To review, the posted menu was:
Red-cooked Chicken (Feb. 2007)
Sushi-Roll Rice Salad (Feb. 2007)
Mandarin orange sections
Mini Ice Cream Sandwiches (from Eating Well, April 2007)
As noted earlier, we thought the red-cooked chicken itself was very flavorful (I really liked the hint of the star anise!), but the sauce was unbearably salty.
I didn't have good luck with the rice, either! I made the rice the day before I wanted to serve it and mixed in the dressing and edamame while it was hot. At that point, it tasted fine, though a bit tart. Given that the recipe calls for cucumbers, it didn't make sense to me to use hot rice! I figured I'd add the carrots and cucumbers the next day to make a cold rice salad. I guess I used the wrong kind of rice (used whatever was in the pantry...I think it was Uncle Ben's converted white rice) because it was not soft the next day. I don't make rice all that often, so that was just my bad. :-) Anyway, the flavor had been fine while the rice was hot, but the flavor seemed to be gone the next day. I'll be interested to hear other experiences with this rice, because I really like the idea of it.
The mini ice cream sandwiches were quite good, though. I made vanilla wafers with raspberry sorbet and chocolate graham crackers with light coffee ice cream. The ones that tasted best were the ones that were in the freezer for a day or two, allowing the cookies to soften into the ice cream a bit. We thought these were very satisfying little treats. :-)
Red-cooked Chicken (Feb. 2007)
Sushi-Roll Rice Salad (Feb. 2007)
Mandarin orange sections
Mini Ice Cream Sandwiches (from Eating Well, April 2007)
As noted earlier, we thought the red-cooked chicken itself was very flavorful (I really liked the hint of the star anise!), but the sauce was unbearably salty.
I didn't have good luck with the rice, either! I made the rice the day before I wanted to serve it and mixed in the dressing and edamame while it was hot. At that point, it tasted fine, though a bit tart. Given that the recipe calls for cucumbers, it didn't make sense to me to use hot rice! I figured I'd add the carrots and cucumbers the next day to make a cold rice salad. I guess I used the wrong kind of rice (used whatever was in the pantry...I think it was Uncle Ben's converted white rice) because it was not soft the next day. I don't make rice all that often, so that was just my bad. :-) Anyway, the flavor had been fine while the rice was hot, but the flavor seemed to be gone the next day. I'll be interested to hear other experiences with this rice, because I really like the idea of it.
The mini ice cream sandwiches were quite good, though. I made vanilla wafers with raspberry sorbet and chocolate graham crackers with light coffee ice cream. The ones that tasted best were the ones that were in the freezer for a day or two, allowing the cookies to soften into the ice cream a bit. We thought these were very satisfying little treats. :-)
-jenni
"One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well." Virginia Woolf
"One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well." Virginia Woolf