This delicious cake has become an instant family favorite.  I’ve made two in the past week, and David and Julia have requested another for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.  Like Roasted Rhubarb with Orange and Spices, it marries the tart flavor of rhubarb with oranges and cinnamon, but this time the tender fruit is a filling encased in a sweet, crumbly orange-flavored polenta cake.  It’s irresistible –and a nice alternative to the traditional Memorial Day strawberry shortcake.  The recipe is simple and forgiving, but make sure you use coarse polenta for this:  ordinary cornmeal won’t give you the gritty, crumbly texture you want.

Recipe

(adapted from “Rhubarb cinnamon polenta cake” in Ripe, A cook in the orchard by Nigel Slater)

Ingredients

for the filling:

about 1 pound (500g) rhubarb (trimmed weight)

1/4 cup granulated or baker’s sugar

4 tablespoons water

for the crust:

3/4 cup (125g) coarse polenta

1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon (200g) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 cup granulated or baker’s sugar

finely grated zest of 1 small orange

10 tablespoons (150g) butter

1 large egg

2-4 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon of demerara sugar (or “sugar in the raw” or white sanding sugar)

Instructions

1.  Lightly butter an 8-inch (20cm) springform pan.  Preheat the oven to 350F (180C) and put a baking sheet in the oven to get it hot.

2.  Trim the rhubarb, cut it into short pieces and put it in a baking dish.  Sprinkle the sugar and water over it and bake it (uncovered) until it’s soft but still holds its shape, about 30-40 minutes.  (If the dish gets dry, add a couple of tablespoons of water.)

3.  Take the rhubarb pieces out of the dish and place them in a colander or sieve placed over a bowl to drain.  Reserve the delicious pink rhubarb juice to serve with the cake.

4.  Put the polenta, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and sugar into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment.  Grate the orange zest into the work bowl and then add the butter, cut into about 1/2 inch (1cm) cubes.  Pulse until you have something that looks like damp sawdust.  Break the egg into a small bowl, add the 2 tablespoons of milk and whisk together with a fork.  Then add the mixture to the food processor and blend just until it all comes together to form a soft, sticky dough — but no longer.  If it isn’t at all sticky, add a little more of the milk.

5.  Press about two-thirds of the mixture into the cake pan, pushing it about 3/4 inch (2cm) up the sides with a floured spoon to make a sort of shallow container for the rhubarb.  (Make sure there are no gaps or large cracks.)

6.  Place the rhubarb in this dough container and then crumble the remaining dough over the top with your fingertips, and don’t worry if the rhubarb isn’t completely covered.  Top with the demerara or sanding sugar.

7.  Place on the hot baking sheet and bake for 45 to 50 minutes.  Wait until the pan is cool enough to handle before attempting to remove the cake as it’s very fragile when it’s hot.

Serve sliced with a spoonful of the reserved rhubarb juice and maybe a dollop of whipped cream.

This post was originally posted at Rhubarb #2: Orange Rhubarb Polenta Cake. You can find this post and more at Domestic Daddy - Chris Nordquist.

For me, rhubarb is one of those flavors that tell me that spring has finally arrived.  I love its tart freshness, but I think it’s best in combination with other flavors — on its own, rhubarb can be a little overpowering.  The traditional pairing with strawberries won’t work for us right now because Julia has developed a mild childhood allergy (she gets blotchy for a couple of hours after she eats strawberries), so I needed some new candidates.  Turns out, oranges and cinnamon are also good companions for rhubarb, and I’ve discovered two great recipes that make great use of that combination.

Here’s the first.  It’s so simple you can easily make it for a weeknight dinner, but it’s pretty enough for guests, particularly if you pair the roasted fruit (vegetable?) with ice cream or whipped cream instead of the more virtuous option of nonfat greek yoghurt.  However you dress it up, though, the key with rhubarb is to cook it until it’s soft and the flavor mellows but not until it’s a pile of pink stringy mush.

