Hannibal rewatch: 1x07, "Sorbet"

As always, there will be a brief episode summary in the post, and discussion in the comments on my LiveJournal. Everyone's welcome to join in. There may be spoilers for the entire series.

( Episode summary under the cut )

cooking and baking

Yesterday I finally got around to baking another thing I'd intended for the Christmas season, this cranberry cheesecake with a gingersnap crust. It turned out . . . okay? The cheesecake part's fine, because it's hard to go wrong with cheesecake. But the crust is too buttery (even though I ended up using a lot more crumbs than the recipe called for, because the amount called for barely even covered the bottom of the pan) and the cranberry topping is a bit overwhelming. Also the recipe makes too much topping; I topped my cheesecake very very generously with it--too generously--and I still have lots left over. Which is okay, because the topping in itself is nice, but the cheesecake is like eating masses of sweet cranberry sauce with a little cheesecake under it. The whole thing's a little too sweet for my taste, too.

Next time I make a cheesecake, I think I'll try a shortcrust base instead of crumbs, and a sparer topping.

Right now I have a batch of Khubza Bil Ashab in the oven. These are Libyan-style buns made with whole wheat flour, with chopped olives, feta cheese, green onions and dried mint in the dough. I picked it as a handy way of using some feta-stuffed green olives I have left over from Christmas, and also as a ridiculous easy as well as delicious-sounding recipe. Lately I've been bored with the plain breads I usually bake. (The recipe comes from Jane Mason's The Book of Buns, which has a lot of interesting international buns and breads.)

Earlier today I cooked a big batch of pork* with Thai red curry, coconut milk, tomatoes and spinach. It was very tasty and the leftovers will come in handy during the work week. (Thai curries are a boon to the lazy cook, because the premade pastes you can buy are awfully good. Look for Mae Ploy brand. You can gussy the dish up, and I did add some chopped lemongrass and thinly sliced lime leaf as well as a bit of fish sauce and some palm sugar, but you can also skip all that and still get something nice. Though I'm sure proper Thai cooks would disapprove of using premade curry paste.)


It occurs to me that this weekend's cooking has been literally all over the map.


(*Since I've watched Hannibal, I feel like I ought to append every mention of cooking or eating pork with a "yes, pork pork, really. From the supermarket.")