Because olive oil and sea salt are the perfect combination. 

Everyone has to have a couple of go-to cake recipes. Because when it’s Sunday afternoon and you’ve spent all morning drinking coffee and reading The New York Times (you’re still impressed by this week’s Modern Love section, and weren’t Bill Cunningham’s photos great this week?), you better have something to whip up for dessert when your friend throws an impromptu get together. The olive oil polenta cake is mine.

It has been named many things, and I have certainly been made fun of for putting olive oil and sea salt together in a dessert (red foodie flag), but at the end of the day, it’s one of the simplest, yet complex tasting, cakes that I know of. With the lemon zest, it’s also perfect for perking up in the middle of winter.

The almond flour makes it 100% gluten free, which will please all your gluten intolerant friends, and of course, it’s full of cornmeal and olive oil, so if you’ve been looking for a dessert that you can attempt to justify eating more than one piece of, feel free to do it with this one.

Olive Oil and Polenta Cake

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup almond meal or finely ground almonds
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup butter (1.5 sticks)
• 3 eggs
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• Juice and zest of one Meyer lemon
• Zest of 1/2 an orange

Directions:

1. Beat eggs in a bowl and add sugar.
2. In another bowl combine dry ingredients.
3. In a saucepan melt butter. Add to egg and sugar batter and add in dry ingredients. Mix in rest of ingredients.
4. Pour batter into a greased 9.5 inch pan and bake for 20-25 minutes at 350F, or until golden brown.
5. Let cool and dust with powdered sugar if you’re feeling super fancy.

Note: because this cake is dense, it tastes better after it has sat for awhile, so let cool completely, and maybe even stash it away for the next day. Nothing is better than this cake for breakfast.

Every month on Sunday Recipe we bring you a new theme of recipes, perfect for whipping up on a Sunday. For February it’s all about easy things to make for a day with friends. Enjoy!

The post Sunday Recipe: Olive Oil and Polenta Cake appeared first on EcoSalon.

Looking for a no-fuss, yet fancy meal to serve company on a cold, winter night? Here’s a take on the classic Southern shrimp ‘n grits that switches out the shrimp for crab meat, and the grits for polenta. I created this to honor our west coast Dungeness crab season, in full swing now. Dungeness crab in season is a sustainable seafood choice, and a real treat.

If Dungeness crab is unavailable in your area, you may substitute other types of crab, shrimp (support Gulf fishermen and buy domestic wild, not farmed from Asia), or scallops.

Cooking the polenta in the oven, rather than the stove top, makes this dish almost criminally easy.

Serves 2

3 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup polenta

About a 1/4 cup heavy cream

About a 1/2 stick of butter

1 small shallot, cut into the tiniest dice possible

1/3 of a celery rib, cut into the tiniest dice possible

About 2 teaspoons good quality spicy ground chile of your choice, to your taste (cayenne or something fancier like Aleppo pepper would both work)

About 1 1/2 cups of picked crab meat

3 green onions (white and green parts), chopped fine

Preheat the oven to 375. Combine the water, salt and polenta in a heavy baking dish with a lid. Stir together. Put it in the oven. Remove from the oven and stir every 15 minutes, cooking for a total of 45 minutes. Turn off the oven, stir in the heavy cream, and return the polenta to the hot oven while you prepare the crab.

In a heavy skillet over medium heat, warm the butter. Add the shallot and celery and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the chile, crab, green onions, and a little salt if you need it (crab can be salty) and stir to warm through. Add more butter if you like.

To serve, spoon the polenta onto warmed plates or shallow bowls. Top with crab mixture, dividing it evenly. Serve immediately.

Recipe Copyright Vanessa Barrington 2010

Image: Vanessa Barrington

The post On a Cold Winter’s Night: Spicy Crab and Polenta appeared first on EcoSalon.