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Mar. 13th, 2010 02:42 amIt's amazing sometimes, how I manage to sabatoge myself. I fell asleep on the couch tonight out of sheer exhaustion, refused to get up when the Engineer was going to bed, and now I'm wide awake.
At least it's given me some time to play with this new application I got on my Eris, which I wouldn't be able to do much of tomorrow because the Engineer will be recording the newest episode of his podcast, which means I'm banned from the computer room.
The application is called OurGroceries and it allows one to input the basics of a recipe, then create a shopping list from said input. You can also share it via multiple phones and, I believe, update the list from any of those phones.
I've been trying to kick my ass into gear with cooking more lately for the Engineer and I because we have been relying far too much on delivery items. Because I'm such a picky, snobby control freak when it comes to the kitchen, I'm always the one who cooks our meals and as of late, I've not been full of energy to stand in the kitchen when I get home from work. Which is not good because we more often than not wind up eating like crap and it just plain costs too much money.
Earlier today, I had stumbled across a foodie website called Serious Eats and they've got an awesome section on there, Dinner Tonight. Lots of Indian food knock-offs, which would be interesting to try since the Engineer loves Indian (although I don't have much experience in making it, so this should prove to be interesting). And it all looks relatively healthy, without incredibly expensive ingredients.
I also need to get back on to the bread wagon, because I haven't baked in over a month. I think I just got discouraged from not being able to quite get my bread recipe the way I wanted it to be. Every loaf appeared slightly anemic and the texture of the crumb was never sufficient for my tastes. Far too dense and chewy, the only thing it was good for was as a delivery device for butter and the organic four berry conserve I lust for. I don't really know what I was doing wrong with it. At first, I thought I was under-kneading. Then, over-kneading. Then using too much flour. I've sprayed the oven with water, sprayed the bread dough itself, put it through multiple rises, one rise only. And still the result remains wan, densely solid, and almost rubbery. Don't get it.
Maybe bread and I just aren't meant to be? The notion makes me sad.
Earlier this week, I had an incident with a lemon butter sauce that was so spectacular in its suckiness, it was a naked singularity. And by suckiness, I mean both quality and in how goddamn sour it was. The bite of the sauce was completely and utterly my mistake. I had juiced four tiny and eldery lemons that I'd forgotten about and started going about the rest of the cooking, without checking for the ingredients I'd need for the rest of the sauce. At the crucial moment, I found I had no chicken stock to deglaze the pan with and no white wine (only reds). So, I steadfastly plowed through and deglazed the pan with the lemon juice and stubborn resolve. About half a cup of the former, not the latter. Grand mistake. With nothing but butter to cut it with, I was kind of stuck at that point but determined to see it through. I added a bit of water, some cream, more butter. Some black pepper and thyme. Anything to try and bring down how loud the lemon taste was. Alas, it just wasn't happening for me. It looked presentable enough, but the second I tasted it, my head caved in from the back. And it bordered on being too thin for my purposes.
Cooking it down would serve no purpose other than to intensify the lemon flavor, so it was relegated to being an almost decorative drizzle across the meat it was meant to accompany. What a waste.
Tomorrow, I'll most likely spend the afternoon making chicken stock since this incident illustrated I am out of it and I believe the scrap bag in the freezer is full. Chicken stock, I can handle. Anemic bread and puckery sauce aside, I kick all ass in the chicken stock department. I'd love a chinois to get a really clear and fine stock, but dropping ninety some dollars on a fancy strainer is not currently in the cards for me, so I'm left wrestling with endless fiddly cheesecloth and a colander.
At least it's given me some time to play with this new application I got on my Eris, which I wouldn't be able to do much of tomorrow because the Engineer will be recording the newest episode of his podcast, which means I'm banned from the computer room.
The application is called OurGroceries and it allows one to input the basics of a recipe, then create a shopping list from said input. You can also share it via multiple phones and, I believe, update the list from any of those phones.
I've been trying to kick my ass into gear with cooking more lately for the Engineer and I because we have been relying far too much on delivery items. Because I'm such a picky, snobby control freak when it comes to the kitchen, I'm always the one who cooks our meals and as of late, I've not been full of energy to stand in the kitchen when I get home from work. Which is not good because we more often than not wind up eating like crap and it just plain costs too much money.
Earlier today, I had stumbled across a foodie website called Serious Eats and they've got an awesome section on there, Dinner Tonight. Lots of Indian food knock-offs, which would be interesting to try since the Engineer loves Indian (although I don't have much experience in making it, so this should prove to be interesting). And it all looks relatively healthy, without incredibly expensive ingredients.
I also need to get back on to the bread wagon, because I haven't baked in over a month. I think I just got discouraged from not being able to quite get my bread recipe the way I wanted it to be. Every loaf appeared slightly anemic and the texture of the crumb was never sufficient for my tastes. Far too dense and chewy, the only thing it was good for was as a delivery device for butter and the organic four berry conserve I lust for. I don't really know what I was doing wrong with it. At first, I thought I was under-kneading. Then, over-kneading. Then using too much flour. I've sprayed the oven with water, sprayed the bread dough itself, put it through multiple rises, one rise only. And still the result remains wan, densely solid, and almost rubbery. Don't get it.
Maybe bread and I just aren't meant to be? The notion makes me sad.
Earlier this week, I had an incident with a lemon butter sauce that was so spectacular in its suckiness, it was a naked singularity. And by suckiness, I mean both quality and in how goddamn sour it was. The bite of the sauce was completely and utterly my mistake. I had juiced four tiny and eldery lemons that I'd forgotten about and started going about the rest of the cooking, without checking for the ingredients I'd need for the rest of the sauce. At the crucial moment, I found I had no chicken stock to deglaze the pan with and no white wine (only reds). So, I steadfastly plowed through and deglazed the pan with the lemon juice and stubborn resolve. About half a cup of the former, not the latter. Grand mistake. With nothing but butter to cut it with, I was kind of stuck at that point but determined to see it through. I added a bit of water, some cream, more butter. Some black pepper and thyme. Anything to try and bring down how loud the lemon taste was. Alas, it just wasn't happening for me. It looked presentable enough, but the second I tasted it, my head caved in from the back. And it bordered on being too thin for my purposes.
Cooking it down would serve no purpose other than to intensify the lemon flavor, so it was relegated to being an almost decorative drizzle across the meat it was meant to accompany. What a waste.
Tomorrow, I'll most likely spend the afternoon making chicken stock since this incident illustrated I am out of it and I believe the scrap bag in the freezer is full. Chicken stock, I can handle. Anemic bread and puckery sauce aside, I kick all ass in the chicken stock department. I'd love a chinois to get a really clear and fine stock, but dropping ninety some dollars on a fancy strainer is not currently in the cards for me, so I'm left wrestling with endless fiddly cheesecloth and a colander.
