Happy Birthday, Suzanne!

Suzanne and Michael come back from Venice and Florence tonight, having celebrated her birthday 5 days ago at Carnivale in Venice. Joel explains that "carnevale" signals the advent of Lent with its translation of "meat farewell." This cake is definitely not for mardi gras, there being no gras in it. The meringue and cake bake in pans together. The cake layer consists of 1 c. eggbeaters, 1/2 c. sugar, 1 t. vanilla and 6 oz. roasted almond oil, mixed. This is in lieu of Joy's "Cream Merinque Tart Cockaigne"'s butter, egg yolks, and cream. Mix in the recipe's 1 c. cake flour, 1 t. baking powder and 1/4 t. salt. Line the pan and pour this in. Whip 1 c. eggwhite, then add gradually 1 c. sugar and 1 t. vanilla. Whip some more, then spread this on top of the cake batter. I had to use my fingers to do this. Sprinkle roasted slivered almonds on top of one layer and bake both for 40 min. If you ignore the distinct possibility that the meringue will rise and forget to allow ample separation between your oven racks, you can let the pans sit there, glued to the rack above, after the cake is cooked, with the door open, and let the meringues deflate. Not ideal. Meanwhile, in the blender chunk up 2 oz. unsweetened chocolate with 1/4 - 1/2 c. sugar. While running the blender, pour in 3/8 c very hot milk and 1/2 t vanilla, and 1/8 t. salt. Let it cool in the frig.

To assemble the cake, take the layer without the almonds and place it, meringue side down, on the cake platter. Then spread the cooled chocolate mixture on top. Then add the second layer, almonds up. Happy Birthday, Suzanne!

Crockpot privileges

Nice thing about the crockpot that I've enjoyed this winter: putting dishtowels on top to speed it up a bit, and then using the warm towels to dry my hands.

Fried Crucifers

I just tried this fabulous recipe for fried brussels sprouts from 101 cookbooks.   

Golden-crusted, she calls them, but we know she means fried.  Mmm.  

 I have been on serious a brussels sprout kick lately.  I suppose there are worse things to be enthused about, though.  I have also been on a serious blogging kick lately.  Turns out when the husband is away, I do crazy things!!  ...like cook brussels sprouts and then blog about them.

He leaves big pants to fill.  With cats.

I changed the recipe enough that I think it merits re-typing, so:


Fried Crucifers
Stem and then slice ~1/3 lb brussels sprouts in half, vertically.
Break ~1/3 head cauliflower into florets.  Slice the larger florets in half, vertically.
Heat ~1T EVOO in your largest skillet over medium heat.
Meanwhile, pour some other EVOO into a bowl.
Dip the veggies, cut side down (or just dunk the whole thing for the small cauli. florets), into the EVOO.
Once your pan is hot, place the veggies, cut side down, into it.  Make sure that each cut vegetable surface is in contact with the hot pan.
Sprinkle with salt.
Cover the pan and let cook for 5 minutes.
Remove the lid and check to see if the bottoms are golden brown (you can see it on the edges w/o moving the veggies). If they're not, allow the vegs to cook until they are. If/once they are, stir them around a little to lightly fry the other surfaces and then remove the pan from the heat.
Sprinkle with black pepper and grated parm.
Serve immediately.

Note: plan to serve this on a night when you're cooking for 1-3 people.  Because all of the veggies need to be in contact with the pan, you can only make so much of it at once, unless you're willing to wrangle multiple pans.  Furthermore, Heidi (101 cookbooks author) comments that they're best when eaten immediately, so you don't want one batch sitting around while the rest cook.

Update: I made this last night with brussels sprouts only.  It's way better when you have cauliflower in the mix, too!