Jade's Food Enemy

[sarea]

Well, I finally finished the borscht. And while I was making it, I realized that it is definitely jade_okelani's kryptonite. She would hate it. :)))) First of all, it has beets, which I don't think she's a big fan of. But that's the least of it. There's also the onion. But she's used to having to deal with that. Not sure if she's a big fan of cabbage, which there's 2 cups of. But then comes the red wine vinegar. And last, but not least, the 3/4 cup of fresh DILL. Dun dun duuuuuun!! In fact, it was way too much dill, even for me. If I ever make it again I'm putting 1/4 cup, if even that, since I'd still probably have to buy it in a bunch and it's just not worth it.



I also made Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake! Well, half of one. Since it's just for me and I'm going to have to eat it all, even that's probably too much. As you can see from the pic I still have a lot to work on with regard to my cake making skills (aesthetically in particular), but flavor wise it's fabulous. Even though it looks like a plain vanilla cake it's actually lemon, with lime-flavored buttercream and tayberry jam (because those are the things I had on hand, but if I ever made this for other people I'd follow the recipe exactly).


It's not too sweet, which is a real bonus. I think I beat the buttercream a little too long, so that it came out thicker than I wanted, but still serviceable. And I'm not sure why the recipe has you spreading the buttercream over the jam instead of the other way around -- the buttercream just keeps moving the jam around and it's just more challenging than it needs to be.

Comments

[jade-okelani.livejournal.com]

OK

1) I want that cake.

2) I don't mind beets - they aren't my favorite, but I've actually grown accustomed to them over the years, watching you pile them on salads. I put them on my own now, and enjoy the flavor they add.

3) That Dill truly is my mortal enemy. And my Kryptonite. I wonder if it would taste good w/out it. Because I actually am intrigued by the tastes of everything else combined. But yea God that's a lot of Dill.

[sarea-okelani.livejournal.com]

It was waaaaaay too much dill. The soup tastes fine, but the smell of it isn't so lovely because of all the dill. And this is from someone who had no problem with dill before this -- loving dill pickles, dill chips, etc. But I guess I've just never experienced it in such quantities. Also, I love beets, but in soup they're meh. Rather have them in a salad for sure.

Personally I think the soup would taste better without it -- or make no difference. But the soup itself is, while interesting, not my favorite. Of course, who knows how authentic it is or if I made it correctly. The first step, simmering the pound of beef in the beef broth, smelled awesome. I had such high hopes. But that was the pinnacle of the experience. I greatly prefer ox-tail soup (which can really be made with any kind of bone-in beef), which flavor kicks borscht's ass, and it just starts with a plain pot of water and not 8 cups of beef broth.

I wish you could have helped me not waste the cake, as I've eaten almost half and I think I will be throwing the rest out. :(