We had an open house this morning, inviting neighbors to see our new kitchen and to have coffee and doughnuts. This is our January Saturday morning tradition, but we had one out of season because everyone in the neighborhood knew we were having work done, and asked us periodically if it was ever going to be finished. (My next posting will be a comparison of the old and new kitchens).
Jim bought a few dozen doughnuts from a neighborhood bakery, and I got up early and made scones and coffee cake.
The Orange-Currant scone recipe is from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook. I've tried it once before and I found the dough too stiff to work with. This time I added a little more cream, and the dough was fine--it fact it was so easy to roll out that I got carried away and rolled them out way too thin. Instead of nice, plump scones, I had scones that looked like they'd been flattened--Road Kill Scones.
Because it was a celebration, we had mimosas in addition to our regular pots of coffee and tea. Maybe because of the champagne, nobody seemed to mind the state of the scones. I don't know why I keep trying to master these Zuni scones, when Rose's recipe for scones is the best I've ever had. Just stubbornness, I guess. The cookbook author says her customers love them, so I want to love them too.
I wanted to bake one other breakfast treat, but since time was getting short, I decided to bake the mini coffee cakes from The Best Quick Recipe. These ended up looking like little derbies.
I wish I could say that I deliberately made these derby-shaped coffee cakes in honor of Kentucky Derby Day, but that would be a lie. These are easy to whip up--half of the sour cream coffee cake batter in 12 muffin cups, a layer of streusel, the rest of the batter on top.
Jim invited his sister Betty over for dinner and to see the kitchen (as long as it was clean anyway), so as soon as our first guests left, I started cooking dinner. The weather has been cool, rainy, and windy, so comfort food sounded better than something spring-like. I made an excellent red-wine pot roast with porcini from epicurious. I followed the recipe exactly, except that I used a three-pound chuck roast instead of four pounds of meet. Three pounds still gave us a whole refrigerator full of leftovers. Then we had mashed potatoes, with the rest of the sour cream from the coffee cakes, and pan-roasted asparagus.
I had just found my kitchen blow torch when I was putting things back in the kitchen, and it reminded me how much fun it is to make creme brulee. I made a basic recipe from Mark Bittman's cookbook, How to Cook Everything. I screwed these up because I was in a hurry, and I'd made them before, so I didn't bother to read the recipe carefully--just scalded the cream, whisked the egg yolks and sugar together, and added the cream. Then I realized that I was supposed to save half the sugar to make the brulee. You know what? There is no way to get sugar that's already been mixed into an egg-and-cream mixture out of the mixture. I tasted it. Very, very, sweet. I toyed with the idea of adding another six egg yolks and another 2 and a half cups of cream and making enough creme brulee to feed everyone on my block, but I rejected the idea, and decided I just wouldn't put much sugar on top. So I put the little pots in a water bath, added the pan to the oven (where the pot roast was simmering away), and went to change my clothes. On the way up the stairs, I remembered I'd never added the vanilla because I'd been so occupied in fretting about the sugar. I came back downstairs, added 1/8 teaspoon to each of the brulees, stirred it up, and left the kitchen. Quite miraculously, I didn't burn my hand.
Actually, everything turned out fine. The brulees were a little sweet, but not compared to, say, a Hostess Twinkie. Betty claimed they were wonderful, but she eats mostly Lean Cuisine, so I don't trust her compliments.
A side benefit: the oven was on most of the day, making my kitchen warmer than it's been in weeks. Coincidentally or not, my starter was more active than it's been since I began. I don't think it's quite ready to support a loaf of bread, but it's close. Thanks for all the hints: whether it was stirring it more vigorously, adding rye flour, warming the kitchen, or whispering sweet nothings to the starter, it responded to something. I'm hoping for sourdough bread next weekend.
6 comments:
Oh, what a wonderful blog entry! I laugh so hard reading your pieces! You're so honest.... and funny... such a great writer! I love your blog!
I want to tell you what a delight it is to come to your blog and find there's a new entry, especially a long one! It's an "Oh Goodie!" moment.
And then how wonderful it is to see the beautiful food, feel like I am there, and laugh out loud with you. Sometimes you lift me right out of some problem or mess that I am fixating on! Funny isn't it how my mess is not funny and your mess is! Clearly, I need your sense of humor!
I'm so relieved (and I must admit, a bit happy} to know there's someone else in the world who screws up a recipe because they've done it enough times to think they don't need to follow the recipe carefully!! .. and distraction and haste, I know them well too! They almost always all come together for me.
I loved it when you looked at what you'd done and considered the reality of not being able to reverse it! I've scooped out ingredients on ocassion, trying to undo, and totally messing up proportions. But with sugar and liquids, it's just oops.
As for the scones, don't they look like big cookies?...scone cookies? Perhaps you've invented something new. Scones you don't need to split open. (like muffin tops, scone tops}
Really looking forward to your Kitchen Comparison,
Marissa
PS I wonder if your starter fed on all that great kitchen energy for an extra boost!
Love the recipe faux pas! I do that kind of stuff all the time.
I actually like the look of your flatish scones.
Glad your starter is looking better.
I remember putting a cake in the oven and suddenly realizing I had forgot to put a crucial ingredient like vanilla or baking powder and quickly emptying the contents back into the bowl mixing in the forgotten ingredient and returning it back to the pan. It always happens when company's coming!
Lol. Kitchen disasters happen all the time. Last week I was making a pizza for dinner after work. It wasn't until I'd added the toppings that I realized I hadn't put cornmeal on the peel. The pizza was stuck fast. I ended up turning it into a darn big calzone and scraping it onto a baking sheet, but it tasted fine.
Marissa,
Scone tops or scone cookies--that does sound better than roadkill scones, doesn't it? Believe me, I am not always laughing at the time of my misadventures, but after a few hours have gone by, and after a glass of wine, it becomes easier to see the humor.
Melinda,
The starter is finally in the refrigerator, and I'll just feed it a few more times until I start my very first sourdough bread with my very own starter.
Doughadear and Chubbypanda,
There is obviously a book waiting to be written on kitchen disasters. Or is it a disaster if it gets righted?
Title suggestion of the book:
'Risk Assessment Cooking'
the near disasters- what could go wrong, you can forget and rescue at the last possible minute and how to know when all is lost.
Perhaps it is too long a title? I think it is catchy in a way!
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