I recently bought Mark Bittman‘s iPhone app version of his book: How to Cook Everything.(App store link) The book is USD$35, so a USD$4.99 app seemed like a good deal. And you know what? It is! I enjoy reading cook books (and self-help guides, but that’s another blog post) and although the app didn’t have any photos, somehow, his instructions were easy to understand and picture in my mind. I would have like some pictures so I could compare my results with what its supposed to look like, but then again, not having to live up to any food photographer and designer’s ideal was emancipating! No fear of failure if I don’t have anything to compare it with right?
I chose his recipe “Boiled Water” as my first step into Mark Bittman’s work, mainly because I had everything already in my fridge. And ofcourse, the fact that its only got 3 freaking steps, well, the lazy bum in me couldn’t resist. Plus, it currently has 645 thumbs up from other users, so it has to be good right?
This is how simple the recipe is (and as you read, you’ll understand why I was intrigued and a little baffled as to why this would get 645 people thumbing up):
Mark Bittman says to bring 4 cups of water to boil, with 8 – 10 crushed garlic cloves and one bay leaf. I used only 3 cups (because the original recipe is for 4 people and I’m only cooking for 2). Bring to a boil, then simmer on very low heat for 15 minutes. Salt and pepper added to taste. Now you see why I could not, for the life of me, fathom how something with so little ingredients could taste good?
While your soup (can I even call it that?) is simmering, its time to grill the french bread. Mr Bittman’s recipe calls for THICK slices. Except, I didn’t have thick slices. I just had thin ones. Oh well.
I’m supposed to heat 1/4 cup of olive oil in the skillet and then toss the bread in to brown. I couldn’t bring myself to do that. I know, olive oil is good for you. People actually drizzle it over salads as a finishing oil. Any other day I would. But I had beef rendang and chicken curry for lunch (Nasi Padang at 55 Zion Road… the famous one!) so my guilty conscience made me lightly brush olive oil over the bread instead. I know, that’s a lot of cheese I’ve tossed onto the bread. See? All the more I need to cut back on the oil!
And here’s the final result. Boiled Water. Frankly, the cheese looks like its a chemistry experiment gone wrong. And I’m sure there’s plenty that can be improved on the bread arrangement. Frankly, never having eaten “Boiled Water” (and the iPhone app didn’t have a photo of what its supposed to look like) I wouldn’t know if this is how its supposed to look like.
But according to my part-time food critic (and full time hunka hunka burnin’ luurve … I just had to throw that in!), the bread was tasty and — can we have a drum roll please — its a dish he’d eat again!
I am no SeeToh of Makansutra, so I can’t give this any chopsticks. But it gets Jimmy’s seal of approval. Or as I like to call it: 3.5 out of 5 hunkas. With 5 being “OMG, this is ambrosia!” and 1 being “Woman, are you trying to kill me?!”
So would I make this again? Yes. Only because its so darn easy and since Jimmy will eat it, then sure! But next time, I’ll get really thick bread, chop it into squares and make giant croutons. And I’ll add tomatoes into the soup and then blitz it all in my Vitamix… taking out the bay leaf first, of course!
