Cauliflower Soup & Ginger Cake~from the archive

Left to my own devices this week with the jolly, fat man off at some tasting or other. Decided on the Ginger Cake for the first week of Xmas cooking.  Turned  to the 2012 Holiday edition of the Food & Drink.
 

For the uninitiated, a ginger cake batter performs a little differently than your typical mix. It doesn't flow out of the bowl into the cake pans; you have to drag it out, kicking and screaming. A ginger batter will not self-distribute in the pan. You have to do it for it. Finally smacking the tins on the counter five or six times to cancel air pockets. How do you now if this has been successful? You don't. It's a matter of faith. This is a well seasoned cake-ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, black pepper, cloves and is great for a miserable rainy day, like Sunday.

 

 

The frosting was a dismal failure and I'm sure with time, I'll come to understand what went wrong. It's butter and icing sugar-how difficult could it be? The icing has separated from the buttery mass and remains to this day, a sticky pool in the bottom of the bowl.

Soup was successful and I recommend this if for no other reason than the garnish. Lemon juice, garlic, paprika, olive oil. Dress the soup with a generous amount of cheese, garnish and parsley. See below for recipes.

 

 

 

Ginger Cake

3 cups flour

1 TBSP baking powder

½ TSP baking soda
2 TBSP ginger

2 TSP cinnamon

1 TSP allspice, nutmeg, black pepper

½ tsp ground cloves & salt

1 C butter

½ cups brown sugar
3 eggs
½ cup fancy molasses
1 C milk

Blend first ten ingredients.

Beat butter, adding sugar until well combined; add egg; add molasses.

Add ¼ flour mix, followed by ¼ milk until all combined.

Coax the batter into pans. Smooth surfaces.   Bang pans on counter to remove air pockets.

Bake 40 mins at 325C.

 

Cauliflower & Potato Soup

Recipe not terribly essential here. Go with your instincts. This is soup, afterall.

1 diced onion

1 stalk celery
1 head cauliflower
3 potatoes (any)
1 TBSP butter and oil of choice
1 clove gariic
1 litre chicken stock 

Garnish

2 TBSP olive oil

1 TBSP lemon juice
1 clove garlic
1 ½ TSP paprika

1 C cheese grated (any)
2 TBSP parsley

Dice vegetables; sautee a few minutes; add stock; boil and then simmer ‘til tender.

Stir garnish ingredients.
Add  cheese to soup bowl, drizzle with oil mixture; tope with parsley sprinkle.
Hearty soup and a very tasty drizzle.

Scallops From Away-Curried Scallops

After experimenting in Caker Land, it is time to get back to meals that require a little more effort and that produce much tastier results. I think more nutritious, also. Ah, the complicated recipe. Yes, there was a head of broccoli in that casserole, but it just felt wrong to be prepping for, making and eating it. The empty jar of Cheez Whiz was carefully placed into the recycling bin this week leaving space in the fridge for fresh cheese. Perhaps we'll crack open the Caker book on the post's anniversary. I do enjoy the CakerCooking blog, though. I like the tongue-firmly-planted-in-cheek style.

I was in the grocery store beginning of the month and someone reminded their partner to go and get the Cheez Whiz. "Don't do it!" the brain screamed. "Go to the cheese counter and see what you can do with that!" Great line from Mother with Albert Brooks. Mom has a hunk of fossilized cheese she's keeping in the freezer. "I can tell from the gross weight I'm not going to like it," John says to her as she slices off a piece with the electric knife.

Try this for a month. Break out of the cheese rut and buy a different cheese each week. Just a few ounces, that's all I ask. A blue, a brie, a goat, a cheddar. Go Canadian. I'm trying to do the 100 mile thing but it is challenging. Obviously I'm buying bananas that have travelled great distances. Short of staging a raid on the Gage Park tropical greenhouse, I have to let the guilt go on the banana front. Likewise with the avocado. I was mortified to find last week's blackberries came from Mexico. I didn't realize. Remember years ago when we debated about South African oranges and Chilean wine? Politics went deep. See what democracy has done? Now it's just a matter of how far it's travelled to your doorstep. (Side note on wine-if you think it's Canadian, check again. Is it 100% local grape or a mix bag of imported grape that is merely cellered locally? Yes, by all means buy the Italian, French or Australian but make sure the local stuff is local.)

This is Frederick. As you can see, Frederick likes his food. He also likes a drop of wine. Frederick is never without his tasting spoon, but he broke it recently in a fit of kitchen pique. Someone put chicken nuggets in his oven and he wasn't best pleased. Frederick is a coq au vin kind of guy. He likes his game bird-pheasant, partridge and quail.

Frederick has connections. The scallops in this recipe came hand delivered from Nova Scotia waters. When I was presented with them, I had about four cents on hand. I have not forgotten about the IOU.

