eta_ta (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} eta_ta) wrote,@ 2007-09-16 21:49:00 |
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Чего бы, думаю, приготовить/ I was feeling like cooking...
Beautiful September weather - and my genes' memory told me it's time to cook. To make jams, pickles, cakes and to roast meet.
I resisted: I can buy everything ready-made! it's my hard-earned weekend! I have a right to do nothing! Genes insisted. So, we striked a compromise - I cooked for one, more for fun than to prep for the harsh scary winter ahead.
Plums are in season, and right about now you can buy perfect plums for jamming: what they call Italian - oblong, very dark cobalt-violet in color, firm but ripe. I pocked them with toothpick, cut in half, removed pits and covered them with granulated sugar, in 1:1 proportion. Left overnight they have sweated out and sugar got dissolved in plum juice. I reduced this syrup in half, added the plums, cooked for another 1/2hr on a slow flame, and pour into sterilized jars.
Lunch: some Norwegian herring, goat cheese from Quebec on red-leaf lettuce with fresh figs, and salad of seasonal vegetables in endive "boats".
Soup - very simple: baby potatoes, leeks, celery stick and carrots with mozzarella shreds for garnish and some Finnish crackers on a side.
Torte ...wasn't easy. It's not my family's recipe, I inherited it 16 years ago from a neighbor pastry chef, pani O., who lived upstairs in our old building. All I remembered about the torte it was incredibly delicious, but in all those years I never attempted it. Pani O. learned it in Germany during the War, while working involuntarily for some restaurateur. She was 17 at the time; the skills proved very useful later.
I found some variations of this torte online. Sometimes it's called Hungarian Nut Cake, sometimes - Jewish Flourless Nut Cake, or Nutmeal Torte.
No flour is used in the recipe - but if you think it's a healthy meal, think again. 16 (yes, 16) eggs. 300g of butter. About 800g of sugar. A cup of almond meal. Coffee, lemon zest, sifted breadcrumbs (6 tblsp). And that not counting glaze on top layer the recipe called for which I didn't do.
Of course, it was a test and I did only a half-size. The torte does not look its best - it's lopsided, and my meringue wasn't dry enough in the center. Bit the taste, people, the taste is heavenly! Even if I just doubled my cholesterol count...
Left behind the camera: chicken-liver pastet, beef medallions with figs and pearl onions, vegetable julienne, and chicken breasts roasted with lemongrass, garlic and Georgian Tkemali sauce. Just thought I'll leave some things to your imagination, ha!
Vedmedik, you should know that torte...its commercial version was served in that basement cafe on Площа Ринок, right next to Stefania pastries...
Beautiful September weather - and my genes' memory told me it's time to cook. To make jams, pickles, cakes and to roast meet.
I resisted: I can buy everything ready-made! it's my hard-earned weekend! I have a right to do nothing! Genes insisted. So, we striked a compromise - I cooked for one, more for fun than to prep for the harsh scary winter ahead.
Plums are in season, and right about now you can buy perfect plums for jamming: what they call Italian - oblong, very dark cobalt-violet in color, firm but ripe. I pocked them with toothpick, cut in half, removed pits and covered them with granulated sugar, in 1:1 proportion. Left overnight they have sweated out and sugar got dissolved in plum juice. I reduced this syrup in half, added the plums, cooked for another 1/2hr on a slow flame, and pour into sterilized jars.
Lunch: some Norwegian herring, goat cheese from Quebec on red-leaf lettuce with fresh figs, and salad of seasonal vegetables in endive "boats".
Soup - very simple: baby potatoes, leeks, celery stick and carrots with mozzarella shreds for garnish and some Finnish crackers on a side.
Torte ...wasn't easy. It's not my family's recipe, I inherited it 16 years ago from a neighbor pastry chef, pani O., who lived upstairs in our old building. All I remembered about the torte it was incredibly delicious, but in all those years I never attempted it. Pani O. learned it in Germany during the War, while working involuntarily for some restaurateur. She was 17 at the time; the skills proved very useful later.
I found some variations of this torte online. Sometimes it's called Hungarian Nut Cake, sometimes - Jewish Flourless Nut Cake, or Nutmeal Torte.
No flour is used in the recipe - but if you think it's a healthy meal, think again. 16 (yes, 16) eggs. 300g of butter. About 800g of sugar. A cup of almond meal. Coffee, lemon zest, sifted breadcrumbs (6 tblsp). And that not counting glaze on top layer the recipe called for which I didn't do.
Of course, it was a test and I did only a half-size. The torte does not look its best - it's lopsided, and my meringue wasn't dry enough in the center. Bit the taste, people, the taste is heavenly! Even if I just doubled my cholesterol count...
Left behind the camera: chicken-liver pastet, beef medallions with figs and pearl onions, vegetable julienne, and chicken breasts roasted with lemongrass, garlic and Georgian Tkemali sauce. Just thought I'll leave some things to your imagination, ha!
Vedmedik, you should know that torte...its commercial version was served in that basement cafe on Площа Ринок, right next to Stefania pastries...
