Memento - A Literary Feast

Tonight was the final round of our current season of Memento - the meal planned backwards and eaten forwards. This round was hosted by Lizzie at Carolyn & David's house, with a theme of "A Literary Feast". Each of us picked a favorite book as the inspiration for our course, and read a bit from it when presenting our dish.



The first appetizer course was from Lizzie herself, inspired by Christopher Moore's novel "A Dirty Job", in which the protagonist realizes he's death. Her Hell inspired dish was Deviled Cheese Toasts - featuring white and yellow sharp cheddar cheese, mayo, peppers, pickles, and Franks red hot. It was accompanied by a Bloody Mary with a Bacon swizzle stick. A wonderful, playful start to the night.





Dan & I were up next, taking inspiration from a favorite book of both of us, "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chomsky. It's a coming of age tale about a lonely high school freshman who finds friends in some seniors and begins to participate in life for the first time. It's a very sad story that taps into some of my own memories in ways that make me cry just thinking about it. Dan read a piece from the book that spoke to him, then I cried my way through a particularly moving passage for me.

As I read the book a second time on my Kindle, I highlighted ever reference to food in the book, hoping for inspiration. Unfortunately, it's mostly french fries and pot brownies, so not quite what we were looking for. But in true literary style, we used a pun playing off the book's title:

Faux Porks of Bean a Wallflower - two types of vegan bacon bits (Frontier Vegetarian Bits Bac'uns, 2.7-Ounce Bottle and homemade sunflower bacon bits) atop a Cannellini bean garlic parsley purée, with a homemade gluten-free cracker covered with edible bibiscus, lavender and brassica flowers.



Because it comes up a few times in the book, we served our dish with a bottle of brandy.

Inspired by the pot brownies in the book, (which is the chapter my passage was from), we also served everyone an edible flower called a "Buzz Buttons" that makes your mouth tingle and your salivary glands go into overdrive. We all had fun trying them out and then inviting the kids to try them, too. They're not a drug or narcotic, but have a similar effect as Szechuan peppercorns.





Next up was the Salad course from Marcy & James, which James had taken the lead on using his favorite Hemingway novel as his inspiration, "The Old Man and the Sea".

Their salad of butter lettuce, avocado, cucumber, and tomato was topped with pancetta, grapefruit, and some wonderful tuna (a fish referenced many times in the book), with a bright white vinegar, mustard, garlic and olive oil dressing.



Taking inspiration from a book neither had read, Anna & Jason's Entree course was courtesy of "Lolita".

The decadent dish was a Pork tenderloin with sweet spicy rub, roasted potatoes and a bacon wrapped fig with goat cheese, all drizzled with Sriracha aioli. And in her signature plating style, Anna included a strawberry and a sprig of rosemary on the plate.
Strawberry rosemary

They served it with a hearty red wine.





Although she couldn't be with us due to a friend in need, Nancy inspired the book Linda chose for the second entree course's inspiration: "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn".

Playing off the many food references in the book, and sharing some of the stories themselves, Linda served a vegetarian Meatball with Coffee Sriracha glaze, and Arugula salad with pumpkin butter vinaigrette, pumpkin seeds and creamy goat cheese, and Smashed potatoes. To accompany it she had coffee stout beer.



Carolyn & David, along with Logan & Zoe presented the final course, a dessert inspired by "The Hunger Games".

We were each presented with a plate with something under a piece of paper with the Mockingjaylogo on it, from the book. We were then invited to light the paper on fire. It turned out to be Flash Paper, resulting in a show stopping presentation to the dish (and lots of fun with fire).



Under the paper was a delicious Goat Cheese Cheesecake with a Pistachio crust and "Nightlock" berries (actually blueberries).



Tonight was also Anna's birthday, which we celebrated with a champagne toast before the meal, and then she received a 'cake' near the end of the meal with a candle to blow out. The cake turned out to be made from mashed potatoes.



It was great hearing about some books I've not read that friends really love, and enjoying a wonderful meal together. This turned into the longest Memento ever, with Dan & I getting home after midnight - a good end to a fun season.

Peanut Butter Cupcakes w/ Chocolate Ganache Frosting

Tonight we celebrate the birthdays of my nephew Milo and my sister-in-law, Midge. My mother-in-law asked for the classic chocolate cupcake with vanilla buttercream, but my wonderful husband knew I'd been obsessing over a peanut butter cupcake recipe I found online, and asked his sister if Milo likes chocolate & peanut butter, and she gave the thumbs up.

Intellectually, I feel like cupcakes are a bit overexposed, but I also recognize there's a reason they're so popular. Self-contained, infinitely adaptable, and simultaneously elegant and a comfort food, it's unlikely any other dessert will surpass them in popularity. I finally came to terms with this love-hate relationship with cupcakes and started TiVo'ing Food Network's Cupcake Wars (which I'd been watching whenever I found it on anyway). One thing I noticed was that the contestants who succeeded on the show always went beyond simple cake and frosting, adding fillings, drizzles, and edible decorations on top. That inspiration led me to this Peanut Butter cupcake with Peanut Butter filling, chocolate ganache and a white chocolate monogram on top.

