A week of trying new things, and trying new ways of doing not-new things. Discovering the new, and challenging the not so new- two of my favorite ways of learning. And, as so often happens, learning has led to change!
I will never make coleslaw the same way again, I may sometimes steam couscous, and tomato pie is awesome.
What? you were waiting for some profound, metaphysical message of learning and growth and personal change? hey. it's not that kind of blog.
Now, about this week's kitchen experimentiness....
1.Salting shredded cabbage before transforming it into coleslaw! What a trick! Look at how much cabbage juice I stopped as it was on it's way to turn the bottom of the serving bowl into a swimming pool!
2.The couscous. I had a little extra time, and decided to try Alton Brown's method of steaming couscous instead of dousing it in boiling water:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/steamed-couscous-recipe/index.html
was Alton's way better? Well, of course. Alton's a genius, a hero, an artist, a scientist, a kitchen god. I am not being sarcastic. No, really, I'm not. His way gives you perfect, fluffy little bits of unsoggy unclumpy couscous, that are eager to be embraced by whatever lovely dressing or topping you've planned. His way is also alot more trouble than pouring boiling water over a bowl of dried couscous and waiting a few minutes. So, if you find yourself with time to fiddle with steamers and tea towels, try it. Otherwise, heat the kettle, and follow the instructions on the couscous box.
and lastly....
3.Guess what!? Tomato pie is amazing! It's a pie! It's biscuits! except it's really vegetables doused in cheese!
True, I'd planned it for Monday, but on Saturday morning we found ourselves wandering round a local farmer's market, where we picked up some tomatoes and corn, had a nice coffee at a local coffee shop, wandered home, and then....it rained! No, really! Water fell from the sky! And not only did we have a lovely, soaking, all afternoon rain, but the temperature dipped below 90 degrees! It was the best day in weeks to crank up the oven and fill the house with the smell of baking!
here's what happened
First, the dough-
I had a hunch I'd want to use some dough for another pie soon, so I doubled the biscuity crust from here:
http://bunsinmyoven.com/2011/08/17/tomato-and-corn-pie/
but, I didn't have buttermilk, so I used this great old trick:
It's magic. and chemistry. It's memistry.
I cut back on some of the butter, pretty much just so that I could pretend that by reducing 12 tablespoons of butter to 8 I turned the whole thing low fat. That's not chemistry. It's just magic. Or maybe magical thinking. Yep, it's that. It's minking.
I had to use a little extra milk to make the dough moist enough to handle, and I threw in some dried basil and parsley.
on to the filling-
After polling the home audience on the relative ickiness of tomato skins, I decided not to peel them. I quartered them, and used a citrus juicer to squeeze out the juice:
I used the filling from smitten kitchen:
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2009/08/tomato-and-corn-pie/
I substituted plain Greek yogurt for the mayo (yes, in this magical kitchen that one substitution cancels out using nearly a full cup of cheddar cheese) and saved a little time and work by mixing it all up in a bowl instead of layering it. The result?
I'll be revisiting this as long as fresh tomatoes are in season- next time without corn, and with fresh basil. And mozzarella with the cheddar. And maybe next time I'll give myself a break and use premade pie crust. And then I'll eat the whole thing in less than 2 days.
new menus Wednesday-
happy cooking, happy experimenting, happy learning, happy eating to all.
No comments:
Post a Comment