Summer Projects: Cooking

This summer, I'm giving myself some Iron-chef-style personal challenges with the things that are in my pantry (seriously, where did all these kidney beans come from??). Recipes I've bookmarked for later:

Orange-Blossom Creme Brulee

Red Beans and Rice (it's been hard finding a recipe that doesn't use canned beans when I want to use up dried)

Curried Courgette Soup

Lilikoi Chiffon Pie

Caramel Corn

Shokata Gelatin

Cookies and Cream Pudding

Date Shakes

It's later.
I did not get around to the orange blossom creme brulee or the lilikoi chiffon pie.  I did, however, host two nights of crepes, very successful!  I highly recommend a mixture of ham and swiss for dinner and nutella with amaretto for dessert!

I've already blogged about the gelatin.  The date shakes were... meh. I don't think the dates got adequately pureed, so the whole blend-up just looked like, well, you can imagine.  Blech.

I also added to the mix an orange-blossom shortbread, sort of modeled on this. Cut into flower shapes, brushed with egg wash, and sprinkled with orange sanding sugar, they were good, but I think I will try a different shortbread recipe next time.  The orange blossom was subtle, but fragrant, which was good, because the floral scent can quickly make things taste soapy.

The real win, though? The caramel corn.  It's exquisitely addictive.  I started doing some riffs on the basic recipe, swapping almonds and almond extract to great effect.  It only takes a couple minutes in a standard microwave - you just have to play with the timing, but the best part of the recipe is that it results in caramel corn that is (and stays) crunchy!  Go on, try it.  You can use any kind of popcorn, but the best is stovetop-popped kernels in butter-flavored oil.

Fun With Gelatin!

More kitchen fun, this time with gelatin.

The basic proportion?  1 Knox envelope, with 2 c. liquid.

Assemble your liquids! Last year, I made americano gelee with unflavored gelatin, espresso, and water. This time, I'm using Shokata (lemon-elderflower soda), leftover Shiraz from last night's dinner (I added a couple teaspoons of sugar to the hot wine to take a bit of the edge off), and a passionfruit cordial I found in the clearance rack at my international market (about 3/4 c. diluted to 2 c.).

I used Knox envelopes, since that's what I had on hand, but you could use gelatin sheets, too, whatever the equivalent is. In 1 c. of cool liquid, I bloomed the gelatin by sprinkling the powder on top.

Meanwhile, I stuck the other 1 c. of liquid in the microwave to boil it. I added the boiling liquid to the bloomed gelatin and stirred more than I probably needed to, to make sure it was completely dissolved.

Then, into the serving dishes! I put the wine in wine glasses, naturally. The Shokata went into martini glasses - never seen gelatin so elegant! And the passionfruit got divided into four Japanese teacups.

And into the fridge! I let these gel overnight. It takes a few hours.










The results?
The best was the gelatinized Shokata.  Passionfruit was a second, but I might have liked it diluted with seltzer water instead of still.  The Shiraz was unconsumable.  Way too strong - should have made much smaller portions and sweetened it further - maybe with some fruit juice and fruit as a jiggly riff on sangria...