Well, the Kaymak goal did not work, but I'm not giving up for January yet. Meat! I know I can cook meat and with one day left for the month, I will master something from my list. Boeuf Bourguignon has been chosen. Basically it's a fancy French term for good ol' beef stew. Reading the recipe (I always recommend reading the recipe first) it's very much like braising short ribs, which I know I kick-ass. Hubby says my short ribs are second only to Daniel Boulud, and that is a GREAT honor. No one can touch Daniel's short ribs. No one!
I'm off to Safeway to gather ingredients. I hope to have this place smelling of that rich beef broth with wine and veggies, and of course, beef, in a few hours. Yay!
Kaymak, oh Kaymak, why do you hate me so? I will give you a few months to settle before I attempt making you again.
I'm talking to a recipe... (sigh) It's a sad, sad day.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Failure
Well, the Kaymak didn't turn out AGAIN. At least this time I didn't burn it and was able to make it into a lemon cream sauce for some pasta. ARGH!!! Frustrating. I don't know what I'm doing wrong.
I found one more recipe to try. This one calls for 1 tsp of salt. I will have one more go at it.
OK, I know I said I would make something over and over until I got it right - but I didn't take into account complete inedible failure and wasting food. It's the wasting part that irks me. And well, let's face it - I can't keep making full on whole milk and heavy cream recipes.
So, one last attempt at this and I'm moving onto the next dish.
I found one more recipe to try. This one calls for 1 tsp of salt. I will have one more go at it.
OK, I know I said I would make something over and over until I got it right - but I didn't take into account complete inedible failure and wasting food. It's the wasting part that irks me. And well, let's face it - I can't keep making full on whole milk and heavy cream recipes.
So, one last attempt at this and I'm moving onto the next dish.
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Impatiently Waiting
Attempt number two at making Kaymak. I followed a slightly different recipe this time.
Heated whole milk to a slight boil. Added a small mixture of flour and milk (prepared earlier), and then added cream. Simmered and stirred for two hours. Hubby and I had to take turns. Finally, poured the mixture into an enamel pan and let that simmer without stirring for 30 minutes.
Let cool to room temp, and then set in fridge for 10 hours.
Well, 10 hours are long over... but I'm stuck at work. I'm chomping at the bit to get home and see how my Kaymak turned out. Will let you know...
I'm very excited.
Heated whole milk to a slight boil. Added a small mixture of flour and milk (prepared earlier), and then added cream. Simmered and stirred for two hours. Hubby and I had to take turns. Finally, poured the mixture into an enamel pan and let that simmer without stirring for 30 minutes.
Let cool to room temp, and then set in fridge for 10 hours.
Well, 10 hours are long over... but I'm stuck at work. I'm chomping at the bit to get home and see how my Kaymak turned out. Will let you know...
I'm very excited.
Monday, January 04, 2010
Cooked cream
Yes, that's basically what I spent an hour doing last night. I cooked cream. Poured a pint of heavy cream into a quart of whole milk and ladled, ladled, ladled until the top was all foamy... and then tried to let it simmer on low heat - but I guess the pot was still too hot, because before I could stop it, the cream started burning. ARGH!!!
The end result was not so much Kaymak, but a thick off-white mess with bits of brown mixed in. Oh, and let's not forget the wonderful splatter all over my stove from ladling milk and letting it dribble back into the pot about 12" above the surface. Yep, splatter. All over the place. Even though I had spread towels everywhere.
I'm not so upset that the recipe completely didn't work for me, but it's that I hate wasting food. I didn't throw out the cream - will probably make it into a sauce or something, but still... it didn't live up to its potential in the slightest. Let's hope the second try will be better. It's such a simple recipe. I can't believe it bombed like that.
For those who are curious, this is what the end result should look like... And let's just say, mine turned out NOTHING like this. HA!
The end result was not so much Kaymak, but a thick off-white mess with bits of brown mixed in. Oh, and let's not forget the wonderful splatter all over my stove from ladling milk and letting it dribble back into the pot about 12" above the surface. Yep, splatter. All over the place. Even though I had spread towels everywhere.
I'm not so upset that the recipe completely didn't work for me, but it's that I hate wasting food. I didn't throw out the cream - will probably make it into a sauce or something, but still... it didn't live up to its potential in the slightest. Let's hope the second try will be better. It's such a simple recipe. I can't believe it bombed like that.
For those who are curious, this is what the end result should look like... And let's just say, mine turned out NOTHING like this. HA!
Sunday, January 03, 2010
A slight change in plans
Well, I was all prepared to make Butter Chicken for the January recipe, but then my hubby informs me that he scheduled a gum graft "surgery" for this Monday. So he won't be able to eat it for a few days. This he tells me as I'm holding an ingredient list combing through the grocery store aisles. Great timing.
Quick change... I'm going to attempt to make Kaymak (pronounced 'k-eye-mock') this month instead. What is Kaymak? Oh, what is glorious, dreamy Kaymak? I was first introduced to this heavenly cream during my trip to Belgrade, Serbia a few years ago. It's a white cream with the consistency like the whipped cream cheese that you can get a Noah's Bagels. It's light and fluffy. It's literally the solid thick layer that forms from simmered whole milk and heavy cream.
Doesn't see TOO hard. Simmer the milk over medium heat and ladel consistently for about 40 minutes until a thick layer foam covers the top layer of the milk. Let it cool and store in the fridge for 10 hours. Then lift that top layer of cream off. That cream is Kaymak.
