Wednesday, May 08, 2013

Bumper crops


Yeah, I guess the new goat babies are sort of cute. Check out the ears on the brown one. Now look at the ears on either of the black ones.
runt in foreground
Back in December, we bred Natalie to a Nigerian Dwarf (upright ears), but he didn't seem tall enough to knock her up, so a Nubian buck (floppy ears) was brought out a few minutes later. Now I think we got kids from both of them. Score! We all favor the runt because people always favor the runt.

I'm continuing the policy of cooking only one item every night, although I'm allowed to make dessert if the mood strikes. I harvested half a laundry basket of monster fava beans on Monday and braised some of them with sage and pancetta, adapting a recipe for peas in The Zuni Cafe Cookbook. I put them on the table next to the rotisserie chicken. (Note: I asked Mark to choose the next 10 dinners, but he declined the offer.)
not sure I'm up to the job
"No fava things for me," Mark said jovially. "I'm on a diet." Isabel tried the favas and disliked their texture; Owen said they didn't taste good. I alone ate the fava beans. Must every blog post include an anecdote of this nature? Apparently. Here's another from the same night:

For dessert, I made David Lebovitz's chocolate-banana ice cream. I used the version of the recipe printed in Ready for Dessert,  but it is also here. It's a super-cool recipe: Puree bananas, melted chocolate, milk, Bailey's Irish liqueur, and rum. Freeze. No machine required. The resulting ice cream is dense, icy, and complex, like a spiked fudgesicle. Mark took a bite and said, "Nope! Too alcoholic." He then served himself a big bowl of Snickers caramel swirl chunk and we sat down on the sofa with our different ice creams and watched Robin Wright have hot flashes on House of Cards. Whatever. The day we start watching different TV shows in different rooms, that's when I'll start to worry.

Last night I made fettuccine with preserved lemon and roasted garlic from The Essential New York Times Cookbook because it looked easy, delicious, and unusual. It was all three. Everyone in the household ate it without complaint. Next time I'd mince the preserved lemon finely like the recipe says, rather than chopping it coarsely like a lazy person does. I'd also add more cheese. It's a great recipe to have on hand for those occasions when you really, really, really don't want to go to the supermarket, which for me is always. Try it.
pretty pound cake baked in new bundt pan

20 comments:

  1. Your bundt cake picture made me smile.

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  2. I would happily eat your fava beans. They're my new addiction. I never had them before this year. I'm in love with Marcella Hazan's preparation of them "a la Romana" from The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.

    Those goats are stinkin' cute. I don't want to own a goat, but I do want to hold one of yours.

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    1. Holding goats is the way to go. Owning them is sometimes tiring. I'll try the Marcella recipe next.

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  3. Your goats are really cute! Do goat kids have that new DNA smell? I love that smell!
    I cannot believe that Mark turned down your offer. Obviously he is not as bothered by your cooking forays as he says. I think this is good; you can use this. I agree, it is great when you get to a point that you no longer worry about whether or not others like what you like. I think of it as growing wisdom.
    I bought that exact bundt pan this spring, and I baked Bon Appetit's Lemon Buttermilk bundt cake in it. It was wonderful. What did you bake?
    I have never had fava beans, but I would eat yours, without a doubt.

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    1. I love this pan. I made a poundcake from the New York Times Cookbook that contains fat in 4 form: oil, shortening, butter, and whipped cream that you fold into the batter. I've had to ration my portions of this cake, but Owen gets huge slab in lunch box every day. He's reached the age of bottomless pit eating. Also: 5'6, 106 pounds.

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    2. If you think of it, let me know how moist the NYT's recipe stays after a few days. I just figured out that using butter makes the pound cakes taste better, but they don't stay moist very long. The recipes that use oil stay moist much longer, but don't have as great a flavor. Mixing all these fats might be the solution I need to making a cake that stays moist as long as possible with great taste.

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    3. Beckster -- I will force myself to eat a small slice today in the name of research.

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  4. Hey, I've got the same pan. :) Just made a Bourbon Buttermilk Cake from Vintage Cakes with it yesterday.

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  5. I need a new pan! which brand is yours---Sophie is tired of the old bundt shape and they are less nonstick than previously. She is 5'4" and 93 lb for reference, no matter how many cupcakes she eats. I heard something recently about peeling fava beans and I want to say they blanched them in some water with a pinch of baking soda and the skins slipped right off? It was on the Good Food podcast, an issue with a science guy on it.

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  6. You are the best Tipsy, love from the Dominican Republic, read you several times a week for the last 3 years or 4.

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  7. I agree, you are the best. Just wish you posted more often!!

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  8. Whatever happened to the bobcat?

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    1. Bobcat is still at large. He was here 2 weeks ago, but the chickens were safely locked in their run. When the baby goats came, we locked them in the chicken run and let the chickens out where they will probably at some point be attacked by the bobcat again.

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  9. I don't have that pan, but I do have a Nordic Ware pan that bakes a cake shaped like a giant cupcake. I regret to say my children were not responsible for that decision -- it was all me.

    How cute are your goats! since I can't really say about them: "they look yummy!" the cake does, though. I have a ten year old, 66 lbs., over 4 feet tall. Alas, she does not like cake. Or preserved lemons. Or fava beans.

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    1. Oh my God, I just came back to reread my comment and it is like the disjointed ramblings of a lunatic. And I haven't even been drinking! I am sorry.

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  10. Yay for pictures of the baby goats! Who gets to name them? Beware-Nordicware pans are addictive. I went through a period where I bought 6 of them in one year. They take up a lot of space too.

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  11. Azure, that's exactly what I thought. I saw the picture and loved it. But we just moved from a house with a kitchen that was twice the size of the new one. I don't have room for the stuff I already own never mind a nice new one like that. Hmmm, unless ... I could toss two and buy one???

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