I am on the cusp of swearing off all recipes for curries and related spice blends in Indian or Thai cooking, throwing out all my cardamom pods and cinnamon sticks and dried tamarind, and switching entirely over to pre-blended spice packets.
It started with the innocent suggestion (from Cooks' Illustrated if I recall correctly) that one could fake tom yum gai pretty well with a spoonful of green curry paste and maybe a piece of lemon grass. I tried it. They are right.
Yes, the best Thai restaurants in town make better tom yum gai. But I don't.
I just made my third rice cooker cheater's biriyani, consisting of (1) rice (2) water (3) coconut oil (4) packet of spice paste manufactured by "Kitchens of India" (5) bag frozen mixed vegetables (6) handful of raisins.
It's better than any biriyani I ever made, and I got to basically ignore it while the rice cooker simmered.
I am trying to decide if this means I lose my foodie street cred, or if it enhances it, now that I'm admitting that I would rather eat biriyani blended by someone in Kolkata than by a transplanted Ohioan in Minneapolis.
Possibly I will soon stop trying to make my own pie crust. It's a slippery slope.
Consider it a grace that you are able to spend your time in a better way rather than fussing over something that won't taste as yummy as a store bought mix. It frees you up to read to your children, to make a healthy loaf of bread for tomorrow, to have a glass of wine with your love, to journal, to post on your blog... and still have a yummy dinner!
Posted by: Delores | 12 January 2011 at 08:27 PM
Before you know it, you'll be dumping a packet of brownish, grayish powder into a mug with water, heating it up, and calling it hot cocoa. . . tastes just like the real thing! :-)
Posted by: Bethany | 12 January 2011 at 09:16 PM
Oh Bethany, how could you? She makes her hot chocolate with dark chocolate and hot water (which is very yummy, by the way - Ambrose thanks you for that tip).
Erin, just consider yourself a more efficient cook than before. You won't loose your foodie status with me, for whatever that is worth!
Posted by: Cathie | 12 January 2011 at 11:12 PM
I forgot to include the smiley face for Bethany...just kidding.
Posted by: Cathie | 12 January 2011 at 11:12 PM
Re: the hot chocolate with dark chocolate and hot water -- it does work very well especially if you are not able to do dairy. The latest incarnation of "how I make hot chocolate," however, is "do it like it says on the side of the box of unsweetened cocoa powder, and then toss in a handful of chocolate chips."
Try "aztec hot chocolate" sometime if you are cutting back on sweets -- highly recommended if you're giving up sweets or coffee for Lent. Google it -- you make it with unsweetened cocoa and chiles of some kind... cayenne powder will work...)
Posted by: bearing | 13 January 2011 at 07:35 AM
Jon asked an Indian co-worker years ago what spices he used in one of his recipes. The answer: "I just go get this packet at the Indian grocery."
So I say pre-blended is the real thing.
Posted by: Jennifer Fitz | 13 January 2011 at 08:26 AM
Funny you mention spice packets and pie crust in the same post -- 2 nights ago I made curried vegetable 'samosas' with Madras curry powder blend from the quickie mart and refrigerated pie crust for the pastry. Baked not fried. Worked great except that I tried to wrap up the pastries while the filling was still hot and it melted holes in the pie dough.
Posted by: Christy Porucznik | 13 January 2011 at 09:01 AM
That's my favorite hot chocolate too, by the way. From the unsweetened cocoa box. With whole milk? Divine. I've never tried dark chocolate & water. Sounds interesting.
Posted by: Bethany | 14 January 2011 at 08:38 AM