This is most likely going to get temped… but anyway!
I tried to make this potato pizza-esque thing which I remember seeing in a cookbook in a bookstore once when I was bored.
The process is supposed to go along these lines:
Saute meat, vegies etc. Remove from pan and set aside when just cooked.
Layer thin slices of potato in pan. Cook until stuck together (don’t flip).
Layer meat, vegies etc. on top of potato layer. Add cheese, cover with layer of thinly slice potato.
(So right now you’re at:
(--------) Raw potato slices
(&%*#&#) cooked meat, vegies and grated cheese
(************) cooked potato slices (stuck together now)
Using a plate, get it out of the pan (raw potato side down - flip the pan upside down onto the plate). Slide it raw potato side down back into the pan, cook until the potato sticks together and then take it out and eat!
I had far too much meat in mine, I think, and I ended up with a mountainous concoction that looked terrible but tasted great.
I also discovered that adding sea salt to Carrefour’s standard thinly sliced pork when cooking makes it taste EXACTLY like English bacon. I’ll be eating a lot of it from now.
So… what things have other people discovered in the midst of a cooking disaster?
I got into making pies for a little bit.
This led me to reminisce about an old favorite - mushroom pie (really, a quiche). Hadn’t had (or made) one since coming to Taiwan. I set aside part of a Saturday night to prepare one. Didn’t need all that time, of course, but different cheese and mushrooms here, so I proceeded carefully. It looked great, it smelled great, it tasted … bad.
Little did I know, but the baking store’s frozen pre-made pastry (pie shell) I was using contained sugar. Wha …! Didn’t even notice it when chowing down on my fruit pies, but it sure ruined a mushroom pie.
No happy ending to this one either, as I don’t live in Taipei and I can’t find shortening (to make my own pastry) in my town.
What, no butter where you live? Now that IS sad!
Thanks Dragonbones!
I first came from a time and place where pie crusts were made with lard. In time (or is that “over” time), lard became unacceptable both to me and many others. Can you still even buy it? No matter. Shortening took over from lard. Finally, using only all-vegetable shortening became so imprinted onto my cooking consciousness that I completely ignored butter.
Yikes! I must re-imprint and be like the French. The three secrets to fine cooking: butter, butter, butter.
Yes, you can still buy lard, and vegetable shortening (and butter), at baking supply shops. There are such shops all over the island. Check [url=http://tw.forumosa.com/t/diy-baking-supply-supplies/22088/47 list[/url] to see if there’s one near you. If not, you can order the stuff online (get a local to help with the Chinese if necessary).
Dragonbones - OMG - there’s one right up the road from me - how did I not know that?
I love you for that list! <3
