To Deviate

I did something tonight that I never never do. It is not that earth shattering really, but a curious notion to me. I deviated from a recipe that I had never prepared before. The red curry with vegetables over jasmine rice was just the dish to warm and comfort us during a mid March snow storm. 

 

This may not sound like a big deal, but I am quite rigid in the kitchen. I am a compulsive measurer. Double and triple checking ingredients, directions and measurements.

Last night, a frantic 30 minutes was spent dumping dry ingredients into a bowl and adding water by the tablespoonful. Back and forth, I gauged the dough-too wet, I added dry. Then too dry I added wet. Back and forth. It was never the correct consistency. Impulsive, impatient and  made a double batch of corn tortilla last week, I used the recipe as a guideline. I dumped rather than measured. When things were not going right, I cursed myself for not using a measuring cup and measuring spoons. In the end I realized I had unknowingly used corn meal rather than corn flour and never achieved the desired results. With a bowl of mush, my husband suggested the addition of an egg to bind the mixture. Our dinner guest arrived to witness the disaster and suggested the same thing: an egg. So with a splash of almond milk and an incredible egg; a new  dish was born. 

If alone, I would have dumped the error and then felt guilty about wasting food when there are starving souls on this planet. Instead my husband and dear friend alerted me to the possibilities of creative additions.  Dinner was a success albeit interesting and not anything I had expected. That is not always a bad thing.