My school progress has been slightly derailed by the reading of a really kick-ass Atlantic maritime histoty of Bermuda. It is making me thing about many thing, and I'm enjoying it a lot! I'm probably about halfway through the actual text, which is about 500 pages.... plus another 200 of notes and index. Its a big book - probably this is why it costs a$50! Also it is Hardcover. It is only a matter of time before I order my ow copy :D
In food news, I have been doing a bit of experimental cooking lately. On Sunday (Maybe Monday?) I made a brisket in the crock pot, only with the addition that I added a bunch of Stuff! in the bottom! Stuff being: a can of diced tomatoes, 1 chopped green pepper, 1/2 a chopped onion, 2 dice seranno peppers, a ton of garlic. I used a rub on the brisket that i don't remember the details of exactly (I made a ton of it last time I made brisket, inspired by various internets recipes.... it is chili powder based, with garlic, salt and pepper, cinnamon, and maybe coriander? Cloves? I forget, honestly). I also threw some more of the rub in with the veggies. It turned out really well - the meat infused with the veggie flavours a bit, and the veggies all stewed up and got infused with the meat juice, and the brisket didn't dry out too much when cooking. Success!
Tonight I made some brown rice, and used the juice that I'd saved from the veggies to make a risotto, as I have been craving carbs lately and hope this will be a better option. I also added the rest of the veggies to it, nom nom nom...
Of course because it is frickin' cold in here (bah on lack of insulation), I decided I should do some baking to round out the healthy cooking... So I juuuust took some experimental brownies out of the oven. Now, I could probably have found something similar to what I wanted by checking the internets, but I was feeling experimental! I wanted chocolate peanut butter brownies! So I made normal brownies, and also some peanut butter stuff to swirl in (I wanted something like cheesecake brownies, only without the cream cheese..). The stuff was an egg, 1/2 C pb, and a tablespoon or so each of sugar (I was using unsweetened natural pb) and flour (as a thickener). It was probably too thick, actually! I filled the pan a little over half-way with brownie, then loped unequal portions (whoops) of pb and brownie batter on top of that. I had to smooth it out with a spatula, and I suspect it got a little more blended than I would have preferred. We'll see when I cut them open, which should be soon @_@
Its been kind of nice to have a night where I'm not super tired to catch up on house stuff - I did a bunch of dishes, and used my kitchen, and generally feel better about life. Tomorrow I am going to go swimming with Megan, and am looking forward to it (how I feel when the pool looms large in front of me is a different matter...). It is going to be cold again tomorrow, and maybe snow tomorrow night or Friday morning. I heard reports of now this morning too, so here's hoping we might see a bit this year!
Now I'm gonna read more about Bermuda :D
ETA: brownie turned out very well!possibly need more of the PB, though that's a lot of PB...
In food news, I have been doing a bit of experimental cooking lately. On Sunday (Maybe Monday?) I made a brisket in the crock pot, only with the addition that I added a bunch of Stuff! in the bottom! Stuff being: a can of diced tomatoes, 1 chopped green pepper, 1/2 a chopped onion, 2 dice seranno peppers, a ton of garlic. I used a rub on the brisket that i don't remember the details of exactly (I made a ton of it last time I made brisket, inspired by various internets recipes.... it is chili powder based, with garlic, salt and pepper, cinnamon, and maybe coriander? Cloves? I forget, honestly). I also threw some more of the rub in with the veggies. It turned out really well - the meat infused with the veggie flavours a bit, and the veggies all stewed up and got infused with the meat juice, and the brisket didn't dry out too much when cooking. Success!
Tonight I made some brown rice, and used the juice that I'd saved from the veggies to make a risotto, as I have been craving carbs lately and hope this will be a better option. I also added the rest of the veggies to it, nom nom nom...
Of course because it is frickin' cold in here (bah on lack of insulation), I decided I should do some baking to round out the healthy cooking... So I juuuust took some experimental brownies out of the oven. Now, I could probably have found something similar to what I wanted by checking the internets, but I was feeling experimental! I wanted chocolate peanut butter brownies! So I made normal brownies, and also some peanut butter stuff to swirl in (I wanted something like cheesecake brownies, only without the cream cheese..). The stuff was an egg, 1/2 C pb, and a tablespoon or so each of sugar (I was using unsweetened natural pb) and flour (as a thickener). It was probably too thick, actually! I filled the pan a little over half-way with brownie, then loped unequal portions (whoops) of pb and brownie batter on top of that. I had to smooth it out with a spatula, and I suspect it got a little more blended than I would have preferred. We'll see when I cut them open, which should be soon @_@
Its been kind of nice to have a night where I'm not super tired to catch up on house stuff - I did a bunch of dishes, and used my kitchen, and generally feel better about life. Tomorrow I am going to go swimming with Megan, and am looking forward to it (how I feel when the pool looms large in front of me is a different matter...). It is going to be cold again tomorrow, and maybe snow tomorrow night or Friday morning. I heard reports of now this morning too, so here's hoping we might see a bit this year!
Now I'm gonna read more about Bermuda :D
ETA: brownie turned out very well!possibly need more of the PB, though that's a lot of PB...