Goose: Moist, but ultimately not really different from any other goose recipe. I did get a lot of goose fat out of it though which I will save for future uses.
Roast Veg: Cooked well but not interesting enough to be repeatable. Alex says it was fine but he would have preferred broccoli/cauliflower/red potato/etc.
Apples: Good but mushier than I would have liked.
Corn Gratin: Couldn't taste the cheese. Didn't like the onion rings. Otherwise good, if a bit rich.
Cranberry Sauce: Didn't gel up. Also tasted mostly like cherries and not so much like cranberries.
Carrots: Not soft enough. Glaze was not a glaze at all, more of a sauce, and as a result they were not as flavorful as I wanted.
Salad/bread: not put on table due to too much food.
Mashed Potatoes: standard mashed potatoes.
Alex's mom made sweet potato casserole, which I didn't try but Alex said it was very sweet, and also some sort of weird hybrid dessert that didn't work so well. The bottom half was a apple cake, with thinly sliced apples layered in it (is that a tatin? I'm not so good with dessert names), but then it had a layer of like marshmallowy whipped cream with chocolate shavings on top. I personally was not a fan of the two layers together, particularly the chocolate in conjunction with the apple.
My personal overall verdict is that nothing I had was BAD, but overall not worth the effort, especially when I'm fairly exhausted anyway due to travel and lack of sleep. This seems to be a recurring theme with my bigger dinners. Oh well. I won't be cooking for Christmas this year because we'll be out of town but maybe I'll do something special in mid-December sometime (not too close to Christmas).
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Thanksgiving 2007: Mid-Day
Carrots: chopped. Veggies: roasted. (Will need to be reheated and then tossed with red onion and apple cider vinegar later.) Goose: in oven. (Goddamn do we need a roasting pan with a rack in it. Cause we don't have one, so all our roast birds have to stew in their own juices (that or we use the broiler pan but that's not really an option I like) and we have a rack that is too long for any of our roasting pans so we thought maybe we'd just stick it on top of the pan but that made the whole thing like way too tall and I DO need to cook other things at the same time as the goose so BLAH!!!)
Still to do: make apples, cook carrots, bake corn gratin, reheat veg. That's really it. And the corn gratin is completely made, it just has to be tossed in the oven. Man. Easy as pie.
Alex's mom is ALSO apparently bringing a dessert of some kind. Which sucks because she tends to make her chocolate things rather bitter, or like bitter with a layer of sugar flavor on top, which I don't like. She (and perhaps the whole Russian culture, I don't know) tend to like lesserly sweet desserts, and I don't, and I tend to not like her desserts. Blug.
While I appreciate that she wants to help, I would really REALLY prefer for her to just leave me alone and let me cook everything. She is pushy as shit sometimes.
Still to do: make apples, cook carrots, bake corn gratin, reheat veg. That's really it. And the corn gratin is completely made, it just has to be tossed in the oven. Man. Easy as pie.
Alex's mom is ALSO apparently bringing a dessert of some kind. Which sucks because she tends to make her chocolate things rather bitter, or like bitter with a layer of sugar flavor on top, which I don't like. She (and perhaps the whole Russian culture, I don't know) tend to like lesserly sweet desserts, and I don't, and I tend to not like her desserts. Blug.
While I appreciate that she wants to help, I would really REALLY prefer for her to just leave me alone and let me cook everything. She is pushy as shit sometimes.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Thanksgiving 2007: Night Before
Alex's parents are coming over for Thanksgiving tomorrow and I got some of my cooking out of the way tonight.
The menu is:
Roast Goose with Caramelized Apples
Roasted Autumn Vegetables
Spiced Carrots
Creamed Corn Gratin with Fried Onions
Cranberry Sauce with Cherries and Cloves
Mashed Potatoes
Italian bread
Cabernet sauvignon
Salad (from a bag, blah. Was going to do a bacon-endive-Stilton salad but decided against it at the last minute)
Also Alex's mom is bringing glazed sweet potatoes, which kind of sucks because I have sweet potatoes in my roasted veg and nobody told me about this until AFTER purchases had been made. Oh well.
