FFwD: Cheesy Creme Brulee

I didn't really think through my dinner plan for this week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe, Cheesy Creme Brulee. I read through some comments about it on the FFwD website, looked up the recipe, said, "Hey! I have all the ingredients for that!" and made it, despite the fact that it's an appetizer recipe. If I served it with a salad or something, it would have seemed a little more reasonable than sticking two ramekins of cream, egg, and cheese in front of Matt for dinner. Woops.

My first problem with this recipe is that my stupid oven's lowest setting is 190 degrees Celsius, which is 374 degrees Farenheit. Much higher than the recipe requires. Because of this, I didn't have a gently-baked custard. Mine boiled, which made it pretty difficult to determine when it was done. There was no clean insertion of a fork into a calm custard. I took a wild guess as to whether or not they were ready to come out, let them sit for a while, and they turned out fine. The custard de-liquified as it cooled. Phew!

I couldn't ge tthe cheese on top to brown much in the broiler. Oh well. 

I don't know if it was because of the boiling, if it was the cheese I used, or if they were meant to be this way, but mine were very greasy.

One ramekin's worth tasted good. The second ramekin felt heavy and too rich.

These were surprisingly easy to make, and with a nice fresh salad, one would make a lovely lunch. I do not recommend eating two with nothing else to lighten it up, though.

Easing Into It

Over my many years of dieting, I've found that chili recipes lend themselves pretty well to being healthified, because it's easy to fill them out with lots of veg. Some recipes are better than others, but in the end, if you keep adding spices, you'll probably turn out something edible.

This is the serving size. Not too shabby.

To give the WW New Complete Cookbook a fighting chance of making a good impression, I figured I'd start with their Beef and Bean Chili (pg 141), which they say to put on top of some brown rice.

I have to say, it was pretty good. There was a good bean and beef to vegetable ratio, and it was thick instead of watery, which has been a problem with some versions I've made in the past. It stays pretty dry because the only fluid added is a can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes. I approve.

For once, I did not tinker with the spices. It could have used a bit more of everything (cumin, oregano, chili powder, salt, pepper), but I thought there was a chance Charlie would eat some, so I left it as it was. As it turns out, he did eat several chunks of beef, and then asked for "more beef" an hour later. Wouldn't touch the beans or the veg, but that's recipe victory, as far as getting any of it in his mouth is concerned. Non-dairy protein is the hardest thing to get him to eat, so I was pleased. Matt remarked, with surprise, "This is good! Needs tabasco, but it's good!"

Conclusion: Liked it. I'd make this again. Especially if I could get Charlie to eat more of it.

Quinoa-Fruit Salad (pg 95) caught my eye when I first flipped through the book. I love quinoa, vanilla yogurt, and fruit, so it sounded like a pretty sure thing. It was disappointing. I thought it would be sweeter and creamier from the yogurt. However, 1/4 cup of yogurt (mixed with oj and mint), created a very thin coating for the fruit and quinoa.

I did have to change a few things, but I don't think they'd have saved the recipe. The biggest is that the recipe calls for 1/3 cup of fresh mint. I just planted my mint two weeks ago, and it's not sturdy enough yet to support that kind of trimming. I cut a few sprigs off, but probably only ended up with a tablespoon, at most. I did not taste mint in the finished product.

Strawberries, kiwi, and canned mandarins are the suggested fruits. I used as many strawberries as I had, which was a lot less than the required 1.5 cups, frozen blueberries and raspberries, canned mandarins, and a banana.

Honestly, the not-sweet-enough nature of the dressing and fruit brought the bland flavor of the quinoa to the forefront, somehow.

Conclusion: Just okay. I like the idea of this recipe, but it needs a lot of playing around before it tastes good.

Wrapping Up and (Gulp) Up Next...

I'm cutting Nigella a little short. I don't feel too badly about this. While I've only covered 13 recipes for the blog, when I include those that I cooked before re-starting the blog, my total comes to 32. That seems like a sufficient exploration to decide that yes, I am most definitely keeping Nigella Kitchen.  I hit some duds prior to cooking for the blog, but by and large, most of what I made while focusing on the book was easy, satisfying, and I'd make it again. There are lots and LOTS of tempting desserts in this cookbook that I haven't touched. I look forward to trying them in the future. As far as I can tell from past baking, Nigella knows her sweets. I'm not too concerned about the success of her dessert recipes.

The calendar turned to March, and I've launched into full-on panic-mode. See, my brother is getting married in July. I'm a bridesmaid. I sent my future sister-in-law my measurements back in September, when I was a stress-ball whirling dervish of activity who had no time to eat and was running all over base while living in the hotel there. During those two months we lived on base, I lost 9 pounds without even trying.

