I have many meals planned for the next week. Some, I might even show you! But there is one monster that I am going to tame. And that's making a cake. I have never actually made a cake from scratch, so this is going to be a bitch. And by a bitch, I mean a horrible monster who is presumably female. Because it's a cake. DUH.
This cake is not like any other. It's a rainbow cake, and beyond that, a very specific one. So that means I will do the majority of ROYGBIV in different cake forms, separating them in time with a complicated and thought-provoking (not really) buttercream frosting based off of lime meringue and some other stuff. Then, I will assemble it together and cover it with a though-provoking (not at all) blank fondant. I will add one or two things to it, but keep it mostly blank for those who show up at my party...
...Because this is a farewell cake!!!! So I want everyone who is available in my backyard at the time for my party to draw on it, except for Dodger, who has his own shit on his paws. He is only allowed to eat bits of the cake.
So, this is actually the beginning of a new blogosphere for me, as I am moving to a new place and will, over time, be able to actually write on this thing more than once a week.
:) RAINBOW CAKE PARTY DATES POSTED SOON.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
Pixie Tangerine, Key Lime (& Ginger Root) Gelato
So, Saturday was pretty special. I made my therapist cry* and I got to go mega food shopping. I also made a really awesome gelato, and that was while watching Fringe. All while thinking about handing in my resignation letter to my boss on Monday (I did!). You really can't get better than that.
*with joy!
So, this gelato. I came up with the idea on a whim because I found cheap pixie oranges and key limes at Whole Foods. And when something's cheap at Whole Foods, buy it. I decided to use the recipe for a lemon gelato base, because honestly, I was super sick of making sorbets. I created two batches. The first was just with the citrus fruits, and the second was with some grated ginger. Winner!
As you may know, key limes and pixie tangerines are tiny, so it took quite a lot to make enough juice (and to snack on in the process). And the amount of key lime or tangerine is totally up to you, based off of what tartness you want. Pixie tangerines taste more like oranges than other tangerines, I feel. So, if you want some POW, then add more key lime. And also, please keep in mind that this recipe is for those with an ice cream maker (that's you, Rebecca and Peter).
Ingredients List:
1/2 cup pixie tangerine and key lime juice (I split it evenly)
About 2 tablespoons of zest from said limes (I also added a bit of zest from the tangerines)
About 1 or 2 tablespoons of ginger zest
scant 1/2 cup of water
3/4 cup of sugar (the basic recipe asked for 1 cup, but I like my gelatos more tart. 3/4 cup was still plenty sweet)
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
Mix the water, juice, zest and sugar together until the sugar dissolves. Then add in the milk and cream and mix quickly. Pour into the gelato/ice cream maker for 40 minutes. Voila!
One thing I didn't try, but think might be really good (especially if you have some left over from the OkoleLau recipe) is to add in a bit of ginger liqueur at about 30-35 minutes.
Oh yeah, and I was drinking my friend Christina's recipe for a delicious Corona. Cover the lip with lime, then squeeze it in, then add dashes of salt to the lip. I used to hate Corona, and now me likee.
Pixie tangerines next to a regular lime so you can see how pixie-ish they are.
You've been squeezed.
Oh, mama.
*with joy!
So, this gelato. I came up with the idea on a whim because I found cheap pixie oranges and key limes at Whole Foods. And when something's cheap at Whole Foods, buy it. I decided to use the recipe for a lemon gelato base, because honestly, I was super sick of making sorbets. I created two batches. The first was just with the citrus fruits, and the second was with some grated ginger. Winner!
As you may know, key limes and pixie tangerines are tiny, so it took quite a lot to make enough juice (and to snack on in the process). And the amount of key lime or tangerine is totally up to you, based off of what tartness you want. Pixie tangerines taste more like oranges than other tangerines, I feel. So, if you want some POW, then add more key lime. And also, please keep in mind that this recipe is for those with an ice cream maker (that's you, Rebecca and Peter).
