In Season

I hope you know by now that winter in California is my favorite season.  Not necessarily because of the weather-though I do love the years of rainy winters-but because winter is the height of citrus season.  Give me all the Meyer lemons, Eurekas, limes, blood oranges, Cara Caras, kumquats, Satsumas, and Navels!

Do you have a tree that prolifically produces citrus?  Don't know what to do with the overabundance?  Well, I'm your girl!  I will happily take the overflow off your hands.  What will I do with it?  I'll tell you.  I'll make curd, marmalade, have fresh-squeezed orange juice for breakfast, and bake a cake.  Or two.  Or three. 

A cake recipe that I come back to repeatedly is the yogurt cake.  I first came upon it while reading 'On Rue Tatin' by Susan Hermann Loomis.  It is my favorite kind of recipe.  One or two bowls, mixing with nary a hand mixer or Kitchen Aid in sight, pour batter into a pan, bake.  A yogurt cake is also the kind of cake that tastes better the next day, is totally appropriate to have for breakfast, and gives you the best reason to take tea time in the afternoon. 

Don't believe me?  Grab some of that winter citrus and try it.

Orange Yogurt Cake 

Makes one 9 inch loaf

Adapted from Jo Cooks Lemon Yogurt Cake recipe

For cake batter:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder 

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup plain yogurt

3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp orange zest

1/2 tsp vanilla extract 

1/2 cup canola oil

For glaze:

1/3 cup orange or tangerine juice

1/3 sugar

Pre-heat oven to 350°.  Line a loaf pan with parchment, leaving a bit of an overhang to easily remove cake from pan.  Grease short ends of pan.  Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl.  In a larger bowl, add eggs, sugar, oil, and orange zest.  Whisk until incorporated.  Add extract and yogurt, making sure all ingredients are mixed well.  Add dry ingredients to wet and mix.  Pour batter into loaf pan.  

Bake for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  While cake is baking, make a simple syrup with the 1/3 cup orange or tangerine juice and 1/3 cup sugar.  Heat over medium flame until sugar melts.  Remove from heat and allow to cool. 

When cake is done, allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before removing from pan.  Place cake on a cooling rack over a cookie sheet.  Poke a few holes into the top of the cake, then pour syrup over cake.  Allow syrup to seep into cake. 

Sprinkle with confectioners sugar and serve.  You can make candied peel and garnish with that also.  

Panera Bread...and More

I was recently given the opportunity to have lunch at my local Panera Bakery Cafe to try one of their newly developed soups.  I've been going to Panera for a few years now, as it's one of my go-to spots when one of my BFF's and myself get together for lunch.

I went on a late afternoon, after the always busy lunch rush.  Panera has a 'You Pick 2' option that includes a cup of soup and a half of any of their cafe sandwiches.  I chose the Sonoma Chicken Stew and paired it with the Turkey Asiago sandwich.  While I waited for my order to arrive, I enjoyed one of the perks of living in Los Angeles.  Invariably, wherever you go, one of the many conversations you will overhear includes 'the industry.'  At the next table over, I eavesdropped on two young couples discussing where they should go to shoot the next scene in their movie.  After a few minutes of discussion, they all agreed it could be done at one of their apartments.  Be sure to look out for this next blockbuster.

My meal arrived and I went right to the soup.  The Sonoma Chicken Stew has a very flavorful creamy base full of shredded chicken, peas, carrots, and potatoes.  I have to tell you, I was amazed at the carrots.  They looked like little marbles.  I visited the Panera website and discovered that those carrots are called Thumbelina carrots.  You learn something new every day!  The soup also had a slight sweetness to it that I learned was due to the sweet cream added to it.  It was an unusual addition, but one that lent itself to the sweetness of the carrots.  The half sandwich made it a perfect size for lunch or a light dinner.  The Asiago focaccia is delicious, aged and smoky in all the right places.

On any given day, Panera serves six different soups from the Sonoma Chicken Stew to French Onion to Vegetarian Creamy Tomato and more.  You can check out their website to see the daily options, download their menu, or check out the short videos they have on the soups.

[Disclosure:  This is a sponsored post that includes product and/or monetary compensation.   This is my first sponsored post and I chose to do it because, as I stated above, I have been eating at Panera Bakery Cafe for years and would not recommend the restaurant and/or their food if I didn't feel the product deserves recognition.]

