recipe

cardamom coffee cake with bulletproof frosting

in

i am on my way to la jolla right now for my family's kind-of-annual gathering of playing music at the la jolla summerfest! my suitcase is packed with:

1) stretchy pants and flowy dresses for eating maximum animal style in-n-out and tacos

2) drum sticks, timpani mallets, a pencil (a pencil! haven't used one of those in ages!), and concert black outfits

3) my new wedge sneakers that i was inspired to get because of sarah lynn's shoes on bojack horseman and i'm so obsessed with them. i feel like i'm in back to the future and i never want to take them off. 

being in la jolla always takes me back to the days when my name is yeh was a newborn, when i'd interview my family and friends and take pictures of night time tacos with my little point and shoot. did you know my name is yeh was born in los angeles...7 years ago?? and then when it was just a few days old we drove down to la jolla and i blogged up a storm while my dad was in rehearsal. i think i made like 30 blog posts in that one week i was there. including one about shopping lololololol. 

for this trip, i'm excited to play castanets in some prokofiev, go to a padres game, see my san diego homies, run outside without getting avalanched by mosquitos, and maybe make a mini cake with mia because she is apparently becoming quite the cake stylist these days! 

 

when i was in tel aviv earlier this month, shiran so sweetly schlepped all of the ingredients for this tiramisu ombre cake over to my airbnb. i was so stinkin excited for this cake but then my stupid airbnb oven didn't work!!! i was so sad and couldn't shake my new craving for coffee in a cake, so this is one of the first things i made when i got home and then i brought it to my friend emily's birthday party. i put cardamom in it because cardamom and coffee are like potato chips and ketchup. potato chips (and coffee) are great on their own but adding ketchup (or cardamom) takes things over the top, am i right?? and it's dressed in an outfit of coffee buttercream, aka bulletproof frosting. (it's really just coffee and butter and sugar but bulletproof sounds really cool (to get actually bulletproof-y, make sure you use grassfed butter (well, you should do that anyway since it tastes good))). so go on, get buzzed on caffeine and have your cake too! 

cardamom coffee cake with bulletproof frosting

makes one two-layer, 8-inch cake

ingredients

cake:

1 3/4 c sugar

2 1/2 c all-purpose flour

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cardamom

2 large eggs

1 c buttermilk

1/2 c flavorless oil, like canola

1 tb vanilla extract

3/4 c strong coffee, cold or at room temp

frosting:

1 c unsalted butter, softened

3 c powdered sugar

1 tb instant espresso dissolved in 2 tb water 

1 tb vanilla extract

a pinch of kosher salt

a pinch of cardamom

sprinkles, coffee beans, and cardamom pods (optional, for decorating)

clues

cake:

preheat oven to 350.

grease two 8-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment.

in a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. in a medium bowl, whisk together all the wet ingredients. whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. pour into cake pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. begin checking for doneness at 28 minutes.

let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, and then turn the cakes onto a lightly greased cooling rack.

frosting:

use an electric mixer to beat all ingredients together until smooth.

assembly:

once your cakes are fully cooled, level them. place one layer on a cake board, spread a thick layer of frosting on top, and then place the other layer on top of that. use an offset spatula to frost the cake smoothly all over. top with sprinkles, coffee beans and cardamom pods. 

enjoy!

zucchini and feta pizza with fresh mint and preserved lemon (a.k.a. the yas queen)

in ,

happy pizza friday, dudes and dudettes!!! 

eggboy and eggmom are currently in the living room rehearsing--eggboy on trombone, eggmom on the piano--for their big show this weekend at the town heritage days! they're playing all-american tunes like yankee doodle and america the beautiful and i'm feeling like i should stand up at attention throughout this whole band practice (licking the lips, on the verge tears, michael phelps-style, you know?). but obvi i've got pizza on the mind since it's friday.

there is this magical zucchini that's been in our refrigerator for weeks now. it's massive and i don't think it's ever going to go bad. i bought it for this pizza but only ended up using a small part of it and so every day for the past five days i've intended on making the chocolate zucchini muffins from love and lemons' book but then a cold attacked and i've been trying to brute force this shit out of my system by way of vegetables and yogurt. or maybe it's allergies and then i think the yogurt makes it worse? oh screw it. i'm making those muffins today.

ok, so, the yas queen pizza is pretty much exactly this pasta but with pizza dough and zucchini instead of pappardelle. i made it over the fire on fourth of july and it was a crowd and twitter favorite. it is so bright and summery and a worthy departure from saucy pies.  

the yas queen pizza

(zucchini, feta, fresh mint, preserved lemon, garlic, pine nuts, harissa, jazz hands!)

