Or just potato and white bean, since I bought a lot of the former at Monday's farmer's market (I always buy more potatoes than I need. Always.). And I had to resort to jarred pesto, since I didn't have everything required to make one from sage and walnuts (which sounds good, but at what point do you have to stop calling it pesto?).
This was one of the best returns on investment I've had in a while. The leeks take long enough to cook that you can do everything else at a rather leisurely pace in the meantime, instead of having everything ready to go before you get started, but the entire recipe can be ready in a half hour or so. And of course, pesto can make almost anything taste good. Together with what was left of the bread from Monday, this made a very satisfying meal for a weeknight.
L ate half the beans out of the colander before I could put them in. She's got the first cold of the school year now. I am still obsessing over that rehab in Maynard, and counting down the days before our big October deadline at work.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Classic Walnut Boule
Two marvelous things happened on Monday: the weather was reasonably cool, and my head was well enough organized that I could make some bread--some new bread, at that, instead of a recipe I know by heart. I'd marked this recipe in the latest Cooking Light issue (yeah, them again, sorry), and even remembered to buy the walnut oil for it, so it was a natural choice.
I can't find a lot to say about the process of making it. It's bread; you mix a few things together, let it sit around for an hour or so, knead in some walnuts, let it sit some more while the oven gets nice and hot, and there you go.
It seemed a little small at first, but after the second rise it was hefty enough to make a good-sized loaf. Following my recent success with my pizza stone, I tried baking this bread on it, and I'd have to say it worked quite well. The loaf did not get much of a crust, but that's something I really have to work on. Perhaps next time I make it, I'll try for some steam and see what happens. I will definitely make this again; it's a tender, slightly sweet loaf, and something about serving up a round loaf just says "special occasion" to me.
I can't find a lot to say about the process of making it. It's bread; you mix a few things together, let it sit around for an hour or so, knead in some walnuts, let it sit some more while the oven gets nice and hot, and there you go.
It seemed a little small at first, but after the second rise it was hefty enough to make a good-sized loaf. Following my recent success with my pizza stone, I tried baking this bread on it, and I'd have to say it worked quite well. The loaf did not get much of a crust, but that's something I really have to work on. Perhaps next time I make it, I'll try for some steam and see what happens. I will definitely make this again; it's a tender, slightly sweet loaf, and something about serving up a round loaf just says "special occasion" to me.
Monday, September 8, 2008
House Hunt Update: Maynard
After a long break due to various vacations interfering with the schedule, this past Saturday we resumed looking for a house, this time in Maynard. It's a tiny, tiny town surrounded by farms and apple orchards, but the main street looks reasonably lively, it's close to a number of other towns, and there's a definite appeal to the idea of a place you can walk around.
We looked at four houses, two of which were too small, one of which was enormous but the location is a little "eh," and the fourth was one of those sad tales that are all too common in this market: a foreclosure that has the potential to be gorgeous, but due to neglect and water damage and the fact that it hasn't been updated in about sixty years, it's going to need someone to gut the place before that happens. I highly doubt that it's going to be us who do that.
So ended our second day of looking at houses. We liked what we saw of Maynard, and will keep an eye on the place. We are also getting a sense of what the square footage advertised means in terms of real space, which is helpful. We have all these books to house along with the four of us!
We looked at four houses, two of which were too small, one of which was enormous but the location is a little "eh," and the fourth was one of those sad tales that are all too common in this market: a foreclosure that has the potential to be gorgeous, but due to neglect and water damage and the fact that it hasn't been updated in about sixty years, it's going to need someone to gut the place before that happens. I highly doubt that it's going to be us who do that.
So ended our second day of looking at houses. We liked what we saw of Maynard, and will keep an eye on the place. We are also getting a sense of what the square footage advertised means in terms of real space, which is helpful. We have all these books to house along with the four of us!
Dinner and a Movie: Ratatouille
Every once in a while we have a movie night here. It's traditionally been an MST3K episode to celebrate the end of some long week or other with minimally brain-straining fare, but we've recently decided to experiment with Netflix and see if our hectic lives can support actually watching something new once in a while. We inaugurated the experiment with Ratatouille, a movie everyone I know liked. Now that I've seen it, I'm not sure how I went so long without it. I mean, I knew it had something to do with cooking, but has any other animated film in history given a visual shout-out to Microplane? My admiration for the Pixar crew continues to expand; they get so many details right. L, surprisingly to me, lost interest after a while, but a lot of it was pretty well over her head, too. It may be that a second viewing would draw her in.
Along with the movie we had pizza. I have been working on my pizza for a while now. I use a basic pizza dough recipe from Cooking Light, purchased sauce, lots of cheese, peppers, mushrooms, and pepperoni. To the sauce I add some Italian herb mix and crushed red pepper. Bake it on a pizza stone (now that I've finally learned how to get it on the stone rather than the oven floor--parchment paper!) for about twenty minutes. Resorting to delivery pizza has become an option accepted with a resigned grimace.
