, no picture this time. But seeing as the photos I post on here are usually quite ghetto I don't think you're missing much)

1 cup brown rice
½ small yellow or white onion, diced
Olive oil (about a tablespoon)
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 ½ cups frozen corn, thawed
1 Tbs. Chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano
½ tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
½ cup sour cream (I only used a few tablespoons- just enough to bind the filling)
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 large bell peppers (preferably red, orange, or yellow)**, trimmed, seeded and cut in half, lengthwise
½ cup shredded Monterey jack cheese.

1) Cook rice according to package directions
2) Saute onion in olive oil over medium heat until transluscent, about 3 minutes.
3) Add dry seasonings, corn, beans, rice, and sour cream to the onions (I sprinkled a little of the cheese in, too). Heat through.
4) Remove pan from heat and add cilantro.
5) Stuff filling into pepper halves and arrange in a greased pan.
6) Sprinkle cheese on top and cover with foil.
7) Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes, or until peppers are soft and cheese is melted. Remove foil for last ten minutes of baking.

*A cost-effective way to buy quality meat is through local farms, like this one. They only sell in bulk though, so I am always looking for people to split these shares with. Let me know if you’re interested.
**Green peppers are actually just red bell peppers that have been picked earlier, so they are less sweet and more tough. I don’t really care for them in this recipe, but that might just be a matter of personal preference.

My favorite chocolate cake

This cake is known by many names. I believe the technical term for it is gâteau au chocolat fondant, but in Molly Wizenburg’s book A Homemade Life (which is where I found this recipe), she refers to it simply as “Winning Hearts and Minds Cake.” When I first made this cake for a birthday luncheon, my siblings gave it a less flattering moniker: Ugly Cake.

True, this cake is no beauty queen. Next to the one my sister made--a fluffy white thing covered in clouds of whipped cream and fresh fruit--it did indeed look too brown, flat, and, well, ugly. But then we tasted it. And discovered that underneath that rustic, crackled exterior was a damp, fudgy cake whose texture I can only describe as a mix between a brownie and a souffle. With no icing or frosting to sweeten it up excessively, it tasted only of pure, rich chocolate. I can’t speak for the rest of the family, but for a chocoholic like myself it was pure heaven.

I recently made this cake again for yet another family function. This time around my siblings and I realized it needed a different name--one that conveyed all the deliciousness trapped in that plain package. Here’s what we came up with:

Inner Beauty Cake



7 oz. good quality bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (look for at least 60% cocoa content)
1 3/4 sticks (7 oz.) unsalted butter, cubed
1 c. sugar
5 large eggs
1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

1. Preheat the oven to 375F and butter an 8" round cake pan (I used a 9" and it turned out just fine). Line the bottom with parchment paper and butter it as well.
2. Put the chocolate and butter in a microwave safe bowl and melt it in 30 second bursts, stirring often, until smooth (you could also use the double boiler method if you’re more comfortable with that).
3. Once smooth, add the sugar and stir well to incorporate.
4. Set the batter aside to cool for 5 minutes.
5. Once cool, add the eggs one by one, stirring well after each egg ( I find this step easier if the eggs are at room temperature).
6. Add the flour and stir. The batter should be dark and silky.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes, or until the top is crackley, the edges are puffed and the center jiggles only slightly or not at all.
8. Remove the cake from the oven & cool in the pan for 15 minutes. To remove, place a dinner plate over the cake pan & flip it over. The cake will be upside down at this point. Remove the parchment paper, then put another plate on the "top" (which will ultimately be the bottom) of the cake & flip it once more so the “crackled” side is showing.
9. Serve with a dollop of loosely-whipped cream.

Mexican Rice

I wouldn’t consider myself an overly enthusiastic lover of Mexican food, but the number of times that lonestar taqueria appears on my bank statement each month and the many combinations of beans, cheese, tortillas, and vegetables that regularly grace my dinner table would prove me wrong.

This rice is one of the staples in my Mexican food repertoire. I always make it to serve with enchiladas, since all that sauce is just begging to be sopped up by something. You could also serve it alongside tacos or inside one of those huge southwestern burritos. Possibilities are endless here, people.

