Somewhat - February 17th, 2008
Feb. 17th, 2008
04:16 pm - Steak poivre
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dolohov says that I should use this LJ for foodblogging. Enh, we'll give it a try. The major notable food occurrence around here is recipe failure, of course, but that can be interesting in its own right.
My most successful recent recipe was steak poivre. No two recipes for this are ever even slightly the same, but this did not dissuade me. Got a truly beautiful 2" strip steak from Whole Foods, cut it into two 1" steaks, covered it in a paste of garlic, cracked pepper, cracked brown mustardseed, salt, and bacon grease. Let sit for a few hours. Then pan-fried it, removed steak, added cognac, set on fire. PILLAR OF FLAME! That's a good thing in this case. Tossed in some shallots, a touch of sherry vinegar, some heavy cream; whisked vigorously. Miraculously, the sauce mounted perfectly, something which never ever happens for me. Poured it on the steaks.
Served with a salad -- blanched bok choy sliced thin, grated carrots, and chopped peanuts, splashed with a champagne vinegar. I had meant to do bok choy mignonette, but I forgot.
Overall rating:
+ Steak: Excellent
+ Salad: Okay
Lessons learned:
+ Our stove hood is not powerful enough for dramatic flames to appear reassuringly safe.
+ Something made this sauce mount perfectly. Burnination?
+ Grated carrots are too sweet to take a very sweet vinegar with good grace.
Fun Fact: Because I don't drink, I don't know cognac from Gatorade, so I asked my mother for a recommendation. On hearing my plans for the rest of the recipe, she recommended that I wait a little while and maybe she could make it up to Boston in time for dinner. Alas, she was joking, but perhaps I shall repeat this recipe when my parents next visit.
04:31 pm - Let Us Now Praise Famous rhean
Red lentil pancakes. That is all.
I made them with green chilies, served them with some marinated shrimp.
Overall rating: Very Good
Lessons learned:
+ These can -- and should -- be spread very very thin. Thinner than I did, for sure. But the oil needs to be pretty shallow for that to work.
+ Food processor not required; blender works just fine.
+ Decent leftovers, if reheated in a skillet -- but not a microwave, they tend to sog.
Fun fact: This is similar enough to the Manjula's Kitchen recipe for dosa that you can use that as a rough visual guide.
04:41 pm - Manjula's Kitchen HOWTO
Things to keep in mind when cooking breads from Manjula's Kitchen recipes:
+ If you live in NE, do not mistake her "whole wheat flour" for your whole wheat flour. Hers is much lighter, finer-ground, and lower-protein than what we get up here. The recipes will fail. Go to your local Asian grocery and find chapati flour. You will be happier.
+ Manjula's hands are very, very small. If you use them as visual guides, you will roll all of the breads too thin and they will behave badly.
+ Manjula's quoted measurements are often wrong. Use the measurements (transcribed by her son, I think) in the youtube video descriptions instead. Or use common sense. 1:1 flour to water is soup; 2:1 flour to water is dough.
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