Blue Cayenne

OK.  So I had cake for breakfast. Strawberry Snacking Cake, actually.

My customary breakfast of oatmeal and flax seeds was getting old. And…why shouldn’t I have cake for breakfast? Aren’t muffins cake?  (I rest my case.)  

In any event, I’ve always subscribed to this bit of wisdom:  “Always keep a fork in your purse in case cake happens.” 

This recipe is adapted from one featured in Yossy Arefi’s great little cookbook, Snacking Cakes. Arefi’s photography and recipes have been featured in The New York Times, Bon Appetit and on Epicurious. She is the author of another great cookbook, Sweeter Off The Vine: Fruit Desserts for Every Season. The recipes in this cookbook feed your need for a quick cake fix. The book presents fifty “everyday” cake recipes that can be made with readily-accessible ingredients and in one bowl. What’s not to love about that? Give me cake and no messy kitchen any day.

This recipe is adapted from Yossy Arefi’s book Snacking Cakes. The book is available through your local bookstore or on Amazon here.

What is the world’s largest edible bean?  

Look that question up on the Internet and you are in for a trip down the rabbit hole. 

There is a Guinness record for the World’s Tallest Bean plant. (46.3 feet/2003.)

There is a record for “The largest pot of baked beans.” (1479.36 gallons/Macedonia/2012.)

A man in North Carolina grew a pretty big green bean. (48.75 inches/1996.)

There’s “Largest Bean Bag Chair” and on and on…and on. 

World’s largest edible bean? (crickets/2021.) 

So, here is an entry: Rancho Gordo’s Royal Corona bean. It is about twice the size of a lima bean and it’s buttery creaminess is a thing to behold. Epicurious calls the bean “the Escalade of beans.” 

Here is a recipe to get you started with Royal Corona Beans: Fried Royal Corona Beans With Pearl Barley. 

Here is a link to another Hetty McKinnon-style recipe. This one is also served atop a spicy sauce; this time it is a spinach sauce: Cauliflower With Lentils Salad.

This recipe is adapted from a Hetty McKinnon recipe in her exceptional cookbook Neighborhood. Neighborhood is available through your local bookstore or Amazon. Here is a link to Amazon: Hetty McKinnon’s Neighborhood.

He was orphaned during the Ethiopian Civil War of the 1970s. Adopted by a Swedish family, he grew up in Gothenburg, Sweden, where he credits his grandmother, Helga, for his love of cooking. Trained in the culinary arts in Sweden, Austria, France and Switzerland, he landed an apprenticeship at the Swedish restaurant Aquavit in New York City and immigrated to the United States at age 24 with $300 in his pocket. He quickly won accolades for his culinary genius– recipient of a James Beard Foundation award as “Best New Chef/NYC” in 2003, author of best-selling cookbooks, guest chef at Barack Obama’s first state dinner in 2009 and on an on. 

Marcus Samuelsson’s story is yet another American immigrant success story. 

And now Samuelsson is giving back. During the pandemic, he converted three of his restaurants into community kitchens and, in partnership with Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen and Audible, has served more than 250,000 meals to first responders and the needy. 

Here is a PBS profile that was done of Samuelsson by Judy Woodruff and Jeffrey Brown on the occasion of the publication of Samuelsson’s 2020 cookbook The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food. Here is the link: Marcus Samuelsson. It’s an interesting interview and  worth your time to watch and listen. 

Here is a Samuelsson recipe for Black-Eyed Peas With Coconut Milk and Ethiopian Spices. It’s wonderful!

In case you can’t find berbere seasoning, here is a link to Samuelsson’s recipe: berbere.

This recipe is an adaptation of one that appeared in Food and Wine Magazine. Here is the link to the original recipe: Black-Eyed Peas.