I really like how on a Wednesday morning the culinary zeitgeist is sussed out. That’s when all the papers publish their food columns. Of course I can’t get off the couch on Wednesday until I’ve caught the hang of whatever is happening right now.
Sometimes it’s the latest gossip, like WTF was Jamie Oliver doing exterminating chickens on live TV (only in Britain, dontcha know), and did some vegetarian really go hunt, kill and eat a wild boar after reading Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma? Speaking of killing and eating porcine creatures, everyone in Seattle seems to be doing it… Sometimes the columns are filled with lots of "here’s an updated version of that traditional winter standby…" fill in the blank. Lots of times it’s a review of what’s in season at the moment. So right now, for whatever reason but t’is the season, the big deal is Meyer lemons.
You want to know all about them? Here, go read this. In the meantime, here’s what I like to do with them:
- Toss the zest and juice with lotsa pasta, olive oil and gahlic
- infuse them into vodka (and then freeze it for granitas, if you have the willpower to not guzzle it immediately)
- make my favorite pound cake
Chris bought the one pictured above by accident and then wondered why on earth it was soooo expensive. Then we put it in a simple shredded carrot salad and he understood why. I should have seized on the moment to make pound cake; now that I’ve got you thinking about it, go ahead and give it a try. It comes from a first-edition How To Bake by Nick Malgieri. A great book that hopefully has larger print the second time ’round…
I like to bake it in this ancient cake tin of mine, which has a lovely indent in the center. I put seasonal fruit on it, or fill it with curd. This time of year it might be nice to fill it with a compote of another seasonal favorite, the kumquat. Just chop em up (skins and all), cook them down with some sugar, and have at it.