King Arthur Gingerbread Pudding Cakes

 Mom made these in cup-size mason jars, and I was delighted to take 2 home since I LOVED them. It's what I always wanted sticky toffee pudding to be (and yes, I know sticky toffee pudding has dates).

CAKE

1 1/4 c (149 g) AP flour

3/4 t baking soda

1 t ginger

1/2 t cinnamon

1/8 t nutmeg

1/8 t cloves

1/4 t salt

1/2 c (170g) molasses

1/2 c (113g) milk, at room temperature

1 large egg, at room temperature

4T (57g) butter, at room temp, at least 65 F

1/4 c (50g) sugar

PUDDING

1 c packed (213g) light brown sugar

4 t corn starch

1 1/4 c (283g) hot water

4T (57g) butter, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350. Butter eight 8 oz ramekins or an 8"square pan. Place ramekins on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Make cake: combine dries. In another bowl, mix molasses, milk, and eggs.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add dries and molasses mix in turns, beating on low speed, until just blended, scraping.

Pour batter into pan, or heaping 1/4 c of batter in each ramekin.

Make pudding: mix brown sugar and corn starch. Heat water and butter together just until butter melts; gradually stir into brown sugar mix.

Pour pudding mix slowly over batter in pans or a scant 1/4 c over each of the filled ramekins.

Bake 25-28 min, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake on top comes out clean. Serve warm.

Alexa Weibel's Lemony Macaroni Salad

 I wanted to make a macaroni salad for February picnic, but also wanted something a little different. I liked this lemony version, which I adapted from Alexa Weibel's recipe in the NYTimes (original recipe here). Hers is sweeter: where I use salty pickles, she uses bread and butter pickles (and capers). She also adds a teaspoon of sugar. I added tuna.

The comments said that the flavors melded after a thorough chill, so I made it the night before. Sure enough: when I made it, I didn't love it. It was all sharp edges. But I thought it was delicious in the morning, and refreshing it with some extra mayo tamed it further. You do want it to be bright and lemony, though.

Salt, (pepper)

scant cup finely chopped pickles: I used dill and giardiniera; plus some brine to taste

2 stalks celery, peeled and finely chopped

4 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced

1/2 c mayonnaise

1/2 c sour cream

3/4 c finely chopped herbs: parsley and dill

4 t dijon mustard

zest from one lemon

4 t lemon juice (I may have used more; I squeezed the juice from half of a fat, juicy lemon)

1 can drained albacore tuna

(1 t sugar)

16 oz elbow macaroni

Cook the macaroni; make a dressing of everything else; toss together when the macaroni is cooled; season to taste with salt, pepper, brine, lemon juice, etc; chill thoroughly. 

Gochujang udon

 https://food52.com/recipes/84861-stir-fried-udon-recipe-with-bacon-parmesan-gochujang

This is a recipe designed by Hana Asbrink for Food52 that appealed to me because of its flavors, textures, clever mix of techniques, and the fact that I could easily halve it to make one serving with no awkward leftovers OR leftover ingredients. I don't know that it would appeal to everyone, but if you like udon, gochujang, and carbonara, it's swell.

Set a pot of water to come to a boil.

Over medium-low heat, low enough that it doesn't brown too fast, heat:

a little splash of oil (more fat will come from the bacon)

2 slices of bacon (or 1 if thick cut), sliced into 1/4 inch strips or lardons

2 scallions, thinly sliced (reserving some greens for garnish)

1 fat clove garlic, minced

Pinch of salt

Let the bacon fat render slowly, 5-6 minutes, until bacon is crisp-ish. Lower heat as needed so nothing browns too fast.

