easy like Sunday morning

I love Sunday mornings. We have a standard routine around here that involves sleeping in followed by a nice breakfast, coffee, and CBS Sunday Morning. Calm. Peaceful. A nice reprieve before the last ditch effort to get everything done before another weekend is over all too soon.

This coffee cake is easy to pull together and is nicely balanced. Moist yet pleasingly crumbly (the topping perhaps more so than your usual coffee cake). Sweet yet not too sweet. And the addition of nutmeg adds a little something extra to the appeal.

This is perfect for an afternoon get together or… if you’re me… with your Sunday morning coffee. And, if you’re feeling really decadent, pile on a dollop of lightly whipped cream and take this one to a whole other level of goodness.

Cinnamon Streusel Buttermilk Coffee Cake
(from Sunset magazine)
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2/3 cups (1/3 lb.) melted butter or margarine
1/2 cup chopped pecans or almonds
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 large egg, beaten to blend
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

In a large bowl, mix brown sugar, granulated sugar, flour, nutmeg, and 2/3 cup butter.

Transfer 1 packed cup of the sugar mixture to a small bowl. Add nuts and cinnamon, mixing well.

To the mixture in the large bowl, add egg, buttermilk, baking powder, and baking soda; mix well. Pour batter into a buttered 9-inch cheesecake pan with removable rim. Sprinkle cinnamon-nut mixture evenly over batter.

Bake in a 350° oven until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and cake begins to pull from pan sides, about 40 minutes (about 35 minutes in convection oven).

Cool on a rack at least 20 minutes. Remove pan rim. Serve warm or cool.

polenta party… a belated part two

I have so many good intentions. Lots of big plans… to do a better job of staying in touch with family and friends… to focus more on keeping the house together… to stick to the exercise plan… to watch less tv… to blog regularly so you wonderful people keep coming by to see me. And yet… well, best laid plans and all that. Sometimes you just have to cut yourself a break, right? Who’s with me?

So… yeah, I had great intentions back in AUGUST (yes, almost nine months ago) to do a multi-part series on polenta. Life happened, time passed, and it seems I promptly forgot all about it until a week or so ago. I’m not sure where the photos of the third installment went to, but… for now… I think it’s a good time for part two! After all, who doesn’t need another appetizer recipe to add to their repetoire? Exactly.

Making polenta from scratch is wonderfully easy. You can use your favorite recipe, or feel free to use this one. To firm it up for use in this recipe, just pour it into a roll pan or baking dish, cover and chill. Or – for even easier execution, just buy a premade tube from your local grocery store (mine is sold in the dry pasta aisle) and you’re ready to slice and assemble. Either way, this is a great appetizer.

Polenta Stacks with Spinach and Gouda
(modified from Food Network)
1 recipe polenta, firmed up, recipe here – or pre-made tube
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
2 cloves garlic, minced
Pinch red pepper flakes
12 ounces baby spinach
Coarse salt
8 ounces gouda cheese, cut into thick slices
1 (15 1/2 ounce) jar marinara sauce

Position a rack about 6-inches from the broiler and preheat to high. Cut the polenta into 8 squares and transfer to a sheet pan. Pat dry with a paper towel and lightly brush with olive oil. Broil until tops are browned, about 8 minutes. Remove pan from oven.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the garlic and pepper flakes, stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Put the spinach in the pan and season with salt, cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted, about 3 minutes. Reserve pan.

Divide the wilted spinach among each polenta square. Top each square with the cheese. Place under the broiler until cheese melts and just begins to brown, another 4 minutes.

Heat the sauce in the skillet used for the spinach. Ladle some sauce onto each of 4 plates. Place 2 polenta cakes in the middle of each plate and serve.

just in time for Cinco de Mayo

Anyone looking for a wonderfully easy dish to make for Cinco de Mayo? Something that would go wonderfully with a nice, icy margarita, perhaps? And yet… something you can throw together after another long day at the salt mines? I have just the thing for you, my friends….I give you the fish taco.

Fish tacos come grilled/sauteed or battered and fried, depending on where you go. Personally, I love the fresh flavor of grilling or sauteeing. The unifying elements are usually corn tortillas, shredded cabbage, avocado, and a wedge of lime. Isn’t it just beautiful?

All you need to make these little beauties is a pound or so of a nice, firm fish (swordfish, mahi-mahi, halibut, etc.), a stack of corn tortillas, and whatever fixings happen to inspire you.  Though I do highly recommend both creamy slices of avocado and tangy wedges of lime.

Fish Tacos with Salsa Ranch Dressing
8-16 corn tortillas
1.5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 pound firm white fish fillets (I use mahi-mahi),
cut into 1/2 inch strips roughly the length of your tortilla
salt, pepper, cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cups cabbage, shredded
4 scallions, thinly sliced
2 limes, sliced into wedges
1 ripe avocado, pitted, removed from skin, and sliced into eight wedges
(drizzle with lemon or lime juice to keep from browning)
Salsa Ranch Dressing, recipe follows

Wrap stack of corn tortillas in foil and place in cold oven. Set oven to heat to 425 degrees F. When oven has preheated to 425, turn off and leave tortillas to warm until needed.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat until hot. Pat fish dry with a paper towel and season with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste. Place in skillet and cook over medium heat until just barely translucent in the middle and flakes easily – approximately 1-3 minutes per side, depending on thickness. Remove to a plate and cover with foil until ready to assemble tacos.

Salsa Ranch Dressing
4 tablespoons ranch salad dressing
4 tablespoons salsa

Combine salad dressing and salsa; stir until well combined.

Assembling the Tacos
Remove tortillas from oven. Using two tortillas (stacked) per taco if desired, drizzle with one tablespoon of dressing. Layer on cabbage, fish, and scallions. Top with a wedge of avocado and garnish with a wedge of lime.