Tuesday 28 December 2010

No new big disasters to report

It's been a couple of weeks since I last posted here.  This is due to a couple of reasons:
1. I have restricted myself to cooking things that I know how to do, and haven't had any disasters (well, except for today, when I managed to cremate a dozen chipolatas under the grill)
2. It's Christmas! My partner reads this blog (and has both reminded me of disasters that I'd forgotten and prompted me to update occasionally), so she has made sure that all Christmas meals have been cooked properly, by cooking them herself!

She allowed me to help with the Christmas Day dinner, by cooking roast potatoes.  I like my roast potatoes cooked in a specific way, with their sharp edges scrumbly.  I think I have explained before in this blog about what "scrumbly" means when defining roast potatoes, so I won't do so again (unless anyone comments that they don't understand).  My partner's parents were staying with us for a few days, and the single negative comment made by them regarding their meals while they were with us was "the potatoes were burnt".  So, over Christmas, I have a 100% disaster-rate for my cooking, whilst having lots of wonderful food!

Tuesday 14 December 2010

Disaster Averted!

I almost had a disaster today, but I managed to avoid it :)

Cheese on toast isn't the most exciting of dinners, or the most tricky ... I am very confident in being able to cook cheese on toast without problems (unless you count slightly burnt toast around the edges as a problem).

My partner wanted fancy cheese on toast.  Buttered toast, with ketchup smeared, then Italian herbs and finally the cheddar.  This was no problem.

I fancied egg on cheese on toast.  every now-and-then, it's nice to have a fried egg on your cheese on toast, so I turned the hob on.  I realised that I had left a new tin of chocolates beside the hob, and these would melt, so I reached over to move the tin.  Of course, this meant me taking my hand off the burner dial, which stopped the piezo lighter from igniting the gas, the burner went out but the dial was still on full power.

After moving the tin out of the way, I went back to my frying pan, at which time I noticed the smell of gas.  A quick scan and I realised what had happened, so I turned off the burner and wafted the gas away before igniting the hob again.

So, disaster averted.

The smoke alarm siren still blared, but hey - I was using the grill, and the smoke alarm always fires when I use the grill!

Tuesday 7 December 2010

A Challenge!

Krin, a dear friend, is emigrating (back) to Australia tomorrow.  She has given me a challenge!

Perhaps she had some strange ingredients left-over from her stay here and I am most-amusing for cocking up the use of them, but she definitely put some thought into a challenge for me, using these to stretch my culinary expertise.

I have the following instructions:

Cooking Disasters Blog Challenge
Use each of these ingredients in SEPARATE dishes: + WRITE ABOUT IT!
1. Tahini
2. Dijonnaise  (on top of potatoes is OK)
3. Capers
4. Beer Mustard (on a sandwich is OK)

I have some questions:
What on EARTH would I do with Tahini?  Is it even a foodstuff?!?!
I know Dijon Mustard (and might possibly combine a dollop with some cheese to make a dish cheesier), but Dijonnaise?
Capers look like pickled peas.  Is there anything I can make with these that could possibly be appetising?
Beer is good. Beer Mustard doesn't sound like something I'd happily order in a pub!

the game is afoot!  Watch here for my fabulous concoctions from these strange items!