Umami Grain Bowl with Anthology and First Spring Foods (!!!) with New York Times

This month's column at Anthology focuses on abundant flavor through the savoriness that is umami. 

I make a lot of food. I love a meal containing numerous elements. Bright colors, a fantastic array of textures, and depth of flavor is one version of a meal that often appears at my table. The starring roles change, but this is the overarching theme.

Weird and wonderful additions like anchovies, bottarga, and roasted seaweed (all together! …it's totally  great, and very much about proportions) bring what is otherwise a simple meal to a whole new level….

making the anchovy-roasted garlic dressing

beautiful radicchio fresh from its char...

Please let me know if you decide to make this delicious dish. It definitely was satisfying to produce it. :) Here is the full story.

In equally delicious news, more of my work debuted on Page One in this week's New York Times Food section. This colorful Ode to Spring is another Mark Bittman story - I always love when I'm tasked with articulating his recipes, for their no-nonsense, tasty tendencies. If you recall another I produced last year, he wins my heart….

Here are some of my favorite outtakes - 

Each of the recipes is lovely. The indulgence of the deep-fried spring onions is an obvious winner, but my personal favorite is the delicate peas over still-crunchy grilled little lettuces, dressed in garlicky, minty goodness. Here is the full article and recipes, if you're seized enough to want to make them.

In other recent news, I produced a vivid and totally delightful "Shapes and Colors of Spring" story for the Fifth Anniversary Sweet Paul Magazine, now available for purchase or download. Here are two recipes (one, two) from the story, currently online. That is worth sharing in a story all on its own. Also, look for another gorgeous front page feature from  yours truly, in next week's NYTimes Food. And more. Always more, cuz what is a freelancer to do if not producing new, drool-worthy content?

I hope you all have delicious food lined up for this weekend. I'll be eating my way out of leftovers, maybe even without putting them onto plates… xo 

Happy spring!

Valentine's Olive Oil Cake at Anthology & A New Giveaway

Celebrations.
Love.
All things delicious.
Here, some extra-special delicious….

I've wanted to make an olive oil cake for a while, and so I figured Valentine's Day was as good an occasion as any.

A friend gifted me a bunch of homegrown citrus - including these kumquats - from her friend's father's garden in New Orleans (how lucky am I?!). This seemed like the perfect occasion to marry a citrus compote with a fantastically moist cake.

This was a great idea.

I made two cakes with a mindset to give some away.  I have two sets of friends expecting babies very soon. Who wouldn't benefit from homemade-with-love goodies while adjusting to new schedules and the myriad challenges babies present? Yes.

This cake is quite easy to make once your ingredients are gathered, so in the spirit of love, why not make more?

The compote requires a little more attention than the cake but it gives back big. You could choose to make only the cake, which is utterly amazing on its own. I hope you make both. The combination of jewel-toned jamminess enrobing velvety cake is luscious. Seriously.

for the cake

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups organic cane sugar

3 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 2/3 cups good extra virgin olive oil - I used arbequina 

6 pastured eggs

2 1/2 cups pasture-raised whole milk

3 tbsp orange zest

1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1/2 cup Cointreau or Pierre Ferrand dry curaçao 

butter, for greasing

for the compote

2 cups kumquats

4 blood oranges - juice and flesh to be used separately

juice of 1 lemon

3 cardamom pods, bruised with the flat side of a knife

1/2 cup organic cane sugar

(Start the compote a day ahead)

Rinse and scrub the fruit under cold water. Cut off ends from blood oranges. Set orange cut-end down for easy work and slice off the peel and outer membrane, following the curve of the fruit as you slice. Squeeze any juice from ends and peel segments into a small bowl to use for later, then discard. Carefully remove the orange segments - aka supremes - by slicing along the connective membranes. Do this over the bowl you squeezed the peels into to catch the juices, and squeeze the leftover membrane of its remaining juices before you discard. You should end up with 1/2 cup or so of blood orange juice. Place the supremes in a bowl and set aside. 

