Historical records have revealed that food and flowers are the quintessential elements of Mother's Day celebrations.
I set out to redeem the previous year's exceptionally moist Layered Mocha Cake (with my newly acquired roll cake knowledge, but also couldn't resist tacking on a few more kitchen undertakings throughout the weekend.
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First was a Scorched Shrimp with Fresh Tomato Sauce, crafted entirely from whole ingredients. That's right - Not an aluminum can in sight!
Unashamedly instigated by a sale on frozen shrimp at Loblaws, the package was slowly defrosted in the fridge overnight then marinated as per orangecane's Toowoomba formula. There had been intent to assemble her dish as intended, however divergence was deemed necessary in the face of ample rice. Flavours of gochujang, gochukaru, and soy permeated my protein of choice for at least thirty minutes; cayenne was excluded, as I neither had any on hand nor did I hail from a spice-loving household. The shrimp was then scorched in a smoking cast iron pan, then set aside.
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Separately constructed in a non-stick pot was the sauce: several seasonal vine tomatoes, five cloves of finely chopped garlic, olive oil, and a squeeze of ketchup formed its base, with sugar added as needed to neturalize acidity.
My morning thoughts had also filled with an impromptu urge to make a quiche, origins unknown till this day. While a formula for quiche lorraine does exist, I find greater familiarity with SK's extra-flaky pie crust. It was, admittedly, a tad sweet for this particular usage, though not overbearingly so. To nix a soggy bottom, the shell was blind-baked at 375 F for 30 minutes. Using aluminum foil and a loaf pan ensured no slippage during this process.
Feedback stemming from previous iterations had been entailed discontent surrounding the absence of meat, so I incorporated an additional step. The ever-reliable food processor was uncloaked, and pork was roughly ground with ̶f̶r̶e̶e̶z̶e̶r̶ chives. Following a quick toss in oil and steak spices, the morsels were stir-fried in a cast iron pan over high heat, with the sheer hope of all moisture dissipating in the process.
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Once slightly cooled, these meaty crumbs were transferred to the shell, topped with more chives and cherry tomatoes halves ̶(̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶r̶e̶e̶z̶e̶r̶)̶, a cream-egg emulsion, and topped with cubed extra-old Cheddar ̶(̶a̶l̶s̶o̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶r̶e̶e̶z̶e̶r̶)̶.
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A distinct dampness seemed to remain, thus resulting in a prolonged bake time. After 15 minutes at 400 F, a makeshift pie shield made its way on top; the pan was returned to the oven for 30 minutes at 375 F and then 15 minutes at 350 F, until, finally, the eggs were set.
Whether it be the meat or the cherry tomatoes I had plunged into the egg mixture without defrosting, the amount of fluid trapped within proved far greater than preferred. As such, I recommend reverting to processed meat to avoid additional moisture. One could add more cheese, as fat equals flavour!
Whether it be the meat or the cherry tomatoes I had plunged into the egg mixture without defrosting, the amount of fluid trapped within proved far greater than preferred. As such, I recommend reverting to processed meat to avoid additional moisture. One could add more cheese, as fat equals flavour!
Strawberry Jam, Granola, and Tuna Salad w/ Cucumbers were also crafted on this day during downtime.
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Sunday morning was met with (plenty of) anxiety. The day to reattempt the infamous Coffee Swiss Roll Cake had dawned upon me. Several hours of research from the night prior had served to prepare me, theoretically, yet execution always emerges a more terrifying beast.
Chocolate tempering was the first step. Meticulously adhering to the instructions on my Surfin bag meant careful temperature calibration, which in turn led to thirty minutes of probing, waiting, probing some more, and waiting some more. Eventually, the bubble-infused formula was smoothed across 1-inch-wide acetate strips and placed in the fridge to set. With my remaining handful of white chocolate candy melts, chocolate plaques fitting for the occasion were created.
The roll cake recipe was sourced from Sunday Baking, with oil swapped for the same quantity of melted butter by weight. The quantity of cream was doubled to suit personal requests, infused with a copious amount of espresso powder, and thickened with gelatin to prevent weeping. In hindsight, the 1-tsp-to-1-tbsp ratio of gelatin to water was far too thick. I had scaled up to a 4 tsp-to-4.5-tbsp ratio, yet viscosity remained too high.
Smothering the formula atop my partially cooled cake, my confidence began to wane. The cream began gushing from both sides. The cake wasn't circular, and pressing a ruler against its side only served to encourage this scene. Wailing in despair, I surrendered for the time being and gave the cake the cold shoulder.
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Three hours later, I began compiling a Salted Caramel Glaze, followed by a Chocolate Cream. Both were positively delectable, especially the glaze. I had perhaps reviewed the recipe a total of four times before and during the process, even patiently shifting the pitcher from the refrigerator to the freezer to allow the toffee-toned formula to reach its optimal glazing temperature of 26 degrees Celsius. And, just as Sunday Baking had done, I deployed Dominique Ansel's plastic wrap setting.
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My perseverance was rewarded with a glorious, silky coating brimming with depth. More importantly, the cake remained intact - slice-able even!
Though, the general consensus was that more cake would have been nice. I completely concurred with this critique, and vowed to adjust the cake-to-cream ratio to a more appropriate 1:1.5 (or 1:1.75) for future attempts, rather than the 1:4 (or 1:5?) presented.
Dinner adopted the form of takeout from Magic BBQ.
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The Dinner for Four set (四和菜) included:
- Steamed Farm Chicken (Half) / 走地雞 (半隻)
- Roasted Pork w/ Bean Curd / 紅燒火腩豆腐煲
- Poached Baby Bok Choi / 上湯白菜苗
- Sweet & Sour Pork / 咕嚕肉
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