So How'd It Go?

Well, we have no idea yet. She said she thinks she did okay. I'm oddly reassured by this, as when she comes home with a chipper, "I did GREAT! I ACED it!" That generally means that she did quite the opposite. So we're on standby with the test; we'll see what gives.

Last night I made a roasted sweet potato and garlic custard from Steve Raichlen's High-Flavor, Low-Fat Italian Cooking. I bought this cookbook a few years ago when I still believed in the mystical powers of not eating fat. It's a surprisingly good cookbook, and has given me, among other things, my present skillz with asparagus. And they are skillz; it's our family's favorite food. For her birthday dinner, my daughter requested pizza, mac & cheese, and asparagus.

Overall, the custards were very good. It called for 1 medium head of roasted garlic. I used half a large head,  and they tasted a bit too much of garlic. Next time I'll put in four-five bulbs and call it even. I think I will make it again, but not for a while. I spent hours on it, and when the family came to the table, their reaction was, "that's it?"

The good news is that while it's time-consuming, it's simple. Roast a couple of large sweet potatoes and 4 - 8 cloves of garlic at 400F. Garlic should take about 20 minutes; sweet potatoes take about an hour.

Remove skin from sweet potatoes and squeeze garlic from its casing. I mashed these together (no food processor; I know! I, the queen of gadgetry here recently, don't have a food processor.

Put it in a blender with a couple of tablespoons of fresh parsley, some salt and pepper, and a little nutmeg. Slowly add a couple of beaten eggs and blend until it's smooth.

I baked for 30 minutes at 350 it in 8 half-cup ramekins lined with parchment paper and smeared with olive oil. In retrospect, this was just for show. The paper and oil allowed you to dump the custards with the form intact. I think it would have been just as cute to eat the custard straight from the ramekin. Next time I won't bother with the parchment paper.

The kids are off to school now, and I need to shower and finish this coffee.