Comfort Foods and Indulgences

There is nothing quite like the intoxicating smell of a bowlful of Meyer lemons. A cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange, the Meyer lemons have a slightly orange skin, a very thin rind and a heavily perfumed flesh. I picked up over a dozen at the market this past week to make this Meyer Lemon Coffee Cake.

I never really see these lemons around until the holidays, even though they are in season late Fall through Spring. When they do come around, I grab as many as I can. They are one of my favorite fruits to work with.

If you have never had the pleasure of cooking with these types of lemons, I highly suggest picking them up on your next trip the market.

To have success with this recipe and for the rind to soften and sweeten sufficiently during baking, the lemons must be sliced to a nearly transparent thinness. If you have a sharp knife, you will be fine. I tried it with a mandoline but couldn't get the thinness I desired.

What a treat this cake is to eat. With two layers of Meyer lemons and a lovely batter surrounding them...not to mention the very thick streusel on top...it's breakfast heaven. The lemon flavor intensifies over time, so I highly suggest making it one day and serving the next morning.

I bake and make desserts all winter. It might be something to do with cocooning or comfort or simply loving desserts, but this winter especially I have been baking up a storm. To change it up a bit, I made a pillowy-soft cloud of star anise scented espresso custard and piled it on top of crisp Italian lady fingers. A spoonful alone transported me to Italy…….to a little cafe where I stood at the bar and spooned anise froth into my mouth from an espresso cappuccino.

So simple. So wonderful.

It starts with steeping anise seeds and star anise in milk. You add egg yolks and sugar to begin making the custard. Whip cream till stiff, fold it in, and there you have it.

It was luscious. Light. Frothy. And less expensive than a plane ticket to Milan, a car drive to Turin, and a memory to remember where that wonderful little cafe actually was.

When I pulled out the pocket folder filled with recipes I’ve gathered from cooking classes I’ve attended over the years, I was surprised to see that some of the recipes dated back to 1984. That was the year I started taking classes from Andrea Halgrimson in her cozy little kitchen in Fargo. I had two young sons at the time. Gathering with a small group of food-loving people in Andrea’s kitchen was always a special night out for me.

I flipped through my stash of recipes to find Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake. On a May evening in 1984, Halgrimson mixed up a biscuit-like chocolate dough that she rolled out and pressed into large round cake pans. The two chocolate shortcake layers were packed with a filling of whipped cream and fresh strawberries.

That was the night I got over my fear of unflavored gelatin. Halgrimson showed how easy it is to dissolve a little gelatin in water in a glass measuring cup. She placed the measuring cup in a small amount of water in a saucepan over low heat. As the water in the saucepan warmed up, the granulated gelatin dissolved in the water in the cup. Easy.

Dining out is one of the best favorite forms of culinary inspiration. Last weekend I went out for brunch at Eats on Clement Street and ordered the Waffle Bacon which was described as bacon pressed in a waffle, cheddar, Hungarian peppers and a sunny up egg. It was a wonderful combination of gooey, chewy and crisp and had many classic flavors associated with breakfast. It was definitely the sauteed peppers that tied the bacon, egg, cheese and waffle together and took the dish to the next level. I knew this was something I had to order again or better yet, try to duplicate at home.

Instead of using Hungarian peppers I took the easy route and used diced green chiles from a can. The result? Oh my. It was delicious! The truth is, a bacon waffle topped with chiles and cheese is actually quite good without the egg as well, though you can imagine how the yolk forms a lovely sauce for the bacon waffle. Sometimes more is better, and it's the excess of this recipe that makes it so satisfying. Who doesn't love bacon, cheddar or green chiles? They are my go to ingredients for making everything from eggs to soups or stews taste better.