What Did You Eat?

The Daring Bakers: My Mirror Cake Follies

Well, it that time of the month when I summon my courage and meet the Daring Bakers Challenge.  I'm new to the group, having only done the infamous Martha Stewart Crepe Cake, and Real Jewish Bagels.  This time the amazing Peabody challenged us to make a mirror cake. I've never seen a mirror cake before, never knew there was such a thing.  So, this promised to be quite interesting.  After looking at the recipe. I saw that I would be making cake layers, then combining them with bavarian cream to make a molded structure topped by a shiny gelatin layer.  It seemed like I could manage it, I told myself.  And there it was--my fatal mistake. Somewhere, the baking gods, pastry division, decided to teach me a lesson.  They'd remind Sher that she has very little knowledge or experience with preparing non-yeast baked goods. 

And here is a summary of my three days in baking hell, or How I Learned That I Am A Hapless Fool When Making Mirror Cakes. 

WHB: Zucchini, Tomato, And Basil Couscous Salad

For the last three days, there hasn't been much time, or inclination, for me to cook anything complicated for dinner.  I've been occupied with trying to make a special recipe (and stumbling quite a bit, as I attempt it). But, that will all be revealed on Monday.  On Friday I made one of my "go-to meals," a reliable recipe that we love to eat, is simple to prepare, and usually provides enough left-overs for another day.  It's a recipe that most of you have surely prepared at one time or another--Couscous Salad.  Here is my version, which changes according to what I have in my crisper.  I needed to use up some zucchini, a remnant of yellow pepper, scallions and some basil, before they outlived their usefulness.  Along with those ingredients, I added fresh chopped tomatoes, and feta cheese.   Although this is an extremely simple recipe, it always pleases us when we eat it.  It gets better and better as it sits, and is ideal for picnics and potlucks. 

I used basil, but you can subsititute any herb in this recipe.  The basil makes the salad taste like summer to me, perfect with fresh picked tomatoes.  We enjoyed the leftovers today, along with salmon burgers.  I submit this recipe to Weekend Herb Blogging, which is being hosted by the very cool Anna at Anna's Cool Finds.  She will be corral all the herby bloggers at her site, so head over there and check it out! 

WCB: Musings

So, I'm diabetic, and forced to lose weight.  I only get a tiny amount of dry food each day...and I'm starving.   That makes me reflect on the fact that certain people, who usually write this blog, make recipes and write about them---with pictures of the food.  Do you think that person is starving herself??  NO!  In fact she's been cooking some sort of high calorie, special thing for Monday (and muttering all kinds of vile language because it isn't going well).  She can be very foul mouthed.

Here's what I think about the diet.  How am I supposed to keep my street cred?  Cats avoid this yard because they take one look at me and run away--because of my size. I would never fight, because it would mess up my hair or I might break a nail. But, they don't know that.  If I lose weight, I'm going to lose my advantage (and wind up someone's bitch). 

And worst of all................

Presto Pasta Night: Fusilli With Low Fat Creamy Pesto

I love pesto, in all its forms, including basil, cilantro, and roasted tomato.  But, it can be high in calories, oozing olive oil and loaded with nuts and cheese. Of course, all those ingredients give pesto its delicious taste. I'm trying to reduce my calories (not all the time, but more often than not). And this recipe for a low fat pesto seemed like a good experiment.  Traditional pesto can contain 28 grams of fat and 270 calories in 1/4 cup, and that's before it's paired with pasta or bread.  This recipe contains 160 calories per 1/4 cup and 10 grams of fat.  But, the question was whether it would have the same wonderful flavor of full fat pesto.  This recipe calls for just two tablespoons of olive oil and 1/4 cup of part skim milk ricotta. There are no nuts, but parmesan is still there, in reduced amounts.  I was a little skeptical when I started making the pesto, but happily, it has a very good taste. While not as intense as regular pesto, it has a delicious flavor of basil, with a light creamy texture.  This won't completely replace regular pesto, but I will make this again.  Besides pasta, it would be very good used as a spread on sandwiches or with fish. 

WHB: Steal Your Heart Cheese And Nut Loaf

My cousin Debbie is a great cook, but being hampered by a tiny kitchen, she doesn't cook that often.  So, I was intrigued when she called me last year, asking if I had Deborah Madison's recipe for Cheese and Nut Loaf.  There was a note of desperation in her voice, which is unusual.  She had just returned from the Tassajara Zen Mountain Retreat and one of the meals featured the loaf, (actually a terrine).   As I listened to her rave about how delicious it was, and how she HAD TO HAVE IT AGAIN, I started to crave it myself.  I knew it must be a fabulous dish, if she was going cook it in her postage stamp sized kitchen. So, I promised myself that I would prepare the loaf someday.  But I never did, until now. Yesterday I made it, even though it meant I had to turn on the oven and bake something, which breaks my summertime rule to never cook anything for longer than 20 minutes.  Sometimes you have to turn on the oven.