So tonight I did the cranberry sauce (smelled spectacular), and made the topping and content of the corn gratin (but did not bake, also smelled spectacular). Tomorrow I do goose, apples, roasted veg, and carrots.
I must say, it's really relaxing and almost sort of cathartic to do night-before prep with no real time frame or need to hurry. Just kind of casually loping along, none of my frantic "OH GOD WHAT NEXT AHHHH" thing. And I completely lucked out and EVERYTHING I'm baking tomorrow cooks at 350. So roasted veg go in first, when they come out goose goes in, when I flip it I add a pan of apples, then I put the corn in on a lower level, and then I put the topping on the corn right about the time the goose gets done so I can move the corn up to a higher level, and also then I put the roast veg back in to reheat. Carrots are stovetop and cranberry sauce is in fridge already (hopefully becoming nice and gelatinous... I didn't put it in the fridge immediately because the glass bowl was so hot I was worried that a drastic temperature change would make the bowl shatter, and so I HOPE when I wake up tomorrow morning I will have a nice jellied bowl of delicious fragrant [well probably not anymore but oh well] cranberries).
And this gives me a bit of time to sleep in in the morning, because I have presently been awake for 20 solid hours and while I'm not SLEEPY (for now, and I have been quite sleepy earlier in the day), I'm pretty damn worn out.
It's really good to get shit done ahead of time though.
The menu is:
Roast Goose with Caramelized Apples
Roasted Autumn Vegetables
Spiced Carrots
Creamed Corn Gratin with Fried Onions
Cranberry Sauce with Cherries and Cloves
Mashed Potatoes
Italian bread
Cabernet sauvignon
Salad (from a bag, blah. Was going to do a bacon-endive-Stilton salad but decided against it at the last minute)
Also Alex's mom is bringing glazed sweet potatoes, which kind of sucks because I have sweet potatoes in my roasted veg and nobody told me about this until AFTER purchases had been made. Oh well.
So tonight I did the cranberry sauce (smelled spectacular), and made the topping and content of the corn gratin (but did not bake, also smelled spectacular). Tomorrow I do goose, apples, roasted veg, and carrots.
I must say, it's really relaxing and almost sort of cathartic to do night-before prep with no real time frame or need to hurry. Just kind of casually loping along, none of my frantic "OH GOD WHAT NEXT AHHHH" thing. And I completely lucked out and EVERYTHING I'm baking tomorrow cooks at 350. So roasted veg go in first, when they come out goose goes in, when I flip it I add a pan of apples, then I put the corn in on a lower level, and then I put the topping on the corn right about the time the goose gets done so I can move the corn up to a higher level, and also then I put the roast veg back in to reheat. Carrots are stovetop and cranberry sauce is in fridge already (hopefully becoming nice and gelatinous... I didn't put it in the fridge immediately because the glass bowl was so hot I was worried that a drastic temperature change would make the bowl shatter, and so I HOPE when I wake up tomorrow morning I will have a nice jellied bowl of delicious fragrant [well probably not anymore but oh well] cranberries).
And this gives me a bit of time to sleep in in the morning, because I have presently been awake for 20 solid hours and while I'm not SLEEPY (for now, and I have been quite sleepy earlier in the day), I'm pretty damn worn out.
It's really good to get shit done ahead of time though.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Seven Onion Soup
We are very broke (or were, until we sold off my old computer parts for $100), so I took my last $20 and went to Hen House (love) and got a variety of onions. Also last night Alex picked up a take-and-bake loaf of ciabatta at Hyvee so I'll bake that too when the soup gets done simmering.
