The Tales of an Impatient Cook

So quick review before we start back up with the blog this week:

• Sorry I am a college student and don't always have time to post in a timely manner!  I am trying my best I promise! Just be patient with me.
• Secondly lets keep in mind that I am a college student so buying things for recipes might not always be feasible for me. Like tonights dinner but we will get to that soon.

After a week of working late and not being in the kitchen I am so very excited to be cooking again this week! Tonight I am trying out a meal that was sent to me from my dad.  It comes from The Splendid Table.  I remember going on rides around town with my dad when I was younger and always listening to this show on NPR.  It looked great and turned out to be quite wonderful! Of course I am not patient so along with talking about the making of the meal and its great flavors I will be telling you about how the trials of an impatient cook.

Cauliflower with Saffron Pasta might seem weird but looking at the picture and reading the ingredients just made me drool! Now here are a few tips when you are cooking it:  Make sure you have the ingredients cut/diced/chopped and ready to go before you start anything! I ended up making my cauliflower mush because I steamed it too long and then it cooked again in the skillet.  Next.... Don't forget about your pasta after leaving it on high.  I was so hungry when I came back from classes that I was ready to cook and eat soon.  With that being sad I just left the pasta on high for too long and I will have pasta to be scrapping off the bottom of a pot later on.  When breakup up the cauliflower to steam I again became impatient and ended up with some small pieces and some really big chunks.  Needless to say my mushy cauliflower was not evenly distributed.  Thinking back on it now maybe the dinner would have been better done with broccoli.  The recipe called for saffron and red pepper flakes. Neither of those made it into my meal. Saffron cost $11 for .01 oz and if I am not going to use it again soon I am not about to pay for that on my budget, so instead I used ground turmeric! It worked out perfectly for me! The reason red pepper flakes didnt make it into my dinner was because I forgot to write it down on my list and between the snow and my hunger I was not about to trek back out and go get it.  I used paprika instead which worked but I would imagine the pepper flakes would give it the kick it needs. Feta cheese was optional and I think with some melted feta on top it would be perfect!

Finding a vegan pasta was not that hard, just make sure you read carefully! I picked a brand that didnt contain eggs but was made in a factory that uses eggs so if you are really strict that might prevent you from using it but now with gluten allergies and vegan eaters getting more attention some companies are trying to use more friendly products for those consumers!

I hope you check the meal out and you enjoy it like I did! I hope you can take a few notes on what NOT to do in the kitchen.