What's the difference between baloney and bologna? One's worth eating, and the other's not. Read my new article on Serious Eats about the bologna culture of the Midwest, and learn how to find bologna worth celebrating.
Pawpaw Pudding
First, get some pawpaws. Hurry, you only have a few weeks left. This article I wrote for Serious Eats explains how to do that. It's awesome and you should read it right now.
Next, make this pudding. It’s homey and custardy, with intriguing caramel notes and an undeniable pawpaw kick. Using a food processor, it takes only minutes to blitz that batter together. (Note: estimated minutes blitzing batter excludes gathering of pawpaws. It took me about 40 minutes to haul home ten pounds. Call it your exercise for the day.)
Pawpaw Pudding
Serves 6 to 12
- nonstick cooking spray, to grease the dish
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 2/3 to ¾ cup sugar (I prefer a less-sweet pudding)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 cup pawpaw pulp
- ½ cup buttermilk, preferably not low-fat
- ¼ cup half-and-half
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste OR vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and position a rack in the middle. Grease a 9-by-9 inch baking dish, preferably glass or ceramic, with nonstick cooking spray.
In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda to combine.
In a large glass measuring cup or medium bowl, combine the pawpaw, buttermilk, half-and-half, and vanilla bean paste. With the machine running, add the pawpaw-buttermilk mixture through the feed tube. Turn off the machine, scrape down the sides, and add the butter with the machine running. Your batter should have the consistency of pancake batter.
Pour the batter into the greased dish. Bake until the center is set but still jiggly (like a pumpkin pie), about 30 to 45 minutes. The sides of the pudding will rise up and brown, while the interior will be flat, shiny, and amber-colored. Let cool to room temperature and serve with crème fraiche or whipped cream (I like this for breakfast with a big dollop of Greek yogurt, but I could say that about most any dessert.)
The pudding will keep 2-3 days at room temperature. I suppose you could refrigerate it, but I like it better when it’s not cold.
The Unknown Recent History of the Tomato
I have a fun little article up on Modern Farmer about the secret history of America's favorite summer vegetable. Toxicity rumors! Suspicion of outsiders! Clarification about the meaning of the term "heirloom"! Check it out now.
Make a Summer Hibiscus Beer Cocktail
Tart and tangy hibiscus beer cocktail. For a copywriting client. It's a sweet gig.
Usually I keep my copywriting life separate from my own personal writing, in part to distinguish my personal voice from the ones I slip into when writing content for clients. Transparency is important to me. I don’t partner with PR firms to write about products on Sausagetarian, for various reasons (PR agencies have not been approaching me, for one), and that’s okay. I did a little of that with a pasture-raised veal producer on an old blog, and while I felt their products were fantastic, it just was not a good fit for either party involved. I'm a little too left-of-center to make that click on my own web turf.
But I’m going to break form and share a blog post I wrote for the company I create web content for, Heirloom Finds Jewelry. And that's because they recently asked me to develop a signature Heirloom Finds beer cocktail for their blog. So this? It does click. I get to comb through bins of jewelry in their headquarters and pull out funky bracelets and necklaces to integrate in food styling. It’s awesome! The staffers that I collaborate with are open to new ideas and committed to delivering content that’s engaging and useful, not just SEO-driven drivel. I really feel like part of the Heirloom Finds family. Also, they are my go-to tasters when I’m developing recipes for my vegan baking project. They know good food!
Here’s that beer cocktail, the First Blush. If you dig statement jewelry that’s unexpectedly affordable, check out their site; by selling online, they can keep their prices low.
My Baby's Got Sauce
My latest piece for The Oregonian will have you eating giant piles of awesome veggies all week long. Read it here. Then make the finger-licking sauces. And then watch this.
Sustainability, Illuminated
Back in March at the IACP conference, I heard Douglas Gayeton give a presentation about the Lexicon of Sustainability, the project he co-founded with his wife, Laura Howard Gayeton. Instantly I fell in love with it.
You can read my review of Douglas Gayeton's new book here. Then you, too, will be smitten.
New Post on Good.Food.Stories.
I have a post about the very accessible art of homemade ice cream on the fabulous website Good.Food.Stories. Every word is true. I really did drop out of the homemade ice cream scene for, like, four years. All because of frozen breast milk. Just read it, and enjoy my recipe for vegan basil-mint ice cream. It's killer.
And as a teaser, enjoy this hypnotic video of the basil-mint ice cream as it's churning.
Why Conference? Because I Said So!
Back in March, I attended my first IACP conference (that's International Association of Culinary Professionals, for you uninitiated folks). And I loved it, even though I was nervous beforehand. Professional development conferences can be intimidating. I've been to a number of them and hung back, thinking I was not cool enough to run with the big dogs. But this time was different. Why? Read this article I wrote for the IACP Test Kitchen Professionals newsletter to find out. There's stuff in there that might be helpful to is worth anyone heading to a potentially intimidating conference, not just one about food.