Seven Onion Soup
4 tbsp unsalted butter
3 slices thick-cut bacon
1.5 cups sliced white onion
1.5 cups sliced yellow onion
1.5 cups sliced red onion
1 cup sliced shallot
1 cup sliced leek
1 cup sliced scallions (bottoms only)
Salt and pepper
1/2 tsp thyme
1 bay leaf
2 quarts chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
Chives and parmesan, for garnish
Slice up all your onions. Sob all over yourself. Melt butter over medium-high heat in large pot. Realize your large pot heated up in like 2 seconds, as butter melts rapidly the moment it touches the pot. Add bacon, saute for 7-10 minutes or until browned and crispy and fat has rendered. Remove bacon with slotted spoon, set aside. Add red onion, yellow onion, white onion, shallot, salt, pepper, bay leaf, and thyme. Stir until softened and beginning to caramelize, about 6-8 minutes. Add leek and scallion, cook 3-4 minutes. Add chicken stock, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add cream, stir to combine and cook another 45 minutes. Puree (or don't; I won't be because Alex doesn't like pureed soups, and I just checked on it with 20 minutes of simmer until cream goes in and it's kind of pureeing itself anyway). Ladle into bowls and garnish with bacon, chives and parmesan.
Seven Onion Soup
4 tbsp unsalted butter
3 slices thick-cut bacon
1.5 cups sliced white onion
1.5 cups sliced yellow onion
1.5 cups sliced red onion
1 cup sliced shallot
1 cup sliced leek
1 cup sliced scallions (bottoms only)
Salt and pepper
1/2 tsp thyme
1 bay leaf
2 quarts chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
Chives and parmesan, for garnish
Slice up all your onions. Sob all over yourself. Melt butter over medium-high heat in large pot. Realize your large pot heated up in like 2 seconds, as butter melts rapidly the moment it touches the pot. Add bacon, saute for 7-10 minutes or until browned and crispy and fat has rendered. Remove bacon with slotted spoon, set aside. Add red onion, yellow onion, white onion, shallot, salt, pepper, bay leaf, and thyme. Stir until softened and beginning to caramelize, about 6-8 minutes. Add leek and scallion, cook 3-4 minutes. Add chicken stock, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add cream, stir to combine and cook another 45 minutes. Puree (or don't; I won't be because Alex doesn't like pureed soups, and I just checked on it with 20 minutes of simmer until cream goes in and it's kind of pureeing itself anyway). Ladle into bowls and garnish with bacon, chives and parmesan.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Garlic Brussels Sprouts
I was one of the probable millions of kids in the US who grew up utterly convinced (without necessarily even having tried one! I know I didn't) that brussels sprouts were the DEVIL. I don't think I even knew what they looked like but I had read enough stories of kids being sent to bed without supper because they refused to eat the dreaded brussels sprouts that I was convinced that they were the most disgusting vegetable on the planet. I think this fear may have been instilled as well by my generation's parents, who were probably raised on boiled crappy sprouts with no seasoning, which I'm sure probably would be pretty gross.
Then a few months ago, on a whim, I bought a basket of sprouts at Dillon's, just to see if they were any good. If not, I'd never buy them again. I roasted them with garlic and was SURPRISED. They just tasted like cabbage! I like cabbage! What the hell. Since then I have also made them from frozen in butter sauce (also good).
Tonight I made chicken breasts in teriyaki sauce (Alex: not bad but the portions should have been smaller or flatter for better sauce-age; me: not bad but needed more spice and less sugar, which is funny because I actually ran out of sugar and wasn't able to put a full 1/2 cup in), as well as aromatic brown rice I had made previously (Alex: too dry, me: not done enough because for the life of me I cannot get the damn lid sealed tightly enough on the pot that the liquid doesn't evaporate before the rice is completely done, and also not enough garlic flavor because I screwed up and added my 2-clove pile instead of my 4-clove and had to toss more in near the end), and garlic brussels sprouts (Alex: no comment).
I made them from frozen, which some people say makes them disgusting. I also may have overcooked them; they were baby brussels sprouts so some of them were fairly tiny and quite soft to the bite. I don't really care though. So so good. And good for you too!
