Vincitori e Perdenti

Vincitori

For Pasqua (Easter) I decided to make a coconut cake. I had a recipe from my grandmother, but I was not pleased with it. My results did not turn out like Grandma's: Grandma's cake = rich and moist, tastes like coconut; my coconut cake = sawdust, tastes like sawdust.

I Googled "Italian Coconut Cake, even though coconut is not indigenous to Italy. After all, coconuts could have been carried to Italy by swallows (African or European) gripping them by the husks.

My Google results took me to a web site called New Italian Recipes (hey!), to a recipe with a warning label: "Let's don't kid ourselves, this coconut cake recipe is decadent." Just what I was looking for.

The recipe calls for all kinds of cooking that involves whole-fat dairy products, sugar, eggs, and coconut. I baked the cakes, and made the syrup, the filling, and the icing, and assembled all into a teetery, slippery, sticky tower of coconutty goodness. The results were fantastic. The only thing I might do differently next time--and I can't wait to try this again--is add a liqueur to the syrup and soak the cake in it instead of just drizzle. Otherwise, it was Perfetto!


Perdenti
I roasted a leg of lamb last year, and what with the coconut cake and all, decided to go easy on myself this year, so I bought a spiral sliced Holiday Ham. A brilliant move on my part! Not so brilliant were the biscuits I made to go with the ham.


I used to be a very good biscuit maker having descended on both sides of the family from accomplished biscuit makers. However, at some point between the cake (above) and the biscuits, I forgot that the flour was not self-rising. I peeked in the oven a couple of times to check on my biscuit progress: they were baking and browning, but they were not rising. Hmmmm...I-wonder-why-oh-yeah-now-I-remember. The result there was more of a Passover biscuit, a couple of days too late. Mom to the rescue--she picked up some brown-and-serve rolls on the way over, and all was not lost.

I decided to save the Passover biscuits for the birds, and a couple of days later I entertained myself by hurling them (now like clay pigeons) into the woods. Once again, I didn't really think things through. Matt, the border collie, fetched every single biscuit back into the house. Fortunately they were too hard for him to eat, so as he would try to slink past me, hiding a biscuit the size and density of a saucer in his mouth, I would engage in a little tug of war and retrieve it from his snarling jaws.

On a happy note, I did make a more successful batch of biscuits on Sunday. "Light" and "fluffy" did not really come to mind, but they did rise, and the family did eat them. I think I will go back to self-rising flour.

San Giuseppe Day

Over a Tuscan Stove is one of the blogs I follow and link to from my own. The blog is written by Judy Witts, the self-proclaimed "DIVA" of Divina Cucina. On Wednesday she gave us a heads up that the following day, March 19, is the celebration of San Guiseppe, or Joseph, Earthly father of Christ.


In celebration of the day, Diva Judy featured Frittelle di Riso, or fried sweet rice fritters (recipe). They looked delicious-what's not to love about fried bread coated in sugar?


The Frettelle were quite good. They weren't overly sweet like a donut. The light sugar, lemon rind, and splash of liqueur gave the rice a nice flavor. Actually, I used liquor, not liqueur. Somewhere along the line we were given what I presume to be a very nice bottle of 12-year-old Scotch. No one here drinks Scotch, so I keep dipping into it for recipes. I'm sure a Scotch-lover would be horrified, but it does make nice marinades.


The picture above shows my fritelle, and the one below shows Diva Judy's, linked from her site. Her's look like beignets, and mine look like hash browns. And THAT, Signore e Signori, is why she is the Diva, and I am...well, my family loved them, so don't tell them about hers.


Judy, I swear I followed your recipe exactly, except that I halved it. I have learned that when trying something new, dont make too big a mistake. [See Potato Candy Experiment for a good example of that lesson.]

Thanks for the culture lessons, Diva Judy, and for the recipe, which I might work on and refine, or maybe I will just try another one from your site.

Neve, Vino, e Melanzana

Yesterday morning we were treated to a little snow flurry as we were leaving for work. The top pic is what it looked like as were were heading out. Yeah, I know you can't really see any snow in the the picture unless you really look hard and use some imagination, and some folks would debate whether that really even counts as "snowing," but around here, cold + anything white falling from the sky = snow. It's enough to make kids run for the old Radio Flyers in the attic and parents run for the television to check for school closings (because historically that has been enough to close school) and everyone to scurry to the grocery for milk and bread. Actually, if you saw how we collectively drive in the snow you'd agree that it's not a bad idea after all.

I really wanted to linger at home to see how VP looked in the snow. The current pic on my header is from last March--the only real snow we got in 2008. But duty called so off to work we went.

As we drove along, I-40 became a Winter Wonderland of big, fat clinging flakes that began to collect in encouraging little drifts along the bridges and overpasses. As we got to the big I-40/240 exchange (The Flyover for the locals) traffic was at a near stop, and sure enough at the top of the ramp at least one car had gone into a spin. I tell you, we just can't handle it.

We dodged the traffic and made it to work, and it wasn't even snowing in that part of town! Niente!



















Last night I opened this 2004 Chateau St. Jean cab. CSJ is not an overly impressive wine in general, and this one did not impress either. It was pretty much void of flavor, even the bad ones. No fruit, no nose, no acids, no tannins. Bummer. I may actually cook with the rest of it. Usually "cooking wine" to me means an average wine that I sip while I cook, but this one might become part of the recipe.

And, finally, H treated the family to one of our favorite dinners--his fried eggplant. He makes the Best Fried Eggplant. The eggplant slices are just the right thickness so they are not too soggy and not undercooked. The fire is just right under the pan so the olive oil is the perfect temperature for turning the breading lovely golden and flakey crisp. And he (unlike myself) has the patience and attention span to monitor each little disc so it is turned in the oil at just the right time and comes out evenly cooked, with the breading still clinging to the eggplant (not burned and sinking to the bottom of the oil). He even left the skin on one of the eggplants just for me, just the way I love them.

