Day 18: I'm so scared

I just ate my most terrifying meal yet:

Fresh Tuna Tartare on Tuna Carpaccio with Wasabi Mayonnaise

Now, I enjoy my sushi. And I like me some tuna. When I order sashimi from a restaurant, I trust that the sushi chef knows what he's doing. However, when I try to prepare some raw seafood at home, I have very little trust in myself. I've never done it before. But, I do trust Patrick and I'm committed to the project, so I went ahead with the recipe.

I just went very slowly and followed Patrick's directions very carefully.

It turned out tasty and Patrick was right once again that "The wasabi mayonnaise brings all the flavors together." This is the second mayonnaise I've made for the project (along with the mustard mayonnaise from the tuna cakes) and I have to say that this concept of flavored mayonnaises is really neat. I've never really been a huge mayonnaise person, but flavoring it can make it pop.

"Either the tartare or the carpaccio can be served by itself, but they're more interesting in combination."

Patrick also made another good combination choice. The tuna carpaccio (tuna hammered out into a thin slice) didn't taste very good by itself, nor was the texture very appealing. And the tuna tartare (like beef tartare, a sort of raw, molded, marinated tuna cake mixed with chives, cilantro and sesame seeds) was delicious but probably not great on its own. In combination, though (and especially with the mayo) it made a very good meal. Also my first "cold first course."

Now hopefully my stomach agrees with it overnight.

Day 13: Ginger Scones

I turned back to the dessert chapter tonight. Not because I have a sweet tooth, but because I don't have the muffin tin Patrick wanted me to have to make the Carmelized Onion Tartlets. Instead, I had a try at Ginger Scones. Now, you might be saying to yourself, 'I've seen a scone before, how hard can they be?' Well, that's a perfectly fair observation. In fact, that's exactly what I thought. Fortunately, Patrick gave some good directions that made them easy...AS LONG AS YOU BELIEVE THE RECIPE!

I quote: "continue mixing just until the ingredients are incorporated. (Overmixing will cause the scones to be tough.)". I don't know that this is true for all scone recipes--I think I only ever had scones when Emily Jenkins brought them to GT class in the seventh grade--but when one mixes "just until the ingredients are incorporated," the dough looks dry and crumbly and like it can't possibly be molded into a little mound of deliciousness. This, it turns out, is not true. Roll the dough together into one mass, have some faith, carefully place the molds on the baking sheet, and believe.

Also, brush with the cream! If the scones are as dry as mine were going into the oven, and if your oven is as hot as mine seems to sometimes (only sometimes) be, and if you FORGET TO PUT THE CREAM ON FOR FOUR MINUTES, your apartment will shortly fill with smoke as mine sometimes seems to be. This can be remedied by simply brushing with cream.

The scones, after my doubting, turned out pretty good. I like this recipe because I think I can replace the candied ginger (which is expensive for the amount in the recipe) with whatever else I want. That's a good feeling because this is a big point of the project. I started just wanting to learn some more about cooking and get some ideas about what to do in the future. I've learned a ton so far, and I'm looking forward to more.

Now to go see if my smoke detector actually works. I have my doubts.