By David Tanis, The New York Times
The market report from where I am (Los Angeles): Winter citrus is here, hallelujah. Stalls are piled with mandarins, many with stems and leaves attached. Satsumas are back, easy-peeling and sweet-tart, as are their cousins, the miniature two-bite Kishus, amazing little fruits.
And oranges. Juicy navels are in full swing, and blood oranges — with their flesh and skin the color of a sunset, their red juice almost tropical — have finally arrived.
There’s still so much more: Cara Cara oranges, with their coral interiors; small grapefruits, both ruby and Oro Blanco; kumquats, even mandarinquats; enormous and enchanting pomelos. An assortment of them all would make a dazzling salad, I thought.
An orange salad can be a simple affair, and at its best the ultimate refreshing dish. With a few black olives and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil, you have a winning combination, popular in the eastern Mediterranean, southern Italy and perhaps especially Morocco.
You can increase the interest factor in any number of ways. Add thinly sliced fennel and red onion, some arugula, mint or basil leaves, a sprinkling of red pepper, a pinch of wild oregano, a little flaky salt. Make it as fancy or simple as you like. The salad can be just one type of citrus or many.
To follow, I thought back to a few years ago, when I developed a recipe for a hearty baked Arborio rice dish. I called it risotto al forno and was soundly reprimanded by my longtime friend, Italian food expert Faith Willinger. “Don’t call it risotto,” was her terse message. I got it. Only risotto is risotto, stirred lovingly, and it’s meant to be served straight from the pot as soon as it is ready.
And yet, there is a homelier rice dish known to many Italians as riso al forno. Sausage, tomato, cheese and rice in the oven, it’s a weeknight casserole, hardly elegant but very delicious.
I had the idea to marry the two concepts in a fancy make-ahead casserole full of seafood, and was left with very nice results, but I knew better than to call it risotto. I did, however, cook the rice using the classic risotto method, which is not a big deal. It just means standing by the stove and stirring every once in a while, as you slowly sip a glass of wine. The trick is keeping the rice slightly underdone so it won’t become mushy when baked.
I folded a pound of fresh crab meat into the saffron-scented rice — luxurious, certainly — and tucked it all into a baking dish. Then, I topped it with fat shrimp in their shells and showered them with breadcrumbs. I may say it was a thing of beauty and worthy of a real celebration. Upon tasting, it seemed a bit paella-ish, yet somehow slightly Creole. Rather than serving it with a hollandaise sauce (for the Creole aspect), I made a little sauce with crème fraîche, Dijon mustard, lemon zest and chives.
For dessert, I drew inspiration from my friend Salvatore Messina, who will bake and bring a cake to a dinner party without skipping a beat. It has happened countless times over the years, to everyone’s delight, and he always makes the same one, an exquisitely tender almond cake with a hint of lemon. Made simply of blanched almonds, eggs and sugar, it’s even gluten free.
I finally wrangled the recipe from him. Since it has some similarity to other Italian almond cakes, I naturally assumed it to be his family’s, passed down from his Sicilian grandmother. But it turned out to have no Italian story line. Sal adapted it from a recipe for torta de Santiago, the traditional almond cake from Galicia, Spain.
Named after Santiago (St. James, St. Jacques, San Giacomo), the cake dates from the Middle Ages, and its original recipe is equal parts almonds, eggs and sugar. Sal’s modern Italianate adaptation has less sugar, more orange zest and no cinnamon. It’s heavenly.
Though it used be known as Sal’s Almond Cake, I now call it Torta Salvatore, a perfect ending to this somewhat decadent menu.
Citrus Salad With Fennel and Olives
By David Tanis
An orange salad can be a simple affair. Add sliced oranges, a few black olives and a drizzle of oil, and it’s a winning combination, known throughout the eastern Mediterranean, southern Italy and perhaps especially in Morocco. You can up the interest factor in any number of ways. Add thinly sliced fennel and red onion, some arugula, mint or basil leaves, a sprinkling of red pepper, a pinch of wild oregano or a little flaky salt. The salad needn’t be restricted to only navel oranges. In season, blood oranges, Cara Cara oranges or grapefruit are welcome to join.