Let's just say I've gained some back.

Yeah. "Some." That's a nice, vague description.

I've actually just hit the number that consistently in my adult life has made me put on the breaks, rock in a fetal position in a corner for a while, then decide that something must be done.

Something must be done. Now, while I still have enough time to fit into that bridesmaid dress.

Now. I'm not pursuing a particular diet at this time. I've established some general guidelines for eating habits that I know make a difference for me (drink 64 oz water a day, eat lots of fruit and veg, baking is forbidden, exercise). Without actually doing Weight Watchers, which I've never been very good at, as I hate weighing each piece of food, hate eating easily-trackable processed foods, and hate figuring out points of non-WW recipes, I plan to cook from the Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook, which I bought a few years ago when I was on the diet.

Be brave.

I will not track points. The recipes, in general, are healthier than what I normally cook, so I'm hoping the sheer fact of cooking them instead of a bacon coated meatloaf will help me in my plight.

There are a few things that WW, and this cookbook, push, which I just can't get behind. I will not use butter substitute (like Promise butter spread), egg substitute, powdered egg, fat free half and half,  or any other chemically-altered/too-far-removed-from-its-native-form product. As far as cheese goes, I'd rather use less of the full-fat version than more of a tasteless fat free version.

I also tend to triple the spices required in any given recipe. Spices don't add calories, do they?

Really, I want to be cooking from Ottolenghi's Jerusalem. That book is gorgeous. Plus, my friend just went to Morocco and brought me back a bunch of spices that I need. Squeeeeeal! Honestly, most of the recipes look pretty well-rounded, veg-rich, and healthy. It'll be my reward follow-up book for giving the Weight Watchers cookbook a chance.

I'm not expecting a whole lot from the WW recipes. Maybe I'll be surprised? Wouldn't that be nice. PLEASE, if you have this book and have found a good recipe or two, I beg that you direct me to them.

Yick

I had misgivings about Nigella's Speedy Seafood Supper (pg 193 of Nigella Kitchen) from the outset, based upon the fact that I don't really trust frozen seafood. Especially shellfish. There are certain things in the world that just seem to demand they be eaten fresh. Mussels are one of them.

Still, every supermarket around here prominently displays packets of frozen seafood. It's usually a mix of calamari, mussels, and little shrimp. I figured I'd give it a shot, rather than potentially miss out on some easy way to keep seafood on hand.

Should have gone with my gut. I don't know that there was necessarily anything wrong with the seafood. I'm very careful when I cook fresh mussels, though, and if the shell is cracked or open and won't close when tapped before it gets cooked, I toss it without question. If the shell refuses to open after all of its buddies have given up, I toss it without question. The fact that the mussels in this frozen mix were already split in half meant that I couldn't check for these telltale warnings.

I made too much pasta. Woops.

The sauce for this seafood is quite nice. It's a lightly-flavored mix of saffron, tomato, garlic, scallions, tarragon, and white wine. But then you dump the still-frozen seafood in and only cook it for 3-4 minutes. The shrimp hadn't turned pink yet in that time, so I let it go longer. A crustacean who was in the pack (I forget what they're called. It looks like a miniature combo of a shrimp and a lobster) didn't change color at all by the time the shrimp looked done. I know when I had one of these guys in my pasta at a restaurant, it was definitely not a pale blue color. I let the sauce simmer a little longer. I don't know how you tell when mussels are done, if they aren't capable of opening their shell.

I just couldn't get past my distrust for the seafood. The mussels looked weird. I can't explain it.

Matt thought his first bite tasted nasty, but liked the rest of it.

We didn't get sick, so that leads me to believe that the seafood was fine and I'm a drama-queen. I don't think I need frozen seafood in my life, though. Matt asked me why a person would use frozen seafood when they have access to fresh. Before I started to eat, I told him that it's all about being able to throw together a nice dinner in no time, without having to stop at the store. After eating, I have to agree with him. I'll save seafood for nights when I have time to deal with the fresh stuff.

Conclusion: Dislike. The sauce would be good for fresh seafood, though.

FFwD: Chicken Breast Diable

I'm not a huge fan of mustard-based sauces, but even I like Dorie's Chicken Breast Diable, from Around My French Table. The dish conjures no thoughts of hellfire and heat, so I think the title is a tad melodramatic. I mean, it's mustard. Mustard, diluted by heavy cream and wine. I feel a little bad for the French if, as Dorie says, mustard is the spiciest thing in their pantry. Then I remember their cheeses and chocolates and wines and buttery, delicious sauces, and I stop feeling sorry for them. They don't need my sympathy. They're doing just fine.