Recipe

(Serves 6, adapted from “Cinnamon panna cotta with spiced roasted rhubarb” in Ripe, a cook in the orchard by Nigel Slater)

Ingredients

About 1 lb (450g ) fresh rhubarb

4 tablespoons of honey

1 small orange

1 cinnamon stick, broken in half

4 star anise

Instructions

1.  Preheat the oven to 325F (170C).  Trim the rhubarb, discarding leaves and any green parts, and cut it into about 2-inch lengths.

2.  Transfer the rhubarb to a baking dish large enough to hold it in a single layer.  Pour the honey over the rhubarb pieces.  Grate the orange zest over the dish and then nestle in the star anise and the cinnamon stick.  Cut the orange in half and squeeze its juice into the dish.  Drop the spent orange hulls into the dish (they’ll release liquid during cooking) and cover it tightly with tinfoil.

3.  Bake for about 30 minutes until the rhubarb is soft but still keeps its shape.

4.  Remove the oranges and spices and serve the rhubarb pieces with plenty of the accumulated juices at room temperature or cold with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, or Greek yoghurt sweetened with a bit of honey and dusted with cinnamon.

This post was originally posted at Rhubarb #1: Roasted with Orange and Spices. You can find this post and more at Domestic Daddy - Chris Nordquist.

Kale, and particularly kale salads, seem to be all the rage at the moment.  I’ve made and eaten quite a few of them now, and this one –inspired by a popular salad on the menu at New York’s ABC kitchen– is my favorite.  Its flavor is bold and delicious, and this recipe solves a couple of problems that can hinder my enjoyment of the whole kale Caesar genre.  First, it adds the bright, fresh flavors of mint and Serrano peppers to alleviate the occasional heaviness of salads made with kale leaves and traditional Caesar dressing.  And it solves my other issue too –excessively firm and sometimes even rubbery texture–  by removing the stiff ribs from the leaves before cutting them into thin ribbons.  This step takes a few minutes, but it’s well worth the effort.

Even if you’re not fond of spicy food, please give the Serrano peppers a try.  With the heat-storing ribs and seeds removed, they impart a bright, grassy flavor to the salad that the kale really needs, and with only the slightest hint of heat.  (For a hotter finish, of course, you can leave in some or all of those ribs and seeds as I do.)

Recipe

Ingredients

2-3 ounce (60-90g) chunk of good chewy bread (sourdough works fine here)

2 bunches of black, “dinosaur” or Lacinato kale.  (Curly green kale is too firm to eat raw.)

1 generous cup (250ml) (packed) of mint leaves

1 large (or two small) Serrano pepper(s)

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2/3 cup (160ml) mild tasting olive oil, plus 1-2 tablespoons for the croutons

1 teaspoon of chopped anchovy (about 2 fillets)

1 clove garlic, finely chopped or run through a press

about 2 ounces (60g) of good Parmegiano Reggiano cheese (about 3/4 cup (175ml), lightly packed), grated finely

1 large cold egg

zest of 2 lemons –yellow part only, finely grated with a microplane grater.

juice of 1 lemon (1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons)

kosher or medium grain sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1.  Make the croutons.  Preheat the oven to 350F (175C).  Cut the bread into a fine dice –1/2 inch (1cm) or smaller.  You’re going for something between croutons and coarse breadcrumbs.  Place in a mixing bowl and toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.  Add two pinches of kosher salt and then toss again.  Dump them onto a baking sheet and bake for 5-8 minutes golden brown.

2.  Place the anchovy fillets in a small bowl and cover with cold water.  Soak them while you prepare the rest of the salad.  If you’re using anchovies packed in oil, this will remove the often funky taste of the oil.  If yours are packed in salt, this will save your dressing from becoming too salty.

3.  Prepare the kale.  Discard any badly damaged leaves and wash the rest.  Lay out the leaves out on a towel to dry and blot them with another towel, or whirl them in a salad spinner.  (Kale is pretty sturdy, so you don’t need to worry about bruising the leaves.)

4.  Next, remove the ribs.  This is a little tedious, but it goes quickly once you get the hang of it, and the effort pays off.  The ribs can be a little rubbery in the mouth, and removing them gets you only the softer leaves for your salad.  Just place each leaf face down on a cutting board and draw the tip of your knife down both sides of the rib. After that, a little tug from the base takes the rib out cleanly.