Yield: 6 servings
Total time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
- 4 navel oranges
- 4 blood oranges
- 2 small ruby or Oro Blanco grapefruits
- 2 large shallots or 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced into rings
- 2 small fennel bulbs, trimmed and thinly sliced into rings
- 1/4 cup pitted olives, Moroccan oil-cured black or Castelvetrano green olives
- 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to taste
- 1 handful mint or basil leaves
- Pinch of red-pepper flakes, such as Marash
- Pinch of dried oregano, preferably wild
- Flaky salt, for finishing
Preparation
1. To peel the citrus fruit, using a small serrated knife, cut off a thin slice of peel from the top and bottom of the orange, so it sits flat and securely on the cutting board. Cut from top to bottom, following the curve of the fruit. Remove only the peel and white pith, not the flesh of the orange. It should be perfectly spherical and naked.
2. Slice navels and blood oranges crosswise into thin slices, picking out seeds if needed. Use a paring knife to section the grapefruit into suprèmes, cutting between the membranes. Reserve any citrus juices obtained in the process.
3. To serve, arrange citrus on a serving platter or on individual plates. Scatter the shallot slices over the fruit, then add thinly sliced fennel and olives. Drizzle with olive oil, about 1 tablespoon per serving, and any reserved juices. Garnish with mint or basil leaves. Sprinkle with red pepper, oregano and a prudent amount of flaky salt.
Riso al Forno With Crab and Shrimp
By David Tanis
For a casually elegant dinner, this rice casserole fits the bill for a crowd-pleasing make-ahead main course. You can use any kind of shellfish, including shrimp or lobster, but a high proportion of crab meat is best.
Yield: 6 servings
Total time: 1 hour
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons salted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion, finely diced
- Salt and black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups Carnaroli or Arborio rice
- Pinch of crumbled saffron threads
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 4 cups unsalted fish, chicken or vegetable stock, plus more as needed
- 1 pound crab meat (fresh or canned, drained if needed)
- 1 pound medium unpeeled shrimp, drizzled with 1 tablespoon olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup breadcrumbs, preferably coarse homemade
- 1 cup crème fraîche
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon finely sliced chives, plus more for serving
- 1 small lemon, zested, plus more zest for serving
Preparation
1. Heat oven at 375 degrees and butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
2. Put butter and olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Add rice and continue to cook, stirring, until well coated. Add saffron and tomato paste, and stir well, then add wine and cook until evaporated, about 2 minutes.
4. Add 2 cups stock and adjust heat to a brisk simmer. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring every minute or so. When broth is absorbed, add 1 cup more and continue cooking for another 5 minutes. Stir in the last cup of stock, and cook for another 5 minutes, until the rice is done but the grains are still firm. Add more stock if the rice looks dry. Taste rice mixture and adjust seasoning. Turn off heat.
5. Fold crab meat into rice mixture, and transfer contents of pot to the baking dish. Lay shrimp on top and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Bake for about 30 minutes, until golden. Meanwhile, combine crème fraîche, mustard, chives and lemon zest in a small bowl. Taste and adjust seasoning, as necessary.
6. To serve, spoon rice and shrimp into warm soup plates. Top each serving with a tablespoon of the crème fraîche mixture. If desired, sprinkle more chives and lemon zest over everything.
Tender Almond Cake
Recipe from Salvatore Messina
Adapted by David Tanis
A delightfully tender almond cake that’s quite easy to put together, this recipe is from an old friend, Salvatore Messina. Everyone adores it. Since it has some similarity to other Italian almond cakes, I naturally assumed it to be his family’s, passed down from his Sicilian grandmother. But it turned out to have no Italian storyline. Sal adapted it from a recipe for torta de Santiago, the traditional almond cake from Galicia, Spain, using less sugar, more orange zest and no cinnamon. It’s heavenly. — David Tanis
Yield: 10 servings
Total time: 1 hour, plus cooling
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened, for greasing the pan
- 8 ounces/227 grams blanched almonds
- 6 large eggs, separated
- 1 1/4 cups/250 grams sugar
- 1 orange, zested
- 1 lemon, zested
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- Powdered sugar, for dusting
Preparation
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper and grease the sides with butter.
2. Pulse almonds a few times in a food processor, then grind them, until they become a coarse meal, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat egg yolks and sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 1 minute. (Alternatively, use a large bowl and a hand mixer.) Beat in ground almonds, zests and almond extract until incorporated. Transfer mixture to another bowl and thoroughly wipe out stand mixer bowl or clean out the large bowl. (You don’t want any egg yolk present, as they can inhibit the whipping of the egg whites.)
4. In the clean bowl, beat egg whites to stiff peaks on medium-high speed, 1 to 2 minutes. Incorporate the whites into the egg-sugar-almond mixture until no white streaks remain, then spread into the prepared pan.
5. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean, indicating the cake is cooked.
6. Cool in the pan on a rack. Run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen, and transfer to a serving platter. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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