Springy Vibes

Plus: Ligurian Olive Oil Cake with Brandied Cherries, Bottling Vin d'Orange, and a Trip to Gjusta.

Hey everyone,

I finally pushed myself to go to the farmer’s market yesterday morning after a brief hiatus. You know, with Craig away in Concord making a movie, I haven’t been cooking as much at home, so shopping for seasonal ingredients hasn’t held the same appeal. That said, spring is my favorite time of the year in terms of food shopping: it’s when all of nature’s goodies begin to strut down the runway. Check out those cherries and green almonds above! And these strawberries which I regret not buying.

I did buy about six of these baby artichokes, which I plan to cook up this evening for dinner. How do you deal with baby artichokes?

The best part about going to the farmer’s market in the morning, though, is you can put everything out in little bowls on your kitchen table and then you can bake a Ligurian olive oil cake and put it on your cake stand and feel like you’re in Italy.

(I’m really into cake today, apparently.)

That Ligurian Olive Oil Cake, which isn’t really Ligurian because I used California Olive Oil, comes to us from Food & Wine via Anne Quatrano of Bacchanalia in Atlanta (I cooked with her there for my last cookbook). I wanted a simple base on which to serve those cherries somehow for dessert. I decided to make a compote using this three-ingredient Bon Appetit recipe. (Cherries + Brandy + sugar.)

To serve: you just slice the cake, dollop with Greek yogurt, and spoon the cherry compote over the top.

A very winning, springy combo.

Speaking of booze, remember that Vin d’Orange that I made six weeks ago? Well it was time to put it into bottles!

It was a simple as this: putting cheesecloth into a strainer, putting the strainer over a large measuring glass, ladling in the vin d’orange (which had steeped with the whole pieces of citrus and a vanilla bean for almost two months), and then pouring the strained liquid through a funnel into bottles.

So was it worth all of that effort? Absolutely! First of all: look at that color. The blood oranges + Cara Cara oranges + rose yielded the loveliest shade of pinkish-orange. And then the taste: imagine the freshest tasting Amaro, and you’ll get the idea. It’s a little sweet, a little bitter, but really fruity and juicy. I already gave a bottle away as a gift; I better hold on to the others for dear life.

Finally, my friend Ben Mims was just nominated for a James Beard award! To celebrate, we met for lunch at Gjusta all the way in Venice Beach. (Friends don’t let friends drive to the west side, but for Ben, I made an exception.)

The food at Gjusta is well worth the trip. Check out this smoked fish plate with herbed gravlax, smoked trout, and smoked octopus!

We also shared an incredible brisket banh mi:

And for dessert (which we may have eaten first): a wildly good babka and a polenta cake with roasted strawberries and mascarpone frosting. Cake again!

Now for some links to peruse:

• When Bill Esparza lists the best tacos in LA, we pay attention (Eater LA);

• When Resy writes a guide to the best pizza in LA, we pay attention (Resy);

• Must make Dorie Greenspan’s magical caramel chocolate chip cookies that you bake in a muffin tin (Food52);

• A new restaurant from team Bestia? I can’t wait to not be able to get a reservation! (Eater LA).

That’s all for this week folks….

In case you missed last week’s podcast, I yapped away with Paula Forbes (of Stained Page News) all about our cookbook collections.

And if you’re not a paid subscriber, you missed my Ten Bonus Questions with her, plus all of My Most Cherished Cookbooks. To get to read that, plus have access to my whole archives, become a paid subscriber here.

See you back here on Thursday! And don’t forget to watch my Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting Video :)

Your friend,

Adam