They are so delicious we can't help but eat them as they come out of the oil scalding hot. They get a little sprinkle of salt, or better yet a sprinkle of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. Some actually make it to the table and are paired with spaghetti and marinara (I will rave about the Brignoli marinara another time).

I have to say, I finally understood for the first time last night the very imprtant difference between Parmesean cheese and Parmigiano-Reggiano. There is just no comparison. Parmesean is kind of sweet and vinegary with not much flavor in between. Parmigiano-Reggiano has a much richer, more complex blend of flavors. You can taste the history of the cheese: the milk, the process, the aging, in a pungent crumbly blend. The texture is as pleasing as the taste.

Unfortunately, our dear Kroger in Arlington does not stock Parmigiano-Reggiano, so last night we had to settle for Regular Parmesean.

Le mie figlie (daughters) took the rest to school today for lunch. Lucky girls!

Cucina Bella e Buona

Two new additions to the decorating project this weekend: a little butter churn from a local antique store, and I finally found stands that were big enough to hold the deep bowls I've been collecting. They look so much better standing up on the shelves so the designs can be seen. Progress...

Best Secret Ingredient

At a gourmet restaurant once, we had fennel soup with a drizzel of truffle oil on the top. That soup was so good, and the truffle oil was Fabulous. Not long after that, we were in Lucchesi's Deli and they had truffle oil. And it was pricey. To be more precise, it is Truffle flavored olive oil, but close enough for me. We bought some, and that tiny, $17 bottle has lasted nearly two years. One thing you will learn about this oil is a little goes a long way.

But one teaspoon, even half a teaspoon, will change your spinach, green beans, broccoli, marinade...pretty much anything I'm convinced, into something a little more delicious. A LOT more delicious. It's the ingredient that will make people ask, "What did you put in this?" And they are asking in a nice way!

So after two years, I was almost out of truffle oil, but I got a new bottle for my birthday. Buon compleanno a me!

Egg Basket Project

My mother let me have her grandmother's little wire egg basket. It's easily over 100 years old--a clever little basket that collapses down on the eggs to hold them in place and keep them from breaking. Beyond utility and charm, it is a timeless toy. A child (or adult) can play endlessly with the basket, opening and closing, folding and unfolding, watching the woven wire bloom out and fold back in. The egg basket has withstood the test of time and generations of grandchildren working its hinges. The wire is a little misshapen, but it has not fatigued.

My Grandmother R tried to spiff it up with some white paint, and we have gotten nearly most of it off. One of these days I will try to work the rest of the paint and the rust off with a light sandpaper or wire brush.

I have it displayed with The American Woman Cookbook, another heirloom from the same (I think) great-grandmother. If you want to cook pigeon or suspend anything in aspic, this is a great reference. Googling the title provides some entertaining results. My copy looked much better when I first got it, but an Afghan Hound I had ever so briefly chewed it (hence the brevity). The spoon, if I have my history correct, belonged to my Dad's grandmother. I bought the bowl at an antique store. It is unquestionably old, but has a machined appearance.

The eggs are real. I stained them a more "farm-fresh" ecru color with a coffee/vinegar mixture. I can't stand real "farm-fresh" brown eggs, with their yucky, gamey, orange yolks. And the notion that they could be fertilized. Gag. But the brown ones give the basket a more authentic look.

After staining and rinsing, I blew the egg contents out through a tiny hole punctured in each end. My Grandma D showed me how to do that with Easter Eggs. She and I would blow out the yolks and whites which she would mix into a recipe, and we would dye the empty shells.

H was both mortified and highly entertained by the egg blowing process. It was harder to do with all the giggling and commentary, but he got either bored or grossed out by the third egg and went to watch football, so the rest were easier.

My Potato Candy Experiment

I read about potato candy yesterday. I had never heard of it, but several blogs and message board posters described it as a delicious and frighteningly sweet childhood memory, so of course I had to give it a try. The ingredients are simple: a small boiled potato, as much confectioner's sugar as necessary (which is a lot), an optional dash of vanilla, and peanut butter. I had all those ingredients at the ready, so off I went.

First of all, one small potato did not sound like enough, so I boiled three. I let the boiled potatoes sit in a strainer while I made a double-batch of Rice Crispy Candy (more familiar territory), and when I returned to them, they had become cool and very dry. So as I mashed them with the new pastry blender HP gave me, I also added back a little hot water from the Insta Hot. Then I added a little bit more, plus a dash of vanilla flavoring. The potatoes became the consistency of mashed potatoes, so I started adding in the confectioners sugar. And adding and adding. The more I added, the bigger and wetter the mixture got. How is that? Since the goal was to add enough sugar to form a dough consistency that could be rolled out, I was clearly moving in the wrong direction. Now I understand about the one potato.

I reduced my "batter" to about one fourth of what i started with and resumed adding confectioners sugar. A LOT of sugar later, the dough began to form. Cool! I started thinking maybe I could make one of those cakes with the rolled icing and --wait!--stay on task! I made one sugar dough "log," rolled it flat with reasonable ease, then layered it with peanut butter. I rolled that up jelly-roll style and left it to sit and cure.

The second one I got really creative. I had two Hershey bars stashed away, so I chopped it up very fine and added it and some chopped pecans to the peanut butter.

The thing looked like hell but it was actually pretty delicious and SWEEEEET!

What's For Dinner

Pork roast slow cooked in a whiskey and molasses marinade (plus allspice, sage, and a few chili pepper seeds). Sweet potatoes roasted with a ginger peach glaze (peach preserved and a pinch of ginger). Green beans tossed in olive oil and a little truffle oil accompanied.