Saturday, July 10, 2010

"The Source" of my Dissappointment

I've often considered myself somewhat of a Culinary Aficionado but after our trip to Wolfgang Puck's The Source last night I'm beginning to question myself a little (just a little, though).

My friends and I get together once a month to experience a different restaurant around the Washington, DC Metropolitan area and this month was Wolfgang's night. The ambiance was really fun and relaxing. We had a nice table by the window looking out to 6th and Pennsylvania. We began with cocktails. (We all agreed they were the best part of the meal). I had an Asian Pear cocktail with fresh pear puree. Well, actually I had to have two of them to help me forget about the mediocre food. The other ladies ordered Blackberry Anejo Cocktails, and a Cherry Blossom. A martini with cognac.

Since it was so late in the evening we decided to order a variety of small plates. We ordered Spicy Tuna Rolls, Shrimp Tempura Rolls, Vegetable Rolls, Shrimp and Scallop Spring Rolls, Shrimp Sui Mai and Hot and Sour Corn Soup.

I'm not a true sushi connoisseur, therefore I only tried the Shrimp Tempura Rolls and the Vegetable Rolls. I really enjoyed them both. My friend stated that she had a texture problem with the tuna in the Tuna Roll.

I made the assumption (we should never assume) that the spring rolls would be the fresh spring rolls wrapped in rice paper but they were actually fried. First, I couldn't get over the fact that when I took a bite into the spring roll it looked like Spam or as we so often ate in the south growing up "potted meat". It seems as if the scallops and shrimp were placed in a food processor and wrapped in the spring roll paper and deep fried which made it become tough, rubbery and overcooked. It had a very weird texture

The Shrimp Sui Mai wasn't bad but it wasn't all that great either. That is actually the only memory I have of it. The Hot and Sour Corn Soup had an overpowering taste of white pepper and curry. I couldn't dare to digest it. It burned my throat with every bite therefore I asked the server to remove it from the table.

After finishing our meal we knew we couldn't go wrong with dessert, therefore we ordered a 15 --Layer Carrot Cake. Once again our assumptions led us to disappointment. I expected to see a cake similar to this:


but instead we were served this:




The cake was actually pretty good but I would have been happier without the ginger ice cream. It was complimentary to the carrot cake.

Needless to say, The Source will not be at the top of my list for food but I will definitely go back for a couple of Asian Pear Cocktails.


Sunday, January 31, 2010

The Start of Many

Today I begin the first of many blog postings. This past weekend I also began the start of my many crafting projects. I am becoming a combination of B. Smith, Martha Stewart, Emeril Lagasse and Cake Boss all rolled up into one.

I have always wanted to build my own dessert/cupcake stand and this weekend I finally did it thanks to instructions from Cake Journal. However, I did make a couple of changes.

1. I used square foam because the cake store was out of round cake dummies.
2. I used wrapping paper because I was unable to find thick paper. I think I will try covering with fondant next time
3. Instead of a glue stick I used Styrofoam glue.

Once my cake stand was complete I had to decide what type of cake/cupcakes I would bake to display. I have been looking for the perfect white cake recipe. I've experimented using several techinques and multiple recipes until I finally found the perfect Classic White Cake by Nick Malgeri. This an awesome recipe! It's exactly what I was trying to achieve-light, moist and fluffy. I added a teaspoon of almond flavor to the batter. White cake is not a white cake without a hint of almond flavor. To frost the cakes, I used my go to Decorator's Buttercream by Toba Garrett. The lettering on the cake was done with fondant.

Check out the finished project below and let me know what you think.