Some Meals Fail

Being experimentative is good. Trying new things is good. Gathering ideas from other sources is good. Tonight, I have come to the conclusion that following recipes written by people who must produce new recipes every week might not be so good.

As an avid reader of The New York Times food section, I have appreciated Mark Bittman's writing style, as well as his ideas. They have inspired me to adventure on in the kitchen, making adjustments here and there to suit my palate and my pantry. Today, I decided to make noodles, shrimp & some sort of veggie. It just so happened that I had all the ingredients for the Peanut Noodles with Shrimp from last week's column. I thought that the addition of sugarsnap peas would be good. I am also believe that shrimp with the heads on add more flavour. These were my only 2 variations on the above recipe. The result: less than satisfying. Yes, we ate our dinner but it just wasn't that great. Maybe it's the concept of peanut sauce, maybe it's a lack of right spices, I'm not sure, but it wasn't a repeat for me. I think I'll just wing it next time.

There is no posted picture of tonight's production. Because no matter what you do to them, noodles in peanut sauce just don't look that good. And in this case, they didn't taste that great either.

Peas, Please!

Today, June 25th, is a significant day in Germany. It's the day I finally have to give up asparagus for the next 10 months. Fine. I'll deal. I have peas.

I've been a fan of fresh peas since I was a child, and since I was a child, I've always looked forward to the onset of fresh peas. Because I either get my peas from the farm or my mom's garden, I hardly ever get the chance to cook the peas. I either eat them in the garden, or in the car on the way home from the farm. A few years ago, for the first time ever, I managed to make a mint-pea soup. This year, I bought 1 kilo of peas in the supermarket, and after eating maybe 300g raw, I decided it was time to make another dish of fresh peas.

I pretty much made a pea-mint soup without the liquid and without pureeing anything. 3 leaves of lettuce, 1 spring onion (chopped), sauteed with butter in a saucepan. Allowing the liquid to come out of the lettuce, I then added the peas, some salt, 4 leaves of fresh mint (sliced) and allowed the peas to steam until they looked done.

Not bad, but I still prefer them fresh from the farm, raw, sneaking them out of the bag on the car ride home. Makes me feel like a kid.