Beginner's Notebook: Sampler Platter

A few things on my mind (and on my stove):

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Today I attempted a somewhat complicated dish, using a recipe from a noted chef who I don't blame at all. The net result was a kitchen that looked like a war zone, four bland chicken thighs, and a vast quantity of undercooked rice. Contributing errors included both I-should-have-known-better mistakes, I'll-know-better-next-time mistakes, impatience, and possibly picking a recipe too short on precision for a beginning cook.  Key take-aways for me: 1) I now know how to blanch and peel tomatoes, and 2) 'coring' a tomato just means removing the little nubbin the stem attaches to, not removing all the guts.

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I am having this weird mental block on dessert baking. Though I have found that packing a homemade goodie with my lunch keeps me out of the vending machines, I am disinclined to do the kind of baking to produce those goodies. It's as though the things of this kind that I've done successfully have done nothing to give me confidence that I can do the next thing. Tonight I made a chocolate sheet cake from a box mix, hoping that the shortcut would help. The result is okay, though I made the non-fatal mistake of frosting a bit too soon. (I did make my frosting, because I associated canned frosting with tasting like shortening.)

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I am learning that I really like a variety of tastes and textures in many foods. I recently made a cole slaw with cabbage, carrot, a low-acid vinaigrette, raisins, capers, and some roughly-chopped almonds. To me, this was a great improvement over what's usually served as cole slaw. (Tonight's trivia: the 'cole' in 'cole slaw' comes from an old Gaelic word for cabbage, and is related to our word 'kale'.)


The discovery of my fondness for contrasting elements points to way to how I could approach other foods that I find good-but-boring, such as tomato sauce or macaroni and cheese.


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For me, the symbolic payload of making my own bread is enormous. It's much more powerful than with anything else I make for myself.


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Speaking of making things for myself: last night at the store I bought some pita chips and some hummus. As I ate, I grumped at myself a bit, wondering why I hadn't made my own hummus. It's easy, and I even have tahini. (Not making the pita chips didn't bother me at all. While I've done this, it's much more of a production.