Adventures in my kitchen
Finally--after a week of Life getting in the way, I was able to step into my kitchen and take the wild and crazy ride I'd always wanted to. I've been watching the Food Network consistently for about three months. I've gotten to the point where I can identify my favorite chefs in the Cooking Section at Borders, as well as identify some "important" people within the culinary world like Ted Allen. Hell, I'm even using words like "culinary" to describe the Art of Food. So, needless to say, I've been itching to get into the kitchen and do something other than my usual egg scramble (which is usually pretty good if I do say so myself!).
Where does the adventure begin? With the goal of course! The goal of tonight's meal is to make something unforgettable and delicious, without having to call the fire department. Once I have my goal, it's time to gather the map, or in this case, the recipes. That's right, plural. My job tonight was to make two dishes, mostly because the one I really wanted to make didn't seem all that big.
The first dish---Individual Sicilian Meat Loaves with a Few Modifications for the Non-Pork Eater. Basically, it's a meatball stuffed with bacon-wrapped mozzarella cheese. Well, the recipe calls for something called "prosciutto" which is thinly cut pork strips or...bacon. But, since my dad doesn't eat pork, I used turkey bacon. It meant that the meatball was going to be a bit saltier, since turkey bacon tends to be on the salty side.
The second dish---Peppers stuffed with Cranberry Bulgur but with A Lot of Modifications because I Didn't Ask Mom to Pick Up Half of the Recipe. I don't know what bulgur wheat is, but apparently neither the Army base or Air Force base have it stocked, so I substituted it with brown rice. You're supposed to cook the bulgur with a bunch of vegetables, but I forgot to tell my mom about them, so I had to leave them out and improvise with what I had.
Ok, so. I had my goal and my map. The next thing I needed to do was get everything together to cook. I was so excited! Probably a little too excited, because I didn't read the instructions on the rice carefully enough. I put water in a pot, then put the rice in, without realizing you had to boil the water first. I drained the rice, dumped the water and measured again, boiling the water. Once the water got to a boil, I put the rice in...without realizing you had to reduce the temperature. I almost burn my rice, but I get it down to the proper temperature in time. I set the stove to "low" and let the water cook out, stirring it every once and a while.
It takes brown rice about 45 minutes to cook, so I set my focus to the meatballs. I had to make a sauce to roll the meat in. A beat egg, salt and pepper, bread crumbs and pasta sauce.
Pasta sauce?
I didn't ask for pasta sauce, wasn't quite sure what it was anyway. We had "Four Cheese" spaghetti sauce in the cupboard, but I didn't think that particular brand would work.
Fourteen Ounce Garlic and Onion Pasta Sauce
Well, where the hell was I going to get that?
I thought about the components of spaghetti sauce: a tomato base and whatever else you wanted. I searched the cupboard for something tomato-y.
Tomato Soup, Tomato Soup, Tomato Soup...why the hell do we have so much Tomato Soup? I haven't had grilled cheese in years! Tomato Puree...that should have been used by 2007, I should probably throw that out. 2007, 2007, 2008. Why don't we ever use this stuff?
Finally, I found some tomato paste, and the best thing was--it's expiration date was sometime in 2011. I opened it, threw the paste in a bowl. It was a splotch of red stuff that desperately needed some flavor. I checked my rice. There was still a considerable amount of water, so I had some time to screw around.
I chopped an onion and minced a quarter of it with the 1997 version of the Slap Chop. Do the same thing with the garlic. I threw stirred them together and took a bite. I should have gone lighter on the onion, but I don't have anymore paste, so I have to live with what I have. It needed herbs.
I grabbed whatever I could find in the cupboard that was crushed, green and leafy, something that Mom would use, or what I think she would use. Oregano, parsley and sage...I nixed the sage. A quarter of a handful of each goes in, and Perfecto! I added my ground beef, about a pound and a quarter, and squished everything together. It was everything from my childhood--cold, squishy and wet. In a word--it was fun.
I quickly checked my rice once everything was set. Still a lot of time.
I squared slices of mozzarella, and rolled it in the turkey bacon. Took chunks of the meat and wrapped it around the bacon roll. Wrapped it so everything was covered and nothing poked out. A perfect and...giant...meatball. Tossed four pieces in a deep dish stoneware and began to preheat my oven at 400 degrees.
My rice looked good too.
Everything was going extremely well and according to plan. Maybe I'd actually have everything done at the same time. How cool would that be? Like one of those big time chefs, like the one's I'm watching on the Food Network. The oven beeped, telling me the preheat was done. I open the door and--
There's stoneware already in there.
Crap.
Turned the oven off. Took the stoneware out, turned it back on, and put the meatballs in. Forgot to put the timer on. Turned it on.
Cut the bell peppers.
Checked the rice. It was done.
I needed cranberries now. Except...I didn't have any dried cranberries. But I did have...instant Crystal Light Cran-Pomegranate? Threw it in some water. It was black-purple, the same color as my hopes and dreams. I sniffed it, because that's what chefs do. They sniff stuff and they taste it. I took a sip, let it linger in my mouth and decided...
What the hell.
I tossed the water into the pot of already cooked rice. The brown mass sagged and seemed to glare at me for throwing more water on it. It couldn't be cooked any longer. I'd over cook it, burn it, and that would destroy the entire meal. I got a text message from Mom. She was almost home with Dad. I look at the clock. Still have some time on the meatballs. But I looked at my soggy rice and realized that there's a little more to cooking than sniffing and tasting things.
Not sure what else to do, I throw the stove back on. Maybe I can cook some of the flavor into the rice. Leave it on simmering for a bit and drain it to get rid of the excess water. I toss it in the peppers, use almost all of it, and pan sear the peppers.
Another text message. Mom's almost home.
Took out the meatballs and the peppers just as the garage door opens.
Garnished with some lettuce for salad.
My adventure was complete! My map slightly more sullied since we just started: got some tomato paste and juices on the pages, but that's ok, because this!!! is the final concoction.
So how do you think I did folks? The end result:
Stuffed Meatballs with Mozzarella wrapped in Turkey bacon and
Stuffed Sweet Bell Peppers with Cranberry/Pomegranate Infused Brown Rice
With a side of salad. ^^