Fortune favors those who dare

On Monday night I wasn't in the best of moods. I was getting hungry but nothing that I had on hand sounded like what I wanted, I was lazy and generally grouchy. I knew what I was hungry for, I had a craving for Chinese takeout but I didn't want to make a special shopping trip when I'd settled in for the night. After pondering this for several minutes, I thought...I have a turkey fillet in the freezer that I need to use up...I have a wok, and I've done stovetop deep-frying at school a few times...I could make my own sweet and sour turkey, it should be pretty close to chicken. I just hoped that I wouldn't cause a grease fire and burn the house down. Finally, I got up the courage to give it a try. If teenagers at KFC can do it, why can't I? I put a few scoops of regular shortening in the bottom of my wok, which has a handy clip-on rack to put fried foods on once they're finished, started heating it up, and was happy to see it melting without a smokey mess! I thawed and cut up my turkey fillet, and after a standard breading procedure I dipped the first pieces in the hot fat. They turned golden brown, and cooked all the way through, I was almost beside myself with amazement! I threw the rest in, turning them over and draining the done ones, and made some rice and veggies to go with it. Dousing each piece in sweet and sour sauce, I sat down with my prize, feeling very self-sufficient and clever. As I was finishing up, the possibilities dawned on me. I can deep fry at home! Without burning the house down! What's the next thing any sane person would make after such an important discovery?

The next day I had off, so I awoke with one purpose in mind: I'm going to make doughnuts. I had a pretty simple sounding recipe in my Larousse Gastronomique, I had everything on hand, and I was ready to go! I halved the recipe since it was just for me, I didn't want to subject anyone else to my experimental cooking at this stage, so in a short while I had a bowl of yeast dough rising in my barely-on oven. I remembered when I was a kid I'd read the "Little House" books and I knew that in one they mentioned something about making doughnuts with a twist so they flip themselves. Well, either my dough was too heavy or I didn't have enough hot fat, but they didn't flip themselves. Oh well, I'd tried. I flipped them over with two spoons, careful not to spray grease all over the place, and figured it's not bad for a first try. I ended up making six, some were cinnamon twists, and some were the regular round with a hole in the middle. I made a basic powdered sugar icing with almond extract and drizzled it all over them. While they weren't exactly what you'd get at Krispy Kreme, I figured it was all right for a beginner. Next time I'd make the full batch, that might have thrown something off, I might also try kneading it a little longer. Oh well, you live and you learn.

Another cool thing that happened on Tuesday is that I found an ad in the paper, for experienced baristas. I called them up and set up a time to interview the next day. They're a small business that's looking to expand into another location, so the lady interviewing me was interested to hear that I have a degree in management as well as some experience in the field. They didn't promise anything, but just that they'd call me back on Friday either way. I like my job at Champps, but they're just not giving me enough hours to stay afloat. The chef has encouraged all of us to start looking for other jobs. It's too bad, but business has still been slow, and I'm lucky at this point to get more than 20 hours a week. Plus, I have a few years of barista experience, it would be nice to get back to my roots, as it were. I'll never stop pursuing a real restaurant career, though. Once people can afford to eat what I want to cook, I'll be able to find a job at a more upscale affair. Until then, I'll do what I can.

Tonight, I was trying to figure out what to do with the leftover turkey that I didn't cook on Monday. I only ended up using half of it. Then I was laying in bed thinking, and the idea for turkey sausage came into my head somehow. After reading up on it, I figured I could do it, so I went to the store tonight for some extra fat to cut into it and I was off to a good start. After finely mincing the meat and fat, I tossed it together with salt, pepper, allspice, poultry seasoning, caraway seeds (just a bit, they're a bit strong for me) and tarragon. I oiled my saute pan and threw it in, it turned out to be very good! Then I found I had some cranberries, and decided to make a cranberry chutney, which is pretty much the same as cranberry sauce only it's made with vinegar, brown sugar, and some extra spices. Now that I have those both made, once it gets closer to supper time I'm going to make turkey sausage crepes with cranberry chutney. Now how does that sound?