Recipe Reduction 112-111

Corn Chowder With Maple Toasted Coconut
From A Modern Way To Cook

This was supposed to require 25-30 minutes. Yeah.

I didn't have a 'griddle pan' to grill the corn on, so I stuck it in the oven. Thus I did not count the time to cook the corn--I just stuck it in the oven for an hour. Probably a half-hour would have been sufficient but no matter, I didn't count it.

What I DID count was the time to shuck and clean the corn, chop the onions, peel and chop the sweet potato, and cook it and the cauliflower until soft.  I even stopped the clock when I had to substitute a butternut squash for the sweet potato and I realized it was going to take longer to peel.  I also stopped the clock for enough time to cool the soup down so it wouldn't melt my immersion blender attachment.

And the total was: 44 minutes.  I believe you'd call that a margin of error of 50%. Plus it didn't taste all that great.

Braised Fennel With Saffron And Tomato
from Vegetable Literacy

Okay, I didn't add the butter. Would that had made a difference?

So you take fennel bulbs and cook them with fennel seeds, fennel stock and fennel greens. Then  you attempt to enhance its peculiar wang with saffron, thyme, garlic, onions and tomato paste; add a tablespoon of butter and a grate of Parmesan cheese. And guess what?  It still tastes like fennel!

If you like fennel, you'll love this. Me, I'm not feeling the love. I'll keep eating it until it's gone and maybe that will change.

And excuse me if I harsh on the writer a bit: if you call for Fennel Stock in the recipe, shouldn't you include the recipe for making it? What help is it if you tell me to trim the fennel and put the tough bits away for stock, and then call for stock in the recipe? If you'd made a note of that up front, I'd have made the stock the day before.

Note to myself: for lunch today I had the Spinach Maangchi, the Corn Chowder, the Braised Fennel, and some dried blackeye peas that I simmered in water. And the best recipe award goes to,

Mom's Blackeye Peas
Ingredients
  Dried blackeye peas from the grocery
  Water
  Salt
Method
Rinse the peas in cold water. Put in a pot and cover with cold water by about 1". Bring to a boil and boil one minute.
Turn off heat; cover; let sit for an hour.
Bring back to a boil, lower heat to a very slow simmer. Simmer for about 45 minutes, adding water if the pan gets dry.
When they're tender, stir in 3/4 tsp salt for each 1 cup dried peas.
Serve hot, warm, cold, wrapped in tortillas or frozen into a popsicle. Delicious.