Maybe you’ve tasted sesame cake before. Well, you probably haven’t had sesame cake like this before.
Extremely moist, artful with black sesame seeds throughout, and with the haunting, revved up flavor of toasted Asian sesame oil. Wow.
The recipe is from baker extraordinaire, Alice Medrich, who never ceases to amaze. It’s from her book,
“Pure Dessert” (Artisan). It’s a simple cake to bake, and one that needs no other adornment to shine.
Sesame Seed Cake
Bright, fresh, and a snap to make, this salad is the perfect starter or side for the lazy days of summer.
If you keep a bag of frozen edamame in your freezer and grow your own shiso plant in your garden as I do, you can put this dish together anytime the mood strikes. I love this floral , tangy, crisp vinaigrette also on chilled green beans, fava beans, peas, asparagus, or salad greens. I think you’ll find it’s definitely a keeper to add to your culinary repertoire.
This wonderful recipe is from The Breakaway Cook by San Franciscan Eric Gower, who has a knack for using Japanese ingredients in clever, yet simple ways.
Edamame shiso salad with yuzu vinaigrette
My husband can attest to the fact that mackerel is not one of my fave fishes. In fact, usually when I get a slice in an assortment of sushi or sashimi, it always ends up on his plate instead.
Stuart Brioza knows it’s a hard-sell, too, even if mackerel (wild-caught king and Spanish) is one of the best seafood choices on the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Guide. Nevertheless, Brioza, the executive chef of Rubicon in San Francisco, made many a convert when he cooked a fabulous honey, soy, and beer broiled mackerel with sesame-lime glaze at the recent “Cooking For Solutions” gala at the aquarium. The usual strong taste of the mackerel was tempered by the marriage of the other sweet, aromatic, and citrusy ingredients. The result was like a less sweet unagi. And it was scrumptious.
Speaking of marriage, Brioza and his longtime girlfriend, Nicole Krasinski, Rubicon’s pastry chef, will finally be tying the knot. The couple, who met 13 years ago in a photography class at De Anza College in Cupertino, will be getting hitched on a friend’s farm in Hilo in September. Krasinski, who’s not fond of cake (say what?), plans on serving their guests exotic citrus tarts instead.
It’s shaping up to be quite a year for Brioza, who grew up in Cupertino and Danville, and Krasinski, who is a Los Gatos native. In the July issue of Food & Wine magazine, the couple will be featured in a story about the peach tree they adopt every year at Mas Masamoto’s renowned peach farm just outside of Fresno. Look for mouth-watering sweet and savory peach recipes.
And for those of you who love mackerel — and those of you who don’t quite yet — here’s Brioza’s recipe that’s guaranteed to please.
Honey, Soy and Beer Broiled Mackerel with Sesame-Lime Glaze