So this Friday it was our friend's birthday, Mr. Interested In You. So now that he has a girlfriend, I think his birthday party was a little different than it would have been, had he still been single. His girlfriend, Valley Girl, planned for Lefty's Pizza at his house, then we would be going to the Pink Elephant after.
So I offered to bake a cake. I made a chocolate cake from the box. Now any of you who are scoffing at me, I ain't no baker. I could find a cake recipe, and spend more money on all the ingredients, and get my dirty kitchen even dirtier. Or I could buy 2 boxes of cake mix for like however much it costs and mix with eggs, oil and water, and go over to Miss Birthday Girl Today But She's Out of Town's place and bake it because our oven is very unpredictable.
The fun part anyway for me is decorating the cake. So I had 2 layers. I evened them up as much as I could. I slathered marshmallow fluff on top of one layer, then I put the other layer on top. It looked like a giant ice cream sandwich. Then I melted chocolate chips, and I stirred in a little nutella and condensed milk. Then I poured it on the cake and let it sit a bit. I put 33 little cake decoration candy dinosaurs in the cake, like they were sinking into tar. Then I decorated with whipped cream and I froze it until it was time to go. I wasn't going to win any prizes, but it definitely would have earned a C for the effort.
Anyway, the FP decided to bring an appetizer. Since there would be people in their early 30s, we thought, something a little more grown up. So he wanted to do finger food. So I said, why don't you do profiteroles. He had just done something in a cooking class the other day that made me think of it. He had done gougeres actually, which are like profiteroles with cheese mixed into the pate choux dough. So that's what he made. They came out perfect and I think I ate 4 or 5 of them.
The birthday was much fun. Almost everyone, except for me, shotgunned cans of PBR, there was an adult pinata that had airplane bottles of vodka, condoms and candy in it, then we went to the Pink Elephant. That's when Mr. Interested in You Got completely over the limit and had to be escorted home. All in all, it was a fun night! I will try to recreate the recipe for you.
The Food Pimp's Fancy Sloppy Joes
Short Rib Filling
1 pack boneless shortribs, diced
1 onion, diced
1 carrot diced
2 cloves garlic minced
salt and pepper
red wine
oregano or thyme
Basically, put all the above ingredients in a pot. Cover with water and let it simmer for about 2 hours until the meat is tender. Season as needed.
GOUGERES
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup flour
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 eggs, at room temperature
4 ounces grated smoked gruyere cheese
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In a saucepan, combine the milk and butter and bring to a boil. Add flour, salt and pepper and stir quickly with a wooden spoon. Stir until smooth and batter pulls away from sides of pan, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in eggs 1 at a time, stirring well after each addition. Stir in the cheese.
Line a baking sheet with parchment and place spoonfuls of the mixture 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes, reduce heat to 350 degrees F, and continue to bake for 25 minutes, or until firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and serve warm.
To assemble, cut the gougeres in half, but leave a hinge at the back so it's still attached. Fill with some shortrib filling. Then place on a platter and wow all your friends!
So I offered to bake a cake. I made a chocolate cake from the box. Now any of you who are scoffing at me, I ain't no baker. I could find a cake recipe, and spend more money on all the ingredients, and get my dirty kitchen even dirtier. Or I could buy 2 boxes of cake mix for like however much it costs and mix with eggs, oil and water, and go over to Miss Birthday Girl Today But She's Out of Town's place and bake it because our oven is very unpredictable.
The fun part anyway for me is decorating the cake. So I had 2 layers. I evened them up as much as I could. I slathered marshmallow fluff on top of one layer, then I put the other layer on top. It looked like a giant ice cream sandwich. Then I melted chocolate chips, and I stirred in a little nutella and condensed milk. Then I poured it on the cake and let it sit a bit. I put 33 little cake decoration candy dinosaurs in the cake, like they were sinking into tar. Then I decorated with whipped cream and I froze it until it was time to go. I wasn't going to win any prizes, but it definitely would have earned a C for the effort.
Anyway, the FP decided to bring an appetizer. Since there would be people in their early 30s, we thought, something a little more grown up. So he wanted to do finger food. So I said, why don't you do profiteroles. He had just done something in a cooking class the other day that made me think of it. He had done gougeres actually, which are like profiteroles with cheese mixed into the pate choux dough. So that's what he made. They came out perfect and I think I ate 4 or 5 of them.
The birthday was much fun. Almost everyone, except for me, shotgunned cans of PBR, there was an adult pinata that had airplane bottles of vodka, condoms and candy in it, then we went to the Pink Elephant. That's when Mr. Interested in You Got completely over the limit and had to be escorted home. All in all, it was a fun night! I will try to recreate the recipe for you.
The Food Pimp's Fancy Sloppy Joes
Short Rib Filling
1 pack boneless shortribs, diced
1 onion, diced
1 carrot diced
2 cloves garlic minced
salt and pepper
red wine
oregano or thyme
Basically, put all the above ingredients in a pot. Cover with water and let it simmer for about 2 hours until the meat is tender. Season as needed.
GOUGERES
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup flour
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 eggs, at room temperature
4 ounces grated smoked gruyere cheese
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In a saucepan, combine the milk and butter and bring to a boil. Add flour, salt and pepper and stir quickly with a wooden spoon. Stir until smooth and batter pulls away from sides of pan, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in eggs 1 at a time, stirring well after each addition. Stir in the cheese.
Line a baking sheet with parchment and place spoonfuls of the mixture 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes, reduce heat to 350 degrees F, and continue to bake for 25 minutes, or until firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and serve warm.
To assemble, cut the gougeres in half, but leave a hinge at the back so it's still attached. Fill with some shortrib filling. Then place on a platter and wow all your friends!
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