Garlic Brussels Sprouts
1 10-oz package frozen brussels sprouts
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp butter, divided
1 tsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup chicken broth
Heat olive oil and 1 tsp butter over medium heat. Add garlic, saute 2-3 minutes or until aromatic and golden. Add sprouts, toss to coat. Add broth, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer 13 minutes or until cooked through. Drain any remaining liquid; add remaining butter and toss until melted.
Then a few months ago, on a whim, I bought a basket of sprouts at Dillon's, just to see if they were any good. If not, I'd never buy them again. I roasted them with garlic and was SURPRISED. They just tasted like cabbage! I like cabbage! What the hell. Since then I have also made them from frozen in butter sauce (also good).
Tonight I made chicken breasts in teriyaki sauce (Alex: not bad but the portions should have been smaller or flatter for better sauce-age; me: not bad but needed more spice and less sugar, which is funny because I actually ran out of sugar and wasn't able to put a full 1/2 cup in), as well as aromatic brown rice I had made previously (Alex: too dry, me: not done enough because for the life of me I cannot get the damn lid sealed tightly enough on the pot that the liquid doesn't evaporate before the rice is completely done, and also not enough garlic flavor because I screwed up and added my 2-clove pile instead of my 4-clove and had to toss more in near the end), and garlic brussels sprouts (Alex: no comment).
I made them from frozen, which some people say makes them disgusting. I also may have overcooked them; they were baby brussels sprouts so some of them were fairly tiny and quite soft to the bite. I don't really care though. So so good. And good for you too!
Garlic Brussels Sprouts
1 10-oz package frozen brussels sprouts
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp butter, divided
1 tsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup chicken broth
Heat olive oil and 1 tsp butter over medium heat. Add garlic, saute 2-3 minutes or until aromatic and golden. Add sprouts, toss to coat. Add broth, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer 13 minutes or until cooked through. Drain any remaining liquid; add remaining butter and toss until melted.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
A food survey!
What's the last thing you ate? Bowl of Campbell's Chunky Chicken Pot Pie soup (I suck...)
What's your favorite cheese? Gouda
What's your favorite fish? Tilapia
What's your favorite fruit? A good peach is deeeelicious.
When, if ever, did you start liking olives? Never!
When, if ever, did you start liking beer? I generally don't but I can finish a cup of Miller Lite before it gets warm, so yay?
When, if ever, did you start liking shellfish? I still don't much like shrimp but I do like crab and scallops, which was probably about 2 years ago.
What was the best thing your mum/dad/guardian used to make? My mom makes good potato soup.
What's the native specialty of your home town? Lexington? I suppose stuff like derby pie and mint juleps but that's really more Louisville.
What's your comfort food(s)? Campbell's tomato soup, with a grilled cheese sandwich made with lots of butter, Wonder Bread (or equivalent spongy pre-sliced bread) and Kraft Singles. Sliced diagonally.
What's your favorite type of chocolate? Mint chocolate. Or if we mean chocolate candy, probably Raisinets.
How do you like your steak? Medium
How do you like your burger? Medium
How do you like your eggs? Swirled into egg drop soup. Alternately they're not bad in fried rice as long as the chunks are small and dry and not very eggy-tasting. I don't really like eggs for breakfast at all though.
How do you like your potatoes? Roasted with rosemary, thyme and garlic; mashed; scalloped with a nice cheese sauce
How do you take your coffee? Smelling up the grocery aisle. That's about it.
How do you take your tea? I don't but I'll make sweet tea for Alex if he requests it.
What's your favorite mug? I don't really have one, but that's probably because I'm not a huge fan of hot drinks.
What's your biscuit or cookie of choice? Chocolate chip. Peanut butter is a close second.
