plums in the icebox

elvis' spiced nectarine cobbler

I originally made this recipe for Dinner: A Love Story's guest recipe contest. I didn't win, so I'm sharing it here with you guys! Thanks, Jenny and Andy, for the chance to enter! The winning entry was this beautiful lemon verbena shortbread recipe.

I've always loved Elvis. I can remember singing along loudly when "All Shook Up" (which my five-year-old brain misheard as "mulch-in-a-cup") came on the oldies station and I even dressed up as Army-era Elvis for a biography project in my sixth grade English class. Yep, I wore my dad's army uniform and gave a speech as if I were Elvis Presley. When I was 11 years old. And a girl. In the social minefield of 90s middle school.

And in fact, the King's tunes are some of my preferred cooking music. I used to love to make dinner to my Elvis #1's CD when I still had a CD player in my kitchen. I like everything from super early rockabilly Elvis to the later stuff like Suspicious Minds (actually late 60s, which I didn't know! I guess I'm not the great Elvis biographer I fancied myself as a preteen) and Moody Blue. He's just so good. 

My sister gave me the cookbook Are You Hungry Tonight: Elvis' Favorite Recipes for my birthday. While I was obviously overjoyed to receive a book about two of my all-time favorite topics-- Elvis and cooking-- I wasn't sure the cookbook would have much to offer a red-meat avoiding, almost 100% gluten free eater like me. I'm not really one for gravy, sausage spoon bread, pork, or "quick and easy bratwurst sandwiches." I will admit I'll never turn down a good Southern dessert, though. Everything in moderation, right?

So, armed with the kitschy cookbook and my own ideas about eating, I decided to make myself a version of Elvis' favorite Spiced Nectarine Cobbler. The author of the book, Brenda Arlene Butler, writes of the recipe: "Nectarines, freshly picked and juicy, say summertime. Bees buzzing....Close your eyes and imagine Elvis sitting in the porch swing picking out Forgot to Remember to Forget on his old gut-string acoustic guitar. What's what wonderful smell? It's something fresh from the oven."

I can't even begin to compete with that imagery, but I can offer a recipe that's just the teensiest bit healthier than the original. I hope I'm not committing some kind of cardinal Elvis fan sin by healthifying this recipe, though: I mean, is it ok to healthify Elvis? The man known for his love of moon pies and fried peanut-butter-and-banana-sandwiches?  My version (which is 100% gluten free!) preserves the sweetness of the original while managing to sneak in tiny bit of nutrition. Omega-3s and a bit of protein get in there by way of flaxseeds, almond meal and coconut flour. I did keep in the real sugar and the real butter, though, because well, this is for Elvis!

Elvis' Spiced Nectarine Cobbler

adapted from Are You Hungry Tonight?: Elvis' Favorite Recipes

serves 4-6 people

total time: about 40 minutes

total hands on-time: 10-15 minutes

What you'll need:

8 nectarines, sliced (skin on)

1/4 cup almond meal

1/4 cup coconut flour

1/4 cup ground flaxseeds

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup butter

What you'll do:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 and butter a 1 1/2 quart baking dish.

2. Slice the nectarines and arrange them in the dish.

3. Combine almond meal, coconut flour, ground flaxseeds, sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl and mix well.

4. Then, using a pastry blender or two knives, cut the butter into the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.

5. Carefully spoon mixture on and around sliced nectarines.

5. Bake for 25 minutes or until fruit is just bubbly.

 

If I do say so myself, this is really good. My non GF boyfriend couldn't tell the difference between this and a 'regular' cobbler. The coconut flour has a tendency to really soak up moisture, so try to get as much of the nectarine juice in there as you can. You could also make this recipe with any other summer fruit; I'd love to try it with a blend of blueberries and strawberries. Or peaches! This would be so good with some juicy summer peaches. 

going paleo (sort of)

My boyfriend R and I have decided to embark upon a weeklong paleo eating challenge.

