Menu
Sous Video and Grilled Chicken with Romesco Sauce
Romesco Pasta Salad with Basil and Parmesan
Roasted Beets
Corn Bread
18-carrot Cake (ala Alton Brown)
Notes
10 gathered for dinner this week (8 adults; 2 kids).
I bought a bag of “boneless chicken leg meat” and tried to sous vide it as is. 165°F for 90 minutes. It worked in practice, however, the bag sprung a leak at some point and water was introduced to the bag. I quickly cooled the bag after the 90 minutes in an ice bath. I skinned the chicken pieces (another downside to the “chicken leg meat” in a bag that I didn’t think of earlier. Patted it dry and grilled the chicken for about 5 minutes to add some color and drive off the boiled chicken smell. It was pretty tasty.
The pasta salad idea came from Bon Appetit. My version bore little resemblance to the recipe they provided. I used pecans in place of the walnuts (walnut allergy), used the bread crumbs in the romesco, added 2 kinds of paprika to up the pepper flavor, and only used about 1/2 the romesco in the pasta salad. I also quick sauteed some zucchini in place of the tomatoes and used mozzarella instead of Parmesan. The result was good, maybe a bit bitter to my palate.
I baked Alton’s carrot cake in a single pan, then split it into two layers. For the cream cheese frosting, I used a stick of butter, a brick of cream cheese, 2 cups powdered sugar, some heavy cream, and a splash of tangerine oil. I didn’t try to ice the sides of the cake, just between the layers and on top.
Afterlife Cafe 