Blue Cayenne

This is a great little tomato sauce. It’s the perfect recipe to keep in your back pocket for any number of dishes.  While it is a simple recipe, the textures and flavors  are quite interesting with the large wedges of onion and the smoky flavor of the  whole charred cherry tomatoes contrasting with the soft cooked larger tomatoes. The oregano sprigs give a crunchy surprise to the dish as you serve it. 

I prepared this with slices of fried polenta, but you could serve it over soft polenta or over pasta. The cheesier the polenta the better, I think. 

This recipe is from Ottolenghi’s Shelf Love. The cookbook is excellent and available through your local bookstore or on Amazon here.

This is not Blue Cayenne’s first rodeo with tomato sauces. We previously featured Julie Child’s Provencal Marinara Sauce, another wonderful sauce. You can find that post here.

Here is the recipe as I prepared it in my kitchen. 

Lovely. Such a nice word.

This cake is lovely. It’s pretty. The swirl of berries inside makes it beautifully appetizing. And, most importantly, it is delicious. 

Right now, we are in the midst of a bountiful berry season here in Southern California, so this is the perfect cake to make for berry season. And, because it is a large cake, it is the perfect cake to share. As with most cakes, I enjoyed the crumb of this cake on the second day but it does stay moist for several days on your counter.

This cake also can be frozen to prolong your enjoyment of the cake and to take away the temptation to eat the whole big cake at once. 

On second hand, what is wrong with eating the whole cake at once? (Just asking for a friend.)

This recipe is adapted from one that appears on a wonderful baking site called Sally’s Baking Addiction. You can find the recipe here.

Here is the recipe as I prepared it in my kitchen. 

Suddenly, the scent of plums
on a mountain path:
sunrise!
—Matsuo Basho, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Plums are in!  I’ve got to agree with the delightful Basho haiku above. Plums are all good things–even sunrises.

As you know if you read this blog, I love stone fruits. Plums and cherries are my favorites. 

Beyond their sweet and tart flavor, plums are downright healthy. According to WebMD, eating plums can help you heal, slow bone loss and address anxiety. What’s not to love about this fruit?

Over time, I’ve written a number of posts here about stone fruit recipes. Here are some links:Blue Cayenne Plum Recipes. Pictured below is a photo of Marian Burros’ famous plum tort and a photo of a plum cobbler. The recipes for both these desserts can be accessed through the preceeding link or by typing in plums on Blue Cayenne’s search box.

This recipe is adapted from the recipe for  Yossy Arefi’s Cherry and Poppy Seed Yogurt Cake in her wonderful cookbook Sweeter Off The Vine. You can find her cookbook at your local bookstore or on Amazon here.

Here is the recipe as I prepared it in my kitchen.