I'd much rather bake and cook than iron and clean on a rainy day, wouldn't you too?
A few days ago when the rain was going sideways here at Struan Farm I turned into a mad cook in the kitchen. Baked another dairy free "peanut butter and banana loaf" for son Daniel's freezer, a "Ginger Bread and Butter Pudding with Poached Pears" from a recent edition of Dish Magazine, and a batch of "Spiced Roast Parsnip & Kumara Soup with Sumac Parsnip Chips." And after reading a blog post by David Lebovitz about Flo Braker's "Pain d'amande" Belgian almond cookie, decided to give that a try too.
The pears were poached in a sugar syrup with slices of fresh ginger, while the bread was buttered and then coated with ginger marmalade. Ginger was also added to the custard. I probably should have pushed the bread further down in the custard, although the recipe didn't say to do that. I'm also thinking it might have been better without the crusts, although the crunchy crusts do add something to the dish too. On the whole, pretty tasty.
This loaf is now part of my baking repertoire for the extended family. I just need to make sure I have fresh bananas on hand along with salted peanuts for the top.
I've made the soup before and we just love it. The veggies are roasted with onion, garlic, olive oil and cumin seed, then blended with green curry and chicken or vegetable stock using an emulsion blender in the pot before a light touch of cream is added. The parsnip chips dusted with sumac and sea salt really make the dish, I never seem to make enough of those! The soup is hearty and slightly spicy, definitely good for dinner (especially when you're having bread pudding for dessert!) or lunch on a wet, chilly day.
The almond cookies were amazing. Both Braker and Lebovitz worked at Chez Panisse Restaurant in Berkeley, California, my expectations were high. The easy dough is chilled in a loaf pan lined with cling film until firm. The cookies must be cut off from the chilled dough as thinly as possible, Lebovitz instructs to make them "as thin as a coin" if possible. For me it was a mixed bag, but he's right that they are crisper if thinner. Once the cookies are baked for 10-15 minutes on one side they are flipped over for the same amount of time. Definitely worth the effort for these, yum!
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