…as it were. I should say also by means of introduction it’s just been a terribly busy time for me lately, with the upcoming school year and our concurrent adjustment with the general UC budget situation, so the sporadic nature of my posting here lately has a big reason behind it! But since today is a day off and I have nothing planned, I figured time for some blog work while enjoying a cool morning and Les Rallizes Denudes on the stereo.
In terms of cooking, a combination of dinners out and the very hot weather has meant that I’ve been concentrating on things like basic salads and a bit of bread in the evening, so for the most part there’s been nothing new to share. But over the past couple of weeks I’ve done a few experiments, so sharing a couple of here:
This was described in a cookbook I have as a gift from my aunt and uncle as Thai basil fried rice, and whatever the exact origin of the recipe it turned out nicely, though I was using a European basil instead. The key trick lies in including basil as both ingredient cooked with the rest and with garnish — while strong, it’s not overpowering, and is a nice twist on the more straightforward fried rices out there.
This baked zucchini spears recipe was found here, though as you can see my version turned out less heavily dredged in comparison. But no matter, even though it wasn’t thickly coated, it was still tasty with the right amount of spice and crunch, and was a good way to make use of a huge zucchini from the garden.
Finally from last night and taken from the Farmer John’s Cookbook, a potato and broccoli frittata, done quite honestly as a way to use up a variety of ingredients (potato and broccoli but also eggs and onions) as the next basket approaches on Thursday. A little effort but turned out nicely, I think I would add more spice to it while also trying to figure out how to get the potatoes brown more thoroughly while sauteeing them (my range is good but not always the most precise when it comes to ideal temperatures).
