new installment
It has been far too long since I got to update my kitchen experiments. I have actually been cooking some lately, but I've been so busy taking finals I haven't had time to post anything! So, tonight I'm going to catch up. First I'll start with my leftover magic night. I'm not sure which night it actually was, probably Monday or Tuesday, it's all running together this week. Anyway, I was making things I've made before. We were going to have a pork roast with apricot sauce from Everyday Food and vegetable tian from the AJC.
Having made both of these things before I was confident they would be fine. And they were for the most part, but I wasn't as happy with the vegetables this time as I was last time. I had them in the oven at the same time as the roast, so they got cooked, but they weren't as soft as they were last time and therefore the flavors didn't blend as much. I still have yet to figure out what vegetables go best with the roast, cooking other things with it in the oven works OK, but not as well as cooking the other things by themselves. Oh well, lesson learned, the vegetables were still good. The roast though, was great. Cooking it under the broiler like they suggest is not only faster, but it sears in the juices and flavor and turns the apricot sauce into a crispy glaze, it's got great flavor.
Ritchie came to dinner too, and he agreed that the roast was a hit. He liked the wine too.
Anyway, the dinner was just a backdrop for larger things. After dinner there was dessert. And this wasn't just any dessert, this was the second instillation in the "use up the leftover ingredients" series! Actually, anyone who was really keeping track would know that this is technically the third thing to come out of that quest, but lets just pretend it's only the second. So, the dessert of the evening was rhubarb crisp with buttermilk ice cream. This dish has been a long time coming. I was going to make it a while back before finals got crazy, but there was a small issue with the ice cream maker being taken back by the person who sold it to us, and we had grown so attached to it in that short amount of time that we had to go out and buy a new one to replace the returned one. This whole process of having it reclaimed and then replaced took at least a week, and during that time I was unable to make the buttermilk ice cream, and it threw off my whole plan. Finally the other night we got the ice cream maker, and I was able to do the first step: make a custard, add the buttermilk, and refrigerate (overnight in my case). This process was amazing to me. I'd never made any sort of custard before, so when the recipe said to mix and heat the cream, egg yolks, and sugar until they thickened I just went ahead and did it not knowing what it would be like. It required lots of stirring, and I was completely mesmerized by the process. I loved it! I mean I didn't taste it or anything, but it was so beautiful and thick, I didn't know those ingredients would get that sort of consistency and color like they did. I was very impressed. The adding the buttermilk part was less exciting, but I was already so happy with the custard making part that the ice cream was already a success in my book whether it tasted good in the end or not. The next night I put the chilled mixture in the new ice cream maker and came back 30 minutes later to the creamiest ice cream I've made so far. It was great looking. Once again I didn't sample it (honestly I wasn't wild about the idea of buttermilk anything unless it was mixed with something because it just smells so sour, but it looked great, I was impressed with the texture). Anyway, I put it away in the freezer and saved it for the next night when we would have it for dessert with our rhubarb crisp. So, back to the night in question...after I put the pork roast in the oven I went to work chopping the rhubarb and mixing the other topping ingredients. It was all so easy and fast, when the dinner items came out of the oven I just popped the rhubarb crisp in, and 30 minutes later, voila!
The picture isn't my best, but this dessert was delicious. Everyone loved it and cleaned their bowls. In my book, this is probably one of my favorite desserts since I started the website (that carrot cake is hard to beat). But I was really happy with this, it was so good. I've been pleased with all of the dishes I've made with rhubarb so far, so I'm beginning to think it's just a great ingredient in general, but with this dessert I would also say that you can't go wrong with sugar and cinnamon and whatever the other basic things were that went into this shocking creation. I'm so glad I found a combination recipe that combined two more ingredients I was trying to use up, because these two things worked great together. Now, I suppose that's enough ranting about that evening for now. I'll move on.
Having made both of these things before I was confident they would be fine. And they were for the most part, but I wasn't as happy with the vegetables this time as I was last time. I had them in the oven at the same time as the roast, so they got cooked, but they weren't as soft as they were last time and therefore the flavors didn't blend as much. I still have yet to figure out what vegetables go best with the roast, cooking other things with it in the oven works OK, but not as well as cooking the other things by themselves. Oh well, lesson learned, the vegetables were still good. The roast though, was great. Cooking it under the broiler like they suggest is not only faster, but it sears in the juices and flavor and turns the apricot sauce into a crispy glaze, it's got great flavor.
Ritchie came to dinner too, and he agreed that the roast was a hit. He liked the wine too.
Anyway, the dinner was just a backdrop for larger things. After dinner there was dessert. And this wasn't just any dessert, this was the second instillation in the "use up the leftover ingredients" series! Actually, anyone who was really keeping track would know that this is technically the third thing to come out of that quest, but lets just pretend it's only the second. So, the dessert of the evening was rhubarb crisp with buttermilk ice cream. This dish has been a long time coming. I was going to make it a while back before finals got crazy, but there was a small issue with the ice cream maker being taken back by the person who sold it to us, and we had grown so attached to it in that short amount of time that we had to go out and buy a new one to replace the returned one. This whole process of having it reclaimed and then replaced took at least a week, and during that time I was unable to make the buttermilk ice cream, and it threw off my whole plan. Finally the other night we got the ice cream maker, and I was able to do the first step: make a custard, add the buttermilk, and refrigerate (overnight in my case). This process was amazing to me. I'd never made any sort of custard before, so when the recipe said to mix and heat the cream, egg yolks, and sugar until they thickened I just went ahead and did it not knowing what it would be like. It required lots of stirring, and I was completely mesmerized by the process. I loved it! I mean I didn't taste it or anything, but it was so beautiful and thick, I didn't know those ingredients would get that sort of consistency and color like they did. I was very impressed. The adding the buttermilk part was less exciting, but I was already so happy with the custard making part that the ice cream was already a success in my book whether it tasted good in the end or not. The next night I put the chilled mixture in the new ice cream maker and came back 30 minutes later to the creamiest ice cream I've made so far. It was great looking. Once again I didn't sample it (honestly I wasn't wild about the idea of buttermilk anything unless it was mixed with something because it just smells so sour, but it looked great, I was impressed with the texture). Anyway, I put it away in the freezer and saved it for the next night when we would have it for dessert with our rhubarb crisp. So, back to the night in question...after I put the pork roast in the oven I went to work chopping the rhubarb and mixing the other topping ingredients. It was all so easy and fast, when the dinner items came out of the oven I just popped the rhubarb crisp in, and 30 minutes later, voila!
The picture isn't my best, but this dessert was delicious. Everyone loved it and cleaned their bowls. In my book, this is probably one of my favorite desserts since I started the website (that carrot cake is hard to beat). But I was really happy with this, it was so good. I've been pleased with all of the dishes I've made with rhubarb so far, so I'm beginning to think it's just a great ingredient in general, but with this dessert I would also say that you can't go wrong with sugar and cinnamon and whatever the other basic things were that went into this shocking creation. I'm so glad I found a combination recipe that combined two more ingredients I was trying to use up, because these two things worked great together. Now, I suppose that's enough ranting about that evening for now. I'll move on.
posted by Erin at 11:09 PM
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