Ingredients List:
1/2 cup pixie tangerine and key lime juice (I split it evenly)
About 2 tablespoons of zest from said limes (I also added a bit of zest from the tangerines)
About 1 or 2 tablespoons of ginger zest
scant 1/2 cup of water
3/4 cup of sugar (the basic recipe asked for 1 cup, but I like my gelatos more tart. 3/4 cup was still plenty sweet)
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
Mix the water, juice, zest and sugar together until the sugar dissolves. Then add in the milk and cream and mix quickly. Pour into the gelato/ice cream maker for 40 minutes. Voila!
One thing I didn't try, but think might be really good (especially if you have some left over from the OkoleLau recipe) is to add in a bit of ginger liqueur at about 30-35 minutes.
Oh yeah, and I was drinking my friend Christina's recipe for a delicious Corona. Cover the lip with lime, then squeeze it in, then add dashes of salt to the lip. I used to hate Corona, and now me likee.
Pixie tangerines next to a regular lime so you can see how pixie-ish they are.
You've been squeezed.
Oh, mama.`OkoleLau (that's the last okina you'll see in this post)
Okie dokie, everyone! As some of you may know, I'm not a big tropical cocktail drinker. I like to keep my booze and fruit separated, but every once in a while, it can be pretty fun. And this one was super fun! My dad still insists it was the best cocktail he's ever had, and his fiance drank her portion pretty quickly too.
This cocktail is made of Okolehao, and let me give you a brief history lesson on this magical brew before I tell you the recipe. Okolehao, in the past, was a moonshine concoction made in Hawaii after the English seamen (heh, heh) came to the Islands in the 1780s. At this time, they introduced try pots, which were made to remove and render oil from whale blubber. They and the locals began using these pots to boil the roots of ti plants, creating a liquor. The try pots looked like butts, so the Hawaiians poked fun of them by naming this cup of ti "okolehao," which is Hawaiian for "iron butt." It tasted like crap, so rice and sugar and pineapple and a bunch of other stuff were added during the plantation days. For a long time, lots of families and communities would make their own versions of okolehao moonshine with other ingredients added for flavor. During World War II, bottles of it were sold to soldiers to use for drinking and fuel. Seriously. After rum and vodka and better-tasting liquors were mass introduced to Hawaii shortly after WWII, okolehao went kaput. Until now! Haleakala Distilleries now makes Okolehao, a liqueur made from fermented ti root and a bunch of other neat stuff. It's delicious, and has a pretty sublime tropical-vanilla aroma. Try it! And if you do, I recommend trying it in this recipe. I think this would make a pretty bomb loaded-fruit-punch type of thing to bring to your next luau.
I didn't measure everything, but here's the basic gist per tall, skinny glass:
A shot's worth of Okolehao liqueur
A shot's worth of a ginger liqueur
A dash of Kukui Mai Tai mix (from Koloa Rum Co... super tasty) or if you don't have that, maybe guava or lilikoi juice or something similar in sweetness
About two fingers of pineapple juice
Fill up the rest with club soda
Muddle in a slice of blood orange
Holy mole.
OkoleLau in my 2nd favorite glass. Spock is obviously my #1 favorite.
This cocktail is made of Okolehao, and let me give you a brief history lesson on this magical brew before I tell you the recipe. Okolehao, in the past, was a moonshine concoction made in Hawaii after the English seamen (heh, heh) came to the Islands in the 1780s. At this time, they introduced try pots, which were made to remove and render oil from whale blubber. They and the locals began using these pots to boil the roots of ti plants, creating a liquor. The try pots looked like butts, so the Hawaiians poked fun of them by naming this cup of ti "okolehao," which is Hawaiian for "iron butt." It tasted like crap, so rice and sugar and pineapple and a bunch of other stuff were added during the plantation days. For a long time, lots of families and communities would make their own versions of okolehao moonshine with other ingredients added for flavor. During World War II, bottles of it were sold to soldiers to use for drinking and fuel. Seriously. After rum and vodka and better-tasting liquors were mass introduced to Hawaii shortly after WWII, okolehao went kaput. Until now! Haleakala Distilleries now makes Okolehao, a liqueur made from fermented ti root and a bunch of other neat stuff. It's delicious, and has a pretty sublime tropical-vanilla aroma. Try it! And if you do, I recommend trying it in this recipe. I think this would make a pretty bomb loaded-fruit-punch type of thing to bring to your next luau.
