Recipes used to be the only way I would cook. My sophomore year in college, I bought my red Betty (Betty
Crocker Cook Book), and I have been collecting cook books ever since. Funny enough, I don't always use them--a lot of times they are a jumping off stage (See Betty's Strawberry Glace pie--so good! Even better, when B improvises and makes it a Strawberry-Mango Glace pie--AMAZING!).
My brother Nathan used to just throw things in, and it would turn out perfectly succulent! I always envied him that. For some reason the chemistry would always befuddle me, and I would worry that I would ruin something. Gone are those days. Well, maybe I just don't care anymore.
Yesterday, after my regular Sunday nap, I was laying in bed planning out my dinner menu (I had signed up to feed the missionaries, but forgot about it, so was hoping I had all the ingredients I needed). The night before I had made a butternut squash, apple cider soup, and a trifle. I had a little left over soup (that I wasn't in the mood for), cream, whipped cream, and pudding. B had gotten some yellow squash at the farmers' market, and I always have a little ground beef in the freezer.
"Okay, maybe some kind of stroganoff?" I thought. Turns out I didn't have any pasta, which is when I decided it was handmade pasta time. Egg noodles are incredibly easy if you have a food processor--all you need are two cups of flour, 3 eggs, and a pinch of salt. My multiple cookbooks all mention the volcano method (build a mountain out of the flour, put the eggs in a well in the middle, slowly mix until you have a dough), but that has never worked especially well for me-- only about half the time. The New Best Recipe comments on this, and says to try it in the food processor.
Many years ago, I made spinach pasta, which turned out great, but was super involved. As I thought it through, I realized that a lot of the steps for the spinach I had already done--when making the soup. A butternut squash, apple cider noodle, perhaps? And using leftover butternut squash make a kind-of stroganoff.
Throwing the leftover soup and the flour in the food processor, I went to town. Unfortunately, I had way too much soup, and had to slowly add more and more flour during the kneading process. As I was too lazy to get out my pasta maker, I pulled out the rolling pin and pizza cutter, and went about making my noodles. While those were cooking (place them in a pot of not-too-violently boiling, salted water, and drain when they float to the top), I started on my sauce.
I had already steamed the last of the butternut squash, added butter, a little cream, and as I started to throw in the almonds to add a nuttier flavor and a little crunch, I was abruptly halted by B.Rad explaining, "Elder Peterson is deathly allergic to almonds, actually any kind of nut other than peanuts!" Great. Glad I knew. Thank goodness he was there, or I would have sent a missionary to the hospital. Also, thank goodness my ground beef was still browning, rather than in the pot with the now unusable (except sometime later this week for dinner) sauce.
Back to full-on improvising. . . Butter, cream, a tiny bit of left-over smoked Gouda, a little salt, pepper, nutmeg. Add in the ground beef, toss with the noodles, and pray. I sauteed up the yellow squash for a side, and had some pineapple and strawberries chopped and in a bowl. It turned out pretty good. I had to thin it with a little milk, and sadly, the subtle flavors of the pasta were somewhat masked, but hey, I didn't kill a missionary, so plus for me.
Also, plus for me? A quick devil's food cake recipe whipped up with Dark Chocolate Cocoa, and frosted with a vanilla pudding/whipped cream mixture. As Thells said, "Ooh, tastes like an Oreo." Only better, because it was warm, dark chocolate cake and not a semi stale, hard cookie! I was going to eat it for breakfast, sadly, I forgot it on my way out the door.
Hey, at least I can have it when I get home tonight. Yay! for Improvising in the kitchen!
P.S. Always tell someone before dinner that you have a food allergy. Or they could kill you! 19 year old boys, gotta love them.
