Inspired by the good-good feeling I have been getting from eating 'better', I have ventured once more into the kitchen for some gastronomic experimentations. A couple of nights ago I tried homemade pesto, which I haven't made before.
It started so well.
Then the wine came out.
This is why stick blenders are RUBBISH sometimes.
But it was edible (but quite high in fat) and quite bland, weirdly. I never salt anything, but in something that I usually consume from the supermarket, I suppose the lack of salt is going to stand out like a sore thumb in a homemade version.
Then I gave falafels a go. I decided to a) use curry powder instead of ground cumin and ground coriander (neither of which I have at the moment), and b) not to deep fry them, but cover them in breadcrumbs and bake them in the oven. The result was less falafel and more bean burger, but hey - they are about 30 calories each and taste spicy and foreign enough to satisfy my needs.
Driven on by my success, and I use this term loosely, I made banana muffins. I don't know if I have blogged previously on my chronically pathetic attempts at muffins, but they are always completely crap. These, however, were OK. In fact, on my sliding scale of muffin-ness, they were shit hot.
And finally, to celebrate my kitchen prowess, I popped along to Waitrose and purchased this little lot for a feast on Saturday night.
I think this represents excellent value for a special meal, with minimal poncing about in the kitchen. It is their version of the ubiquitous dine in for £10. Well, there are three of us who like to dine in quite frequently, so I usually buy 2 lots (as above) and everyone gets a treat. Oliver and Mark get a posh pudding each, Oliver gets some snazzy meat number, Mark gets a fancy vegetarian option and I get two bottles of decent wine. Luverly. Not to be consumed all in one sitting, you understand. If you haven't yet tried the dine in for a tenner lark, I strongly recommend you give all the supermarkets a go - it's very exciting.
Janice, so much to say! Those muffins do look good, I make a banana cake to use up ripe ones but it always looks like a pudding rather than a cake.. all sricky and tastes of ginger despite no ginger!
ReplyDeleteMy story of the meal for a Tenner.. when they began Col's mum bought us one but we ended up feeding about six of us with extra sides and stuff as a barbecue or something.. but the dessert was M&S raspberry panna cotta .. it went further on a bed of value arctic roll and some fresh strawberries.. and single cream.. Col said it was the best dessert he ever had... but remember the arctic roll much be 'value!!!
PS meant to say, the falafels look Fab.. any chance of the recipe on here soon..? You could be a cooking blog yet!
ReplyDeleteGood for you re the experimentation! I love the tray with the Keep Calm and Carry On slogan in the background! you have my sympathy re the stick blender - I don't trust them an inch - I never get the texture the instructions assure me is possible and have abandoned them for a seriously muscular jug blender that when I press the blitz button, blitzes anything and everything! Using this, homemade pesto is pretty unbeatable but you're right it does need salt and much more oil than you think. But you only need a teaspoonful or two of the result to kick a plate of pasta into seventh heaven so it's not as unhealthy / calorific as you might think. Muffins can be hazardous - all that don't over mix stuff. I've only recently devised a recipe that I feel can hold its own with M&S blueberry muffins which I'm addicted to or was when I had an M&S within easy shopping distance. Let me know if you'd like it & I'll email it to you. Those banana muffins look pretty yummy to me. Any chance of the recipe for them in return?! E x
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