Dinnerz

For lack of a better word.

After two hours of raking leaves in chilly weather, I had the most delicious dinner since the beginning of November. (On 1 November. Still though, it was amazing.) It was a plateful of pork ribs cooked in the oven and wonderfully tender pinto beans mixed with spinach and pork broth.

This was the most saltiest goodness ever! Besides being really salty (something which the heat offset), it reminded me of menudo broth. I haven't had any for quite a while and that's probably why I kept slurping it by the spoonfuls (well-made menudo isn't as salty as this was, though).

I've found out from Mexican restaurants that the best pinto beans have a pale brown hue, the result of the beans constantly having adequate water during the entire cooking time (add boiling water so the temperature doesn't drop).

I can't quite recall the flavors of the seasonings used to coat the pork (I didn't cook it, which is probably why), but the result was tender, juicy meat. It was really buttery in the sense that it "dissolved" in my mouth instead of lingering like dry strands of stringy sawdust sticks. I added some spinach to my beans for color and the obvious nutritional aspect, then I poured a little of the aforementioned pan juice on top to give it a better flavor.

A while after dinner, I went in to the kitchen and tasted some more broth. It made me gag. I basically drank lukewarm, overly salty, rich broth that was heightened by the lack of heat. (A bit after, the fat started floating to the top -- imagine algae on pond's water surface but orange instead of green.)

First of the Year!

Guess what? I had my first post-injured 5K of the year! I wasn't planning on racing but I came across the sign for it and decided to run it. I ran in this particular 5K two years ago so I was familiar with the course. It's pretty flat until a slight incline right before the end of the third mile. Pretty easy.

After determining the night before that I would do whatever it took to get under 30 minutes, even if I threw up (which I never have, just so you know -- mostly, I just feel like crap after a really hard run and can't eat anything for a few hours), my thoughts were on the pre-race dinner. My mom took care of that.

What? Were you expecting spaghetti? ;)

My mom made pan-seared salmon with lentil salad. The salmon was perfectly cooked and had a great meaty taste, somewhat flaky innards, and a perfectly pink center. The lentil salad was great, the perfectly cooked lentils (firm but not mushy -- al dente?) paired brilliantly with the crisp, tart Granny Smith apples, cilantro, and sauteed carrots and onions. Chopped cilantro was added at the end and gave each bite that featured it a great flavor. I grated some lime on top of the salmon for presentation and to add another flavor burst.

So the 5K? Breakfast was pretty plain and easy to digest, whole wheat toast (sans butter) with honey, the red Monster Energy, a bit of oatmeal (just plain oatmeal), and sips of coffee.

At the site of the race, I warmed up for 10 minutes and then waited around because they started the race LATE. Gosh. That's killer, you know, because the benefits of warming up only last for so long.

I resisted the urge to start off as quickly as everyone else did (I literally seemed as if everyone went really fast at the beginning) and maintained my own pace. I passed whoever I came up to, but I didn't really speed up. Surprisingly, I hit the first mile at 8.34 and was really stoked because it felt extremely easy, no wheezing or cramps. Remember, I have been running 10's and 11's.
The second mile I wanted to maintain roughly the same pace, but speed up a bit. I passed more people and some passed me, which made me wonder if I was slowing down or if they sped up -- impossible to tell, so I just maintained my pace. I clocked in at 8.30. I was really happy because I stayed consistent with the pace.
The third mile was the time to speed up, which I did. I slowly started surging and passing more people, made sure my form was correct (shoulders level, running on my forefoot and not my heels, left hand-right foot, right hand-left foot, keeping my head down, not swinging my arms too high or too low and keeping them from crossing my body), and made sure I was breathing correctly. I kept with this one girl, who ended up getting a bit ahead of me when the hill started.
At the last 100, I wasn't sure exactly where the finish line was, so when I sprinted really well I passed the girl but I ended up passing her after the finish line, which I wouldn't have done had the finish line been properly marked (this was a poorly set-up race and it obviously didn't improve much since 2005...). But I was happy with my finish.
I saved my overall time and recalled it, first two miles, and to my surprise the last mile was 7.33!! w00t! My overall time was 25.37, which was absolutely tricked out because I didn't even know I was capable of a time like that at this point.

