Nik Sharma's Blog, page 14

cardamom and toasted coconut angel food cake

Before we talk cake business, I want to share some wonderful and unexpected news with you. Yesterday, early in the morning, I received some news from my friends that Season was nominated as a finalist by the James Beard Foundation Awards in the Best Photography category for Cookbooks. I was shocked to say the least, got emotional, and my hands started to shake when I tried to text M to tell him the news. The James Beard awards will be in NYC and we will be heading out there in April. You can get the full list of Beard nominees for this year on their website.

For those of you that purchased a copy of Season, I would love if you could leave a review of it at your bookstore. It really helps spread the word when people hear from folk that have cooked from it.

As some of you might know, we recently lost Snoopy to cancer after having him in our lives for nine wonderful years, it’s been a month and I wish he were with me at that moment. The past few weeks have been difficult and I miss him in the smallest things: buying string cheese for him to eat, or sitting with him outside in the garden, throwing his tennis ball for him to fetch and all the plants he peed on and destroyed in the backyard. The news this week was a nice spot of sunshine as I get used to not having him around.

When making this cake, get an aluminum Angel food cake pan with the three legs so it can stand by itself when inverted to cool. Never grease the pan or line it as this cake is made with no fat and it needs to hold onto something as it bakes, so it forms and holds structure. You can use sweetened coconut but I like the unsweetened stuff, you can taste a better coconut flavor and get the sweetness you need from the frosting and the cake. 000

Cardamom and toasted coconut angel food cake

makes one 9 -inch angel food cake

1 1/4 cup cake flour

1/4 tsp fine sea salt

1 1/2 cups [about 12] large eggs whites, warmed to room temperature

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1 1/2 cups superfine baking sugar

seeds from approximately 3 to 4 green pods, crushed and ground

Sift the flour and salt in a medium bowl, three times.

In a clean and dry bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the eggs with the whisk attachment until frothy for about 4 to 5 minutes on medium speed. Add the cream of tartar and continue whisking while slowly add the sugar in a steady stream. Whisk for about 8 to 10 minutes until you get soft peaks that can hold their shape.

Remove the bowl from the mixer. Add the cardamom. Then sift half of the flour mix over the egg whites and fold using a silicone spatula using an outward to inward motion, cutting through the middle (to help bring the dry ingredients to the top). Repeat with the remaining flour. Using a large spoon scoop the batter into a 9 - inch un-greased angel food cake pan. Place the pan in a cold oven and set the dial to 325F. Bake for about 55 to 60 minutes until the cake is completely baked, soft and springy to touch in the center and a skewer comes out clean.

Once baked, remove the pan from the oven, invert the cake pan over a tray lined with parchment paper and let it cool in the pan for 1 hour till cool. Once the cake is completely cooled, run a knife around the edges of the pan to release the cake and place on a cake stand or serving dish.

Frosting and toasted coconut recipes follow below.

Coconut frosting

Makes around 2 cups (any extra can be served on the side)

200ml coconut cream (I used the Cremede Cacao from Kare)

7.5 oz creme fraiche

1/2 cup superfine baking sugar

Place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl place over a bowl containing some ice water. Whisk until you get soft peaks and the sugar is completely dissolved, around 4 minutes. Pour this frosting over the cooled cake.

Toasted coconut

1/2 cup loosely packed, unsweetened, shredded desiccated coconut

Preheat the oven to 325F. Line a baking sheet with parchment and spread the coconut in a single layer. Toast in the oven for about 6 to 8 minutes but watch it very carefully, as coconut can burn quickly. Remove as soon as the coconut is sufficiently golden brown and you can get the fragrance. Cool completely and sprinkle on top of the frosted cake

twice-cooked new potatoes with pepita chutney

My love for potatoes is no secret. I think I can finish a pound in a single sitting. The potatoes here are first cooked in a bath of boiling water and then seared on a pan followed by a garlic pepita chutney (for those of you that like it with an extra dose of garlic, by all means double it, M loves it that way).

Lately, there’s a lot of controversy over recipes with a lot of text before the actual instructions, whether we need it or not. I address this in my essay at the newspaper for my column, the most useful recipes were the ones that described an instruction or introducing me to the history behind an ingredient or the construction of a dish and how it came to be.

