The bitterness of slavery and sweetness of freedom

Moroccan Spiced Lamb and Eggplant (EPI)
Hong Kong style Russian Borscht with osso bucco
Spring Vegetable Quinoa Pilaf (EPI) (Pictured)

No grains, rice or bread puts Joyce in a bad mood, even though all the dishes turned out good.

Belated birthday

Pecan Pie

Just the three of us, again.

Joey's matzo ball soup (WS)
Fried white fish with sweet corn sauce
Roasted cauliflower and brussel sprouts
Creme brulee (WS)

Used Adina's secret way of cooking the matzo balls in a separate batch of cheap chicken soup, then serving in better chicken soup. Shaevitz closed at 2 so I used Sunset brand.
Most relaxing shabbat dinner ever.

Ding Ding Ding! ?.

Raisin Pecan Bread (NYT)
Rustica (NYT)

Third time now, making the raisin pecan bread, and I had just noticed that even though 2 cups of poolish was made, only 1/2 cup gets used in the bread!!! But my previous loaves have turned out so good! Hmmmm...

I found the original Molly O'Neill article in the NYT 2000

http://www.nytimes.com/library/magazine/home/20000423mag-oneill3.html

Turns out in the article there are not one but three bread recipes. The amount of poolish would have been perfect if you made all three!!

So I decided to make the Rustica bread also. It is kind of like a country or french. Turned out good considering I only did 1 folding and then left it on the counter for 4 hours!

The raisin bread turned out curiously sour. I could not decide if it is good or bad. What was the "problem"? Was it because I left the poolish overnight on the counter, instead of "5 hours"? But the Rustica was not sour. Was it because I left the first rise of the raisin bread on the counter for a little longer than called for, or the long second rise in the fridge? It is a mystery.

And please Joyce, please remember to squeeze the heck out of the raisins next time before adding to the dough! Way too wet!

Home alone

Buttermilk roast chicken (NYT)
Cous cous salad (NYT)
Ginger grilled tuna and salad (...but used salmon; NYT)
Spaghettini with vegetables and vodka sauce (NYT)
Soft shell crab sandwhich (my brain)

SS crab sandwhich made with Japanese French loaf, Japanese mayo, butter lettuce and tomatoes.