Lizzie D. Wysong
  • Home
  • Vittles
  • Jotted
  • Gallery
  • Munerarius
  • Contact

A New Discovery

7/13/2011

0 Comments

 
Growing up I was always the adventurous eater when compared to my brother. At first I would be timid, sometimes for years refusing to eat icky things (like mushrooms). But then one or either of our parents would encourage us to not pick around the things we feared. So I slowly started to eat those icky things, as long as they were mixed in, like mushrooms in hot and sour soup. When we went abroad I was the one who wanted to eat (mostly) traditional fare; my brother kept asking if we could eat McDonald's. 

When I went off to college I decided that I wanted to like nearly everything. I had heard once that it took a baby at least seven tastes of an odd food to like it. So I started eating things I had never liked, over and over, hoping that I could also acquire tastes. I can now eat tomatoes, whereas when I was little I once waited hours for my Dad to leave the table so I could shove the hated things down the disposal. He had threatened us to sit there until we ate them. 

Now, whenever I see something I have never tried, or at least, never tried to prepare, I get the itch. It is much the same itch when a new book comes out, or a new exhibit to a much-loved museum. You must try it, see it, experience it for yourself. This happened to me the other day at Whole Foods when I was meandering the aisles with the little shopping carts they have. There, displayed amongst the other produce, were the humble looking fava beans. I had never actually cooked fava beans before and couldn't really remember ever having eaten any either, so I picked some up. 
Picture
I shelled them, boiled them for a couple minutes in salted water and decided to make a summer salad out of them. A little internet browsing told me that they do best when prepared simply, so that is exactly what I did. 
Picture
Picture
Once the beans were cool I mixed them with some chickpeas, cilantro, a little lemon juice, olive oil, pepper and Maldon salt. Lucero brand olive oil is my favourite for things like salads and drizzling. It is a very green oil, which means you can really taste it's rich, sunny flavour. This is not a cooking oil; leave that to the cheaper ones. Maldon salt is a flaky sea salt, perfect for garnishing. It is like (and probably sometimes is) the salt you see sprinkled on top of salted caramels and chocolates. It is also something you want to refrain from cooking with; you lose all the flavour and texture of the salt that way. 
Picture
It was a very delicious summer salad, perfect for a hot July evening. I added a little smoked paprika to give it a deeper flavour. If I ever make it again I am going to use dill instead of cilantro and add a dollop of sour cream, which sounds divine. 
Picture
Like a movie you would rent again, I will definitely be returning to fava beans. They were easy and fun! to prepare. They look ever so humble but are really quite impressive. If you have a good farmer's market and see these, I recommend picking some up. You will be much happier than if you went to McDonald's. 
0 Comments

A Very Unmerry Birthday

7/7/2011

0 Comments

 
I would characterize myself as an Anglophile. No, I cannot list the names of all the royalty and, surprisingly, I did not watch the recent nuptials between Kate and William. But I love the United Kingdom and want nothing more than to move back there. 

So no doubt you will see why a holiday like the 4th of July would be distressing for someone who so desperately wants to be an expatriate. If we were still British I wouldn't have to move anywhere! So instead of celebrating the holiday my Anglophile roomie and I held a sort of wake instead, so we could mourn the passing of our mother land. 

Now, no doubt someone will get on my case about how come I didn't make an overly British meal for this occasion and I will tell you now it's because it is the sentiment behind the action that matters, not the action itself. That being said, I will move on to the important things- the food. 
Basil stuffed pepper
I wanted to use my new grill and since the weather decided to cooperate with us everything went according to plan. Bamboo skewers were soaked while I was at work, being unpatriotic in an outfit that didn't even remotely hint at the old red, white and blue. I managed to light the charcoal somewhat quicker than the last time, still without using lighter fluid, but it takes a while nonetheless so as the briquettes sat and smoldered we made kabobs. First we stuffed basil leaves into mini peppers (a trick I would now highly recommend and then encourage you to try with other herbs as well). Then we strung up our other veggies: mushrooms, onions, garlic, potatoes and tomatillos. 
Kabobs
Oh man, were they good. The garlic pieces were sheer genius (my roomie's idea) but my favourite was definitely the onion. Once they were sufficiently browned we salted them and added a bit of hot sauce. I like marinades but sometimes it is better to let the grill do most of the flavouring. 
Picture
Retro-fabulous plate for a perfectly colour-schemed photo.
For dessert my roomie, Lis, made Sad Lemon Cake, which she named after our feelings towards the holiday. There was nothing sad about the actual cake, however, which paired perfectly with rum laced whipped cream. If you are still using canned whipped cream, shame on you. 

So a very unmerry birthday to you, America, and long live the Queen! 
0 Comments

    Archives

    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    August 2013
    July 2013
    March 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010

    Categories

    All
    Antipasto
    Apple
    Beer
    Blood Orange
    Blueberries
    Bread
    Buche De Noel
    Cake
    Candied
    Carrot
    Cheese
    Chia Seeds
    Chicken
    Chocolate
    Christmas
    Clay
    Coconut
    Coffee
    Comfort
    Cookie Dough
    Cookies
    Crepe
    Crumpets
    Curry
    Decorating
    Easy
    Fall
    Farmer's Market
    Fava Beans
    French Onion Soup
    Fries
    Grapefruit
    Grill
    Guacamole
    Habanero
    Harry Potter
    Hummus
    Ice Cream
    Jam
    Kabobs
    Lavender
    Lemon
    Matcha
    Meringue
    Molasses
    Muffins
    Mushrooms
    Nutella
    Onion
    Pear
    Peel
    Pie
    Pluot
    Popcorn
    Potato
    Pumpkin
    Quince
    Raspberries
    Raspberry
    Rolls
    Royal Icing
    Rum
    Salsa
    Scones
    Shortbread
    Sorbet
    Soup
    Spelt
    Stir-fry
    Sugar
    Tart
    Thanksgiving
    Turkey
    Upside Down
    Vegan
    Williams Sonoma
    Williams-Sonoma
    Wok
    Yogurt

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.