I can't Tikka my Aloo...

I've spent a lot of time in the kitchen today and after frying the onions to top the rice, I'm gonna stop. This means we will not be starting with our little potato appetizers because for the life of me I can't figure out how to get the mashed potato with its spices to hold together enough to make a little patty (which then has to be dipped in a garam batter and bread crumbs before frying--that means it has to be sturdy enough to be handled.)
Here is the mess I have made with my Aloo which refuses to be Tikka'd:
After at least a dozen tries I have one little misshapen patty and garam batter that is chock full of globs of potato. The bread crumbs have remained relatively unscathed but that's because most of the patties disintegrated in the batter phase...

Lest you forget what an Aloo Tikka should look like, I remind you of Bhanu's perfect little circles (well, it was perfect before I stuck my fork in it).
So I'm giving up on the Aloo Tikka for now. I would love suggestions from anyone who has managed to make these and get the potato to hold together.

We are eating well enough tonight even without our little potato patties; I managed to make the rice dish, chicken curry and coriander chutney. And if Brian will clean out the blender, I will make the Mango Lassi too. (Recipes coming soon, I promise.)

It has been a good day on other fronts because Fiona has done terrific with potty training, she pooped twice but her underpants have remained clean and dry all day and even the diaper that I put her in when we went out stayed dry. Girls have such great sphincter control--I think that should be printed on a T-shirt.

Indian feasting part 1

For those of you bored by my continual gluttony and reluctant to read through an invariably long-winded discussion of the Indian cooking class I took, I first present proof that I don't just spend my time stuffing my face:
Sometimes I do take a break and interrupt my hands from their regular plate-to-mouth route to play with yarn. On the left is the broadripple sock (I seem to have mastered my ick face and forgiven the yarn for the brief moments of dinge) and on the right is the start of my fern colored sleeve for my Ribby Cardigan. I'm knitting it in the round using Magic Loop and Denise interchangeable Needles. It would probably be a bit easier if I was using Addi Turbos since there wouldn't be the little stiff join to deal with. I also had to rip out the sleeve down to where the increases started because I realized that in translating the pattern from flat knitting to in-the-round I hadn't changed the location of the increases (the original budgeted in two stitches on either side of the increase for seaming). But with worsted weight yarn, the knitting goes so comparatively fast that I didn't even get very pissy about my mistake.

Now, back to food.
On Sunday I learned to make this:
Oh yea, and this too:
My friend Ami's co-worker Sarah's sister Heidi's Mother-in-Law (follow that?) Bhanu Hajratwala taught the class.

Here is Bhanu with her three-year-old assistant chapatti maker granddaughter Zoe:
I'm not going to do a blow by blow of the class right now (I think I'd be typing all day)--I'll save that for when I attempt to recreate the dishes at home. But I'll tempt you to come back by listing the menu:

Appetizer: Aloo Tikka (potato patties)
Drink: Mango Lassi
Salad: Layered Kachoombar
Rice: Shahi Vegetable Pulau (also known as Biryani)
Vegetable: Bhinda Bataka (okra)
Meat: Chicken Curry
Chutney: Fresh Coriander Chutney
Bread: Fresh Chappaties
Desert: Kopra Paak (coconut squares)

I plan to attempt to recreate all of the above except the salad and the desert.
I was underwhelmed by the salad--very pretty and jewel-like in the bowl, but not a hell of a lot of flavor, just sort of a cool crunch. I'd prefer a standard Raita; I think it cools down the chili heat better and tastes more interesting.

And Indian deserts and I just don't get along very well...they are so sweet they make me feel like I'm going to go into a diabetic coma after one taste.

Today I plan to hit the Indian grocery store Foods of India (much to my very pissy discovery Indian grocery stores in Ann Arbor are not open on Mondays....grrrr) and get some missing ingredients--fresh tumeric root, star anise, ghee--which will hopefully enable me to make at least the rice (probably my favorite thing from the menu we cooked) and the Lassi and possibly also the chicken curry and the aloo tikka, though the last two may have to wait for another day.

Snaussages

On Friday evening we had some folks over to sample chef Brian Polcyn's sausage making skill. (Polcyn is the chef and owner of the restaurant that I went to on my birthday in June--The Five Lakes Grill. If you missed my blow by blow recounting of that fabulous meal, you can look here.)

