Black Cake
For most West Indians it's not 'chestnuts roasting on an open fire or Jack Frost nipping at your toes' that evokes feelings of Christmas but black cake soaked in lots of rum. It just wouldn't be Christmas without it. So much so that I have actually had to mail tins of this cake to friends and family abroad who craved a taste of home.
Black cake is also used for weddings. As per tradition I saved a layer of my wedding cake which we consumed in celebration of the birth of our first child - six years later! I confess to being more than a bit skeptical as I contemplated that well-aged slice of cake. Curiosity won out. I ate it and crossed my fingers that there wouldn't be any ill effects. My fears were unfounded. The cake tasted about the same as it did on the day of my wedding. Delicious.
This year's black cake was baked by November, wrapped, soaked in rum and put to cure for Christmas. The hectic season means that I am only now finding time to post this amazing, fragrant and boozy treat that we will be enjoying well into January.The New York Times has a good recipe for Black Cake.
My own cake is not the traditional black colour. Click here to see the colour that it should be. Some years I get it right, some years not. This year I chickened out and removed the sugar from the fire too soon. You'd be surprised how quickly the sugar goes from dark brown to a bitter charred mess. It takes experience and careful watching to get it right. If you have read about my struggles with custard then you will know that I am an an impatient cook. The lighter coloured cake is no less delicious than a dark one.
The NY Times recipe suggests that you brush the cake with rum. I don't know anyone who does that. Here is how we soak our cakes. Make small holes all over the cake with a skewer. Throw away the brush and drench the cakes in rum. Nothing less than a full bottle will do.
On Christmas Eve the caterers at my husband's firm served black cake. A co-worker decided that since it was the last day of work before a holiday there was little chance that the drug and alcohol tester would show up. Turns out he was wrong. Copious amounts of water was drunk and frantic calls to the caterer ensued. Luckily the cake only contained a mild cherry brandy. Let's just say, had the cake not been watered down my boy would have failed the alcohol test and lost his job for sure!
Here are some sites that talk about this cake
A fruitcake soaked in the tropical sun
Black cake - a dry run
Black Cake
birthday meat and potatoes 3rd draft
Say the word birthday and one invariable thinks of cake. In fact the celebration of a birthday may seem incomplete without cake. For my birthday, despite tradition, I asked that there NOT be any cake.
I will explain.
Every week during the month of November, there is a birthday in my family. That's one cake every week. This translates to a slice of cake almost everyday if it is not to go to waste. By the time my own birthday rolls around in mid December I am pretty much sick of cake! Yes! It absolutely can happen that you can have too much of a good thing.
So this year instead of cake , I wished for a family dinner. I decided that it would be nice if for a change we could all sit down to eat together. I applaud all of you for whom that is a normal occurrence. In our home it seems like at least one person is always standing, doing something or other while some are eating.
Also I must confess that we let the kids look at television while they eat. We are going to parent hell, I know. In our defense it's a welcome distraction for the younger ones. If it's a school night we usually use this time to pack the children's lunches for the following day while they eat and look at their favourite shows. Hey don't judge me. Hire me a maid and I'll focus on etiquette 101. Until then Sponge Bob you are my #1 man in square pants. I so heart you.
So in the interest of being less like cave people, my one wish for my birthday was for us to all sit in a civilized manner and have dinner together. In my mind's eye, I envisaged a perfect evening, sharing a delicious and lovingly prepared meal with the people I love most in this world.
Here is how it actually went down.
The baby screamed LOUDLY and a lot. He screamed as we attempted to guide his spoon to his mouth. He is learning to self feed and wants to do it all on his own. He screamed with frustration when we did not help and food was unintentionally catapulted out of his bowl. He screamed with joy when he finally got it right and into his mouth instead of my hair. Cheers all around.
My eldest doesn't like pak choi (bok choi), so lots of grumbling on her part with threats on ours in order to get her to eat it. A ban on Nitentedo DSi can be a powerful tool in getting a child to eat their veggies:-)
The four year old whined. He was upset that the TV was off, therefore no Sponge Bob.
At first I was distressed that my little soirée seemed to be a disaster. My darling husband tried his best to help me rally our mutinous troops by pouring us both, very, VERY generous glasses of wine. We needed fortification. My son Marley took this as a cue to stop whining about cartoons. He raised his juice cup. "Hey mummy let's ching ching." Glasses were raised and a toast was made. Happy Birthday was sung.
After the usual reminders to use the cutlery provided and not eat with his hands, Marley then picked up his knife and fork asked "So mummy, how was your day?" My husband's eyes smiled at me across the table. I lifted my glass to him as I beamed at my 4 year old son's gentlemanly attempt to make conversation. " My day was perfect sweetheart. Just perfect." And then I picked some potato out of my hair.
Roasted Potato With Rosemary
Serves 6
Potatoes don't need to be boiled before oven roasting. However boiling them first, results in a better texture that is very much like steak fries.
Ingredients
2 1/2 lbs of potatoes
1 or 2 tablespoons herbes de provence *
1/3 cup olive oil
Salt and taste
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Method
Wash potatoes. Boil them with 1 tsp of salt until just tender. (5- 8 mins) Drain and cut the potatoes into halves or quarters. Small potatoes can be left whole. Drain the water (reserving some if you are making a gravy).
Arrange the potatoes in a baking tray with herbes de Provence, then drizzle the olive oil and sprinkle some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Bake the potatoes for about 40 to 50 minutes or until the potatoes turn crispy and the flesh is tender.
