failed food experiments

[pantryslut]

As I've said before, I am always a good cook, but what I cook isn't always good. And, by the way, I have decided to chronicle the not-quites on occasion as well as the successes, just for balance.

Let's take last night, for example.

I had a great deal of fun peeling the delicata squash* and gutting it and cutting it into rings. I steamed them, and I left them in a touch too long and some of the thinner ones were starting to disintegrate. Not a big deal, really.

The big deal was that the sauce I chose to put with it was way too spicy. I mean, it made *my* eyes water, which means neither of the lads could really eat it. I took the idea from Eric Gower's new book The Breakaway Cook -- it's the chipotle-tomato sauce. I think next time I will just use a small amount of ground chipotles and a can of tomatoes, instead of a can of chipotles in adobo sauce as he calls for. I like the combination of chilies and squash, but this needs to be rejiggered a bit first. Too bad.

Meanwhile, the side dish. G. finds arugula in its raw state to be a little bitter, so I tried wilting it and dressing it with some lemon juice. I added onions and apples for sweetness and pine nuts for crunchiness. But the apple was pretty insipid in its slightly cooked state, hardly any flavor. So this, too, was mostly a failed experiment.

I served all of this with brown rice, which I didn't cook (Steven did) and which G. found bland. Well, that's because it was plain brown rice :) The idea was that it would mop up the sauce. But the sauce was too spicy. Etc.

We picked at our meals and then had leftover cake for dessert.

Tonight, the feta and peppers. I think I am going to saute the peppers, add olives and feta, and serve over boned chicken thighs.



* This is not the squash due to be stuffed. That's a different squash. Soon.

Comments

[elusis.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to know that other people swing and miss sometimes. :)