Had a typical cooking moment last night, which I think really sums up why I can never tell someone in advance what I'm bringing to a party or potluck.
Started out grabbing a pack of what I thought were d'anjou pears in the grocery store.
Wasn't hungry after riding, so I pulled two of them out to have a snack instead of dinner. Turns out they were Bartlett pears (yuck..mealy and bland).
Thought I could salvage the pears by slicing and shaking them up in a bag with cinnamon and sugar. Hey, why not? Works for apples.
Used WAY too much cinnamon.
Tried to dilute it with more sugar
Now pears are mealy, bland AND gritty.
Thought I might still salvage them so I tossed them in the wok with a chunk of butter to cook.
Added brown sugar.
hmmm..do I have any pie crust? I could make baked caramel pear empanadas.
Pie crust is frozen....nope, not worth it at 8pm.
Caramelized pears it is.
wait, did I ever put the ice cream maker back in the freezer? cinnamon ice cream with sauteed pears and caramel sauce.....
Nope. Ice cream maker isn't in the freezer. That's ok, no cream in the fridge anyway.
They smell done
hmmm...streusel.....
Ended up just splitting the pears and the now very gooey hot cinnamon caramel sauce into two bowls, depositing one in front of JD at his computer. At least I have someone else to inflict these experiments on. At some point when I put a lot of work into a dish I can't even stand to look at it or smell it any more, much less eat it.
Turns out there's more pectin in the pears than in apples though, because the caramel turned roughly the consistancy of mucous.
Amazing how some people aren't willing to eat something after I proclaim "Holy crap it's cinnamon-caramel snot" as I let it drip suggestively from a spoon.
So most of it was tossed anyway.
So no. I can tell you what ingredient I'm starting with, but I really, honestly, can't tell you what finished dish I'm bringing to pass. Trust me though. If you grit your teeth and bear the uncertainty, I'll make it worth your while. Remember the Oaxaca Hot Chocolate scones that began their life as chocolate chip cookies and lost all evolutionary control? I still get requests for those. Wish I could remember how I made them.
A blog about fat, body acceptance, social justice, science, and occasionally politics. Please read the comments policy before leaving comments.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
2 comments:
All comments may be moderated. If you think you're entitled to free speech, you are, on your own blog. This is my blog. I have opinions that are often subjective, and as I'm not running a documentary or research organization, there's nothing wrong with a little subjectivity. I also have the right to not approve or delete comments I find mean-spirited, idiotic or encouraging what I consider objectional, dangerous, or plain stupid practices (such as weight loss or cosmetic surgery, changing your body to please others (i.e. "dieting"), spreading hate, etc.). If you voice disagreement with anything I say, and you do it in an intelligent matter with clear research citations to your claims and conclusions (popular media articles don't count) I will probably allow the comment. I will also probably debate you and try to refute your claims. If at any time that devolves into stupidity or attack, I will start deleting your comments. If you disagree with what I say by spouting pseudoscientific popular opinion, displaying prejudice or hate, or otherwise acting like an ass-hat, I will delete your comment. That's pretty much the policy, subject to change without notice :-)
I soooo would have eaten the pear concoction. What's wrong with a little peary mucous once in awhile.
ReplyDeleteAt least you make a valent effort to work with the food, rather than just throw it away. That is by far more than most would do. Enjoyed reading about the adventure in the kitchen! Thanks
ReplyDelete