baking with laser-like focus and mad skill in a kick-ass black outfit
Hoo boy this stuff is good! And to think, we almost never had it…
Garbanzo beans were supposed to come home from the grocery store, not yellow split peas. But a reshuffling of the store inventory and a well-meaning but not-so-legume-knowledgeable shop guy caused us to get the wrong thing – and thank goodness! I’d never really even heard of yellow lentils. Over to the bookshelf and the staple Indian cooking tome, Classic Indian Cooking
First, the important bits of business:
The September 2010 Daring Cooks’ challenge was hosted by John of Eat4Fun. John chose to challenge The Daring Cooks to learn about food preservation, mainly in the form of canning and freezing. He challenged everyone to make a recipe and preserve it. John’s source for food preservation information was from The National Center for Home Food Preservation.
Yes! At last! I learned how to can stuff!
One of the things I love is when I underestimate people, or even institutions, and they prove me wrong. Like when I meet a very young person and assume they will be immature or naive, and they turn out to have way more sense and understanding of the world than I do. Or like the time I went swimming in Seattle and a very large woman got in my lane and I thought “oh great, now I’m going to have to swim slowly,” and she swam my backside into the ground. I love that. It reminds me that even though first assumptions and quick categorizations can be helpful in processing the firehose of information that is shooting as us all through life, these assumptions are often wrong, and it’s always worth taking a second look and letting yourself be amazed. It helps me keep my mind open.
~This is the fifteenth post in a series running through the month of June 2009 in which I attempt to post once a day for the month.~
…but no one has to know.
*****UPDATE*****
This just in from the field – this is not the best dessert to make in advance. If the syrup cools, it gets rock hard (like candy – it probably tastes really good) and while reheating it will make it liquid again, it will be sort of thready. Given how easy this is to make, I really advise just prepping everything in advance up to the point of making the syrup and do that at the last minute. Thanks to Chrystine Windle Ammari for the info!!
~This is the third post in a series running through the month of June 2009 in which I attempt to post once a day for the month.~
Hey I’m still here!
Day four of “post-a-day” month and we’re holding strong at a lovely new recipe that hits all ninja points – cheap, easy and deeeee-eeeeee-licious!
Naan! Well, this isn’t really naan. At least, I don’t think it is. It’s something called “kulcha.” I’m not sure what the difference is, but the stuff that this recipe makes is what the Indian restaurant down the street serves as “naan.” And it can be stuffed, like the “cheese naan” down the street. Oh. My. God.
I guess I did know it was Grilled Cheese Month, but somehow managed to shove it to the back of my mind. Which is probably good because honestly, I don’t need 30 days of grilled cheese even though I could easily eat nothing but for 30 days. This was my favorite sandwich growing up, when we made it with the whitest bread available and cheese that seemed as plastic as the wrapping, almost as sweet as candy and orange like only American cheese is orange.
Our neighbor moved recently, making us the grateful recipients of a number of food odds and ends that he didn’t want to pack them up and take with him. One of these things was a miraculous loaf of something called “egg bread,” which the husband has fallen in love with. The loaf was a little like bread made from brioche dough, making dangerously delicious grilled sandwiches. Eggy, but also buttery, the bread verged on making our grilled cheese into a pastry sandwich, right on that lovely edge of overkill which is exquisitely tasty.
