willow

Hi Matthew-- I sent you a post earlier today--several hours ago--with the recipe for the Plum Torte but I don't see it posted. It seemed to go through so I'm hoping that somehow it was just sent directly to you. I'm not a regular egullet responder but have posted replies before--and the thought of re-typing the recipe...! Anyway, let me know.. Best, Willow

Hey Matthew-- Re your question to Paula concerning "New Age Plum Torte": This is a Marion Burros low-fat variation of "The Original Plum Torte" which Marion pulbished in the NYTimes several years ago. As I remember, she subsituted applesauce or some other faux fat for the butter: at any rate, it didn't fly and the next year she was back to publishing the original. Although Marion certainly brought it to national attention, in one of her books she attributes Lois Levine, a one-time collaborator, as the originator of the recipe. In any event it is indeed now a beloved classic--and a sterling example of how a few simple ingredients can morph into something simply wonderful. Possibly because it's a recipe I am always misplacing myself (!) , I included it in "The Best American Recipes 2000" (Houghton Mifflin) as follows: 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened 3/4 cup plus 1-2 tablespoons sugar to taste 1 cup unbleched all-purpose flour, sifted 1 teaspoon baking powder Pinch of salt 2 large eggs 12 Italian prune plums, halved and pitted 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, or more to taste vanilla ice cream, for serving Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place a rack at the lower level. In medium bowl, cream the butter with 3/4 cup sugar. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and eggs and beat to mix. Spoon the batter into an ungreased 9-or 10-inch springform pan. Cover the top of the batter with the plums, skin side down. In a small bowl, mix the cinnamon with the remaining 1 to 2 tablespoons of sugar and sprinkle over the top. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove form the oven and let cool; refrigerate or freeze, if desired. To serve, let the torte come to room temperature, then reheat at 300 degrees until warm, if desired. Serve with vanilla ice cream. Note: Although this is the recipe as orignally written, I actually use bleached, all-purpose flour now (a lighter result in baking, I've found) and usually use regular old everday purple or red plums, which in the last couple of years have been consistently better than prune plums (at least in my neck of the woods:NYC). And often creme fraiche--or nothing!--instead of ice cream. But you'll find your own variations; hope it becomes a favorite for you, as well. Best, Suzanne Hamlin 3/4 cup

Good morning from hot and steamy New York City, from a Brooklyn back yard. After what seemed to be 40 days and 40 nights of continual rain, this week's heat and sun seem dowright thrilling; and a chance to get back to the ceramic cooker. It's interesting to read the comments on Kamado cookers--and to know that there is both interest and ownership out there--despite their expense and weight. Both as a food writer and as a backyard cooker, I've been trying out ceramic cookers for several years now , and I'll briefly pass along some thoughts: The Big Green Egg, with its wonderful name and fetching looks, has become the iconic ceramic cooker. It's been around the longest and is relatively widely available.They're made in Mexico, and they're just fine but now have some serious competition (see below). . The Kamado cookers, the dramatically tiled ones that could have belonged to one of Saddam Hussein's boys, are relatively new but , possibly because of their looks, have become fairly high profile. The distributor is on the West Coast. I have never owned one but have two friends who do; they were initailly please but not so happy when the exterior tiles started to fall off and/or crack. Primo Grills, a couple of years old company in Atlanta, make a range of ceramic grill sizes--most in the familiar egg shape--including the newest, the Primo Oval grill, which has a larger cooking capacity than any other ceramic grills on the market, and is extremely handsome: it's a dark black-green with a dimpled enamel exterior; it could be a giant Haas avocado. (see www.primogrill.com). It is also literally thrilling to use. All ceramic grills are great; once you've used one you'll never go back to anything else. Because of the ceramic interior, their tight seals and their high heat (up to 700 degrees) capapcity, both the moisture and flavor of any food is intensified. Succulent is too mild a word to use for the reults. (They also keep a steady heat, even a very low heat, for long periods of time and are incredibly fuel efficient.) But the Primo, produced in this country, is made of finer and heavier ceramic than the others. Price wise, Primos are about the same as the other ceramic cookers none of which , at $600 to $800 plus shipping, is a casual purchase. I've had a Primo Oval grill for about four months and it has changed my cooking life. It's also a continual learning experience; although Steve Raichlen's books offer some guidelines, a worthy ceramic grill cookbooks has yet to be published. If anyone has questions about ceramic grills, based on what I've figured out so far, I'd be happy to answer here. And if you want to buy one, please see once in action before you do--either via a friend or at a dealer's. They're really heavy--about 190 pounds--and big. It's not something you can easily return. (although, if your experience is like mine, you wouldn't give it up for anything).