The Bounty

Between reading other blogs and hearing from friends, the typical Summer bounty of zucchini a-plenty seems to be starting.  I, on the other hand, actually have to buy it at the grocery store.  The upside?  Zucchini is pretty inexpensive.  Mind you, if there is anyone out there who lives nearby and you have an abundance of zucchini on your hands, don't hesitate to give me a call.  I would be happy to take it off your hands.

Usually I'll make zucchini-walnut cake, but this time around I wanted to throw in some chocolate.  I've seen recipes for zucchini-chocolate cake before and I figured it was time to give it a go myself.  I found an excellent recipe for Zucchini Muffins on the Simply Recipes blog/site.  As I've mentioned before, I love a recipe where you can easily swap out ingredients to suit your taste.  This one did not let me down.

Consider it...once you've had grilled zucchini, zucchini fritters, zucchini chips, and zucchini quesadillas you'll still want these muffins.  Honestly, they have chocolate in them...how could you not?

Zucchini-Chocolate Chip Muffins
(Adapted from the Zucchini Muffins Recipe on Simply Recipes.com)
Makes 6 [actually, 7...but it was half-sized]


1 1/2 cups grated zucchini
1/3 cup melted unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Pinch of salt


Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Line muffin pan with liners or grease with a little butter.  Melt butter and set aside.  In a large bowl, combine sugar, egg, and vanilla.  Mix well.  Add grated zucchini and butter.  Stir to combine.  In a small bowl, add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg.  Mix dry ingredients then add gradually to wet ingredients.  Add chocolate chips and stir until all the ingredients are combined.  Spoon into muffin pan, so each well is nearly full.  Bake for 25-30 minutes until tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Let cool for 5 minutes in pan before removing and finish cooling on cooling rack.  

My baking time was closer to the 30 minute mark.

From the Boring to the Sublime

Potato salad.  One of the major participants at barbecues and cook-outs countrywide.  I may be pushing the 'sublime' designation...but work with me.  With Independence Day a mere two days away (don't you hate when a holiday falls smack in the middle of the week?...it's not close enough to either the beginning or end to stretch it into a 3-day weekend), I'm sitting here thinking about a huge spread in the backyard, the table covered in red gingham, lemonade in tall glasses, playing horseshoes, the grill fired up, huge bowls of cole slaw, macaroni salad, and potato salad, watermelon, endless condiments, flies buzzing about, a sunburn from not putting on enough sunscreen, and platters of hamburgers and hot dogs.

There is one small problem...I don't have a backyard with the gingham-covered picnic table, a grill, or the horseshoes.  I can squeeze lemons for the lemonade and make the rest of the food, but on a much, much smaller scale.  I can sit out on the common patio here with a Cook-Out for One...made inside!  I'll be happy with a couple of hot dogs and potato salad.

This is going to be one of those admissions where you're probably going to say to yourself, 'How long has she been cooking?'  I honestly believe this is the first time I've made potato salad.  Truthfully.  I cannot remember making it in the past, unless the result was so horrendously awful, I have conveniently forgotten the whole incident.  When I make something like this, I could almost smack myself for thinking there was some mystery that was eluding me.  It's boiled potatoes...with other stuff thrown in!  I think a lot of the hesitation has to do with not wanting to destroy the memory I hold of certain foods.  My mom is a decent cook, and I  distinctly remember how her potato salad used to taste over all those summer cook-outs when I was growing up back East.  I'm not saying hers is the end-all-be-all of potato salads, but I can 'taste' it in my mind.  Know what I mean?


So...here I come with my own twist on a classic.  I know my mom's and most other potato salads I've eaten have hard-boiled egg in them, but I've kept it out of this version.  It's pretty short and sweet.  Measurements are estimations at best, because, well...it's how I work...at least today.  Maybe 'sublime' is too extreme a designation for something so easy...but I do believe it's far from boring.


'Sublime' Potato Salad  (okay...maybe, maybe not)
(Serves 2-4)


3 medium to large red potatoes
1/2 cups diced baby carrots
1/4 cup minced red onion
2 tablespoons chopped pepperoncini
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
1/2 cup mayonnaise
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste


Wash potatoes and dice into roughly 1-inch or slightly larger pieces (skin on).  Add to medium saucepan with enough water to cover and bring to a boil.  Cook until done (about 12-16 minutes).  Drain and rinse under cool water.  In a bowl, combine all ingredients and gently stir to evenly distribute mayonnaise and mustard.  I also sprinkled in a little Magic Dust Rub because that stuff is amazing!  Try to make it a day before, so everything has time to co-mingle.  