And now, something a little more lighthearted. A little beauty tip I recently discovered for myself. Ever have a nail that broke way down the nail plate? You can't cut it, but it's definitely split and catches on things? Extremely painful. Superglue sometimes can lock it down - but it doesn't work all the time.
A quick solution until your nail can grow out to be cut? Acrylic nails! I bought a pack of the Nailene short, French tip nails. I only applied one nail (obviously to the injured one) and painted over it with a darker color (hides the white tip of the fake nail easily). Looks great - no one can tell it's fake. No more pain from my nail getting caught on things - and it can safely grow out under a protective layer.
Works great - just thought I'd share. :)
Quick change... I'm going to attempt to make Kaymak (pronounced 'k-eye-mock') this month instead. What is Kaymak? Oh, what is glorious, dreamy Kaymak? I was first introduced to this heavenly cream during my trip to Belgrade, Serbia a few years ago. It's a white cream with the consistency like the whipped cream cheese that you can get a Noah's Bagels. It's light and fluffy. It's literally the solid thick layer that forms from simmered whole milk and heavy cream.
Doesn't see TOO hard. Simmer the milk over medium heat and ladel consistently for about 40 minutes until a thick layer foam covers the top layer of the milk. Let it cool and store in the fridge for 10 hours. Then lift that top layer of cream off. That cream is Kaymak.
And now, something a little more lighthearted. A little beauty tip I recently discovered for myself. Ever have a nail that broke way down the nail plate? You can't cut it, but it's definitely split and catches on things? Extremely painful. Superglue sometimes can lock it down - but it doesn't work all the time.
A quick solution until your nail can grow out to be cut? Acrylic nails! I bought a pack of the Nailene short, French tip nails. I only applied one nail (obviously to the injured one) and painted over it with a darker color (hides the white tip of the fake nail easily). Looks great - no one can tell it's fake. No more pain from my nail getting caught on things - and it can safely grow out under a protective layer.
Works great - just thought I'd share. :)
Friday, January 01, 2010
Happy New Year!
Welcome 2010! I truly hope that this new year brings with it much less drama than 2009. There were good times, but there were also too many sad times.
My grandma had an accident at home several months ago, and has since recovered, but is now living in a 24/7 assisted living home. A painful reminder that she really is getting older, and there's nothing anyone can do about it.
Our beloved Monte will have been gone from us for three months come January 6th. We miss our baby every single day. Tears still come to my eyes even from writing about him. Not a day goes by I don't wish to hold him in my arms and feel his rumbling purrs as I smother him with hugs and kisses. That's one wonderful memory I will always have of him. He would let me hold him forever as long as I was continuously snuggling and kissing him. When I stopped, he would want to get down. My darling boy - so patient with his mommy.
With the new year brings new hope and new goals. Less drama and more happiness - that is what I wish for.
So what is my resolution for 2010? I recently watched the movie Julie and Julia. I loved it from the first two minutes in and fell even more in love with it as each minute went by. Like Julie, cooking calms me. It's my way of bringing a delicious end to stressful days. So, that brings me to my goal for this year. Nothing as dramatic as giving myself a deadline to cook over 500 recipes in 365 days. No, no, no...
I am making myself a list of the top 10 dishes that I love, but have always been too intimidated to try cooking at home. I give myself a goal of one dish a month. I figure I would give myself an eating break the months of November and December.
One dish a month - and that means perfecting it and cooking it multiple times within that month until I do. What can I say - some things I can let go of when they're not perfect. Other things, like cooking, I want to do right. I want you to say "YUM" with the first taste.
So, that is my goal/resolution/excuse for eating mission for this year.
We'll see how it goes!
First month, first dish... (drum roll please)
Indian Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani)
My grandma had an accident at home several months ago, and has since recovered, but is now living in a 24/7 assisted living home. A painful reminder that she really is getting older, and there's nothing anyone can do about it.
Our beloved Monte will have been gone from us for three months come January 6th. We miss our baby every single day. Tears still come to my eyes even from writing about him. Not a day goes by I don't wish to hold him in my arms and feel his rumbling purrs as I smother him with hugs and kisses. That's one wonderful memory I will always have of him. He would let me hold him forever as long as I was continuously snuggling and kissing him. When I stopped, he would want to get down. My darling boy - so patient with his mommy.
With the new year brings new hope and new goals. Less drama and more happiness - that is what I wish for.
So what is my resolution for 2010? I recently watched the movie Julie and Julia. I loved it from the first two minutes in and fell even more in love with it as each minute went by. Like Julie, cooking calms me. It's my way of bringing a delicious end to stressful days. So, that brings me to my goal for this year. Nothing as dramatic as giving myself a deadline to cook over 500 recipes in 365 days. No, no, no...
I am making myself a list of the top 10 dishes that I love, but have always been too intimidated to try cooking at home. I give myself a goal of one dish a month. I figure I would give myself an eating break the months of November and December.
One dish a month - and that means perfecting it and cooking it multiple times within that month until I do. What can I say - some things I can let go of when they're not perfect. Other things, like cooking, I want to do right. I want you to say "YUM" with the first taste.
So, that is my goal/resolution/excuse for eating mission for this year.
We'll see how it goes!
First month, first dish... (drum roll please)
Indian Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani)
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