You can get the recipe and my thoughts at my column here .

Also, the wonderful folks at Food52 made my Naan pizza from Season and they made a fantastic video which made me want to book a flight and run over to eat pizza with them.

I’m headed to Philadelphia this week for the Philly Chef’s Conference where I will be talking about Season with Andrew Friedman. Do check it out and if you’re around come say hi, if you’re around.

And in Piglet news this week, Season makes it through to Round 1 - a very thoughtful review by novelist Meg Wolitzer! Read all about it here.

Have a lovely week folks.

classic seville orange marmalade

I’ve loved Seville Orange marmalade for as long as I can remember. My love affair began early, when an uncle who worked as a flight engineer on Air India would bring back jars of this delicious marmalade from his trips back home. The prospect of cold shards of salted butter on warm toast slathered generously with this marmalade made visits to my cousin’s home very exciting. Bitter, sweet, and sour with those generous bites of candied peel with that strong perfume of citrus. On a side note, I really hated bitter food at that age but for some reason, bitter orange marmalade oddly enough turned out to be something I would latch on to with pure love.

For years, I’ve hunted for the Seville Orange or the sour orange as some call it. The season is very short in winter and easy to miss. It is said that this is the Queen of Marmalades so I hunted high and low, asked people, even the people at the farmer’s markets (missed out there) but finally found some at the Berkley Bowl Market here.

After much research, I came across Felicity Cloake’s recipe at her column and you should use this one to make the marmalade. It worked fantastic for me. The key is to watch the setting temperature, if you miss it, you’ll end up with an edible but runny jam (though I don’t mind that). Nigel Slater also has some notes on this which I recommend reading before you decide to embark on this marmalade making journey.

It looks like I’m set with my marmalade for a few months.

february reads

This month, I’m currently reading a few new cookbooks some of which are written by friends. Some of these came out last year in the U.K. but are now being released here in America.

My first recommendation would be The Black Sea by Caroline Eden (Quadrille Books) who also wrote Samarkand. This is a gorgeous book with recipes and both her prose and photos will transport you write to a new world. The cover is brilliant, it movs just like the sea depending on the ambient light. The Half and Half Manti and the Sacred Onion Soup have caught my eye.

The second book is Carbs by Laura Goodman (Quadrille Books). I like it for it’s unabashed celebration of carbs and the recipes are fun. The Brown Rice with Smacked Cucumbers and Chopped Omelette and the Lime Pickle Cheese Straws are enticing.

Diana Kuan’s latest book Red Hot Kitchen (Avery Books) looks fun. As the name suggests, the book is about chili sauces and how to use them with recipes. The Sichuan - Style Peanut Noodle recipe is calling my name this weekend.

Simply Delicious by Darina Allen (Kyle Books) - This the second book that I now own by the legendary Irish food writer, chef and tutor from the Ballymaloe Cookery School (my friend Emma went there to study and is an amazing chef). The Beef with Stout and the Three-Minute Fish are just some of the recipes in this beautiful book that I want to cook soon.

Have a great weekend folks and have fun reading!

toasted pistachio and rosewater scented olive oil cake

Folks, we just learned that Season was one of the Cookbooks of the Year by the American Library Association! This is such a wonderful honor and I could not be happier. Thank you for all your support!

I’ve been on a crazy hunt for Seville Oranges, as the Bay Area’s Jam Expert - June Taylor calls them the Queen of all citrus marmalades, this is the orange to use for that classic marmalade flavor. I love a good bitter marmalade and while Seville is the way to go but they’re not that easy to find and the season is quite short. One option would be getting my own tree but the garden is already packed with plants and I don’t think I have anymore space to squeeze a new tree in. Fingers crossed this works out.

This is a good everyday cake, one that is very amenable towards playing with new ingredients in flavor. An olive oil cake infused with a bit of rosewater, the green cardamom is added to balance out the rosewater scent (some people can find it intense , of course you can also use half the amount). Use a good quality fruity olive oil that you really love in this cake, it will make an outstanding cake. The recipe is here at my column at the San Francisco Chronicle. I like this cake with tea or coffee.

