Crystallized Meyer Lemon Bundt Cake

Plus: Crispy Bao Dumplings, Stinky Cheeses, and Chicken Piquant.

Hey everyone,

Have you ever gone to the trouble of making a bundt cake only to find it to be kind of dry and lackluster?

Then have I got the bundt cake for you! This Crystallized Meyer Lemon Bundt Cake comes from Claire Saffitz’s new cookbook What’s for Dessert? and what makes it so special is that, when it comes out of the oven, you brush it with a mixture of fresh Meyer lemon juice, sugar, and olive oil. The resulting cake is moist (sorry people who hate the word “moist”) and puckery and refreshing.

I just typed up the whole recipe on my new-design-in-progress blog. CLICK HERE to get it, read it, print it, live it. And let me know if you make it!

In podcast news, my guest this week is LA Times food columnist Jenn Harris who sent me on a field trip this week to the San Gabriel Valley to experience sheng jian bao at Kang Kang Food Court.

I can’t even begin to describe to you how delicious these dumplings are. Imagine a crispy bao — oil-slicked and crispy brown on the bottom — filled with the insides of a soup dumpling, lovingly made and dipped into vinegar.

I mean: how gorgeous are those?

Hear all about them in this week’s episode! Listen on Apple podcasts (where you can write a nice review, if you’re so inclined) or right here on Spotify:

Last week, Craig and I went to Pasadena to have dinner at Agnes, a cheesery (our second time there). Look at our cheese plate!

We ate many splendid things, including these pineapple-glazed meatballs with pineapple chow chow (who thinks of this stuff?).

And baked potato gnocchi.

(Psst… I found it a little gummy. Don’t tell.)

On our way out, I bought cheeses to put out at the next night’s dinner party and Craig insisted on the stinky stuff.

The one on the upper left was a Spanish goat, the one on the bottom was a semi-stinky, but the one on the upper right… holy shit. It’s called Foxglove and if you like smelling death, you will love this cheese! I swear: the Bubonic Plague probably gave off a more appealing aroma. But Craig loved it and that’s all that matters.

Finally, at this same dinner party I cooked up Donald Link’s recipe for Chicken Piquant -- where you fry chicken, make a roux with the remaining oil, and then braise the chicken in the gravy.

Our guests were dazzled!

Who knew making a roux could be so satisfying?

Now for some links:

• Ruth Reichl on meeting her hero, MFK Fisher (La Briffe);

• Get Martin Scorsese’s mom’s recipe for sauce from the closing credits of his film ItalianAmerican (Kottke.org);

• What goes into store-bought chicken stock? (Eater)

• “This is the best chicken I’ve ever had” (Eric Kim, NYT).

That’s all for today, folks!

If you missed Thursday’s paid subscriber’s only dispatch, you missed Dirty Chai Earthquake Cookies, Very Crispy Pierogi, Pork Lollipops, and My Thoughts on The Menu. Don’t miss this Thursday’s…

Until next time….

Your friend,

Adam