Banana and kiwi pudding
July 6, 2010
A few months ago, I made this banana pudding recipe, which claims to be that of the Magnolia Bakery, and does indeed taste very similar.
Read more...Tarragon chicken, parsnips and carrots, and asparagus
July 4, 2010
asparagus, capers, carrots, chicken, mustard, parsnips
[caption id="attachment_635" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The completed dish."][/caption] On the morning I planned to cook this meal, I got distracted by something else, and didn’t have enough time left before dinner to finish (3-course meals typically take me all day). So I decided to come up with something simpler for dinner that night. I made this chicken with asparagus, together with this recipe for carrot and parsnip “coins”. Very healthy, and relatively easy to make now that I understand exactly what to do.
Read more...Miniature strawberry country cakes
July 4, 2010
[caption id="attachment_590" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="One."][/caption] One of my favorite recipes to make (though I haven’t made any since I started this blog), is Ina Garten’s Strawberry Country Cake. I first learned about this recipe from Adam Roberts’ “The Amateur Gourmet”, which I read about a year ago. The cake has three very important attributes. It is: Not stressful to make Impressive Delicious I think these may be the three attributes I value most in a recipe.
Read more...Braised short ribs, beet chocolate cake, and salad with flowers
June 24, 2010
beets, blackberries, carrot greens, carrots, celery, flowers, ice cream, polenta, raspberries, short ribs, tomatoes
[caption id="attachment_648" align="alignleft" width="300" caption=""Preview salad" of pickled carrots, tomatoes, mozzarella and edible flowers"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_649" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Salad with tomatoes, blackberries, flowers, and feta cheese"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_626" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Main course: braised short rib, polenta, braised celery and celery leaf garnish"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_627" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Chocolate beet cake, vanilla ice cream, and raspberry syrup"][/caption] About three weeks ago (way behind on posts here), I decided to try my hand at braised short ribs again - they are basically foolproof, and I was cooking for my fiancee and a friend of hers so did not want to screw up too badly :)
Read more...Harlequin pepper soup, fried tomatillos, fajitas, jicama and ice cream
June 19, 2010
adobo, chipotle, cilantro, clementines, cornmeal, fajitas, flank steak, frying, harlequin soup, ice cream, jicama, oil, onions, peppers, skirt steak, sour cream, tomatillos, tortillas
[caption id="attachment_638" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Harlequin pepper soup with fried tomatillos."][/caption] [caption id="attachment_640" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The main course."][/caption] [caption id="attachment_637" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Tomatillos."][/caption] [caption id="attachment_636" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Peppers, ready for simmering. Note that the waxy membrane has been removed."][/caption] [caption id="attachment_639" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Grilling peppers and onions."][/caption] [caption id="attachment_642" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Deliciously repurposed leftovers."][/caption] Recently I cooked probably my most complex meal yet. The first course was a harlequin pepper soup with a slide of fried tomatillos.
Read more...Smoke points
June 19, 2010
[caption id="attachment_708" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="A thermometer showing oil temperature of 379°. Note that we are past the smoke point of olive oil (375°), which I normally use, but mercifully short of the smoke point of canola oil (at least 464°), which I was using when this picture was taken."][/caption] Up until recently, the same sequence of events would occur every time I fried in my cast iron pan. I’d get the pan nice and hot.
Read more...Beer me
June 15, 2010
beer, beer me, hops, malt, yeast
[caption id="attachment_644" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Empty bottles, waiting to be filled."][/caption] [caption id="attachment_625" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Bottling setup."][/caption] [caption id="attachment_645" align="alignleft" width="294" caption="Uncarbonated (yes, uncarbonated - all the bubbles are on the top) beer."][/caption] [caption id="attachment_647" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The filled bottles."][/caption] About this time last year, I became very interested in brewing my own beer. As far as I can tell, over the past few years home brewing has become increasingly popular (though it is possible it has always been popular, and I just hadn’t heard about it).
Read more...Beet cakes
June 14, 2010
[caption id="attachment_702" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Batter for the beet spice cakes."][/caption] [caption id="attachment_703" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Completed cakes (the one on the right is chocolate, left spice), with some buttercream frosting. Notice that the red color has basically disappeared."][/caption] Ever since I heard there was such a thing as beet chocolate cake, I wanted to make it. But while looking around for a beet chocolate cake recipe, I also found this beet spice cake recipe.
Read more...Blue cheese soufflé
June 10, 2010
[caption id="attachment_697" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Out of the oven."][/caption] [caption id="attachment_698" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The completed dish. The souffle kind of falls apart when you take a slice out, which is fine."][/caption] Souffles are (a) vaguely mysterious, (b) apparently quite versatile, and © chemically interesting. So as soon as I saw Ina Garten make this blue cheese souffle, I wanted to try it. Wikipedia says a soufflé is a “light, fluffy, baked cake made with egg yolks and beaten egg whites combined with various other ingredients and served as a savory main dish or sweetened as a dessert”.
Read more...Ice cream!
June 9, 2010
basil, cream, ice cream, lime, milk, strawberries, sugar
[caption id=“attachment_633” align=“alignleft” width=“300” caption=“Ice cream mixture, strawberries, and the ice cream machine.”][/caption] [caption id=“attachment_634” align=“alignleft” width=“300” caption=“Where the ice cream mix is poured in. You can make out the outlines of the drum just underneath the clear lid.”][/caption] [caption id=“attachment_643” align=“alignleft” width=“300” caption=“The basil sorbet by itself.”][/caption] [caption id=“attachment_641” align=“alignleft” width=“225” caption=“Both together. The basil sorbet is on top, garnished with a basil leaf, and below you can see the strawberry ice cream.
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