California eating
America’s West Coast is a hotbed of creative cooking, as food writer Eleanor Maidment discovered while researching her new book
When I first conceived the idea of writing a cookbook inspired by California, I did not fully understand the depth and complexity of what is meant by the term ‘ California cuisine’. I have never lived in the States, I don’t claim to be an expert on California cuisine and this book is not aiming to be a bible of its food.
But having visited regularly over the last three decades, I have watched its food scene evolve and blossom into something unique. This book has been a wonderful opportunity to express how California inspires me. The recipes are all my own, merging my experience as a food writer with some of the innovative ideas I have absorbed while travelling the West Coast.
My simple aim is to enhance and invigorate the way people cook at home. Having grown up in the UK at a time when traditional European cuisines were considered king, it has been interesting to look at a cuisine that has only existed for 50 years. That youth and vivacity is something we can all benefit from in the kitchen. n
Baked sweet potatoes with miso butter and blistered peanuts
This miso butter can be spooned over anything from grilled steak and roast chicken to green beans, but its saltiness has a real affinity with the candied orange flesh of sweet potato.
Serves four
4 sweet potatoes
3 tbsp unsalted peanuts
75g unsalted butter, softened 50g white miso paste juice of ½ lime
2 spring onions, thinly sliced 1 tsp toasted white sesame seeds
1 Preheat a fan oven to 180C/ Gas Mark 4.
2 Rinse the potatoes if they need it, then pierce them all over with a fork and place in a baking tray or large ovenproof dish. Bake for 45- 55 minutes or until soft to the touch. Toast the peanuts in a dry frying pan for 5- 6 minutes, tossing them regularly until blistered in places. Tip onto a chopping board to cool, then roughly chop.
3 Meanwhile, lightly beat the butter in a bowl with a spatula. You want it to be just light and fluffy. Beat the miso into the butter and set aside.
4 Once the potatoes are ready, remove them from the oven and split them in half. Fluff the middles with a fork and divide most of the miso butter between them, serving any extra on the side. Squeeze over the lime juice and scatter with the sliced spring onion, chopped peanuts and sesame seeds.
Cioppino ( fisherman’s stew)
Apparently, this fish stew was originally made by Italian immigrants who settled in San Francisco. After work, they would stop by the fishing boats on the wharf and collect any leftovers from the day’s catch to cook up at home. In San Francisco you’ll often find crab and scallops in the mix, but prawns, white fish and mussels are a more economical option. Along with fresh tomatoes, caramelised fennel and white wine, they create a delicate and subtle fish stew. You can happily substitute dry vermouth for white wine, if you prefer. Serve this stew with few dollops of aioli or mayonnaise and plenty of crusty bread to mop up the juices.
Serves four
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp unsalted butter
2 onions, diced
1 fennel bulb, diced ( fronds reserved and core discarded)
2 garlic cloves, sliced 2 fresh bay leaves
½ tsp sweet smoked paprika, plus extra to serve
100ml white wine
250g ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
250ml fresh fish stock
4 × 100g fresh hake fillets ( or any other firm white fish)
8 raw tiger prawns
150g mussels, cleaned and any open shells discarded lemon juice, to taste ( optional), plus wedges handful of chopped flat- leaf parsley sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 Heat the oil and butter in a large sauté pan or casserole dish over a medium- low heat, add the onions and fennel with a good pinch of salt and sweat for 5 minutes ( don’t season again until you’ve added the seafood as it may be salty in itself ). Add the garlic and bay and sweat gently for another 15- 20 minutes, stirring regularly, until everything is soft, translucent and turning golden.
2 Add the paprika and fry for 1 more minute, then add the wine and simmer for 2- 4 minutes to bubble off the alcohol. Add the tomatoes, fry for another 2- 3 minutes, then add the fish stock to the dish and bring to a gentle simmer. ( You can set the dish aside at this stage, then reheat when you’re ready to continue.)
3 Nestle the fish, prawns and mussels into the gently simmering sauce, grind over some black pepper and cover the pan with a lid ( or use a sheet of kitchen foil topped with a large plate or chopping board). Uncover after 6 minutes and check everything is cooked through. If not, recover and check after another 2 minutes.
4 To serve, remove the lid and discard any unopened mussels. Check the seasoning: it may benefit from a little salt and a firm squeeze of lemon juice. Serve scattered with the parsley, the reserved chopped fennel fronds and some lemon wedges.
Bluberry and honey cornbread
Although I’ve called this cornbread, it’s actually not so far from a classic polenta cake, using ground almonds as a soft textural contrast to coarse polenta. It’s gluten- free ( don’t forget to use a gluten- free baking powder) and made entirely with honey rather than refined sugar, so it’s slightly less sweet than most cakes, too.
Serves 8- 10 150g unsalted butter, softened, plus an additional 20g for the glaze and extra for greasing
3 eggs, separated
150g runny honey ( plus an additional 20g for the glaze) 200g ground almonds
100g quick- cook polenta
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp fine sea salt grated zest of 1 lemon
150g blueberries
1 Preheat a fan oven to 140C/ Gas Mark 3. Lightly grease a 20cm round cake tin and line it with baking parchment.
2 Get all the components ready: separate the eggs, putting the whites
into a large mixing bowl and the yolks in a small bowl. Measure the 150g of honey and 150g of butter into another large mixing bowl, then measure the dry ingredients into a fourth bowl.
Using electric beaters, whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks, then set aside. Next, use the electric beaters ( there’s no need to clean them after whisking the egg whites) to cream the 150g of butter and 150g of honey together until light and combined. Beat in the eggs yolks, then the lemon zest, then fold the dry ingredients into the mixture with a spatula until just combined.
Finally, gently fold the egg whites into the cake mixture, trying to lose as little air as possible, but ensuring they’re completely incorporated. Tip into the cake tin, smoothing the top, then sprinkle over the blueberries. Bake on the lowest shelf of the oven for 45 minutes until golden and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Just before the cake comes out of the oven, make the glaze by heating the 20g of honey and 20g of butter in a small saucepan until combined. When the cake is ready and out of the oven, pierce it with a skewer in any areas not covered by blueberries.
Spoon the hot honey butter all over the top. Cool in the cake pan for 15 minutes, then remove and leave to cool to room temperature on a wire rack.