5.  Then pile up the leaves and chop them crosswise into about 1/2 inch (1cm) ribbons.  Transfer to a large bowl.  Roughly chop the mint leaves and add them to the bowl too.

6.  Dice the pepper finely.  If you don’t care for spicy food, first cut the pepper in half lengthwise and remove its ribs and seeds, where most of the heat lives.  (I usually take out just half of the ribs and seeds since I enjoy a little heat in this salad.)  Add it to the bowl of greens.

7.  Make the dressing.  Dry and chop the anchovies finely.  Whisk together the oil, vinegar, anchovies, garlic, mustard and two pinches of salt in a mixing bowl.  Add the egg, lemon zest, and lots of black pepper.  Whisk to emulsify.  Add the lemon juice and whisk again, then add about 2/3 of the grated cheese and whisk to combine.  Taste the dressing –first on it’s own and then on a piece of kale– and adjust with lemon juice and black pepper, if necessary.

8.  Pour about 3/4 of the dressing onto the greens and add your little croutons.  Toss well.  Taste, and add dressing and/or black pepper, if needed.  Then add the rest of the cheese and toss again.

Serve soonish.  Unlike most green salads, this one can rest fully dressed in the fridge or another cool place for an hour (or even two) without any wilting or sogginess due the sturdiness of the leaves.

This post was originally posted at Kale Salad with Mint and Serrano Peppers. You can find this post and more at Domestic Daddy - Chris Nordquist.

Yes, again.  About two and a half years ago, you helped us with a new color for our foyer in Southampton, and we chose the beautiful marigold color we have now. We’ve enjoyed it, but we’re ready for a change, and I’d appreciate your advice again.  We’re in the mood for a change because we’re just restless, I guess, but also because of our changing use of the house.  We used to spend most weekends there year-round, but we’re using the place less in fall and winter now, and the color seems a little autumnal for what has become much more a summer house.

For context, here are a few pictures showing the present color (in autumn.)

Looking South

Looking North

Looking down the stairs to the landing

The furniture and Beni Ouarain carpet will stay, but I just bought this cheerful 1959 Bitossi studio pottery lamp to sit on the entry console.  (Julia is particularly happy with this addition.)

Here are three preliminary color directions:  a medium yellow (Pratt & Lambert “Summer Sun” 14-11), apple green (Benjamin Moore “granny smith” CSP-860) and a cornflower blue (Pratt & Lambert “Kitten’s Yarn” 26-6).  What do you think?  Other ideas?

We’ll paint by Memorial Day.

This post was originally posted at Help! Refreshing the Southampton Foyer –Again. You can find this post and more at Domestic Daddy - Chris Nordquist.

Smitten Ice Cream’s “Brrr.”  Smitten in San Francisco makes your ice cream on the spot using its “Brrr” machine that freezes your order with liquid nitrogen –in 60 seconds.  It sounds like a gimmick, but the super fast freezing produces and incredibly smooth treat.  I’m hoping for a home model.

Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams.  I make most of our ice cream at home, but Jeni’s Black Coffee flavor is better than mine.  And (unlike Smitten or me) they ship.

Ultima Thule dessert bowl by Tapio Wirkkala for IIttala.  An icy bowl for your ice cream.

Alfred Dunhill linen and silk scarf.  For breezy beaches, airplanes, cinemas and other chilly places this summer.

Grady’s Cold Brew.  Add this delicious handmade coffee concentrate (brewed with chicory and spices) to milk and ice to make a refreshing New Orleans-style iced coffee.

This post was originally posted at Take Five: Brrr. You can find this post and more at Domestic Daddy - Chris Nordquist.

For followers of the foodie calendar, it’s ramp season.  These tender wild leeks appear for a just few weeks in spring, get overexposed in the food press and on seasonal menus, and then vanish completely for the rest of the year.  Don’t be put off by the hype, though.  If you run across ramps in the market, roll your eyes if you must, but buy a bunch.  They’re uniquely delicious and very easy to use in everyday cooking.

