since i last posted. in fact, a few months. i thus have a long list of things to say, hopefully interesting things. unfortunately, i haven’t been able to keep up with my tech column, though this blog is more interesting anyway. food kudos for best […]
fettuccine with eggplant in a tomato-onion cream sauce 1 28-oz can whole tomatoes 3 onions, halved and sliced 1 medium eggplant, cut into 2″-3″ long strips 2T olive oil 1/4c cream 1/2c parmesan cheese, grated salt to taste 1 lb fettuccine [1] heat oil in […]
so on monday, natalia suggested an excellent idea for a potluck. the concept was this: each person would bring an ingredient and we would cook things with what we ended up with, for better or for worse. josh and carrie gave v + me a ride to natalia’s apartment on western ave, stopping by whole foods, where as usual we wanted to buy everything in the store but didn’t have the funds necessary. the things we amassed: sage, savory, heirloom tomatoes, corn, shallots, bell peppers, coconut milk, white peaches, boneless, skinless chicken thighs, and cod.
i think the key to this kind of party is to have people go shopping on their own – so what people bring is really a surprise. for us, it was more that we cooked dinner together, which was certainly lots of fun anyway. we ended up with caramelised corn and shallots, peach-tomato relish/salsa, cod with cajun seasoning, chicken with savory, mushrooms, and onions, and lots of natalia’s excellent bread. when mary arrived, she asked the same question we asked: “where did you get the bread?” (more…)
it’s been a long time since I last wrote, pretty much because it’s been so darn hot that turning on the stove and/or oven just isn’t an option. however, the past couple of days have been quite favorable towards cooking, so I got back into […]
mmm…i had potato chips yesterday, for the first time in months. potato chips are wonderfully satisfying when you have a craving, if potentially artery-clogging. when i was a kid, my parents used to buy “krunchers” brand potato chips when they went on sale; though they […]
i think i may have finally found a recipe for perfect pancakes. it probably needs some tweaking (i like my pancakes on the sweeter side), but i’ve never had pancakes as thick as these, without being cottony and dense.
yesterday morning, having woken up late, i cast about for something to do. i was about to go watch some episodes of coupling, since we now have a dvd player, but i opened the door to the living room to find ray fast asleep on the couch. so that’s why the door was shut. anyway, v was still asleep and mary was on her way out, so i decided to make pancakes for v and ray (it was nearing noon, ie, time to get up). as they were both still asleep, i set about doing so in a leisurely fashion. without my joy of cooking, which is packed up in lmf, i always make up a new recipe every time i make pancakes, based on my vague memories of the recipe in the book. i also decided to beat the egg whites with a fork (but not on a plate, a la little house on the prairie), to see how long it would take.
fifteen minutes later, i had an egg foam that was still slightly runny at the bottom, with no sign of metamorphosing towards stiff peaks. i was too impatient to beat them for longer, so into the batter they went…and the resulting pancakes puffed up more than i’ve ever seen them puff. they also tasted pretty good, although i’d add a bit more sugar, and probably another tablespoon of butter. these are good pancakes for soaking up maple syrup…mmm. (more…)
long time no update! i’ve gotten back into the swing of things, cooking-wise; currently our kitchen is spotless, which certainly makes me very happy. it’ll be hard moving back into the messy, less-clean dorms this fall… this week, i’ve really only cooked on wednesday and […]
another adventure in cooking meat! that is, meat that requires actual attention and possibly skill (up for debate). on the menu: sauteed pork chops with sour cherry sauce, boiled corn, and the oat-granola pie that just won the pillsbury bakeoff contest (curiosity…). unfortunately, nora and […]
since tuesday baking always seems to fall on, well, tuesday, i think it will stay on tuesdays. perhaps a literary theme would be fun when i finish my list of “things i want to make.” it was only a few years ago that i realized that many of my favorite childhood books were the ones with lots of food descriptions: all-of-a-kind-family, a tree grows in brooklyn, heidi, a girl of the limberlost…
this tuesday was originally going to be pie day, but ended up as rhubarb day, since the banana cream pie would have needed 8 hours to set and chill, and it seemed like it actually needed all 8 hours. on the menu: rhubarb streusel pie, and strawberry-rhubarb “courting” cake. and, more leftover desserts from our party!
i was surprised by my ability to finish everything in 2 1/2 hours – usually doing two recipes at once doesn’t work for me. but the pie went in the oven and then i was just making the cake, which is essentially a butter cake layered with whipped cream and a rhubarb-strawberry jam/compote. i didn’t like the compote, but it must have tasted fine in the cake, since people ate the cake. to me, the compote tasted like smarties – the chalky american kind – so maybe i should have added more sugar. probably more strawberries would have been good as well. (more…)