I'm a Food Network fan. Not quite a junkie, but a fan. I enjoy watching certain Food Network shows because I learn food preparation techniques, cooking techniques, find recipes, observe food presentation techniques, and just learn more about all types of foods. I have become more receptive to trying different ingredients and spices simply because I've seen them prepared and listened to how they should be treated.
I especially enjoy the shows, "Chopped", "Restaurant Impossible", and "Iron Chef". The time challenge that is always present in these three shows intrigues me and I am amazed how the contestants deal with the clock-issue constantly looming over their heads. Of the three aforementioned shows, two deal with secret ingredients and how to tantalizingly cook them in an unbelievably short amount of time.
One of the culinary terms I have become familiar with is "deconstructed". At first I did not understand the concept of deconstructing food but now that I do, I am aware that it used frequently in cooking programs. On a recent encore performance of "Chopped", one of the contestants made a deconstructed sweet potato pie, which, as far as I could tell, simply took the main aspects of the pie and treated them as separate entities. The result must have impressed the judges, because the deconstructed sweet potato pie helped the woman earn the title of "Chopped Champion" and $10,000.00.
Consequently, I have been toying with deconstructing recipes. Please note that I said "deconstructing", not destroying. There have been three notably destroyed recipes in my adult-cooking life: Rhubarb "limp" as it was coined, green creamed asparagus for St. Patrick's Day which I was asked to never make again, and dandelion-green salad that I made with substituted low-fat ingredients and turkey bacon which I threw away and asked myself to NEVER make that way again.
If I had to make my own version of deconstructed anything I think it could be dandelion-green salad, though, because the separate ingredients are so tasty and delicious. Just thinking about fried bacon, boiled potatoes, sour cream, scrambled eggs and dandelion greens in a vinegar sauce does sound tempting.......at least to moi.
There just aren't too many recipes where you can deconstruct the ingredients and still have edible and delicious food. Perhaps baked chocolate-chip cookies would qualify. After all, the main, separate ingredient in chocolate chip cookies is raw chocolate-chip cookie dough and there is not much tastier than that, now is there?
I'm open to suggestions.
Ancora imparo