The restaurant's web site reports that they sell their house made sausages every Thursday for $7/lb. So on Thursday evening we went up to make our purchase. One word of advice--make sure you call ahead and ask to talk to someone in the kitchen about the sausages they have for retail. We did and even then it wasn't the smoothest transaction--I don't think very many people take them up on this sausage purchase idea because much of the staff seemed completely clueless when I showed up (I went in the back entrance--there is lots of parking behind the restaurant and I was looking pretty crappy and sweaty after a day with the entropy kids, so I didn't want to ruin any patron's dinner who might be unlucky enough to find themselves down wind from me...). It took at least 20 minutes to find the guy I had talked to on the phone, tell him what I wanted and receive the nicely wrapped meaty treasure. And then they had to find someone else for me to pay. Anyway, point being, bring your patience to the restaurant when you go to make your purchase.

Thankfully, the wait is well worth it.

There were three varieties available on Thursday and they were $6.25/lb rather than the $7 listed on the web site (no complaint there!). I bought about 2 lbs of Chicken Sundried Tomato sausages and 1 lb each of a Veal Hunters Sausage and a Veal Tuscan Sausage. The chicken sausages were raw, the veal sausages were fully cooked (though they did need some time on the grill to make them ready for eating).

Here are the chicken sausages posing on the grill (with a few Koegel's hot dogs for the kids):
And here is a little lump of chicken sausage ready for its close up:
Here are the veal offerings (Hunters on top, Tuscan on bottom):
And this is what my greedy-guts plate looked like:

The snaussages with their side dishes: Sarah's home grown tomatoes, basic red skin potato salad, and MJ's corn and barley salad.

And the tasting report? My favorite were the Chicken Sundried Tomato--a wonderful spice balance and nice and juicy. Second favorite was the Veal Tuscan--it was drier than the chicken (probably due to being precooked and just finished on the grill) and much richer, almost too rich for my taste. Again, a nice spice balance. Third place was the Veal Hunters--this is a smoked sausage and it was just too intense for me. I like smoked food a lot, but I had a hard time tasting any other flavor the smoke was so intense. And again, too rich for me. I think it would probably make a great ingredient when combined with other foods, but I probably wouldn't make it on its own again.

For desert we dished up a bit of the chocolate orange sorbet and made it a complete Bittman desert by serving it with his basic brownie recipe which is super fudgy and rich (and not for folks who want their brownies big and cakey). I promise a full brownie blog with the recipe soon.
Brian is still in Lebowski fest mode and mixed up White Russians (aka Caucasians) for anyone who wanted one as a dessert beverage.

Now I need to get my butt in gear and drive out to Saline for an Indian cooking class my friend John helped organize. Not to worry, a report will be coming soon.

Grilled pizza--who knew?

Wow do I ever regret waiting so darn long to try making pizza on the grill. I made it on Tuesday night and it was terrific and best of all, not too damn fussy.

I mentioned a long time ago that I have never made a successful calzone at home--the fillings always sogged out the crust no matter what changes I made, and the crust wasn't exactly delectable itself, being sort of shoe-leathery in texture. So I had pretty low cooking confidence going into this little recipe attempt. But it was stinking hot so I wasn't going to turn the oven on and I had some of that left-over fresh mozzarella that really needed to be used.

I looked up Grilled Pizza in the Cook's Illustrated on-line edition (which I pay an additional $19.95 for in addition to the $25 print subscription price and which still bugs me despite its proven use value) and followed their general instructions for making it on a gas grill. It's a long damn recipe and I'm happy to say that making it isn't as complicated as it first looked.

I made the dough recipe which turned out to be really good thanks to that miracle ingredient--Salt! It called for 1.25 t salt and I added a little more (1.5 t) which made a big difference in the flavor of the dough. There is also quite a lot of olive oil in the dough--2 T. They say that this oil content keeps the dough from sticking to the grill and it seemed to work.

Cook's didn't say to flip the crust, but I did because I hate the taste of raw dough so I briefly cooked the other side of the crust before adding toppings.

I didn't go for the toppings they suggested--fontina cheese, diced plum tomatoes, parmesan, spicy garlic oil and fresh basil--but instead used what I had in the house. My pizza was first brushed with regular garlic oil (one pressed clove warmed up in about 1/2 C olive oil), then layered with lots of fresh basil, then a layer of plum tomato slices that had been tossed with a little salt, then slices of Big 10s fabulous fresh mozzarella, then a little more of the garlic oil brushed on top and a sprinkling of kosher salt and some ground pepper.

