Saturday, December 31, 2005
My 2006 culinary New Year's resolutions
Here are a few things I would like to accomplish in my kitchen this year:
1. Make my own pizza dough. I've made lots of pizzas on store-bought pizza shells but I've yet to make my own crust from scratch. I already have a couple of pizza screens (never used).
2. Make something in a tart pan (I have one, never used).
3. Make something in a springform pan (I have one, never used). Maybe a cheesecake, but perhaps a charlotte. I've always wanted to make a charlotte.
4. Smoke something in an electric smoker (I have one, never used).
5. Use my new bread machine (I just got it, never used) at least 6 times, hopefully many more. Can I make pizza dough in a bread machine? That would kill two birds with one stone.
Hmmmm. Maybe I should think of starting another blog - The Small Appliance Junkie, or The Kitchen Gadget Junkie.
6. $100 spending limit on new cookbooks. Seriously, how many cookbooks does one person need? $100 can buy a lot of cookbooks at Ollie's Bargain Outlet. I wrapped up 2005 by ordering a bread machine cookbook and a venison cookbook so there aren't any cookbooks I really 'need' starting the new year.
7. Make homemade marshmallows. I know lots of people have BTDT with the homemade marshmallow thing but it's been on my to-do list forever and this year I'm going to cross it off.
8. Make jam. Canning is a dream of mine and jam seems like a good place to start.
9. Make something with phyllo dough. This has always intimidated me.
10. Even out my categories a bit more. I've leaned pretty heavily on main dish and dessert recipes since starting this blog. I need to try more recipes for appetizers, soups and side dishes.
I'm confident I can do everything on this list, except I suspect number 6 will definitely be a problem.
You can definitely make pizza dough in a breadmaker - that's our current method when we aren't ordering delivery - but then does it count as your own? :^) Check your new bread machine cookbook (that's where we got our recipe).
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on #1 - I want to finally make my own dough too. But #6 -- $100 all year? No way could I do that...
ReplyDeleteThere is a really good marshmallow thread ( with pics) on egullet.org.
ReplyDeleteTwo phyllo dough suggestions:
ReplyDelete1) tyropitakias (aka "cheese pie" or "cheese triangles") - you should be able to find a recipe online, or in a Greek cookbook if your collection extends that far! Think "spinach pie" (spanakopita) without the spinach.
2) Do you own Madhur Jaffrey's "World Vegetarian"? She has a recipe for a Greek 'pumpkin pie' that is heavenly (probably all the olive oil and butter...). Again, think spankopita, not the American thanksgiving custardy pie. Look at pp 292 - 293 if you own it, or use "pumpkin pie" in the "search inside" feature at Amazon, then view those pages.
The main problem with both of these is that they are time-consuming to make! Something like apple strudel might be quicker.
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