I managed to burn my toast this morning. That’s how good a cook I actually am.
I have now started this cooking blog and yet I still screw up things like toast. All I wanted to do was stick the toaster back on for 30 seconds or so to get it nice and “toasty” but of course I forgot about it and it was only the smell of burnt toast that got me running over to turn it off.
If you, like me, burn things when you’re cooking them, you might be interested in my list of foods it’s OK to burn. You’ll notice that I have interpreted the challenge in a number of ways in order to have an interesting list. Bite me. Can you think of any more?
- Creme Brulée. My first cheat is a food that has “burnt” in its name (albeit in a foreign language)
- Bones. When you’re making dark stock, one method is to start by throwing the bones into a pan over a reasonably high heat with no oil / butter etc. Shake ‘em around and get them to start caramelising before adding water, seasoning etc.
- Steak. We all know that there is only one true way of cooking steak, but interesting variations (to get it even rarer) involve blow-torching the outside before cooking. Technically, of course, you don’t want to burn the steak, but anything with a blow-torch has to count, right?
- Chestnuts. OK, it’s only really the outside that get burnt. But still.
- Blackened fish. There are loads of recipes called “blackened” when it comes to fish (e.g. blackened tuna). Technically, you are burning the cajun seasoning, but again, I’m going to take it… There’s also a recipe from Jamie Oliver that involves wrapping a fish in newspaper where the newspaper gets burnt
- Flambé. Brandy, pastis, Christmas puddings, lamb steaks. There are many fun ways of setting your food on fire…
- BBQ / flame-grill. Think flame-grill, think burgers and steaks, but normal BBQ can involve bits of charcoal too – think the shells on prawns
- Caramelised onions. I think “caramelised” is really just a euphemism for “burnt” so I’m gonna count it. I have a fun dish that involves basically burning onions and garlic and then frying chicken in the oil. Sounds crazy, and it’s hard to get right, but it’s nice when you get the sweetness just right.
Picture credit: fiskfisk on Flickr
January 25th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
S’mores!
January 25th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
Along the same lines as Rebecca… marshmallows
January 26th, 2009 at 10:17 am
Wahey! Nomorerecipes launches
I’m a little disappointed though that you didn’t make your first post about burns night (what with you launching on burns night). OR, at the very least make some pun about burning food and burns night… Hopefully more puns and less food in future
January 26th, 2009 at 11:03 am
You’re both cheating (in the same way I did, admittedly) and relating “cook with fire” to “ok to burn”. OK. I guess your entries are valid.
January 26th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
@Tom – yeah. Truth is, I hadn’t realised it was Burn’s night when I launched! I did realise later and had a very nice whisky. I’ll be writing about whisky. Don’t worry
February 2nd, 2009 at 7:45 am
Bolognese sauce. Anything with meat and tomatoes in it is gonna taste better if it’s cooked for 2 hours and has that slightly ‘burnt-at-the-bottom’ fullness of flavour.
February 2nd, 2009 at 7:47 am
Also, I’ve got to put in a vote for mulled wine. I forgot I had some on the hob this year (with mucho rum) and came back in the kitched to violent boiling and blue flames a foot high. Mulled wine was fine.
And you forgot Christmas Pudding, which is either a) great with burning whisky on it; or b) the devil’s food, ‘OK to Burn’.
February 3rd, 2009 at 1:12 pm
While you do mention that you’re taking some poetic license in the word “burning” – not one of these are examples of burning. So you’re article title is completely inaccurate.
I wrote to articles that you might enjoy reading, the first is on grilling and how to develop the great taste through browning: http://www.foodmayhem.com/2007/07/treatise-on-grilling.php
The other is on how to avoid burning and some hints on taking adventure of caramelised foods: http://www.foodmayhem.com/2008/08/dont-burn-food.php
February 13th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
(You typed it all up yay!) My father would have loved your burnt toast… as long as it’s a doorstop with lots of butter!
I burnt salted wild garlic leaves on top of a pork roast and they tasted like seaweed – yum: http://spayneshallfarmmeats.blogspot.com/2008/12/experiment-573-pork-roasted-with-wild.html
Epicurious have a got a delicious-sounding Burnt Caramel Ice Cream that I’m dying to try: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Burnt-Caramel-Ice-Cream-237026
Never burn plastic – it tastes revolting
February 15th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Rich – both of those are great suggestions. Even if you’re cooking something tomato-based without meat, a bit of a char can be a good thing – rataouille is definitely improved with a bit of sticky blackness around the edges. The mulled wine sounds dangerous!
Juliet – those garlic leaves look tasty!
February 27th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Can I put a plea in for my Campaign For Real Toast? Toast is brown coloured. It should have edges which verge on the burnt. I’m really tired of the 21st century habit of hotels and restaurants serving what can only be described as warm bread.