… and we’re back!
A prep-ahead SPICY CHICKEN UDON and an extremely moist snack cake
2 under 2! Hi, I’m alive! Luca McCool is a very healthy and sturdy boy who has proven me so wrong when I was worried I couldn't love another like Dean. Almost day 1 home from the hospital we started eating some awesome meals. The first week or two was all the food I had frozen (cue meatballs & burritos from my last newsletter) and we have some seriously generous, food minded friends who completely loaded us up. This week’s recipes are 2 things that I made early on , which were such a hit that they had their encore the following weeks. What they both have in common is they can be made in stages and prepped ahead. That’s a very important feature when you have a newborn who naps for only 45 minutes at a time - on a good day.
HELLO!
A big HELLO to all the new readers - so happy you're here! I hope you get lots of inspiration from these newsletters. If you’ve opted for the free version, that's great, you’ll get one newsletter every Friday morning with my ramblings on what I’ve been up to in the kitchen that week. There’s typically a paywall at the bottom of the email to access the recipe. A paid subscription is $5 a month (a latte) or $40 a year (a cookbook). That money makes it possible for me to churn out these recipes every week. Big THANK YOU to all my paid subscribers. Follow along on instagram @oliviamackmccool for more food and babies :)
Worth Saying:
In my first few weeks post-partum, I got a TON of DM’s and messages that contained a lot of exclamation points in response to my return to cooking and baking so quickly. My reply was typically, “Well, we’ve got to eat! And I like eating good things :)”. Which is true but also it’s hard to explain in a quick DM how much cooking fills me up creatively and how it makes me feel like ME - It feels restorative. But there’s something more important to mention because the “mom comparison game” runs rampant in my age group. I’m absolutely sucked into it myself through social media, even though I know better. I’m able to cook cakes from scratch and have leisurely caramelized apple oatmeal breakfasts because there are advantages in my life that make it possible. I’m not special (Please watch Inventing Anna on Netflix to appreciate this joke). Anyone who wrote me saying “HOW?!” in response to my Instagram stories, you should wonder why that camera is never showing my face or clothes (or lack there of) haha. All to say that before you think you’re lacking in any way as a mom, woman, partner, etc compared to someone else, try to remember that you’re only seeing a very small slice of life through a very curated lens of social media and photos. I have to remind myself of this all the time. You’re also probably doing real important things for your family that I procrastinate until the repo man comes knocking.. Like tax prep :) or getting your car inspected :) We all have our strengths.
Spicy Chicken & Kimchi Udon
Prep-Ahead! Weeknight Meal! Umami! Salty! All the buzzwords. This is the kind of dinner that tastes like a better version of takeout and checks all the boxes (Veggies, Meat, Starch) in one pan. Confused about udon? Udon noodles are a thick Japanese wheat noodles. They do come dried but the best way to buy them is frozen - the texture is far superior. You can find them very easily in the freezer section of an Asian supermarket. But if that's not accessible for you here are some other noodle options that are found in a conventional supermarket - you would follow the instructions on the package for cooking them: Dried Rice Noodles, Fresh Ramen Noodles, Dried Ramen Noodles, even Spaghetti would probably be pretty good. But seek out the udon noodles! Just google “Asian supermarket near me” and have a little adventure.
The recipe for these DELICIOUS noodles is at the bottom of this email. It’s accessible to paid subscribers and you can become one by clicking the buttons below. The bulk of the work is putting together the chicken and its marinade. You can do this a day ahead of time and keep it in the fridge. You can also slice all the veggies and prep your garnishes so that near dinner time this all feels much more do-able. Even fill up a pot of water and leave it on the stove and get out a big skillet for stir frying. You’ll be ready.
Orange & Almond Cake
I rarely follow recipes exactly (and even here I couldn't help myself with a small tweak). But I recently bought the Food52 Genius Recipes cookbook and it is quite, well, genius! IT WILL LOOK BURNT - but don’t be fooled. This recipe is apparently, as I learned, a classic among cooks. What intrigued me is the lack of butter, oil or any fat in the cake batter but people said it was incredibly moist. I’m a huge fan of baking with ground almonds because of that moisture factor and I feel a little better about giving a cake to my son if it’s got that added protein and nutrients in it.
Here’s why you should try this:
make it in stages. Boil the oranges when you have the time, blend them and stop there until you’re ready to assemble the batter. You could even measure out the other ingredients and put aside.
It lasts a few days, great for breakfast, snacking or an elegant dessert served with whipped cream.
My toddler went nuts over it. It’s full of almonds, lots of eggs, 2 whole oranges and the second time around I cut the sugar to ¾ cup for his benefit.
You use almost any cake pan shape. They call for a round springform but I made it in a 9”x9” square. And I can almost guarantee that an 8” square or round cake pan would be just fine.
This recipe is by Claudia Roden and is from Food52 Genius Recipes. The method is in my own words, how I did it.
Makes 1 (9” x 9”) cake
2 whole oranges (ideally organic since you’re eating the skin)
6 eggs
1 cup of sugar (original recipe is 1 cup + 2 tablespoons)
½ teaspoon almond extract (my personal addition)
2 ¼ cups almond flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon kosher salt (my personal addition)
Place the 2 whole oranges in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring this to a boil and then down to a gentle boil. Cook for 2 hours, replacing water as it evaporates. The oranges will be very soft at this point. Transfer them to a blender. Blend until you have a smooth pulpy mixture. Make ahead: You can either continue on or place this in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake the cake. Up to 2 days ahead is fine.
Heat the oven to 400°. Grease the baking pan with butter or cooking spray. Line the pan with at least one sheet of parchment, if not another one going the opposite way. If you’re using a round pan, cut a circle out of parchment the size of your pan and line the bottom.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the sugar and almond extract until well combined. Stir in the pureed oranges. Put the almond flour, baking powder and into the bowl. Switch to a rubber spatula and mix the batter until it is smooth.
Pour the batter into your prepared baking pan and bake for 45 minutes. This is when you start checking it. A toothpick or small knife should come out clean. If it’s still too loose keep baking, checking at 5-6 minute intervals. You will think you BURNT this cake and it is bone dry. TRUST THE PROCESS. It will indeed be moist and pudding-like, it’s a strange miracle.
Let the cake cool before slicing into squares. Store any leftovers in an airtight container for a few days.
What I’m Loving (Postpartum Edition):
FridaMom anything and everything: This brand has saved my ass (literally) through two pregnancies. If you’re a mom-to-be or you know a mom-to-be, the products this brand makes are all top notch and make recovery from birth better. Their Ice Pack Pads are so much colder than the ones they give you at the hospital. And their Witch Hazel Pad Liners are again just so much more potent than what’s provided to you. And they do it all in well designed packaging, which I am an absolute sucker for. Great gift if you know someone embarking on the journey that is postpartum recovery :)
Hippeas Chickpea Puffs: Onto snacks… maybe the single most important breastfeeding accoutrement. You've never felt a hunger quite like breastfeeding hunger. Since I had already experienced this, I stocked our house with all the snacks that I could eat with one hand AND jam into a toddlers mouth to keep him at bay while his brother nurses. These are new to me, my sister in law turned me onto them. For a snack in the “health food” realm, they are TASTY! Like a cheese puff, but less fake tasting. Satisfying crunch and saltiness.
French Press: During this time we got really into having french press coffee in bed. We’re typically a plain drip machine family, but my best girlfriend got me a very cute french press plus I accidentally ground a batch of coffee on the coarser side. So that started it. It feels really luxurious to bring our french press and two cups upstairs and have coffee in our still dark bedroom while Luca has his first feeding.
