Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Reflections on an imperfect life (and ugly food)

There are certain things I've always wanted to own in my kitchen.  Things that are unnecessary in a "regular" kitchen, but could always come in handy when you're trying to start a food blog.

Have you ever walked through a Crate & Barrel and seen these sorts of things?  Neon green mixers, Christmas tree-shaped ice cube trays, high-tech waffle pans, martini glasses that look like they are leaning to the side.  It all seems like fun stuff, but it's really...unnecessary.

Maybe I am cheap.  But when I'm going to use something to make just one meal, I just don't really want to buy it. 

My stepmom is one of the lucky ones.  She actually owns these random kitchen things.  And being related to her, I have free reins to go into her kitchen and use any of these appliances, whenever I want, without having to spend my own money on them!  

So when I came home from Argentina, I was startled (and, yes, a little excited) to find a mini doughnut tray sitting on the counter, conveniently placed alongside a homemade doughnut cookbook



I've never known so many different kinds of doughnuts existed.  Chai Tea doughnuts, Red Velvet Cake doughnuts, S'more doughnuts, Vanilla and Lavendar doughnuts, PB&J doughnuts... you name it, it's in the book.


As you probably already know, the first attempt at making certain foods is often a complete failure.  While I was in Argentina, I could always tell if my attempts at new Argentine concoctions weren't good because Julián would take a bite and say "oh. Well it's ok.  What do you expect for the first time?" 

(Which guys, by the way, is not the first thing to say to your girlfriend after she's been slaving away in the kitchen for hours on homemade dulce de leche.  Just take a bite and smile and say it's good.  Trust me.)

Good thing Juli wasn't here this afternoon to see my first attempt at doughnuts.  He would have been horrified.  Actually, he probably wouldn't have tried them.


Lucky for me, I tried them.  And they were really good.  I made a basic cake doughnut dough and added a mashed banana, trying to imitate a banana bread doughnut.

You can see in that picture above that I first tried making a regular doughnut, average size with a hole in the middle.  Once I tried moving it to the frying pan, the whole thing expanded and was nearly impossible to flip, so I continued with doughnut holes instead.

I even got a little crazy and added chocolate chips to the last two.



I used a maple sugar glaze, as the original recipe recommended, but I'll bet a good old-fashioned chocolate glaze with these beasts would be divine. 


I was hesitant to post this recipe on Mustgo.  Every other food blog in the internet world has fancy, 7+ ingredient recipes, professionally photographed and seemingly too perfect to eat.

But in all honesty, that's not what real cooking is like.  Real cooking is starting to make a recipe, only to realize halfway through that you're missing two ingredients... so you experiment.

Real cooking is trying to flip a burnt doughnut hole with, not only one...but two spatulas, while burning your hands and ruining your shirt over the spattering oil. 

I'm not a professional chef.  I'm not an aspiring photographer.  I am a broke, inexperienced, young, picky, curious, and above all, hungry food blogger, that likes to experiment in the kitchen.  And I fail, a lot.  So I won't lie to you about what I cook, and I won't just show you what turns out looking like it's from a 5-star restaurant.  This is real life, people!!!

And these are some damn ugly doughnuts... but damn are they good!

Banana bread doughnuts (adapted from Doughuts: Simple and Delicious Recipes to Make at Home by Lara Ferroni)

Dough:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp. vegetable shortening
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp. plain yogurt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 mashed banana
vegetable oil (for frying)

Maple sugar glaze
1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
2 tbsp. maple syrup
2 tbsp. milk
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl until they form a smooth, pourable glaze.

1.  Mix flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and sugar in a bowl.  Add in vegetable shortening and mix.

2.  In a separate bowl, mix the egg, 1/4 cup of the milk, yogurt, and vanilla.  Slowly pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredient bowl, mixing at the same time.  Add more milk as needed until the dough is sticky and resembles a wet cookie dough.

3.  Add mashed banana, being sure not to over mix the dough.  Set aside and let stand 15 minutes.

4.  Cover the bottom of a deep dish frying pan with vegetable oil and heat on high.  You will know the oil is ready when you hold your hand over the pan and can feel heat radiating off the surface.  Drop spoonfuls of the dough into the hot oil, turning the ball every 30 seconds or so, until golden brown.

5.  Drop the doughnut holes on a plate covered with a paper towel to soak up any remaining oil.  Once cooled, dip one by one in the bowl of maple sugar glaze.

1 comment:

  1. Me encanctan!!!! Looks like the first empanadas, un poquitin chamuscadas but...DELICIOUS!!!

    ReplyDelete