Raw eggs anyone?

I'm starting to worry about Perla's editors. I have made my 4^th recipe from her book and maybe it's just a coincidence, but I keep finding what seems to be mistakes. They are just little things, but it is freaking me out how consistently I come across then. Why you wonder am I upset with her editor instead of with Miss Perla? There were a few years of my life when different people would encourage me to write a book. Who me? I cannot spell, I struggle with Language Arts, and I'm not sure what the difference is between "than" and "then". Not to worry say they, it is the editor's job to find that stuff. (Rant over)

Today's food made me feel a little elegant and grown up. I made an appetizer. I had to or my guys would have gone nuts. Dinner was a late affair.

Generally I am not a fan of boiled eggs but made some pretty boiled eggs for a pre-meal snack. The recipe was Hard-Boiled Eggs in Sauce Nimoise. (What is "Nimoise??? And why is only one of these words in a different language) It is sort of a garlic mayonnaise. You start by boiling 10 peeled garlic cloves and blending those with a raw egg and and part of a boiled egg with a drizzle of olive oil before blending in vinegar, chopped onion and anchovy fillets. I actually bought anchovies! Here was the odd part in the directions. I think I got it right…."Cut one hard-boiled egg in half, remove the yolk, and add it, together with the raw egg, to the food processor or blender"…. At first I was confident that it was the yolk that went into the blender. But the more I read it, the more I wasn't sure. It was all good. The eggs are cut in half and arranged prettily on lettuce with veggies and little pickles, then drizzled with the sauce. I wasn't crazy about the sauce. It all was eaten but we like to eat.

The soup was good. Red Bean Soup a la Cubana. Not sure what made it Cuban but it was good. I had a nice meaty hambone left from Christmas that was good in the soup. When I read through the recipe I was afraid it would be totally bland. But I think that the problem was that I have made so many vegan bean soups that require a heavy hand with seasoning. This one sucks the flavor from the ham. I am guessing that most of the soup eating world realizes that. It was new to me. Served it with Jalapeno corn muffins from Emeril L's Cookbook.

Finally I made a dessert. Chocolate Almond Pave. What is a Pave? First you make a sponge cake in a jelly roll pan. Then you melt chocolate with 2 Tablespoons of Coffee and 4 tablespoons of rum or Grand Mariner. Since I keep orange liquor on hand for baking, I used that but cut it down to 2 tablespoons instead of 4. Butter and sugar are whizzed together with two egg yolks. The whites are whipped and folded into the chocolate, which is folded into the butter with a handful of ground almonds. The sponge cake is cut and fitted into a loaf pan. It was supposed to be sprinkled with 2 more tablespoons of liquor. Instead I brushed it with a lavender simple syrup. Next you dump the chocolate mixture into the loaf pan lined with sponge cake, cover it tightly and refrigerate it over night.

Did you notice what I did not until I was putting it into the fridge? THERE ARE TWO RAW EGGS IN THIS!! Scary. Maybe all the booze is supposed to protect me. In addition, when I whipped the egg whites the directions said to gradually add the ½ cup of sugar. Latter I was supposed to add the rest of the sugar to the yolks. There was no "Rest of the sugar" I triple checked. Raw egg and all it is delish!

Want to know what I think? I think the edit mistakes are part of what makes this fun.