This is what it looked like right before it went on the grill for the second time (the crust has already been cooked so it doesn't stay on very long--just enough to melt the cheese and warm up the whole concoction).
And here is what they looked like moments before we started shoveling them down.
The crust was a little smoky from the grill, crisp, salty and it held together well to deliver the toppings. And really, what can go wrong with tomatoes, basil and mozzarella? I drizzled a little of the Big 10 18-year balsamic vinegar on mine and it gave it a little extra zing.

Now that I have discovered how good and not too labor intensive these are I am kicking myself for not planting any Italian style tomatoes in my garden. I'll probably try these pizzas with some of my beefsteaks or green zebras once the bounty really starts to kick in, but I suspect they will be too wet to really work well.

Grilled Pizza
adapted from Cook's Illustrated

Crust
2 T olive oil
1 C water at room temperature
2 C bread flour (plus a little extra to flour surfaces)
1 T whole wheat flour
2 t sugar
1 1/2 t table salt
1 t instant yeast

Toppings
garlic oil--1 clove of garlic warmed up in 1/2 C olive oil
fresh basil--about 1 C
5 or 6 plum tomatoes sliced into rounds and tossed with about 1 t salt
fresh mozzarella--if you budget 1/4 lb per pizza you should have enough
balsamic vinegar--optional and on the side

Combine oil and water in liquid measuring cup. In food processor fitted with metal blade, process bread flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, salt, and yeast until combined, about 5 seconds. With machine running, slowly add liquid through feed tube; continue to process until dough forms tacky, elastic ball that clears sides of workbowl, about 1 1/2 minutes. If dough ball does not form, add more flour 1 tablespoon at a time and process until dough ball forms. Spray medium bowl lightly with nonstick cooking spray or rub lightly with oil. Transfer dough to bowl and press down to flatten surface; cover tightly with plastic wrap and set in draft-free spot until doubled in volume, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

When dough has doubled, press down gently to deflate; turn dough out onto work surface and divide into 4 equal-sized pieces. Set dough balls on well-floured work surface. Press dough rounds with hand to flatten; then use a floured rolling pin to get it approximately into a circle (remember it is supposed to look kind of rustic--ain't it great when you can pass off sloppiness for rustic authenticity?). Stack the dough rounds each on a sheet of parchment paper.

Light all burners and turn to high heat, cover grill, and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes; scrape cooking grate clean with grill brush.

Lightly flour a pizza peel (or use a sideless baking sheet); invert 1 dough round onto peel, gently stretching it as needed to retain shape (do not stretch dough too thin; thin spots will burn quickly). Peel off and discard parchment; carefully slide round onto hot side of grill. Immediately repeat with another dough round. Cook (with grill lid down) until tops are covered with bubbles and bottoms are grill marked and charred in spots, 2 to 3 minutes; then flip and grill otherside 1-2 minutes till the whole thing doesn't look raw anymore. While rounds cook, check undersides and slide to a cool area of grill if browning too quickly (you can do this with one side of the gas grill lit and one side un-lit but that means you can only do one round of dough at a time). Transfer crusts to cutting board with the more cooked side up. Repeat with 2 remaining dough rounds.

Brush crusts with Garlic Oil; top each with one-quarter of the basil, one-quarter of the sliced tomatoes and enough cheese slices to cover (don't overlap cheese or it will take too long to melt). Brush mozzarella with a little more garlic oil then sprinkle with a little kosher salt and pepper. Return pizzas to grill and cover grill with lid; cook until bottoms are well browned and cheese is melted, 3 to 5 minutes, checking bottoms frequently to prevent burning. (again, if the bottoms brown too fast you can always do the indirect heat thing with one grill lit and the pizza over the unlit side until the toppings have melted). Transfer pizzas to cutting board (tongs worked great); repeat with remaining 2 crusts. Cut into wedges and serve immediately. Offer a little balsamic if folks want to sprinkle a little on.

Three obsessions in one day

I think today is going to be a good day--I plan to indulge three of my four obsessions with worthy materials.

