City Cast Las Vegas podcast co-host Sarah Lohman is a culinary historian whose new book, "Endangered Eating: America's Vanishing Foods," is already a New York Times, Eater, and Amazon editor-recommended read. While reporting for this book, Sarah traveled all over the country — but one of her chapters takes place in our corner of the world, the Mojave Desert, where a fruit tree from the Middle East took hold and thrived: The date palm.
Podcast co-host Dayvid Figler recently interviewed Sarah about the date palm's surprising history — and as a bonus just for you, dear listeners, Sarah is sharing two of the date recipes from her book here (a City Cast exclusive!). Enjoy.
Date Nut Bread
This recipe withstands the test of time; it’s moist without being wet, beautifully spiced, and the dates and walnuts add an appealing textural contrast. It reminds me of zucchini bread, one of my favorite summer treats, baked to use up an overabundance of vegetables. Toasted and spread with a smear of cream cheese, the bread makes a hearty breakfast any time of year. Adapted from Chock Full o’Nuts.
Makes one loaf
Ingredients
- 1 cup pitted, chopped dried dates
- ¾ cup boiling water
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour (feel free to substitute up to ½ cup whole-grain flour)
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon and ¼ teaspoon nutmeg (or 1¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice)
- 1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
- 3 tablespoons butter, softened
- ¾ cup lightly packed brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
For serving: 8 ounces of cream cheese, slightly softened
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 8.5” × 4.5” loaf pan.
- Pour boiling water over the dates, stir, and let stand for 15 minutes.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and spices in a medium bowl. Stir in walnuts and set aside.
- In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until crumbly. Add eggs one at a time, then vanilla, mixing after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
- With the mixer on low, alternate adding batches of the flour mixture and the date mixture (including remaining water), half of each at a time, until combined.
- Pour batter into loaf pan and bake 45–55 minutes, until bread is almost completely firm (a few crumbs should still stick to a toothpick inserted into the loaf).
- Let bread stand for 10–15 minutes, then remove from pan and cool fully on a rack. To serve, slice bread and spread with a tablespoon or two of cream cheese.
Crispy Sautéed Dates on a Cloud of Whipped Saffron Ricotta and Focaccia
“This dish is a messy pleasure,” Rawaan Alkhatib told me. A writer and multidisciplinary artist of Palestinian and Indian descent, she is currently working on a cookbook dedicated to dates. Her recipes are pulled from all the cultures connected to dates, from the Gulf States of the Arabian Peninsula to Coachella Valley, and include some of her own innovative creations.
Here dates are fried in ghee (clarified butter), a method I remember from the 1921 Date Cook Book from the International Festival of Dates. Ghee-soaked dates, a common Ayurvedic combination, are eaten in India. Rawaan’s version pulls inspiration from Italian cuisine, presenting the fried dates on a bed of fluffy ricotta and crunchy focaccia. If you can’t obtain focaccia, try toasting up a flatbread like naan or even pizza dough, liberally drizzled with olive oil.
Serves 4 as an appetizer
Ingredients
- A generous pinch of saffron threads
- 2 tablespoons warm water
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest (about half a lemon)
- 1½ cups fresh whole-milk ricotta cheese, at room temperature
- ¼ cup ghee or olive oil
- 16 medium dates, pitted and halved (I used a combination of Blonde Beauty and Empress dates)
- A slab of fresh, crunchy, oily focaccia
- Flaky finishing salt and freshly ground black pepper
Optional:
- A healthy pinch of red chili flakes
- A drizzle of honey (I used gallberry honey, another Ark of Taste item from Florida, which was perfect—but feel free to use whatever you have on hand)
Instructions
- Steep the saffron threads in the warm water for 15–20 minutes until the liquid turns the color of the sun.
- Whisk or blend the saffron threads and their water with the lemon zest and ricotta until you have a smooth, fluffy mixture, about 30 seconds.
- Heat ghee or oil in a sauté pan over medium-low heat. Place the dates in the pan carefully (oil can pop and splash) cut side down, and cook until they start to caramelize and are just heated through, no longer than 30 seconds. Be careful—they burn easily.
- When you’re ready to serve, put the focaccia on a serving platter and spread with a thick layer of the ricotta, as though you are frosting a cake with generous abandon—an offset spatula can help here. Then, tumble the dates and their infused oil over the ricotta cloud, and sprinkle with enough flaky salt that it is unmistakably salty. Top with coarsely ground black pepper, and, if using, red pepper flakes and honey. Place within easy reach of your guests and let them tear in.
© Sarah Lohman, 2023. Excerpted with permission.
To learn more about Sarah's book, "Endangered Eating," head over to her website. Kirkus calls it a "tasty sojourn through the landscape of America’s endangered foods, served with a scoop of energy and a dash of hope."
