October projects

I continue to cook and bake like a madwoman now that the cool weather is here. Tonight I made a pumpkin cheesecake, which is cooling in its bain marie in the kitchen. The house smells wonderful -- of cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Mmmm. Unfortunately, the top of cheesecake cracked a bit because the water in my bain marie got too low. Oh well. I'm confident it'll still taste yummy. I plan to bring the cake to a friend's house tomorrow and will serve it with whipped cream flavored with bourbon. Mmmmm.

Right now I'm making veal stock. Six pounds of bones are roasting in the oven, and when they're done I'll dump them in a 12-qt. stockpot on top of the celery, carrots, and onions I cut up earlier. Then I'll fill the pot with cold water, and let it come up to a simmer. It'll burble all night on the back burner; tomorrow morning before we leave for our friend's place, I'll strain and cool -- when we come home, I'll skim off any fat, then reduce to demi-glace. This is the last of my stockmaking for the year; I've made enough chicken and beef stock to get me through the soups, risottos, and braises in upcoming weeks. I've also got a couple quarts of lobster "essence" made from a big lobster meal we had in September. This I can use for a base for lobster bisque or perhaps a chowder.

I've been making lots of bread. Right now I'm baking from Julia's "Baking With Julia." Every recipe is wonderful -- DH and Oliver love the white bread, which is lovely and soft and billows in the oven. Closer to the holidays I'll make more enriched breads, perhaps Swedish limpa or rye for Oliver.

That thing you see above is one of culinary vices. I love puddings and desserts that wiggle. This is something called lemon honeycomb mold, which if you've read Laurie Colwin, the speaks of in Home Cooking. It's made of lemon, obviously, and cream, sugar, egg whites, and gelatin. As it cools in the mold, the dessert separates into three layers -- the top layer is a thin layer of clear yellow jello, the second layer is creamy lemon pudding, and the thin bottom layer is the "honeycomb," which makes this crinkly feeling on your teeth. I love this dessert, and make it with different juices - pomegranate, orange, lime, etc.