This was last night's impromptu birthday cake for Nick. The idea is a hybrid among a tres leches (a Latin American cake that's soaked in three types of milk), an Italian olive oil cake, and this odd semolina-based sweet that I often get at the Arax market in Watertown. Either way, it's delightful.
As has been noted, I'm a fan of pickled and fermented things. Something about the bite of a really good pickle, or this kimchee, makes a perfect compliment to just about anything. Last year, I had the delightful experience of taking a workshop focused on fermented foods, and I discovered this easy recipe for kimchee, which I was able to make abundant amounts of with last year's farmshare. I'm still waiting for this year's haul of daikon and Napa, so alas, I haven't been able to make it this year, but I can't wait to have it again.
For those who aren't familiar, Kimchee is a classic Korean pickled cabbage. It's very similar to sauerkraut (in fact, the process is about the same), but involves a wider variety of veggies, different cabbage, and it's normally made with a spicy red pepper paste.
This stuff is dead easy and the tastiest thing ever. It's very similar to the white kimchee they serve at the little Korean place in Porter Exchange, which exists sans the red pepper paste, and thus is spicy and lovely, but not quite as super-vinegary as your standard kimchee.
This recipe is adapted directly from Hubert Keller's show on PBS. You can either make it in a big pickle jar and keep it in the refrigerator, or you can can it in wide-mouth Ball pint jars. Either way, it's delicious, and a great way to use veggies at the end of the farm share - when there's so many of them you can't see your way over the pile.
Every fall since childhood, I've watched my grandmother make these beans. When I was 18, and finally moved out into my own place, one of the first things I purchased for my kitchen was a bean pot. You can't find too many of them in stores anymore, but you can find them online at Amazon and a few other places. You don't need to spend more than about $20-30 to get a good one. Amazon does have one that isn't too expensive. You want one that looks like this. You can also use a Le Creuset dutch oven with the cover, although you don't need to.
I make a big batch of these babies at least once a month from September to February. The molasses and mustard give it a nice complex flavor, and the apple gives it a bit more sweetness. Try them over a baked potato with just a bit of Gorgonzola or sharp cheddar. Or just as they are.
It may seem foolish to turn on the oven in the middle of summer. Okay, actually, yes, it was foolish. But when you spend the day watching the Cooking Channel, and you come across this recipe which just happens to involve many things you already have in your pantry, and you get inspired... you can imagine where this goes.
This version is decidedly different, primarily because part of my all-day food-porn-fest involved watching Jamie Oliver do a fantastic episode of Jamie at Home that was all about onions, and we happened to get a big bunch of smallish red spring onions from our farm share. This, combined with about a pound of grape tomatoes that looked like they would go bad immediately if I didn't use them soon, led to the following adaptation.
The important things to note about this recipe are the following: