As some folk know, I cook. Not often (about once a year), but when I do, it’s … interesting. I make up every recipe, often while walking around the store. It’s always a complete experiment, and each time I do it I tend to find something that’s mind-blowingly good.
Today’s meal was 8 hours of cooking, 200$ in groceries (for 5 people) (not including wine) and 4 hours of prep last night.
We should have taken pics, but it was a very interesting meal. Below are my recipe notes. Things don’t end up getting made quite like I plan, but they should give some idea of direction if you’re interested in trying some of this out.
Funkified Fruity Ham (note: this didn’t rock as much as I’d hoped)
PREPPeel pears
* Core pears
* Pastify pears
* Pastify strawberries
Pastify mangosCOOK
Place tinfoil on bbq
Place ham in row, flat, on tinfoil
Spread pear paste over one “end” of ham
Fold ham
Spread Strawberry paste over next end of ham
Fold ham
Spread mango paste over next end of ham
Roll ham up
Brush with funky honey
Seal tinfoil
Cook on BBQFINAL
Slice ham into thin, long, slices
Rawking Grilled Cheese
PREPSlice ends off bagels
Brush on jalapeno’d honey glaze to bagels
Crispify bagels
Sliceify cheese
Chop up parsleyCOOK
Place bottom half of bagel on bbq/frying pan
Put cheese slices on bagels
Sprinkle parsley on bagel
Put top on
Bake/fry/bbq til cheese is melted and happy
Brush on spicy honeyMangofied Chicken
PREPSlice peppers (thinly)
Marinate peppers in honey
Slice mangos (thinly)COOK
Place tinfoil on BBQ
Layer mango on tinfoil
Layer chicken on mango
Spice chicken
Layer mango on top of chicken
Sprinkle honeyed peppers throughout
Seal tinfoil
Cook til readyYour Sauciness is so Appealing
PREP* Chop some mushrooms
* Chop some funky mushroomsCOOK
Warm milk
Add dijon sauce
Add mushrooms
Add wine
Add some spicy honey
Somehow get it to right consistency (flour)The Pastification of Misses Jones
PREPOpen wine
Let the wine breathe
Slice regular mushroomsCOOK
Pour ickle bit of wine in frying pan
Put pasta in frying pan
Fry pasta
Pour more wine in frying pan
Add mushrooms
Add spicesShrooms in the Garden
PREPChop parsley
Crush nutsCOOK
Make paste out of remaining funky mushrooms (add dijon sauce and/or milk for consistency)
Add parsley
Add nutsMore than the Sum of its Parts
PREPPut pasta on plate
Place chicken on top
Place mangos from chicken on chicken
Place jalapenos around chicken
Place grilled cheese on plate
Place funkified ham on plate
Sprinkle parsley on funkified ham
Put paste around ham
So what really worked this time? The “spicy honey” was amazing. The jalapenos were totally edible and delicious. We brushed spicy honey on the raisin bread (substituted for bagels) before the crispification stage AND on the BBQ (note to self: honey burns fast on the BBQ!). The sauce + dijon + som garlic was… omg, so many layers of taste. And the seared pasta rawked. Oh, and the mangoes (which weren’t ripe) after being on the BBQ with the spicy honey and jalapenos just about made my heart stop.
Not everything was perfect, partially cause we had more folk than planned and partially cause my back was killing me so my attention to detail lagged at the end. Specifically the pasta + sauce + chicken thing wasn’t as fab as it could have been together. Everyone was happy, but I wasn’t because there were fewer layers of taste the way I did the combo than each item had individually. I think one of my issues was just too many things involving mushrooms, specifically the mushroom paste. I ended up compensating too much for it, which drove away other tastes.
One of the other issues is that it takes me so long cause I’m experimenting too much. I probably could have done it with 1 hour of prep and 2 hours of cooking/assembly.
Either way, this (along with working) was my Sunday. For my dads 56th birthday party. Mostly he just loves watching me “make art” (his words). Plus, my dad’s amazing, so anything that makes him happy makes me happy… even if I’m not totally happy with the result 