I didn't measure everything, but here's the basic gist per tall, skinny glass:
A shot's worth of Okolehao liqueur
A shot's worth of a ginger liqueur
A dash of Kukui Mai Tai mix (from Koloa Rum Co... super tasty) or if you don't have that, maybe guava or lilikoi juice or something similar in sweetness
About two fingers of pineapple juice
Fill up the rest with club soda
Muddle in a slice of blood orange
Holy mole.
OkoleLau in my 2nd favorite glass. Spock is obviously my #1 favorite.Saturday, April 2, 2011
Huevos Rancheros Benedicts
Hi everyone! Today was a pretty big deal for me. And it's only noon! To start off, I pooped twice, which just never happens. I also poached my first eggs, which was very frustrating at first, what with the ghost eggs (I'll explain later) and all, and then I super loved it! I ended up poaching twice as many eggs as needed for this dish, and it worked out perfectly. I also made my first salsa this morning too. It was okay!
So, huevos rancheros benedicts. Perfect for brunches and with your morning Corona with lime. It's assembled like an eggs benedict, but it has an ethnic twist, if you consider Arizona "ethnic." Before I continue, I'd like to make one thing very clear. I love eggs benedicts. I love them very much. Poached eggs and hollandaise sauce? ON BREAD?! It really can't get any better than that. I don't really care for Canadian bacon, but I am a huge supporter of putting whatever the fuck you want on your eggs benedict. After all, it is yours to cherish.
To start this recipe, you have to make corn bread. I cheated and just bought a simple corn bread/muffin mix and did it that way. I don't make everything from scratch because it takes forever and I just want to eat already. So, make your corn bread. Corn muffins will do too. Corn something. Whatever works.
Then you want to start making your salsa. Put a big skillet/pan on the burner with a teaspoon of olive oil. Cut up a shallot (also a new thing for me, and I love it!) and a few cloves of garlic. Then a jalapeno pepper and either a habanero or something else. I used a Hawaiian chili pepper from my garden. They're more on the sweeter side and not too spicy. My dad says he can't eat spicy foods because he spent his childhood eating whole chili peppers and it ruined his ability to eat spicy foods forevermore. But I call bullshit. He's totally just being a wuss. So, add all this to the skillet and cook it for about 5 minutes on medium. Then add a can of crushed tomatoes and half a cup of water, bring to a boil, and then simmer it on low for a while, until it cooks and becomes the consistency of... salsa.
Then you poach your eggs. Do you get frustrated and cry a lot in the morning? If you said yes, then get a microwavable egg poacher. If you want to test yourself and already have a therapy session scheduled in the afternoon, poach your eggs in boiling water. You might even like it. The worst part for me was getting the water to boil at the right temperature. If it's not perfect, then the egg will either fall to the bottom of the pot and cook that way, which is no good. The other thing that will most definitely happen is what I like to call ghost eggs. An egg becomes a ghost when the water is boiling too rapidly and immediately starts cooking the eggs while thrashing new white threads around like the hair of a screaming banshee. The easiest way for me to get an egg poached was to boil the water rapidly, then to take the pot off of the burner and wait until the water settles a bit. Then slowly and carefully drop the egg in, then place the pot back on the burner and turn the heat to medium. Lots of work.
Also, to keep your poached eggs warm while you're making new ones, just put them in a bowl and add the hot poached egg water to it.
So, at this point, you're poaching eggs and doing the salsa and cooking corn something. The next step is the easiest. Put a pan on medium and add a can of black beans. You want the water/liquid in there. Then smush them all with a potato masher or fork or a shoe or something. You're going to want this as a paste.
