Food Experience

For my food experience during the weekend I cooked and ate brownies with friends. I experianced the whole shebang, shopping for ingredients, cooking it and eating it, which was delicious as well as fun! Buying groceries at the store is always amusing for me, as long as I am with someone to talk to so that experience was nothing new, although I had never shopped before with my friend Austine. After that we went to her house to cook, on a side note she was cooking cake while I was making the brownies (mmm funfetti cake) so we had more than one treat that night! I'd have to say the hardest thing about cooking is the wait; you can smell the tantalizing chocolate, the delacate smell of the rizing sweetness but you cannot eat it yet! During that time I actually felt sick and had to lay down, ( I think it was the Code Blue Mountain Dew, too much food coloring is not good to ingest) but I felt better after a bit and watched her snake poke his head around his cage. (Don't worry chefs of the world, I wouldn't touch an animal while cooking!) I washed my hands before taking the brownies out of the oven, just to be safe and sanitary. Again, the cooling off waiting period stunk. But our guy friends that were over now crowded around smelling the baked goods, so we all talked till the brownies were cool enough that they wouldn't fall all the way apart before eating them. They were soft and mushy, and crisp on top with hard pieces of chocolate toping the concoction. If I hadn't put some away for later they would have been gone that night!
- Veronica Petrey

Food Experience--Ysabelle

For my food experience I made the last recipe in the book A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from my Kitchen Table by Molly Wizenberg. It was "the winning our hearts and mind cake, or our wedding cake". I'm unsure if I made it completely right, but it was delicious either way. I bought an oven temperature gauge to see if me oven is running accurately which it wasn't as she says in her section explaining how to use the recipes in this book. My oven was running about 25 degrees too cool, so its good to know now. The recipe called for 7 ounces bittersweet chocolate chopped finely, 1 and 3/4 sticks of unsalted butter cut into 1/2 inch cubes, 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar, 5 large eggs, 1 tbsp unbleached all purpose flour, and lightly sweetened whipped cream for serving. I used an alternate chocolate that she said could be used in the introduction of the recipe, but I had to change the recipe a little bit for what was available at my house. I don't know how it was supposed to turn out, but it tasted delicious. It was in perfect timing too because it was my sister's birthday on Sunday. The icing looking part is actually whipped cream that I hand whipped and made myself and I took some liberties with adding strawberries and some of the extra chocolate chips on top. The recipe was pretty fun to make because I used a double boiler in order to melt the chocolate and the butter. The taste of the cake was almost like a brownie cake custard kind of thing but it was delicious and fun to make. It was a very dark chocolate bitter taste but the whipped cream added a sweat and creamy balance. All in all, I consider it a success.

Food Experience- Sarah Naqvi

For my food experience, I decided to cook one of Madhur Jaffery's recipes in her book, Climbing the Mango Trees. I picked "Roz ki Gobi", which means Everyday Cauliflower. My mom makes this all the time, so I wanted to see how Madhur's recipe would taste. I never tried cooking traditional food, so this would be a first time experience. Madhur Jaffery's recipe was very straightforward and seemed easy. Basically, all I had to do was fry the cauliflower and add the spices. And it tasted so delicious, warm and flavorful of the perfect amount of cilantro and green chilies. My mom said, "I am using Madhur's way of cooking Rozi ki Gobi from now on!"

"Everyday Cauliflower ('Roz ki Gobi')
This is one of the ways our cauliflower was often cooked at home. I use a 2-pound head of cauliflower that yields about 7 cups of florets. When cutting the florets, make sure that each piece has a head about 1 1/2 inches wide, has a stem, and is about the same in length, or longer, as the width at the top.

6 tablespoons olive or peanut oil

7 cups delicate cauliflower florets

1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground amchoor (green mango powder) or 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Generous pinch of ground asafetida

1/2 teaspoon whole cumin seeds

One 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into very fine julienne strips (cut into very thin slices first, then stack the slices and cut into fine strips)

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh green chilies (optional)

Pour the oil into a large frying pan and set over medium heat. When it is hot, put in all the cauliflower florets. Stir and fry them until they turn reddish in spots. Remove them with a slotted spooon and spread them out on a platter lined with paper towels.

Turn off the heat under the frying pan and remove all but 1 tablespoon of the oil.

Put the drained florets in a bowl. Sprinkle the salt, turmeric, cayenne, coriander, and amchoor over the top. Toss gently to mix. Taste for balance of flavors, making adjustments if needed.

Set the frying pan with its 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat. When it is hot, put in the asafetida, and a second later the cumin seeds. Let the seeds sizzle for 10 seconds. Now put in all the ginger shreds and stir for 30 seconds. Put in all the cauliflower and stir gently to mix. Add a generous sprinkling of water, cover, and turn the heat down very, very low. Cook for about 1-2 minutes, or until the cauliflower is just done and all the flavors have blended. Sprinkle the cilantro and green chilies, if desired, over the top. Toss and serve."

Courtesy of Madhur Jaffrey. Reprinted from Climbing the Mango Trees, published by Alfred A. Knopf.