this was almost a work post

...because work is eating my soul, in bites. Small bites, but dude, that just means there's more of them. Also, it froze again Monday/Tuesday, so we had a two hour delay. It's March. I honestly don't recognize weather anymore. I am so very done with winter.

In other, less interesting news:

1.) The cat is neurotic (expected), and we're all getting used to him appearing at random under us. I know cats do this--I know--but see, our dogs do this, too, but unlike cats, they don't have preternatural moving out of the way powers, so basically, there's no point in my life I don't have bruises on my shins, just now they're not necessary a third of the time.

2.) I got to the journeyman stage in tortilla making. Two coworkers gave advice, one of them taking up a very zen approach (You'll know you're ready when you can feel the tortilla is ready) which inspired me to stare into the pan trying to becoming one with flatbread. That worked out well. However, out of three batches, my second was wildly successful, by sheer accident, and they were eaten while I was cooking them so none for storage. The problem is there's no recipe that has what I call a small batch, which makes sense, because of the amount of margarine/butter/lard/shortening you use is so small that it's hard to divide it down more. However, that means when I get it wrong, there's a lot of leftover unbaked and waiting to be badly cooked. The last batch isn't bad, but it's--very flakey, too much so, and I have yet to figure out how this one went wrong when the last one didn't since the recipes are identical.

I think it's how I'm doing the margarine/butter/lard/shortening and flour mix together. I may try to start with one cup of flour mix and the margarine/butter/lard/shortening, then add in more flour when that's well mixed. It's enough like pastry in basics--and I know basic and complex pastries, it may be my only true gift--that I'm stuck in the wrong mindset while making it and treating it like pastry, hence very flakey and not very much tortilla. OTOH, it still tastes okay, just utterly useless for wrapping around fajita meat or carne asada.

(In case you're curious, I'm not using margarine/butter/lard/shortening, just one of those at a timee, but I was originally switching, and after consultation with people who are really good at this, decided to stick to lard until I get it right, then I can judge how to use substitutes. If I get this right, a coworker has promised she'll teach me naan, but I have to get a handle on flatbreads in general first or it will not end well. Well, and I have to pay her with a batch of tortillas using shortening or something vegetarian/vegan.)

3.) In food related news, my Indian coworkers are bringing out the snack foods again to helplessly addict us all. I usually get first pick, since I mentored several of them, and also it's a subtle test of my ability to eat hot things (there was a thing with lemon peel that mostly metaphorically set my mouth on fire; they were all extremely excited about this) or random things that they refuse to name until I eat it, because I'm the kind of person that responds to that very well. The latest is a very hard rice-based--I want to say like a chip, but it's not, it's in twists not unlike a pretzel (but nothing at all like a pretzel) and it has a faint spicy undertaste that was amazing. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to eat any until the woman who brought it left, so my Monday will be spent finding out what it is and who I need to kill to get a bag of it.

4.) In more food-related news, we finally got a rice cooker and I'm eating rice and veggies like it's a drug. I remember someone on my flist or dcircle talking about making rice and then just mixing it with leftovers and eating it for days, and for the record, that works. I've been mixing it up with wild rice, sticky rice, jasmine rice, random rice, and orzo (I think?), but I am actually eating healthier in general now, because add a little cheese on top of everything and my God, yes. It's also nice not to have burned rice. I know there are people out there that can cook rice without a layer of burn at the bottom; I am not one of those people.

5.) In even more food related news, we got a deep fryer. I don't want to talk about how my son managed ot master chicken wings and vegetables and my chicken wings and zucchini so failed sadly, but let's just say it happened and leave it at that.

6.) I had a lot of food related news, okay? It was fucking freezing and I'm either skipping meals or eating my own weight. It's--something. Food, okay?

Comments

[domarzione]

But the crunchy layer at the bottom of the rice pot is the best part! In Persian and other cultures, that's the bit that goes to the guest. But I respect the rice cooker. I just don't have space for it in my kitchen.