* you can season potatoes with which ever is your preffered spice blend
Braised Pak Choi Recipe
INGREDIENTS
2 pounds pak choy
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large oniions sliced
4 cloves of garlic (sliced in slivers)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1. Trim the base of the pak choy, then chop off the leaves. Cut the base in half lengthwise, then cut the halves crosswise on a diagonal into 1/4-inch-thick strips. Cut the leaves crosswise on a diagonal into 1 1/2-inch-wide strips.
2. Place a large wok or a pot large enough to hold all the pak choy over high heat. Add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and stir-fry until browned. Then add the onions. Cook , 2 to 3 minutes. Add the pak choy and season with the salt and pepper. Cover and cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.
Serves 4 to 6.
Pot Roast in the Pressure Cooker
I have never done a pot roast in the pressure cooker before so I followed the recipe from Cook's Illustrated as closely as I could. It was good but I feel it can be made more to my taste with a few adjustments. For one thing the the cooking time of 1 hour needs to be shortened as the beef was falling apart tender. Great for sandwiches. Not so great for slicing and serving.
2nd draft meat and potatoes
Say the word birthday and one invariable thinks of cake. In fact the celebration of a birthday may seem incomplete without cake. For my birthday, despite tradition, I asked that there NOT be any cake.
I will explain.
Every week during the month of November, there is a birthday in my family. That's one cake every week. This translates to a slice of cake almost everyday if it is not to go to waste. By the time my own birthday rolls around in mid December I am pretty much sick of cake! Yes! It absolutely can happen that you can have too much of a good thing.
So this year instead of cake , I wished for a family dinner. I decided that it would be nice if for a change we could all sit down to eat together. I applaud all of you for whom that is a normal occurrence. In our home it seems like at least one person is always standing, doing something or other while some are eating.
Also I must confess that we let the kids look at television while they eat. We are going to parent hell, I know. In our defense it's a welcome distraction for the younger ones. If it's a school night we usually use this time to pack the children's lunches for the following day while they eat and look at their favourite shows. Hey don't judge me. Hire me a maid and I'll focus on etiquette 101. Until then Sponge Bob you are my #1 man in square pants. I so heart you.
So in the interest of being less like cave people, my one wish for my birthday was for us to all sit in a civilized manner and have dinner together. In my mind's eye, I envisaged a perfect evening, sharing a delicious and lovingly prepared meal with the people I love most in this world.
Here is how it actually went down.
The baby screamed LOUDLY and a lot. He screamed as we attempted to guide his spoon to his mouth. He is learning to self feed and wants to do it all on his own. He screamed with frustration when we did not help and food was unintentionally catapulted out of his bowl. He screamed with joy when he finally got it right and into his mouth instead of my hair. Cheers all around.
My eldest doesn't like pak choi (bok choi), so lots of grumbling on her part with threats on ours in order to get her to eat it. A ban on Nitentedo DSi can be a powerful tool in getting a child to eat their veggies:-)
The four year old whined. He was upset that the TV was off, therefore no Sponge Bob.
At first I was distressed that my little soirée seemed to be a disaster. My darling husband tried his best to help me rally our mutinous troops by pouring us both, very, VERY generous glasses of wine. We needed fortification. My son Marley took this as a cue to stop whining about cartoons. He raised his juice cup. "Hey mummy let's ching ching." Glasses were raised and a toast was made. Happy Birthday was sung.
After the usual reminders to use the cutlery provided and not eat with his hands, Marley then picked up his knife and fork asked "So mummy, how was your day?" My husband's eyes smiled at me across the table. I lifted my glass to him as I beamed at my 4 year old son's gentlemanly attempt to make conversation. " My day was perfect sweetheart. Just perfect." And then I picked some potato out of my hair.
Roasted Potato With Rosemary
Serves 6
Potatoes don't need to be boiled before oven roasting. However boiling them first, results in a better texture that is very much like steak fries.
Ingredients
2 1/2 lbs of potatoes
1 or 2 tablespoons herbes de provence *
1/3 cup olive oil
Salt and taste
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Method
Wash potatoes. Boil them with 1 tsp of salt until just tender. (5- 8 mins) Drain and cut the potatoes into halves or quarters. Small potatoes can be left whole. Drain the water (reserving some if you are making a gravy).
Arrange the potatoes in a baking tray with herbes de Provence, then drizzle the olive oil and sprinkle some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Bake the potatoes for about 40 to 50 minutes or until the potatoes turn crispy and the flesh is tender.
* you can season potatoes with which ever is your preffered spice blend
Braised Pak Choi Recipe
INGREDIENTS
2 pounds pak choy
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large oniions sliced
4 cloves of garlic (sliced in slivers)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1. Trim the base of the pak choy, then chop off the leaves. Cut the base in half lengthwise, then cut the halves crosswise on a diagonal into 1/4-inch-thick strips. Cut the leaves crosswise on a diagonal into 1 1/2-inch-wide strips.
2. Place a large wok or a pot large enough to hold all the pak choy over high heat. Add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and stir-fry until browned. Then add the onions. Cook , 2 to 3 minutes. Add the pak choy and season with the salt and pepper. Cover and cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.
Serves 4 to 6.
Pot Roast in the Pressure Cooker
I have never done a pot roast in the pressure cooker before so I followed the recipe from Cook's Illustrated as closely as I could. It was good but I feel it can be made more to my taste with a few adjustments. For one thing the the cooking time of 1 hour needs to be shortened as the beef was falling apart tender. Great for sandwiches. Not so great for slicing and serving.
