A Confession
I have strayed.
Father, forgive me.
Back when we lived in Southern California, we had one of those electric crepe pans that were in vogue at the time, and I'd purchase crepe batter at the market and make crepes. I don't know what happened to that thing, but I haven't seen it since we moved. We also used to go to a restaurant in Woodland Hills called the Magic Pan, that made crepes, and they had a turkey divan that I just loved. But they, too, succumbed when crepes went out of fashion. I can't even find the batter at the store any more.
My hankering for crepes finally got the better of me, and tonight I made a batch of crepe batter, from scratch, and made crepes using our regular frying pans (nonstick Castalon). I'm sad to report the outcome of my do-it-yourself project. They were great. I hate that.
We have lots of kitchen gadgets. A breadmaker, a Cuisinart, fancy cutters and choppers and dehydrators, you name it. I'm a gadget freak. One of the gadgets I'm kinda fond of is our deep fryer. I like making deep-fried artichoke hearts, and donuts, and fritters, and funnel cakes (what our daughter at a tender age referred to as "yellow worms").
The problem with deep frying is that the stink fills the house, and it drives me crazy. So, the last time I made cream puffs, I decided to try an experiment. After covering a Silpat mat with blobs of cream puff batter (pate a choux) and putting them in the convection oven, I filled our smallest sauce pot with oil and made some fritters with the leftover batter. Again, I'm sad to report that they turned out great, and the smaller pot produced hardly any smell, which the fan was able to vent satisfactorily.
This is a bad situation. What's the world coming to when I can cook stuff adequately without the fancy gadgets I like? What a cruel state of affairs. I'm going to get kicked out of the Union of Gadget Heads for sure. You won't tell, will you?
At least I can take comfort in knowing that the cream puffs turn out better on a Silpat mat (a non-stick silicone sheet), without needing to be greased, and the bottoms of the puffs don't burn or stick at all.
I have strayed from the path of gadgetness. Woe is me.
Blog Tag: Chatter
Posted 4/21/2005 10:22:00 PM
L
On 4/22/2005 10:22 AM, 
said...
On 4/22/2005 12:12 PM, 
dkgoodman said...
On 4/22/2005 12:55 PM, said...
3 Comments:
Wow. And I thought that I had a lot of gadgets, not that I use them anymore. Now, they just take up space. But, my husband loved kitchen gadgets and gave them to me for every, and I do mean EVERY special occasion. I guess it's a guy thing. I learned to use the equipment and made elaborate meals, although I never felt that I actually needed the gadgets to cook well.
I've been alone for over seven years now, and my eating and cooking habits have changed. I live mostly on the four basic food groups of fruit, milk, salad and bitter chocolate. There is no need to cook, unless company comes over. Even then, I find it to be too much trouble to drag out the heavy equipment, so I only use the most basic of tools. The results are more than acceptable.
Referring back to your blog of last November (which I really loved) concerning the frozen frog in your freezer, I also make pastilla for special occasions. It is such a messy production that I usually make several extras and freeze them. Later, when they are thawed and baked, you can't tell that they weren't freshly made. It's a great way to impress guests that I care enough about them to make pastilla just for them. Little do they know. ;)
I'm the last person who should be saying this, because you should see my freezers, but did you guys really go over seven years without cleaning out your freezer? :)
Dave, I am impressed with your culinary skills. It must be a challenge for your family to watch their weight with so much yummy temptation lying around. :)
We don't make stuff like this that often, but we do have to watch our weight. It's one of the reasons we go hiking so much. :)
We almost never clean out the freezer. (Especially since the advent of frost-free freezers.) Periodically we may examine the contents and start tossing stuff, but only that which is readily visible.
We also keep a lot of blue ice (we go on trips or camping), so things hidden behind the blue ice can go undiscovered for quite a while. And we keep some big quart containers of frozen water, just to reduce the airspace to make it more energy efficient, and to retain the temperature if we suffer more energy blackouts.
We used to keep a bag of frozen peas in the freezer door for injuries, but now we have frozen packs of soft gel.
I never like leftover pastilla quite as much as fresh. The filo dough isn't as crisp, and I love the crispness when it comes out of the oven. If you like pastilla, you should try The Marrakesh in Sherman Oaks (if it's still there). Great Moroccan food and belly dancing. :)
The Marrakesh is where I discovered pastilla. It has been many years since I've been there, but I remember the night well. I arrived wearing a slinky knit outfit that showed off my figure. When I left, I had to keep my purse in front of my stomach to hide the embarrassing bulge. What a way to impress a date. :)
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