2011 - Week 40 Cooking Results
Tunisian Sweet Potato Stew, rice, Apples-and-Honey Ice Cream
One is a prime example of me following the directions and following everything very well and prepping well. The other is me not paying attention to the recipe at all. The Sweet Potato Stew was pretty good, I would've liked more spices and I'm thinking that it should have been spicier. Beyond that, the spice mix went pretty well. I had to make adjustments here and there (no cinnamon stick) but it worked pretty well. Everyone seemed to like it. I served it it with some Joseph made wheat bread.
On the other hand, the ice cream was clearly a case of me not following directions. I made the same custard base that I do for most ice creams, because the recipe's ice cream directions seemed a bit, well, odd. So I headed off in another direction and basically ignored the recipe all together. I thought it was odd using apples, but I suppose if I read it, I would have made a better ice cream. The apples really turned into these very hard things, and the ice cream turned out to be very cinnamon ice cream with frozen apples in it. I think the texture of the ice cream was a bit gritty, and would've been better if I had some cinnamon sticks to use (I could've sworn I had some somewhere, but I went shopping and now have some). So I'm going to try a cinnamon ice cream and forget the whole apple thing. Maybe for apple pie or tarts for Thanksgiving?
Really, cinnamon ice cream with some frozen apples in it.
Hedgeapple Farm Ground Lamb burgers, based on this
Did I mention that I love lamb? It's so diverse and yet such a pain to find in a normal store. I suppose since the sheep and lamb are cute little animals it makes them less desirable, however it really should be carried and promoted more. It makes such wonderful things. I didn't really base the recipe on that, even though it sounded good, I just made lamb patties and when from there. Little lamb, some cheese and some fresh greens from the market, not a bad thing, not bad at all.
Hedgeapple Farm Lamb Frittata with diced tomatoes
So I wasn't feeling the frittata, so I just made some lamb sausage patties and then scrambled some eggs, which means I didn't use the tomatoes either. But it turned out well. The lamb sausage was lamby, but not too spiced, but nice all the same. I guess you wouldn't really want to hide the lamb flavor behind a whole lot of spices. I still have a bit left and so I'll have to use it for something...Maybe lamb sausage pizza? I wonder how much is left.
Chicken Thighs and Roasted Potatoes
A few thighs from Foxhollow and some veggies (mix of farmers market and not (carrots the only not)). So I though hey I can roast the veggies and I haven't done that in a while. So I prep the potatoes, use a few cloves of garlic, chop the fennel (didn't have much by volume), and chop the carrots (leftover from another dish). I tossed everything together and then put them in a baking dish, covered in foil and let it cook for a while (~ an hour). In the second part of cooking I begun to prep the chicken and pan sear it. I turned out to be a nice sit down dinner and I had a nice bottle of Bogle Petite Sirah (2007). I actually had thought our (well really my) wine selection was down to just desert and odd wines (rhubarb, etc). But this turned out really well and quite a bit more veggies then meat. I probably will do this again.
Pounded Chicken Sandwiches
So there was a single chicken breast left from Foxhollow. So I figured hey, it would make itself into some sandwiches. And it did, there's really nothing to this, the flattening of it reduces the cooking time and makes for a quick dinner. I served this with oranges.