Mayonnaise Miracle

I've been making cakes a while now and in the past have found no problem just using box cake mix - whatever's on sale. The Wilton cake decorating classes got me started in that direction. After my foray into giant stacked cakes and comparing all three brands I decided that Betty Crocker and Pillsbury seem to make a moister cake than Duncan Hines so I've been sticking to those.

Well, I've got a large cake project and decided that c'mon, I really should make a scratch cake that's worthy of a special occasion. Pink Cake Box referred to Rose Levy Beranbaum's Cake Bible. Her scientific approach to cake baking is right up my alley. So I bought the book and went about comparing different recipes. I've been using a scale for my measurements. It's way scientific.

First I made the vanilla cake that the book Confetti Cakes recommends for sculpted cakes. It calls for half cake flour and half all-purpose flour. I used all egg whites. The cake was dry and, because of the all purpose flour, had a bit more of a coarse crumb than I wanted. Oddly enough I found it moistened up after a day under wrap with syrup.

Then I made a white cake from a Betty Crocker French Vanilla mix. It came out dry too. Cake mixes never fail for me! After looking into the reasons I determined that it was because I substituted equal weight of egg whites for the whole eggs it called for. The box directions did call for whole eggs after all.

After that I turned to ... The Cake Bible. No failure was conceivable - it's a standard in the baking world, and I used a scale - not my housewifely measuring cups. I followed the recipe for white velvet butter cake to the letter. All my ingredients were room temperature, butter softened to perfection. I believe there was Mozart playing in the background. I kept an eye on the time and pulled it out of the oven at the exact moment when the toothpick was crumbless. The result -DRY!!! Huh? At this point I thought it had to be my oven and ran out and got an oven thermometer. The temp was perfect.

My scientific mind leapt into action. I Googled "why is my cake dry". The answers I found included information about egg yolks vs. whites and included the fact that yolks help keep a cake moist because of their fat and the fact that they help emulsify. There was also a tip that said to add a tablespoon of vinegar. One person answered a dry cake inquiry with a suggestion to add 1/4 mayonnaise to any cake recipe. She noted that it was necessary keep this practice a deep dark secret from her family. There apparently was some 'splainin' to do when she was caught by her husband adding the mayo to her cake batter. Mayonnaise has vinegar, oil, and egg yolks - everything that could really add moisture to a cake. It sounded perfect.

Cake #4 was a Betty Crocker White cake mix with 1/4 cup mayonnaise added to it. It came out perfectly moist and delicious. Yay! I'm about to be scientific again and resist the urge to make a completely different cake recipe. I'll try Rose's white velvet butter cake and see if 1/4 cup mayonnaise is actually a miracle.

Perfect for a Snowy Big Bear Afternoon

I stocked up before I holed up in my isolated mountain cabin. OK it's in a resort area with lots of neighbors. It feels isolated when the snow is coming down and building up. One thing I knew would hit the spot would be my mom's clam chowder. We had a few snowy days back in Bellevue and she'd make cheese crackers to go with the chowder. I remember my grandpa bringing home some freshly dug clams once. That didn't turn out too well...

Here's the recipe I made just for me:

1 potato
1/2 onion
3 slices of bacon (I used center cut)
1 can of clams
1/2 cup milk

Dice bacon and cook until crispy. Drain bacon pieces and reserve a teaspoon (or two) to cook onions.




Dice onions and cook in reserved bacon drippings.




I take them from the pan but you can just leave them in with the potatoes while they cook. Peel and chop potatoes. Cover with water in saucepan and cook until tender.



Add milk. I suppose you could use cream or make a roux to thicken it but mom's was thin and it has fewer calories so that's good. Add the clams and heat until just bubbly around edges. Stir in onions and bacon before serving.

Quest for the Ultimate Pastor
I'm experimenting again. I love pastor and have made it only once. It was definitely a learning experience because I needed to figure out where to find the

chiles I was not familiar with, like guajillo and pasilla. Not only did I need to find them I needed lessons on what they actually were. Alton Brown, and others, showed how one chile can have 3 names depending on whether it is fresh, dried or smoked. Here's a link to a great site that helped me figure it out, Cook's Thesaurus

The recipe I had used before called for guajillo chiles, and pasillas which I was able to find. They were then soaked and the pork was marinated. It was from the LA Times and fairly involved. It turned out good but not as fantastic as I'd hoped.

Last weekend I made another attempt. Now, I'm not really aiming for the ultimate authentic version. According to the purists I'd need a spit and a taco truck for that. I wound up at a local Von's without much time so I went with what they had - no guajillo, no pasillas - they didn't even carry the dried spices anymore. They didn't even have the little cans of chipotle in adobo I needed. OK so here's a sort of Sandra Lee version of Pastor using, of all things, Taco Seasoning Mix! They had a hot version so I used that. I started with the epicurious recipe and veered way off due to ingredient issues:

Here's what was declared "Very Tasty" by my significant other who's not prone to compliments and has definite opinions about his Mexican food.

