Adam Wishneusky

Bored Adam Eats and Blogs

I didn’t do anything worthwhile today. That means I spent a lot of time on twitter, catching up on RSS feeds, adding stuff to my website and thinking about food. This was a rare day because I cooked TWICE. Breakfast was too-much french toast, heavy on the egg and heavy on the syrup. mmmmm frenchtoastface.

For dinner, I wanted a burger, so I popped over to the grocery store on Smith st for supplies. I always experiment when I cook and I’m successful MOST of the time, but this time, my attempt at Mushroom & Onion Meatloafburger kinda messed up. Definitely tasty, but needs work next time. I wanted to mix finely-chopped mushrooms and onions into the meat, but I like my animal flesh rare, so I sauteed them before mixing in. This and the too-much egg made it squooshy, so a) it threatened to ooze down between the bars of the grill and b) needed more cooking than rare. In spite of these flaws, it was darned good. I was surprised that it wasn’t very messy though. It dripped as I ate it, but didn’t fall apart and get all over my hands.

Now I’m going to get back to doing nothing. Tomorrow I potentially have a non-date via crazyblinddate. I posted that I just want to have fun and get some drinks and skip the interviewing and romantic pressure. Hopefully we’ll be on the same page.

Experiments in Baking Part II

The punchline first: DELICIOUS and UGLY ;)

Here’s how the beast was made.

Position the rack in the bottom 1/3 of your oven and pre-heat to 350°F (a bit higher might work better to carmelize the outside?). Prepare the following:

4 ish diced plums
3 ish diced peaches
Bunch of halved strawberries
3 ish peeled, sliced kiwis

Make the batter. I followed the recipe for “Boysenberry and Peach Buckle” All New Joy of Cooking pg 903 (but somehow used 4 times the recipe’s 1/2 stick butter. I also added allspice):

Whisk together thoroughly in a large bowl:

1 3/4 cups all-pupose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

Combine in another bowl:

2 sticks salted butter, half melted
1 cup sugar
1 cold large egg (I used jumbo)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Beat until slightly fluffy. Gradually beat in (this is challenging given the butter situation, but it can be done):

1/2 cup milk

Add to the flour mixture and stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened and the batter is smooth. Gently fold the peaches and plums into the batter. Butter a bundt pan and smoosh into the butter some brown sugar. Lay the strawberries in the bottom and line the outside and inside with kiwi slices. Spoon the batter into the pan. Bake for about 1 hour.

Experiments in Baking Part I

I’m going to Joe and Christine’s place for dindin tomorrow. I was charged with dessert. I just spent hours on an experimental cake which is baking now:

• Bundt pan, chosen for volume and upside-down cake potential
• Lined with butter and brown sugar
• Halved strawberries in the bottom and kiwi slices up the sides
• Buttery batter with lots of diced peaches and plums

Suspense!

UPDATE: The exciting conclusion is here!