I like to experiment with food (and sometimes it backfires! :-)). What made me think of this particular characteristic? I've actually had several opportunites to experiment lately (rather unusual) and thought it might be a fun post.
Exhibit 1: Molasses granola. I like experimenting with granola, because it is easy to make in small batches and I'm the only one who eats it (true of most of my experiments, actually :-)). Molasses granola *would* be good - that is, if I can find the right concentration. Too strong, not strong enough - it's all been consumed as flavored bowls of oatmeal so far. :-)
Exhibit 2: Lemon granola. Unlike the molasses version, this one was a winner. (*Turning on review-style commentary*) Luscious and tangy, chock-full of healthy proteins, with little added sugar and no added fat, this granola is great with everything I eat it with - usually milk, yogurt or cottage cheese - and even by itself.
Exhibit 3: Minty cream cheese. Another "would have been good if" - I added wayyy too much peppermint oil (strong stuff!) I doubled, then tripled, the amount of cream/cottage cheese involved. I added it to oatmeal...which I ate without chewing (and preferably without tasting!). I doused it with chocolate syrup. And finally, that probably 1/3 of a cup of stuff was gone! :-)
Don't worry, I'll try it again sometime :-). With less peppermint oil, of course!
Exhibit 4: Corned beef soup. Mom was going to throw out some really rich broth leftover from a corned beef pot roast. I commandeered it with her blessing (bit of an oxymoron, I suppose...), and came up with a really good, very unlikely to be good soup :-). To the original corned beef, onions, potatoes, carrots, and cabbage, I added fresh rosemary, navy beans, and potato dumplings. What would have gone on the bushes fed me lunch for 3 days!
Exhibit 5: Cajun navy beans and cheese. I had opened a can of navy beans for "exhibit 4," but decided not to use them all. Therefore, another opportunity to experiment! I rinsed them, boiled them in milk and Cajun Land ((tm) or (c) or some such), topped them with cheese, toasted the whole thing on bread, and voila! Today's lunch! (Good, too!)
Exhibit 6: coming soon, to a blog near you... :-)
What have you made experimentally, and how did it turn out?
3 comments:
Oooh, interesting! I want to try some of those experiments, if you have any extras sometime. :)
#1 and #2 sound 'fairly' simple, how did you find the lemon granola idea?
What did you plan to use the minty cream cheese(#3) for?
Mmmmm....#4 and #5 sound delicious; #4 especially--I like what flavors you put together.
Maybe you could make experiment #6 for Bible study, or something.
As for my experiments--well, nothing as interesting as yours: I once tried a crescent-roll-fruit- -nut-medley for a dessert, that well....I kinda liked it(a bit too sweet and lacked depth of flavor), but only a couple people of my family tried it. I am still debating whether they liked it or were just being nice.
Another one I did was a tortilla casserole of sorts; this one was well liked by my family. I also liked it, but for different reasons--it was the first meal I had ever made, and on top of that is was my own. If my family had not liked it, I doubt I would still be cooking. :) However, looking back, the meal was exceedingly simple and lacked a higher or more complex taste. Ah, well, at least it worked.
My other meals were less experimental and more "mix everything"--i.e. I took any leftover food that made sense and cooked it all together. My mom tells me I inherited that from her dad, who loved to mix things. :)
What made you start experimenting?
--Josiah C.
I don't know what caused me to begin experimenting. I just have for as long as Mom has let me :-).
I always thought that breakfast cereal had way too much sugar in it, so I thought I'd make my own (store-bought granolas aren't much better). Most of the recipes I found on the internet were hardly improvements either, until I found this one (my generalizations included :-)):
1/2 cup liquid
3-5 cups oatmeal (add until all the oatmeal has clumped and there is no extra liquid...I usually guesstimate :-) )
A few tablespoons of honey
Let me know what you come up with!
I've tried molasses instead of honey (exhibit #1), lemon juice for the liquid (exhibit #2), other juices for the liquid (the original recipe's idea), and water for the liquid, but I added spices. Then, for the lemon, I've added other stuff after I bake it: almonds, sunflower seeds, prunes are really good, raisins... I'm going to try orange granola with dates next, I think.
The minty cream cheese was just for me to eat, to see if it tasted good for future reference :-).
All of which is probably more than you really were asking, but oh well...
For Aunt Marilyn, here's my "specific" recipe for lemon granola (I usually "guesstimate"):
1/2 cup lemon juice (makes pretty strong granola, you may want to do 1/4 lemon juice, 1/4 water instead)
3 generous cups of oatmeal
4 Tablespoons honey, melted
Mix well. The result should be clumpy but not doughy. Bake at 300-350 degrees, checking every few minutes, and turning over when it begins to brown. Bake until light brown and as crunchy as you'd like it. Let it cool, then add prunes, almonds and sunflower seeds. Glaze with lemon glaze (equal parts lemon juice and honey) if desired.
Enjoy!
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