it’s a good thing i didn’t eat breakfast. because i just made a cake that made me remember why millions of people survived without chocolate cake for centuries. typically i’m not a huge fan of vanilla-flavored cakes; they tend to be overly dry, or have […]
sometime (again, my memory is pretty much shot) after my final review, carrie wanted to make coq au vin from the latest issue of cook’s illustrated. i offered to make dessert, and then cast about thinking of a winter dessert that would be suitable. i […]
carrie: and when we go to star, we could get –
me: pork loin!
carrie: yeah, that too…but i was thinking of ice cream.
(24 hours later)
carrie: last night i had a dream about rare meat…i think it was the pork loin.
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i am having a minor allergic reaction to the tiny bit of chocolate-hazelnut shortbread dough that i ate. hmph. well, now the shortbread is in the oven and it shall be mine. hopefully the tea i’m drinking will make the itch in my throat go away. i sweetened it with lyle’s golden syrup, which i used last sunday to make a caramel sauce. it’s one of those british things you’ll only understand when you use it. but it’s perfect for caramel sauce – it just has this kind of caramel-sweet flavor to it. it’s also the thickest liquid i’ve ever seen in my life. shake it, and it just doesn’t move at all. wonder why it’s so viscous. it’s not as good a sweetener as honey, but it does the job, and when else am i going to use it?
the story about the pork : a couple days ago i came home to find carrie scarfing down some focaccia from star. while browsing, she came upon a pork loin sale – huge pork loins for $1.99/lb. we didn’t go last night, but as of last night’s desperate-must-have-ice-cream-and-tosci’s-is-closed run, we are proud owners of a ten-pound pork loin. it was the runt of the lot, but had the best marbling and the least fat on top. we have plans for this pork loin… (more…)