In a medium mixing bowl, mix to a thick paste:

1 egg yolk at room temperature

1/4 c grated parmesan cheese 

salt, pepper

• Lower skillet's heat to low. Add
  ~1/2 t soy sauce
• ~1/2 T (1 1/2 t) gochujang
• "Fry" together and mix well to coat bacon mix with gochujang.
• Cook for only 1 minute, even from frozen:
• 1 block frozen udon noodles
• Scoop the udon out and plunk it in the skillet, reserving the cooking water. Toss it all about and take the pan off the heat.
• Add about a T of reserved cooking water to the egg/cheese paste to make a looser paste. Add the contents of the skillet, ready to toss it very quickly so that everything combines well and the egg doesn't curdle or scramble, but sets to a smooth velvety sauce. Season with:
• salt, pepper, seasme oil, scallion greens.

Orange salad with olives and feta

This is an LA Times recipe from Matt Pims. I think it was more tuned to my "buttons" than my Candlemas guests', but I really liked it. Like the polenta in the style of lasagna, it could be made ahead.

1 1/2 lb mixed orange citrus, including a blood orange. I used a smallish navel orange, a blood orange, and a sumo tangerine.

1 1/2 T rice vinegar

1 T extra virgin olive oil

1/8 t crushed red chile flakes (I used a pinch of sweet paprika)

salt, pepper (I didn't use pepper due to guest's intolerance)

1 inner stalk celery, thinnly sliced

1 oz feta, preferably in brine

4 or so Castelvetrano olives, pitted and torn into 3-4 pieces

1. Take one of the smaller citruses and finely grate the zest from half of it into a small bowl. Stir in vinegar, oil, and chile flakes, then season.

2. Working on a cutting board, remove pith and peel from all the citrus. Slice across to make thin rounds, about 1/4 inch thick, removing any seeds as you go (none of my citrus had seeds). Transfer all the sliced citrus and juices to a serving platter big enough to fit them in a single-ish layer and preferably one with a lip to contain their juices. Spin the vinaigrette over the slices.

3. Arrange the celery evenly over the citrus. Drizzle a couple teaspoons feta brine over the salad. Roughly crumble the feta and arrange it over the salad, followed by the olives. Cover the whole salad with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold, 1 hour to 2 days. Serve chilled.

Polenta in the style of lasanga

Melissa Clark's recipe from NYTimes, halved, and with a few modifications based on reviews. I served this for Candlemas and I thought it was yummy and pretty convenient because of all the possible options for making it ahead. You could just make the polenta sheets ahead; assemble the whole thing and not bake; or bake and re-heat.

2 T butter

1.75 t kosher salt (1 t salt)

1 c polenta (not instant)

2.5 oz (2.5 c) spinach

1 c parm

8 oz ricotta

1.5 T finely chopped parsley

1 T finely chopped basil

(1/2 large egg)

Pinch nutmeg

pepper if you can eat it

1.5 c marinara w oregano, small grated garlic clove, evoo as needed to make it taste good

½ lb shredded mozz

Oven to 425. Grease 2 8x8s w butter.

Prep polenta: put polenta in 3 c cold water with 1/2 T kosher salt, sit for 10-15, then cook, whisking, till thickens nicely. Whisk in 2 T butter. Whisk in spinach till wilted, 2 min. Off heat and add 1/2 c grated parm and some dollops extra ricotta if you've got it. Season to taste.

Scrape evenly into the two 8x8s and spread. Sprinkle 1/4 c grated parm (total) over. Bake till firm and cheese melted, 12-18 min; consider broiling a bit to lightly caramelize the parm. Let cool in pan on rack.

Prep marinara, as needed, and ricotta: mix ricotta, parsley, basil, nutmeg, grated clove of garlic, salt to taste. If you're assembling the whole thing in the same day, add 1/2 beaten egg. (Probably a whole egg would be ok). 

Same day or next day: Add ½ egg to ricotta if needed. Spread half ricotta on polenta. Pour half marinara on top, then half mozz. Then reverse the other polenta dish over and floop the second sheet down on it. Proceed with ricotta, marinara, mozz. Then ¼ c parm.

Oven to 375. Place on sheet in case of bubblage. 45-50 min. Broil if needed to brown top. Rest 15 to firm up.