1. make a batch of jim lahey's pizza dough and give it its full rising. (feel free to use another dough but the temps and timings here are for jim's dough)

2.  preheat the oven to 500ºf, divde the dough in half, and flatten it out into a 10-11" circle on a floured surface or piece of parchment

3. top with a layer of thinly sliced zucchini (use a mandoline or vegetable peeler), brush it with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, top with a handful of crumbled feta, toasted pine nuts, chopped garlic, and chopped rinsed preserved lemon (you could also sub out a squeeze of fresh lemon after baking)

4. bake until the crust is browned and splotchy, begin checking for doneness at 7 minutes

5. sprinkle with fresh mint and splatter paint with harissa

6. enjoy!

and here is a very mediocre method of cooking a pizza over a fire (a.k.a. a cry for help): put a baking steel over a fire, either by propping it up with heat-safe bricks or a metal rack, and heat it up. slide your assembled pizza on and cover it with an inverted cake pan. this is kinda janky. check every so often to make sure the bottom doesn't completely char. when it's about to burn on the bottom and the top is cooked just past raw dough status, it's basically edible. top with mint and harissa. 

-yeh!

grilled blue cheese with honey and walnut pesto

in

have i told you that i'm, like, *kind of* a pescatarian these days?? not 100%. maybe 90%. (i'll always eat the brisket that you cook for me.) but this summer, with all of our happy vegetables and eggs, a new ful-fueled fascination with beans, and after my trip to cheese school and a first-ever branzino cooking experience, i have been having so much fun diving deep into meals that don't have a big hunk of meat at the center. i like putting the focus on vegetables, nuts, and other things that won't make me look outside and see our macaroni and feel mommy guilt. it's a great challenge and i feel like i'm eating more vegetables for it. maybe it's just in my head. i also like not feeling obsessive about cleaning all of the cooties off of every surface of my body and kitchen when i cook meat, and between the garden and our eggs i can get away with going to the grocery store way less now. 

(side note: we have two chicken breasts in our refrigerator because i'm a dirty hypocrite but i'm having trouble figuring out what to add to next week's ful burritos that will make them better than just burritos filled with mushy beans. do you have any suggestions??) 

so! i don't know where i'm going with this, i think i just wanted to tell you since friends update friends on those kinds of things. not--i repeat not!!!--that i want you to change your menu for when you have me over for dinner next. but when you come to my house we'll probably have lentils. or if we're grilling, how about a fancy grilled cheese!  

let's discuss grilled cheese! i like grilled cheeses where the inside of the bread is first toasted. it allows the cheese to get a little jump start melting, and then there is more textural excitement all up in the middle with nary a soggy bite in sight. a few months ago at cheese school, we tasted various cheese pairings and the one that blew my mind the most was honey with castello's double creme blue cheese. it was like salty/sweet but on steroids because of blue's awesome funkiness and this particular blue's uber creaminess. i knew right then and there that this combination would make one luxurious grilled cheese. so i came right home and did just that. i paired it with a second blue cheese, a quick little walnut pesto too for some oomph and bulkiness, and boom! it's the grown-up grilled cheese of my/your/our dreamz. oh and it needs wine because that's the rule about eating a grown-up version of a kid thing, so this is getting paired with the bright and rich napa cellars' zinfandel. yum. the grilled cheeses pictured here are miniature, fit for a party, but if you're making a meal out of it, go the magnum route. 

grilled blue cheese with honey and walnut pesto

makes 4 mini or 2 large grilled cheeses

ingredients

walnut pesto:

1/2 c toasted walnuts

1/4 c olive oil

1 clove garlic

a squeeze of lemon

crushed red pepper

kosher salt and black pepper

grilled cheese:

8 mini slices bread (pictured) or 4 slices sandwich bread

2 ounces castello double creme blue cheese

2 ounces castello traditional danish blue cheese

honey 

clues

to make the pesto, blend all ingredients in a food processor and season to taste. be careful not to add too much salt since the blue cheese is salty!

to make the grilled cheeses, toast one side of each of your slices of bread, flip them over, and then top half of them with a layer of walnut pesto, both types of blue cheese, and a drizzle of honey. top with remaining slices of bread and grill until the cheese is melty. 

serve with a pickle and zinfandel and enjoy!

