It Was Bound To Happen

I bake a lot of cakes. There have been some mishaps but that usually happens in the decorating phase.  Tonight it finally happened during baking.  Let me clue you in on my baking methodology. 

• Rule 1. Be attentive. 
• Rule 2. Half way through baking, switch the pans around in the oven (typically there are hot spots in our ovens which cause items not to bake/cook equally). 
• Rule 3. Place the baked cakes on racks to cool.

Tonight, was a mess up in all 3 phases.  The result:  Burnt cake which really smells bad.  Here’s what happened. ..OH..by the way, if you are looking for a picture, you’re not getting one. I’ll tell you about my screw ups but I don’t want proof hanging around.

I baked two cakes upon arriving home from work.  I began dinner. Ted offered to help. That’s great…your hubster offering cooking assistance. The only problem is, you have to think about what he’s doing because he’s constantly asking “what do I do?”.  Multi-tasking is not my forte’.  

Before dinner really got rolling along, I had to get the cakes out of the way. Don’t mix smells when baking and cooking.  I placed the first cake on the trivet (note: NOT the rack).  When the second cake was complete, I put it on the stove (note: NOT the rack).  Checked on Ted who was chopping the cabbage …not slicing the cabbage as suggested. As I turned around, there was a skinny stream of smoke rising from the middle of the cake on the stove top. What the heck!  I’ve never seen THAT before..I realized the cake might still be warm but… seriously!   Then it dawned on me I had the stove top on. Oh No!   Ever heard of black bottom cake?!   Yeah. Well. Tonight I made one.

Salmon Tortillas   6 Servings

I had no idea what to do for dinner. After looking in the cupboard, the following ingredients came together to make a pretty good last minute dish.  Adjust seasoning and flavors to suit your taste.

• 1 can 14 oz Salmon
• 1 can 11oz southwest corn
• 4 TBS Horseradish Dill Relish (Zukay)
• 2 TBS yogurt
• 1 tsp cilantro
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 can Black Eyed Peas (or other bean)
• 1 tsp lime juice
• 1/2 tsp cilantro
• 1/4 tsp garlic
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 shredded green cabbage, boiled til tender
• 1/4 shredded red cabbage, boiled til tender
• 6 Tortillas
• salsa and cheese to top

Preheat oven to 350 F

Mix the salmon, corn, relish, yogurt, cilantro, salt and pepper. Put on stove top on low setting. Heat through.

Put the black eyed peas, lime juice, cilantro, garlic, salt and pepper in a saucepan and heat on low.

Drain the cabbages and set aside to keep warm.   Place tortillas in covered dish into the oven for 10 minutes.

Once the beans are heated, remove 1/2 the beans and puree. Mix together with the other 1/2 of the beans you left whole.  Sprinkle your choice of cheese on top and put into the oven to melt the cheese if desired.

Assembly:  Using one tortilla, add about 2 TBS salmon mix, add a some cabbage and beans and fold. Top with salsa.

A new book came in the mail todayl, “You Eat with Your Eyes”.  I’m off now to enjoy this elegant “coffee table” book.

Take care.