My love of bad clipart has never left me, apparently. 

In case you're not familiar with the paleo, or paleolithic, diet, it's basically eating the way cavemen (or, to be a bit more PC, hunter-gatherers) did. That means meat, vegetables, nuts and fruit. You can also have seafood and eggs, but no grains of any kind, legumes, or sugar, and dairy is generally frowned-upon, too.

People that eat paleo are very into it. I hear amazing things all the time about weight loss, energy levels, all that kind of stuff. Neither R nor I are really trying to lose weight, but I think we could both benefit from paying more attention to our food and how it makes us feel. So once R's exams were finished (he's a PhD student), we decided to go for it! The challenge starts next week. ETA: Actually, the challenge starts May 28. I remembered we're going camping at a music festival and figured it would be better to try to eat paleo once that's over.

It's going to be tough. I already eat largely gluten-free, so that part won't be too hard, but I eat lots of dairy for protein, and I eat candy ALL THE TIME. And quinoa, rice, and beans are also huge staples of my cooking. It's only a week, but I'm wondering how strict I really want to be. Can I really give up my daily apple with peanut butter? Even for a week? R basically lives on cereal, sandwiches, and pasta, so it'll be a challenge for him too.

I'll document some of the experiment here, but I'm also looking for tips. Do you have any great Paleo recipes? Any tips for eating only fruits, vegetables and meat? I can do this for a week, right? HELP!

roasted strawberry & spinach grilled goat cheese

If you're having a bad day, make this sandwich. It's gooey and sweet and fresh and a little bit salty and I bet you $10 it will make you feel better. Seriously, if you're having a crap day and this sandwich doesn't make you feel better, write me an email. I'll Paypal you $10. 

I got the inspiration for this recipe from a sandwich I ate a couple of weeks ago at Miss Shirley's in Baltimore. It's my mom's absolute favorite place to go for lunch or brunch, and I ordered a grilled goat cheese with spinach and strawberries. It was good, but I felt like it needed something. A little bit more flavor, a little bit of a punch, you know? So, I thought try roasting the strawberries before putting them on the sandwich and VOILA! This recipe was born (and wolfed down straightaway). Oh and bonus? The bread, cheese, strawberries and spinach were all purchased at my local farmer's market.

Roasted Strawberry & Spinach Grilled Goat Cheese

makes one sandwich

total time: 25 minutes

total hands on time: 7 minutes?

What you'll need:

2 slices of thick-cut bread

a couple of pats of salted butter

2-4 oz of fresh goat cheese (softened or not)

about a handful of fresh spinach

6-8 strawberries, leaves removed and sliced lengthwise in half

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp olive oil

lots of black pepper

What you'll do:

1. Preheat the oven to 350.

2. Slice the strawberries and toss them in the vinegar and oil; sprinkle with a ton of good quality black pepper.

3. Roast for about 15 minutes. The strawberries should hold their shape, but smush easily when pressed with a spoon.

4. While the strawberries are roasting, very lightly toast the bread. I think this adds a necessary crunch to the sandwich.

5. Once the strawberries are done, assemble the sandwich, you know the drill: bread, cheese, spinach and strawberries. You can butter the bread itself, but I usually heat the butter in the frying pan and do it that way. 

6. Cook for two or so minutes on each side, flipping frequently and carefully. 

7. Slice and eat!

Further suggestions: make sure you use a really hearty bread, nothing thin or flimsy. Think thick, grainy, healthy; you need a strong slice to hold the weight of the strawberries. Also, using salted butter really adds a nice dimension to the flavors, I think. I didn't get my sandwich too dark on the outside, either, but I'm not sure how much of a difference that makes. 

