Tuesday, November 18, 2008
This Blog Was Written By A Man?
By the way, I keep four different blogs, and, when the Gender Analyzer told me that the first one was written by a man, I thought it must be a fluke. But...the next three as well? Pray tell, what is so manly about my writing style?
It Was A Weekend of Cooking!
Like none other. My feet literally hurt from standing in the kitchen for so many hours. It started on Thursday night, at Townhouse Tavern in Dupont Circle, where, at 1 am, I told the bartender I was in the mood for something fruity, preferably with mango in it. She said that any other night, she wouldn't have been able to help me, but just happened to have the perfect juice. She pulled out a bottle of Tropicana Pure Valencia Orange Juice with Mango, which is about $5 at the grocery store, and completely worth it. She mixed it with Stoli Orange and a little bit of ginger ale, to give it some fizz, although that's completely optional. God knows how many I had, and I woke up the next morning with a pounding headache because I failed to hydrate myself. Not because of this semi-healthy beverage, however!
I've gone through almost two bottles of Tropicana Pure since then--not mixed with alcohol, and I'm not getting sick of it anytime soon! I altered the drink recipe a bit, just to suit my preference of tequila over vodka...and the fact that I'm too poor/cheap to have both!
3 Parts Tropicana Pure
1 1/2 Part Tequila
1 Part ginger ale or Sprite
The next day, after making myself some eggs and tater tots and swallowing my ibuprofen with about a gallon of water, I cooked a pork roast in balsalmic orange sauce. I was quite proud of myself--I've never cooked a freakin' pork roast! That's something my grandmother would do...I had no idea what I was doing! However, because of that, I actually felt challenged in the kitchen for the first time. It came out delicious, and, slow cooked in the oven at a low temperature for hours, pork roast pulls perfectly, and can taste "like pork flavored butter," as some woman on the internet put it, when the internal temperature reaches 200 degrees. I don't have a meat thermometer, so I had just to guess, and I took it out when the meat pulled easily with a fork and there was no pink left.
On Saturday, I made Moroccan Chicken with Dates with a friend, and was highly disappointed to find that it was largely the same recipe I had already been using for Moroccan Chicken, just with dates instead of apricots, and with a ras al hanout mixture, instead of garam masala, which I couldn't tell the difference between. Both recipes are good, however, I prefer my old standby, which includes tomatoes, chick peas and raisins.
What really stood out was the Roasted Red Pepper Pesto Crostini. For crostini, you can use whatever bread is lying around, although I can't imagine that Mrs. Baird's white bread would be very good, but, who eats that stuff these days anyway? Before baking it, I dip the bread in olive oil on either side, which, I'm sure, negates any of the healthy qualities of using whole grain bread, but it sure does make it easier for me to trick myself into thinking it's good for me! The crostini, with olive oil, sea salt, and garlic, is delicious by itself as a decadent snack, but can be turned into a real treat with the pesto, which actually looks quite festive, and would like great in a Christmas spread.
The great cooking weekend was unfortunately marked by a tragedy. The worst kind of tragedy, too--a pie tragedy. :( Just don't ever slide a pie around on the counter, as though you're Tom Cruise in Cocktail. Doesn't end well.
I've gone through almost two bottles of Tropicana Pure since then--not mixed with alcohol, and I'm not getting sick of it anytime soon! I altered the drink recipe a bit, just to suit my preference of tequila over vodka...and the fact that I'm too poor/cheap to have both!
3 Parts Tropicana Pure
1 1/2 Part Tequila
1 Part ginger ale or Sprite
The next day, after making myself some eggs and tater tots and swallowing my ibuprofen with about a gallon of water, I cooked a pork roast in balsalmic orange sauce. I was quite proud of myself--I've never cooked a freakin' pork roast! That's something my grandmother would do...I had no idea what I was doing! However, because of that, I actually felt challenged in the kitchen for the first time. It came out delicious, and, slow cooked in the oven at a low temperature for hours, pork roast pulls perfectly, and can taste "like pork flavored butter," as some woman on the internet put it, when the internal temperature reaches 200 degrees. I don't have a meat thermometer, so I had just to guess, and I took it out when the meat pulled easily with a fork and there was no pink left.
On Saturday, I made Moroccan Chicken with Dates with a friend, and was highly disappointed to find that it was largely the same recipe I had already been using for Moroccan Chicken, just with dates instead of apricots, and with a ras al hanout mixture, instead of garam masala, which I couldn't tell the difference between. Both recipes are good, however, I prefer my old standby, which includes tomatoes, chick peas and raisins.
What really stood out was the Roasted Red Pepper Pesto Crostini. For crostini, you can use whatever bread is lying around, although I can't imagine that Mrs. Baird's white bread would be very good, but, who eats that stuff these days anyway? Before baking it, I dip the bread in olive oil on either side, which, I'm sure, negates any of the healthy qualities of using whole grain bread, but it sure does make it easier for me to trick myself into thinking it's good for me! The crostini, with olive oil, sea salt, and garlic, is delicious by itself as a decadent snack, but can be turned into a real treat with the pesto, which actually looks quite festive, and would like great in a Christmas spread.
The great cooking weekend was unfortunately marked by a tragedy. The worst kind of tragedy, too--a pie tragedy. :( Just don't ever slide a pie around on the counter, as though you're Tom Cruise in Cocktail. Doesn't end well.
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