WCB: Not This Place Again!

Back to the vet. Even though she's pretty and really nice to me, I hate going to the vet.  I was assaulted again, with a thermometer. Why can't they stick it in my ear?  I mean, really! 

It's official, I'm diabetic.  I have to lose even more weight.  I'm allowed only 3/4 cup cat food each day--which is INSANE!  I will probably die of starvation.  Someone call animal control because this borders on abuse.  And I have to take a pill twice a day to make my pancreas work better. What the hell is a pancreas anyway?   As far as I'm concerned, this stinks!

I know that Kashim and Othello at Paulchen's Foodblog are not being treated this way. They have a wonderful life and are hosting Weekend Cat Blogging.  Check them out!

Presto Pasta Night: Spaghetti "Aio E Oio" With Fresh Tomatoes And Basil

This photo might look quite similar to some of the pasta dishes I've made recently--but I swear this one has it's own taste, different from its predecessors.  It sums up perfectly what I look for in a pasta recipe, during the hot days of summer, here in the Central Valley.  I want a dish that's easy to prepare, with as little cooking required as possible, but the taste shouldn't be compromised in a quest for simplicity. And I want to use some of the tomatoes that are piling up from my garden.  Otherwise, I'll use them for one tomato sandwich after another, winding up face down in a gutter with tomatoes, bread, and a mayonnaise jar clutched in my hands.  I'm in a 12 Step Program for Tomato Sandwich Addicts, so I know of from where I speak.

WHB: Eggplant and Goat-Cheese Sandwiches with Tomato Tarragon Sauce

As soon as I made this dish, I looked at the end result and thought, "It's a Whoopie Pie!"   As I dearly adore them, this added to the pleasure of eating this dish, so I'll always think of this as eggplant Whoopie Pie.  I enjoyed this recipe, as did my husband. However, he said that it reminded him of a souffle, and he's not crazy about them. So, he liked it, but it wasn't substantial enough for him. I loved it (I like souffles).  This was very quick to make. In fact, have everything ready because once you start cooking, it all goes like the wind. 

The dish has great contrasting tastes of sweet tomato sauce, crunchy panko crust, soft eggplant and creamy goat cheese.  The tomato sauce has the surprise seasoning of tarragon, rather than the expected sweet basil.   It adds a sweet anise flavor that makes the dish distinctive. Of course, you could substitute the basil, but I will always make this with the tarragon.  I offer this wonderful recipe for Weekend Herb Blogging, which was created by the amazing Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen.  This week WHB is being hosted by one of my favorite bloggers, Susan at Food Blogga. Go to her excellent site and see the Roundup of herby recipes by bloggers around the world.

WCB: Mr. Escape Artist

It's me Sundance.  I made a great discovery this week: I don't have to get permission to go outside! All I have to do is wait until I see an opening when mom opens the door, and I rush outside!  It works! I used to think I needed permission, so I would look at mom whenever she opened the door, to see if I was allowed outside. And of course, I never was!  So, now I just barrel outside, and mom chases me and brings me in.  I ran out into the backyard today, but the kids next door made a bad noise and I immediately ran inside. Oh well.   It was great for about 15 seconds.  Next time.

I came in and mom lectured me, which sounded like this, "Blah, blah, blah."   Then she put the Williams-Sonoma ribbon on me and laughed and laughed. Yeah, laugh it up lady, next time you open the door, I'm outta here.

Weekend Cat Blogging is being hosted by Dragonheart this weekend at Dragonheart's Domain.  Go see all the other blogging kitties there.  Ciao!

8 Things About Me

Here's a picture of the tasty chicken stir-fry I made two nights ago.  I make this kind of meal quite often to use up the vegetable odds and ends that would otherwise go to waste in my crisper.  In this case, it was a handful of bean sprouts, 3 mushroom caps, one baby bok choy, and red bell and poblano pepper fragments.   But, it's more than just avoiding waste.  I feel guilty when I throw food away before it's had a chance to be made into a dish. It's my belief that the food didn't have a chance to fulfill it's culinary destiny, and like some Disney movie plot, feels anguish because of that.  And so, now you know this very silly thing about me, which is perfect because three lovely bloggers, Candy at Eat Here Get Gas, Meghan at A Craving For Perfection and Eunice at Lemon Almond, tagged me for an 8 Things You Didn't know About Me meme.  Stop by their blogs and check them out.   Now, if you want to learn more absurd things about me, read on.

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