I've always despised the works of Salvadore Dali. Imagine my chagrin when something I made came out looking like something Dali might have painted:
'The Persistence of Cannoli
Regardless of me channeling Dali in my kitchen yesterday, the cannoli still tasted good. I don't say delicious because the shells weren't quite as crisp as they should be. I couldn't get the dough rolled thin enough by hand (something I must practice at that pasta maker I'm lusting after has yet to turn up at my house) to allow it to properly blister in the fryer thus creating the desired crisp shell. At best, the shell was crunchy.
Also, as you can see the filling was um....a little runny. It wasn't when I started. After I made the filling (finally I have found a source of non-grainy ricotta--thank you lord and also cute cheese counter girl at Whole Foods who recommended it to me!), I kept it in the fridge for over an hour and it was quite firm when I piped it in the shells. I placed the platter in the fridge to keep while I started dinner--Chicken Marsala and Whipped Potatoes for those interested--and when there was a lull in dinner making activities I pulled it out to snap a picture. The filling was still holding it's perky-piped-with-a-star-tipped-nozzle shape but by the time the camera was ready--45 seconds mad dash upstairs and back down again for fresh batteries--it was already starting to go limp. Guess that's what you can expect from a house with an internal temperature of 79.
Ah, well. Rick and I still enjoyed them. Oh, and for anyone not easily offended, I recommend seeing Burn After Reading.
**Edited to add: Rick just informed me that the wine bottle looks like a prop. Really, it wasn't. It was used (obviously) in the Chicken Marsala we had for dinner AND it was used (not so obviously) in the cannoli shells. Therefore, I say it deserves a place in the picture!