Peanut Butter Cupcakes
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 pinch salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line two cupcake pans (24 cupcakes) with paper liners. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt, and whisk together to evenly distribute all ingredients. In your stand mixer, mix together the brown sugar, shortening and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter alternately with the milk (a little flour, a little milk, a little flour, a little milk, etc.). Spoon into the prepared muffin cups. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the top of the cupcakes spring back when lightly pressed. Cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once cooled, use a small pair of tongs to pull a small chunk of the cupcake from the center, making space for the filling.

(From AllRecipes.com)



Peanut Butter Filling
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3 Tbspn unsalted butter
2/3 cup confectioners' sugar

In a medium bowl, beat the peanut butter with the butter until creamy. Sift the confectioners' sugar into the bowl and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Spoon the peanut butter filling into a pastry bag fitted with a large tip. Gently squeeze the pastry bag to fill each cupcake.

(From Food & Wine Magazine)



Chocolate Ganache Frosting
16 oz bittersweet chocolate
16 oz heavy cream

Put chocolate in a medium mixing bowl and set on a trivet. Place cream in a heavy saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil, then pour over chocolate. Allow to sit 5 minutes, then whisk until fully combined. Place bowl on an ice pack to speed cooling, and allow to cool for several hours, until thickened to a frosting consistency.

Spoon ganache into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe onto cupcakes.



White Chocolate Letters
3 oz white chocolate
Gel food coloring

Chop white chocolate finely and place in a small glass bowl. Add several drops of gel food coloring. Place bowl in the microwave and heat on high for 20 seconds, then 10 more seconds at a time until you are able to stir together. The chocolate will be melted before it appears melted, so check with a spoon before heating further. Stir until fully combined. Spoon into a small pastry bag with a very fine tip. Pipe letters onto a smooth silicone baking mat placed on an overturned baking sheet. Chill in the refrigerator. When firm, carefully peel from mat and place on cupcakes.



The cupcakes were well received, with my brother-in-law going for a second and my mother in law saying they looked professional - both high praise. I did, unfortunately, overcook some of the cupcakes, with some being a little burned on the bottom. When I checked them at 20 minutes, they seemed very soft on top, so I gave them 3 extra minutes - which was too much for some of them. I also failed to taste the filling before piping it into the cupcakes, and it wasn't as transformed as I'd hoped. I would definitely make these again, but would fill the cupcakes a little less, and cut back on the peanut butter and increase the sugar and butter in the filling to make it smoother and sweeter.

Chocolate Cake w/ Coconut Cream

This week was my father-in-law, Don's, 80th birthday - and tonight we all got together to celebrate. I got the honor of making the cake for the big occasion!

Carolyn (my mother-in-law) tipped me off to a recipe she saw in her Woman's Day magazine, for a Chocolate Cake with Coconut Cream, which turned out to be very simple, and delicious! The decadent chocolate cake stayed really moist, and the frosting was delicate instead of cloyingly sweet (thanks to almost no sugar in it) adding a delicate textural counterpoint to the shaved coconut pressed on the outside. I'll definitely be making this chocolate cake again, and am wondering if you could replace some of the heavy cream used in the frosting with coconut cream, to bump up the coconut flavor a little bit?



Chocolate Cake with Coconut Cream

Cooking spray and flour, for the pan
1 3⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
3⁄4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1⁄2 cups granulated sugar
1⁄2 cup packed brown sugar
1 1⁄2 tsp baking soda
1⁄2 tsp baking powder
1⁄2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup whole milk
1⁄2 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3⁄4 cup boiling water

1 1⁄2 cups heavy cream
1⁄2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1⁄4 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 cups unsweetened coconut (we used flakes)

Heat oven to 350°F. Coat two 8 x 2-in. round cake pans with nonstick spray. Line bottoms with wax paper; spray the paper. Dust with flour.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, granulated and brown sugars, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a large measuring cup or bowl, whisk together milk, oil, eggs and vanilla. Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and mix until fully incorporated.

Add the boiling water to the batter and mix well to combine (the batter will be thin). Divide the batter between the prepared pans and bake until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, beat the heavy cream, sour cream and confectioners’ sugar in a large bowl until stiff peaks form. Place one of the cakes on a platter and spread 1 cup frosting over the top. Top with the remaining cake and frost with the remaining icing. Gently pat the coconut all over the cake. Serve immediately or refrigerate, up to 1 day.

(Recipe Courtesy WomansDay.com)

Dan's Birthday Dinner Courtesy Dave's Diner

Dinner turned out to be a change of plans, too - after we ordered from Ezell's via 2goServices, only to find out that they were closed.

Thankfully, Dave's Diner is also a restaurant that 2go supports, and they had a fried chicken dinner on the menu. It turned out just perfect, and hopefully Dan enjoyed his big day - despite every restaurant we planned to visit being closed.

Dan's Birthday Lunch at Cactus

The theme of Dan's birthday this year turned out to be closed restaurants, as we discovered when we drove over to West Seattle to enjoy a bite and a drink at Bamboo Grill.

As we walked up, the staff waved at us, but were sitting inside the dark restaurant, waiting for the power to go back on... so we turned around and hit up the Cactus.



A favorite of Lisa (Dan's sister), Dan & I have never actually been to the Alki location - only the one in Madison Park. We grabbed a booth in the bar and ordered a couple margaritas and some chips and salsa - a perfect light lunch, since we have plans for something a little heavier for dinner.