In part for a dessert party practice run and in part because I was craving something sweet, I decided to finally try and duplicate a tiramisu recipe that a client had given me last year. I was unfortunately unable to locate the exact recipe on the web, but I found a wonderful collection of tiramisu varieties here, worth perusing if you’re interested. Also, in the purchasing of a container of mascarpone or bag of ladyfingers, it is without a doubt that a similar recipe to the one I used will appear on the packaging.

Anyway, I was amazed at how easy it was – I made sure to make coffee and allow it to cool a few hours ahead of assembling the cake, but after that, the most time-consuming recipe item was beating the egg whites until stiff. I did find that the ladyfingers (my client recommended the “Tina” brand, which can be found at the Italian Centre) very quickly soaked up the coffee, so I had to be careful with the few seconds that they sat in the liquid.

Despite getting a few requests to make my salad rolls again (who knew they were such a hit?), I wanted to take the latest potluck opportunity at work to test out a new recipe.

I thought Laura Calder’s Mimosa Eggs would make a good candidate for portable, made-in-advance food, so I gave it a shot (turns out, only portable as long as a seat on the bus, without a brake-happy driver, is secured).

I’ve been learning my egg boiling lessons, albeit slowly. The first time, a few weeks back, I ended up with a watery, still-uncooked egg, essentially poached in its own shell. The second time, I left them in the hot water too long, and the yolks turned that unattractive musty grey shade.

This time, I didn’t quite get it Goldilocks (just right), but I came pretty close. I used shallots instead of the green onion, and a little less mayo than called for (I wanted the solid yolk to still have some crumble in each bite). It’s really a pretty easy recipe that would make a great cocktail party hors d’oeuvre, beautifully yellow on a plate, nicely accented with the vibrant red pinch of paprika. They’re nothing special, but are satisfyingly filling in two bites or less.

CNN had dubbed today “Critical Tuesday”. I prefer “Mini Super Tuesday”.

Regardless of the name, similar to the New Hampshire primary and Super Tuesday proper, I felt the need to have a proportional celebration, with food, of course. And in honour of the Lone Star state’s democratic turn, chicken enchiladas were on the menu to recognize the importance of the Hispanic vote (there is a bad joke somewhere to be made about how I could have substituted Indian or Chinese cuisine to represent Ohio, and the part of the world that their jobs are being sent to, but I’ll leave it at that). So with Mack as my ever-willing sous chef, and a recipe from Better Homes and Gardens, we attempted to put together a dish that even my picky sisters would eat.

Along with the onions that Mack sauteed, some shredded rotisserie chicken, cream cheese, and a dash of cumin formed the tortilla filling. Unfortunately, the Western Family brand corn tortillas fell apart a little too easily as they were rolled, even after being warmed in the microwave. But doused in a sauce of cream cheese, condensed mushroom soup and milk, their imperfections were not noticeable.

Mack had to wait a painful 35 minutes for the dish to bake in the oven, and another 5 or so for the added Monterey Jack cheese to melt on top, but it was worth it. The corn (as opposed to flour) tortillas were a good choice, and even the overall soppiness of the dish was all right in this context. I can’t doubt, however, the estimated nutrition facts listed at the end of the recipe – between the sour cream, cream cheese, Monterey Jack, and the mushroom soup, 610 calories seems like a steal. This is definitely not an everyday dish, but was a nice treat on “an historic” election evening.