Challenge 2 - Italian
Sunday, March 4th, 2012 07:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
missdiane posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
weekly_food_challengeI didn't have a grand plan to spend most of the day cooking Italian fare, but that's what ended up happening. Since I wasn't going to Trader Joe's this week - I made my own cranberry-pistachio biscotti for dipping into coffee in the mornings, using this recipe. I tasted some of the edge bits before the second baking and the flavor on them is fabulous. The only changes to the recipe is subbing 3/4 cup whole wheat flour for part of the white and using orange-flavored dried cranberries - interestingly enough from the last Trader Joe's trip - which they are YUMMY.
The next thing I made were some zucchini basil muffins - using this recipe - since with my new workplace, it's going to be easiest to pack bento-style lunches that don't necessarily need to be refrigerated and have plenty of grabbable foods. I'll have to say they turned out merely ok - they seem to be missing something but I can't quite put my finger on what. Maybe some cracked black pepper or mixing in some of the parmesan instead of only sprinkling it on top.
The last thing I made was a no-recipe-needed pasta dinner for one. I cooked up some orecchiette pasta in one small pan while I prepped the rest of the ingredients and cooked them in a saute pan. Then when the pasta was mostly done, I drained it and dumped it in the saute pan to soak up the liquid. Note to those who haven't used orecchiette before - it takes longer than usual to cook. Most dried pastas are good at about 8-9 minutes but I am very glad I looked at the packaging because it did take the full 13 minutes to get to mostly al-dente.
Some pictures of the day's work:
Biscotti and muffins. I made both regular sized and mini muffins - and came up a little short of the count they mentioned in the recipe. I had one full pan of regular muffins and 2/3 of a pan of mini muffins. I tossed the bigger muffins in a bag and put them in the freezer for later and will pack most of the mini muffins with lunches this week.
I also didn't intend to be a walking advert for Wegmans grocery store but hey, if that's where the good stuff is...Oh and that's a meyer lemon, by the way. My roomie spotted a bag of them and thought I could make us some tasty stuff. I currently have some butter that's about room temp and will be making a lemon loaf cake once I'm done posting here.
The finished dinner. I'd like to turn off the flash on my camera, but if I do, things turn out blurry. The pasta was lovely and colorful and had a gorgeous lemony sauce thickened by the starchy pasta.
The next thing I made were some zucchini basil muffins - using this recipe - since with my new workplace, it's going to be easiest to pack bento-style lunches that don't necessarily need to be refrigerated and have plenty of grabbable foods. I'll have to say they turned out merely ok - they seem to be missing something but I can't quite put my finger on what. Maybe some cracked black pepper or mixing in some of the parmesan instead of only sprinkling it on top.
The last thing I made was a no-recipe-needed pasta dinner for one. I cooked up some orecchiette pasta in one small pan while I prepped the rest of the ingredients and cooked them in a saute pan. Then when the pasta was mostly done, I drained it and dumped it in the saute pan to soak up the liquid. Note to those who haven't used orecchiette before - it takes longer than usual to cook. Most dried pastas are good at about 8-9 minutes but I am very glad I looked at the packaging because it did take the full 13 minutes to get to mostly al-dente.
Some pictures of the day's work:
Biscotti and muffins. I made both regular sized and mini muffins - and came up a little short of the count they mentioned in the recipe. I had one full pan of regular muffins and 2/3 of a pan of mini muffins. I tossed the bigger muffins in a bag and put them in the freezer for later and will pack most of the mini muffins with lunches this week.
I also didn't intend to be a walking advert for Wegmans grocery store but hey, if that's where the good stuff is...Oh and that's a meyer lemon, by the way. My roomie spotted a bag of them and thought I could make us some tasty stuff. I currently have some butter that's about room temp and will be making a lemon loaf cake once I'm done posting here.
The finished dinner. I'd like to turn off the flash on my camera, but if I do, things turn out blurry. The pasta was lovely and colorful and had a gorgeous lemony sauce thickened by the starchy pasta.
no subject
Date: Monday, March 5th, 2012 12:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, March 5th, 2012 12:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, March 5th, 2012 02:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, March 5th, 2012 06:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, March 5th, 2012 06:51 pm (UTC)I'm sure it's something I could play with