Later this week, I will share some of my favorite new cookbooks that I’ve been glued to. Quite a few are from the U.K. and I think you might just like the sheer variety of books that are coming out!

my basic chicken stock recipe

My freezer invariably contains a bag or two of chicken stock stashed away in ziptop bags. I never know when the need might arise, perhaps as a base for a soup or to make a rice pilaf brimming with an extra punch of flavor. I’m not a fan of using “perfect” to describe recipes but this is the recipe that works for me and the one I go to most often. It’s aromatic and tastes of chicken. A stock is so much more than a collection of spices, chicken bits and veggies, it reflects who you are, where you’ve been and will be a good indicator of what spices and flavors you cherish the most.

You can get my chicken stock recipe here.

A few updates on appearances:

This Saturday, I will be at Rockridge Market Hall in Oakland signing books and there will also be a tasting. Please come, this is a free event! Click the link for details.

This Sunday, my first cooking class is at the SF Cooking School. It is going to be a lot of fun and one of the recipes is the orange fennel cake from Season. This is a ticketed event.

Next week on Feb 13, 2019, join me as I interview author Yasmin Khan as we go through her new cookbook, Zaitoun at Omnivore cookbooks (DETAILS HERE)

pressure cooker dal makhani

Of all the dals in Indian cuisine, dal makhani is perhaps one of the most glorious ones. It’s packed with flavor, a smooth creamy texture, tanginess from the yogurt and tomatoes that go into the stew and you can eat it by itself with a dollop of yogurt or with rice or roti. It really stands on its own. This recipe is for pressure cookers. However, you can easily adapt it for the stovetop, use a heavy Dutch oven with a lid. Presoak your beans overnight in water and then follow the rest of the steps in the Dutch Oven. Your cooking time will be approximately 35 to 45 minutes. I also have a mortal fear of stovetop pressure cookers, thank goodness for the soul that invented the electric one with all the safety features!

Last November while on the book tour, I visited the wonderful folk at Honey and Co. who also hosted my book dinner. I spoke with Itamar and Sarit who are the talented chefs behind the store and it’s now up in their podcast and you can listen to the conversation on their Food Talks podcast here. (iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher).

spiced walnut roast chicken with apples and lemons

I baked and baked as soon as I came back home. After our long trip in December, I realized I needed to do things as one does when they come back home, get everything organized and back in order. The backyard grew fast in the short bit of time we were away and everything got a major haircut. I planted peas in my planter for spring, pulled out a few lemons and we even tasted our first Cara Cara orange that I planted last summer. I’ve got some cranberry beans that need to go in the soil but I will wait to do that in February or March. We also planted our bulbs in early December, so I’m waiting for the flowers to pop up (one reason in particular, is I don’t remember where exactly and which ones have gone where in the backyard…should have made a map). Have you started to plan out your spring garden?

This roast chicken recipe is quite simple and takes advantage of the apples and lemons that are in full season right now. For those of you with easy access to Meyer lemons, use them in place of the regular ones, it makes the dish a bit more aromatic with it’s sweet citrusy perfume. Recipe is here at my column at SF Chronicle.

For those of you in the San Francisco Bay Area, I will be signing copies of Season at Rockridge Market Hall, Saturday, February 2, 2019 1 to 2pm. Small bites will also be served by the lovely folk at Market Hall Foods.

In other news, Season was also one of the best selling cookbooks of the year at Kitchen Arts and Letters and I couldn’t be more thankful and excited! Thank you!

pork vindaloo and christmas bark

Hello from Auckland, New Zealand and my last post of the year! I’ve been spending my time with my family and friends, eating my way through this lovely city and taking in the gorgeous scenery and landscapes. I’ve tried Kūmara potato chips and scampi which have been delightful! I’ve also shopped and picked up quite a few local New Zealand cookbooks and can’t wait to tell you all about them when I’m back. Passion fruit ice creams are very popular here which as most of you know, I LOVE!

For Christmas here are two recipes that I often make at home: My Aunt’s Pork Vindaloo (a tip: you don’t need to cut the pork that small if you don’t want to but remember to adjust the cooking time accordingly) and the Christmas Bark (tart berries like barberries make all the difference). This week I got to sample a lot of good Goan food cooked by my aunts, including sausage pulao and potato chops (recipe in my book).

