Firsts
It has been a long time since I have written in my journal. So long that I don't dare look how long (okay, I will after I finish this post because now I am curious). I have been doing lots of "Firsts" in my cooking, and I will try to chronicle some of them here. Some good, some bad. The funny part to me is that because I usually do pretty well with firsts, I tend to spring them on folks at dinners. Fortunately, these people are still my friends.
This weekend is no exception. We haven't had a dinner party in so long, so we are throwing one and I am throwing out a ton of firsts! I am trying to adapt my yeast roll recipe to make larger sandwich rolls (or at least slider buns). They are rising now - we will see how they do. I found a no-ice-cream-maker recipe for peach sorbet that looks like it froze very well overnight. The resulting slushie yesterday was yummy, so I expect good things today! I made a banana and chocolate chip upside down cake which is probably too gooey in the middle, but still might taste good. There might be one or two other items that crop up shortly...
One of the main dishes is going to be a second - the first was last weekend. I decided to try to do a "crock pot pulled pork". OMG. I mixed up a rub and put a sliced onion and some water in the bottom of the crock. I rubbed two pieces of pork shoulder about 3.5 lbs each with the rub and just put it on high for about five hours. WOW. It was so good. I have two more piece of shoulder that I put in the freezer last weekend (thank you Costco) and we decided this may or may not freeze well, so I am cooking it fresh tomorrow. In fact, I might try doing the rub tonight, wrapping it in plastic wrap tightly, and leaving it in the fridge overnight to be put in the crock tomorrow. P.S. This is not Carolina bbq style - the only vinegar in sight is about teaspoon of worchestershire sauce and about half a teaspoon of liquid smoke in the water.
I have done two different vegetable gratins, one of which got baalin's approval. I also stumbled across a Triple Chocolate Zucchini Bread recipe which makes fantastic bread and muffins. And surprisingly, it isn't terrible for you! I also experimented with shortcake from scratch recipes (as opposed to Bisquik recipes!) until baalin approved. This one is not good for you - a tablespoon of butter in each shortcake. At least I use non-fat yogurt instead of whipped cream with the fruit!
I also attempted the very southern spaghetti salad with a few twists. Mom used to bring this to tons of different family reunions. It was good once or twice, but I never liked it that much. I decided to go beyond mom's tomatoes and cucumbers to add olives, bell peppers and feta cheese. I started to chiffon some fresh basil into it, but I got lazy. It ended up pretty good!
Some firsts that didn't go so well included cooking shark steak for the first time on the grill (dry dry dry!), peach basil muffins (good but went bad very quickly), and some others I have blocked from my memory it seems. Oh, baalin didn't like curried butternut squash soup, but I think mainly I put too many potatoes in it. I thought it was good myself.
This weekend is no exception. We haven't had a dinner party in so long, so we are throwing one and I am throwing out a ton of firsts! I am trying to adapt my yeast roll recipe to make larger sandwich rolls (or at least slider buns). They are rising now - we will see how they do. I found a no-ice-cream-maker recipe for peach sorbet that looks like it froze very well overnight. The resulting slushie yesterday was yummy, so I expect good things today! I made a banana and chocolate chip upside down cake which is probably too gooey in the middle, but still might taste good. There might be one or two other items that crop up shortly...
One of the main dishes is going to be a second - the first was last weekend. I decided to try to do a "crock pot pulled pork". OMG. I mixed up a rub and put a sliced onion and some water in the bottom of the crock. I rubbed two pieces of pork shoulder about 3.5 lbs each with the rub and just put it on high for about five hours. WOW. It was so good. I have two more piece of shoulder that I put in the freezer last weekend (thank you Costco) and we decided this may or may not freeze well, so I am cooking it fresh tomorrow. In fact, I might try doing the rub tonight, wrapping it in plastic wrap tightly, and leaving it in the fridge overnight to be put in the crock tomorrow. P.S. This is not Carolina bbq style - the only vinegar in sight is about teaspoon of worchestershire sauce and about half a teaspoon of liquid smoke in the water.
I have done two different vegetable gratins, one of which got baalin's approval. I also stumbled across a Triple Chocolate Zucchini Bread recipe which makes fantastic bread and muffins. And surprisingly, it isn't terrible for you! I also experimented with shortcake from scratch recipes (as opposed to Bisquik recipes!) until baalin approved. This one is not good for you - a tablespoon of butter in each shortcake. At least I use non-fat yogurt instead of whipped cream with the fruit!
I also attempted the very southern spaghetti salad with a few twists. Mom used to bring this to tons of different family reunions. It was good once or twice, but I never liked it that much. I decided to go beyond mom's tomatoes and cucumbers to add olives, bell peppers and feta cheese. I started to chiffon some fresh basil into it, but I got lazy. It ended up pretty good!
Some firsts that didn't go so well included cooking shark steak for the first time on the grill (dry dry dry!), peach basil muffins (good but went bad very quickly), and some others I have blocked from my memory it seems. Oh, baalin didn't like curried butternut squash soup, but I think mainly I put too many potatoes in it. I thought it was good myself.