Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Spaghetti and clams

I just wanted to point out that it was just as good the second day.  

Monday, January 19, 2009

Spaghetti with Clam Sauce

Today was a big day.  I made all sorts of things in honor of classes starting up again.  In the morning I made lemonale.  I don't know if that's what it's called, in fact I don't even know if it will work.  But, it is pretty much gingerale with a lot more lemon.  I hope it is delicious.  The wort certainly was.  Also, I got a crown capper, so I am able to start bottling my soda in glass bottles.  I am very excited.  Hopefully they won't explode.  

The Lemonale



Crown Capper



I also took advantage of the day to make one of my favorite italian dishes, linguini with clam sauce.  Of course, I accidently bought spaghetti, so I had spaghetti with clam sauce.  It was still delicious.  

Of course, the more finicky people in the household won't eat seafood with pasta, so I also had to make wild rice with spinach and shrimp.  The wild rice with spinach and shrimp was a big hit, but in my book it didn't compare to the pasta with clam sauce.  I tried something new to make the clam sauce.  Instead of just reducing white wine, I reduced both white wine and shrimp stock that I made from the shrimp in the wild rice.  It was very rich.  It is one of my favorite things to eat, and I was so happy.  

Spaghetti with Clam Sauce




Happy me!!!!!!


Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Picture of the Gingerale

Before fermintation.  

Ginger Ale

While I haven't been experimented in the kitchen too much, I am making gingerale.  This is my second attempt at gingerale.  The first attempt was good, but too sweet for the more refined pallets around here.  This second batch should be spicy like Jamaican ginger beer.  Anyhow, I described my method to a friend of mine, and thought I should post it here.  It is still in the cooling phase.  I will follow up this post with pictures and tasting notes.  Here is a copy of my method as quoted from a conversation with that friend, who I am sure will soon be making much better gingerale than I can possibly imagine.  

well
i used 2 big ginger roots (3 or 4 fingers on each root)
to 5 Liters of water
i grated the ginger
and the rind of a lemon
i used about 1 cup of sugar per liter
though
i might use less next time
this time
I tossed in a bunch (15 or so) cartamime pods
and a bunch (at least a tablespoon) of whole black peppercorns
I boiled the entire thing
for 40 minutes
though last time I only did 20
the longer you boil
the stronger the ginger flavor
(ginger is still the main flavor the other stuff just adds hints in these amounts)
then
I am cooling the whole thing in a water bath until it is about 80d F
(Make sure it is covered while it is cooling)
then
i take some out to start my yeast
put a little of the started yeast in each bottle
strain the must/wort into each bottle
and let ferment for 48 hours

That's the long and the short of it.  This batch should turn out spicier rather then sweet, which should bring more happyness in this house.