Cooking updates

[mamajoan]

#46 cinnamon bread. A few Sundays ago I was too tired to bake my usual two loaves of bread, so I decided instead to buy some. The When Pigs Fly bakery had a new flavor that week, which was cinnamon. (The woman said, "It's like cinnamon raisin but without the raisins." Me: "It's almost as if you knew I was coming!") It was very tasty, and afterward I thought, hey, I could do that. So I tried my regular whole-wheat bread recipe except with extra sweeteners, milk instead of water, and of course cinnamon. It came out smelling much more cinnamony than it tasted, and didn't rise well, but tasted okay. Not great, just okay.

#47 was pumpkin risotto in a recipe from mishaslair. I made this with sugar pumpkins from our farm share. I don't know what I did wrong, but it came out really tasteless and blah. :( It was edible once I drowned it in parmesan, but just barely. I felt really bad about wasting those pumpkins. alas.

#48 "braised and glazed brussels sprouts" from How To Cook Everything Vegetarian. You basically put the sprouts in a big pot with a little water and oil, and steam for a while, then put the lid on and "fry" until the liquid reduces down. It was okay, not fantastic. I definitely prefer them roasted.

#49 delicata squash hash, as posted by orbitalmechanic. You basically grate the squash, mix with grated onion, and fry like potato hash. Very tasty. I love delicata, so it was almost guaranteed to appeal. :)

#50 my mom's spinach and rice casserole. I've helped mom make this before, but this was the first time I ever made it all by myself, so it counts. You cook some brown rice, then mix it with egg, grated cheddar, raw spinach, and some seasonings, then spread it in a pan, sprinkle with wheat germ, and bake. It's astonishingly yummy. Ruthie actually ate a small portion of it and declared it yummy. Isaac very reluctantly tasted it, ate a few bites, and declared that he didn't like it. I'm thinking of trying it again sometime with broccoli instead of spinach, since the kids like broccoli a lot more.

#51 spaghetti squash, just roasted/baked in the oven, served with butter and parmesan. I needed to cook it longer; it shouldn't have been quite that al dente. Still Isaac ate a whole (small) bowlful, which is a lot for him for the first time with a new food!

#52 minty muffins - I made my usual "simple muffin" recipe (from vegweb.com) but instead of the "water or soy milk" that the recipe calls for (for which I usually use half water and half cow milk), I used some strongly brewed peppermint tea. It came out with a very subtle, but nice minty undertone. Isaac declared them the best muffins he has ever tasted ever. :)

#53 was the Indian-style vegetable curry which I originally saw on America's Test Kitchen and then hunted down online. This is a very fidgety recipe unfortunately - a lot of steps, not to mention a lot of chopping, so I can't really see doing this except on a day when the kids are elsewhere. ;) But I'm so glad I did make it (last Sunday while mom had the kids) because it is soooooooo good. I had it for lunch two days in a row, and have another portion left in the fridge which will probably be tomorrow's lunch. This curry uses cauliflower, potatoes, chick peas, regular peas, onion, and of course Indian spices and a little coconut milk. Apparently, the trick is to toast the dry spices in a pan first. It's amazing what a difference that makes in the depth of flavor. OK, time to stop talking about this recipe; my mouth is watering. :) Did I mention it was good?? ;)

It looks like a lot of cooking, but that's only because of how far behind I am on updating. ;)

Comments

[evil-macaroni.livejournal.com]

I think the secret to badass cinnamon bread is to make it a roll-up loaf. Roll out your dough & slather it with cinnamon-sugar-butter goo, then roll into a cylinder & let rise once before baking. That way you get the OMG YUM punch of pure cinnamon-sugary sin. Or at least that's how my local bakery does it - and that stuff is *crack*.