Sunday, February 23, 2014

kitchen revelations

Surprise! I'm blogging twice in one month!

Last time Aaron and I took a trip to Penzey's we made a new discovery: smoked paprika. Normal paprika is beautiful but also kind of bland, but smoked paprika. SO WONDERFUL. I want to put it on everything. We did a jazzed up version of our chicken tikka masala (which has almost entirely diverged from what chicken tikka masala is supposed to taste like as we found out when we ordered it at India Palace on our anniversary) with smoked paprika and bell peppers and mmmmm it was fantastic. Chili + smoked paprika? Anything Mexican with smoked paprika? Macaroni and cheese with smoked paprika? Tried them all, they're all glorious.

I finally got around to making sweet potato burritos with red onion, peppers, black beans, cilantro, lime, and smoked paprika of course, and it was so good. I would eat that sweet potato burrito over a chicken or beef burrito any day. Not that that's saying much since I sort of hate cooking meat anyway, but...still, delicious burritos.

Another cooking-related thing I wanted to share: a magical way of storing cilantro. I'd seen this tip online forever ago, but like most online tips I see (mountain dew + peroxide = fluorescent? NO.), I ignored it. Anyway, you wrap your cilantro in a damp paper towel and store it in an open ziplock. I may have just had a freakishly healthy bunch of cilantro, but it stayed fresh for over a week. Normally my cilantro lasts maybe 4 days. A miracle! I'm going to have to repeat this experiment to make sure the results are reproducible, but I was pretty happy not having to throw away half a bunch of wilted nasty cilantro for once in my life.

LAST THING. I finally made crème brûlée using the broiler. It's a chocolate version and it was divine. Amen.

You have any kitchen discoveries you want to share? Or any recipes I should be making? I need something to get me through the last bit of this awful, awful winter, and there's only so much crème brûlée I should be eating.

6 comments:

Lyss said...

Yay for posting twice in one month! I definitely need to be posting more often...but your kitchen discoveries sound lovely...too bad i hardly cook healthy things.

amanda said...

Love these! Oh those burritos are good; have you tried the ones we are obsessed with yet? Sorry if I've mentioned them 1000 times. BUT MAKE THEM. Ok. And creme brûlée? Jealous. And chocolate too? I've never tried that (I think I pinned a recipe?) but it sounds amazing.

And um, I'm totally trying that cilantro thing! The best I've tried is keeping it in a jar with water, but your way sounds better! Love it when you blog :)

Sara said...

That all sounds so delicious! Especially the creme brulee! I am obsessed with this salad : http://notwithoutsalt.com/2014/01/06/salad-cara-cara-oranges-avocado-feta/ even though it's made with winter produce It reminds me of summer :)

Kristen said...

I'll have to find some smoked paprika and give it a try because it sounds amazing. I've been sticking with the storing herbs as cut flowers method with decent results, but maybe I'll try the damp paper towel next time. And, yuck, I hate slimey cilantro. I'm going to have to try the creme brulee. Sounds so incredibly delicious.

kyliebrooke|s said...

You've inspired me to try (yet again) to try and cook something that isn't a grilled cheese sandwich.

Nathan Cashion said...

Thanks for the cilantro tip. I always throw out the bunch after using just a few sprigs.
I had to laugh at your intent to reproduce the experiment to confirm. Haha. We're such evidence nerds.