What's your ideal breakfast? 2 slices bacon (crispy but with a bit of chew to it still). Two pancakes with butter and maple syrup. One small bowl either fresh fruit (melon, grape, banana, etc) or baked apples. Small glass apple juice. One small bowl Frosted Flakes with milk and strawberries on top. (That's like, ultimate breakfast. I can't actually imagine eating all that in one sitting.)
What's your ideal sandwich? Turkey, melted swiss, bacon, tomato (GOOD tomato), shredded lettuce.
What's your ideal pizza (topping and base)? Thin crust, with bbq sauce instead of pizza sauce, and ham (or Canadian bacon) and pineapple chunks. Alternately, chicken instead of ham would work. It needs to be so overloaded with toppings though that it practically falls apart when you pick up the slice.
What's your ideal pie (sweet or savory)? Nana's cherry pie is still the best pie ever.
What's your ideal salad? Romaine, thinly sliced carrots, celery half-moons, green pepper strips (not rings, those are difficult to eat in salad), good (big) garlicky croutons, shredded cheddar, diced smoked ham, slices of cucumber, with honey french dressing.
What food(s) do you always like to have in the fridge? Chicken broth, leeks, fresh herbs, broccoli, zucchini.
What food do you always like to have in the freezer? Cabbage, potato or mushroom dumplings (preferably Alex's mom's varyeniki but from Ho's works too), frozen vegetables, boneless skinless chicken breasts
What food do you always like to have in the cupboard? Various oils/vinegars/cooking wines, soup mixes
What spices can you not live without? salt, pepper, rosemary, parsley, cayenne, basil, ginger
What sauces can you not live without? soy sauce, ketchup, applesauce
Where do you buy most of your food? Dillon's but I like to go to Hen House when I feel like spoiling myself.
How often do you go food shopping? Weekly.
What's the most you've spent on a single food item? Probably in the $20-$30 range for last year's Thanksgiving turkey or something.
What's the most expensive piece of kitchen equipment you own? Probably one of the Calphalon pans.
What's the last piece of equipment you bought for your kitchen? Alex's cast iron small teapot.
What piece of kitchen equipment could you not live without? Santoku.
How many times a week/month do you cook from raw ingredients? When I am being good, roughly 3x/week. When I am not being good so much, roughly 3x every 2 weeks.
What's the last thing you cooked from raw ingredients? Broccoli last night (which I posted about here)
What meats have you eaten besides cow, pig and poultry? Does seafood count? Oh wait I've had venison! Hah! It was really tasty too.
What's the last time you ate something that had fallen on the floor? I think a broccoli floret fell on the floor while I was chopping last night (or maybe it was a bit of mushroom the night I did risotto) and I picked it up within 1 second of it falling, inspected for grit, and then put it back on the cutting board and proceeded as normal. That's my usual procedure, if it doesn't have visible particles on it it's fine. And I've never had food poisoning so *shrug*
What's the last time you ate something you'd picked in the wild? I think I had mulberries or some other sort of wild berry once this summer from trees at Alex's parents' house.
Place in order of preference (greatest to least): Chinese, French, Italian, Mexican, Indian, Sushi,
Moroccan, Thai, (I have never had Moroccan or Thai)
Place in order of preference: garlic, basil, mint, caramel, ginger, lime, anise,
Place in order of preference: cherry, strawberry, apple, banana, orange, watermelon,
Place in order of preference: the internet, food, movies, sex, fashion, sports
Bread and spread? White toast with margarine spread. I am classy.
What's your fast food restaurant of choice, and what do you usually order? Panera Bread (I know, it's not REALLY fast food but it does have you walking to the counter to order so I think it counts), and I get a chicken caesar salad. If Panera Bread doesn't count, then Wendy's, and a #1 with cheese (no onion/tomato/mayo).
Pick a city. What are the best dining experiences you've had in that city? Madison WI: Laredo's. Ella's Deli. Noodles & Co (yeah, that's a chain but I haven't been to one outside of Madison even though there are some in KC that I know the location of). Culver's (also a chain but I was introduced to it in Madison and used to eat it almost religiously).
