Show us your food! Corona Cooking edition

[Mountain Goat]

Warm water! Maybe that's it? They didn't shatter/ crumble easily?

[Epponnee Rae]

No, not at all! I even reheated some yesterday in the pan and they were still bendy enough to be a taco! I remember I added a fair bit more water than the recipe suggested was needed, as the chef just said to keep adding until you can pull a piece of dough off and form a ball that doesn’t crack when you (gently) squeeze it with your thumb. He mentioned something about other methods saying to read the dough but we didn’t have time and he said it didn’t seem to matter.

[Mountain Goat]

Right, I'm going to have a go with just a small amount. I have to knead/rest for ages before it's pliable usually! Thank you.

[Mountain Goat]

Oh it worked! (after a fashion). The dough came together so much more easily with warm water - I've read so much stuff trying to get these right and never seen that before, wtf. I still had problems rolling it out as the dough became one with the counter and broke when I tried to peel it off, and flour just dried it out and made it friable again, but then I tried oiling the counter and bam, fine. I just ate two with no filling.

[Epponnee Rae]

Ah! That’s the other trick then. A ziploc bag (or parchment) for pressing! He taught us this to avoid rolling the dough if you don’t have a tortilla press. Basically he had us dismember a ziploc: cut off the zippy bit then cut open two sides so it opens like a book. Open it out, place a small ball (golf ball ish) of dough in and close the ziploc book over it. Then get a heavy pan (I used a le creuset ) and press straight down on the dough ball. Check and adjust the plastic if needed (wrinkles) and keep pressing down evenly until you have the size and even thickness of tortilla you want. Then you open the plastic, peel the dough off into the flat of your hand (I put the dough in my hand and then peeled the plastic off the back) and slide or flip it into the hot pan (cast iron ideally).

Sorry he demonstrated that so quickly it seemed simple but having not tried anything else before I didn’t realize it was a hack! You can also use parchment instead of the plastic bag (but can reuse the bag too). Glad the warm water worked!

[Epponnee Rae]

Also oiling the bench is clever! although our chef said not to add any fat, but whatever works and tastes good, right?

[Mountain Goat]

Oh I did know this one! But forgot as it didn't work with fragile dough ( more control with just rolling)it will actually work with decent dough! I was a bit concerned about whether the oil would affect the dough but it was such a small amount that it seemed to be ok.

[Epponnee Rae]

The bag thing was like magic. Couple of presses and you have a perfectly round tortilla and no special equipment. That’s why I thought it was dead easy! I see now how it was a culmination of things

[Pippedydeadeye]

Tonight’s biryani.

[emma_p]

I approve of the hallowe’en-y le creus but what are the red bits?

[baargain]

Rolling can stretch pastry which increases cracking, it's the stretching or something? Pressing is definitely better.

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Enormo burger. I couldn't handle sides apart from a pickle. I made the bun, and apparently the burger is wagyu beef, there's a herd nearby. Apparently.

[Ella77]

Are they pomegranate seeds (arils)?

[Pippedydeadeye]

They are frozen pomegranate seeds I chucked on before it rested prior to eating.

[Epponnee Rae]

Another excellent burger bun! I’ll have a go on the burger too

[absley]

Lovely burger, baa! And that biryani - I have similar plans for today.

I love all your cooking class creations, Epp.

[Skips]

I decided on a whim to make a small batch of biscuits, last time I attempted them I forgot the sugar.

[ParisGal]

Fork biscuits

[wendy james]

I threw together a soup to use up some greens and it’s bloody lovely and very filling.

Dinner was mushroom and lentils (it’s a pie filling we have often but no pastry today) with chard and leek from the garden.

[baargain]

Pie

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[Jupiter]

That pie looks delicious!

In honor of the US election I made buttermilk fried chicken.