…would have to be yesterday. Trader Joe’s frozen biscuits. I’m always looking for new ideas on what to make in the mornings, fast, that Dee especially can eat for breakfast. She usually has no more than ten minutes (at least for Em, I can scramble an egg and make toast).
I found these biscuits, six frozen cubes in a box. They look like raw clay or some sort of construction spackle. Directions say, Heat oven to 400°F, place the squares in the middle of a lightly buttered baking sheet, place sheet in the center of the oven for ten minutes, and wa-la, fresh hot biscuits.
I was in a hurry, didn’t let the oven heat fully. The biscuits after ten minutes had started to melt from the bottom up, but after 15 minutes they resembled molten cubes, the tops still half-preserved, like small buildings partially collapsed. They tasted OK but looked not at all like something a 13-year-old girl would find appetizing. I fed her slices of a Bartlett pear instead.
I don’t have many major cooking fiasco stories. My cooking errors add up in small immeasurable bits. They hardly make a sizable hill. I don’t like to cook generally, it’s more a chore than a pleasure, and when I get into a rhythm I’m not prone to making big mistakes.
I once heard someone say that if you never miss a plane, you’re spending too much time waiting in airports. I suppose if you never have a cooking fiasco, you’re spending too much time dabbling in the kitchen and not enough time creating feasts. I dabble, except for the occasional new recipe.
Recently I tried a garlic lemony coriander chicken recipe, from India, and it was lovely, a burst of flavor. Garlic breath for days. It wasn’t terribly hard, took about an hour, maybe two. I thought, I ought to do this more often, try new recipes, but when it’s 5:30 pm and Em is asking, What’s for dinner?, I don’t have the wherewithal (not to mention fresh cilantro) to make something different.
Jim’s been cooking since I got back from Vietnam. Tonight he made a roasted chicken. Seven nights without my even thinking about what’s for dinner, and I think, I ought to go away more often. He makes it seem easy, pulls something out of the freezer and wa-la, it’s 6ish and I hear his voice, Dinner’s ready.
But I know he’ll get tired. We all do. The rotation through a pretty dull repertoire—turkey cutlets, tacos (haven’t made those in a while), roasted chicken, buffalo burgers, spaghetti, pasta puttanesca, ribs. I mean, it’s not like they’re aren’t a good number of meals to choose from, but after 365 days even 20 choices seem small.
Nowadays the challenge is to try new things and plan ahead. Today on the exercise bike at the gym I saw a recipe for shells, those jumbo type, with Italian sausage and spinach and cheese filling. I thought, I should make those. Mom always made stuffed shells, she had her repertoire too, some of which I’ve adopted, but I forgot about shells.
Kids’ll love ’em, the article said, and I did love them as a kid. Not a lot that can bomb with giant shell pasta, ricotta cheese, and sauce.
-related to Topic post: WRITING TOPIC – COOKING FIASCOS
They were biscuits… I would have eaten them no matter what they looked like. I was hoping you’d say they were microwavable… 😉
Joe’s has some new soy “chicken looking” nuggets and some Veggie “BBQ Riblets”. I’ll let ya know. They say they’re both microwavable so I don’t see any combustion in my future.
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You know I love to cook but we eat on rotating cycles too……partly it’s laziness and partly it’s the comfort of certain tastes……tonight it’s fish (halibut) with avocado salsa which is so good together and so easy to make.
Hey, I’ll leave you my recipe: finely dice a red onion, add six small tomatoes chopped, a handful of diced coriander, a chopped avocado, a green chilli deseeded and very finely diced, a big glug of olive oil (about three tablespoons) and the juice of a lemon or lime (personally I use way more than just one, but that’s cos I love the oil/citric thang). Let it sit at room temp for half-hour then either refrigerate for a little while (not too long cos of the avocado) or eat……it’s also delicious with tacos and nachos and things…….this will serve four not greedy people or two very greedy ones *grin* (I make this for D and I).
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Heather, I don’t think they were microwavable. And I did eat them. And they still tasted just like biscuits. But you know, for kids, they don’t have that same sense of, “Just eat it no matter what it looks like” that some adults have. (Like me, child of Depression-era parents who probably ate gruel for breakfast.)
Oh, I got some of Joe’s Korean style riblets. Haven’t tried them yet. I’ll let you know, too. I know you need to use the microwave, as your oven has the family jewels. 8)
Thank you, thank you, jo. That *is* easy, and I love how the salsa adds so much flavor. Yum, yes, you could easily turn this into fish tacos, too.
You know, I used to make black beans now and then, and I would include a cornicopia of garnishes. Chopped cabbage, onion, coriander, avocado, jalapeno, tomato…it really turned a very basic food (beans) into something special. Then you could eat the beans in a bowl or over a flat corn tortilla (tostada) or rolled in a flour tortilla (burrito). I should do beans more often. With lots of fresh stuff to throw in.
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yb, even though I don’t have kids, I do know what your talking about. I remember making Easter baskets for Nieces and Nephews. Not only did I have to count out the exact same amount of jelly beans for each…but the exact same amount of a particular color! Holy Moses! I’m like you…Depression-era parents…waste nothing!!! and I still clean off my plate!
I brought my Joe’s BBQ Riblets for lunch at the gallery today. They are “Gardenburger” BBQ Veggie Riblets. I didn’t see the Korean style but they sound better. They might be spicy. I’ll look for them and I’ll also report back.
H
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ok, I am back. I did like the vegan riblets very much. I will also be honest and tell you I am high on Christmas cookies topped with frosting… complete with green and red sprinkles and 2 bottles of Starbucks frappucccino coffee drinks (the glass bottle ones) …
…and that I haven’t actually eaten a “real meat” rib in 8 years…but never-the-less, I did like them…
A bit messy though 😉
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Are you a vegetarian, Heather? If so, I must have missed that over these couple of years. But it sounds like maybe not if you’re willing to eat the spicy Korean style riblets (with real meat).
I make a good barbeque rib. I learned to after a friend made them once for a birthday party or Fourth of July. I commented that I had never cooked ribs, that ribs seemed the kind of thing one doesn’t cook for oneself. You know, you go to Quarters or one of the really yummy barbeque places. He said, Ribs are about the easiest thing to cook. The trick is cooking them over low heat as long as you can.
So I do. I cook them for hours, at about 200 degrees. I don’t put barbeque sauces on them until the last part of the cooking, and I use little. I usually save a few ribs seasoned only with salt and pepper, and the basting from the juices and grease. Those are usually the best.
I can’t even imagine a vegan rib. Do they actually stick the vegan stuff to a bone? Surely not.
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yb, I’m not a total vegetarian. I eat seafood and occasionally will have chicken or turkey. I’m type A-Neg blood and the risk of cancer goes way up with any meat. I’m am supposed to be totally vegan but I’m pretty careful what I eat. The vegan ribs were just the “Meat” portion with lots of sauce. They were formed in a bone type pattern which was hilarious! I didn’t realize the Korean ones were real meat. That lets me out. ;(
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