happy little accidents

Just like Bob Ross, we have to learn to turn our 'mistakes' in the kitchen into 'happy little accidents.'  Although he looks like Will Ferrel in Semi Pro sporting the semi 'fro, his philosophy makes for interesting food when applied to cuisine.  There are many many menus (well, pretty much all of them) that we write ahead of time without taking the time to experiment beforehand.  Sometimes, it may involve a technique that we have used before, but applied to different ingredients... and that can lead to very different results.

Why put ourselves through this drama everytime we prep a dish or menu?  I still haven't figured that out.  It's definitely not our of laziness, but just that we often learn the most through the process of transforming idea into reality... or sometimes into a joke.

The last quandry was the tomato seed gelee that we committed to.  After whipping instead of blending the carrageenan into it, it entrapped many air bubbles.  Instead of trying to remove the bubbles to keep the gelee concept, we instead kept whipping the crap out of it.  This led to a very light bubbly texture studded with tomato seeds much different from the methocel whips (which were much more sturdy and stable).  We changed the dish wording from 'tomato seed gelee' to 'tomato seed frappe.'  That is what we call a happy little accident.  It's turning that stray brush mark into a happy little tree.  Would I use this again... maybe.  I can definitely use the knowledge to jump somewhere else... like trapping carbonation or smoke. 

Thanks, Bob Ross!