Fourth Place

This week we decided to change things up a bit, and Dear Housemate took charge of the cooking responsibilities. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am the ultimate control freak. Not only do I like to have final say in everything, but I like to do everything myself, know every detail about everything that is going on around me and basically....it's my way or the highway. So letting Dear Housemate take over for the week was, for me, somewhat of a challenge in itself.

This week we tackled Ciabatta, Trapani Style Rigatoni, Rocket & Parmesan Salad and Limoncello Kinda Trifle. We left out the Griddled Chicory Salad this week, not so much due to dislike for Chicory (although that was a part of it), but mostly because we were lined up to have a lot of food and not a lot of people to eat it. The meal this week is fairly sizeable and would easily feed six people, but with just a trio to get through all the goodies we felt it was a fair cut from the team.

But really, it ended up being a more relaxing challenge night because of the fact that I had so little to do with the meal. I got the opportunity to set the table the way I like, and pick out the serving plates and offer helpful hints now and then. I got to sit back and enjoy a drink and wait for my dinner to be cooked for me. It was actually really nice! I had a go at making the Ciabatta. The only problem was, there was no ciabatta to be found at any of our local shops. So we decided that rather than miss out entirely, we would just substitute the ciabatta with a nice crusty sour dough roughly sliced/torn up and seasoned with olive oil and dry thyme. And the result was delicious. While I was preparing this part of the meal it occured to me how simple it was to make, and I wondered why we didn't make our own garlic bread or bruschetta or breaded entrees or side dishes all the time. It is so easy and it makes all the difference to a meal.

I also took care of the salad, which was a tie with the bread for being the easiest thing to make. It was a simple as leaves in the bowl, quickly shaved parmesan over the top, a squeeze of lemon and a splash of olive oil. Simple, fast and amazing. I think this one is going to be making it onto the table a lot more often.

Dear Housemate took the reins on pasta and did an amazing job. For someone who is generally a little bit timid and conservative when it comes to cooking, and doesn't feel she has a natural affinity for cooking, she did really well. I hope this is the start of a lot more cooking adventures for her because its so much fun watching her realise that its not so scary afterall. The pasta came out great, it had just enough spice to give it a kick but enough other flavours from the basil and the tomato to make it feel substantial. This one is definitely going on the everyday menu! It was beyond easy to make, and it tasted awesome. The ingredients were not hard to find and were inexpensive.

And finally, the dessert. Not being a fan of trifle, I wasn't sure how this was going to go. I had a little bit of trouble finding what size dish to use, because the instruction in the book is a little unclear. I ended up transferring what I had into a smaller dish once I realised that I had overestimated the volume of the ingredients. Again, this dish was super easy to make and really inexpensive. The most expensive item was the Limoncello, and only because a) we didn't have any in our pantry, and b) Limoncello is not readily available in Australia, apparently. We only found one brand in the bottle shop we went to, but my understanding is that in Europe it is far more common and therefore much cheaper. But hey, now I have a bottle of Limoncello, if I ever need it again! The best part of the dessert was how yummy it looked - there was minimal effort and cost expended, but it looked like the tastiest dish ever and it came up really well.

So that concludes another week! I can't believe we're already almost a month into our little experiment. It feels like each week rolls around so quickly because there is so much fun in the planning and preparing for each meal. Deciding who to invite based on what we're serving, finding all the more interesting ingredients, relishing the fact that we get to eat fresh, exciting and new food every week - I don't know why I haven't done this with other cook books before. I can see this being something that goes on forever - at the end of every book I'll just find another and keep on cooking. Something about this whole experience has really inspired me, not just to cook but to write as well. So in short - it's all good.

Til next week - Bon Appetit!

Third Time's a Charm!

Week three of the challenge has rolled around much faster than I anticipated. I'm still undecided as to whether this is a good or bad thing, but it was fast nonetheless.

This week I tackled Jamie's Cauliflower Macaroni, Chicory Salad with Insane Dressing and Lovely Stewed Fruit. Each week I have been helped out by Dear Housemate, who dutifully peels, chops, stirs and monitors dishes as I bustle about throwing pasta into boiling water and yanking ingredients out of cupboards and bags. But this week I was flying solo due to a few timing issues and work committments. But bless her heart, she did all the washing up.

I feel that I put a great deal less planning into this week than I have in previous weeks, partially through laziness and partially through busyness. So it was a great pleasure when I decided to go grocery shopping on my lunch break to discover that everything I needed, bar two ingredients, was actually available at my local green grocer and supermarket. Usually in the days leading up to Jamie Oliver Challenge Night I prepare a shopping list, source the more 'exotic' ingredients (and by this I mean anything not readily available at the local Woolies) and ensure I have the right quantities of everything. This week I had a more slap dash effort, throwing together a list at the last minute and hoping I'd be able to find everything. In my haste I did not write down the required amounts of anything and subsequently spent the entire shopping trip relying on intuition to get me through.

And there is the most important lesson of today: when it comes to food, trust your intuition. In the same way that your subconscious knows whether that old chinese food in the bottom of the fridge is beyond it's glory days, it retains information about the meals you have planned and will guide you through when you're in a sticky situation. Similarly, if you're stuck in the middle of a dish and can't figure out how to substitute something or how to measure without a spoon, your intuition will guide you. It hasn't failed me yet.

