Yesterday, my friend Sarah took me for a birthday lunch to Blackbird. If you can pardon my french, it was a much needed kick in the ass. I’ve been feeling “blah” about food lately. Yeah, you eat it. Yeah, sometimes it tastes good. Our lunch was seriously amazing, and was a wonderful reminder that food, when done correctly is sublime and memorable. Art that becomes a part of you, no matter how cheesy that sounds, it’s the truth.
So tonight, excited about the culinary once again (I imagine a career with food is much like a marriage- loving the basics, but being constantly surprised by the endless possibility in what you love) I tried something new. I love recipes, but cooking without them is more than slightly liberating. Why follow a recipe when I can make my own? This evening, faced with a limited pantry, I do believe I came up with something worth repeating. Repeat it yourself and enjoy.
Pea Souffle
.5 lb frozen peas
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup pickled garlic relish (any oily garlic will do, so if you don’t have access to garlic relish, just roast a head of garlic for 45 minutes with olive oil and blend with curry when they are roast)
4 eggs
2 tablespoons Madras Curry
*A hand blender is super handy in this recipe
** You will need a muffin tin, or if you are fancier and more prepared than I, souffle dishes. Butter them before you have too many Mai Tais.
Preheat you oven to 350 degrees, Farenheit
Thaw your peas. I boiled and strained them
Next, I blended them with the handblender. If you don’t have a handblender, you can use a regular one but it will be more time intensive.
Then put your garlic and curry in the mix, and blend that.
After the garlic, add the yogurt and the 4 eggs, mix with a spoon til smooth. Then, pour into muffin tins, or if you are fancy, souffle dishes. Make sure that you butter the baking instruments before you plop the mixture in.
FYI. I know it looks a little like baby poop. Just trust me, ok? Bake it at 350 for about a half hour. Eyeball it, pork it with a knife if need be. You know how your oven works better than I do. (I hope)
The mix should be puffy and a little golden around the edges by the time you take it out. Give some to your roommate and pair it with Siracha and a little coriander chutney, she’ll be happy… look!
Not bad for a Tuesday night.
If you’re feeling dull about food, just look in your pantry.
gogochicago 