That's it! Cut the corn bread into slices, smear the black bean paste on top of it, scoop your poached eggs on top (I recommend two per benedict since poached eggs lose a lot of their white stuff), then drizzle the salsa on top. Serve to your father and ask him if he can give you a ride to therapy since you worked so hard on his breakfast and really don't want to take the bus.
Editor's Note: I have plenty of awesome pictures, but left my camera USB thing at work. So you won't see them until Monday.
Bye-bye!
FINALLY! Here are the pictures.
Dodger, waiting patiently.
The beans, the beans!
Uno.
Dos.
Tres!
So, huevos rancheros benedicts. Perfect for brunches and with your morning Corona with lime. It's assembled like an eggs benedict, but it has an ethnic twist, if you consider Arizona "ethnic." Before I continue, I'd like to make one thing very clear. I love eggs benedicts. I love them very much. Poached eggs and hollandaise sauce? ON BREAD?! It really can't get any better than that. I don't really care for Canadian bacon, but I am a huge supporter of putting whatever the fuck you want on your eggs benedict. After all, it is yours to cherish.
To start this recipe, you have to make corn bread. I cheated and just bought a simple corn bread/muffin mix and did it that way. I don't make everything from scratch because it takes forever and I just want to eat already. So, make your corn bread. Corn muffins will do too. Corn something. Whatever works.
Then you want to start making your salsa. Put a big skillet/pan on the burner with a teaspoon of olive oil. Cut up a shallot (also a new thing for me, and I love it!) and a few cloves of garlic. Then a jalapeno pepper and either a habanero or something else. I used a Hawaiian chili pepper from my garden. They're more on the sweeter side and not too spicy. My dad says he can't eat spicy foods because he spent his childhood eating whole chili peppers and it ruined his ability to eat spicy foods forevermore. But I call bullshit. He's totally just being a wuss. So, add all this to the skillet and cook it for about 5 minutes on medium. Then add a can of crushed tomatoes and half a cup of water, bring to a boil, and then simmer it on low for a while, until it cooks and becomes the consistency of... salsa.
Then you poach your eggs. Do you get frustrated and cry a lot in the morning? If you said yes, then get a microwavable egg poacher. If you want to test yourself and already have a therapy session scheduled in the afternoon, poach your eggs in boiling water. You might even like it. The worst part for me was getting the water to boil at the right temperature. If it's not perfect, then the egg will either fall to the bottom of the pot and cook that way, which is no good. The other thing that will most definitely happen is what I like to call ghost eggs. An egg becomes a ghost when the water is boiling too rapidly and immediately starts cooking the eggs while thrashing new white threads around like the hair of a screaming banshee. The easiest way for me to get an egg poached was to boil the water rapidly, then to take the pot off of the burner and wait until the water settles a bit. Then slowly and carefully drop the egg in, then place the pot back on the burner and turn the heat to medium. Lots of work.
Also, to keep your poached eggs warm while you're making new ones, just put them in a bowl and add the hot poached egg water to it.
So, at this point, you're poaching eggs and doing the salsa and cooking corn something. The next step is the easiest. Put a pan on medium and add a can of black beans. You want the water/liquid in there. Then smush them all with a potato masher or fork or a shoe or something. You're going to want this as a paste.
That's it! Cut the corn bread into slices, smear the black bean paste on top of it, scoop your poached eggs on top (I recommend two per benedict since poached eggs lose a lot of their white stuff), then drizzle the salsa on top. Serve to your father and ask him if he can give you a ride to therapy since you worked so hard on his breakfast and really don't want to take the bus.
Editor's Note: I have plenty of awesome pictures, but left my camera USB thing at work. So you won't see them until Monday.
Bye-bye!
FINALLY! Here are the pictures.
Dodger, waiting patiently.
The beans, the beans!
Uno.
Dos.
Tres!
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