Having managed to purchase exactly what I needed, in exactly the right quantities, despite my uncharacteristically bad planning, I made it home with about 45 minutes to spare before dinner was to land on the table. And those 45 minutes were blissful. The fact that there was nobody there waiting to be fed was very calming, because it meant I could go at my own rate and disguise any doubts I had as I cooked away. Not to mention the fact that I could let out audible groans of delight everytime I caught a whiff of the stewed fruit.

I found this week to be the least stressful and simplest so far. I decided to man up and give chicory another go, which actually worked out quite well because the dressing for this recipe completely dims out the overwhelming bitter taste of the leaves. And Jamie wasn't kidding when he labelled the dressing as Insane. It is quite literally the best salad dressing I have ever consumed in my life, and I recall (through the haze of deliciousness) commenting on how I would like to bathe in it. Perhaps an overstatement, but until you try it you will never understand. That dressing is. So. Good.

The cauliflower macaroni was a surprise also. Dear Housemate is not a fan of cauliflower, nor of cheesy dishes, but she requested leftovers for her lunch tomorrow which is always a good sign. The dish itself served up about 12 decent sized portions, so I would recommend using it if you have a lot of mouths to feed or want to stock up on some lunches/frozen meals for the winter. For a recipe that calls for 250g cheese and 250g creme frache, it was surprisingly light and free from that awful melted-cheese texture that can often weigh down macaroni. The crust in particular is amazing, and I only wish there had been more of it!

The stewed fruit was a triumph in itself. It was dead easy to make, taking maybe five minutes to cut and remove the seeds from the fruits, and only an extra minute or two to tip over the last of the ingredients (brandy included). The smell of it cooking was almost unbearable, with the mixture of fruits (I used plums, nectarines, apricots and peaches), the cinnamon and the orange zest wafting out of the oven. It is a pretty sweet dish, and the ice cream helps to add a bit of subtely to a dessert full of some strong flavours, but they all work together so well that it's hard to complain. I realised halfway through that the majority of this dessert was fruit, with the little bit of sugar and ice cream added being the only 'unhealthy' part. I think this would be really nice during winter, when it can be hard to have chilled desserts without freezing to death, although the lovely summer fruits might be harder to source.

All in all, I brand this meal with an A plus. I enjoyed every dish (much to my surprise!), everyone at the table enjoyed the dishes enough to ask for seconds and bundled up leftovers and I can see myself making this again to feed the starving masses that may appear at my house post-party or other event.

It's only week three and already I feel like I'm trying so many new things, not just with my eating but with my cooking as well, and my crockery is getting a workout. It also means that I get a night of socialising that I otherwise would have missed and its a night away from the television too. It is only early days but I am really glad that Dear Housemate and I have taken on this challenge. We've each had a flick through the book and have picked out meals we want to invite particular people over for and have ideas about how we can tweak things to suit our needs and plans. The whole challenge has already become a very positive force in this household and I look forward to each Challenge Night as it comes along.

Til next time y'all - Bon Appetit!

The Second Round!

After last week's efforts, it was nice to have a go at something a little less complex. This round included Pregnant Jools's Pasta, Crunchy Chicory & Watercress Salad and Little Frangipane Tarts. Before I get into the details, let me just say this: Yum.

This week involved a lot less of the specialty deli foods and spices and had more readily available ingredients. The only thing I had real difficulty tracking down was the chicory. It is not popular in Australia, apparently, and I went to two different supermarkets and four different green grocers just trying to find it. Eventually I located the elusive vegie under it's alias of Witlof. But for all of that searching and effort I can honestly say... I'm not a fan.

Don't get me wrong - half the idea of this whole challenge was to try new things, and I fully intend to continue embracing that. I'm not sure if I just picked a bad lot of chicory, or if it is not in season, or if there was some variable involved that can be altered next time to make it taste better - but it was just way too bitter for me. It has a strange, almost metallic taste to it which I'm sure could be used to an advantage in some way, but it just didn't do it for me. I found that the lemon juice and a bit of olive oil helped to take it down a notch, but it was too overpowering. It even cast a shadow on the rocket, and that's saying something! Flipping through the cookbook I have noticed that it makes several more appearances throughout the recipes. I can't say I'm thrilled with that, but I figure trying it with different dressings and in different formats can't hurt.

But aside from that, this week was a roaring success. Dear housemate had her sister come over for dinner this week, and another friend of ours joined in as well. The pasta was greatly enjoyed by all, which is surprising because I thought they might object to the spice. Making the pasta itself was beyond easy, you just throw everything into a food processer and there's half the work done. The recipe calls for sausage meat to be used, which I found interesting because I've only ever eaten sausages in their intended form - cooked on the BBQ and served on a slice of Tip Top with a smattering of tomato sauce. But it works really well and gives the whole sauce just enough richness so that you feel satisfied without overeating.

The tarts were the real stars though. Dear housemate happily took charge of this part of the meal and what resulted were the most delicious little desserts you'll ever taste. They took all of five minutes to prepare and were just the right amount of sweet to enjoy after a filling meal.
We have decided that the tarts and pasta will become a more permanent fixture on our everyday menus, given that they were so delicious and so simple to make. Last week felt a little bit scattered and it was borderline stressful for me trying to make sure I had all of the measurements right. I don't know if it was the recipes themselves or just my own attitude this week, but the whole process seemed to be a lot calmer and more enjoyable.

My only advice would be to make sure you have the water boiled and ready for the pasta by the time the sausage mixture hits the pan - because once that starts cooking and you get a smell of it you'll be starrrrving for it.

Bon Appetit!