What's your choice of tipple at the end of a long day? Coke, generally. Apple juice sometimes though. Ooo or apple cider!
What's the next thing you'll eat? Tonight... likely some sprees. If I don't eat anything else tonight, then tomorrow morning I may have some of those vegetarian broccoli-cheese bites (even though they smell weird and give me icky burps, they TASTE fine), or maybe some of those Asian dumpling thingies... or the rest of the can of peaches I put in the fridge the other morning... or I may try to finish off some of the leftover fusilli or rigatoni before they go bad. (Not the risotto though... that first reheating convinced me that the rest of the leftovers are pretty much a wash.)
What's your favorite cheese? Gouda
What's your favorite fish? Tilapia
What's your favorite fruit? A good peach is deeeelicious.
When, if ever, did you start liking olives? Never!
When, if ever, did you start liking beer? I generally don't but I can finish a cup of Miller Lite before it gets warm, so yay?
When, if ever, did you start liking shellfish? I still don't much like shrimp but I do like crab and scallops, which was probably about 2 years ago.
What was the best thing your mum/dad/guardian used to make? My mom makes good potato soup.
What's the native specialty of your home town? Lexington? I suppose stuff like derby pie and mint juleps but that's really more Louisville.
What's your comfort food(s)? Campbell's tomato soup, with a grilled cheese sandwich made with lots of butter, Wonder Bread (or equivalent spongy pre-sliced bread) and Kraft Singles. Sliced diagonally.
What's your favorite type of chocolate? Mint chocolate. Or if we mean chocolate candy, probably Raisinets.
How do you like your steak? Medium
How do you like your burger? Medium
How do you like your eggs? Swirled into egg drop soup. Alternately they're not bad in fried rice as long as the chunks are small and dry and not very eggy-tasting. I don't really like eggs for breakfast at all though.
How do you like your potatoes? Roasted with rosemary, thyme and garlic; mashed; scalloped with a nice cheese sauce
How do you take your coffee? Smelling up the grocery aisle. That's about it.
How do you take your tea? I don't but I'll make sweet tea for Alex if he requests it.
What's your favorite mug? I don't really have one, but that's probably because I'm not a huge fan of hot drinks.
What's your biscuit or cookie of choice? Chocolate chip. Peanut butter is a close second.
What's your ideal breakfast? 2 slices bacon (crispy but with a bit of chew to it still). Two pancakes with butter and maple syrup. One small bowl either fresh fruit (melon, grape, banana, etc) or baked apples. Small glass apple juice. One small bowl Frosted Flakes with milk and strawberries on top. (That's like, ultimate breakfast. I can't actually imagine eating all that in one sitting.)
What's your ideal sandwich? Turkey, melted swiss, bacon, tomato (GOOD tomato), shredded lettuce.
What's your ideal pizza (topping and base)? Thin crust, with bbq sauce instead of pizza sauce, and ham (or Canadian bacon) and pineapple chunks. Alternately, chicken instead of ham would work. It needs to be so overloaded with toppings though that it practically falls apart when you pick up the slice.
What's your ideal pie (sweet or savory)? Nana's cherry pie is still the best pie ever.
What's your ideal salad? Romaine, thinly sliced carrots, celery half-moons, green pepper strips (not rings, those are difficult to eat in salad), good (big) garlicky croutons, shredded cheddar, diced smoked ham, slices of cucumber, with honey french dressing.
What food(s) do you always like to have in the fridge? Chicken broth, leeks, fresh herbs, broccoli, zucchini.
What food do you always like to have in the freezer? Cabbage, potato or mushroom dumplings (preferably Alex's mom's varyeniki but from Ho's works too), frozen vegetables, boneless skinless chicken breasts
What food do you always like to have in the cupboard? Various oils/vinegars/cooking wines, soup mixes
What spices can you not live without? salt, pepper, rosemary, parsley, cayenne, basil, ginger
What sauces can you not live without? soy sauce, ketchup, applesauce
Where do you buy most of your food? Dillon's but I like to go to Hen House when I feel like spoiling myself.
