Food Blog:
Cook In.
Eat Out.
Miss Tenacity.
New Mexico.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Monday, September 15
Gaaaaaaaahzpacho! Wow, making this cold soup is so damn easy. I'm smacking myself for not trying it before. The hardest part is peeling the tomatoes.
a bunch of tomatoes (peeled with blanching method), chilled
fistful of cilantro
a hot pepper or two (the little thai ones are great)
an avocado
salt & pepper to taste
Put in a blender. Blend. Eat ASAP.
I don't do any of the "typical" crap like strain out the chunks or anything like that. Chunks rule. Also, my ingredient list is MUCH shorter than your typical recipe, but its what I had on hand. The avocado gives it a nice smoothness and some extra fat. Other recipes have you adding oil, but avocado is much better, IMO.
**word of warning.... because of the avocado, the soup takes on a less than pretty color (somewhere between nice red and pale grey-green). Just be warned....
Time posted: 13:13 [permalink]
Tuesday, September 9
Individual Enchiladas. Made these off the top of my head, with a lot of inspiration from Skinny's Grill in Durango.
This recipe makes small/moderate portions. Pair with something else or not.
You need:
4 ramekins - mine are 4" (about 1 cup+ capacity)
2 cups black beans, cooked
1 cup shredded chicken, cooked
shredded cheese
4 corn torillas
salsa/green sauce
Butter the ramekins. Layer everything any way you'd like. I usually do tortilla-beans-chicken-salsa-cheese-tortilla-salsa-cheese. You will have to dissect the tortillas to make them fit into the little ramekins.
Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.
Like all casseroles, these are just as good or better the next day reheated, so make more than you'll need.
Time posted: 22:29 [permalink]
Monday, September 8
Brownie update: they are much better today. I guess I have been chastened to never eat brownies fresh out of the oven. If I need a chocolate fix, I guess I'll have to make Nigella's gooey pudding instead, which IS great while still warm....
Time posted: 12:20 [permalink]
Sunday, September 7
Julie/Julia project is complete. Way to go, woman! Enjoy your 15 minutes of fame, and keep cooking.
Time posted: 22:20 [permalink]
Still looking for a good brownie recipe. Its shocking and somewhat demeaning to realize that the best damn brownies I've had over the last few years have been out of a box. I'm definitely doing something wrong. Too much sugar, too little chocolate..... something.
Here's the recipe I used tonight, from The Joy of Cooking (the original, non-updated edition):
melt 1 stick butter with 4oz chocolate. Let cool.
Beat 4 eggs with 1/2 t salt. Then beat in 1t vanilla and 2c sugar.
Stir in the chocolate, then 1c flour, then nuts if desired.
Bake at 350 for 20-25min.
So.... even though I used good chocolate, room temperature eggs, and extra fine baker's sugar.... they came out sort of mealy. Like the sugar didn't combine well. Also, by the time the sugar was incorporated, the eggs had gone from foamy to stringy, like very loose gum, so I wondered if that was a bad thing.
On the other hand, I've heard that brownies get better the next day, and at least after they've cooled. So I'll test them again tomorrow.
But I'm scouring my favorite blog still for a better recipe, or for someone to tell me what I'm doing wrong - I did notice that the batch today did not call for baking powder, which seemed slightly weird. I wonder if whipping the egg whites separately before folding them in would make a light fluffy brownie....
Time posted: 21:58 [permalink]
Tuesday, September 2
Getting back into trying new things. This weekend I made a flourless lemon-almond cake, and it kind of sucked. I think it turned out as it should have, but it just wasn't a very compelling item on its own. And I definitely do not want to be making things that require a sauce or accompaniment to even make it passable. In the interest of never throwing a dessert away, however, I will likely make a blueberry sauce for the 3 little cakes I have remaining.
Perhaps flourless and chocolate go best together. Or, I found a recipe for a lemon pudding cake - that might be better. I think the almonds overwhelmed the flavor of the cake from this weekend.
I am also getting pretty damn good at basic pasta sauces - white and tomato based, to be specific. Haven't yet gotten up the arterial space to do a true alfredo sauce, so milk based has been the norm for my white sauces thus far.
Time posted: 14:49 [permalink]
|
|
| |
CONTACT ME: tenacity -at- gmail.com
|
|
|