I picked up these books at the library last night:

From the top down:
Sorbets and granitas: Icy Delights, Cookies, and Sauces from the Duane Park Cafe (really fabulous looking recipes)
London 1945 (gasp--yes I'm reading non-fiction that has nothing to do with food!)
Florida (the NBA finalist, not a travel guide)
In My Other Life (more Joan Silber after loving Ideas of Heaven)
Matilda (all the buzz about the latest Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie has led me to crave a re-read of some Roald Dahl)

While cracking the cover of London 1945 I can have another bowl of Chocolate Orange Sorbet:

I had some last night and, once again, found reason to praise Mark Bittman to the stars. The sorbet is idiotically simple to make; as Bittman himself says at the beginning of the recipe (in his tome, How to Cook Everything) "The biggest bang for your buck in the dessert world." I made a slight alteration, replacing the vanilla he called for with 1/4 t orange oil.

Here is the recipe in its entirety:

Chocolate Orange Sorbet
adapted from Mark Bittman

1/2 C sugar
3/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey's European style Dutched cocoa which came in second in a Cook's Illustrated tasting and is half the price of the only cocoa to beat it--Callebaut)
2 C hot water
1/4 t orange oil (they sell this with essential oils at natural food stores and yes, it is edible in a diluted form like this. The original recipe for plain chocolate sorbet has 1/2 t vanilla extract. I bet it would also be terrific peppermint oil or extract.)

1. Mix together the sugar and cocoa then, stirring constantly, add enough hot water to make a thick paste. Add the remaining hot water and stir or whisk until smooth. Add the orange oil (or vanilla).
2. Refrigerate until cool and churn in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions.

That is it! Intensely chocolately, lovely finish of orange flavor, simple to make and fat free (if you care about fat). It was far more refreshing than an equivalent quantity of chocolate ice cream or gelato and a very nice addition to the desert repertoire at our house.

And tonight is knitting night at Sweetwaters cafe with the Ann Arbor Knit In.
There I can poll knitters as to whether it is worth continuing this:

This is the beginning of the Broadripple sock pattern from Knitty.com. It isn't the pattern I'm questioning but whether it is worth continuing in this yarn--Knitpicks Sock Garden in colorway Pansy. Unfortunately the yellow in the yarn does not blend smoothly into the black and combines to form a color I can only call dinge. Whenever I get to a stretch of this color I am knitting with an expression on my face that approximates what I look like when facing and smelling a week old dead mouse (something I did find in our basement recently--damn mouse crawled into a trash can and couldn't get out). Can I make it through 2 socks worth of repetitive ick-color-knitting-face?

Eating Like a Single Girl

With Brian out of town at the Lebowski fest I got to indulge myself and eat like a single girl again. In my case that means a cold supper of assembled small delicacies, the kind of dinner that Brian would view as a good appetizer (meanwhile, he is eating as many meals as possible at our favorite L'ville restaurant, Lynn's Paradise Cafe).

I made it across town to Big 10 and bought some of their fresh-that-day mozzarella purchased from the man who pulled it himself, some sopressata peppata and some of their bottle-your-own 18-Year Aged Balsamic Vinegar from Modena, Italy (to go with the Spanish olive oil I already bought there). I also bought some applewood smoked bacon to make a fine BLT with in the next few days .

When I got home I combined my purchases with my homegrown tomato and basil, and some Zingerman's Paesano bread that I had.

The mozzarella was even creamier than I remembered it with none of the rubbery texture that older "fresh" mozzarella sometimes has. The balsamic puddle proved to be the best accompaniment to the sopressata--the sweetness of the vinegar brought out the flavors in the salami. And the tomato and basil provided the pure flavor of summer.

I didn't drink quite the right wine with it--I had a bottle of Ravenswood Zinfandel Vintners Blend 2003 open (a good basic Zin to have on hand; it usually retails locally for about $12/bottle but Meijer's--I know weird place to buy wine but sometimes they have terrific deals--had it recently for $7.50) so I drank that, but the food really demanded something punchier with a little more tannic kick to it--if I had any of the Woop Woop Shiraz I bought last autumn it would have been perfect. (And yes, at first I bought it because the goofy name appealed to me, but then I went back and got some more after I tasted it--a good Shiraz for the price).

For dessert, I chipped some Ghiradelli dark chocolate off a big bar and nibbled it with some walnuts. A glass of port would have been perfect with it, but since I had to put Fiona to bed by myself (a challenge even when totally sober) I didn't pour myself a glass. By the time she eventually passed out (note: not, once again, in her bed but on the couch) I was too tired to dig around in the cabinet and find the port.

