Planning a meal like this is not easy. Who would think that Brown Rice Syrup would be the one thing on my list that I have yet to find. One stored promised it might be in tomorrow. I already want to just find a good substitute. Same with guar gum. I’m not certain I’ll need it. I think I can sub it out for something. The guar gum is just a stabilizer for a sorbet I will be making, and since I didn’t make it last weekend, hoping to have it this weekend, I think the fact that we’ll be making it to eat more or less instantaneously will negate the need for the stuff.
Today I redid the Gruyère-style tofu cheese based on the lessons learned last week and hit on a much less intense version that I think will be a lot nicer, and a little more subtle once it’s served. It uses fermented bean curd to give it a really funky flavor that’s incredibly reminiscent of cheese. It’s uncanny.
I also redid the pistachio-arugula pesto with less salt. I think that’s a lot more gentle now too. I can’t wait to pair them with the potatoes again and make the tort. I had a couple of fat spoonfuls of each of these that didn’t quite fit in each of these jars. So I boiled up a little macaroni for lunch and mixed the pesto and cheese into it. It made a really tasty little lunch.
I started the morning pumping out a bunch of extra of the pine nut and anise cookies that I had made. There’s something about the anise in these that I find really satisfying. It’s not a flavor I encounter much, nor is it something I tend to think I like. Anyway, I had about twenty in a container on my counter for Saturday, but they kept calling out to me, “Eat me,” begging to be sacrificed. Plus, I kept thinking it would be cruel to only let people have two each. Right? So I made about sixty more.
I’ve also started some bread, and made an herby butter-replacement spread that’s quite good. I can’t wait to smear some of that on a hot roll.