Tiramisu

As you may have noticed, my blog is currently going under some major re-construction. I figured that it was about time I stopped depending on my pre-designed template (which was also very constricting) and revert back to the basics...and slowly construct it via my own html. Of course, that's going to take a very very long time...but then again, my blog's not going anywhere anytime soon.

So as previously mentioned in my ladyfingers post, I've been working hard in my attempt to make homemade tiramisu from scratch...and it came out quite pretty, I must say! It doesn't exactly look like the traditional tiramisu, but I had to make a few changes for the sake of photography. I would have wanted to take a shot of a slice with the ladyfingers poking out, but I was afraid that cutting into such a delicate custard might just make the whole thing cave in...still delicious but not very pretty. Plus, I actually froze this one for a bit so that I wouldn't have to freak out rushing back and forth between the fridge while my custard melted during the photography. It's okay...it still tastes good, and I still have another tiramisu that is actually legitimate.

Ladyfingers

9 DAYS LEFT!!!!!!!!!

I have 9 days left until we head over to the East Coast to send me off to school. That means 9 days left until an entirely new chapter of my life begins. I'm pretty excited for the move; after all these months stuck at home it's about time I return to school and get some real work done. Of course, I'll probably regret saying that in about a month or two in.

I'm making tiramisu because it's my dad's favorite dessert, and Mom's no longer there to reprimand him for a little gastronomical self-indulgence. Plus he had already bought the cream cheese by the time I got home, so I couldn't exactly say no to him, could I?

I've made tiramisu many times before, but always with varying results. Sometimes it comes out great, and other times it's a disaster. The last time I made it was for my apartment-mates, and we had forgotten to add the flour...so it was, embarrassingly enough, a disaster.

Cioppino

A couple days ago we actually saw crab on sale at the local Asian market, and if there's one thing our household will NEVER get enough of, it's crab. Seriously, there have been times where we literally ate nothing but crab for days straight (well, okay, maybe just dinner...but still, it was DAYS). It was a little odd actually because crab season is usually in the winter, so we were surprised to see it at only $3.99 a pound in the middle of July. But hey, who's complaining?

Anyway, Dad wanted to get crabs again today, (they seemed pretty angry about being bought) but we decided that, instead of steaming them like we always do, we ought to try a creative new twist on it. After some consideration, we settled on San Francisco Cioppino (Dad really wanted Singapore Chili Crab, but he says he has yet to find a legitimate recipe in NorCal...one day I'll go to Penang and try the real deal). I guess four years in San Diego hasn't completely washed out the Bay Area in me :)

Cioppino is supposed to be a seafood soup, sort of like a Bouillabaisse with an Italian twist. The first time I had it, our next-door neighbor gave us a bowl with an actual lobster tail in it...mm...unforgettable. Unfortunately, lobster is a little hard to come by, not to mention sore on the wallet, so we settled instead this time for crab. And, hey, it was still delicious. In fact, that's just the thing with cioppino - you can mix and match just about any kind of shellfish or seafood (except for certain kinds of fish, they might disintegrate in the soup) and still end up with fantastic results.

Sourdough Grissini (Italian Breadsticks)

Remember my old sourdough starter that I started ages and ages ago? Well it's making a come back once more.

Since its creation, this starter has been refrigerated, thawed, used, carried 8 hours in a car, dried and stored for over a month, and rehydrated. It has also been christened by its two other parents. Moonjung actually looked up names and decided on "Aiden", which is supposed to mean something deep but I don't remember anymore. Gordon preferred the name "Spicy" - typical Gordon move.

Anyway, Aiden Spicy Chia has been used once more to make Grissini, or Italian Breadsticks. Except this isn't any ordinary grissini...it's a sourdough one! I actually got the recipe from Wild Yeast Blog, and I figured that since I'm leaving for Southern Cali at the end of this week for Graduation, I might as well use up the remaining active starter and just rehydrate my dried pieces when I come back.

Tomato Basil Fougasse

I'm trying out my Dad's Blackberry camera now to see if it gives better results on my food photography. Today, Mom left to meet up with her Church friends, so I had the kitchen all to my self (evil laugh). I recently dug up the box containing my books from undergrad (when I moved out I packed everything up and left it buried in the garage) and found The New Bread Book by Ursula Ferrigno. It had been given as a Christmas present by my roommate a few years ago, and as Dad and I riffled through the pages, one recipe caught my eye....