I think I mentioned this before, but my one weakness as a cook is that I’m slow with prepwork, especially in the knife skills department. So in late May/early June, I asked my friends for suggestions for what to make to practice my knife skills.
Potatoes Au Gratin
Sunday, May 29, 2016 – Potatoes au gratin, aka potato casserole. I got the recipe from Good Eats Season 1 Episode 2. Ironically, Alton Brown says not to follow a recipe. Oops.
Basically, potatoes au gratin is thin-sliced potatoes layered with whatever I want (in this case, portabello mushrooms and parsley) with cheese and cream, baked until the potatoes are soft. These days, you can use a mandolin (the kitchen slicer, not the musical instrument) to thin-slice your potatoes. But since I wanted to practice my knife skills, I used my knife. The result was the potatoes were a bit thicker and a little undercooked, but the flavor was there. Would definitely make this again, although next time, I’ll use a mandolin.
Ratatouille
Monday, May 30, 2016 – No, not the Disney movie. As it turns out, there are several different dishes called ratatouille. The two main variants are a casserole and a stew. Since I already made a casserole, I decided to make a stew. (Recipe from Epicurious.)
It came out more like a stir-fry and less like a stew, but the flavors are all there. Maybe next time, I should add more liquid (or pureed tomatoes) to make it more stew-like. I also really like the thyme in the recipe. The trick is to put just enough so you can taste the thyme, but not so much that it overpowers the recipe. Maybe fresh thyme would be better than dried?
Cole Slaw
Saturday, June 4, 2016 – One of my friends suggested cole slaw. Which in retrospect is so obvious. Finely chopped cabbage and carrots, a perfect practice run for my knife skills. (And if may brag, I think I did a pretty good job this time.)
I got the recipe from Good Eats Season 6. The flavor was there, but unfortunately, the cabbage was too tough. This is what I get for skipping the “let cabbage soak in salt water” step. Apparently, that step was critical. Oops.
In any case, I made 3 dishes (4 if you count guacamole; more on that later), got lots of practice with my knife skills, and discovered some new wonderful flavors. I’m especially fond of the potatoes au gratin. You’ll see that again soon.