Here's the little dude who kept me company while I cooked:

And another shot of the deliciousness:

black bean hummus

I actually made this black bean hummus earlier this week, but I've held off on posting about it because I was looking for a clever "angle" for the post. if you're a food blogger or even just a blogger, maybe you know what I mean: it seems like there's a pressure to make every post feature some hilarious anecdote, some larger story or joke or fascinating tale of how you came up with the recipe. But you know what? There really isn't one. I wanted to make this hummus, I made this hummus, and it was good.

This black bean hummus recipe is easy, healthy, and delicious. I'm actually going to make it again today because I have some friends coming in town for a concert and I'm making some appetizers for before the show. I rarely get to cook for anyone other than myself and my boyfriend R, so I'm kind of excited. Is it sad that I'm excited to cook for people? I don't know. It isn't sad that I'm excited for the concert itself, which is The Avett Brothers!! They're one of my all-time favorite bands and I haven't seen them live since Bonnaroo 2008, before I moved to New Mexico. Of course, as soon as I moved away from New Mexico they played in both Albuquerque and El Paso, TX (an hour or so from Las Cruces, where I lived). They are so so so so so good live and I'm so excited to just rock out and dance and sing and scream. Wait. Did this post just turn into an anecdote about the recipe? I think it did!

Listen to these songs while you make the hummus:

Black Bean Hummus

makes about 3-4 cups of hummus

total time: 7ish minutes

total hands on-time: 7ish minutes

What you'll need:

2 tbsps tahini paste

1 can black beans, rinsed (or 2 cups cooked black beans)

1 can green chile (or 2 tbsps chopped green chile)

1 tbsp olive oil (plus more to drizzle on top)

2-4 garlic cloves

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp lime juice

1 tsp cumin

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

salt to your taste

What you'll do:

1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Try it and add more seasonings, especially salt or cumin, depending on your taste.

That's it! Feel free to omit the green chile if you don't like it or if you think it might be too spicy for you. I think the hummus tastes better when it's chilled. I ate mine with tortilla chips and baby carrots, but it'd be great with sliced peppers or some kind of spicy toasted pita bread, I think.

 

reading while eating

I came across this beautiful and intimates series of photographs yesterday via Food52. Photographer Juliette Tang takes pictures of books with meals. Here are a few I especially like:

More on Tang's Flickr, including dozens of pretty book related photos without food.

I've always been a reader-while-eater, although these days I'm more likely to be reading Google Reader rather than a real printed book. But here's my version, snapped this morning (with Instagram, of course; if you'd like to follow me my username is carriemurph) and featuring chai tea, greek yogurt with granola, and Maureen Thorson's book of poems, Applies to Oranges (guest appearances from my dog Pablo's tail and my new purple pedicure).

autumn giles' never fail fudge

This is the fifth entry in my Writers Eat series. I'm asking writers I admire to share their favorite recipes and/or foods here on Plums in the Icebox. The food will sometimes tie in with the writer's work, but sometimes not. If you're a writer and you're interested in participating, let me know!

When I met fellow poet and food blogger Autumn Giles in New York last month, I basically accosted her and was like LET'S TALK ABOUT THE WEST (I was more than a few glasses of champagne deep, I should add.) As a Montana girl, she was pretty accommodating as I rambled on how weird I feel being back on the East Coast. We knew each other from food blogging and from Twitter, but it was such a pleasure to meet her in person. Did I mention she has the coolest vintage glasses ever? Because she does.

The next morning, I headed to her super cute apartment in Sunnyside,Queens (complete with living room rug that looks just like a picnic blanket) to be interviewed for Autumn's Alphabet Soup podcast. Autumn is the creator and curator of the Alphabet Soup podcast, which "makes conversation about the intersection of food and language with folks who eat, talk and think too much" (not sure a more perfect podcast for me exists, by the way, unless it somehow happened to include vintage clothing and babies), and I was SO EXCITED to be a part of it. You can listen to my episode here, if you're interested.