-yeh!

thank you, castello and trinchero family estates, for sponsoring this post!

humshuka

in

wheat harvest is underway! yee haw. eggboy has been spending his days plucking wheat from the stalk and i’ve been spending my days using it all. well not the exact wheat that he picks on that day but just wheat in general. cause baking is fun. so in other words it’s business as usual for me, but a little bit more business since eggboy’s days are longer and when he works longer i work longer because normally i just work until he comes in for supper. and he’s been coming in for supper at like 9! look at us, staying up late like teenagers. 

i have been taking some time to get out of the house by going to the gym though and watching the olympics from the treadmill. go simone! go aly! go equestrian people who wear the most elaborate fancy downton abbey-era costumes and can make their horsies trot in such mesmerizing/majestic/superhorsey ways! and if they had an olympic event for best farmer's tan, eggboy would win right now fyi. i think one year i’d like to go to the olympics and go hospitality house hopping. i’d probably go to a winter olympics though because of the ice skating. 

today i’m posting a recipe for this great awesome tasty thing that my friend inbal introduced me to in tel aviv last week, hummus with shakshuka on top. humshuka! i saw it a little while ago on green kitchen stories but only ate it for the first time in tlv and it was so mind blowing. the hummus came together with the tomato sauce to become like a creamy hearty tomato soup, and of course a runny yolk never hurts in that situation. i feel like this would be the *perfect* sunday brunch so, yay, happy weekend and here are your brunch plans!  

humshuka

makes 3-4 bowls

1 c dried chickpeas

1⁄2 tsp baking soda

1 tb lemon juice

1⁄2 c tahini

3⁄4 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste 2 cloves garlic (optional)

1⁄4 c cold water

1 batch shakshuka (recipe follows)

chopped fresh parsley, for serving

freshly baked pita, for serving

onion wedges, for serving

 

 

in a medium bowl, cover the chickpeas with enough water to reach 2 inches above the height of the chickpeas and soak them for 12 hours. 

drain and rinse the chickpeas and place them in a large saucepan with the baking soda. cover them with 1 to 2 inches water and bring the water to a boil over high heat. reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and simmer until the chickpeas are very soft, about 2 hours. drain them and let cool slightly, then transfer to a food processor. 

add the lemon juice, tahini, salt, and the garlic (if using) and blend until very smooth, about 1 minute. with the motor running, drizzle in the water and continue to blend for 2 to 3 more minutes. taste and season with additional salt if needed. 

spoon into bowls, creating a large well in the center. top with shakshuka and fresh parsley and serve with pita and onion wedges.

shakshuka

serves 3-4

3 tb olive oil, plus more for drizzling 

1 medium yellow onion, chopped 

kosher salt

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tb ground cumin 

1 tsp harissa, or more to taste (different brands vary in spiciness) 

1⁄4 tsp smoked paprika

black pepper 

crushed red pepper

1 tb tomato paste 

1 can or carton (28 ounces) chopped tomatoes 

1 tsp sugar

3-4 eggs

in a large skillet, heat the 3 tablespoons of oil over medium heat. add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring, until soft and translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. add the garlic, cumin, harissa, smoked paprika, a good pinch of salt, a few turns of black pepper, and a pinch of red chili flakes and cook until fragrant, 2 minutes. stir in the tomato paste, then the chopped tomatoes and sugar and bring to a simmer.

create 3-4 little wells and crack in your eggs. either baste the eggs by spooning the hot tomato sauce over them, or just let them be in a sunny-side-up situation. when the whites are cooked but the yolks are still runny, remove from the heat. Sprinkle the eggs with a little salt and black pepper.

-yeh!