The Lazy Blogger

So let's see my happy thing for today, my husband spent some time finding programs to help me solve my problem with my laptop dropping it's signal and it might now be fixed or at least now I have new diagnostic tools to look at the situation! This is very happy.

I also spent some time and actually wrote down my favorite butternut squash risotto recipe so I can share it. It is loosely based off a recipe in The Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook by Jack Bishop, but simplified and changed because their recipe just takes too damn long and I like this version more >>;

This recipe serves 2 hungry people if they're not eating anything else for dinner or 4 if serving other things.

( Butternut Squash Risotto )

So a very Happy Passover to those who are currently celebrating it. Between the restrictions placed on me and the loss of some of my favorite foods, I always find myself rather food obsessed during it. I can't thank twotone enough for her lovely recipe, even if my husband is not so fond of it. I so adore it, and it is just lovely having a nice dessert to snack on when I feel peckish, as most store bought ones taste pretty similar to cardboard.

For those who don't know about Passover and its restrictions, for 8 days I am not supposed to eat: any grain or grain product except matzoh, no corn or corn products, no rice or rice products, no soy or soy products, and no legumes or legume products. While I miss bread, the grain part is not the true killer, it's the soy that is. It also makes for an interesting time since I do not eat any meat (including fish)

This year, I decided to get experimental and actually make dessert. In the past I've made chocolate covered strawberries or just skipped out, but this year I wanted to try a cake. I have this lovely ancient little cookbook I picked up in college used called The Art of Fine Baking chock full of egg rich recipes. I'd only made the ganache and the genoise from it, but decided to try some Swiss Broyage. For those curious, Swiss Broyage is in the meringue family. The recipe I had called for cornstarch and fewer egg whites, so I borrowed from a few recipes and altered some things. I ended up making a lovely refrigerator cake which stayed together nicely and was amazingly good.

Rachel's Passover Refrigerator Cake (a semi tested recipe)

1 recipe for Swiss Broyage
1 recipe for Lemon Custard
1 recipe of fresh Whipped cream
1/2 a pint to a pint of ripe strawberries sliced

Swiss Broyage:
5 egg whites
1 cup plus 1 T of sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/4 cup of finely ground pecans

Preheat oven to 325 and lightly butter a piece of parchment paper which will hopefully allow for the removal of the Swiss Broyage.

Beat the egg whites until they hold soft peaks. Then add the sugar a 1/4 of a cup at a time until the mixture holds a peak. Add the vanilla and nuts and whip for another minute.
Fill a cake decorating bag with the swiss broyage and pipe onto the parchment paper into 2 8 inch or 3 6 inch rounds (extra broyage can be baked and eaten as cookies)

Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes, until lightly browned and remove.

Lemon Custard: (from The Art of Fine Baking)
5 egg yolks
2 Lemons
1/4 cup of butter
1/2 cup of sugar

Zest the lemons and add the zest and juice to the yolks (I would highly recommend the OXO Lemon Zester for this) as well as the sugar and stir over medium heat in a thick saucepan constantly. Once sugar has fully dissolved, add the butter in small amount and continue stirring until thickened. Remove from heat.

Whipped Cream

1 cup of whipping or heavy cream
1/4 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Beat the cream until it starts to thicken and add the sugar and vanilla. Continue whipping until the cream makes soft peaks. Be careful not to overbeat!

For cake:

Break up the Swiss Broyage and layer it about 1 inch deep at the bottom of a non-stick loaf pan. Layer the lemon custard on top. Add a layer of whipped cream, and top with berries. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour, cut and serve.

I got raves for this. lol

The other important cooking lesson I've learned comes from making fresh guacamole. AlWAYS wear gloves when using habanero pepper. My fingers, nose, and eyes have burned at various times since dinner last night when I accidentally touched some seeds.