u/superlion1985

Halfway through the year and more than halfway through the challenge!

Creme brulee from Dominique Ansel's Life's Sweetest Moments - I have made creme brulee before from Ruhlman's Egg, which calls for futzing with little foil lids for each creme. Ansel's recipe was much easier. Turned out lovely. I appreciated the painstaking weight measurements (I ended up adding more egg yolk because mine didn't add up to the weight called for) and good instructions. Some nice stories in this book as well. A lot of the recipes are more involved. No, he didn't put a cronut recipe in the book. Found this book at Ollie's and glad I did.

Swedish meatballs from Scandinavian Cooking (pictured). A coworker accidentally purchased ground pork and beef blend instead of beef but their family doesn't eat pork so I made some meatballs! Recipe did not include gravy, which I like with swedish meatballs. I had them over mashed potatoes. They were good but not spectacular. I think I prefer the Scandinavian Feasts book I have reviewed a few months ago. I think I got this one from a library book sale or maybe a thrift store some time ago, first time cooking from it.

Great pickings at the book sale today! A few of my favorites were available and I left those for others to pick up: Meathead, Shaya, The Chef and the Slow Cooker. My straining bookshelves thank another shopper for picking up Indian-ish and The Moosewood Dessert Book before I went back for a second look. Still, I came away with these treasures!

Garlicky Chicken from Melissa Clark's Dinner in One with [Snow] Peas, Pecorino, and Lemon. Really nicely balanced with the lemon and garlic - definitely adjusted the finished dish as suggested. Got snow peas instead of snap peas because reading comprehension isn't what it used to be. Had with some warm rolls, which were great to sop up the sauce. Would also be good with some sort of pilaf. Definitely plan to make again with some of the variations. Cherry tomatoes sounds excellent!

(Not pictured and doesn't count per my own rules) I also made the pork stew with sweet peppers and potatoes. Rich and satisfying but also chock full of vegetables.

This is a great book. I got it a few weeks ago for my birthday. Requested based on seeing it a lot here.

Lately I've broken out some Indian cookbooks to try.

I made the Bengali Creamy Shrimp Curry with some slightly freezer burned ez-peel shrimp from my freezer. They turned out fantastic. You couldn't tell the shrimp had been freezer burned, and the heat of the cinnamon and cloves really played well with the bite of the mustard seeds/oil. I Got the book at a library book sale. Paid a little extra because they had it in their special picks area. I don't remember the name of the book or the author but I'll update when I figure it out!

(Not pictured) Basmati Rice from Instantly Indian by Madhur Jaffrey - new book for my birthday last week, so I wanted to try her instant pot technique for the rice. Turned out pretty good, I lost my rice paddle so I had to used a fork. I can't say whether that affected how intact the rice grains ended up. I usually make a smaller batch and I don't know whether this would scale well in the IP.

Fried Leavened Bread (Bhatura) from Entice With Spice by Shubhra Rameineni. Texture was delicious, but I don't know why she doesn't call for salt. Needs salt. Would make again, with salt. Got this book at a library book sale.

Cardamom Chicken (Masala Murgh) also from Entice With Spice. Not difficult, good result. The technique for making the masala paste worked well, though I am thankful my box grater is VERY sharp. It took a while for the grated onion to hit me 🥲

Between my birthday, thrifting, and Ollie's, it's been a good month for cookbooks! The top 3 were birthday gifts, Wagamama books thrifted, and the other two found at Ollie's. So far there appear to be a lot of things I want to cook from Dinner in One (I'm digging the added veg options!) And the sweet potato praline pie from Justice of the Pies is calling me...

Since my last post, I made:

Linguine with Artichokes, Asparagus and Lemon-Mint Ricotta from Milk Street The World in a Skillet - this was a lovely springtime meal. I appreciated how the recipe used one package of diced pancetta and one of fresh linguine... that will probably suffer from shrinkflation at some point. I would definitely use a deeper skillet or maybe dutch oven to make in the future though. It was so full it made a bit of a mess. The asparagus was done perfectly and even kept that tender-crisp when reheated.

Glass noodle salad with Shrimp, Chicken, and Mint from Williams-Sonoma Dish of the Day - I think the 4 servings must be as a side dish. Turned out ok, and came together quickly. I guess I am not that hot on fish sauce. Probably wouldn't make again. This was an e-book I got on a Humble Bundle some time ago. Williams-Sonoma has done some super generous ones, though it has been a while.