Completely random roundup
Aug. 30th, 2007 07:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
neadodsSomehow, I am convinced that today is Friday. Which will make the alarm at 5 a.m. tomorrow a particularly nasty surprise.
Fic rec: Under New Management Donna takes over Torchwood. She has found her niche in life.
Borders is now letting mepimp myself out to their commercial partners download free computer games via the receipt coupon. I would like a free mah jong, but I don't know if I want it enough to hand over all my particulars to a third party I've never heard of ("Big Fish Games").
New! Actual content! I have perfected my "what to do with odd bits and bobs" recipe, a sort of cheese cassarole titled "Darwin And Cheese." (The name is because it's based on mac and cheese... but the first thing I did was replace the pasta, so I can't say "mac" and it's endlessly adaptable.) Perfect for using small amounts of leftovers/the end that wasn't green and fuzzy/the shavings from using cookie cutters to make your bento food cute.
Darwin and Cheese Recipe:
CASSEROLE BASE:
- 4 medium redskin potatoes (the size of baseballs) or 6-7ish small (the size of golfballs) diced
- small-to-medium can of chickpeas, drained
Boil together until tender. Drain.
CHEESE SAUCE BASE:
- 2 spoonfuls of fat (olive oil, butter, margarine, bacon grease)
- 2 spoonfuls of flour (any kind except self-rising)
Melt the fat, stir in the flour until it clumps to make a roux.
Add 1 cup of liquid (beer, milk, or yogurt smoothie)
Stir in 8 oz cream cheese and a dash of mustard.
That's what you need to make the base, and the base is fine if you just want a mac-and-cheesy thing. But this is where it gets adaptive:
AMENDING THE CHEESE SAUCE:
First of all, the cheese sauce can take *any* other cheese you've got going (although I've never tried the flavored boursins. That might get nasty.) Aside from that, ANY other cheese. I've used Parmesan, feta, swiss, gouda, Dubliner "pub cheese," smoked cheddar (that's lovely - dice it fine and stir it in; don't try to let it melt. Let the nuggets be a surprise for your tongue), even velveeta. Often I've used them all at once, plus anything else I can lay my hands on.
It can also take a little bit of other liquids if you're not going the beer route - I used too much mustard in my last batch (a honkin' spoonful of spicy wet mustard with cranberries instead of a dash of powder or just a squeeze of regular yellow wet stuff) so I sweetened it up with a big glug of a vanilla yogurt smoothie. Alternately, you could give it a bit of red wine, or cream if you're feeling fancy.
ADDING TO THE BASE:
I'm using potatoes and chickpeas because I think they're more nutritious than pasta. There's nothing stopping you from using pasta too. Or tortellini. Or any vegetable going. This sauce is fairly neutral but robust, so it will even stand up to very pungent veggies like brussels sprouts or broccoli. My last batch was the burial ground for one of those casserole blends in the frozen veggies - corn, red pepper, and broccoli, plus I added some green pepper too. Peas? Mushrooms? Onions? Sure! Go to town!
Even white meat/proteins work nicely - chicken, turkey, or tofu would be fantastic, diced hardboiled eggs would do, and pork or tuna would probably work. (I don't think I'd do this to red meats, though. No beef, lamb, salmon.)
HOW TO DO IT:
Cook everything. Pour it all into a bowl. Stir until the cheese sauce is evenly distributed.
Mangia! Since the cheese is sweetish/blandish, it pairs nicely with a spring green salad with a really peppy dressing, like soy ginger sesame, or balsamic vinaigrette.
Fic rec: Under New Management Donna takes over Torchwood. She has found her niche in life.
Borders is now letting me
New! Actual content! I have perfected my "what to do with odd bits and bobs" recipe, a sort of cheese cassarole titled "Darwin And Cheese." (The name is because it's based on mac and cheese... but the first thing I did was replace the pasta, so I can't say "mac" and it's endlessly adaptable.) Perfect for using small amounts of leftovers/the end that wasn't green and fuzzy/the shavings from using cookie cutters to make your bento food cute.
Darwin and Cheese Recipe:
CASSEROLE BASE:
- 4 medium redskin potatoes (the size of baseballs) or 6-7ish small (the size of golfballs) diced
- small-to-medium can of chickpeas, drained
Boil together until tender. Drain.
CHEESE SAUCE BASE:
- 2 spoonfuls of fat (olive oil, butter, margarine, bacon grease)
- 2 spoonfuls of flour (any kind except self-rising)
Melt the fat, stir in the flour until it clumps to make a roux.
Add 1 cup of liquid (beer, milk, or yogurt smoothie)
Stir in 8 oz cream cheese and a dash of mustard.
That's what you need to make the base, and the base is fine if you just want a mac-and-cheesy thing. But this is where it gets adaptive:
AMENDING THE CHEESE SAUCE:
First of all, the cheese sauce can take *any* other cheese you've got going (although I've never tried the flavored boursins. That might get nasty.) Aside from that, ANY other cheese. I've used Parmesan, feta, swiss, gouda, Dubliner "pub cheese," smoked cheddar (that's lovely - dice it fine and stir it in; don't try to let it melt. Let the nuggets be a surprise for your tongue), even velveeta. Often I've used them all at once, plus anything else I can lay my hands on.
It can also take a little bit of other liquids if you're not going the beer route - I used too much mustard in my last batch (a honkin' spoonful of spicy wet mustard with cranberries instead of a dash of powder or just a squeeze of regular yellow wet stuff) so I sweetened it up with a big glug of a vanilla yogurt smoothie. Alternately, you could give it a bit of red wine, or cream if you're feeling fancy.
ADDING TO THE BASE:
I'm using potatoes and chickpeas because I think they're more nutritious than pasta. There's nothing stopping you from using pasta too. Or tortellini. Or any vegetable going. This sauce is fairly neutral but robust, so it will even stand up to very pungent veggies like brussels sprouts or broccoli. My last batch was the burial ground for one of those casserole blends in the frozen veggies - corn, red pepper, and broccoli, plus I added some green pepper too. Peas? Mushrooms? Onions? Sure! Go to town!
Even white meat/proteins work nicely - chicken, turkey, or tofu would be fantastic, diced hardboiled eggs would do, and pork or tuna would probably work. (I don't think I'd do this to red meats, though. No beef, lamb, salmon.)
HOW TO DO IT:
Cook everything. Pour it all into a bowl. Stir until the cheese sauce is evenly distributed.
Mangia! Since the cheese is sweetish/blandish, it pairs nicely with a spring green salad with a really peppy dressing, like soy ginger sesame, or balsamic vinaigrette.
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no subject
Date: 2007-08-31 03:06 am (UTC)You and me both! Though at least my alarm doesn't go off until 7...
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Date: 2007-08-31 10:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-31 03:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-31 10:37 am (UTC)