Last weekend was busy and neither of us were in the mood to cook since we had a few family emergencies, so I had more time to plan out this week's lesson. Having conquered eggs and potatoes, we ventured into the pasta, rice, and "wheat" side dishes. We went outside of our comfort zone and tried dishes no one in the family had ever tried before.
Keeping with my theory of cooking like you are in the middle of a three ring circus, we made 3 different types of rice, regular long grain white rice, jasmine rice, and rice pilaf. Once we finished and tested them, it was on to couscous, which was one of the experimental dishes that we tried. We made a regular couscous and an herb chicken flavored couscous. Lastly, we made fresh linguine, fresh cheese raviolis, and potato gnocchi, which was the other experimental dish.
Today was particularly hard to keep Hunter in check since he was spinning all over the place. At one point he was doing arm curles with the small bags of rice while I was trying to explain that each rice was different and required different amounts of water and cooking time. Getting all the rice going was the easy part, but the downtime of cooking the rice was the problem. He kept walking away to watch TV with my daughter. I had to wrangle him back to the stove and remind him that he had to watch the stove. When the rice was done, we tested each one. I will fully admit that we overcooked the white rice, which is a good lesson to learn. Cooking rice may seem easy, but having the heat too high will kill the rice.
We served the 3 stacks of rice to my husband, who was kind enough to point out that it was dry and a little burned. Apparently, he didn't hear the warning that I gave him before I handed him the plate. All in all, he couldn't tell the difference between the regular rice and the jasmine, but did like the pilaf. My daughter didn't care for the jasmine because it was too solid and preferred to add ketchup to both of them, which is completely normal for her. The pilaf was "okay".
I was proud of Hunter for trying the pilaf, since he hates anything new. His only comment was that it tasted like chicken noodle soup, which he isn't a fan of. I don't know how I raised a kid who doesn't like chicken noodle soup, but it happened. Anyway, he wasn't wrong in his assessment. It had a chicken base, so yes, it tastes a little like chicken noodle soup. As for the white vs jasmine, he was a fan of the jasmine. He liked the texture and quality of the rice better than the white. Then I asked him how they fared when compared to my old standby, Success Rice, in the 10 min boiling bag. He said that he understood how the regular white rice held up better and wasn't as mushy. He liked the ease of the boiling bag and liked that it was hard to burn, but enjoyed the jasmine more. I would consider that a win.
Moving on to the next project, we made the couscous. I don't understand the allure. Granted, I followed the general comment that you serve it with butter, but I still don't get it. Perhaps with some other kind of preparation, I might enjoy it, so the jury is still out. Neither my husband nor my daughter liked it. Hunter was the only one who moderately enjoyed it, but I'm convinced it was only because he had been authorized to use as much butter as he wanted on it. Hunter only eats pasta with butter on it. Red sauces are a four letter word to him and grounds for starvation. He was happy eating the couscous with the standard quarter stick of butter. The herb flavored couscous was not a hit for anyone, except my daughter, due to the consistency. It had been ground up and felt like little pebbles in my mouth.
The final project was a little rushed since Hunter had a scout meeting to go to with my husband, but thankfully all of the pasta cooked quickly. Aside from possibly eating it in a fancy restaurant, I have never had "fresh" pasta. The main draw back is the egg content. My daughter is a HUGE pasta fan and can't have the eggs, so it's silly for me to make two different dinners just so that I can say that I had fresh pasta.
My husband swallowed his plate and ran to get ready. He liked the linguine and loved the raviolis, but the gnocchi was not a hit. I liked the linguine and raviolis, but the gnocchi didn't impress me, just like the couscous. Again, it may have required better preparation. The best was Hunter who ate the edges of the ravioli, then gutted it and ate the outside. He said the Parmesan cheese was too strong, which I agreed with. My daughter just gave me a pouty face because she didn't like the gnocchi and didn't get to have the pasta.
I was kinda disappointed in the couscous and the gnocchi since they rave about it on Master Chef Jr, but I'm proud of my family for giving them a try. Next time I will have to watch to see how they cook and season it. At least we know what the heck Ramsey is talking about when he says that the gnocchi was cooked to perfection. I feel a little better about having tried them.
Overall, Hunter did a good job of measuring the olive oil and boiling multiple foods at the same time. The problems came when there wasn't anything to do. I worry that when he starts cooking on his own that he will walk away and will have to call the fire department because his rice pot burned straight through. I think when he moves out I will buy him a rice cooker and avoid the sleepless nights.
Next Lesson: I want to find a pasta sauce that Hunter will eat, that isn't dripping with butter. I'm hoping that an Alfredo Sauce, or even a Vodka Sauce will get past his nature hatred of everything yummy.
