Udon Thani Village Life – Pies, Pizza and a Drunk Skunk
Whenever I stay at our Udon Thani village home I like to cook something in the afternoon. That’s unless myself and Wonderful Wi are out and about on a day trip or routine errand. My afternoon simmers, sizzles and stews are my way of occupying my free time and to hopefully hatch something pleasant to eat that evening. There is an underlying reason as well. If I haven’t got something productive to do I tend to end up as drunk as a skunk by early evening.
Udon Thani Village Life – The Future is Halogen
Last Christmas I bought a halogen cooker from Makro in Udon Thani city. I didn’t gift wrap it. It was for me. Meant as an occasional cooking alternative to my much used electric BBQ hot plate. I have sautéed, curried, boiled, roasted and ruined various dishes with that. Since buying my halogen cooker I’ve hardly used it since. The future’s bright – the future’s Halogen.
I also happened upon a small cake tin in my suitcase. Perfect pie size. Beer and cake don’t dance together. Not for me anyhow. Beer and pies are a sin made in heaven and not just for me.
Many westerners love a hot pie and a cold one, and my first ever attempt at making a meat pie didn’t turn out too bad. Check out the photograph on the right. Impressive?… and when the sun got really hot I used the loose pastry top as a type of kippah. A multi-functional meat pie.
The halogen cooker, or convection oven as they are also known, are great for cooking pizza. I bought pre-made dough bases and tomato passata, added the topping and halogen-ed it away.
I think that looks pretty good even though the cheese was English Cheddar. I found that in my suitcase too. Bit of luck there. Halogen cookers are perfect for cooking many things. Basically anything you can do in a normal oven can be baked, roasted and stewed in a convection cooker as well. Providing you can fit it in there. Chicken legs roast to perfection.
I’m now training to be a top Chef de Cuisine when I’m at our Udon Thani village home. Practice makes perfect and I’m following the routine of most top chefs.
Throw in a few glasses of cheap cooking wine and I reckon I’m there.
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