What Went Wrong?

S'MORES BROWNIES                                                                                                      7/2013

Ok, they were a GREAT idea right?  How could they fail?  Graham cracker crust, chocolate brownie and in the center a homemade marshmallow..mmm good!

Nope, not so much.  I think the graham cracker crust stole the moisture from the brownie mixture and it came out all crumbly...yuck!  I will work on this some more and get back to you.

  


CUTTING UP RED/GREEN BELL PEPPERS                                                               6/2013

Have you ever tried to cut these peppers into strips?  you have to try to get all of these tiny seeds out of every section.  It takes forever. Chef Ramsay has a solution.  I tried it tonight and it was such a pleasure to not have to scrape out individual seeds.

First, cut a bit of the stem off so the pepper sits flat.
Next, stand the paper up on the cut stem-end.
Now, cut as if you were cutting thick strips off of the apple but don't cut into the core.
Keep turning the pepper and then, when you have cut off the last section, all you will have left is a hollow bit of core containing all of the seeds.
See how I have made the first cut.  It was so easy and took me 1/4 of the time it used to!





 COOKING ACORN SQUASH                                                                                     6/2013

When a recipe gives the direction to cook an acorn squash right side up, be very cautious.
The squash took twice as long to cook and a hard skin developed along the very top of the squash.

**I have found that it is better to cook them upside down in a baking pan with about an inch or so of water in it.  The squash steams as it cooks and the edge stays nice and soft.  It also cooks in half the time! 


COOKING WITH PARCHMENT PAPER                                                                  6/2013

Heat runs high and also steams if you add white wine so be thoughtful about what veggies you use!

1. No broccoli- overcooked and brown!
2. No jarred sweet and sour cabbage- even drained it was runny. The white wine gave it an odd unpleasant taste.  Use fresh cabbage instead.
3. Think about adding a sauce or gravy when plating so that the blood line of the fish does not show; it is not very pretty.  You could serve with the blood line down too. Roll it up so the flavor of the tarragon is infused on the top side but then unroll to serve.