A complicated recipe this is not. This is very simple but very satisfying dish and if you don't have Frederick's connections, some chicken or shrimp will work very well.

1 TBSP butter
2 leeks, sliced
sprinkle of nutmeg
1/3 C chicken stock
1/4 C 35% cream
sea salt
12 scallops or to taste depending on size
curry powder~either the "yellow" stuff, Tandoori, your own blend or try Patak's paste; the choice is yours

Saute leeks in butter; add stock; sweat for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with nutmeg.
Add cream.
Simmer 'til thickened.

Pat scallops dry.
Sprinkle with a little sea salt.
Give the scallops a massage with the powder or paste.
Pan fry in butter, 5 minutes a side.

Serve on leeks with a side of rice.
Serves 2; just. Increase portions accordingly.
Great smell in the kitchen and very tasty. Putting it into steady rotation.

Homage to Cakers-Discovering the Inner Caker

For Sale: disguise; used once to purchase Cheez Whiz, Campbell's soup and Dream Whip topping.

This past September holiday Monday, I was introduced to the Caker Blog by Brian Francis. Francis is a writer by trade (I recommend Fruit) and collector of cookbooks-Caker cookbooks. I have had the pleasure of listening to Francis talk about his day job previously on CBC but, never on food. He blogs on Caker cooking at the following link:

http://www.cakercooking.com/

Thoroughly enjoyed the October 15th post. Check it out.

Francis shared his enthusiasm for Caker cookbooks with Ms. Rogers and The Next Chapter audience. We’ve heard the term Food Porn used many times with respect to the glossy publications available on the open market. Francis’ collection comes from church socials, school fundraising ventures and community initiatives. They are often plain and spiral bound with few photos or illustrations.

Self identifying as a Caker-some useful tips. If you answer yes to the following questions, then you may be a Caker.

Do you have a jar of Cheez Whiz by the toaster? Do you stockpile commercially prepared tomato sauce? Is your whipped cream stored in the freezer or does it come from a pouch? Do you often combine a vegetable, chicken, rice & Campbell’s Soup in a casserole dish?

(please click on the FAQ section of Francis' blog for more on Caker id)

Emphasis on convenience food. Hailing from the British cooking tradition of the chip butty, I understand the appeal of Caker food. (However, I will say that the UK is no longer the culinary nightmare it once was.)

I was reminded of a Caker cookbook lurking on the family shelf. Cooking Secrets from the West Flamboro Presbyterian Church.

Went rummaging for it this past Thanksgiving weekend. The usual suspects-casseroles and squares. Tinned soup and Dream Whip figuring prominently.

Selected Broccoli& Rice Casserole and Green Cake and I offer them up to the Caker World. I must say I felt very self conscious at the checkout with my Dream Whip, Cheez Whiz and Ritz crackers in hand.

Broccoli Casserole (Submitted by Dorothy Hanes)

Saute 2 pkg frozen broccoli or 1 fresh head.

Cook 1- 12 oz pkg long grain or wild rice mix.

Combine ½ lb jar Cheese Whiz and 2 cans mushroom soup.

Mix everything together and pour into buttered casserole dish.

Sprinkle buttered bread crumbs over mixture (breadcrumb notes a bit vague here; go with your instincts).

Bake 350 C for 1 hour. (Option to add diced chicken or tuna)

I give you my casserole...



Francis spoke of the challenges in maintaining his blog given the nature of the finished
product. It is very often colourless and formless (as above) and sometimes the taste is a bit suspect.

Would definitely flesh it out with the chicken. It needs something to cut the strength of all that soup concentrate and Cheez Whiz! Thank goodness for the broccoli and brown rice. Almost have to add a starch side.

(Editor's note: it aged well; mellowed out after 24 hrs courtesy of the microwave and the chicken breast)

Green Cake (Submitted by Jean Betzner)

[I think cake is a misnomer here]

Layer 1

1 CUP Ritz cracker crumbs, ½ CUP shredded coconut and ¼ CUP melted butter. Press into 8x8 pan.

Layer 2

Combine 4 oz cream cheese, ¼CUP icing sugar, 1 half of prepared envelope of Dream Whip

Layer 3

1 pkg pistachio pudding mix and 1 ¼ CUP milk. Spread over crumb base.

Cover with remaining Dream Whip.

The publication of these recipes is not meant to poke fun at anyone (except perhaps my efforts); it is simply the nature of the cookbooks and their reflection on the culture at the time. Enjoy!

Must re-christen Green Cake. Any suggestions?

Post Script
Frederick refused to participate in this little adventure.  Took one look at the jar of Cheez Whiz, quietly put down his spoon, took off his apron and hat and walked out the door. Muttered something about heading East for some real food.