An Odd Combination
Maybe some people like to take the weekend to cook more complex recipes, but I usually choose an easier recipe for Friday night, because I know that by then the temptation to call Joe to bring home a pizza will be seriously strong. Last Friday I selected this dish from one of my “go to” monthly food magazines, “Everyday Food,” which is published by Martha Stewart’s company. The featured recipes are generally quick and use fresh ingredients as much as possible. When I selected this recipe, officially called “Shells with Roasted Cauliflower, Chickpeas, and Ricotta,” I thought the combination looked good. Too bad the flavor left us flat. I like chickpeas, but it was a strange addition to this already bland meal.
At least there were two high points to this dinner. The first was the fresh ricotta cheese that is dolloped on top. If you’ve never had fresh ricotta, you should give it a try. It’s much less salty than the usual brands, and the texture is very creamy without that underlying grainy feel. Louisa, who normally dislikes ricotta because of the texture, asked what the cheese was and went back for more.
The other high point was that for once we all agreed on our feelings about the dinner. Too bad it wasn’t positive agreement.
Are They Really Sisters?
As you can see, dinner was beef chili, homemade corn bread, and white swiss chard. Annie surprised me by permitting me to make the chili spicier as I was tasting the seasoning right before serving. As the recipe suggested, I had used a combination of mild chili powder and a few chili peppers left over from last year’s harvest that were in my freezer. I used milder chilies and powder than normal because I just didn’t want to deal with the pained look on Annie’s face as she was pushing it around in her bowl at dinnertime. But as it was simmering, I realized it was waaaay too mild for the rest of this household, so I asked Annie to try it and she agreed it could be made spicier. Hooray! Her taste buds have finally developed enough callouses from all of the other spicy dinners so she can tolerate more spice.
Silly, silly me, becoming all excited that dinner would be a success.
As you can see, this chili was made with beef chunks, instead of my usual chili recipe that has ground beef and beans. Louisa was thrilled “Meat, meat, meat” she growled as I was serving it up. She insisted on taking the largest serving. Whatever. I knew the little wolfling would eat it, and I was right as she returned for seconds, racing Joe to the pot to make sure she wasn’t cut off from another helping. Success was short-lived.
I looked over at Annie and realized something had gone terribly wrong. She looked pained and like she was gagging. “What’s the matter, Annie? Did we make it too spicy?” “No,” she replied, “there’s too much just meat.” “Are you telling me you’d like it better with BEANS????” “Yes.” “NO,” retorted Louisa. “I like it like this.”
Can they really be sisters?
Quote of the Week – February 23, 2011 – Henry James
“There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.”
- Henry James in “The Portrait of a Lady”