Below are photos of our experiments. My presentation of the pasta is terrible, but I was being yelled at that I needed to get Hunter ready for scouts.
Keeping with my theory of cooking like you are in the middle of a three ring circus, we made 3 different types of rice, regular long grain white rice, jasmine rice, and rice pilaf. Once we finished and tested them, it was on to couscous, which was one of the experimental dishes that we tried. We made a regular couscous and an herb chicken flavored couscous. Lastly, we made fresh linguine, fresh cheese raviolis, and potato gnocchi, which was the other experimental dish.
Today was particularly hard to keep Hunter in check since he was spinning all over the place. At one point he was doing arm curles with the small bags of rice while I was trying to explain that each rice was different and required different amounts of water and cooking time. Getting all the rice going was the easy part, but the downtime of cooking the rice was the problem. He kept walking away to watch TV with my daughter. I had to wrangle him back to the stove and remind him that he had to watch the stove. When the rice was done, we tested each one. I will fully admit that we overcooked the white rice, which is a good lesson to learn. Cooking rice may seem easy, but having the heat too high will kill the rice.
We served the 3 stacks of rice to my husband, who was kind enough to point out that it was dry and a little burned. Apparently, he didn't hear the warning that I gave him before I handed him the plate. All in all, he couldn't tell the difference between the regular rice and the jasmine, but did like the pilaf. My daughter didn't care for the jasmine because it was too solid and preferred to add ketchup to both of them, which is completely normal for her. The pilaf was "okay".
I was proud of Hunter for trying the pilaf, since he hates anything new. His only comment was that it tasted like chicken noodle soup, which he isn't a fan of. I don't know how I raised a kid who doesn't like chicken noodle soup, but it happened. Anyway, he wasn't wrong in his assessment. It had a chicken base, so yes, it tastes a little like chicken noodle soup. As for the white vs jasmine, he was a fan of the jasmine. He liked the texture and quality of the rice better than the white. Then I asked him how they fared when compared to my old standby, Success Rice, in the 10 min boiling bag. He said that he understood how the regular white rice held up better and wasn't as mushy. He liked the ease of the boiling bag and liked that it was hard to burn, but enjoyed the jasmine more. I would consider that a win.
Moving on to the next project, we made the couscous. I don't understand the allure. Granted, I followed the general comment that you serve it with butter, but I still don't get it. Perhaps with some other kind of preparation, I might enjoy it, so the jury is still out. Neither my husband nor my daughter liked it. Hunter was the only one who moderately enjoyed it, but I'm convinced it was only because he had been authorized to use as much butter as he wanted on it. Hunter only eats pasta with butter on it. Red sauces are a four letter word to him and grounds for starvation. He was happy eating the couscous with the standard quarter stick of butter. The herb flavored couscous was not a hit for anyone, except my daughter, due to the consistency. It had been ground up and felt like little pebbles in my mouth.
The final project was a little rushed since Hunter had a scout meeting to go to with my husband, but thankfully all of the pasta cooked quickly. Aside from possibly eating it in a fancy restaurant, I have never had "fresh" pasta. The main draw back is the egg content. My daughter is a HUGE pasta fan and can't have the eggs, so it's silly for me to make two different dinners just so that I can say that I had fresh pasta.
My husband swallowed his plate and ran to get ready. He liked the linguine and loved the raviolis, but the gnocchi was not a hit. I liked the linguine and raviolis, but the gnocchi didn't impress me, just like the couscous. Again, it may have required better preparation. The best was Hunter who ate the edges of the ravioli, then gutted it and ate the outside. He said the Parmesan cheese was too strong, which I agreed with. My daughter just gave me a pouty face because she didn't like the gnocchi and didn't get to have the pasta.
I was kinda disappointed in the couscous and the gnocchi since they rave about it on Master Chef Jr, but I'm proud of my family for giving them a try. Next time I will have to watch to see how they cook and season it. At least we know what the heck Ramsey is talking about when he says that the gnocchi was cooked to perfection. I feel a little better about having tried them.
Overall, Hunter did a good job of measuring the olive oil and boiling multiple foods at the same time. The problems came when there wasn't anything to do. I worry that when he starts cooking on his own that he will walk away and will have to call the fire department because his rice pot burned straight through. I think when he moves out I will buy him a rice cooker and avoid the sleepless nights.
Next Lesson: I want to find a pasta sauce that Hunter will eat, that isn't dripping with butter. I'm hoping that an Alfredo Sauce, or even a Vodka Sauce will get past his nature hatred of everything yummy.
Below are photos of our experiments. My presentation of the pasta is terrible, but I was being yelled at that I needed to get Hunter ready for scouts.
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| Herb Chicken Couscous |
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| Regular Couscous |
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| Fresh pasta and Gnocchi |
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