B
Tuesday, April 13, 2021
The Observer & Baker City Herald
BETWEEN
THE ROWS
WENDY SCHMIDT
Narcissus
family a
welcome
addition to
any garden
The narcissus family has a lot going
for it, including:
1. Deer won’t eat them.
2. Gophers won’t eat them, and I’m
willing to bet that moles won’t eat
them, either.
3. Narcissus come back year after
year forever. At least 50 years or more
which is forever to me ...
4. They multiply. All of them do. “Ice
Follies” in my yard always multiplied
faster than any other named variety.
There are at least 10 types of narcis-
sus.
1. Trumpet daffodils: the trumpet is
longer or as long as the petal segments.
Examples are King Alfred, Mount
Hood. This group includes bicolor and
reverse bicolor. Salome, the fi rst pink
daffodil, is a favorite bi-color trumpet
daffodil.
2. Large-cupped daffodils: Cups are
more than one-third the length of fl ower
segments, but not as long. Ice Follies
and Binkie and Carlton are examples.
3. Small-cupped daffodils: cups less
than one-third the length of the seg-
ments (these aren’t as readily available
for purchase).
4. Double daffodils: instead of a cup,
the petal segments are made up of frag-
ments of the cup and the corona (the
petals around the base). Doubles have
been around a long time.
5. Triandrus hybrids: cups at least
two-thirds the length of the segments.
Clusters of medium-sized, slender-
cupped fl owers. Thalia is an old favorite
of this type.
See Narcissus/Page 3B
Stephanie Strasburg/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette-TNS
If you like a PB & J sandwich, this cake is for you. The strawberries on top are not only a feast for the eyes but also for the palate.
F RUIT C AKES A RE
A LWAYS I N S EASON
cake topped with strawberries. Four-layer
hummingbird cake fl avored with banana,
Jason Schreiber is a staunch advocate of
pineapple and coconut. Crumb cakes moist-
fruit cakes for every season.
ened with poached pear or blueberry and
While his repertoire includes the boozy
gooseberry. Crepe cake layered with a guava
Christmas fruitcake loaded with dried fruits
paste fi lling. Macaroon cake packed with dried
and nuts, it is not confi ned to it. The recipe de- apricots. Raspberry tea cake with a hint of
veloper and food stylist has widened the fruits- black pepper. Creamy cheesecake perfumed
in-cake concept with creative desserts that
with pureed mamey, aka sapote. Chocolate
incorporate familiar and uncommon fruits.
cake soused with port-soaked dried fi gs.
He touts a peanut butter and jelly snack
They are among 75 recipes featured in his
Arthi Subramaniam
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
debut cookbook, “Fruit Cake: Recipes for the
Curious Baker” (William Morrow; November
2020). The 38-year-old Brooklyn resident has
worked at Ron Ben-Israel Cakes in New York
City and written recipes under the Martha
Stewart brand name.
It was after he made a fruitcake for his
brother’s wedding that he decided to pay ode to
fruit cakes with a cookbook.
See Fruit/Page 2B
Tales from
a lobster fan
Store frozen tails in the freezer
until the day before you want to
Don’t get me wrong; I love lobster. cook them, then transfer them to
Still, that armed and armored sea- the fridge to thaw overnight.
spider, klaxon red and steaming on
Or, if you bought them on a whim
the platter can be frightening.
and want them now, now, now, do
Which is why some of us with
this: 90 minutes before dinner, put
more delicate sensibilities might
your frozen tails in a bowl in the
eschew serving the entire beast in
sink. Fill the bowl with cold water
favor of a simple and elegant lobster and set it beneath a slow but steady
tail. Neat and tidy and nary a whit stream of water. When the tails
scary.
thaw, you’ll be able to bend them
easily, like an articulated straw.
Fresh vs. frozen
Lobster tails mostly come frozen, How to butterfl y lobster tail
like ice cream and woolly mam-
If you’re serving your tails whole,
moths. That’s because, unlike your
you may want to butterfl y them
regular swimmy-type fi shes — your before cooking. This isn’t necessary,
anchovy, your bream, your cod —
but it makes for a swankier presen-
tation while allowing all the meat
lobsters don’t take well to being
dead. They have enzymes that begin equal access to the heat. A chef’s
breaking down muscle immediately knife is fi ne for this, but, if you have
upon their demise, giving the meat a good pair of kitchen shears, this is
a mushy, unsettling texture.
just the task for them.
On top of that, once that lobster
Start at the part of the tail that
passes, numerous bacterial freeload- used to have the rest of the lobster
ers begin multiplying like microbial attached to it. Cut straight down the
center of the top of the shell — not
rabbits and, while that may sound
adorable, it can result in some nasty the meat — all the way to the fl ip-
foodborne illnesses.
pers. Don’t cut the fl ippers.
Flash freezing solves all of these
Next, pry the two halves of the
problems by preserving the lobster shell gently apart to expose the
in its pristine, ready-to-cook state.
meat within. You can cook the tail
just like this using any method.
How to defrost lobster tail
If you want a schmancier presen-
When our lobster tails come
tation, though, try this (it’s espe-
frozen, we need to thaw them. Prop- cially nice for steaming and dry heat
erly. None of this leaving them in
methods): Peel the meat gently from
the sun all afternoon like a beached the bottom of the shell, starting at
and pokey narwhal.
the where-the-lobster-was side, leav-
James P. DeWan
The Daily Meal
Eberly Film Labs-The Daily Meal/TNS
This lobster roll recipe features a celery salt garnish, a nod to the Chicago-style hot dog.
While I generally prefer dry heat,
one advantage to moist heat is that
its temperatures tend to be lower,
which means there’s less risk of
overcooking. I like moist heat if I’m
planning to take the meat out of
the shell and use it for something
else, like lobster rolls (see accom-
panying recipe) or a nice pasta
dish.
To cook your lobster tails, both
boiling and steaming are easy:
How to cook lobster tail
Just slip them into a huge pot of
Lobster tails can be boiled or
boiling water or set them on a
steamed (called moist heat meth-
steam rack. Something to consider
ods), or baked (a.k.a. roasted),
is that, like shrimp — which are
broiled or grilled (dry heat meth-
also all tail — lobster tails tend
ods). Regardless of method, fi gure
to curl up when cooked. Thus, you
very roughly about 60 to 90 seconds might want to insert a skewer
cooking time per ounce of tail, with through the meat down the length
that ratio increasing somewhat for of the tail before cooking, although
larger pieces.
this is not generally done when
ing it attached at the fl ipper. Lift
the meat — still attached near the
fl ipper — up and out of the shell.
Push the two halves of the shell
back together and lay the meat on
top to resemble a crustacean sar-
cophagus. Finally, if you want, score
the meat down the center and open
the two thin sheets to the sides like
a theatrical curtain to reveal the
glistening translucence within.
the meat’s on top of the shell.
If you’re going with dry heat, after
you butterfl y the shell, brush the
meat with melted butter or olive
oil and season it with salt. You can
also add some fl avoring ingredi-
ents. Freshly ground black pepper
is easy and timeless. A sprinkle of
garlic powder or paprika never hurt
anyone. Or do a spice rub like Old
Bay or something Cajun-style for a
bit of heat. Remember: if your rub
contains salt, you don’t need to add it
separately.
As for baking, I prefer high heat
— say, 425 degrees F. Simply set
the butterfl ied, oiled and seasoned
lobster tails on a parchment- or
foil-covered sheet pan and bake
until done.
See Lobster/Page 3B