Slice the kumquats into quarters and remove the seeds. Wrap seeds in a piece of muslin and secure with kitchen twine. Place the kumquats, supremes, muslin-wrapped seed bundle, sugar, lemon juice, and blood orange juice into a saucepan. Give the mixture a stir and bring to a bare simmer over low heat. Cook, covered, on low for a half hour. Remove from heat, then pour into a glass dish. Cover and refrigerate overnight once cooled.

The next day, remove any loose seeds and pithy elements with a small spoon. Empty the fruit-seed-syrup mixture into a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Skim any foam which may come to the surface. Bring heat to medium-high, and gently stir as the mixture bubbles, for 5 minutes. 

Remove muslin bundle, pressing it gently between two spoons to express any juices (careful, it is hot!). Stir some more as it cooks for another 5 minutes. Return to a rapid boil for a minute or two and then remove from heat. Pour compote into a glass dish and refrigerate once cooled a bit. The compote will thicken as it cools. Refrigerated, the compote will keep for a few months. It is so good it won't last that long....

Prepare the cake while the compote cools. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Whisk together wet ingredients - zest goes with these - in another large bowl. 

Grease the two springform pans and line the bottoms with parchment. 

Add dry ingredients gradually to wet and whisk until just incorporated. Pour the batter between the two pans, set onto a rimmed baking sheet. 

Bake for 35 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through. Check the smaller cake for doneness by giving it a jiggle. The center should give a little (similar to cooking custard), while the outer circumference should be deeply golden. Continue to bake if not done, checking back every few minutes. The larger cake will take 15-20 minutes longer. Check for doneness in the same fashion as you did with the smaller cake. 

As they each finish baking, cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes, then slide a thin knife along the circumference of the ring before removing. Cool inverted on a baking tray (so as not to mar the surface) until at room temperature and discard parchment. 

Store any leftover cake in a container between layers of parchment, in the refrigerator. Cake can also be frozen (wrapped tightly in cellophane, then foil, then a resealable bag) for later indulgence.

Serve this cake at room temperature in wedges, with a spoonful or two of the luscious compote on top. 

...................................

So many things going on right now, it is nice to part the chaos with something so sublime as this.

I know I say that with every post. But really - I faced a recent hospitalization that confronted me with the need to change my lifestyle. I am recovering and overall am well, but it wasn't something to take lightly. I am grateful for having listened to my body and deciding to drive to the ER to see what all the funny business was about. And I'm extremely grateful to my family for their never-ending support.

Beyond that and my regular juggle of delicious projects, I experiment daily with foods of all kinds….whether for the basic need to get food in my belly for breakfast, or in the hopes of creating a gorgeous new story and then playing to flesh out ideas. Stay tuned for some news relating to that, soon.

In the meantime, here is a new giveaway to whet your appetites and inspire you, as you experiment in your own world:

This beautifully written and illustrated heirloom-style book shares regional French food in its traditional, authentic origins, based on 27 distinct regions throughout France. Co-authored by the great Chef Jöel Robuchon and French historian Loïc Bienassis, the duo share lesser-known specialties and highlight dishes specific to each region featured.

In order to qualify, follow me on Instagram if you aren't already, and leave a comment below telling me what French food you have made and loved, or which you would like to make most, that you have not tried already.  

You can also tweet "check out @melinaphotos French Valentine giveaway: http://bit.ly/1zAPtcC" or tag me on Facebook saying the same. With each additional mention, your name gets added to the hat an additional time. In any comment that you leave, please leave a contact email so that I may be in touch with you should you be the winner. If I don't have an email, I have to pick another winner. 

To be eligible, you must live in the US and add your comments, tweets, and tags by 11:59 EST, Monday March 2nd.

Happy Valentine's Day! Share in the love. 

Aromatic Poached Salmon with Anthology, Cal Peternell's Braised Chicken Legs with New York Times, Birmingham Magazine Sweet Potatoes

Some years, January is one of the slowest times and affords contemplation: to dream up new projects, to consider what the arc of the year will look like...

Not this year.

Which, I guess is a good thing, but I have had trouble keeping up already. There are a number of pretty fantastic projects now finished which will soon make their way out into the world. Some will debut soon, so keep your attention here and when they go live, I'll be sure to let you know.

