Wednesday, August 28, 2002

kitchen things i want:
a real whisk
a nice sharp chef's knife
a real peppermill
chocolate pots de creme:
melt 5 oz semisweet chocolate chips in 2 cups heavy cream plus 1/2 cup milk. mix 1/3 c splenda with 6 egg yolks, then whisk into the cream mixture (off the heat). i poured it into a muffin tin in a baking pan full of hot water and baked at 325 for about 1 hr. best when chilled after that--they fall and become dense and luscious. but i took one to work scooped out and put in a plastic bag, and now it looks like a bag of dog poop. mmm.
lavender chicken:
1 tbsp dried lavender blossoms
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

pound to a fragrant paste w/mortar and pestle. add 1/2 cup olive oil and smear onto 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts. marinate at least 1 hr.

heat the george foreman grill and grill the chicken about 10 mins.

slice onto a salad of arugula dressed with 1/2 c. evoo, juice of 1 lemon, 1 tsp dijon mustard, 1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon, and 1 tbsp honey.

arugula salad: not so good. chicken was "scrumptious."

8/27 dinner:
pasta aurora:
1 shallot, 3 cloves garlic coarsely chopped, sauteed with 1 diced red bell pepper in olive oil. i hate to admit my naivete, but the shallot was very strange inside the brown papery skin--soft and translucent lavender. chopped about 5 heirloom tomatoes (on the mushy side) from the farmer's market--green and yellow-striped zebras, a butter-yellow tomato with all its seeds in a small frog-spawn-like ball easily scooped out with my fingers, a flat, red, deeply ribbed costoluto, and a tomato the insane plastic yellow of a bell pepper. dropped them in the pan and reduced them at high heat until they turned into a thick red syrup. added fresh torn basil, dried oregano, salt, pepper, dried red chili pepper flakes, sugar, a splash of sherry, and finally some heavy whipping cream. added 1 can sliced black olives and 1 can mushroom stems and pieces. reduced the heat, reduced the sauce some more, and tossed with linguine.

it was good.