Pinkelman's Plants rocks

I have three beautiful beefsteak tomatoes waiting for consumption and I have them earlier than ever thanks to Pinkelman's Plants.

They pose in all their shiny glory near MJ's copy of Ideas of Heaven.

I love it when friends start a business that makes your own life better (and of course we are happy that they are happy blah blah blah, but really, it is much easier to be happy for someone when what they do makes you happy too.)

Sarah has been selling her plants at local farmer's markets--Chelsea, Ypsi, and even (after much wait for a spot) Ann Arbor. John and Ami bought some of her beautiful Morning Glories that we got to see last weekend during the latest gluttony fest--beautiful huge blue-purple blossoms. And I got to make specific requests for tomato plant varieties. Sarah humored me and grew the exact seedlings I wanted and now I have what I consider the perfect combination of tomatoes in only three plants--one big red beefsteak plant, one of the best cherry tomato plants ever--the orange Sungold (though in my house we call them sugar bombs) and my favorite heirloom, Green Zebra with medium sized tart fruits beautifully stripped in yellow on a background of vivid green. I picked a bunch of Sungold cherries yesterday too but they went straight in my mouth and didn't make it back home to pose for the camera.

Last year I didn't have much luck with my tomatoes--I overcrowded the plants, got too lazy to track down what I really wanted and ended up with one psycho plant and three other disappointments. The psycho plant was a cherry variety called Sweet 100s, but it really was more like Sweet 10,000. The plant grew and grew and grew till it was over 10 feet long and there were fruit popping out all over the place. I couldn't keep up with it--I picked colanders full on a daily basis. They were good cherry tomatoes, but not as good as Sungolds. And despite this tomato bounty I couldn't make a really good BLT because the Supersonics I planted produced 2 pathetic fruit and the big yellow tomato plant (can't remember its name) produced some fruit, but it was blah flavored. There was a grape tomato in there somewhere but it was pretty much smothered by the thicket of Sweet 100s that grew around it.

It's a good thing the tomatoes look so successful this year because it looks like my pole beans are a big bust. Last year they produced really well, this year they are still blooming when I know other people (Ami and John for one) have plenty of beans ready for eating. And the plants look really weird too--yes, I know a wired bean when I see one...My kale is doing really well though and I have some seeds hoarded away for a late lettuce crop when it cools down again.

I haven't quite decided how to consume those first three tomatoes though it did occur to me that Big 10 makes its fresh mozzarella on Saturdays, I have already indulged in some of Big 10's bottle-your-own olive oil (I bought the Organic DO Gata-Hurdes Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Spain and it is fabulous--grassy and vivid) and I have plenty of beautiful basil (thanks again to Pinkelman's Plants) all of which could combine to make a fine caprese salad.

You know the best thing about the salad is that I'll get it all to myself (unless Fiona becomes interested in tomatoes all of a sudden). Brian went off to Louisville with his best friend Brian (yes, they have the same first name, they are both automotive engineers and they both married women who bailed out of literature PhD programs...) to go to Lebowski Fest. I went last year and after about 3 White Russians I looked like this:

I just don't think there is any reason to revisit that state. And I suck at bowling.

Maybe this year Brian will win (or at least place) in the dude costume contest. Here he is last year with an incredibly freaky Jesus Quintana. The guy stayed in character all night long and even we were weirded out by him after a while.

I look forward to hearing all about the drunken revelries and freaky costumes and bowling scores, but this weekend I plan to put my feet up, bribe the kids with endless popsicles so they are nice to me, and, of course, eat really well.

Best damn summer beer snack

It is hot and humid and now is a fine time to share the best damn summer beer snack I've ever had. It also helps that it is so easy you can even assemble it after having had a number of beers on an empty stomach.

My friend Juliet introduced me to this after she lived for a year+ in Vietnam with her anthropologist husband, Ken. You take a lime, squeeze it into a bowl or on a plate, chop up a chile (I use serrano or jalepeno, but really any spicy variety will do fine), then pour about a tablespoon or two of kosher salt in the middle of the lime juice puddle. This will be your salty/sour/spicy dipping sauce for raw cucumber spears. Obviously fresh, unwaxed cukes from the farmer's market or your own garden are the best for dipping, but really even supermarket waxed ones are ok; you just might want to do some peel removal.