I like them cooked whole and quickly in olive oil and served beside eggs (or a steak, or steak and eggs).  They’re also delicious chopped and added to a simple pasta or risotto.  Their flavor is unique –gently garlicky, and a bit like scallions, but more complex.

Here’s my favorite way to enjoy ramps this year –as a topping to a “socca,” a French chickpea flour crepe.  Sauteed ramps and the rich nutty flavor of the socca go together well, and a drizzle lemon-yoghurt dressing provides a tangy contrast that really brings the dish together.  Traditionally served with nothing but a little ground pepper on top, socca are great as a snack, a first course or with a green salad as a light lunch. Unlike traditional crepes, though, these are very easy to make without practice or any special pan: you just pour the batter into a large, hot skillet and bake it in the oven for about 20 minutes.

And, for those with restricted diets, they’re gluten and dairy-free.

Recipe

Ingredients

For the socca:

1 cup (240ml) chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour

1 1/3 cups (315ml) water

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher or medium grain sea salt

Fresh ground pepper

For the topping:

1 large bunch (about 2 dozen) ramps

3 heaping tablespoons of greek yoghurt

1 tablespoon plus two teaspoons olive oil

Juice of 1/2 lemon

kosher or medium grain sea salt

Instructions

1.  Preheat the oven to 450F 230C).  In a mixing bowl, whisk together the chickpea flour, water, 2 tablespoons of the oil and salt until smooth. The batter will be very thin.

2.  Pour the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil into a large skillet or sautee or paella pan — about 14 inches (36cm) in diameter is ideal.  (If don’t have a pan this large, no worries –just use the largest skillet you have or a heavy baking sheet.)  Heat the oiled pan in the oven for 5 minutes before proceeding. Time this: skipping or rushing this step is about the only way to go wrong with this recipe.

3.  Pull the hot pan out of the oven; tilt and swirl it to completely coat the bottom and corners of the pan with the hot oil.  Then pour in the batter.  (If you don’t have a 14-inch pan, just pour in enough batter to cover the bottom to a depth of about 1/8 inch (3mm).)  Tilt and swirl the pan to evenly coat the bottom with the batter, and return it to the oven.  Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the socca is dry and firm in the middle and deep brown at the edges.

4.  In the meantime, prepare the topping.

5.  Wash the ramps carefully, remove the roots and then separate the slim white bulbs from the green leaves.  (Reserve a few whole ramps for garnish.)  Finely chop the bulbs and coarsely chop the leaves.

6.  Warm about 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat for about a minute and then add the ramp bulbs (and the whole ramps for garnish) and two or three pinches of salt to taste.  Sauté for about 5 minutes until the bulbs are fragrant, lose their garlicky heat and develop a mellow, sweet flavor.  Then add the leaves and sauté until they are wilted.  Cover to keep warm and set aside.

7.  To make the creamy lemon dressing, mix together the yoghurt, 1 tablespoon of olive oil and the lemon juice.  Salt to taste and pour into a squeeze bottle, if you have one handy.  (If not, you can just drizzle the dressing over the dish with a spoon.)

8.  When the socca is done, pull it out of the oven and carefully remove it from the pan with a stiff spatula.  (It should come out easily.)  Transfer it to a cutting board and add plenty of fresh ground pepper.

9.  Arrange the ramps on top and squeeze or drizzle on your deliciously creamy lemon dressing.

10.  Cut into wedges and serve hot or warm.

This post was originally posted at Socca with Ramps. You can find this post and more at Domestic Daddy - Chris Nordquist.

Chartreuse liqueur.  130 different herbs, plants, roots and leaves go into this vividly flavored (and colored) liqueur made by Carthusian monks in the French alps.  Delicious to sip after dinner or mix into cocktails like The Last Word.

Suede Driving Shoes by Car Shoe.  In bright, fun colors as spring turns to summer.

Bonobos Pool Sharks.  Great fit and a great color for the sunny days ahead.