Mexican Rice (from allrecipes.com)



½ small white or yellow onion, finely diced
About 1 tsp. oil (one turn of the pan)
3 oz. canned diced tomatoes
2/3 cup uncooked long grain rice
1 ½ cups water
½ tsp. chili powder
½ tsp. cumin
1 tsp. salt

1) In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Stir in onion and saute until translucent.

2) Pour the rice into the pan and stir to coat grains with oil. Mix in cumin, chili powder, tomatoes, salt and water.

3) Cover, bring to a boil then reduce heat to low. Cook at a simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until rice is done and liquid is absorbed.

Hummus

My husband and I are definitely not a match made in culinary heaven. He grew up on hamburger helper and standard “meat and potatoes” fare, while I was raised in a vegetarian household where borscht and homemade sushi made regular appearances on the dinner table.

Our brief courtship was an exercise in compromise. Mike helped me discover a dormant love of barbecue ribs, while I encouraged him to do crazy things like add tomatoes to his turkey sandwiches. Still, after deciding to get married I honestly wondered if his picky eating habits and my love of gastronomical experimentation would ever mesh into a coherent dinner menu.

The turning point came one afternoon shortly after Mike and I got engaged. We were on our way to a Utah football game with friends and stopped at the grocery store for some gametime snacks, one of the selections being a tub of hummus and pita bread. I thought there was no way Mike would touch the stuff with a ten-foot pole, but not five minutes later the guy who won’t eat cream cheese or onions was proclaiming his love for Middle Eastern chickpea spread. Since then he’s been converted to sushi, margherita pizza, curry, and a number of other foods that were previously on the WILL NOT EAT list. Apparently hummus is one heck of a gateway drug.

Hummus


This is a very basic recipe for hummus. I’ve kept the seasoning amounts to a minimum, since you can always put more spices in but you can’t take them out. So just start with these amounts and adjust at the end. This recipe would also be terrific with the addition of some sundried tomatoes or other colorful ingredients. I see a roasted red pepper and kalamata olive variation in my future.

1 (15 oz.) can garbanzo beans
¼ cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 garlic clove, pressed
½ tsp. ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste

1) Drain garbanzo beans, reserving the liquid.
2) Blend beans, 2 tablespoons of the reserved liquid, and remaining ingredients until smooth. (I used my immersion blender, but you could use a regular blender or food processor)
3) Add liquid until desired consistency is reached.
4) Adjust seasonings to taste.
5) Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of paprika, if desired.

My kind of cupcakes

Unlike most people I know, I’m not a huge fan of cupcakes. I definitely have a sweet tooth, but I prefer the richness of cookies or brownies to light cakes topped with tooth-aching frosting. Nor am I much for the whole “food as a craft project” notion (it’s pretty safe to say that I’m the anti-Bakerella), so the thought of baking cupcakes for the sake of decorating them doesn’t hold much appeal, either.

I know the recipe listed below has the term “cupcakes” in the title but you can safely leave behind all notions of buttermilk cake and creamy swirls of powdered sugar-based frosting. A variation of Nigella Lawson’s equally delicious chocolate loaf cake from her cookbook How To Be A Domestic Goddess, these cupcakes are not so much cute and sugary as they are subtly intense and aromatic. They are also ridiculously easy to make (perfect for those as impatient and messy as myself), as the icing is nothing more than a simple ganache spread on top of the cakes and left to set. No pastry bags or sprinkles required.

Chocolate Cupcakes

2 ounces best bittersweet chocolate, melted
½ cup butter, softened
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 large egg
½ tsp. vanilla
½ cup boiling water
½ cup flour
½ tsp. baking powder

1) Cream the butter and sugar
2) Add egg and vanilla and beat well
3) Fold in the melted and slightly cooled chocolate. Careful not to overmix- you want the chocolate incorporated, you don’t want a light airy mass.
4) Gently add the flour (to which you’ve added the baking powder), alternately spoon by spoon with the boiling water until you have a smooth, fairly liquid batter.
5) Pour batter into 12 lined muffin tins (each will be about 2/3 full).
6) Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Let cupcakes cool completely, then frost with the following:

1 ½ ounces milk chocolate
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I used about 2 ounces semisweet, 1 ounce bittersweet)
¼ teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons cream
(Sorry the measurements are a bit screwy, I cut the original recipe in half after discovering that it made enough ganache for an army of cupcakes)

1) Place all ingredients in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly until the chocolate is melted.
2) Remove from heat and whisk until the mixture is of spreading consistency (it will still be pretty runny compared to regular frosting)
3) Spread onto cupcakes with the back of a spoon
4) Leave to set somewhere cool, although preferably not the fridge.
5) Decorate as you wish (I took Nigella’s suggestion and simply placed one brown M&M in the center of each cake).

