Recipes

If you know us (which, if you're here, I mean, you probably do) you know we love to cook almost as much as we love to eat. Here is a collection of some of our favorite recipes, including some for dishes that were served at our wedding. Bon appétit!

 

 

Orange & Almond Cake (gluten free)

Longtime classmates Ned & Lilyan brought this recipe to cooking class.  It is ideal for the late fall and early winter when the mild Southern California climate gives us the greatest gift of all - CITRUS!  The cake is shockingly moist and dough-like. You'd have to try really hard to screw this up.

  • 2 large whole Navel oranges (or Valencia oranges in the spring/summer)
  • 5 whole eggs
  • 2.5 cups almond meal
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 cup sugar
  • Oven at 350*

1. Simmer oranges submerged in water (covered or not) for approximately an hour. Remove them to chill the f*@$ out aka cool down. Pulverize in a food processor. I dropped my whole oranges straight into my Vitamix. If food processing, dice them up first.

2. Beat the eggs fluffy with whisk, then layer in the oranges, sugar, baking powder, and almonds.  Bake in a spring form pan for 45 minutes - 1 hour (I used a parchment-lined round pan, not as pretty, but gets the job done). Rest and let cool before slicing.

PS - toss a stick of cinnamon in the leftover orange water and simmer on the stove to treat yo' self to the best of holiday smells.

Stuffed Pumpkin

This recipe is said to have come from Lyon, France, as published by Ruth Reichl.  This humble, deeply satisfying preparation is a fall favorite that we learned in cooking class.

  • 1 sweet or sugar pie pumpkin approximately 3 pounds for 4 or more people
  • 1/4 pound of stale bread, such as ciabatta or crusty baguette
        thinly sliced into croutons or substitute cooked rice
  • In small chunks, 1/4 pound cheese, such as gruyere, emmental,
        cheddar or parmesan (or a mixture thereof)
  • 4 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
  • optional, 4 pieces of pancetta or bacon cooked crisp
  • 1/4 cup of snipped scallion or chives
  • 1 tbsp minced fresh thyme
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • pinch of fresh grated nutmeg
  • Kosher salt & fresh ground pepper


1. Set oven to 350 degrees and line a flat sheet with parchment.  Using a sharp knife, cut a cap out of the top of the pumpkin, don’t remove the stem. Scrape away seeds and pulp from inside and season with salt & pepper.

2. Toss the stale bread/croutons + cheese + garlic + optional bacon + herbs together in a bowl, season with pepper and a little salt.  Pack mixture into the pumpkin, filling the pumpkin. Mix the cream with salt, pepper, and nutmeg and pour into the pumpkin over the filling.  Put the cap back on the pumpkin.  Rub the entire outside of the pumpkin with olive oil and sprinkle on some salt like fairy dust.  Bake the pumpkin on flat-sheet for approximately 2 hours, checking after an hour (cooking time will vary based on size of pumpkin). Finished pumpkin should easily be pierced by a knife.  In last 20 minutes of baking, remove the cap so top browns.  With a long and sturdy spatula, transfer the wobbly, hot pumpkin to a serving platter and proudly display on the table.