Yum.
Three-day weekend. Cooking.
Made soup.
I quick-soaked white beans, then simmered them with dried shitaki mushrooms, veggie broth, garlic and a baldo leaf (I think it's like a bay leaf). It was pretty good with just a bit of black pepper, but even better later on when I mushed some roasted squash in and added a dash of cardomom, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Roasted things. Like golden beets some sort of golden winter squash. (note to self: Work on naming things)
I read that it's faster and less messy to roast beets by first peeling and quartering them. So I tried that with olive oil in one of my trusty cast-iron skillets. It took a little over an hour. They did not stain and ooze like beets tend to do when you cook 'em whole, but they did have a bitter aftertaste, even with a dash of tamari and balsami vinegar. I put them in the fridge overnight to think about what to do with them. They sat alongside a squash I'd roasted whole because I'd read that it's easier and less messy to peel and seed whole roasted squash. It took about two hours in a slightly larger cast-iron skillet and olive oil. No bitterness, nice buttery texture, and lots of squash.
So today I took both out of the fridge, separated seeds and skin from squash, and added a bit of squash to the beets, with more tamari soy sauce and balsamic vinegar, and a dash of sea salt. It made a sort of golden-brown coating, thicker than dressing but not obviously big ol' squash chunks. Good stuff.
I put the rest of the squash in the fridge. I'm still thinking.
I roasted the seeds with tamari and balsamic vinegar and sea salt. I'd claim to be stuck in an ingredient rut, but it seems to work.
Baking.
I'd sort of forgotten about the dried fruit I was soaking in orange juice. I'd made that particular mess two or three weeks ago when I decided to make a yogurt cake with fruit. The yogurt cake was good. So tonight, the fruit was more of a slugdey-slurry, very much a strong apricot sauce with bits of pear, cherry, and blueberry. I didnt' taste gross, so I added yogurt, eggs, sugar, baking powder, flower, and almond extract to the slurry. It should be done in five minutes. The batter was amazingly good.
Made soup.
I quick-soaked white beans, then simmered them with dried shitaki mushrooms, veggie broth, garlic and a baldo leaf (I think it's like a bay leaf). It was pretty good with just a bit of black pepper, but even better later on when I mushed some roasted squash in and added a dash of cardomom, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Roasted things. Like golden beets some sort of golden winter squash. (note to self: Work on naming things)
I read that it's faster and less messy to roast beets by first peeling and quartering them. So I tried that with olive oil in one of my trusty cast-iron skillets. It took a little over an hour. They did not stain and ooze like beets tend to do when you cook 'em whole, but they did have a bitter aftertaste, even with a dash of tamari and balsami vinegar. I put them in the fridge overnight to think about what to do with them. They sat alongside a squash I'd roasted whole because I'd read that it's easier and less messy to peel and seed whole roasted squash. It took about two hours in a slightly larger cast-iron skillet and olive oil. No bitterness, nice buttery texture, and lots of squash.
So today I took both out of the fridge, separated seeds and skin from squash, and added a bit of squash to the beets, with more tamari soy sauce and balsamic vinegar, and a dash of sea salt. It made a sort of golden-brown coating, thicker than dressing but not obviously big ol' squash chunks. Good stuff.
I put the rest of the squash in the fridge. I'm still thinking.
I roasted the seeds with tamari and balsamic vinegar and sea salt. I'd claim to be stuck in an ingredient rut, but it seems to work.
Baking.
I'd sort of forgotten about the dried fruit I was soaking in orange juice. I'd made that particular mess two or three weeks ago when I decided to make a yogurt cake with fruit. The yogurt cake was good. So tonight, the fruit was more of a slugdey-slurry, very much a strong apricot sauce with bits of pear, cherry, and blueberry. I didnt' taste gross, so I added yogurt, eggs, sugar, baking powder, flower, and almond extract to the slurry. It should be done in five minutes. The batter was amazingly good.