The weather was perfect, a bit chilly but it warmed up to a great temperature after running and it wasn't unbearable. In fact, there were showers of rain earlier, but it cleared up in time for the race. I couldn't have asked for better conditions.

After the race, there was this photographer who kindly answered a few camera questions (he uses a Canon, though I sadly cannot recall which sort -- that's what I get for not writing it down. I think it was from the EOS series with a 20 mm lens), which was very kind of him to do so.

I stayed for the awards ceremony (not to race producers: the kid's fun run should take place just prior to the actual race start, not after 15 minutes after the finish when everyone is waiting for the awards), then went to Panera for an asiago bagel, which they finally had. You see, every time I go to Panera, they are out of those particular bagels. I ordered it toasted with a small coffee, and I found out that a single shot of espresso is only .41¢ and tastes much better than Starbucks! And I freaked them out, unintentionally, by ordering just the espresso.

The perfect end to a chilly day was my dinner.

Beef stew with biscuits! A great, complex tomato broth, slightly thick, with chunks of tender vegetables and beef cubes. The biscuits were hot from the oven with crisp outtards and fluffy innards.

(I'm going to post the recipe for the pan-seared salmon with lentil salad later, as my mom veered from the main recipe and I cannot remember what exactly she did.)

Daring Bakers and the Bostini Cream Pie

After lurking a bit and finally deciding that I wanted to be a part of something brilliant, I joined the Daring Bakers, a group that takes on a pastry/baking challenge once a month.

This month's challenge (hosted by Mary at Alpineberry) turned out to be Bostini Cream Pie. (It differs from the original by being served individually instead of as a giant cake (orange chiffon instead of the typical vanilla or butter cake, by the way), and the custard is thinner and not as thick as in the regular version.) I must admit, this was my reaction upon reading it was custard-based:

"Upon seeing the recipe for the first time, visions of failed custards (in the shape of people, read: runny, unset bowls of custard with eyes, noses, and mouths, twig arms and legs dancing in circles with the custard sloshing around on account of it not being set properly -- of the past danced in my head, laughing..."

Right... So it goes without saying that I was more than a bit scared at the idea of making it.

As you can tell (you can't? Hang on, I'll explain the picture!), the custard is thick and creamy, but not uber gelatinous to the point where you poke it and it has a hole that doesn't fill in when you remove your finger. There were some minor lumps and I'm not sure why. I think I tempered the egg mixture properly, and I did strain it. What's really odd, however, was that it didn't have a texture of lumpiness, like tapioca somehow made it's way into my custard, it was just smooth. It was a bit eggy for my taste, though.

No, I forgot to run my finger down the middle to prove that it coats the back of the spoon -- in my case, the spatula. But believe me, it did. I just put this picture up to show you my shortcomings because if you look closely enough, you can see the aforementioned lumps.

The first is a picture of the chiffon batter. (I forgot to snap one before I put the batter into the pans, and before I stuck the pans in the oven.) It was kind of billowy and very light, with hints of orange (tangerine, actually, but it practically tasted like orange). The recipe said to whip the egg whites until soft peaks form, and if anything freaks me out as much as custard, it's whipping egg whites (followed by folding the eggs whites into the batter). I think these were whipped properly, but maybe it wasn't... and maybe I deflated it when I folded the egg whites into the batter... Whatever it was that I did, it didn't seem to rise much higher than the level it was at when I split the batter between to 9-inch pans. (The recipe did say to fill the molds nearly to the top, which I didn't, so perhaps the rise wasn't noticeable except that some of the other DBers' pictures proved otherwise. Which leads me to the conclusion, maybe it's me.)

The batter was supposed to be baked in ramekins, but not having any meant I would bake it in two pans and cut out circles. I chose a scalloped-edged round cookie cutter. There were enough circles to give two to each five servings, plus a few extra for snacking -- not to mention the scraps!

The texture was spongy, moist, not crumbly, and it was "kissed" with an orange flavor.

The best way I could think to properly show off the greatness was in mini goblets. A custard layer came first (which was allowed -- I'm so nice! -- to set in the fridge for a while prior to layering), then a cake round followed by some melted bittersweet chocolate with butter, then I repeated the cake/chocolate step and added enough chocolate to fall a bit down the edges in a star pattern (which impressed some people, actually!)

The servings spent the night in the fridge.

