February 22, 2015 Brunch   Pecan and Blueberry Waffles   Snack  Cheese and Salami and Tomato and fresh Mozzarella Brushetta   Dinner Potage

We had a lazy, food filled day.

At around 11:00 Suzette fixed pecan and blueberry waffles with the new Stonewall pancake and waffle mix we were give n for Christmas, which we ate with maple syrup and mango yogurt and tea.

We then went shopping at Goodwill, Suzette found a small desk for the restaurant and I found khaki shorts.

Then we went to Costco where food tasting was in full swing, with lots of Chinese items offered for Chinese New Year, such as General Tsu’s chicken and fried rice.  After eating those and other filling items like hummus on naan we decided to go home and eat snacks instead of eating a hot dog at Costco.  We bought items to make the new Italian Cloud Cake recipe we had gotten from Joseph Wrede on Wednesday evening and replenished our larder with items such as spaghetti, eggs, cream, a 10 lb. bag of Texas Sweet onions, half and half, salad, lettuce, fresh mozzarella and French brie cheese, scotch and mushrooms.  

When we returned home around 2:00 the weather was rapidly turning from sunny to stormy and we were hungry.  I fetched some cheeses and salami from the fridge while Suzette made brushetta by toasting rounds of French baguette and then smearing the rounds with pesto and then laying a slice of tomato and a slice of fresh mozzarella on each round and toasting them in the oven until the cheese melted. I opened a bottle of 2010 Chianti Superiore Monastero and we had a lovely afternoon snack.

Tomato and fresh mozzarella brushetta

the salami and cheeses

Although our sink is stopped up and we cannot wash dishes, we both felt like cooking. Suzette wanted to make the Cloud cake and I wanted to make potage.  I followed the Julia Child recipe, which is really simple.

Potato and Leek Soup

3-4 cups of potatoes sliced thinly

2 to 3 cups of leeks or 1 to 2 cups of onion

1 Tbsp. salt

2 quarts water

4 to 6 Tbsp. of cream or 2 to 3 Tbsp. of butter

2 to 4 Tbsp. of parsley or chives

I sliced the potatoes and leeks and put them into a large casserole and then added ½ of the new sweet onions to make the onion and leek component equal 3 cups.

I then added 2 quarts (8 cups) of water and 4 Tbsp. (this was a mistake.  I should have only added 1 Tbsp. of salt and this made the soup too salty) of salt to the pot and simmered the soup covered for 1 hour.

Suzette made her Italian Cloud cake, which is essentially a meringue cake, with the recipe Joseph had given us.  He also gave us two tips, to collar the pan to a height of five or six inches and to bake the cake for 20 minutes and then turn off the heat and let keep cooking and set up the meringue as it cools in the oven. 

Here is the finished cake, which shows that the recipe and instructions from Joseph worked.

We had originally planned to make Pork and Garlic Eggplant, but we decided to change our dinner to Potage and Italian Cloud cake.  The soup was too salty to enjoy but we ate it anyway.  

Suzette suggested fixing the potage by boiling more potatoes and onion in water without any extra salt and then adding the new mixture to the old soup to dilute the excess salt by the addition of unsalted broth and ingredients.

Suzette tried to make a caramel sauce but it failed.  The custard sauce worked fine and we ate the Cloud cake with custard sauce for dessert and loved it.

 

We watched the Oscars and the English Baking show and Downtown Abbey.

Bon Appétit