Monday, August 5, 2019

Google and Garlic, Lamb Stew,

What did we do before Google? Saturday, and I am preparing to cook the lamb dish I posted as my recipe today. I decided to cut it in half. However, it calls for a whole garlic bulb. I actually buy peeled garlic cloves and had no idea how many were in a whole bulb. Google to the rescue - approximately 12 depending on the size of the bulb. Funny, when I first came across garlic, after WWII, we used to use it smeared on things, not whole cloves of it let alone lots of cloves. I remember my father used to cook Chorio which called for a coffee cup (the little tiny cups) full of garlic and everyone thought it was a heck of a lot of garlic in those days. Now Denise commented she had made a dish with 40 cloves in it, unpeeled too. I've told the story about my father taking me to France  to stay with a French family and when we got there Madame said she hadn't used garlic in dinner as she knew the English didn't
like it. My father always said  the place reeked of garlic. Of course, in our case, we loved the stuff.

These are the gladioli ladydog brought me last week. They are opening up nicely and really look pretty. I have never yet seen one open right to the top though. When she brought them, ladydog put them in warm water. That I had never heard of before. They seem to thrive on it and I have added warm water since. It is so nice to have fresh flowers.

I cooked the lamb dish I posted on Saturday (INSTANT POT CUMIN LAMB STEW WITH CURRY AND CHILIS), but, being an idiot, I cut back on the quantity of meat and then I cut down on the spices too. Duuuh. The sauce was good, but not spicy enough. I will remember next time, and there will be a next time. We  both enjoyed it.

I'm a sucker for anything made with Nutella. I never knew chocolate hazelnut paste was called Gianduja and that it was invented in Italy during the Napoleonic period. Learn something new every day.

Gianduja Mousse

Star Ingredient: Chocolate-Hazelnut Paste As if the chocolate-hazelnut spread gianduja isn't delicious enough straight off the spoon, Grace Parisi has folded in whipped cream and crème fraîche to create a
truly decadent (and ridiculously easy) mousse. For a supereasy ice cream sandwich, spoon the mousse between chocolate wafers and freeze overnight.

1/2 cup chocolate-hazelnut paste, such as Nutella
1/4 cup crème fraîche
1 1/2 tsp brandy or hazelnut liqueur
1/2 cup heavy cream
Chocolate wafer cookies, for serving

1. In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the chocolate-hazelnut paste with the crème fraîche and brandy at low speed until smooth. In another bowl, beat the heavy cream until firm peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, fold the whipped cream into the chocolate-hazelnut mixture until no streaks remain. Spoon the mousse into small bowls and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Serve with the chocolate wafer cookies

Servings: 4

Author: Grace Parisi
Source: Food & Wine

Have a great day

12 comments:

  1. Hi Jo - glad the garlic situation is sorting itself out, and the stew was enjoyed. Love the gladioli ... cheers Hilary

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    1. It was a good stew Hilary. They are lovely aren't they?

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  2. We eat a lot of garlic. Love the stuff. I also love fresh cut flowers. So pretty.

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    1. Same here Liz. Happy Birthday by the way.

      I love fresh cut flowers too.

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  3. I have a pet peeve about recipes with garlic in recipes. Please don't say one clove, recipe writers. Size varies. Say one teaspoon. I happen to love garlic and always add more than the recipe calls for.
    I also love nutella. A friend told me Saturday that she has never had it cause she doesn't like peanut butter and chocolate together. I had to explain that it has nothing to do with peanut butter.

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    1. I know what you mean Denise. But maybe one large clove or something. I wouldn't like teaspoon either. I'm the same, just bung it in.

      Funny about Nutella. Delicious stuff. People get weird ideas into their heads.

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  4. We use a lot of garlic in our recipes and keep several whole bulbs in the fridge at all times.

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    1. I am too lazy for the whole bulbs Alex, I buy the peeled garlic from the store. I once used to peel a bunch of garlic for myself, but gave that up too.

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  5. I haven't done much with lamb but I took a look at your recipe for the lamb stew. It does look good! I may be investing very soon in an Instapot. I know I said it before, but it is good to see what can be made in it. We aren't true connoisseurs here with garlic. We use mince garlic when it calls for cloves of garlic. Lazy I think.

    betty

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    1. It depends what minced garlic tastes of Betty. I have never tried it but believe it loses its flavour. I think I told you before, Amazon have a sale on the Instapot at the moment. There are lots of recipes all over the internet. I just Google Instant Pot and the ingredients and get lots of ways of cooking them.

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  6. After suffering through a horrendous sore throat this weekend, I was about to buy garlic to use as a home remedy, but the pain "broke" last night, so I was saved the need! Can't imagine what my breath would have smelled like!!

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    1. Sorry about the sore throat Mork, I have some great "candies" for that, but I don't suppose you can get them in Spain. And yes, you would have stunk to high heaven.

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