Nearing the End of Jamie

Cooking 'through' Mr. Oliver's cookbook might have been an overstatement. It's not that I don't have the stamina for it. Some things are just not that feasible (like wild boar), some are beyond my equipment (like machine-rolled pasta dough), and some just aren't good (like anchovy related things). I'm willing to try something if someone hands it to me, but since I'm the one going to Fairway to pick up the goods, somehow anchovies don't make the weekly budget cut.

While I've made more recipes from Jamie's Italy than I have from any other cookbook, I'm not quite done yet, but I'm content to realize that I won't have done 'all' of them. You can call it a cop out, but I think it's just logical reasoning. However, here's what's in store for the next few weeks:

1) pizza (I'm seriously considering buying a pizza stone, but not sure that I've seen one that fits my tiny oven)

2) fresh pasta dough (I wanted to wait until someone had the grace to present my grandma's kitchenaid mixer with a set of pasta rolling tools, but my roller-pin will do fine)

3) more fish

4) more pasta recipes

It's strange to me that I haven't done more pasta, but that's what a project like this does. It forces me out of my comfort zone. It stretches me to consider new spices, techniques, recipes, and tastes. I am both a happier person and a better chef for it (the most recent wild mushroom risotto and shrimp frittata were some of the best things I've ever made).

As I finish out the remaining recipes in Oliver's book, I'm starting to look through my shelf to see what's next. In terms of cuisine, I'm pretty limited: french, spanish, greek, and American. I'll save American for last, but as I begin to flip covers of my french books I'm drawn toward Jaques Pepin. If I had barefoot, I would probably go for that, but for now, I'm staying away from buying more until I've used the ones I have.