The mussels on Sunday were delicious, but we left the Vanilla Bavarian cream with raspberry coulis for Monday. I had no trouble with the consistency of the cream, the coulis was divine, and we found the combination very tasty.
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3 comments:
Would it be OK if I, a largely non-cook, tossed in a suggestion?
What about going down through the lessons a little bit more slowly. It currently seems as if you are going through one lesson per week, and via this suggestion you would slow it down to once every OTHER week. That way would allow you to pick up even more information about each menu, and each item.
What am I talking about? Simple, on week one, the menu would be done using as far as possible the actual ingredients called for in the menu, including the full fat and full calorie ingredient items (don't use 2% or 1% mix when the recipe calls for milk, but rather use whole milk only) , and during week two the same menu would be made, but this time would be done with the ingredients which would more normally be on hand. A slight variation would somewhat mix up the order and menus on alternate weeks to allow for some more variation.
Now I realize that full fat and calorie food items might not be the best idea here in the United States with our growing (in more ways then one) obese population, but to quote one (female) chef on the Food Network, I'm your cook, not your nurse.
Whatever
Mister Cellophane
You actually have two suggestions, Mr. Cell -- one to slow down, and the other to follow the recipes first and then to modify it or vary the menus.
Slowing down might not be a bad idea, but I like trudging through, looking forward every Sunday to the next challenge. For me, there is a slight sense of urgency -- we have 90 menus to cover, and at one a week, that's still a year and a half. I'm not used to committing so much time to one project as it is; if we intentionally stretched it out, I'd have to agree to 3 years from the get-go (approximately).
The second suggestion doesn't work so well for me. It can itself be broken into two "wins" -- 1) getting a taste of the dish as it was intended (in theory), and 2) getting a chance to cement our cooking skills by making things multiple times. Again, these are both good suggestions. However, we all are reasonably skilled cooks to begin with, and all of an age where keeping fat low is an important health benefit. We know pretty well (I believe) when to lay on the butter, and when not to. Also, this cookbook is from 1991, and modern companion books use less fat -- taste as well as health concerns have changed in the last couple of decades.
As to getting the chance to cook things again -- there are 6 other days of the week. Peaceable has already started cooking her favorite dishes in the interim; I've tended to use those days to serve cuisines as far removed from French as possible, to balance my own palate.
But I am but one of three. The other Bleus may comment and even override me.
I like the pace we've set. I am feeling easier about picking and choosing what to cook when. But I like doing it once a week. It's once a week when I don't have to think of what to have for dinner tonight. (like right this minute I have no idea.)
As to the second issue, my answer is 'No'. I am just not willing to eat all that fat or feed it to my family, except where it's necessary to the recipe. (For example, this week is sole in a butter sauce, and I won't be leaving out the butter.)
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