They are gorgeous displays of beautiful, real food, articulated in new ways that I am quite proud of. Others - like the party for thirty I just single-handedly put together (from scratch!) - were huge labors of love for friends, and now poof, they're gone.

I also just completed my latest column with Anthology, which is very much in the spirit of the above: a labor of love, gorgeous displays, and completely about real food. If you're not sold by the pictures, tell me what it is they lack….

Because for me, their elemental nature - and knowing just how delicious everything tasted together - is enough to make me want to cook it all over again.

The full story and recipe is here.

These are for the plump aioli into which everything got dabbed….

The flavorful poaching liquid, which I have used for soups and to cook grains in, since. Nothing goes to waste if I can help it…

Yum. What do you think?

Another hearty, straightforward meal I produced is these chicken legs from Chez Panisse's own Cal Peternell. They were recently featured in The New York Times, and taste as superb as they look.

This soothing recipe with sweet potatoes I created for Birmingham Magazine is also out now - 

For the same month, I was asked to photograph soup dumplings at a local restaurant. They were quite good. (I love my job.)

Though spring isn't here yet and I pine for the soft breezes and warm sunlight, I am also very grateful because I have more winter incubating to do. There will be so much good work to share once spring does grace us with its presence, but let's be invigorated by the heartiness of winter foods for a little while yet.

If you wonder where does all the food go, I have a good lot of fun figuring out ways to use up all the remnants and leftovers, over on Instagram. Always a challenge to use every last bit in an interesting way (that isn't the same thing), I am constantly surprised by the new things I discover. So many happy accidents. :)

I hope you're nourishing yourselves as we roll out 2015. Every meal is an opportunity to delight your palate and soothe your bones! 

Garden & Gun, a Story About Me, Lots of Fun at New York Times, and the Summer Disappeared

This past springtime, the flurry of activity really took hold. I went so far as to map out each day from start to end so that I could keep track of timing: the dizzying myriad projects underway, along with new ones, all clamoring for space. The time has come where many fruits of that labor have ripened, in and amidst my steady work with the fine people at Anthology and The New York Times.

Where Women Cook, a Southern quarterly, asked to feature me. It tickled me so! Not just to produce recipes that I thought would translate into beauty on the page (and of course be dynamite tasting), but to have those recipes be my own creation; what I deemed relevant and lovely. All that, accompanied with my story. Talk about humbling.

I love the results. The newest issue can be found at Barnes and Noble. Pick up a copy and tell me what you think!

portrait by the wonderful Jim Lafferty

Here are some of the photographs featured, and some favorite outtakes -

beetroot cure ingredients that comprised the above finished dish

Grinding nuts into a powder to incorporate

 

This crumb-topped apple crostada is certifiably amazing

During that same time frame, my editor at Garden & Gun had an ambitious story she needed turned around in record time, and of course I said 'no problem!' The idea: the best southern breakfasts. One could write volumes I imagine. So off I went to Oxford Mississippi to capture breakfasts done big by none other than Chef John Currance, at the original Big Bad Breakfast. Needless to say there were grits involved, and lots of bacon-related elements…here's the online version - check out the full story in the magazine, out now.

Other fun and colorful stories of note, The New York Times has been using my skills at cooking, styling, and shooting on the regular. This great piece was printed last month and took up most of the front page - wahoooo!!! (Online story, here.)

Not only did my piece grace Page One, but I was right beside an equally great story about none other than Betty Fussell. She's been writing up a storm - and of the no-nonsense variety - for the last five decades. Betty is also an amazing human. I am blessed to call her a friend, and I even interviewed her here a while back, for my Luminary series. Available online, both articles are worth having a good look at.

In other NYTimes news, there's this indulgent sweet corn risotto. Insanely yummy.

Also, a story about Basque recipes for the under-appreciated green pepper, like this Piperade. Savory and a delight (but I still prefer red or orange peppers most any day…)

Did you see this yummy piece about these brown butter and coconut financiers? Holy moly they were good.

Whew.

This comprises work that's out in print right now. More g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s stories soon to debut! I hope these will keep you sated, at least for the time being. ;)