Of Experimental Cooking and Sick Badgers
Well, I'm back to doing too many things at once. Trying to learn Chinese (emphasis on trying), reading thru books to get them out to E-bay, attempting to motivate myself to clean and do the other stuff that needs to be performed out here in the wilderness. However, one thing that I have done is gotten back into cooking a little more than I have been.
Sandra, who Samantha calls my Taiwanese girlfriend, is an awesome cook. (Her mother being a chef in a previous life might be something to do with that.) I'm no slouch myself, but sometimes, especially when it comes to certain things that are in the baking field, I'm lacking. (Samantha is a much better baker/pastry person than I could ever be, so guess what I usually don't do.) That being said, I felt I needed to move beyond my Bananas Foster recipe. I asked Sandra what she liked to eat and chose a recipe for a Peach & Cherry Trifle. This involved me making a Creme Anglaise.
Nothing scares me more than tempering. Samantha does it all the time and I could just imagine her saying, "Give me the spoon and get out of the way!" Last thing I need when trying a recipe. Yes, my initial failure rate can be about 30 to 50%.
Sandra and I gathered the ingredients, and while she was chopping, I was playing with heavy cream. (I am so tempted to buy Sandra new pans that aren't warped.) The tempering went pretty well and we were able to strain it and throw it in the freezer. No scrambled eggs! (I guess we were lucky it set up as fast as it did.) Sandra brought it to a friend's house for a get-together and it was well received. No one got food poisoning. I'll mark this in the book as a victory.
Right now, my sick/death warmed over Badgie (Samantha), hasn't eaten anything in the past couple of days, due to nausea, so it might be a little bit before making it. Creme Anglaise and nausea wouldn't mix too well, but maybe by the next Battlestar Galactica episode. Eventually try to convince Sandra that one night in Providence wouldn't kill her. I'll see if I can post pics later.
Sandra, who Samantha calls my Taiwanese girlfriend, is an awesome cook. (Her mother being a chef in a previous life might be something to do with that.) I'm no slouch myself, but sometimes, especially when it comes to certain things that are in the baking field, I'm lacking. (Samantha is a much better baker/pastry person than I could ever be, so guess what I usually don't do.) That being said, I felt I needed to move beyond my Bananas Foster recipe. I asked Sandra what she liked to eat and chose a recipe for a Peach & Cherry Trifle. This involved me making a Creme Anglaise.
Nothing scares me more than tempering. Samantha does it all the time and I could just imagine her saying, "Give me the spoon and get out of the way!" Last thing I need when trying a recipe. Yes, my initial failure rate can be about 30 to 50%.
Sandra and I gathered the ingredients, and while she was chopping, I was playing with heavy cream. (I am so tempted to buy Sandra new pans that aren't warped.) The tempering went pretty well and we were able to strain it and throw it in the freezer. No scrambled eggs! (I guess we were lucky it set up as fast as it did.) Sandra brought it to a friend's house for a get-together and it was well received. No one got food poisoning. I'll mark this in the book as a victory.
Right now, my sick/death warmed over Badgie (Samantha), hasn't eaten anything in the past couple of days, due to nausea, so it might be a little bit before making it. Creme Anglaise and nausea wouldn't mix too well, but maybe by the next Battlestar Galactica episode. Eventually try to convince Sandra that one night in Providence wouldn't kill her. I'll see if I can post pics later.