(There are a lot of songs out there that feature oranges, by the way. I know because I just spent an hour looking for a good one that would lend its lyrics to our title. Jim suggested "Orange is the color of my true love's hair..." but as far as I can tell orange is exactly NOT the color of that songwriter's true love's hair and he made quite a big point of it. So the search continues. There are lots of sad orange songs out there: soldier songs, agent orange, bitter oranges...that Bon Iver song is my favorite of the milieu, but it seems a bit sad for a cooking post celebrating the gorgeous flavor of a perfect orange. Also, with lyrics like "you can gaze out the window get mad and get madder," my cooking club buddies will start assuming I have unresolved issues I need to discuss and geez... awkward. There are quite a few ambient/trance orange songs out there, too, but there all spacy and slow and crap. Hmm, well, I'll keep listening to songs while I'm writing this post. )
 |
| Prepping |
Bri has already finished a simple crust for the Orange Bars (Alex's reinterpretation of Lemon Bars.) The crust smells delicious. I ask what's it in, and Alex says dryly, "Flour and fat." Um, yum?
(Sheesh, you wouldn't think you could make a song with a title like Sweet Orange Sunshine into a dirge, but they did... )
The particularly weird thing we're making tonight is Orange Crackers. Alex found a general Bittman recipe for crackers (1 cup flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tbsp sesame oil, 1/2 c orange pulp. Roll it out, sprinkle with sesame seeds and hot sesame oil. )
This is how we got the pulp.
Once we mixed the dry ingredients in, then rolled it out and baked it, the crackers looked like this:
 |
| Funky looking, but tasty. |
Jim is dazed from slaving away for the last few days in front of a pottery wheel. He was admitted into CraftBoston and now he's ramping up production to have enough pottery to sell there. (You can find examples of his work here.)
Cooking Club Pun Battle: Brian and Jim are trading puns about oranges.
Brian: Alex had an epithany.
Jim: I pled the pith
As Jim makes the crackers, Alex tells us that he's only recently been able to eat oranges. It's one of those flavors like coffee that he despised before, but can now mysteriously tolerate. Some sort of bodily chemical change? A brain alteration? Metamorphosis?
Meanwhile, Alex is frying tofu and Brian is putting together the Orange Salad Dressing. The dressing included: silken tofu, orange, balsamic vinegar, salt, lemon juice and olive oil, and as you can see from the reviews below, I loved it.
I think I've found the musical theme for this cooking blog. It's a surprising song, perfectly conveying the surprising tastes we experienced tonight. Listen to 30 seconds of this at least. I like how they yell: This is it! This is it. I.T. it! I want to get that on a t-shirt and wear it to work (where I do IT stuff).
Tonight's TV entertainment includes one episode of True Blood (Season 4) and one episode of Lost Girl (Season 1). The latter is because we got tired of the plot of the former. Between you and me, I'm not sure if we're going to make it to True Blood Season 7. Not if I have anything to say about it...
Rilke said:
... *..In order for a Thing to speak to you, you must regard it for a certain time as the only one that exists, as the one and only phenomenon which your laborious and exclusive love is now placed at the center of the universe, and which, in that incomparable place, is on that day attended by angels.
And that's how we feel about oranges tonight! It also happens to be related to what Jim has on his t-shirt.Can you guess why?
Our Orange Salad included arugula, tomatoes, cucumbers, cashews, orange slices, avocado slices. Sadly, no picture of it seems to exist.
Tofu with Orange Sauce:
Jim: A- little more hot sauce would improve things. It was a tiny bit too sweet
Deb: A I loved it and it amazing in the salad. Delicious.
Bri: A-. The goal of being citrusy was achieved, but it would be nice if there wan another flavor note. Alex: A. Thought the sauce was so citrusy and flavorful. The tofu texture could have been a little bit better.
Orange Crackers:
Brian: A+ Perfect. If you put a plate of crackers in front of me and told me that was all I get, I would eat all them and be happy.
Jim: Taste an A+, Texture gets a B-. Overall, it was an A. Texture-wise it was a little off, not crispy.
Alex: A- I liked the taste. I enjoyed eating it. The texture could have been better, but I REALLY liked it. It was a splendid delivery vehicle for the sauce.
Deb: A. There was nothing wrong with these crackers.
Asparagus: it was the same roasted asparagus that we always eat, but IT WAS SO GOOD WITH THE SAUCE. The crunchy tips of the spears were an extra bonus.
Orange Salad:
Deb: A. I loved that salad! OMG, it was the best salad ever. I want to recreate it immediately.
Jim: A-. It needed more tartness or sharpness. The dressing was good by itself, but the oranges with the dressing was a little too sweet for me. Every dish tonight was delicious, but they were all a little sweet. Alex: A-. I love oranges and avocado together. It's such a lovely combination. Some elements didn't work together, and there are other things that could go into it that would make it more exciting, so there's room for improvement.
Brian: B-, Meh, a salad is a salad.
Orange Bars:
Bri: C+ The crust was horrible. It was less a crust than a crumble. The filling still didn't feel solid. Maybe it needed a couple of hours in the fridge. It had the consistency of jello. I never had to eat a lemon bar with a spoon before, but this came close.
Alex: B+ While the crust did not stick together well, I found the flavor very nice and ...maybe I'm biased, I haven't been eating very many sweets lately...I loved this thing. But I agree with Brian that it was a very problematic arrangement. The top didn't settle enough. We should retroactively call them Orange Tart Squares. Or Citrus Tarts, since they have lemon in them.
Jim: C. I get a weird aftertaste.
Deb: B I liked it a lot, but it needs to be tarter, but maybe I am just trying to turn in to a lemon bar in my mind.
No comments:
Post a Comment