Marimekko Karkuteilla.  Delightful dishes for kids.

Heath Ceramics Summer Seasonal Collection.  Beautiful layered blues on Heath’s classic shapes.

This post was originally posted at Take Five: Chartreuse. You can find this post and more at Domestic Daddy - Chris Nordquist.

I realize I’m rushing the season for this sort of drink, but we had a brief flash of summer last week in New York, and it reminded me of a drink that I made a few weeks before during our spring break in sunny Palm Springs.  It’s light and refreshing, and it’s delicious with or without the addition of tequila, making it a drink the whole family can enjoy together, day or evening. If you’re not a fan of (good) tequila, seek help, but in the meantime substitute vodka.

One ingredient here may look strange:  jalapeño pepper. This isn’t a spicy drink, though. The pepper (with the hot seeds and ribs removed), adds a fresh, slightly sharp flavor that complements the sweetness of ripe watermelon.

Recipe

Ingredients

Watermelon chunks (to fill a blender)

About 1/2 cup water

Juice of one lime

1/2 large jalapeño pepper (or 1 small), seeds and ribs removed

Agave syrup to taste

About two ounces of silver tequila per serving (optional)

Instructions

1.  Peel and cut the watermelon into about 1 1/2 inch chunks and fill the blender with them.

2.  Add the juice of 1 lime and about 1/2 cup of cold water.

3.  Halve the pepper lengthwise, scrape out the seeds and cut out the ribs (this is where most of the heat lives); chop it up and add it to the blender.

4.  Puree the mixture until it’s smooth and you can no longer see bits of the green pepper whirling around in the liquid.  Taste and add a teaspoon or two of agave syrup to sweeten, if necessary.

Serve over ice, with or without tequila.  Garnish with watermelon wedges and wheels of lime.

This post was originally posted at The Watercooler. You can find this post and more at Domestic Daddy - Chris Nordquist.

Tazza d’Oro Coffee Shop, Rome.  Bright, noisy, crowded, a little kitschy and mercifully unrenovated, it’s probably my favorite coffee shop in the world.  It’s just steps from the Pantheon and often packed with tourists, but don’t be put off: it’s the real deal.  The coffee (and granita di caffe in warm weather) are sublime.

“Ruska” Stoneware from Arabia Finland.  Designed by Ulla Procope for Arabia, this is coffee-colored stoneware has been a favorite of mine since childhood, and I use a mug every morning for my coffee.  It was discontinued in the late 90s, but you can find it on ebay.

Coach Bedford Suede Barracuda. Creamy suede with buttery leather trim.

Technivorm Moccamaster.  The best home drip coffee maker ever.  And I love that the water tank looks like an air traffic control tower.

Ines Rosales Sweet Olive Oil Tortas.  Crazy delicious with your morning coffee (or tea).

This post was originally posted at Take Five: Tazza d’Oro. You can find this post and more at Domestic Daddy - Chris Nordquist.

We love it.  It came in early and under budget –a rare bird in the world of interiors– but most importantly, when we unrolled it late one Tuesday night (I couldn’t wait until morning), we knew it was perfect, or at least perfect for us.

A lot of the credit for this — for the early and under budget as well as the loving it– goes to Zak Profera, a good friend who also happens to be a textile designer and founder of the fabric house Zak + Fox.  He took my ideas for the design inspired by the work of Josef Albers, turned them into a workable design and found  a manufacturer to make us this beautiful and hard-working hand-knotted wool rug.  (And he deserves a special thanks for so cheerfully putting up with my endless revisions.)

I love the way the vibrant color warms the space, and the way the progressively brightening colors draw your eye under the table, giving it a sense of lightness.

 Before and After

The dining area has come a long way since we moved into our new West Chelsea loft.  Here’s a picture before we added the reupholstered vintage Milo Baughman dining chairs and the new rug.

And after.

The process took much longer than we expected (no complaints — it was a lot of fun), but we’re pleased that the place now feels like it’s truly ours.

This post was originally posted at The New Dining Room Rug. You can find this post and more at Domestic Daddy - Chris Nordquist.