Confessions of Mediocre Cook: Pad Thai Edition

Pad Thai by Kristin

I am fearless in the kitchen. If I am missing an ingredient for a recipe, I throw caution to the wind and throw in something else instead. Unfortunately, these experiences have often produced a less-than-spectacular product (just ask Rachael about my experiments with brownies!). Thankfully, when I am hungry, I am not a picky eater. If the dish turns out more or less okay, then I am okay with eating it. 

My Pad Thai last weekend turned out to be a classic example of my mediocrity in the kitchen. I actually considered titling this blog "Why Carrie Needs to Come Back!" As you've seen in Carrie's previous posts, she can put anything together randomly and have it come out spectacularly.  If it is possible to be gifted in recipe acrobatics, she definitely has that gene.

A friend shared a quote with me today, and it has given this mediocre cook hope to press on. In the words of Twyla Tharp, "It takes skill to bring something you've imagined into the world: to use words to create believable lives, to select the colors and textures of paint to represent a haystack at sunset, to combine ingredients to make a flavorful dish. No one is born with that skill. It is developed through exercise, through repetition, through a blending of learning and reflection that's both painstaking and rewarding. And it takes time."

So, here is my rendition of Pad Thai, along with some reflections on how to improve the dish for next time:

The Ingredients

I included in my Pad Thai: kohlrabi, green cabbage, spring onions, green beans, carrots, a pepper, bean sprouts, egg, garlic, peanuts, rice noodles, Pad Thai sauce, and for a garnish, cilantro, lime wedges and more chopped peanuts.  

First, I put water on to boil and soaked the rice noodles according to the directions on the package. 

Next, I chopped up garlic, onion, carrots, and the pepper, and fried them in a bit of oil in the wok.

Next, I chopped the kohlrabi. It was my first time using this ingredient, which I discovered is less like green cabbage than I expected. Actually, inside the texture reminded me more of an apple than the leafy cabbage I am accustomed to -- but the taste is definitely like cabbage. 

Kohlrabi  - chopped on left, whole on right

Since I know I like green cabbage, I chopped up a bit of that as well, and put the kohlrabi, cabbage and green beans in the wok to cook. 

When the veggies were softened, I drained the rice noodles and added them to the wok. 

This is where I really went wrong. With my attention on the wok, I'd neglected to watch the noodles sitting in my hot water -- I let them sit a minute or two too long, which meant that they got mooshy as they cooked even more in the fry pan with the vegetables.  Learn from my mistakes and under-cook your noodles.  You can always add more water later if you want them to soften. 

After mixing the rice noodles, I added the packet of Pad Thai sauce to the wok, along with a handful of chopped peanuts and a couple handfuls of bean sprouts. 

Then, because my wok was so full, I took out a separate pan to scramble two eggs. Usually, for a recipe like this, I would push the noodles to the side and fry the egg in the same pan (I hate washing unnecessary dishes!)

After a few minutes, the egg was cooked and ready to be added to the wok.  

Finally, I dished out a serving, and garnished with chopped peanuts, cilantro, and a wedge of lime to squeeze over the dish right before eating.

As I enjoyed my Pad Thai (remember, I'm not a picky eater, so overcooked noodles do not discourage me), I considered how well this recipe may have turned out in the hands of a more skilled cook / blogger. But then again, if what Twyla says is true, there is hope for me yet, and my cooking skill may just need time and repetition before it can be perfected. 

This recipe was gladly brought to you by guest blogger, Kristin Porter.

Lessons from the Farm

I spent the better part of my growing up years (3rd - 12th grade) in small-town Hudsonville. They claim their fame as "Michigan's Salad Bowl." A lot of farming still goes on around there in the muck fields, despite the growing suburban feel. Our house was in a subdivision that was separated from a small farm by a little strip of woods. They had corn and later cows. As kids, we'd run through the corn rows and cross-country ski in the winter. In spite of these experiences with rural America, the things I managed to learn about farming up to this point are only three-fold: 

1. It perpetually smells like onions in Hudsonville, especially on a hot day.

2. If you drive by a certain spot in the right season, you can buy an enormous bag of onions for only $1.

3. Muck will always find its way into your house on a windy day, even if you keep the windows closed.

Admittedly, not a whole lot. Lately though, I've been inundated with new farming knowledge. I've got farming metaphors coming at me from all sides. In light of this interest I have in farming, I thought I would spend the next few posts sharing a few of the things that I've learned while we wait for our next CSA pick up. A lot of this is inspired by new knowledge from the farm and from the current series at Radiant Church: Roots, about maturing and becoming rooted in Christ. 

Farming takes patience!
The farming process takes a lot of up-front work before any crops are harvested. Farmers have to plant, cultivate, till, and all sorts of other verbs that I vaguely understand the meaning of. This idea of putting lots of time in before seeing any sort of reward runs counter to our tendencies as a culture to want to see results NOW. I recently joined the smart phone club, which lends itself to a growing inability to wait for anything because all information is available at my fingertips at 3G speed (except for when I'm in Grand Rapids and can use 4G). This CSA experience has the opposite effect. Every week, we have to wait and see what's ready to be harvested. It can't be rushed. I'm discovering it's not all bad to wait for things that are worthwhile. Fresh veggies are just one example. Spiritual growth is also a process that requires patience. My relationship with God doesn't come all at once. It grows and deepens over time. From the moment the seed of God's word was planted in my life, it began to grow. I can't just leave it and forget it. I have to invest the time to get to know God more, to cultivate the faith that is growing and maturing in me. The Bible talks about people who "bear fruit." Just like it takes time for plants to bring forth their harvest, it takes time for the "fruit" of my life to develop. I have to press into God and trust him to work out the process in me. 


John 15:4-5 "Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."