made a big pot
of bubbling hot
french onion soup
ladled it into little bowls
topped it with
buttered french bread slices
gruyere cheese
broiled it until it was just so
fully enjoyed it
though i knew
my big pan
was going to be tough to clean
after caramelizing the onions
and
cooking it for
such a very long time
to create a rich flavor
so
after our meal
and
emptying out
the rest of the soup
i remembered
an old kitchen trick
reheat the pan
on low
with a little
water and dish soap
to unstick the brown bits
making for an easier cleanup
and
went off to work
on an art project
in the other room
music playing
windows open
nice breeze on a hot night
a familiar scent filled the air
wondered why the neighbors
were grilling out so late at night
took a break from the art
to get a drink of water
realized the
‘grilling’
was going on right in my own kitchen
apparently
i’d forgotten about
my clever cleanup trick
that was fully in process
the water had cooked down long ago
the pan was almost on fire
inside was black and crackling
i quickly turned off the heat
grabbed the pan
with hot pads
put it into my sink
too hot to add any water
let it cool down overnight
in the morning
finally decided to
tackle the scrubbing job
now made so much harder
with the ultra char-grilled pan
went to pull it out of the sink
it seemed a bit stuck
wrestled with it a bit
finally used all of
my upper body muscle power
snapped it out of there
flipped it over to see why
it was sticking
and
voila!
it had been so hot
that it had melted right to my sink
and when i yanked it out
it took some of the ceramic with it
now
i need
a new pan
and
a new sink
but
damn, that soup was good.
—
“the only real stumbling block is fear of failure.
in cooking you’ve got to have a what-the-hell attitude.”
― julia child
