(no subject)

[coraa]

Cook's Illustrated taught me that if you can't get good fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes are better for most (not all) applications than mediocre fresh tomatoes. This is doubly true if you have time to roast the canned tomatoes, to concentrate and slightly caramelize the flavors. I used this lesson tonight in making World's Easiest Bruschetta (canned crushed tomatoes, roasted at 350 for an hour or so [long enough to largely dry them out, but -- this is important -- not entirely] and then broiled for 5 minutes, mixed with an equal quantity of decent-quality olive tapenade [you can make your own, but then it's not World's Easiest anymore], and spread on well-toasted rounds of bread). It was also pretty darn healthy, especially since the tapenade I used didn't have too much salt or oil.

Unfortunately, all the cooking I do, combined with my general clumsiness, means I burn myself a lot. At least I don't cut myself, I guess. Ow.

Comments

[porfinn.livejournal.com]

That's funny, considering I am the queen of slice and dice-ing my fingers, but not so big on the burning. I am not especially clumsy, but I do move way too fast, so that is probably a liability with regards to pointy objects. It also doesn't help that I have incredibly high pain thresholds, so I don't care as much as I should. Perhaps that is also why I don't burn myself, I don't notice it happening. What's odd is that I can move hot pans and things about the kitchen that are allegedly too hot for delicate mathgeek fingers, but toasted bagels always are too hot to take away from the toaster! Without fail, I will take the toasted bagel out and be inconvenienced by a odd sensation that takes me a moment or two to accept as pain. Handling toasted bagels should not hurt more than moving a cast iron pan about, but they do! Stupid, annoying things!

[coraa.livejournal.com]

My wound from last night came from pulling cast-iron out from under the broiler. I used a potholder, but it slid a little and I wound up with the heel of my hand right in contact with 500F metal. Ow!

Most of my scars come from cooking, one way or another.