Oh, my goodness...

Looking back when AoaAF was just a fledgling blog, I discussed my sad attempts at gardening during my first few entries. Surprisingly, those very same plants (well, some of them) survived and are still going strong. My Thai basil wilted during the winter and I thought it was done for, but I pruned it back and it rebounded in spring and is thriving right now. We've even added to our collection and I'm proud to say that my fatality rate has plummeted.

Nowadays, I can easily transplant newly-purchased plants without it turning out like a lottery for life. To further boost my confidence as a gardener (trust me, my brown thumb needs it), I bring the following photo:

Yup, we're going to have our own tomatoes this summer. Yay!

Pomegranate Russian-Georgian Restaurant

Pomegranate has been on the must-eat list for years. My friends and I have been talking about trying it ever since we moved to North Park. Yet, we never went. Finally, J. and I met up with her friends for dinner last Saturday.

Two things to note about this restaurant... arrive early and bring cash. For a less crowded and noisy dining experience, definitely arrive prior to the dinner rush. We left just as the noise level began to increase exponentially. The staff is attentive, but that drops precariously when they become more busy. It took a while to receive our check. Also, they are cash only and not inexpensive, so remember to make a run to the ATM prior to eating.

We decided to order their appetizer sampler, which was delicious. There were six salads on the tray, with the larger portions in the middle and top being more Russian and the four smaller scoops along the bottom being more Georgian.

The middle was a cold cabbage salad mixed pickled with a variety of spices. The top was a potato salad with a mayonnaise-y dressing.The bottom four, from left to right: bean and eggplant, shredded carrots, marinated peppers, and shredded beets. These salads were prepared with lots of garlic, which I do not object to.

I picked golubtsi as my entree. Cabbage rolls stuffed with ground beef and simmered in beef stock, carrots, and tomatoes. The result is a very hearty meal. I made my way through one cabbage roll and I was done.

It was accompanied by a buttery rice and spiced potato.

It was a fantastic meal. Not cheap, but hearty and delicious. My entree was practically two meals. So, if you're looking for a homey, vaguely kitschy, and fabulous place for dinner, Pomegranate fits the bill. I can't wait to return to try more of their dishes. Next time, though, I'll bring plenty of cash.

Pomegranate Russian-Georgian Restaurant
2302 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92104

Daring Bakers: Opera Cake

My second challenge for the Daring Bakers is gateau l'opera or opera cake. A multi-layered cake involving jaconde, a nut-based biscuit, buttercream, mousse, and a ganache glaze. I've never made this before, but I've certainly had it at some point in my life.

The recipe is quite long, so I won't reprint it here. It was based on the opera cake recipes in Dorie Greenspan's Paris Sweets and Tish Boyle/Timothy Moriarty's Chocolate Passion. May's challenge involved "light" colors and flavors. While opera cake is traditionally chocolate, the challenge required the DBs to look to non-chocolate flavorings. I decided to stick to the path of least resistance. The challenge recipe already used almonds, vanilla, and white chocolate, so I stuck to those flavors and added fresh strawberries. When I baked this, strawberries were running for $0.77 to $1.35 a quart. That's local Carlsbad strawberries, so the season was clearly in full-swing.

My favorite part of this challenge was the jaconde. I had tons of almonds on hand, which was a convenient coincidence. The cake is nutty and rich, although it came out too thin for me. I used two half-sheet cookie sheets, which is slightly larger than the jelly roll pans required in the recipe.

Next time, I will put all of the batter into one sheet pan, cut it into three pieces, and end up with a smaller cake. The almond meal is combined with whole eggs and sugar, then folded into whipped egg whites.

The beginning of folding... turned out a lot better than it looks!

The buttercream required a boiled sugar syrup that is cooked to 225 degrees F. I let mine go to 240 degrees F while I took this picture:

Turned out fine. The hot syrup is poured into eggs and egg yolks while they're being whipped in a mixer. There was a whole vanilla bean's worth of seeds in the syrup and I amped up the vanilla flavor by adding extract on top of the bean. Butter is added to the egg/syrup mixture to complete the buttercream. The end result is something like a pastry cream, with the extra vanilla being a nice touch.

I didn't find this recipe difficult, just time-consuming. The great thing about it was that all of the individual components could be made one at a time, then assembled later. So, I spaced it over a week in preparation for a belated Mother's Day in LA (Mom wanted to celebrate a week after Mom's Day proper, to avoid crowds).

Assembly was fairly easy. The jaconde was brushed with a simple syrup, which was flavored with limoncello, then covered with buttercream and strawberry slices (see first photo). This step was repeated once more, then topped with the last layer of jaconde. After that came the white chocolate mousse, which consisted of white chocolate melted with some heavy cream, then folded into whipped cream. After that, a white chocolate glaze was poured on top.

White chocolate overkill.

I would have thinned out the ganache glaze a little more, because it hardened quite a bit, making it like a white chocolate bar on top of a cake. Too much and too sweet. I would have also changed the mousse to a light lemon to bring out more of the strawberries.

The edges were trimmed off with a sharp knife to produce the final product. The too-thin jaconde led to sagging corners where the cake was thinnest. Hence, the slope of the cake.

Closer look at the layers.

Another DB challenge done! I can't wait for June's challenge. A big thank you to Ivonne, Lisa, Fran, and Shea for hosting!

And of course, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, Mom! I love you!