This recipe is easy, quick, and made from common pantry ingredients. Winner!

See those beans at the top of my plate? They're my new favorite things in the world: fava. Who knew? I thought fava was the same as lima beans, but they're not. My landlord's uncle keeps leaving me bags of pods outside my door. I do a dance of joy every time.

Aren't they pretty? The pods are velvet-fuzzy on the inside.

I am officially addicted to Marcella Hazan's "a la Romana" preparation of them from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. Onions, oil, pancetta, pepper. Done. If you find yourself in possession of fava, try Hazan's recipe. It's incredible. I'm going to have to buy myself 400 bags of dried beans before I move back to the states, because I can never be without them again. I haven't come across them before. Maybe I just wasn't looking.

Want Some Feathers With Your Chicken?

The execution of My Mother's Praised Chicken (pg 223 of Nigella Kitchen) turned out to be fraught with drama. Okay, maybe not real drama, but considering that all I expected to do was boil a chicken with some vegetables, Italy threw me a curveball that I did not see coming.

Exhibit A:

Oh. My. God.

I unwrapped my chicken, and almost dropped it on the floor when I saw feathers and scaley ankles. Not to mention the fact that this poor bird looks like it was decapitated by an angry serial killer. I realized (two minutes later) that I was holding my breath and staring at the chicken from across the room. Common sense kicked in, I told myself to stop being an idiot, and started pulling feathers out, chanting all the while, "This chicken was a chicken. Chickens have feathers. This chicken was a chicken. Chickens have scaly feet." Thankfully, the feathers came out without too much trouble (except the ones on the wingtips. I just left them there, for lack of a better idea.)

One thing I noticed about the chickens in the supermarket here, is that the styrofoam tray is totally dry. There's no bloody water trapped in with the chicken. Based on absolutely no research into the matter, I've decided to settle on the explanation for this that I like best--that Italian chickens are not soaked in a vile vat of fetid water, the way American chickens are. (For me, this was the single most disturbing detail of Jonathan Safran Foer's interesting book Eating Animals. I can't buy poultry at home now without checking the package to see what percentage of the weight is from "water" absorption. I just threw up in my mouth.)

Sorry. All that has nothing to do with Nigella's recipe. Really, all you do is break the breastbone of the chicken, brown it, then boil it with some white wine, leeks, carrots, celery, and herbs. For a long time. It boils for 1.5 hours, then sits in the pot, off the heat, for another half hour. That's a long time for a carrot to boil.

The chicken was fine. The meat was tender and the broth tasted good on rice. The vegetables were mush. We ate them, but I'd prefer roasting a chicken and veg any day, for both the flavor it produces, and the time it saves.

Conclusion: Just okay. I won't make this again.

A Quicky

Sorry I've been slow to post. A little old long-weekend trip to Barcelona interrupted the flow of things. I love Barcelona. That is all.

The day after Nigella's wonderful, gut-busting meatloaf, I figured that a lighter meal was in order. Vietnamese Pork Noodle Soup (pg 82 of Nigella Kitchen) caught my eye. I wasn't expecting greatness, but it seemed like a good way to use up some leftover roast beef that I had in the fridge (technically, the recipe calls for raw, thin-sliced pork, but I think Nigella would approve.) Much to my surprise, I was able to find bok choy at the Commissary. I used spaghetti instead of ramen noodles. In the end, the soup could have used a splash of hot sauce, but otherwise, it was pretty tasty, and a good way to breathe new life into that roast beef.

Conclusion: liked it, though I don't know that I'd go out of my way to make it if I didn't have leftovers on hand.

Arugula and Lemon Couscous (pg 90) accompanied our Valentine's Day steak. This tasted fine. Nothing special. It was very difficult to eat, though. Tiny couscous pebbles are not a complementary shape to long, unwieldy leaves of arugula.

Conclusion: Disliked, not because of the flavor, but because it was super annoying to eat.

I kept feeling like something was amiss with my Chicken with Greek Herb Sauce (pg 102). The photo in the book shows chicken that has clearly been seasoned with dark spices--paprika or something. The recipe does not instruct you to season with anything other than salt and pepper. Matt came home from the store with boneless thighs instead of bone-in, so instead of roasting the chicken, I grilled it, which I think I prefer anyway. The herb sauce was a nice mixture of yogurt with scallions, green chile, garlic, cucumber, cilantro, and mint.

Conclusion: Liked it. Easy.