Day Five

Today was Day Five of the cooking experiment.  And I must say, that Alyssa is definitely coming into her own as a cook now.  During our first cooking lessons over a year ago, I had to lead her through how to do everything.  But now it’s like we’re just two co-cooks in the kitchen working together with a comfortable rhythm!  I had my first handbell rehearsal with the Granite State Ringers tonight, but Sunday’s are a good day to cook for us and the menu tonight was relatively easy so I figured it would be okay to cook after my rehearsal.  I got home a little later than I’d hoped, but everything was fine, because Alyssa had jumped right in and starting cooking the recipes all by herself!!  When I arrived, my husband had started up the grill for us, and Alyssa had popped the Sweet Potatoes in the oven and was about to make the Cocktail Sauce for our Shrimp Cocktail!  The Cocktail Sauce was awesome!  It was way better than any that you could buy, and the shrimp were very tasty too.  We made a shrimp stock out of the shrimp shells, then added herbs, lemon, and wine, in which we poached the shrimp.  Also on the menu was Grilled Lamb.  We weren’t sure if we’d like lamb, so we just had a sample and fed the rest to my husband and Alyssa’s Dad, Dave.  They both devoured the lamb, although it did have to go into the microwave for a minute.  By the time we grilled it was so dark out and the lamb was so thick that I just couldn’t tell if it was done!  But the microwave did the trick and cooked it up just enough. We’re flying through the recipes, and we are way ahead of schedule, yippee!!  Tomorrow night is the next meeting of the Cooking Girls and it’s Mexican night!

Menu:

Herb-Poached Shrimp

Classic Cocktail Sauce

Baked Sweet Potatoes

Grilled Lamb Chops

“Sweet Potatoes-Once you get the sweet potatoes home, remove them from any plastic produce bag.  Do not wash the sweet potatoes until you are ready to use them because this exposes the vulnerable skin and causes them to go bad more quickly.  Refrigeration is also a n0-no; it causes the core of the potato to gradually change texture until it resembles a soft, damp cork.  The best storage is a dark, well-ventilated spot.” -The New Best Recipe pg. 200

Ooohh, Fire!

Shrimp Stock w/ Shrimp Shells

Finished Shrimp w/ Cocktail Sauce

Alyssa and I-Griling in the Rain!

Variety of Meats-Grilling

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~ by chickadee78 on August 31, 2009.