First, a comment on last night’s soup. It tasted MUCH better today. I still don’t think I’ll make it again, but the time spent in the fridge did wonders.

Today, a cake! “Some kinda cake” as I called it in my now-deleted post from this afternoon. Orange Tea Cake is the actual name, and why did I choose it? Well, it was on the other side of the Creamy Scallion-Mushroom Soup magazine page. I flipped over the recipe and thought to myself, “That’s sort of interesting, and it doesn’t look very hard.” I still ended up going to the grocery store, because I needed blood oranges, sugar (I was almost out), and baking powder (I have an unopened jar of Clabber Girl which expired at the end of last year).

So, I was supposed to use a 9-inch springform pan. I don’t have a springform pan. What I do have is a Pyrex 8 1/2 inch round dish that, until now, I’ve been using for making large quantities of bean dip (it holds 1 1/2 quarts). Now, doing some research on bakeware capacities, I find that the 9-inch would have held 2 1/2 quarts (capacity table here). So, we should all be VERY surprised to find out that the batter filled my dish all the way up to the top. I put a baking sheet underneath the dish because I was afraid it might spill over when it rose (it didn’t, thankfully, but there is an amusing sort of muffin-top to it).

Since I was not using the springform pan, I had to work out how I was going to get the cake out of the pan. I created a two-part sling out of parchment paper that seemed like a good idea, but really wasn’t. I think if I were to do it again, I’d make a circle for the bottom of the dish, and then a tall collar around it. Maybe. I don’t know. That doesn’t sound quite as good an idea as when it was just in my head.

The question is, will I make it again? Probably not. Or if I do, there will need to be some adjustments to the recipe. It’s just kind of… boring. More oranges, or zest, or extract, something to give it a personality. The cake does look perfect on the inside; I was very happy with the texture. It was just missing… zing. Pizazz. Élan. A thesaurus.

Also, it was supposed to have a reddish tint from the blood oranges. It didn’t.

Orange Tea Cake

3/4 lb blood oranges or other thin-skinned orange

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 cups AP flour

1 tbsp baking powder

4 large eggs, beaten

2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the over to 375. Butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan. Cut the top and bottom off the orange and discard. Thinly slice the orange and discard any seeds….

Wait a second. Was I not supposed to peel the oranges? But… the pith! Well, I suppose that would have given me the zest I was thinking about. Probably would have added to the color, too. God, I’m dumb. Can’t I read a recipe?

…Transfer the orange slices to a food processor and puree. Add 1/2 cup of the sugar and the olive oil and pulse just until combined.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder. In another medium bowl, using a handheld electric mixer, beat the eggs with the remaining 1 cup of sugar at moderate speed until thick, about 8 minutes. Fold in half of the flour mixture, then fold in the orange puree and vanilla. Fold in the remaining flour mixture.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 325 and bake the cake for 30 minutes longer, or until golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Tranfer the cake to a rack to cool, then unmold the cake and serve.

When the hell did everything start getting so damn expensive?! I paid $3.39 for a pound of butter today. That is $0.89 more than I would pay, and $1.39 more than I think I should have to pay. Same with chicken broth. For my soup this evening, I ended up using homemade chicken stock because I could not bear the prices at the stores (and I was in three this afternoon). “But Sarah, isn’t using homemade stock, better than using canned broth?” Well, yes. But I was saving that last two-and-a-half cups of my stock for something that would showcase the stock itself more. Something like stracciatella. Not a recipe that ended up being disappointing.

I’m the same way with Diet Coke. Even though I am clearly addicted to it (once I quit for a month or so, and I cannot tell you the headaches I had), I refuse to pay more than a dollar for two liters. Sometimes the stores will hit a “We love Pepsi!” patch, and I won’t be able to get any at a reasonable price for two or three weeks. I will suffer through it, though. Last week Walgreens had them for $0.79. I was thrilled and bought four. Jon likes cans. I would be off Coke products entirely if I started buying cans. When I used to live in Los Angeles, the Ralph’s down the street would have a sale, round about once a month, when 12-packs were $2.00. Now, I will pay $2.50, but I still feel ripped off. And it’s hard to find even $2.50.

$1.59 for a half-pint of heavy cream. That’s one cup. I wait to buy spices and yeast until I’m at Cost Plus World Market, because they charge reasonable prices. I needed fennel, and the cheapest I could find it was $4.00 or something. Cost Plus? $1.50. Yes, it’s probably not the freshest ever, but if you toast and grind the seeds yourself, it’ll be fine. Still better than buying ground, I’d wager.

I am going to be an excellent cantankerous old woman someday.

Sometimes, nostalgic dishes just don’t turn out as good as you remember….

Tonight, I made a recipe that I reserved for special occasions when I was in college oh-so-many years ago. I made it for my mom once when she visited, and I was very proud of it. I’m guessing I had crappy tastes back then, because this was just not good. I adapted this from Food & Wine. The original recipe makes double the amount, and uses flour to thicken instead of a potato.

