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Nov. 20th, 2012 07:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
camwynA week or so ago I got the DIY Cookbook from America's Test Kitchen. While I realize that the whole point of 99% of the cookbooks out there is to teach people how to do it themselves, this is stuff on the order of 'most of the time, people buy this item already concocted at the market, but here is how to prepare it yourself- it'll take longer and probably cost more but it'll taste better and you'll know how to make it'. Stuff like making bacon from pork belly, brewing your own beer, making three or four different kinds of cheese, etc.
Last night my kitchen smelled like I was trying to summon Dionysos. I don't drink, myself, but there was a recipe in the book for wine jelly that just sounded like it'd be wonderful with some of my favourite cheeses*. Plus my parents came with me to do apartment hunting in the Boston area this weekend, and they're both wine drinkers, and I wanted to thank them beyond just bringing the cornbread to Thanksgiving. So, I spent a good chunk of last evening making wine jelly from a bottle of Oregon pinot noir. I have no idea if it's good wine or not** and I haven't tasted the jelly yet since it said to let it sit in the fridge for 12-24 hours first. We'll see.
Also there are strips of salted spiced flank steak on a wire rack in my fridge, because the cookbook included a recipe for homemade beef jerky- not the kind you marinate in soy or Worcestershire sauce, as it's not meant for long term storage. Just salt and spice it, let it air-dry in the fridge for 12-24 hours, then cook it in the oven at low temperature for 3-4 hours until it's properly dried and cooked all the way through. I happen to like beef jerky and would prefer to control what goes into it instead of trusting the companies that put it on the shelves at Duane Reade. If this recipe works out, great. If not, there are other recipes.
... I kinda get some interesting compulsive urges when Shark Week is on the way.
*I'm not a cheese expert or snob or whatever the word is. My friend Deirdre is of the opinion that people can be divided into Cheese People and Chocolate People. If, when asked which of those two you would give up ever eating any variety of, ever again, for the rest of your life, you say 'I would give up chocolate rather than cheese', you count as a cheese person even if you can't tell Limburger from Kraft Singles. Much as I love chocolate, under Deirdre's definition, I'm a cheese person. So, yeah, I've got a couple of favorite cheeses.
**Mom likes pinot noir in general, but this particular variety isn't one I remember ever seeing before. The recipe indicated that it was perfectly okay to start with an inexpensive but decent bottle so I figured what the hell, Sparrow Wine and Liquor*** wouldn't sell crap.
***(established 1922 as a TOTALLY LEGITIMATE seller of CIGARETTES AND NOT ANYTHING ILLEGAL)
Last night my kitchen smelled like I was trying to summon Dionysos. I don't drink, myself, but there was a recipe in the book for wine jelly that just sounded like it'd be wonderful with some of my favourite cheeses*. Plus my parents came with me to do apartment hunting in the Boston area this weekend, and they're both wine drinkers, and I wanted to thank them beyond just bringing the cornbread to Thanksgiving. So, I spent a good chunk of last evening making wine jelly from a bottle of Oregon pinot noir. I have no idea if it's good wine or not** and I haven't tasted the jelly yet since it said to let it sit in the fridge for 12-24 hours first. We'll see.
Also there are strips of salted spiced flank steak on a wire rack in my fridge, because the cookbook included a recipe for homemade beef jerky- not the kind you marinate in soy or Worcestershire sauce, as it's not meant for long term storage. Just salt and spice it, let it air-dry in the fridge for 12-24 hours, then cook it in the oven at low temperature for 3-4 hours until it's properly dried and cooked all the way through. I happen to like beef jerky and would prefer to control what goes into it instead of trusting the companies that put it on the shelves at Duane Reade. If this recipe works out, great. If not, there are other recipes.
... I kinda get some interesting compulsive urges when Shark Week is on the way.
*I'm not a cheese expert or snob or whatever the word is. My friend Deirdre is of the opinion that people can be divided into Cheese People and Chocolate People. If, when asked which of those two you would give up ever eating any variety of, ever again, for the rest of your life, you say 'I would give up chocolate rather than cheese', you count as a cheese person even if you can't tell Limburger from Kraft Singles. Much as I love chocolate, under Deirdre's definition, I'm a cheese person. So, yeah, I've got a couple of favorite cheeses.
**Mom likes pinot noir in general, but this particular variety isn't one I remember ever seeing before. The recipe indicated that it was perfectly okay to start with an inexpensive but decent bottle so I figured what the hell, Sparrow Wine and Liquor*** wouldn't sell crap.
***(established 1922 as a TOTALLY LEGITIMATE seller of CIGARETTES AND NOT ANYTHING ILLEGAL)
