Friday, August 22, 2008

Still unemployed

The culinary adventures continue here at Chez A.

I finally managed to make some pepper jelly that was actually spicy, after a very disappointing first batch made with the recipe from the canning cookbook. Same recipe, but this time I left in some of the seeds, particularly those of the Thai peppers I used. The recipe makes about twice as much jelly as the book claims it should, which means I have all the more to share with slavering friends and family.

Ice cream creation continues unabated. Nutella ice cream met with rave reviews all around, and was even described as "the best thing I've had in a long time" by a friend of mine. Coconut ice cream was found to be delicious by the only coconut lover in the house (me), and recieved a passable review from my husband. Even though I was forced to use sweetened shredded coconut, as none of the supermarkets around me had unsweetened, it still turned out quite nicely.

R, although thrilled by my love of cooking, feels I have a knack for picking recipes that he won't like. Some of my recent trials have given more evidence to said theory. In my quest to use up an open bottle of red wine, I made barlotto with red with and mushrooms, a recipe from that risotto cookbook I am so fond of. R, being un-fond of mushrooms, took a rain check on that one. I also made romesco sauce (conveniently using ingredients I already had in the pantry, particularly a half bag of almonds I didn't know what to do with) and served it with cauliflower steaks. R tried it, but found the bell pepper flavor to be overwhelming, at it is something he isn't fond of. I suppose I will have to take these things into account when cooking for a family, as, without torturing R, I will want him to set a good example for the kids and eat a little of everything. No more portobello paninis then, I guess.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

OMG Nutella ice cream is the best! I had Nutella gelato nearly every day when I was in Italy. That might explain the 5 lbs I gained in the one week there. Oh and you should do some research into your neighbor's cactus plant... I believe the flat green paddles are nopales, in which case they'd be delicious brushed with olive oil and grilled for 5 minutes.

-S