Creamy Scallion-Mushroom Soup

3 tbsp butter

1 lb scallions, chopped

2 1/2 cups chicken stock

1/2 pound white mushrooms, sliced thinly

1 baking potato (~8oz), peeled and chopped

1/2 cup Italian parsley, chopped

1/4 cup heavy cream (or milk)

salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the scallions and mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 10-15 minutes.

Add the stock and potato and bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat for 15 minutes, or until the potato is soft. Stir in the parsley.

Using an immersion blender, puree the soup. Stir in the cream, and season with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and garnish with whatever (I remember being very fond of crumbled pretzels in this).

Okay, I STILL have not made anything. Bad Sarah! Bad!

However, Jon and Ryan invited me over for dinner, because Jon was going to try the new, revamped Cook’s Illustrated macaroni and cheese recipe. I think the new recipe is definitely an improvement over the old one. Still, it’s awfully soupy. We decided that Vermont people must really like their mac and cheese creamy. I might suggest more salt and more cayenne. Or a bunch of Tabasco would probably fill both of those.

I realize Cook’s is trying to make their recipes accessible to everyone, but man, they’re wordy. I don’t think you need to start heating the broiler quite that early. It’s on for a long time! If you were to make this in the summer, that’d heat your kitchen something awful, with the broiler as well as the boiling water. Well, whatever. This recipe is a little more difficult than their last recipe, but it did turn out better.

Classic Macaroni and Cheese

Bread Crumb Topping
6 slices good-quality white sandwich bread, torn into rough pieces
3 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces

Pasta and Cheese
1 lb elbow macaroni
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp salt
5 tbsp unsalted butter
6 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp powdered mustard
1/4 tsp cayenne (they say optional, I say BS, it’s necessary)
5 cups milk (any fat content)
8 oz Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (2 cups)
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (2 cups)

Bread Crumbs: Pulse bread and butter in food processor until crumbs are no larger that 1/8 inch, ten to fifteen 1-second pulses. Set aside.

Pasta and Cheese: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat broiler. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in Dutch oven over high heat. Add macaroni and 1 tablespoon salt; cook until pasta is tender. Drain pasta and set aside in colander.

In now-empty Dutch oven, heat butter over medium-high heat until foaming. Add flour, mustard, and cayenne and whisk well to combine. Continue whisking until mixture becomes fragrant and deepens in color, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk; bring mixture to boil, whisking contantly (mixture must read full boil to fully thicken). Reduce heat to medium and simmer, whisking occasionally, until thickened to consistency of heavy cream, about five minutes. Off heat, whisk in cheeses and 1 teaspoon salt until cheeses are melted. Add pasta and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is steaming and heated through, about 6 minutes.

Transfer mixture to broiler-safe 9×13 baking dish and sprinkle evenly with bread crumbs. Broil until crumbs are deep golden brown, 3 to 5 mintues, rotating pan if necessary for even browning. Cool about 5 minutes, serve.

Nothing very exciting today. I clipped a bunch of recipes out of old issues of Food & Wine; I’m preparing to put them in with the ones I got out of Cooking Light in my magazine recipe binder. Beyond that… Jalapeno Cheddar Cheese Nips and Diet Coke. Because I have a very sad addiction.

Ah, matzoh. Very tasty with butter or made into grilled cheese. Matzoh’s one of those weird things that would normally taste horrible, but during Passover, it almost seems like a treat. Any other time of the year, I would be thinking, “A cracker version of Tuscan bread. Now why would I want to eat that?”

(Before you all get on my case, I’d like to say that I’m only Jewishish. Our family, we love the holidays and their ritual pomp and circumstance, but we don’t take it all that seriously. I describe our seders as “the story, the songs, and the snark.” I’ve tried not eating leavened items for Passover- it’s really hard! You’ll never catch me doing the whole Atkins thing.)

I’m at a loss for what to make for dinner. I’ve got all this food purloined from my parents (well, not so much purloined as much as they were going away and needed J. and I to take their perishables). I could make a twice-baked potato. But that’ll take over an hour and I’m munchy now. Hm.

(ETA: I steamed some eggs and made egg salad. Yum.)

First off, a sentence to pacify my mother. Yes, I threw out the chicken.

The story:

So, tonight I was going to make something with the rest of the chicken I made on the 28th, possibly a pasta sauce with crimini mushrooms and boursin cheese. However, when I brought this up to my mother, she refused to let me go through with it, seeing as the chicken was a week and a half old and was never fully cooked. So I came around to realizing that I really didn’t want to chance the food poisoning and got rid of it. Damn it. I should have more of a schedule for my leftovers. I hate throwing away food.

Onward! Last night Jon, Ryan, and I drove over to my parents house for a seder. Our seders are such fun. I sang the four questions for the first time and only screwed up a little. My mother made an excellent meal- matzoh ball soup, braised short ribs, mashed potatoes, and haricot vert. Mm. I have got to get back into braising again- love that collagen!

Tonight for dinner, I ate the rest of the macaroni and cheese. It’s much less soupy as leftovers; it cooled into a solid shape. However, when I reheated it, it separated. It’s not really a problem, but I thought you’d like to know. I think next time I have a craving for homemade mac & cheese, I’m going to try Alton Brown’s stovetop recipe.

To conclude, I hate Food Network. Why? More Sandra Lee. Damn you.