Tournament Weekend with Gertrude

For this three day weekend during which I fairly minimal necessary school work, I decided to experiment quite a bit in the kitchen.  My efforts yielded a wide variety of results. I had a loss, a draw, a win and one that is still TBA. In order to end this post on a positive note,  I will start with my loss: cookies.  

I must admit, I have never actually made cookies in Gertrude before. I have observed during my roommates' cookie-making experiences that cookies bring out the worst side of Gertrude.  She feels the need to cook the heck out of the bottom of the cookies and just channels so much of her energy there, that she forgets about the other 2/3 of the cookie (ie, the inside that needs to be baked).  Nevertheless, I though Gertrude would behave for me, since we have such a special bond.  

I excitedly whipped up http://allrecipes.com/recipe/oatmeal-butterscotch-cookies/ with some added walnuts that I decided would make a nice touch.  I didn't grease the pan, just like the instructions said, and I put them in the oven.  The recipe said it would take 8-10 minutes to cook.  However, just THREE minutes in, I sensed an unpleasant smell coming from Gertrude.  The bottoms were completely brown and the tops were still mush! Not cool Gertrude.  YOU HAVE ONE JOB!!!  

Anyways, in case you were wondering, the dough tasted wonderful.  So this is definitely a recipe I

need to try again..... perhaps in a different oven.  

On the same topic of second tries, I decided to retry the whole cauliflower pizza thing (remember http://cookingwithgertrude.blogspot.com/2013/01/cauliflower-cooking-catastrophe.html) .  I used the same recipe http://www.theluckypennyblog.com/2013/02/the-best-cauliflower-crust-pizza.html.  Sparknotes of my "Cauliflower Cooking Catastrophe Post": I accidentally mixed the cheese and egg with the cauliflower before microwaving the cauliflower for 4 minutes.  Whoops.  This time around, I did everything exactly as the recipe said.... except I baked the crust on tin foil instead of parchment paper. No big deal, right? I didn't think so. Well, I excitedly loaded up the pizza with sauce, mozzarella, chicken, broccoli, garlic, spinach.... basically the whole nine yards.  I baked it as the instructions said and took it out of the oven. Looks sort of like a pizza: 

  Then I tried to cut it....... The tin foil was a bad choice.  Gertrude thought it would be nice to fuse together the crust and the foil.  So basically, cutting this pizza made it so it was not a pizza anymore.  I am going to call this "cauliflower casserole" instead of cauliflower pizza.... it's a unique "cooking with Gertrude" creation: 

It actually tasted delicious too.  Nevertheless, I decided this was my tie with Gertrude. She didn't quite cooperate but I have able to salvage a delicious product. 

Onto the win: whenever I am on pinterest, I spend the majority of my time on one of three boards: "humor"(who doesn't like Internet memes), "food and drink" (duh) and "health and fitness" (I guess, duh).  The "food and drink" recipes are usually pretty outrageously delicious, but not the most healthy.... okay let's be honest... most of the time they are outrageously unhealthy.  Therefore, I try to spend some time on the "health and fitness" board because it usually has some more healthy recipes .  One of pins I would commonly see was that for spaghetti squash recipes. I love squash, and I love spaghetti, so I was fairly intrigued by the idea that this squash could closely mimic pasta and decided to give it a shot. 

 First, I had to roast the spaghetti squash.  This means I basically stabbed the squash like crazy with a knife and put it in the oven for 80 minuetes at 375 degrees.   I was a bit worried after four minutes when I heard weird noises coming from the oven, but the squash ended up turning out perfectly and it was fairly easy to scoop the "spaghetti" out of it once I let it cool .  I used the following recipe: http://www.marthastewart.com/873339/roasted-squash-parmesan-and-herbs.  Did it taste like spaghetti? Not at all.  However, it was still delicious because it tasted like thanksgiving stuffing, which is always a win.  I also whipped up some roasted green beans/sweet potatoes/asparagus medley, which complemented it quite well. 

And finally, my baking project that is still up in the air.  Apparently, this breadmaking method yields some amazing bread with various complex flavors.  I honestly don't know how complex of a flavor bread can possibly have, so I was very intrigued.  I will talk more about this in future blog posts, but here is the recipe I am following http://www.marthastewart.com/907240/chad-robertsons-tartine-country-bread.  It requires a starter that takes about three weeks to make, so the making of this bread is a fairly large commitment.  The ending bread just looks so good though, so I am hoping it is worth the effort and that Gertrude does not mess everything up.  Anyways,  the first step is to mix flour and water and wait two days for bubbles to form. YUMMMMMMM.... If you don't believe me that this bread is going to be delicious, watch this video: http://vimeo.com/14354661