baking with laser-like focus and mad skill in a kick-ass black outfit
Participating without really participating! But first…
Peta, of the blog Peta Eats, was our lovely hostess for the Daring Cook’s September 2011 challenge, “Stock to Soup to Consommé”. We were taught the meaning between the three dishes, how to make a crystal clear Consommé if we so chose to do so, and encouraged to share our own delicious soup recipes!
Happy Friday!
Keeping with our easy meals theme, I’m resurrecting a recipe that I’ve posted before. Since we’re doing easy this month, I think that applies to me too.
Lentils are extremely nutritious and very easy to make. It’s just a matter of simmering with some spices (turmeric and salt) and then finishing with oil. Brown lentils are super healthy, but they take a while – about 45 minutes to an hour. Their cousin, pink lentils** (which you can see are actually orange) however, take about 10-15 minutes. In fact, this light meal (which doubles as a nice snack) can be made in about 20 minutes, and it only takes that long because you need 20 minutes to make rice.
Man the weeks go fast!
Time for another shot at wine tasting. This one is another Zin – I liked the first one enough to give another recommendation from a coworker a shot.
We liked this one a bit less, although I think I liked it more than my husband did. He said that it felt “thick” and “spikey in the back of the throat.” I think the “thick” he was experiencing was a concentration of flavors (at least, this is what I think based on the info I found poking around on my Internets), which he might not care for, being more used to Cabernets. The “spikey” feeling could mean the wine was harsh, a quality that is (supposedly) not desirable.
It’s way past Friday, but we’re writing a tip anyway. Why not?
This tip was suggested by my husband. Well, that’s not entirely true. He suggested that I post something about how we roast chicken on the grill. The idea of making a “fast meals” series was mine.
I figured that it’s September, summer is winding down, the “work” part of life is picking back up (or at least, that’s how it seems to be in my life) and it’s nice to have a few easy and fast dinner plans on deck for times when it seems like there isn’t enough time.* Since today is the the last summer hurrah of Labor Day, this idea seemed perfect.
Not the world's best photo - we'll do better next time!
Let’s be honest – I wanted to call this “Wino Wednesday,” but that just seemed unprofessional.
While I drink my fair share of the stuff, I’m not particularly well-schooled when it comes to knowing about different brands and varietals of wine. I know the standard bits and pieces – Chardonnay is drier (which means “less sweet”) than Riesling, white wines are lighter and generally paired with fish, poultry and pasta (depending on the sauce) and reds are generally heartier and paired with red meats as well as delicious treats like chocolate. Oh and I know that varietals are about the kind of grape used or the region the grapes are grown in, as well as knowing that varietals are generally a blend (with the majority of the blend being wine from one type of grape).
Did you miss me last week? I love my new job, but it is whooping my backside!
Enough with my excuses for laming out on you. Today let’s deal with the question that plagues all chefs (or at least everyone in this household), “when is it done?”
This applies to all things that you can cook or bake, from chicken to cake, but for this post I’m just going to deal with steak, for two reasons: 1. it’s a pretty straightforward example of how to figure out when something is done (without butchering it a second time) and 2. it’s a real shame to overcook a steak.
Friday!
I am a solutions-through-gadgets kinda gal. When I have a problem, like my poached eggs not coming out the way I want (I know, not the world’s biggest problem, but work with me), I can easily fall prey to gadgets that claim to be the solution to the problem. Hence my ownership for years of these things:
I’m not sure what these are called, but I do know is that I never got them to work. I also never got the “add vinegar to the water” method of egg poaching to work. Or the “swirling the water before dropping the egg in method.”
Hola! It’s almost the end of Friday, but a tip you shall have!!
I just started a new job (yay!), which will likely lead to more food postings (I’m now in the grocery business and work with quite a few folks who love to cook and eat, so I’m anticipating a lot of idea sharing), but has also led to me being more or less exhausted. I’m expecting this to sort itself out in the next few weeks, but for now, posting may be thin and sporadic.
So am I late or what? No Friday tip last week and three days behind with my Daring Bakers post. What’s going on? (No need to point out that it’s now Saturday, thanks)
I’m in Alabama, where the weather is hot and life moves a little slower. Plus I’m at an economics conference, so I’ve been kind of busy. Apparently too busy to do a Friday tip or post my Daring Bakers on time.
Oh! Before I forget…the bot words:
This week’s tip is not so much a tip, as a recommendation. We don’t have many gadgets in the kitchen, and I really don’t use the computer to organize anything like recipes, etc. (although the computer does get used a lot to google things like “how many grams in one cup of whole wheat flour”). That said, I do like this little app. It’s a…an add-on, I guess you’d say, to the fantastic book Ratio by Michael Rulhman.
