Orange Upside Down Polenta Cake

Our latest installment of Lonesome Whistle Farm polenta inspired me to experiment with this grain in desserts. Searching around, I came across a genre of recipes for Italian polenta cake made with almond meal and often with citrus. The red hues of this colorful corn reminded me of ruby red blood oranges, and its coarse texture seemed at home in a skillet, so I decide to make a rustic upside down cake in my cast iron pan.

I used an amalgam of a polenta cake from Nigella Lawson and an orange caramel layer from Yotam Ottolenghi. I have to admit to being a novice when it comes to caramelizing sugar (I should have watched this first), and tried to take a short cut by melting the sugar in the skillet, but my caramel developed some crystals in the process. Despite this setback, I persevered, because a few sugar crystals didn't seem so bad in the grand scheme of things, and really, who could resist a cake as lovely as this on one side, 

and this on the other. It had a coarse and slightly crumbly texture that suited its skillet inception, but was moist and rich and busting with orange flavor. This cake will definitely become another regular use for our polenta supply.

Orange Upside Down Polenta Cake
adapted from recipes by Nigella Lawson and Yotam Ottolenghi 

for the caramel orange layer 
1/2 cup superfine granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits
2 blood oranges

for the cake
1 3/4 sticks (14 tablespoons) soft unsalted butter
1 cup superfine sugar
2 cups almond meal/flour
3/8 cup coarse polenta
3/8 cup fine cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3 eggs
zest from 2 blood oranges

1. Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Wash the oranges and zest them with a microphone grater. Reserve the zest and cut off the peels and pith. Slice them into 5 or 6 slices perpendicular to the axis of the sections and remove any pith in the interior.

2. Make the caramel orange layer. In a small, clean, heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, water and a dribble of juice from slicing the prongs. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved, and then STOP stirring. Wash down any sugar crystals from side of pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water. Boil, without stirring, swirling pan occasionally so caramel colors evenly, until dark amber.

3. Remove from the heat and add butter, swirling pan until incorporated, then carefully but quickly pour caramel into a well-seasoned 10 inch cast iron skillet (if in doubt, oil your skillet a bit). Tilt the skillet to coat evenly and arrange the orange slices in the caramel with the largest slice in the center and other slices surrounding it in a circle.

4. For the cake, beat the butter and sugar till pale and whipped, either by hand in a bowl with a wooden spoon, or using a freestanding mixer or food processor.

5. Mix together the almond meal, polenta and baking powder, and beat some of this into the butter-sugar mixture, followed by 1 egg, then alternate dry ingredients and eggs, beating all the while. Finally, beat in the lemon zest and pour, spoon or scrape the mixture into your caramel and orange lined skillet. 

6. Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes. If the cake is cooked, a cake tester should come out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cook for about five minutes. Place a large plate over the skillet, confidently invert the skillet and allow the cake to slide onto the plate. Allow to cool to room temperature and serve. 

Flageolet bean salad with fennel, orange, and tapenade

The sun is shining, crocuses are blooming, oranges are in season, and salad for dinner seemed like a welcome change of pace. Inspired by my fennel flavored Arikara beans, I decide to try the same cooking technique with some delicate green flageolet beans from Lonesome Whistle Farm.

I tossed the beans in a mustard vinaigrette with sliced fresh fennel bulb and sections of blood oranges, and layered this onto some salad greens dressed with a lemony vinaigrette.

To accompany the salad, I prepared an olive tapenade that incorporated some of the same flavors as the salad, with fennel fronds and citrus zest. 

The tapenade was delicious on olive bread from the Eugene City Bakery and provided a bold, salty contrast to the mild, crunchy and fruity salad. It almost feels like spring. And as an extra treat, this recipe was selected as an editor's pick on Amanda Hesser's Food52 website.

Flageolet bean salad with fennel, orange, and tapenade

For the salad

2 cups green flageolet beans, rinsed

1 fennel bulb

2 blood oranges or 1 large naval orange

mixed salad greens

1 tsp dijon mustard

1 1/2 Tbsp sherry vinegar

1 Tbsp lemon juice

4 Tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

For the tapenade

1/2 cup pitted olives

2 Tbsp capers

1 clove garlic

handful of fennel fronds

handful of parsley leaves

pinch of red pepper flakes

2 Tbsp olive oil

1. Rinse the beans and put them in a slow cooker or a pot with 4 cups of water. Rinse the fennel bulb and cut off the stalks. Reserve the bulb and a handful of the most tender fronds. Layer the remaining stalks and fronds over the beans. Simmer the beans on low for about 3 hours, swirling occasionally to mix, until they are tender but still firm (on the stovetop this may take less time and require additional water). Remove the fennel stalks and season generously with salt. Drain 2 cups of the cooked beans for the salad and reserve the remaining beans for another use.

2. Prepare the tapenade. If you're like me and don't like raw garlic, heat the garlic clove in a dry, hot skillet, until it is blacked in patches on the outside and soft and fragrant, or skip this step. In a food processor, combine the olives, capers, garlic clove, reserved fennel fronds, parsley, 1 tsp of zest from both the lemon and orange, red pepper flakes, and 2 Tbsp olive oil. Pulse briefly into a coarse, chunky paste.

3. Prepare the bean salad. Cut the fennel bulb into thin slices. Peel the oranges, slice, and quarter each slice. In a medium bowl whisk together the mustard, 1 Tbsp vinegar, 2 Tbsp olive oil, and salt and pepper. Toss in the cooked beans, fennel and orange slices and mix well. Adjust seasoning.

4. Prepare the salad. In a large bowl, whisk together 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 1/2 Tbsp vinegar, 2 Tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss in the salad greens until well coated. Layer on the bean salad, and serve with tapenade and bread. If you like, you can prepare tapenade toasts under the broiler.

Other recipes for heirloom beans:

Arikara beans with roasted fennel and peppers

Jacob's Cattle bean and ham stew

Calypso beans with ginger and black mustard seeds

Ireland Creek Annie bean bruschetta

Lemon and herb Dutch bullet beans

Minty green flageolet beans

Dutch bullet beans and roasted squash soup

Rio Zape beans with toasted chile sauce

Arikara bean gratin

Calypso bean and leek soup