Roast This
Another good set of dishes, with another great dessert that somehow only has three ingredients.
First course is easy enough and pretty much error-free except for the vinaigrette. Maybe it’s supposed to be roughly 1:8 on the vinegar-to-oil ratio, but traditionally it’s 1:3. Your results may vary, depending on the serving size: the ratio ranges from 1:8 to 1:4 and beyond. I went with 1:3 — and it turned out really good — don’t forget to pad your baking time by 10 minutes or so.
Second course — substitutions were dried pink lentils for canned, and Better Than Bullion’s lobster base for the fish stock (which probably helped); the only error was for the sofrito: go with a heaping 1/2 cup on the serving for six. I had to break down and bear the shame of actually buying salmon, and in late April, too. This is not the time of year to be eating Sockeye let alone paying for it in this condition. This is the time of year to be thawing out any left over from last year, smoking it, and sending to the relatives who live in the Lower 48.
Nevertheless, I cooked the lentils in the broth before adding the picada and salmon, adding more water as needed. Not much to report, just a solid dish.
Last course — dessert — amazingness ensued once again. There is a special kind of alchemy that happens with eggs, cream, and chocolate. The errors were minor: I used four egg yolks instead of three, and 1.5 cups of cream for the serving for six. Other than that, KEEP STIRRING the egg mixture or the bottom will turn to nasty scrambled eggs, and WATCH YOUR ASS on the temperature. There is a funny little zone where the dish can go from magic to tragedy, depending on how hard you smack the egg’s proteins. Great stuff — I’ve gone from wishing my pudding tasted like the package mix to wishing the package mix could even vaguely approach my pudding.
Wild.
Cooking Ferran Adriá’s The Family Meal — The Erratas