5. Citrus Loaves and Hacked Fruit: Orange Yogurt Cake

I love pound cake. It's good on its own or with fresh fruit, stewed fruit, chocolate sauce, whipped cream, ice cream, hand cream, ...

Suffice it to say I've been looking for a good recipe for a classic pound cake. Fortunately, I came across Ina Garten's recipe for Lemon Yogurt Cake before I had to dedicate many sticks of butter to experimentation. Ina uses yogurt and oil in place of all that butter and milk, and while it may not qualify as a true pound cake, this loaf is moist with so much flavour. I've made her original lemon cake, I've made Smitten Kitchen's even better grapefruit version, and this time, I used fresh-squeezed orange juice and zest in place of lemon and cut the sugar to a scant cup, ditching the glaze in favour of some chocolate chunk pieces (on sale, Mom!) and scraping the seeds from one of the vanilla pods in my homemade extract. The result?

I've definitely found my standby pound cake recipe. On the side is a fruit salad (obviously... ) of ataulfo mango, red grapes, pomelo, navel orange and delicious cara cara orange. The mint is just for show. I know the cake looks white and bland and boring in the picture, but the step after baking -- poking holes on the top of the warm cake and pouring fresh juice over it -- ensures a moist, delicate and fragrant crumb.

This cake is idiot-proof!

4. Hunks of Flesh: Standing Rib Roast

I made my second standing rib roast ever last night. It. . . was a success. Well, okay. I undercooked it because I was afraid of overcooking it. But I cut off a slice from either end, shoved it back into the oven, and when we were done with dinner the middle was cooked to perfection! By perfection I mean rare.

Let's just get to the pictures:

In practical terms, the good thing about cooking a hunk of something is that you don't have to cook it again later. I don't love leftovers, but there's a lot you can do with some quality prime rib roast, pulled pork, roasted tofu, roast chicken or roasted veggies in your fridge. Tonight I made this with some of the remaining beef (sorry, blurry pic):

I know that meat is grossing you out, Ma, but I promise I'll be okay. I made a honey mustard vinaigrette and you see those chunks of stale bread in there? That's my stale bread! The loaf I made this weekend was transformed into crunchy goodness for this salad. There's also green leaf lettuce, grape tomatoes, red pepper, queso fresco and some fresh mint. On the side was some stir-fried Chinese eggplant in a sweet-and-sour sauce (soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar and a clove of garlic), which I realize doesn't go with the salad but it was good nonetheless.

Mmm. . . formerly purpley.

In closing, take a look at this crazy shit:

One of these things is not like the other. . .

Later in the week I'll tell you all about the GREAT dessert I made with this gigantic egg, and also some other ingredients.

3. Breaking Bread: No-Knead White Bread

There's a certain satisfaction that comes with doing things for yourself. When it comes to food, I cut myself some slack on presentation if it means the flavour is there. And when I contrasted reasons for and against baking my own bread at home, the only con I could come up with, other than the fact that the dough may not rise as well as the recipe promised, was that I'd eat more bread. More delicious, delicious bread. So here I will present to you my top five reasons to quit buying flavourless, preservative-laden crap or shelling out for bakery loaves and start making your own:

5. At $5 per artisan loaf or $1 for a bag of grocery store sawdust, you get what you pay for.

4. Customization! Last week I baked a plain white loaf, this week I'm doing rosemary and rock salt, and next week I'll be buying some healthier flours to experiment with.

3. It's not difficult or time-consuming. The loaf I linked to above isn't even kneaded; you mix, pour, wait and bake. You can even do it in five minutes a day. Speaking of baking. . .

2. Your home smells AMAZING and everyone will want to be your friend and you'll totally get chicks.

Last but not least:

1. Homemade cinnamon toast whenever you want! I rest my case.

2. My Hummusble Roots: Meyer Lemon Hummus

Bought fancy citrus

Had to use three; waste of cash

Plain lemons better

The above haiku summarizes my feelings on my latest hummus-making endeavor. It's a simple formula: a drained can of chick peas. A big spoon or two of tahini. A clove or two of garlic. Salt, pepper, lemon to taste. Some bean goo goes into the food processor (or even blender) if you want it smoother. Unfortunately, I decided to buck tradition and try the lauded orange-hued Meyer lemon, and the result was a marked lack of acidity, even though I squeezed three. Oh well, maybe I'll use it in sandwiches.

This in no way reflects my addiction to lemons.

1. A Blog is Born

I recently moved to the big city from a comparatively tiny one, and I know Ma worries that my nutritional needs* aren't being met. Thus, a blog was born. As if there weren't enough of those, right? So what's my niche, you ask? What can I bring to the table (lol) that thousands of other food blogs haven't already accomplished? The answer is simple: poor writing, amateur cooking and painful photography skills, coupled with a gluttony unparalleled.

At the least, I hope this weblog will put my mother's mind at ease once she sees that I don't subsist solely on ramen and takeout sushi.

Hope you like it,

J

*I don't purport to eat health food. I believe in moderation. . . except in the following circumstances:

• at all-you-can-eat seafood buffets in Honolulu.
• during Arrested Development/Louie/Wonder Years marathons.
• on my birthday.
• whenever the thing I'm doing is really awesome, in spite of potential danger.