How often do you go food shopping? Weekly.
What's the most you've spent on a single food item? Probably in the $20-$30 range for last year's Thanksgiving turkey or something.
What's the most expensive piece of kitchen equipment you own? Probably one of the Calphalon pans.
What's the last piece of equipment you bought for your kitchen? Alex's cast iron small teapot.
What piece of kitchen equipment could you not live without? Santoku.
How many times a week/month do you cook from raw ingredients? When I am being good, roughly 3x/week. When I am not being good so much, roughly 3x every 2 weeks.
What's the last thing you cooked from raw ingredients? Broccoli last night (which I posted about here)
What meats have you eaten besides cow, pig and poultry? Does seafood count? Oh wait I've had venison! Hah! It was really tasty too.
What's the last time you ate something that had fallen on the floor? I think a broccoli floret fell on the floor while I was chopping last night (or maybe it was a bit of mushroom the night I did risotto) and I picked it up within 1 second of it falling, inspected for grit, and then put it back on the cutting board and proceeded as normal. That's my usual procedure, if it doesn't have visible particles on it it's fine. And I've never had food poisoning so *shrug*
What's the last time you ate something you'd picked in the wild? I think I had mulberries or some other sort of wild berry once this summer from trees at Alex's parents' house.
Place in order of preference (greatest to least): Chinese, French, Italian, Mexican, Indian, Sushi,
Moroccan, Thai, (I have never had Moroccan or Thai)
Place in order of preference: garlic, basil, mint, caramel, ginger, lime, anise,
Place in order of preference: cherry, strawberry, apple, banana, orange, watermelon,
Place in order of preference: the internet, food, movies, sex, fashion, sports
Bread and spread? White toast with margarine spread. I am classy.
What's your fast food restaurant of choice, and what do you usually order? Panera Bread (I know, it's not REALLY fast food but it does have you walking to the counter to order so I think it counts), and I get a chicken caesar salad. If Panera Bread doesn't count, then Wendy's, and a #1 with cheese (no onion/tomato/mayo).
Pick a city. What are the best dining experiences you've had in that city? Madison WI: Laredo's. Ella's Deli. Noodles & Co (yeah, that's a chain but I haven't been to one outside of Madison even though there are some in KC that I know the location of). Culver's (also a chain but I was introduced to it in Madison and used to eat it almost religiously).
What's your choice of tipple at the end of a long day? Coke, generally. Apple juice sometimes though. Ooo or apple cider!
What's the next thing you'll eat? Tonight... likely some sprees. If I don't eat anything else tonight, then tomorrow morning I may have some of those vegetarian broccoli-cheese bites (even though they smell weird and give me icky burps, they TASTE fine), or maybe some of those Asian dumpling thingies... or the rest of the can of peaches I put in the fridge the other morning... or I may try to finish off some of the leftover fusilli or rigatoni before they go bad. (Not the risotto though... that first reheating convinced me that the rest of the leftovers are pretty much a wash.)
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Risotto with Roasted Garlic, Mushrooms and Spinach
Last night I made risotto for the second time ever. Far better than the first attempt (first try had butternut squash in it and I have determined after several tastings that I just do not like butternut squash, at least not without many other complementary flavors to mask it [for instance I had storebought butternut squash soup and it would have been SO much better with apple blended into it]), but there were a few things about the recipe I'd change for personal preference reasons.
1) It had roasted garlic in it, which I've done many times before in the "chop off top of head, pour olive oil over, wrap in foil, bake" way, but this way wanted me to separate the cloves beforehand, which had the end result of having the side of the clove that was touching the bottom of the pan become dry and hard and burnt. Next time, I'll just roast the head whole and squeeze the cloves out.
