Thursday, April 19, 2007

A Taste of Yellow

Finally updated with photos..........

Barbara of Winos and Foodies has organised this one off event in support of LiveSTRONG Day.

LiveSTRONG Day is the Lance Armstrong Foundation's (LAF) grassroots advocacy initiative to unify people affected by cancer and to raise awareness about cancer survivorship issues on a national level and in local communities across the country. LiveSTRONG Day 2007 will occur on Wednesday, May 16.

The A Taste of Yellow has been approved by the Lance Armstrong Foundation as an official LiveSTRONG Day event. Barbara is organising the event to raise awareness of cancer. However if you wish to make a donation you can do so by visiting the Lance Armstrong Foundation donation page.

Barbara's challenge was to make something using a yellow ingredient and the first thing that sprung to my mind was of course cake! I had 6 egg yolks left from the latest Daring Bakers challenge which just cried out to be used for a "yellow cake". Unfortunately I wasn't really paying attention to the recipe which called for sifted flour as opposed to flour, siftted and yes it does make a difference. The first clue was when the batter was so thick my beater was struggling to mix it. Usually when I have a bit of a disaster I just tell everyone that my recipe was experimental and I've never had any complaints but this cake was a little on the dry side. I thought that if I slathered it in chocolate frosting people might not notice but even frosted with a delicious chocolate "gana-icing" (a combination of some leftover ganache and some icing sugar) the cake was not good. In doing my research on yellow cakes I discovered that the traditional frosting is chocolate and I can't quite work that out. The taste of the cake is plainish with a hint of vanilla. I would have used a lemon frosting.


Since I was getting ready to go on vacation time was marching on and I worried that I wouldn't have anything to contribute to this event but then I remembered something I'd saved as a draft. It's a potato and lentil curry and the lentils are the yellow kind so technically it still fits with the theme. The recipe is from Taste magazine and you can find it here. Basically it's a thick, soupy concoction of spices, lentils, tomatoes and potatoes. It's quite delicious and I'll be making it again especially now our weather is getting cooler.



I served it with poppadums and some raita which I made without a recipe. The instructions go a little like this.

Raita

Ingredients
Lebanese cucumber
Plain unsweetened yoghurt
Pinch of chilli
Salt
Cumin seeds

Method
Grate a quantity of Lebanese cucumber and squeeze it with your hands to expel as much liquid as possible
Mix in plain yoghurt to desired consistency
Season to taste

OK so I weakened; I really wanted to do something cakey for this event. I had some bananas in my fruit bowl which were going nicely spotty and soft. A banana is yellow is it not? I used Dorie Greenspan's recipe which I first heard of through Lisa. It is THE moistest banana cake you'll ever make. Due no doubt to the cup of sour cream in the mixture. Most of Dorie's recipes call for a 12 cup bundt pan and mine is a lot smaller. As luck would have it my mother recently gave me - ok - so I spied it in her cupboard and said "oh look a baby bundt pan" and of course mum offered it to me. It belonged to Nana and is one of those old fashioned light coloured aluminium ones. The combination of my regular bundt pan and the mini one were perfect for Dorie's recipe.


You can find the recipe on Lisa's blog at La Mia Cucina. I know I'm being lazy today but I guess that's what being 2 hours away from catching a plane does to you.

11 comments:

Peabody said...

It might not be Blogger. I tried to put the banner up and it wouldn't let me. Though Wordpress did let me post pictures...weird.

Lis said...

The curry sounds wonderful! Good choice =))

Now you've got me craving the banana cake again.. *sigh*

xoxo

Unknown said...

Thanks for participating Morven. They all sound delicious. Have a wonderful holiday.

The banner may be protected and only available to official event organisers as I had a password to go to a special site to get it.

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

I'd much rather have the curry than the cake! Sounds great!

Freya said...

Everything sounds wonderful and we can all imagine what it looks like - bright and sunny and yellow!

Valentina said...

I love the recipe that you chose. And good on your for posting so shortly before departing. have a wonderful holiday.

Elle said...

It all sounds wonderful. Have a great time on your trip. Have a Hot Brown in Kentucky and remember that Vegas is fun city, so extra fun there.

Anonymous said...

Great entries! Enjoy your trip!

Kelly-Jane said...

You've done so well, everything looks yummy.

Amanda at Little Foodies said...

Just going through the round up. I'd like it all, the curry and the cakes.

Kristin said...

yummo.
I like taste magazine recipes too, but i didn't come across this one yet. It's on my list to try!

thanks,

kazari