Five question meme, Q 1 (meme, cooking)

[elainegrey]

Questions from Oursin

1. Do you have a go-to, never-fail thing to cook?

For potlucks and similar, deviled eggs.

Otherwise, i fail lots. I am getting better at various sheet pan roasts of tofu and veggies. I don't mind cutting up all the veg, and enjoy seasoning them. I've been learning various ways of crisping up the tofu: dredging in corn starch as a minor crust, corn starch, egg, and oil moistened bread crumbs for more crust. Sometimes it's roasted "naked" after marinade. Sometimes i over-crisp everything. AKA burned.

I guess i am getting proficient at quiche. We had some churn as i tried to figure out what was going wrong that Christine did not find them delicious. It turns out she doesn't really like swiss cheese in custardy things; sharp cheddar makes the dish sing for her. However, i can't see sharp cheddar and some of the "mix ins" i had used. Scallops and cheddar seems wrong. I thought mushrooms and swiss was a natural, but not for Christine. I suppose these didn't fail for *me*. I have also upped my crust game. I am now doing a very good job prebaking the crusts which mean i had to quit using the cheapest (store brand) premade pie pastry. The national brand (Pillsbury) is turning out lovely now.

My win at prebaking crusts comes from sandwiching the pastry between two heavyweight aluminum pie pans. I also splurged on precut and preshaped parchment paper. It's GREAT. So pan, parchment round, pastry, parchment, pan. Freeze for at least 30 min if i have time. Bake inverted in the oven for 20 min and work with gravity instead of against. Then take it out, remove the inner pan and parchment (which gets reused, because pennies saved), prick the base a little with a fork, and toast up, about ten minutes. I'm using the plain bake function at 350°F  (176°C) instead of the convection bake because i think it makes a difference. Now, assuming the crust is half decent, you have a lovely flaky crust.

I wish i could go back in time and tell my younger self that prebaking the crust REALLY makes a difference, and it is worth bothering. I am especially thinking of the times i tried making crust from scratch but skipped the prebaking. So many butter rich but bleh soggy crusts.

(Sources, including links to tools via Amazon, here)

More to come, and i am willing to give five questions to the first three who ask for questions.

Comments

[sonia]

Would love some questions when you get a chance!

Congrats on the quiche technique and results! I think a lot of being older and wiser is knowing from experience what’s worth the bother and what isn’t.

[elainegrey]

I hope these first few are interesting questions to think about.

1. Assuming you work in some agile derived methodology, what do you look for in a good sized story to work on? If not, what makes an attractive coding task for you?

2. Have you worked on code somewhere where subject knowledge is a significant component of the work as well as coding knowledge?

3. Do you like working with data structures more or do you think of objects and their actions more or do you think more about REST principles? (Or do you work in a different area of coding altogether?)

If "eh, work, no" comes to mind, substitute "What is your favorite plant to smell, vegetable eat, and fruit to include in cooking?"

4. Are there things you have been surprised you have a chemical sensitivity to?

5. Do you have a sense of the whole dance in your head or is it a chain of memories, movement one to movement two? If you have a sense of the whole dance, that's alien to me, and could you describe what a that's like? If it's movement one transitions to movement two, what movements and transitions particularly delight you?

[sonia]

Thank you! Answers here: https://sonia.dreamwidth.org/367740.html

[threeringedmoon]

For years scratch mac and cheese has been my go to potluck dish, but I am trying to find some alternatives that are not as rich. I do enjoy the results of oven roasting most vegetables, but they don't seem to be quite as much of a party dish.

ETA: I push off the baking on my partner: he is pretty good at it and makes a killer focaccia.

[elainegrey]

Oh, yum. A from scratch mac and cheese is a delight.

[tamena]

QUICHE!!!! I have one for you!
use diced ham, muenster cheese and asparagus for your savory ingredients!! It Is A YUM!!!

[elainegrey]

I don't think i've had much muenster, except in one divine triple cheese grilled cheese sandwich at a diner south of San Francisco....

[tamena]

we LOVE muenster in this house - specially in a grilled cheese =)

[amaebi]

Ah, deviled eggs. I prefer to call them Protestant Crack, because it amuses me. :D

Chun Woo has become a sound and delicious creator with tofu. It is a lovely thing to see and taste.

[zippybeta]

Thank you for the pie crust tip, I will have to try that next time.

[elainegrey]

That does sound like a delightful skill to see your son develop.

And yes, if one wants left overs, must leave them at home.

[yourlibrarian]

With quiche and deviled eggs on offer I'll bet people would like you at their potlucks!

[elainegrey]

8) I am now wondering what a Dreamwidth potluck would be like -- although it's a potluck in its own way, already.

[threemeninaboat]

Oh man I LOVE deviled eggs and I never make them, so happy that someone else does.

[elainegrey]

I love the many ways one can change the mood of the filling.