Nice dinner

We’re re-doing our meal plan and adding different, healthy meals. The other night, the SO cooked to recipes for the first time in years. We had brown rice, microwaved salmon with herbs, and mashed acorn squash. Everything was delicious. It was even ready more or less at the same time, which always seems like the tricky part to me.

As part of this change, I’m having healthy breakfasts instead of just skipping them.

Dragon cake

This looks too pretty to eat.

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At a guess, it uses a lot of the structural-strength icing that’s a “secret” of famous bakers. I think it’s called “royal icing”. There are more images here.

White Fruit Cake

For a 2.5 pound cake use one of these, filled to about 2.5 inches:

• An 8″ ring mold.  Line the bottom with a ring of greased waxed paper and place an ungreased strip around the side.
• A 4.5″ x 8.5″ loaf pan. Line with parchment paper or waxed paper for easy lifting of the cake.

Fruit cakes in general:

• Ingredients should be about room temperature. Liquids should be about 75 F. Butter to be creamed should be about 70 F.
• Dip knife or scissors in water when cutting up dried fruits.
• Add sugar gradually while creaming.
• If adding egg yolks and whites separately:
  • Add beaten egg yolk gradually or add yolks whole and beat thoroughly.
  • Beat egg whites just before adding until they are stiff but not dry. Fold & cut them in gently but quickly.
• Add sifted dry ingredients and the liquids alternately, starting with dry, in about three lots each.
• Blend gently after flour is added, so as not to develop the gluten, but continue blending until flour is no longer dry (about 2 minutes medium speed on a blender or 200 strokes if hand-mixing for a double-acting baking powder or about 80 seconds/120 for single-action).

Preparation:

Cut up and set aside  4 cups of nuts and fruits, e.g. for ordinary fruit cake,

• 1.5 cups pecans or hickory nuts
• 1.5 cups white raisins
• 1.5 cups seeded and chopped preserved kumquats or cherries

Work steps:

1.   You need  4 cups of chopped nuts and fruits. For white fruit cake, use

• • 1 cup chopped nut meats, e.g. blanched, slivered almonds
  • 1/2 cup finely sliced citron, candied orange/lemon peel
  • 1 cup white raisins
  • 1/4 cup chopped candied pineapple
  • 1/4 cup chopped candied cherries
  • 1/2 cup shredded coconut

2.      Sift, then measure 4 cups all-purpose flour.

3.      Reserve 1/2 cup flour. Mix it with the nuts and fruits.

4.      Re-sift the remaining 3.5 cup of flour with

• • 1 tsp. double-acting baking powder
  • 2/2 tsp. salt

5.      Cream until light, 3/4 cup butter.

6.      Then cream it with 2 cups sugar.

7.      Beat in, one at a time, 5 eggs.

8.      Add 1 tsp. vanilla and continue to beat until light.

9.      Stir the flour mixture into the butter/sugar/egg mixture and beat until thoroughly mixed.

10.   Fold in the floured nuts and fruit.

11.   Bake in a pre-heated oven for about 1 hour. Grease only the bottoms of pans, not the sides.

12.   Cool fruit cakes on a rack for 20 – 30 minutes while still in the pan. Then lift them out and let cool in the foil or parchment until entirely cool.

13.   Optional: glaze with light sugar syrup and decorate with nut meats and candied fruit

To store, wrap in brandy-soaked linens and then in aluminum foil and place in a tightly covered container in a cool place.

Cute food overload!

This is called “Orange Squee.”

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Base cuisine: chicken meals

First, roast your chicken. Then take the meat off the bones and start to make chicken soup.

I’ve taken the rest of the meat off the bones and am simmering bones, skin, fat, and gristle in a large pot with water and a pinch of salt and a dollop of vinegar to help leach the calcium out of the bones. It’s keeping the kitchen humidified. Later, the pot will go into the ‘fridge to cool; then I’ll remove the fat and re-heat the rest, then strain out the solid material and I’ll have a nice chicken stock. To make my favourite chicken soup, I’ll throw in a can of diced tomatoes, a cup or so of rice, and the chopped chicken meat and cook it until the rice is done.

While the soup stock is simmering, you can relax and enjoy a chicken sandwich. I use whole wheat bread and about four ounces of chicken. Some people add butter, mayonnaise, mustard, or the like.

Gelato critters

These are just too pretty to eat.

(See more My Food Looks Funny.)