My only plan for the day flaked on me, so I kept me n' Edles busy. Woke up early, got the laundry done, then out to food shop by 11. Passing by Donut Plant was a bit hard, wanted a donut but didn't feel a sugar craving -- it was a donut craving! As you can see above, I was looking for inspiration at the market and got it. Kinda wanted to make EVERYTHING suggested (like a homemade hotpocket and make some mac n' cheese and put it in a box) but already had plans to cook two other things -- since tomorrow evening is the end of my week-long sugar-fast, I made lemon pound cake and mint-chocolate chip ice cream today, a riff on the mint lemonade I made a bunch o' times this summer.
After getting home and eating, just spent the time juggling making salad and the 4 dishes with tending to Edie's feeding, diapers, need for snuggles and sleep time. By the time B got home, freshly roasted pumpkin seeds were on the table, soup was ready to go, ice cream custard chilling for churning tomorrow, 3 pound cakes cooling on the windowsill, and the pappardelle about 10 minutes out. It was as much fun as I could have had with Edie in the kitchen -- I can't wait for her to be old enough to help me turn some meals out!
BREAKFAST: 8am, organic cheerios with dead organic milk, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH 1: 11:15am, 6" Subway veggie burger sub, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
I just don't trust their cheap super-processed lunch meats. Didn't want to be too hungry while food shopping.
LUNCH 2: 2pm, Yonah Shimmel potato knish, Nathan's hotdog on potato roll with kraut and onions, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Freezer-fishing after food shopping and before kicking off an afternoon of cooking. I never paid much attention to the Sabrett's brand "onions in sauce" jar before, but I couldn't help notice how sweet they were. The ingredients list sugar 6th, and the onions themselves were probably chosen for sweetness and are probably cooked to bring that out, so my sugar fast has not been blown. I think this kind of onion relish was designed to be a cheap swap for real caramelized onions...
DINNER: 5:30pm, potato leek soup, pappardelle with pumpkin, chard and pancetta, 1 glass sparkling white wine, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Made the Facebook update on the walk over to Wholefoods, and by the time I got there, the menu was decided. Potato Leek Soup was no problem -- the blender soup method. Saute aromatic veg to soft, cover with stock and water, simmer and soften starchy veg, blend, finish with cream, season. Onion, carrot, celery, parsnips and a whole lotta leeks got softened in olive oil, with a little salt and near the end a few cloves of minced rocambole garlic. Unfroze a quart of homemade chicken stock and poured it in, then added water to cover the solids. Popped in two cubed, peeled waxy potatoes, another 20 minutes of simmering. Blender, a cup of cream, taste, season with a lot of salt, a dash of cayenne, a couple dashes curry powder and a couple dashes chili powder, and it was good.
The pasta dish was a little trickier, because I never had this specific dish before and just guessed. Butternut squash was swapped out for pumpkin, as I had one on hand and B has been hinting very unsubtly that she wanted me to cook with it. Graham suggested the dish, who I last hung out with when we were about 7, but is now a chef in a corporate kitchen, no joke. I would have preferred to make the pappardelle from scratch, but time was limited, so I bought a nice dried egg pappardelle. While my poundcakes were baking, I dissembled a pumpkin and laid out the flesh and the seeds on a pan, and roasted for a solid 30 minutes. Came out nice and soft, chopped to bite size pieces, and held. Seeds salted and put out on the table to await B's arrival. Deveiled a head of chard, cleaned it, blanched in boiling water for 3 minutes then shocked in ice water, drained and held. Minced a 1/4 pound of pancetta, then into a hot pan with a little olive oil. Once started to brown, tossed in the chard and pumpkin, got the pasta in boiling water. Drained pasta, tossed into the pan with everything. Beat an egg, coated the entire thing with the heat off- the dish was kinda reminding me of a carbonara, so why not? A little more olive oil, a little more salt, tossed in some shredded manchego. Plate into a little pile with tongs, top with more manchego:
EVENING SNACK: 9pm, small plate of the pasta, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 10pm, Stouffers French Bread Pizzas, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Oy. Just stayed hungry after dinner. The good thing about sugar is that it tell my body quickly that eating is over.
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