It sounds too easy and too basic to be so appealing, but try it. It really is my favorite summer beer snack--refreshing and crisp, salty and sour, and if you want a little more kick, just mash your cuke into the hot peppers. The only warning I give is that this really isn't something you serve to people who are sensitive about double dipping. If they are the intended eaters, cut the cukes in smaller bite sized pieces.

Open yourself a cold one (Bell's Oberon was particularly tasty this afternoon) and enjoy the flavors of summer.

Mish Mosh

Yesterday was a mish mosh kind of day, unfocused and all over the place.

There were a few memorable moments which included Ian making and enjoying his first recipe for Homemade Lemon-Lime Soda Pop. I have been trying to get the kid into the kitchen for years, but his disinterest in food and food preparation has been extreme. What got him in yesterday? I put it down to the magic of Saul. Yesterday afternoon, Saul gave Ian a birthday present--his first cookbook and the ingredients to make the soda pop (a lemon, a lime, sparkling water and apple juice concentrate). The cookbook is Pretend Soup by Molly Katzan--I checked this out from the library last year on Saul and Deb's recommendation and couldn't get Ian to even sit still to look at it. But getting a copy as a gift from one of his favorite people seems to have done the trick--Ian read the whole book yesterday, even the recipes that included vegetables, and was eager to get in the kitchen and make the soda. It is the best kid's cookbook I've seen with pictorial recipes that kids can follow easily.

And here is a photo of him enjoying his soda:

And we all know that a yellow wiggle straw makes it taste even better.

Here is to hoping that I can convince him to make a bagel face in the near future--it includes small quantities of many vegetables that Ian hasn't put in his mouth in about 3 years. I think I'll increase the likelihood of success and invite Saul over to make them with us.

The ice cream maker experimenting continues. Last night I made banana ice cream.

My version of Chunky Monkey.

It was good and banana-y, but too sweet for me. Unfortunately I made the too-sweet custard for it in the morning. Later in the afternoon I got to hang out for a while with Lynne and Deb both of whom have been making homemade ice cream for years. They agreed that almost all ice cream recipes have too much sugar for their tastes so they always cut it back. Next time I'll remember their advice. The gelato I made on Saturday wasn't too sweet thankfully.

And to finish out a mish mosh day I read through the second story of Joan Silber's Ideas of Heaven (another of the 2004 NBA finalists) and tried on my new socks for the first time:

Made with Knitpicks Memories sock yarn in the colorway Flower Power.

In person they look a little less like peppermint sticks--the orange and green are more prominent than in the photo.

Knitpicks just announced a new solid color superwash sock yarn called Essential which I am going to have to order when I get brave enough to do some lacy or cabled socks.

Another justification for gluttony

I ate a ton on Saturday night. My justification is that I needed to do so in order to neglect my stomach for all of Sunday so I could finish the newest Harry Potter (I did). All I had for lunch on Sunday was a cucumber. Sometimes one obsession (finishing a book) takes priority over another (stuffing my face). The only thing I laid off of on Saturday night was the wine (for once) so I could make sure I woke up with a sharp enough brain to make speedy book progress.

Now, getting back to the Saturday night feast. We went over to Ami and John's and, in between games of bocci, we were able to watch our paella master in action:

If you'd like to see John's t-shirt up close (and view other very cool shirts) look here.

Here is the paella almost ready to be eaten--it is still developing the delicious rice crust on the bottom of the pan:

The green beans were picked a few seconds ago from the copious supply in their garden.

MJ brought a salad with a terrific toasted hazelnut vinaigrette from a Mark Bittman recipe which helped cut through the richness of the paella.

And I brought my first attempt at gelato:

chocolate gelato with lemon shortbread cookies

The gelato was good, but didn't blow me away. The texture was fine--smooth and slightly custardy and it packed a chocolate punch, but it didn't have much aftertaste. I wish I had added some form of citrus to the gelato--maybe some orange oil or zest? Something to make the finish a bit more special. I don't have culinary memories with which to compare it because, it now occurs to me, I've never actually had chocolate gelato. When I was Italy I always ordered one of the fresh fruit flavors because they were so mindblowing--I was a particular fan of peach and melon gelato. The lemon shortbread cookies (from The Best Recipe) were delicate and buttery, but not lemony enough. I should have tripled the quantity of zest in them.

And the book? Mmmm, mmmm, good. If you are looking for a critical response to Rowling's latest, look elsewhere. I had a grand time feeling like a greedy 14 year old gobbling down a wonderful story and putting my critical brain on hold.