Posted by Ginx at 2:39pm Jul 14 '10So, I'm back
it's been a while... after a well-deserved mental holiday exploring nature, avoiding ticks and wandering aimlessly here and there I am sort of back online and to some of the habits I sort of enjoy and justify the insane amount of time I spend in front of the computer.
anyway, that's a brief intro.
Something I've been doing during the last years is learning to cook. After several futile attempts I used to think my eating at home would be reduced to too wet or too dry rice, pasta and whatever I could defrost/get out of a can. And salads, tons of it... but after a while one starts feeling a bit... cowish
Not anymore.
Problem: it seems I really can't stick to a recipe.
When I cook I wonder... what if I add this...exchange that? the results: Japanese lasagna (layers of rice wraps, sea weed and miso soup in the sauce), greenpeas-mango chutney croquettes and even wheat free cakes...
So, getting acquainted with yeast, baking powder, baking soda was one step... getting used to the 10001 recipes that vegetarian cooking has out there is a whole different can of worms...
I'm not vegetarian in a 100% so every now and then I experiment with chicken and fish mainly.
anyway, I'd like to share some of my successful and not so, errm... brilliant cooking attempts
a DON'T - Popcorn a la balsamico
1. Acetto balsamico. Acetto, oil, right? not all oils work the same way it seems. My original thought is that oil is used to avoid stuff sticking to the pan, pot, whatever...
So if you are in the middle of casserole-popcorn making and you notice youâre running out of butter⦠oil comes handy. But having two drops of olive oil would never do the job so⦠acetto balsamico seemed like a logical option. Not only the popcorn was totally ruined for it never really popped but those that were actually popcorn tasted awful!
Moral of the story: use microwave popcorn.
and if you don't have a microwave (my case) then... don't do freaking popcorn and eat something else!
A successful story is the above mentioned greenpea-chickpea-pink lentil-
mango chutney croquette...
All it takes is to boil the ingredients, mash them generously adding spices and crushed knackerbrod (crackers, but I haven't seen these out of Europe), some mango-chutney sauce for moisture... make the croquettes and fry them in olive oil...
they're actually quite yummy
OK, hope these first two do's and don'ts of alternative cooking were useful. Until next time!!
I ran out of butter when making one of my now famous choco-raisin cookies. Since it was quite late and I wasn't into going to the shop for more butter, I thought using melted "kisses" would do the trick.
Yeah, it turned my cookies into charcoal after 5 minutes of baking.
No people, don't substitute butter. And if you do, don't use chocolate.
it's been a while... after a well-deserved mental holiday exploring nature, avoiding ticks and wandering aimlessly here and there I am sort of back online and to some of the habits I sort of enjoy and justify the insane amount of time I spend in front of the computer.
anyway, that's a brief intro.
Something I've been doing during the last years is learning to cook. After several futile attempts I used to think my eating at home would be reduced to too wet or too dry rice, pasta and whatever I could defrost/get out of a can. And salads, tons of it... but after a while one starts feeling a bit... cowish
Not anymore.
Problem: it seems I really can't stick to a recipe.
When I cook I wonder... what if I add this...exchange that? the results: Japanese lasagna (layers of rice wraps, sea weed and miso soup in the sauce), greenpeas-mango chutney croquettes and even wheat free cakes...
So, getting acquainted with yeast, baking powder, baking soda was one step... getting used to the 10001 recipes that vegetarian cooking has out there is a whole different can of worms...
I'm not vegetarian in a 100% so every now and then I experiment with chicken and fish mainly.
anyway, I'd like to share some of my successful and not so, errm... brilliant cooking attempts
a DON'T - Popcorn a la balsamico
1. Acetto balsamico. Acetto, oil, right? not all oils work the same way it seems. My original thought is that oil is used to avoid stuff sticking to the pan, pot, whatever...
So if you are in the middle of casserole-popcorn making and you notice youâre running out of butter⦠oil comes handy. But having two drops of olive oil would never do the job so⦠acetto balsamico seemed like a logical option. Not only the popcorn was totally ruined for it never really popped but those that were actually popcorn tasted awful!
Moral of the story: use microwave popcorn.
and if you don't have a microwave (my case) then... don't do freaking popcorn and eat something else!
A successful story is the above mentioned greenpea-chickpea-pink lentil-
mango chutney croquette...
All it takes is to boil the ingredients, mash them generously adding spices and crushed knackerbrod (crackers, but I haven't seen these out of Europe), some mango-chutney sauce for moisture... make the croquettes and fry them in olive oil...
they're actually quite yummy
OK, hope these first two do's and don'ts of alternative cooking were useful. Until next time!!
added on 9:55am Jul 24 '10:
Here's another alternative cooking DONTI ran out of butter when making one of my now famous choco-raisin cookies. Since it was quite late and I wasn't into going to the shop for more butter, I thought using melted "kisses" would do the trick.
Yeah, it turned my cookies into charcoal after 5 minutes of baking.
No people, don't substitute butter. And if you do, don't use chocolate.