![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alas, failure in the kitchen!!
May. 10th, 2009 12:16 amso, last night before i went to see star trek (which was awesome, by the by), i made up some fresh chocolate pasta from a recipe i found online. basically, chocolate egg noodle. the idea was sound, but i think my execution was wrong.
so, just before i left, i made up a kinda... dessert lasagna. layers of chocolate pasta interspersed with strawberry topping, pineapples, bird's custard and sweetened ricotta. made it, cooked it, went to the movie and had no time to eat it, so into the fridge it went. the idea was ambitious, possibly awesome, and a total failure.
first off, my noodles were not good. i had enough left to boil some this morning for flavor tasting. worst ever. tasted like the last of the chocolate cereal you eat when it's been in milk too long. ugh. so i try the lasagna. the noodles were waaay thin and didn't hold up, though baking did give it a better flavor (less cereal-y, more sweet). so, yeah. on the one hand, i should probably have rolled out the noodles thicker for them to work. on the other, maybe adding some flavor into the noodles (orange zest?) could take away that mealy taste.
second, strawberry topping. i think i should've gone for more fresh fruit rather than canned. fresh, i could've done a kind of banana split with this. as it was, the topping was really really wet and over-sweet. treated it like you would your tomato sauce, but, eh, not really a good plan. it probably contributed to both the noodles' breakdown, and the fact that it never 'set up' as a lasagna.
last, and possibly the worst, sweetened ricotta. i kinda bastardized it with just a tub of ricotta from the store and sugar (i saw the recipes online that said to add creme fraiche, but we really don't have that here). it may have been too wet? but in the lasagna, it was just grainy and offputting. i thought it would be a binding agent, get everything to come together, but totally not. ruined the flavor of the whole thing (which was overwhelmingly of strawberry).
highlights?? the custard did well, and probably would've bound the thing better. the pineapple was good. the pasta that was cooked and didn't break up was alright. the pieces where ricotta was missing tasted decent.
sadly, it just looked like mush on the plate. tossed the entirety (one half steam table pan!! woe!) into the trash because it made me nearly throw up. same for my granny. my mom is awesome for testing as much as she did.
to make up for such a failure, i took myself out of the kitchen. and grilled!! i ended up just doing two bone-in pork shoulder butts (boston butts) and some baby back ribs. the butt took a long time, basically past the coals' burn time, so they ended up in the oven. but oh, guys. they are so tender!!! they got rubbed with some brown sugar, curry and chili powder, salt, pepper and garlic and then wrapped in foil so they wouldn't burn. stewing in their own juices.... they are AWESOME. one of them did get a little charred, but generally, very good.
ribs went into the oven on 350 degrees Fahrenheit. same rub, just as tender. i was really hungry tonight, and it's a wonder i didn't just attack. i thought about it, but i haven't. yet. still hungry. mmmmm.
on the whole, i generally dislike barbecue, so mine'll probably stay sauceless. but it's so good!! i'm glad i grilled today. tomorrow i'm doing the same with some more ribs, some sirloin, some pork tenderloin and a fresh ham that's gonna get marinated in wine and some fruit juice tomorrow, when i get the chance. :D
*is a grilling master*
so, just before i left, i made up a kinda... dessert lasagna. layers of chocolate pasta interspersed with strawberry topping, pineapples, bird's custard and sweetened ricotta. made it, cooked it, went to the movie and had no time to eat it, so into the fridge it went. the idea was ambitious, possibly awesome, and a total failure.
first off, my noodles were not good. i had enough left to boil some this morning for flavor tasting. worst ever. tasted like the last of the chocolate cereal you eat when it's been in milk too long. ugh. so i try the lasagna. the noodles were waaay thin and didn't hold up, though baking did give it a better flavor (less cereal-y, more sweet). so, yeah. on the one hand, i should probably have rolled out the noodles thicker for them to work. on the other, maybe adding some flavor into the noodles (orange zest?) could take away that mealy taste.
second, strawberry topping. i think i should've gone for more fresh fruit rather than canned. fresh, i could've done a kind of banana split with this. as it was, the topping was really really wet and over-sweet. treated it like you would your tomato sauce, but, eh, not really a good plan. it probably contributed to both the noodles' breakdown, and the fact that it never 'set up' as a lasagna.
last, and possibly the worst, sweetened ricotta. i kinda bastardized it with just a tub of ricotta from the store and sugar (i saw the recipes online that said to add creme fraiche, but we really don't have that here). it may have been too wet? but in the lasagna, it was just grainy and offputting. i thought it would be a binding agent, get everything to come together, but totally not. ruined the flavor of the whole thing (which was overwhelmingly of strawberry).
highlights?? the custard did well, and probably would've bound the thing better. the pineapple was good. the pasta that was cooked and didn't break up was alright. the pieces where ricotta was missing tasted decent.
sadly, it just looked like mush on the plate. tossed the entirety (one half steam table pan!! woe!) into the trash because it made me nearly throw up. same for my granny. my mom is awesome for testing as much as she did.
to make up for such a failure, i took myself out of the kitchen. and grilled!! i ended up just doing two bone-in pork shoulder butts (boston butts) and some baby back ribs. the butt took a long time, basically past the coals' burn time, so they ended up in the oven. but oh, guys. they are so tender!!! they got rubbed with some brown sugar, curry and chili powder, salt, pepper and garlic and then wrapped in foil so they wouldn't burn. stewing in their own juices.... they are AWESOME. one of them did get a little charred, but generally, very good.
ribs went into the oven on 350 degrees Fahrenheit. same rub, just as tender. i was really hungry tonight, and it's a wonder i didn't just attack. i thought about it, but i haven't. yet. still hungry. mmmmm.
on the whole, i generally dislike barbecue, so mine'll probably stay sauceless. but it's so good!! i'm glad i grilled today. tomorrow i'm doing the same with some more ribs, some sirloin, some pork tenderloin and a fresh ham that's gonna get marinated in wine and some fruit juice tomorrow, when i get the chance. :D
*is a grilling master*
