Thursday, October 02, 2008

more kitchen mumblings from the penurious-ish

Other recent successful happenings (small h)--to keep myself interested/inspired. Look away if yer bored!

- Adding acai berry sorbet to my Wacked-Out So Very Un-Dairy Smoothie--muy bueno. Don't like it so much straight, so it's perfect in there. Current lineup is fruit juice/seltzer/juice concentrate/sorbet base in some variety, with flax seeds & oil, wheat germ and various powdery potions. Have learned moderation with it, too--much better to fling a blender-full on a container in the fridge and have some every day (keeps better than I thought--used to think I had to drink it all at once). I also bought a cheap plastic bin for my freezer to separate all the bags of frozen fruit and keep track of them better (I buy only on sale...they are spendy).

- Delish! Buttermilk chocolate chip pancakes (mini chocolate chips). This batch a little deflated because I used the batter two days in a row and by day 2 the oomphy buttermilk height is gone. Chocolate chips are perfect things to stock in the freezer, I've realized. Like little boxes of soy milk, they make all sorts of desserts possible. I don't like using them where 'real' chocolate is required--too waxy--but they are great for quick toppings (melt w/ soy milk for ice cream) and cookies and such. I like the Ghirardelli 60% chips and the Hershey's minis, which are especially fabulous in oatmeal cookies. Also good to buy on sale.

- Chopped grilled ham on toasted corn bread, with pan sauce made w/ Riesling and stock...very very g.

- Flank Steak a la Whatever Marinated Some Indefinite Period of Time was EPIC. I wish I could remember what was in the marinade exactly, other than splashes of the basics--a huge glug of Tropicana OJ and some spicy-ish deli mustard, I know--anyhow, after at least two days of marinating I was like gah yah must cook before it disappears. I heated the oven/grill pan to 450, and threw it in there for 10 min on each side. It was definitely past the lauded flank steak medium rare stage--not enough pink (I think the meat was pretty dark from the marinade, as well), and too high a temp when I took it out--but it was AMAZING. I started sawing off lil bits too early! (schade...shame to waste any of that juice). But I let most of it rest under foil for a while and it was just...spectacularly juicy and delicious.

Anyhow, I ate a piece of it for dinner. Sliced steak, that's it. The same day I had a root canal, which tells you something about how tender it was. I dunno, when I'm ravenous for red meat like that, it feels like it's metabolizing in about 2 seconds flat. "Folding a chop into the system" (DL Sayers). My eyes feel sparkly and fur smooth (that's MFK). No digestive rumblings of any kind, just...like you're sort of mainlining nutrition. Just to try to splain the feeling. So...good steak. And there are leftovers. I may or may not try to incorporate into the lentil soup that is coming together as we speak. If that one works it's gonna be a great success. If not...useless tupperwares full of guilt-tweaking pale green blended stuff in the freezer. Crossing fingers.

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