2) It wanted dried porcini mushrooms and also wild mushrooms. I used crimini. I have also determined that I am not a huge fan of portobello because despite my careful cleaning they always have this icky black crap coming off of them (like black watery stuff) and taste like dirt. This wasn't a huge issue last night when the risotto was fresh, but I reheated it today and took it in my Mr. Bento to work (speaking of which I have been completely neglecting that in favor of McDonald's Monopoly stuff, oh god I suck) and the dirty crimini flavor had completely permeated throughout the risotto. Sigh.
3) Last time, with the failed butternut squash risotto, I made it the "authentic" way, by adding the broth in ladlefuls until all is absorbed and risotto is creamy. But it just came out sticky and gooey at the end (butternut squash may have contributed to this). Last night I just put all the broth in at once and let simmer until absorbed. And the creaminess factor was MUCH better. Huzzah!
So yeah. Recipe:
Roast 1-2 heads of garlic at 400 degrees for 50 minutes or until done. Let cool, squeeze cloves out and chop to get roughly 1/4 cup garlic.
Slice 12 oz mushrooms of your choice, saute in olive oil over med-hi heat until done. Season with salt and pepper, set aside.
In a large saucepan (I used a 3-qt one), cook 1/4 cup chopped shallots with a lot of thyme in olive oil over med-hi heat until tender. Add 1 1/2 cups arborio rice, stir to combine. Add 1/2 cup white wine, cook until nearly evaporated. (Mine vaporized nearly instantly, but I also only used about 1/4 cup because that was all that was left in the bottle). Add 3 cups chicken broth, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until all is absorbed and risotto is creamy, adding more broth if it gets too dry too fast. Add mushrooms and 2 cups thinly sliced spinach, cook until spinach is wilted. Add plenty o Parmesan, season to taste with salt and pepper.
1) It had roasted garlic in it, which I've done many times before in the "chop off top of head, pour olive oil over, wrap in foil, bake" way, but this way wanted me to separate the cloves beforehand, which had the end result of having the side of the clove that was touching the bottom of the pan become dry and hard and burnt. Next time, I'll just roast the head whole and squeeze the cloves out.
2) It wanted dried porcini mushrooms and also wild mushrooms. I used crimini. I have also determined that I am not a huge fan of portobello because despite my careful cleaning they always have this icky black crap coming off of them (like black watery stuff) and taste like dirt. This wasn't a huge issue last night when the risotto was fresh, but I reheated it today and took it in my Mr. Bento to work (speaking of which I have been completely neglecting that in favor of McDonald's Monopoly stuff, oh god I suck) and the dirty crimini flavor had completely permeated throughout the risotto. Sigh.
3) Last time, with the failed butternut squash risotto, I made it the "authentic" way, by adding the broth in ladlefuls until all is absorbed and risotto is creamy. But it just came out sticky and gooey at the end (butternut squash may have contributed to this). Last night I just put all the broth in at once and let simmer until absorbed. And the creaminess factor was MUCH better. Huzzah!
So yeah. Recipe:
Roast 1-2 heads of garlic at 400 degrees for 50 minutes or until done. Let cool, squeeze cloves out and chop to get roughly 1/4 cup garlic.
Slice 12 oz mushrooms of your choice, saute in olive oil over med-hi heat until done. Season with salt and pepper, set aside.
In a large saucepan (I used a 3-qt one), cook 1/4 cup chopped shallots with a lot of thyme in olive oil over med-hi heat until tender. Add 1 1/2 cups arborio rice, stir to combine. Add 1/2 cup white wine, cook until nearly evaporated. (Mine vaporized nearly instantly, but I also only used about 1/4 cup because that was all that was left in the bottle). Add 3 cups chicken broth, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until all is absorbed and risotto is creamy, adding more broth if it gets too dry too fast. Add mushrooms and 2 cups thinly sliced spinach, cook until spinach is wilted. Add plenty o Parmesan, season to taste with salt and pepper.
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