I’m trying to remember what I ate for dinner my single girl nights this week. I know I was trying to just use what there was in my almost-empty fridge. Tuesday was the “Make-Hers“; Wednesday I think I had a big lunch – egg salad, a bagel, and then just some salad for dinner, with smoked Gouda, because there was some already grated, and walnuts, and I made some bright red french dressing, because I’d been craving it – chili sauce, cider vinegar, a shallot, honey, paprika, and vegetable oil. Yum. Wednesday I went to another food writing talk, and there was going to be cake. One of those nights I came home and made rice pudding. I bet that was Tuesday.
Thursday I cooked asparagus:
Saturday it was rhubarb.
A big batch of purée. I froze some, and used some to make parfaits, with the rice pudding and whipped cream. I also made a crumb cake with chopped rhubarb. Unfortunately, when I went upstairs to eat the parfaits with Mark, the first distraction was a fizzy water disaster – mine exploded all over the place. Then I got sleepy after eating the parfait. It was pretty rich – although I calculated the calories at about 500, so not so bad when were basically just having dessert for dinner – and I forgot to take the cake out. It over-baked by almost an hour. I guess it’s caramelized rhubarb cake.
And I made scallion pancakes to take to a block party the next street over – they messed up the stove, as did the rhubarb puree. No pictures, but they were really tasty – my best attempt ever at these. Fried up crispy in very little oil. The trick was brushing with a tiny bit of sesame oil as you rolled the dough. I had the sesame oil in a ramekin, for brushing, and then mixed the dipping sauce in that, for a little sesame oil taste. I skipped the grated ginger , because I didn’t have any, so the sauce was soy, black Chinese vinegar, a teaspoon of sugar, and the hint of sesame oil. Perfect. I sprinkled the pancake with flaky salt, cut them in wedges, and arranged wedges on a platter around a little container of dipping sauce. I took the last of the asparagus pizza, too, two platefuls of wedges, and it all was eaten.
