Regardless of what your political beliefs, today is a momentous day. This is a food blog however, so I have some other momentous news. We’ve been nominated for Best New Food Blog on the Well Fed Network. We’re honored to be in the running along with some other great food blogs like Foodie at Fifteen, Crabby Cook, The Bitten Word, and Apples and Butter. While I hope you’ll vote for us, these are all great blogs and I encourage you to check them out.
Some of my favourite food blogs such as Tartelette, Souvlaki For The Soul, Smitten Kitchen, Cannelle et Vanille, Steamy Kitchen, and Not Quite Nigella have also been nominated for other categories as well, so check them out and vote on the other categories too!
Here are a few dished I made in the past week that didn’t get their own posts:
Spicy Cauliflower Fritters – With a dollop of mango chutney on top, these were great. Since they only have a small amount of flour and egg to bind the bits of cauliflower together, they were almost all curried, caramelized bits of cauliflower. Still, I was hoping for more of a pancake, so I’m reworking this one to include more batter.
Clementine Curd – I basically followed my foolproof Meyer Lemon Curd recipe, reducing the amount of sugar to 1/3 C, then strained the curd at the end for a smooth texture. It’s creamy, silky smooth and delicious on some toast and if you really want to go nuts, add some Nutella as well.
Clementine Curd Cake – Seasoned bakers are probably wondering why the heck I filled the loaf pan so high. I had some reservations as well, but against my better judgment I threw it on a baking sheet and put it in the oven. 20 minutes later I was greeted with the smell of caramelizing sugar (not a good sign since it needed about 50 minutes). A quick peek confirmed it had overflowed. By 40 minutes the batter that was on the baking sheet was smoking and I had to take the cake out prematurely before the burning batter actually caught fire. Unsurprisingly, it was under cooked and immediately fell, creating a giant crater in the center. As awful as it looked, it did taste pretty good with a dense “pudding” (in the British sense) like texture in the center, a nice crumb on the outside from the almond meal and a bold clementine flavour. I have some more clementines so I’ll be trying this again with less sugar and butter and in a bigger pan.
Smoked Ham and Fennel Soup with Kale and White Beans – This soup is based off of my Winter Bean Peasant Stew. It’s great for cold weather and is as simple as putting some stuff in a pot for a few hours then coming back to dinner a few hours later. For this version I caramelized an onion and fennel bulb, then simmered in chicken stock with 2 ham hocks for 4 hours. When the ham hocks were tender, they came out and got chopped then added back in along with some kale and white beans. It was then finished off with some chopped fennel leaves. In the background you can barely see my failed bâtard… it wasn’t bad, it just didn’t compare to ones I could go and buy at bakeries in NYC. I also reserved one of the ham hocks for a polenta croquette I’ll be posting about soon.
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