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Cooking with Intention Round 1: Nigel and I Spend Some Time Together
So I'm pleased as punch that I finally got around to Cooking with Intention and that it turned out as well as it did. Unfortunately I was always one step behind on the photos so there are no "complete product" looks here. Ah well.
As you know, I've just read Nigel Slater's Kitchen Dairies and having him on the brain led me to pull the first book of his I had gotten off the shelf in the hunt for something to make.
Main Course: Nigel Slater's No-Fuss Pastry Vegetable Pie (from his cookbook "Appetite").
Per his instructions, I went ahead and used frozen puff pastry instead of making my own: I have never understood why some people come over all sniffy about ready-made puff pastry. It is a perfectly good commercial product, light and crisp, and a joy for people like me who imagine they have better things to do than making their own. Note, however, he does NOT recommend using frozen short pie pastry / only the puff kind.
Basically it's just onions, mushrooms, creme fraiche (or whipping cream), and some thyme/ oregano/ salt/ pepper. Cooked in oil until soft and creamy, then poured into a puff pastry "sandwich" (one on bottom, one on top, crimp the edges) and baked. Super easy, super delicious.
At first tasting, I felt it was a little bland / maybe I didn't add enough spices? That was the one real vague part of the recipe: "just enough to sit in the palm of your hand"? How big is Nigel's hand? Likely bigger than mine! :)
But I was assured I was wrong, and on the second serving I really didn't notice it at all. I steamed up a bag of haricots verts for a little greenery on the plate.
On to Dessert: Tim's Flourless Frango Double Chocolate Cake (from the little Frango cookbook both Heidi and I got at Marshall Field's one day a long time ago)
Again I forgot to take a picture before cutting in, but I'm sure you can still tell from this half-eaten one how thick and luscious this cake is.
This is a really WEIRD thing to make, however. Frango double-chocolate chips / melted with butter. Then you whip up some eggs for what seems really LONG time even using the cuisinart. Mix the two. So you have this oddly very airy loose liquidy stuff in your pan. Bake for 20 minutes. When it comes out, it's still very liquidy/loose and amorphous and all puffed up (just like the puff pastry!). Then you let it cool for 20 minutes / and then put in the fridge until it's ready to eat.
As it cools, the puff vanishes/collapses and you're left with some very dense, very chocolatey chocolate cake. Yummy.
But -- I mean -- basically you melted chocolate, baked chocolate, and then chilled chocolate. Not much different than eating a very thick, very chocolate-y candy bar! :)
Served with Edy's Peppermint icecream (with peppermint chunks!) on the side. Cannot get enough of that seasonal offering!!! (hello, it's 300 calories per 1 cup, I can definitely get ENOUGH of it!)
Everything was delicious and was accompanied by a few Kirins and a few Stellas, and lots of talking and laughing, and when people finally left at 2 a.m., I completely crashed and did not wake up until noon today! Woot!
Now I have to start planning what I'll prepare for my cooking adventure sometime NEXT week...
Thanks, Carolyn, what a great idea. ;) Smooches, CMS
Posted by Duff at December 09, 2006
Looks good! And I like your dishes.
Posted by: melanie at December 9, 2006 01:30 PM
Maybe it's the angle of the shot but the veggie pie looks mammoth. As for puff pastry, I am generally a food snob but after I tried to do my own once I decided never again. Modern conveniences certainly do have their place.
Posted by: sara at December 9, 2006 03:06 PM
OMG, that vegetable pie looks delicious! But really, did you have to go publishing the calorie count on the Edy's PS ice cream? Can't we enjoy one little guilt-free indulgence over the holidays?
Nah, guess not....
Posted by: Jan at December 9, 2006 06:11 PM
I have chopped up the mint frangos and made frango chunk cookies with them. They're great.
Also, my fave frango flavor on its own is the creme brulee, but I don't know if they're making it anymore.
Posted by: Girl Detective at December 9, 2006 08:32 PM
You can chop Frangos to make mint chocolate chunk cookies, which are quite good. Also, I love the frango creme brulee flavor, though I don't know if they make it anymore.
Posted by: Girl Detective at December 9, 2006 08:33 PM
I wish I had the time to cook. That food looks so good. I probably do have the time, just not the patience.
Posted by: Penny at December 10, 2006 04:03 AM
everything looks awesome. well except for the peppermint ice cream. ack!
Posted by: maryse at December 10, 2006 06:19 AM
I'll add you to the list. That meal looks awesome!
Posted by: Carolyn at December 10, 2006 07:16 PM
Ooh, peppermint icecream! We don't have that here, I think. Would go very well with my Nigella fruitcake... Must check out some shops with USA foodstuffs.
Posted by: marrije at December 11, 2006 02:51 AM