A BIG THANK YOU to EVERYONE OF YOU for making this year so spectacular and special. Season made it into the NEW YORKER, The Guardian/Observer Food in UK, The New York Times, Munchies, and many more. But all of this success was not possible without your support, showing up to book events and spreading the word.

Happy holidays and have a wonderful new year!!!

See you in 2019

X

Nik

my favorite cookbooks of 2018

For the past couple of years, a lot of you have emailed and messaged to ask about my favorite cookbooks. I’ve hesitated for many reasons but above all because having not written a cookbook until now, I felt it would be a bit unfair for me to decide. Now having written Season, I know how much work goes into producing a book. There are so many parts to it, the writing, the photography, the illustrations, the design, etc. and then the recipes need to be approachable depending on their targeted audience. In many cases, the books might touch on some history, share knowledge about a culture or even technique or ingredient. A cookbook could also share a personal story. This year was no exception and there were so many exciting books that I came across and got to read and cook from. It wasn’t easy narrowing this list down from the books I read this year but here are some of my favorites;

How to Eat a Peach by Diana Henry (Mitchell Beazley) - This book came out earlier in Spring this year and Diana’s book is exceptional just like her previous books. There’s an elegant quality to the way she artfully folds her inventive recipes with her stories that is harmonious yet approachable for the home cook. The strawberry ice cream was full of flavor and easy to prepare.

At My Table by Nigella Lawson (Flat Iron Books) - Nigella has been the champion for home cooks and rightly so. Her latest book is a collection of practical recipes for home cooks, complete with kitchen tricks that make flavorful recipes achievable.

The Nordic Baking Book by Marcus Nilsson (Phaidon) - A follow up to his previous highly successful cookbook, The Nordic Cookbook, this one is all about baking. Chef Marcus Nilsson has included an impressive collection of recipes and includes recipes for the holiday season too.

Now & Again by Julia Turshen (Chronicle Books) - A good and solid collection of recipes for the home cook from savory to sweet. Julia’s beet salad with poppy seeds in a buttermilk dressing was flavorful and colorful.

Honey & Co by Sarit Packer and Itamar Surlovich (Pavillion Books) - I had the pleasure of visiting the famous London establishment earlier this November and try their food. The husband and wife duo behind Honey & Co are well known for their food as well as their cookbooks and this one was one of my favorites from this year. Expect lots of beautiful Middle Eastern flavors and fun recipes to play with in your kitchens!

Simple by Ottolenghi (Ten Speed Press /Ebury) - He certainly needs no introduction but London based chef Yotam Ottolenghi’s latest book is gorgeous and full of easy recipes geared towards home cooks. The techniques are simple as the title suggests yet sure to impress your dinner companions!

Japan by Nancy Hachisu (Phaidon) - Another highly comprehensive volume to add to the Phaidon cookbook series that focus on food from different countries across the globe, Japan is a beautifully photographed book with equally intriguing recipes that I’ve found myself drawn to.

Bottom of the Pot by Naz Deravian (Flat Iron Books) - This was one of two books on Iranian food that I really enjoyed this year. Based in LA, author Naz Deravian shows you how to make her signature tahdigs from scratch yet keeping things simplified and easy for newcomers to this beautiful cuisine.

Cooking in Iran by Najmieh Batmanglij (Mage) - This massive book takes you through a visual and edible tour of Iran with the author. Through her words, food and photographs, you’re transported to a whole new world of flavor and ingredients. It’s a love letter to the author’s home in Iran.

Let’s Eat France by François - Régis Gaudry (Artisan) - The design and art work in this book is simply fun and reminded of the classic French cafe menus. This is a comprehensive book with brief notes on the history behind some of France’s most iconic foods, drinks and the people that prepare them.

Some other books that you should consider are the Air Fry Every Day: 75 Recipes to Fry, Roast, and Bake Using Your Air Fryer by Ben Mims (Clarkson Potter) and Apéritif: Cocktail Hour the French Way by Rebekah Peppler (Clarkson Potter) , they’re fun and make good gifts for friends.

For those of you that are looking for signed copies of my book, Season, you can get them at Omnivore Books (San Francisco) but here is the entire list of stores where I’ve signed stock that is available for grabs!