Make Your Own Peeps- 4/12/09

Very few things I've made in my Gourmet project have made me quite as excited as making my own marshmallows. I'm not a sweets person normally but the whole process of making the Lillet Marshmallows in the Easter menu on page 78 was so cool. That only 3 ingredients and some water could make puffy sweet marshmallows is amazing chemistry in action. It's so simple but impressed everyone at Easter dinner (and for the next few days). Next year, I may try making my own Peeps with some food coloring and cookie cutters. I'm sure it would work and look so cool... and I don't even like Peeps!

I made the Easter menu in this month's Gourmet article "One Fine Day" with only one change. I made the Thyme-Honey Glazed Ham on page 33 in place of the Herb-Roasted Pork Loin that was recommended with the menu. I made the change so I could take advantage of the ham's longer cook time while we went to Easter Mass. Pork with herbs for pork with herbs was a fair trade. I already mentioned how much fun I had making the Lillet Marshmallows. The Lillet was added for essence and flavor but it was not strong. The recipe added a special touch to the holiday menu.
The Cucumber, Buffalo Mozzarella, and Farro Salad in this menu was a great starter. I couldn't find farro at my local stores and didn't want to make the hour round trip to Whole Foods so I used an acceptable substitute, quinoa. The quinoa gave the same texture as farro would have so I felt it worked just as well. The flavors of the mozzarella and cucumber worked well with the dressing.

The Golden Potatoes with Caper Brown-Butter Crumbs were not so successful. I found them really bland and dry. I had to add more butter at the table to try to zip them up. I would not make this again.

The Green Beans with Celery-Salt Butter were just that, green beans with butter and celery salt. The extra tang in the salt was a nice addition but nothing outstanding.

The Glazed Pearl Onions and Grapes was a nice flavor surprise. The sweet pop of the grapes contrasted well with the onions and the color on the plate was nice. There was a lot of salt in this meal and the sweet of the grapes cut some of the saltiness.

The Rye Dinner Rolls with Crisp Tops had an extra touch with the rye crisp tops but that did not take that much effort. The rye crisps were easy to make and only put on top of the risen rolls at the end. My rolls were small and pretty compact but had great flavor. I did the slow chill rise, putting them in the fridge and allowing them to rise over 12 hours. That may be why they were smaller that the rolls pictured but this technique worked well with our Easter day schedule.

I've already raved about the Lillet Marshmallows but I also made the Candied-Fennel-Topped Lemon Cake for dessert. This cake is much like a pineapple upside-down cake but with candied fennel. My picture doesn't do a particularly good

job of showing the unique shape of the fennel bulbs around the top of the cake but it looked pretty impressive. I don't have an adjustable-blade slicer, that's next on the wish list, so I had to be very careful with a knife but it still worked. The cake flavors of fennel and lemon worked well but unlike the notes at the end of the recipe, I thought this recipe improved with age. More of the liquid soaked in and made a flavorful moist cake. All in all, a fine Easter menu and my guests were happy. They almost didn't have room for those Chocolate Bunnies!

Cucumber, Buffalo Mozzarella, and Farro Salad- B+

Calories per serving-234

Thyme-Honey Glazed Ham-B+

Calories per serving-1050 (don't know if leftovers were expected, that's a lb of meat per person)

Golden Potatoes with Caper Brown-Butter Crumbs-D

Calories per serving-282

Green Beans with Celery-Salt Butter-C

Calories per serving-92

Glazed Pearl Onions and Grapes-B+

Calories per serving-88

Rye Dinner Rolls with Crisp Tops-B

Calories per serving-92 a roll

Candied-Fennel-Topped Lemon Cake-B+

Calories per serving-371

Lillet Marshmallows-A

Calories per serving-40 per marshmallow