We had a great long chat about eating and writing and everything in between, including MFA progams and not loving Sylvia Plath and first cooking experiences and how to live a fulfilling creative life. Although we didn't really nail down our own relationships to food and writing, Autumn's awesome poems definitely have a bit of a foodie mindset: there's "quince" and "raspberry" and "orange pizza grease" in her ambivalent hymn to New York, "Love, Yonkers." I love this "shakey and sugary" one from La Petite Zine, "Kids These Days." And "Brontosaurus Soup?" Yep, brontosaurus soup. She's tried to write recipe-poems, she said, but never really been able to succeed. I wouldn't be too concerned about that if I were Autumn, because her poems are lovely and her food blog, Autumn Makes and Does, is amazing. She's gluten-free and she's a crazy creative cook (see some of my favorite posts of hers after the recipe). 

**

Autumn says: I had a really hard time deciding on a recipe because a lot of the nonsense that I cook for myself often doesn't necessarily have a recipe... Let's say this is a favorite recipe of mine. And I feel kind of bad choosing this because I know you're a healthy eater, but it's the "never fail" fudge recipe from the back of the marshmallow fluff jar. I love it because I think it reminds me of a lot of stuff that makes me happy. My grandmother makes us fudge every year and mails it in check boxes (always check boxes). I was a huge fan of fluffernutters as a kid and know I shouldn't want to eat marshmallow fluff as an adult, but I do. So, I'd say it's a sentimental fave definitely. And, bonus, it means you get to look at the marshmallow fluff website, which is a GEM.

**

Never having made fudge before, I was TOTALLY FINE with trying out this recipe. Plus I really liked the idea of cooking a recipe that had such warm associations for Autumn. Grandmothers and happy feelings? Sign me up.

Never Fail Fudge

reprinted from MarshmallowFluff.com

makes 2 1/2 lbs of fudge

total time: about an hour

total hands on time: maybe 20 minutes?

What you'll need:

2 1/2 cups of sugar

1 7 oz container of marshmallow fluff

1/2 stick of butter or margarine

1 5 oz can evaporated milk

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 bag of semi sweet chocolate pieces

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

What you'll do:

1. Grease a 9 in square baking pan.

2. Combine sugar, marshmallow, salt, evaporated milk and butter in a large saucepan. Stir over low heat until blended.

3. Once blended, bring to a boil over medium heat. Don't mistake escaping air bubbles for a boil..it needs to be a real, rolling boil. Boil for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

4. Try the Soft Ball test. If your mixture is ready, stir in the nuts and chocolate, stirring continuously until the chocolate is melted.

5. Pour mixture into pan and cool until set. Here's mine chilling in my fridge:

I followed the recipe on the Marshmallow Fluff website pretty much exactly to the letter, except I did add a dash of cinnamon. For some reason the walnuts weren't that well distributed, so I think if I make it again, I'll add a bit more of them. I also didn't have a square pan, so I used a circular one.

I have to tell you guys that almost half of this batch of fudge disappeared in about 36 hours. That's a pretty shameful admission, especially considering that, in a two-person household, I'm the only person who even eats fudge. Sooooooo, yeah. This no-fail fudge was somehow light and rich all at once, and so so so sweet. Yesterday I wrapped all the fudge into individual pieces and put it in the freezer so I can stretch out the delicious enjoyment of it for a while longer. We'll see how long I last.

Check out Autumn's incredible food blog, Autumn Makes and Does, where she makes innovative recipes I could never even dream of dreaming up. Exhibit A: Grapefruit Hibisbus Curd. I mean, wow. Right?! Some of my other favorites are her Avocado Paletas, Tomato Water, Sweet and Salty Brownies and (of course!) Chile Rellenos with Potato and Anchovies. Autumn is also a canning maven, so I highly recommend checking out her canning section, as well. You can also follow her on Twitter and subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.

A big thank you to Autumn for participating in Writers Eat, for introducing me to this great fudge recipe, and for the delicious homecooked treats she gave me after our interview. My hungover belly was very happy on my bus ride back to DC.