Mini-gingham!

Panna Cotta

Just two Italian words that when spoken, will make you think of sitting at a little trattoria in Rome, sipping an espresso and watching the people around you.  Meaning 'cooked cream,' panna cotta struck me as exotic and difficult to make.  Then I read a recipe and realised that I was wrong.  It's a relatively easy process.  I did a little Googling to see if I could make it with coconut milk.  Lo and behold...you bet you can!

Panna cotta falls into the category of a 'pretty' dessert:  the contrast of white creaminess with whatever you choose to top it with.  I didn't want to compete with the coconut and simply topped it with toasted coconut flakes and slivered almonds.  I used a recipe from the Inspiring the Everyday blog, where Michael's photography makes the dessert look amazing and delectable.  Like Michael, I didn't add any additional flavour, so the panna cotta is very subtle.  Next time I make it with coconut milk, I plan on punching up the flavour a little bit.

Find the recipe on 'Inspiring the Everyday' here.

Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant

...is the name of a wonderful book edited by Jenni Ferrari-Adler.  Subtitled 'Confessions of Cooking for One and Dining Alone,' the book is filled with essays from writers and foodies, including Marcella Hazan, Nora Ephron, and Amanda Hesser among others.  I think of this book quite a bit when I'm home cooking for myself.  I love how these people admit to making strange concoctions, sharing their recipes, or admitting to the world that there's nothing wrong with the occasional can of Spaghetti O's.

I find myself alone in the kitchen with eggplant--literally--on a regular basis.  One of the grocery stores that I shop usually have eggplant on sale inexpensively.  I picked up another pair this past weekend since they were two for a dollar. I'm not talking about those small Indian eggplant, these are hefty vegetables.  I'm still experimenting with uses for eggplant, but since I'm close to obsessed with baba ganoush, it's what I make more times than not.

I have no hard and fast rules for what goes into this recipe except for roasted eggplant, minced garlic, and a couple of tablespoons of tahini.  I'll see what's in the Italian Pantry and add as the mood strikes.  This version leaned towards Mediterranean with the addition of olive juice.  I had a huge jar of Seville olives and after the olives were gone, I still had a jar of juice.  The juice was an excellent addition to the dip along with an excuse for a dirty martini (as if I needed one).

Roasted Eggplant Dip
(Makes about 1 1/2 cups)


2 large eggplant
2 tablespoons tahini
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons olive juice
Olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste


Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.  Slice eggplant in half lengthwise and place on baking sheet.  Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.  I don't draw the moisture out first, as I like the juice produced from the roasting.  Roast eggplant for about 30-35 minutes.  Remove from oven and scoop eggplant out of skins.  Add eggplant, tahini, olive juice, and minced garlic to blender or food processor.  Puree until smooth, slowly drizzling in olive oil to reach desired consistency.  Add salt and pepper to taste.


Serve with baked pita chips, baguette slices, or crackers.

A Fitting Name

If I could, I would spend more hours of the day than not cooking and baking away in my kitchen.  I do spend a  lot of time in the kitchen, much more than gets a blog post of the results.  I figure you're not going to want to see everything that I eat, especially since I can eat almost the same things every day.  I don't want to bore you, and I like to share the things that are new to me.

But yesterday I had leftovers for dinner.  I know, I know...there is very little exciting about leftovers, you're thinking.  And I am inclined to agree with you, but it wasn't about being exciting.  It was about a suitable name. You know that I am hoping to have a food-based business up and running sometime in the future.  (The future defined as later this year.)  The name is Semplice Gourmet...'semplice' is Italian for 'simple,' and it really does define how I feel about cooking.  Not boring, but good, simple, and delicious.  I am not one for fancy foods, or eating at 3-star Michelin rated restaurants.  Mind you, had someone offered me a trip to Spain and a seat at El Bulli, I would not have turned it down, but I am the kind of person who loves a good old-school Italian restaurant and likes to seek out a secret neighbourhood diner where they have a killer patty melt.

So I made some lentils the other day.  Do you have any idea what one cup of dried lentils produces?  A whole lot of cooked lentils.  Lentils for days and days and days...on top of a spinach salad, with sauteed mushrooms on top of polenta, and what turned into a very simple dinner the other night:  with orzo, zucchini, tomatoes, red peppers and a sprinkling of shredded mozzarella.  Even the vegetables were leftover from the previous night's  dinner.

Semplice...if only everything in life was just as easy.