Dog days of cooking

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Yesterday was another long day. I had to get up early to drive my Mike to work. He usually rides the bus in; but, I had a swim lesson and needed him home before his regular time so I drove him in. I had to do the usual, get the Jai up, make sure that he did his chores and get him to school and then go to work for 8 hours. Of course nothing went according to plan, it never does when I start a new project. It usually takes me a week or two to figure out how to fit it in to my life. It took me a while to figure out how to integrate the gym 5 times a week. Same with Weight Watchers and swimming. Once I get the swing of things with this project it will almost be over with. Well not really over, I still have my other book, Good Eats: The Early Years.

I have been doing Becca/Bobby for a full week now and I have used close to a gallon of heavy cream, four pounds of butter and I have cooked 26 outstanding recipes from the Mesa Grill ookbook. I still lost a pound at Weight Watchers. I almost used my free pass to not weigh in because I thought I would gain a lot during the last week. So I almost jumped up and down with joy.

Menu: Braised Lamb Tiwa Tacos with Ancho Chile Jam, Fried Bread Taquitos

This was the easiest yet. The only thing I thought was unusual about the recipes for the fried bread taquitos was the dry milk powder. I guess because it adds the dairy without the wetness. I didn't mix by hand per the instructions. I used my food processor. The bread turned out marvelous. I could not resist trying one well two. Yummy. The lamb was easy to do. A simple braise. Rubbed the ancho chile powder, salt, and pepper on lamb. Browned all sideds of the lamb. Removed the lamb. Diced the celery, onion, and carrots; put the veg in the pot and browned until soft. Put into the stock, store bought. I haven't had the time to make the enrich stock. Added back to the lamb. Covered with aluminum and put in the oven at 350 degrees for 2 hours. While I was waiting I made the flat bread and relaxed.

Once the lamb was done I removed it from the liquid. Oh, did I mention my dog is in the kitchen when I cook. When I removed the leg of lamb I almost dropped it on the floor. You could hear him whine when it did not hit the floor. I, with my amazing reflexes caught it. I shreaded the meat and started to reduce the strained liquid.

Once done I assembled the the taquitos. Let me tell you, watercress is not easy to find in the Triangle. After going to 5 different stores, I substituted arugala for it.

I must confess I have been the grumpiest, non-fun person for about a week. I am tired and don't have enough time in the day.