I make Indian food all the time from scratch, but I still buy parathas because they're $2/4 in any flavor and better than anything I could do.

[seperis]

Not when it's blackened darkness of evil. All the rest of the rice is perfect, possibly protected by the burning black crust of darkness.

A couple of my coworkers offered recipes, but I haven't had a chance to get to their recommended grocery store for some of the ingredients. This one chickpea dish--no words, so good. I have to make an effort to get there and try to make it soon.

[domarzione]

http://www.manjulaskitchen.com/2009/07/07/chole-palak-chickpeas-with-spinach/

I make this all the time, with slight variations and canned tomato. It's simple enough for a weeknight, it has iron (I'm anemic), it freezes well (so does rice, btw), and it's tasty. It's also probably an excellent beginner's recipe, especially if you haven't built up a spice pantry; you can live without the asafetida and garam masala if need be.

[synecdochic]

Gut instinct is that the tortilla variation is a) the temperature the butter/lard/margarine/shortening is at when you both mix it into the dough and when you begin to form the tortillas and b) the length of time the dough rests between mixing and shaping -- both those factors affect gluten and gliaden formation. If you want to approach it scientifically, I suggest a meat thermometer, a timer, and a spreadsheet. :)

[seperis]

Okay, now I feel stupid, because the temperature thing; I just bought the lard so it was room temperature on batch 2 and everything worked. On batch three, it was refrigerated. That's how I do pastries--I KNEW PASTRY WOULD BE THE PROBLEM. I froze my fingers on puff pastry to get--oh my GOD--flakey crust. I do the same with strudel. This is ridiculous.

This is like staring into the sun while it mocks you. My God.

[synecdochic]

:) pleased to be of service, ma'am.

(we've been doing a lot of kitchen experimentation and food science ourselves lately, which is what made me think of it!)

[seperis]

I can't believe I didn't, even knowing I have a pastry block! God, this is strudel and oil-based pastries all over again. Nothing destroys your ability to conceptualize pastry as making puff pastry once; forever after, you are paranoid about butter temperature.

(note: only food I ever made I had to keep a bowl of ice water to knead the goddamn butter and lost feeling in my fingers for hours working with it. I still remember having to keep everything in the freezer during rest periods and seriously thinking frostbite was totally worth a full puff. I was that far gone.)

THANK YOU. I'd probably still be sulking into my (very flakey) tortillas for another few batches without you.

[synecdochic]

Hee. Yeah, the more I read up on things and find out the science behind what works and what doesn't for various things, the more it gets me thinking about it.

To compensate for the sulking, I offer you the best goddamn chocolate chip cookies ever made.

[malkingrey]

I made puff pastry once. Like I wrote a short program in BASIC once. (Possibly not coincidentally, these things occurred at roughly the same time in my life.)

Having thus proved to my own satisfaction that the thing was possible, I've been content to let other people make my croissants and write my programs ever since.

[malkingrey]

It's also nice not to have burned rice. I know there are people out there that can cook rice without a layer of burn at the bottom; I am not one of those people.

Rice cookers are wonderful tech. They only do one thing, but they do it far better than I ever could -- my usual rice failure wasn't burnt rice, it was watery rice, though burned was also an option (usually after trying to correct the watery rice by boiling it some more.)

Leftover rice is good heated up in the microwave with soy sauce and sesame oil and a bit of hot oil or sriracha, and then having an egg mixed in while it's still hot and steaming.

[pudacat]

Your son managed chicken wings etc., when you didn't because he's not human. Anyone who's followed you for years due to your awesome fanfic knows this. (Looks down and hums)

Son isn't human, and the sooner you accept this, the better. (Thank God I live thousands of miles away from you. When he takes over the world, I'll have a heads up, and can run).

[elaran]

hahah assuming you mean murruku?

went back to the motherland for a visit and oh god nothing beats indian food for me. we holidayed first before seeing family so as soon as i saw a shop selling some, bought it however i only managed to steal one before the boyfriend devoured a bag full in glee