Sunday, August 26, 2007

A Manly Potato Salad















I had bacon. I had blue cheese. I had a red onion and a brand new bag of red potatoes. And I had to bring something to a potluck barbecue. I wanted to avoid a mayo-based salad, so I turned to Bobby Flay's Grilled Potato Salad with Bacon-Blue Cheese Vinaigrette. It earned me a "holy frackin crap" from Ed. (That's a good thing.)
It required parboiling then grilling the red potatoes. These weren't the small, new potatoes, so I cut each potato in six or eight pieces. If I made it again, I'd cut them even smaller (although grilling would be more involved). The onion, bacon, and blue cheese components were so strong-tasting that I needed to balance the bites with smaller bits of potato.

Amy's Birthday Cake


My friend Amy and I share a disturbing obsession with food. This year I asked her what I could make for her birthday and she chose a Coconut Ginger Layer Cake from her Food Network Cookbook. The recipe presented some challenges: it used all cake flour (sometimes a problem at high altitudes), called for coconut-flavored white rum (I'd have to substitute that), and used a swiss meringue buttercream (something I'd never done before).

First, the rum. Lucky for me, it didn't go directly directly in the cake. Rather, it was part of the ginger sugar syrup that both coated the coconut chips and was added to the buttercream. So I substituted water, 1 T. rum extract, and 1 t. coconut extract for the 3/4 c. rum. I have no idea if it even comes close, but there you go.

Using all cake flour can pose problems when there is not enough structure in the batter and, at high altitude, the cake rises too quickly and then falls. I decided to use all cake flour anyway (sometimes I'll swap out a few tablespoons for all-purpose flour) because I wanted a nice, tender crumb. In the oven the batter rose really high but then settled down to a nice even top. At least there was no "dip" in the cake and I wouldn't have to even out the tops (Dang - no scraps for me!).

The swiss meringue buttercream provided the most excitement of all. I made the swiss meringue and was waiting impatiently for the butter chunks to soften so I could beat them into the meringue. I was in a hurry as we were heading out the door to a family event, so against my better judgement I started incorporating the butter while it was still cool to the touch (but not "refrigerator cold"). The result was a soupy, curdled-looking mess, but I threw it it the fridge to deal with it later. Upon returning later that night, it was still soupy and curdled. I searched for information on how to correct it and many sites instructed to just keep beating the mixture. I had that stuff whirring away in my KitchenAid for a good 20 minutes to no avail. Then I found a site that said to melt 1/4 of the frosting and reincorporate it back into the mix. So I scooped out some into a bowl, microwaved it for a few seconds, and added it back into the frosting. That did the trick. While it was beating, it thankfully (I did not want to chuck out over a pound of good butter) transformed before my eyes into a lovely buttercream.

The final verdict? The rich cake had a nice, tender, tight crumb. The coconut chips were great for both flavor and texture. We were disappointed that there was only a faint whisper of ginger flavor, though.