5. Ricotta with Honey and Toasted Pine Nuts
I made that clam thing tonight. Except I still couldn’t find any sodding clams – so I substituted pippies. I didn’t end up going to Victoria Market, as I got held up at home watching The Godfather on DVD (research for my essay). So I just got some pippies when we went to Box Hill for lunch today. They were superfresh – still alive and squidgily moving! And it was so ace, if you rap them on the shells, they close up, with a squidgy “woozzh” sound. Multiply that sound by 3 dozen if you shake the colander up. (Which I did, repeatedly).
Pippies in my sink
Ok, so these recipes were again from Fast Food, and unlike last night's duck, these were do-able in less than 30 minutes! But tonight, ironically, I was actually not in a rush at all, and took my time preparing the food, whilst listening to Lush’s Lovelife and flicking uninterestedly through my Business and Economy in South East Asia reader.
This is really, really easy to prepare, just chuck everything sequentially in a hot pan and leave to steam for 5 minutes.
Squid with Chilli and Pippis
There it is. We had it, as Nigella suggests, with basmati rice cooked with cardamom pods. We all love basmati rice, its fantastic aroma wafting through the house always incites shouts of "Mmm... that smells good! When's dinner?" from my family.
Unfortunately, though, the dish itself didn't taste brilliant - in fact it was pretty bland. I’m not sure exactly why, but the mixture was very watery – too watery. It was edible, but not outstanding. We doused it in tabasco and I sprinkled liberally with Maldon salt. Lots of. Perhaps it would be better cooked at a higher heat, more garlic, more chilli, and perhaps in fish stock instead of water?
Anyway, I'm glad I started the How-To-Eat project with the (fantastic) duck instead of this!
Dessert, you'll be glad to hear, was much, much better. It's ricotta cheese, cut thinly and put on a plate, doused with honey and sprinkled with toasted pine nuts. When my dad saw it he wasn't very excited, but once he had a bite he really liked it, and even suggested I make it for dinner parties. (Uh, I don't think so! I've got, like, a hundred dessert recipes to go through! No repeats yet, unless they're absolutely amazing!)
Daniel (my bro) looks happy!
I'm really glad I tried this suggestion, but I prefer it with vanilla ice-cream instead of ricotta. This was a nice change though.
1 comment:
aaw, too bad this didn't turn out as desired... maybe the fact it wasn't made with clams made a difference? (i have no idea what pippies are, even looking at the pic)
but anyway, isnt that part of the project, to sift out the recipes you don't like, from the ones you do? better luck for the next one!
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