This week feels like it's gone on forever. I'm beat.Wednesday's NYT Dining In had my favorite food porn type of article: perfect pie crust. You'd think after reading and clipping every article of this kind I've ever seen I'd be the reigning gold medalist in both the single and double pie crust events. But no, I haven't even been invited to try out for the team.
Pie lady made 5 pie crusts with various approaches to the fat part: 1 all butter, 1 all shortening and 3 with different amounts of both.
She said butter won hands down. Dang, I don't like butter crust. (I'm appalled, too but I like what I like.) I use the all shortening method which she says is popular because it's easier to handle. If that's easiest I guess I'd better to stick to what I'm doing.
Don't you think being a test cook would be a weird job?
Every time I read an article and they roasted 18 turkeys, or made 12 kinds of green bean salad or once it was bread pudding and I swear the article said they made 40 different kinds to find the perfect recipe, all I can think about is the stuff that didn't work. Do they give it to homeless shelters? Do they take it home to their families? Who had to taste and report on 40 different kinds of bread pudding? Do they throw lots away? Are they so sick of bread pudding by the end that they have the perfect recipe for a food they never want to see again in their lives?
I hate wasting food and I remember how awful I felt tossing a huge pan of carrot cake that I'd royally screwed up. I think I forgot half the flour and it was a soupy mess that nothing could save. It made a hollow whump! when it hit the bottom of the garbage can. I didn't make it again.