Note: If you can, make these the day before and store in an airtight container. They moisten up beautifully and the chocolate flavor really wakes up.

Cafe Rio-ish Recipes

If someone were to write a book about Utah’s culinary history, I’m guessing there would be a whole chapter devoted to Café Rio. I can’t think of another restaurant that caused quite as big of a stir in the Salt Lake valley as this Southwestern eatery. And, judging from the array of knock-off recipes for Rio’s famous creamy tomatillo dressing or shredded chicken filling the pages of recipe blogs and local cookbooks, imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery.

Below is my take on homemade Cafe Rio. This meal is perfect for serving at a large gathering or party because everything is simple to make and can be prepared in advance, plus you lay out the components and let guests assemble everything themselves so that you don’t have to deal with catering to the needs of picky eaters and the like.

I serve the following recipes with these accompaniments:

Tortillas (preferably the cook-and-serve kind)
Salsa or pico de gallo
Shredded romaine lettuce
Grated cheddar cheese
Sliced avocado or fresh guacamole
Black beans
Sour cream

Café Rio-style Pork

This pork doesn’t have the syrupy texture of Café Rio’s, but the flavor is really similar. I’ve had other recipes made with soda and all kinds of random ingredients, but I still like this simple one the best.

2 pound pork roast (I use tenderloin)
1 cup pace picante sauce or similar salsa (something runny, tomato based, and relatively free of chunks)
1 cup brown sugar

1) Mix brown sugar and salsa together and pour over roast.
2) Cook meat in a well-greased crockpot on low for ~5 hours, or until pork shreds easily*
3) Shred meat with two forks and mix with the rest of the sauce.

*The original recipe I was given says to cover the roast and bake at 350 degrees for 3 hours, but I’ve never tried this method so I can’t vouch for it.

Creamy Tomatillo Dressing

My approach to this recipe is pretty loose. Sometimes I use a whole bunch of cilantro, sometimes 3 tomatillos, etc. I just taste as I go and adjust to my liking- I suggest you do the same.

1 pkg Hidden Valley buttermilk ranch dressing mix*
1 cup Buttermilk
~3/4 cilantro bunch, chopped (I use the leaves only)
½-1 small jalapeno, seeds removed
1 cup mayonnaise (I use this homemade version)
1 tsp. lime juice
2 tomatillos
¼ tsp. minced garlic**

1) Blend all ingredients in a blender or food processor
2) Refrigerate for at least one hour

*This stuff is expensive and contains MSG and other nasty chemicals, so I’ve been meaning to replace it with the dried herbs from this homemade ranch (minus the dill). If you try it, let me know how it goes.
** Most of these imitation dressings go way too heavy on the garlic. I’ve had a few where all I could taste was the garlic flavor and not the tomatillos. The original recipe I had called for one whole clove, and it was absolutely disgusting the first time I made it. So if I have one word of advice it’s this: go easy on the garlic! You can always add some more later if you feel it needs it, but remember that garlic gets more pungent as it sits so give the dressing some time in the fridge before you add more.

Cilantro-Lime Rice

If you want to make this closer to Cafe Rio's, try adding a small can of diced green chiles.

4 T butter
2 ½ cups white rice
4 ½ cups chicken broth (I sometimes use half broth, half water)
1 ½ tsp. salt
4 T lime juice
4 T chopped cilantro (I usually add more- I heart cilantro)
½ tsp. cumin

Combine all ingredients in a rice cooker and cook on normal setting OR
Combine all ingredients in a pot, bring to a boil, then cover with a tight-fitting lid and simmer until rice is done.