1 large white onion, halved
1 16 oz can sliced pineapple
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup italian dressing
2 TB hot taco seasoning :)
3 garlic cloves, halved
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 2 1/2-to 3-pound pork sholder cut into 1/2-inch slices - (don't cut all the way through)
1 large or 2 small chipotle chiles and 1 to 2 teaspoons adobo from canned chipotle chiles in adobo
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Corn tortillas
Put the pineapple slices between the slices of pork. Slice 1 onion half. Add orange juice and next 5 ingredients. Place pork in large resealable plastic bag with onions. Add marinade and seal bag, releasing excess air. Turn to coat. Chill 1 hour. Remember I was short on time. 4 hours or a day would have been better.

Cook in crock pot for 2 hours then 300 degree oven (covered) for 1 1/2. Take the fat off the top of the sauce formed while cooking and add the chipotle and adobo (that your significant other has brought from Ralph's in time to add it after the cooking has taken place). Cook the sauce down until it becomes thick enough to brush onto meat. I added some honey at this point, maybe a tablespoon.

Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Grill pork with some sauce until slightly charred 2 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer pineapple and pork to work surface; chop remaining pineapple into 1/2-inch cubes, Chop pork. Transfer to platter; toss to combine with more of the sauce.
Meanwhile, finely chop remaining onion half and place in medium bowl. Add cilantro; toss to combine. Grill tortillas until warm and slightly charred, about 10 seconds per side.
Serve pork-pineapple mixture with onion-cilantro relish.

Maybe I need to come up with another name for this dish since the only thing that clings to the pastor tradition is the pineapple. Next time I'll use fresh pineapple (won't do a long marinade with fresh pineapple -enzymes you know) and do the whole soak the real chile thing. But, for a fake version this was "tasty."

Here are some links I came across in my search:

This site has a picture of what the authentic pastor situation in Mexico City is
http://www.batista.org/pastor.html

This site gave some good background on the pastor tradition. I'm not sure I'm onboard with cinnamon in the recipe though... Looks like a good recipe blog. He's a transplanted Californinan living in NYC trying to find good Mexican food. I remember being in the same situation in Boston.

http://www.norecipes.com/2008/05/04/tacos-al-pastor/

These recipes use a bay leaf which I think I'll try next.
http://onebigkitchen.com/?p=152
http://www.nibbledish.com/people/norecipes/recipes/tacos-al-pastor

Personal pet peeve - NOBODY USES APOSTROPHES CORRECTLY ANYMORE!

Plural words don't need them I ate 2 tacos.

Possesives use them. The taco's flavor. As in the flavor owned by the taco

Contractions use apostrophes This taco's good. As in this taco is good

OK I feel better. Heaven knows I'm not perfect but sheesh people. As the language changes the apostrophe will probably either be used for everything or dropped entirely.

Here's what I added to the pork mixture to doctor it up for the potluck:

Adobo sauce from a small can of chipotle in adobo sauce (3 TB)

1 tsp of Alton Brown's Chile Powder

1/s tsp garlic salt (5 cranks of sea salt and garlic)

1 tsp Mexican oregano.

3-4 TB water.

Brioche is Not That Hard

I've had the pans for years. They come out of the cabinet for many holidays and I eye them and consider actually using them. This Easter I finally did it. I've read how wonderful good brioche is and figured that since I have a bread maker most of the work could be done for me. Being a purist is not something I worry about. So, here's the recipe I used from Taste and Tell. The original instructions are very, very long and detailed but I just proofed the yeast and then dumped everything in the breadmaker. Of course I set it on manual because I wasn't baking it in the breadmaker. One thing that is important is to let the bread rise over night - which I did. The brioche came out great and I got lots of compliments. I left the "heads" off for simplicity's sake. I took some advice from Askville on this.

During my search for info on brioche I discovered Once Upon a Plate.blogspot. The photography is seriously gorgeous.

Rich Man's Brioche from The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart

Sponge
1/2 cup unbleached bread flour
1 tablespoon instant yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm whole milk

Dough
5 large eggs, slightly beaten
3 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour
2 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 egg, whisked until frothy, for egg wash

Another Light and Easy Appetizer

I was in Costco yesterday and went by the giant crab display which got me thinking,
"I love crab. How can I work that into Easter somehow?" Endive as a crab delivery vehicle, that's how, wasabi optional. I found this idea on the Eating Well site.