Bread and Circus

I had no idea comm deadlines could be this freaky, because this comm deadline is freaking so much hell out of me, it does not even bear saying. So because of this, I started baking and put together some things for tea. (Instead of the usual microwave coffee and dubious wheat crackers)




( The internationally debonair jalapeño cheddar scones with Hong-Kong style milk tea. )

Anpan is Japanese sweet bread (pan) filled with sweet red bean paste (an). You guys have probably seen this a lot as snacks.

Taken from this terrific site called Kat and Satoshi's Adventures in Japan. A ridiculously neat blog with great recipes and interesting topics. Her anpan looks much better than mine, ^_^.

Note: Put a wet towel over the dough when it's rising. Otherwise it will be dry and fall in like mine, though it will still taste good.

I didn't modify this recipe at all like I do most others. I did this one exactly, and it turned out great. I'm just here to tell you guys about the blog.



( anpan, you make me smile with my heart )

So you buy a circa 16 oz. bottle of Bacardi from the ABC store to make plum pudding. What else are you supposed to do with the rest of it? It does not help that my mother was standing behind me during the mixing process crowing, "More rum! More!" Very awkward.

In the middle of this recipe my mom started looking around for the rum we'd bought, and she said, "Where'd we put the rum?" To which of course I had to say, "Where's the rum gone?" and cackle madly. She thought it was the fumes, maybe, and didn't ask questions. (She's faithfully fallen asleep through all the Pirates movies)

(for recipe, skip down to the cut. For a related anecdote/rant about securing said Bacardi, read on)

Help me out on this: apparently the ABC store has a rule where the person who carries the bottle up to the front is the one who pays. (I personally feel this discriminates grossly against armless people, who have reason more than the rest of us to drink anyway)

So I'm carrying the bottle up front for my mother, who's digging around in her purse for her ID. The woman asks ME for MY id and then when we explain, proceeds to prattle on like it's totally obvious that this rule is in place. I am a freak stickler for the rules and have these huge moral crises about breaking them. But if I think a rule is completely stupid, God help you, because I can beat out the rest of the defiant punk-nosed delinquents any day.

So I sarcastically ask her if I can carry it out. She says, with a completely straight face, "No. You can't carry it to the front because it will look like you're buying it. And you can't carry it out because it will look like I sold it to you."

MotherF*CKER! Really? These tiny ridiculous rules are only in place because they are not followed. Seriously, America has one of the highest underage drinking rates I've ever seen, so obviously this is NOT working.

So I just tell my mom, loudly, that were going to the grocery store next, so I hope I'm allowed to carry something for her there.

They should have this rule tacked up somewhere in the store or hey, even at the REGISTER. I even looked through the website and couldn't find anything. Just watch. My mom wants me to make plum pudding again, so next time I am going to do the same exact thing. And when they pitch a fit, I am going to come down on them like a brick wall.



( where's the rum gone? )

Don't ask me why they're called Neiman Marcus bars. The guy who gave me the recipe called them this, and I feel whoever gives you the recipe has the rights to name it.

After I gave this to my engineering friends and they devoured them, I was not convinced. (Engineers are always hungry)
After I gave this to a friend, and her eyes went all wide and she said, "Hmmmphghr," I was sure this was something I should post up here.

This slightly sweet dessert is a longstanding family dish, and is usually made for guests when they come to visit. Said guests usually demand this dessert every time they come to visit afterward, and when we come to visit them. And even when we're not actually visiting them, but we're in the area, we always stop by with a tin full of these...



( Maybe this is a good dish if you're lonely? )

Again with the actually useful dishes! This one is really good for you and features my least favourite vegetable: eggplant. I've never liked the way my mother makes it, so I've been on a quest to find different ways of cooking it that actually make the eggplant taste good. This week's winner: Thai Stir-fried Eggplant.



( Thai Stir Fried Eggplant )

Yes, and it's another round of legitimate food this week. The shrimp scampi I made was cooked in white wine, but I've also included a recipe that gives the shrimp that same kind of tang without the liquid of sin.

Beautiful version of everything that was right about the Prohibition movement, courtesy of Wikipedia: "There was a clear consensus that while alcohol was a gift from God, its abuse was from the Devil."

Amen



( Shrimp Scampi in White Wine )

You CAN make those adorable fruit tarts you see in the glass cases because they are probably the easiest recipe I've posted so far. They are actually really healthy too.

These fruit tarts were the other thing at the Hot Cakes bakery that I was contemplating buying for my dad's birthday. (The French Flourless Chocolate Cake won out)
So I suppose this is the another post in my long slow revenge against bakeries that charge too much for their products.

I'm a college student, okay? I don't have much access to fancy things like electric mixers, I don't have much time, and I certainly have to clean up all my messes to a spotless degree if I don't want to be banned from the communal kitchen. There are shortcuts I take in my recipes for steps I deem unnecessary and ways to improvise for directions requiring more fancy stuff. Whenever a recipe calls for me to whip something with an electric mixer or melt with a double boiler, most of the time I beat things by hand and microwave respectively.

I bring this up because the original recipe calls for making your own crusts. Now usually, I'm all for this because I'm a freak that likes to know every single thing that goes into the food I make. But for the sake of time, I really can't. I used store bough tart crusts. If you really want to make your own crusts, I've posted the ingredients and recipe at the bottom. I can't offer any of my usual advice because again, I haven't made my own.



( Fresh Fruit Tarts )

 

This flourless chocolate cake is very rich and dense with no flour whatsoever. (Grab your favourite gluten allergic buddy) It's not a 'cake' as you would think of it; there's absolutely no sponge-like characteristics about it. I originally bought this cake for my dad's birthday from a place called Hot Cakes, where the patissier is a legitimate French guy who swears a lot and is sad when the Americans don't buy/appreciate his stuff. (Macarons look and taste COMPLETELY different from the American style of macaroons, so you can't completely blame the customers for not knowing what the hell it was and not buying it. If I'd known, I would have taken them all)

Oh the things you can learn from covertly flirting with the barristas at the bus stop. (What? I'm only human)



( Yes, I actually made that. Yeah, I was surprised... )