Recipe Reduction 74-73

Instant Pickled Cukes
from Roy's Choi's LA Son

Absolutely revolting. I must have made some major mistake in copying out the recipe--it's pretty short so I would have just copied it by hand instead of using a camera.  Maybe  I missed "how long" to cook the cucumbers--the recipe just said "while the cucumbers are cooking, get the other ingredients together," and add them. Then you add black pepper and cook one minute more.

But no amount of cooking would eliminate the bitter aftertaste. Maybe it was my substitute for star anise--cooking experts suggested that equals parts anise seed and fennel seed would be fine.  Maybe it was my cucumbers--I used some from the garden and some from the farmer's market. I tasted the ones from the garden and they were fine, but I didn't think to taste the ones from the market. Let's check now....

Aha! The market cucumbers are bitter. But even if I pick them out, the spice mix is odious.

Other than the revolting taste and lack of cooking times, I don't think it's realistic to expect that a bowl of cooked food will chill after only 30 minutes in the fridge. Mine was still warm after an hour.  That could be very disappointing if you were cooking for a crowd--imagine having to serve warm, mushy pickles?

4 o'clock No-bake Energy Bites

I messed up royally and yet I still liked these. What's not to like about a goop of oats, chia seeds, dark chocolate, maple syrup, vanilla, toasted coconut and peanut butter?

If I'd remembered to toast the oats and grind the chia seeds, it might have been exceptional, tastewise. But as an energy booster, not so much -- too much sugar. I ended up with about 10 balls, with 24.6 grams of sugar per ball, more than my entire daily target for added sugars, 19 grams. The measurement is tricky--I take "added" sugar to be "sugar that's not a naturally occuring component within a whole food." So I'd count the sugar in the chocolate, maple syrup and peanut butter but not that in the oats, chia or coconut. Maple syrup isn't a whole food; if I made my own peanut butter in the blender then I wouldn't have to count it...interesting. Peanuts have .375g sugar per tablespoon; peanut butter 1.5g. So technically I should count added sugars using difference between peanut butter and peanuts.

Splitting hairs. Too much sugar. Probably not enough to offset the fiber.