zone failure .. of a sort

Yesterday I had quite a bit of work to do, so I said, “Self, use slow cooker and make a nice chickpea and lentil dal”.

Self replied, “Great idea! It’s quite chilly out. Why not caramelize the onions to add that depth of flavour you love?”

“But, you’ve seen my project lists and their due dates. We all know I love caramelized onions, and E will eat them as well. I have some semi-decent grocery store shallots, but I don’t have time to watch the kitten and the pan and get things crossed off.”

Self suggested “Why not use the slow cooker?”

“Brilliant!”, I exclaimed and looked at the clock. It was 3pm. I dumped a nicely chopped shallot and a clove of garlic into the pot with some olive oil and placed the lid on top. I then sat down to do some work, expecting to want a break when I switched tasks in 20-30 minutes.

At 4:15pm, after an hour and fifteen minutes of being “in the zone” (and crossing off a few pesky to-do list items), I wandered into the kitchen and was accosted by both a smell and sound I didn’t expect.

I had completely and totally forgotten that I put that onion and garlic in. It wasn’t completely burnt, not all of it. I fished out the most burnt pieces and ate them. I deglazed the pot and dumped in the tomato, broth, chick peas, quiona, and lentils.

After giving the contents a good stir and replacing the lid I said to Self, “Great idea, but next time, set the timer.”

And Self did.

Thirty minutes later Self was very happy she set the timer and went up to check on the contents sooner than she really thought necessary.

It was shut off.

• Category: food