Along with the movie we had pizza. I have been working on my pizza for a while now. I use a basic pizza dough recipe from Cooking Light, purchased sauce, lots of cheese, peppers, mushrooms, and pepperoni. To the sauce I add some Italian herb mix and crushed red pepper. Bake it on a pizza stone (now that I've finally learned how to get it on the stone rather than the oven floor--parchment paper!) for about twenty minutes. Resorting to delivery pizza has become an option accepted with a resigned grimace.
Friday, September 5, 2008
September Supper Club: Fruit
A bit of an odd theme perhaps, but I was willing to go with the flow. There were only three of this month, and we met at P's little condo and discussed (among other things) the way the group has changed over the four years (!) of its existence, and people we know who might be interested in joining. These days we top out at five attendees, and there's usually one who can't make it; we could use a few more people to reinvogorate the group. We also agreed that we need to get a little better about planning, as things have been very last-minute for a while now.
For all that, we had a pretty good menu. I went a little overboard and did three recipes, taking advantage of JJ's long Sunday morning nap and the cooler weather to get back into my kitchen.
For all that, we had a pretty good menu. I went a little overboard and did three recipes, taking advantage of JJ's long Sunday morning nap and the cooler weather to get back into my kitchen.
- Eggplant and fig caponata with pita chips (me)
- Chicken cacciatore (P, I don't know what recipe)
- Bulgur Pilaf with Dried Apricots (P)
- Wild Rice Dressing (me)
- Peach crisp and vanilla ice cream (K)
- Mini Fruit and Sunflower Loaves (me)
Cruising!
JJ took his first cruising steps today. Wish I'd had a camera handy, because he had the biggest grin I have ever seen!
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Springfield Chili
I notice that my post count has dropped every month since I started this blog. Well, it's September now--time to get back into the kitchen! though not today, as it's supposed to be in the high 80s.
So you probably won't want to make this chili tonight. I made it on Saturday, my night to cook for what will probably be the year's final excursion to NH for me. I picked it in a state of aggravation and nigh-desperation, not really looking forward to going up there at all. I was sick of driving and being away from home, worried about how the new puppy some of the relatives have would handle the kids, grouchily certain that none of us would get any sleep, and generally in one of those vile moods where giving yourself free rein to wallow in it provides a sort of weird, petty satisfaction.
Fortunately, once we were actually there, this mood didn't last. It was in fact a lovely weekend, with clear (albeit somewhat windy) weather. The puppy behaved himself well, and so did the kids (and the grown-ups, for that matter). A lot of work got done (not by me, which made me feel a little bit guilty, but I did have the baby to keep an eye on). A lot of ice cream got eaten--L had her first-ever cone at the GPC store, and quite surprised me by insisting on getting one, since she's always had it in a dish.
And the chili, which I had worried about, turned out to be great. I might even make this my new standard recipe. I made the following adjustments:
The rest of this week is likely to be a wash, cooking-wise--I have not had time to shop or plan since we got back on Monday, and we've been throwing together pantry-based meals for the most part. On Friday, though, I should be able to get to the farmer's market in the morning. We're having pizza for dinner and watching a movie (we finally joined Netflix, will see if we can actually find the time to watch anything). This weekend we're looking at cool, rainy days, always nice to spend in the kitchen. Bring on fall!
So you probably won't want to make this chili tonight. I made it on Saturday, my night to cook for what will probably be the year's final excursion to NH for me. I picked it in a state of aggravation and nigh-desperation, not really looking forward to going up there at all. I was sick of driving and being away from home, worried about how the new puppy some of the relatives have would handle the kids, grouchily certain that none of us would get any sleep, and generally in one of those vile moods where giving yourself free rein to wallow in it provides a sort of weird, petty satisfaction.
Fortunately, once we were actually there, this mood didn't last. It was in fact a lovely weekend, with clear (albeit somewhat windy) weather. The puppy behaved himself well, and so did the kids (and the grown-ups, for that matter). A lot of work got done (not by me, which made me feel a little bit guilty, but I did have the baby to keep an eye on). A lot of ice cream got eaten--L had her first-ever cone at the GPC store, and quite surprised me by insisting on getting one, since she's always had it in a dish.
And the chili, which I had worried about, turned out to be great. I might even make this my new standard recipe. I made the following adjustments:
- I had a green pepper left over from something else, so that went in
- Although I doubled the recipe, I only used 1 can of beer, since 2 would have meant a great deal of liquid to get rid of. PBR, of all things, that we had in the refrigerator.
- I used a lot more Worcestershire sauce than they called for. On the order of a quarter cup, which may have been a tad too much, but a couple of teaspoons seemed ridiculously low.
The rest of this week is likely to be a wash, cooking-wise--I have not had time to shop or plan since we got back on Monday, and we've been throwing together pantry-based meals for the most part. On Friday, though, I should be able to get to the farmer's market in the morning. We're having pizza for dinner and watching a movie (we finally joined Netflix, will see if we can actually find the time to watch anything). This weekend we're looking at cool, rainy days, always nice to spend in the kitchen. Bring on fall!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)