For presentation and to dress it up for the pictures, I topped it with shavings of tangerine peel. Besides the prettiness factor, it added an extra burst of orange to each bight.

The chocolate hardened to form a shell. It was the cause of this:

It sank like Titanic, the spoon being the iceberg. But I digress...

The chocolate-orange combination is one of my favorites, which made this dessert a win-win. The warm feel of the chocolate was contrasted nicely by the coolness of the chilled custard, and the sponginess of the cake upped it to a third degree -- creamy custard, hard chocolate pieces, spongy cake. (Side note, I didn't notice the egginess as much when combined with the other components.)

The only part I didn't quite like was the heaviness. Even though I halved the recipe, the custard contained nearly two cups of heavy whipping cream and 4 1/2 egg yolks plus half a whole egg. I didn't measure the custard amounts per serving, though I figure there was 1/2 cup per serving, which may or may not have been a large amount but I don't know. The chocolate itself aided in the heavy factor, so after a few bites I had a heavy feeling in my stomach. This is best eaten spaced out over, at the very least, half an hour.

All in all, my first challenge with the DBers was a success and I cannot wait until November to find out what I'll be paranoid about next!

While you're at it, click the link for the Daring Bakers' Blogroll on the side and check out how the others' faired.

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The recipe below is for the whole version. I cut it in half and it still came out well. If I remember correctly, half of 3/4 cup is 1/3 cup, and half of 1/3 cup is 2 Tbsps. and 2 tsps. For the 1/3 tsp, I used 1/8 plus half an 1/8 tsp. I'm not sure how correct that was but I figured it was close enough.

Bostini Cream Pie
(from Donna Scala & Kurtis Baguley of Bistro Don Giovanni and Scala's Bistro)
(makes 8 generous servings)

Ingredients:

Custard (pastry cream):
3/4 cup whole milk
2 3/4 tablespoons cornstarch
1 whole egg, beaten
9 egg yolks, beaten
3 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 vanilla bean (EDITED:vanilla extract is okay)
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar

Chiffon Cake:
1 1/2 cups cake flour
3/4 cup superfine sugar
1 1/3 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup beaten egg yolks (3 to 4 yolks)
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 1/2 tablespoons grated orange zest
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup egg whites (about 8 large)
1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Chocolate Glaze:
8 ounces semi or bittersweet chocolate
8 ounces unsalted butter

Instructions:

To prepare the custard:

Combine the milk and cornstarch in a bowl; blend until smooth. Whisk in the whole egg and yolks, beating until smooth. Combine the cream, vanilla bean and sugar in a saucepan and carefully bring to a boil. When the mixture just boils, whisk a ladleful into the egg mixture to temper it, then whisk this back into the cream mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Strain the custard and pour into 8 large custard cups. Refrigerate to chill.

To prepare the chiffon cakes:

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Spray 8 molds with nonstick cooking spray. You may use 7-ounce custard cups, ovenproof wide mugs or even large foil cups. Whatever you use should be the same size as the custard cups.

Sift the cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Add the oil, egg yolks, orange juice, zest and vanilla. Stir until smooth, but do not overbeat.

Beat the egg whites until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Gently fold the beaten whites into the orange batter. Fill the sprayed molds nearly to the top with the batter.

Bake approximately 25 minutes, until the cakes bounce back when lightly pressed with your fingertip. Do not overbake. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack. When completely cool, remove the cakes from the molds. Cover the cakes to keep them moist.

To prepare the glaze:

Chop the chocolate into small pieces. Place the butter in a saucepan and heat until it is just about to bubble. Remove from the heat; add the chocolate and stir to melt. Pour through a strainer and keep warm.

To assemble:

Cut a thin slice from the top of each cake to create a flat surface. Place a cake flat-side down on top of each custard. Cover the tops with warm chocolate glaze. Serve immediately.

(What I did: I greased and lined two 9-inch round cake pans with wax paper, greasing the tops of the paper also. I baked it for 25 minutes, as the recipe said and it came out nicely -- somewhat firm on top (it passed the fingertip test) and just starting to pull away from the edges. After cooling as per the recipe, I then cut out circles with a 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter, and I didn't slice the top off to create a flat layer. I also chilled the goblets overnight. You can do that without the chocolate glaze, pouring it over each portion just prior to serving if you want to make this ahead of time but don't want a hard chocolate shell.)