My Creations- Weekend of August 13th, 2005

Pan Roasted Asparagus

Category: Side
Rating: Excellent

The perfectionists at Cook's Illustrated magazine sought how to cook asparagus keeping it crispy and tender investigating multiply cooking methods. They succeeded brilliantly. Their website requires a membership to get recipes but I found it here.



Pita Toasts with Wild Mushroom Sauté

Category: Appetizer
Rating: Very Good

Deep, rich and earthy the addition and reduction of cream made it velvety…heck skip the crisp triangles of olive oil baked pitas and just give me a spoon. Although it is a Bon Appetit recipe it’s not on their site but found it here.



Pesto Pizza with Crabmeat and Artichoke Hearts

Category: Pizza
Rating: Excellent

This pie sang a song in my mouth with the complex layers of melodies Think of the intricate tastes of pesto, kalamata, marinated artichoke and it is amazing how these tastes came together harmoniously along with crabmeat, Mozzarella and red bell pepper.



Goat Cheese and Asparagus Pizza

Category: Pizza
Rating: Good+

Tangy goat cheese doesn’t melt well so it is added towards the middle of baking and results in a pasty texture that forces to be studied and enjoyed. Also added in the middle are fresh herbs which brighten the taste of this simple well balanced creation.



Cauliflower and Broccoli Flan with Spinach Béchamel

Category: Side
Rating: Very Good

Take something healthy and…corrupt it! I don’t know where the flan moniker comes from since there is no custard component. Yet the béchamel is right on with its thick roux including parmesan abetting that corruptness.



Strawberry Smoothie Ice-Cream Pie

Category: Pie
Rating: Good

I loved the concept of this pie with pureeing the fruits and folding it into ice cream then building layers in a springform pan. It starts on a waffle cone crust then layers strawberry, banana, blueberry and strawberry again. I must fault myself that it wasn’t better for using Bryers low fat ice cream. Fat is flavor!



Steel Cut Oatmeal

Category: Oatmeal
Rating: Good

Don’t read too much into the rating on this one- it’s a simple healthy meal with no strong taste component. I was tempted to dump some more sugar in it….



Marinated Mushrooms

Category: Side
Rating: Good

This one from Cook’s Illustrated did not impress. A lot of dicing, sautéing and marinating overnight was not worth these efforts. Supposed to be served at room temp I found it better warmed up.