The Figs Are Alright

Sometimes people say, "is Brian the only person you cook with?" And I say, "no sometimes, I cook with Amber, or Colleen, or Evan [but somehow we never photo-document those adventures]." But then also sometimes I cook with Matt.

We decided to go a vegetarian route on Thursday, which means we cooked VEGETABLES and no MEAT. Some vegetarian meals are boring, but I sat in my new chair and flipped through the recipe books until I came up with a good one: baked pasta with bleu cheese, figs, and brussel sprouts. Yum, right?

So, here we start with the INGREDIENTS, and the COOKBOOK. With MATT, and BENDER, for scale.

Look at the beautiful job I did chopping up the SPROUTS! I used the new sharp knife that some people avoid, and yet I didn't chop off a single digit.

Matt's good at cutting things up too, so he did the FIGS. He has to stand kinda funny since my kitchen island is a bit low, but that's OK. Maybe by next time we cook I'll have a new kitchen island, or Matt will be shorter.
My job now is to pour the PASTA into BOILING WATER. You can tell I'm doing a good job since I'm shaking the bag, and MYSELF.

In a little bit, you add the SPROUTS, and everything gets to boil together at the same time! Like a hot tub at a fancy resort.


NOT PICTURED: drain the SPROUTY-PASTA mixture. Then, put it all back in the POT.

Add FIGS!

And...the BLEU CHEESE! Mmmm, Bleu Cheese. I can't really think of anything, except maybe breakfast cereal, that Bleu Cheese doesn't improve.


With the cheese added, you mix it all up. With TONGS!


Put it in a OVEN PAN, and mix it up a bit.


Then, SIT and WAIT while it cooks up.


Later...Yum! All cooked.

Serve it up!

And, EAT. One thumbs up!
One fork up. Good job, team.
Sometimes, you forget to add the CHOPPED ALMONDS. And yet, you get to eat them anyway the next day as a healthy SNACK.

The End.

Sprouts Dreams (Are Made of This)

So last weekend Brian and I decided to get up to some cookery adventures. A friend of his is working on a cookbook, so we were testing a recipe for ease and tastiness.

We started with INGREDIENTS.

Also, we started with BRIAN and INGREDIENTS.

As you can see, there are brussel sprouts, one of those butternut squashes that I always assumed were just for decoration, 2 kinds of cheese (Brian specified NOT the parm that comes in the green can and never expires), some spices, lemon, and wine for drinking. Also Brian made a "galette" the night before, which is a bready thing. The recipe is called "Butternut Squash and Brussels Sprout Galette," so it appears we have everything and are ready to start.

First up, chopping the decorative gourd.

One must chop carefully with the new sharp knife I got.

Look inside! It smelled like Hallowe'en in my kitchen.

Next, chopping brussel sprouts. I like the sprouts, but have oddly never cooked them before.

Brian started shredding the gruyere.

I guess we forgot to photograph all the steps. We steamed the sprouts, then dunked them in ice water to arrest the cooking process. I don't really have ice but some frosty Amstel Lights came in handy.
We mixed up the sprouts & squash in a bowl with some spices.

Mix mix mix.
Popped them in the oven for a spell.

And then took them out. Cooked!

Brian carefully unwrapped the galette that he had brought with him. It was a little frozen from the commute. Winter is cold!
Time to roll it out. I don't have a rolling pin, but Sapporo comes in hand. Never use Amstel for rolling galettes, the cans are too small. It's important to always use the correct tools in the kitchen.

Roll roll, mix mix.
See how the squashes and sprouts look different now that they've been in the oven? That's the science of cooking.
Mmmm, gruyere base for the galette.
And now some vegetables.

And top with parm.
Pinch pinch, like a baby.
Yum. And yet, not cooked yet.
Voila! Now it's cooked.
Cut it in half evenly, so there are no fights.

And, eat!
And eat and eat.
So now you know, that's what cookery with friends, and vegetables, is all about. And that's a delicious way to spend a Sunday evening.

Red Hot Chili Friendship!

Cookery!

So, on Saturday, I had plans with my friend Brian. We decided we were going to make dinner, and I took this photo of the ingredients I had on hand and sent it to him via Technology.

As you can see, these ingredients include Eggplant, Garlic, Onions, Green Tomatoes, and Chilis (HOT Chilis!). Brian put those items into his smart phone and out popped this recipe from a Turkish website:

I like Turkish things, and I certainly liked that all the ingredients from this recipe were things I had on hand.

Anyway, later that day he arrived, and we got to work.

Brian washed the tomatoes

Then chopped them up.

Then he chopped the chilis. Three of them, all different colors (green, yellow, and orange). The chilis were VERY HOT. Much hotter than we had expected. HOT.

In unrelated news, a friend of mine discovered very recently that if you cut chilis, and use your hands to pick out the seeds, then go to the men's room, you will have a 100% chance - even if you wash your hands first - that your man parts will be on FIRE, lasting about 40 minutes. I'm just saying.
Anyway, here's Brian again and all the things he chopped. Green Tomatoes, Eggplant, Chilis. And then he visited the men's room.
Meanwhile, I put the onions and the garlic in the pot. I don't mind telling you I had the WEEPIES from all the onions. People tell you to do stupid things like put a match (unlit! unlit!) in your mouth, or whatever, but it doesn't help. Tears.

Anyway, I very carefully - using the knife not hands! - put the chilis in the mix.

Mmmm! Safety first.
Brian added the seasonings - SALT and PEPPER.

Here it is, cooking up. So in there we have all the aforementioned ingredients, and then a few minutes later we added three spoonfuls of rice. The juice that the vegetables gave up is what puffed up the rice. Science!
Then, about an hour later, it's ready to eat! Lesson Learned: stir it every now and then, or else the bottom of your pan will get blackened. Oh well, that's why God made Brillo Pads.
We served it up with some of that Greek Yogurt and a dusting of mint.
And then we ate it.
Mmmm.
The outcome was pretty good. Next time we wouldn't use all the chilis, because this ended up so spicy there were some more tears. But still, it was tasty, and all the friendship was good too.

Just, you know, next time use gloves.