The great mistake

[yendi]

Many mistakes lead to great things: Roy Plunkett tried to improve refrigeration and came up with Teflon; Ruth Wakefield thought that chocolate chips would melt into the dough and make chocolate cookies instead of the much better chocolate chip cookies she came up with; and Professor Utonium accidentally knocked some Chemical X into a formula and created the Powerpuff Girls.

On Saturday night, while making the lasagna for shadesong's birthday party, I added to that list.

See, the final step in my lasagna involves sprinkling a six-cheese mix on top, covering the dish with foil, and putting it in the oven for an hour.

Last night, I forgot the "cover with foil" step.

When I took the lasagna out of the oven, the cheese was a solid, crispy mass on top.

So I pulled the slab of cheese off the lasagna, leaving a little bit of melted cheese remaining on top. I took the remaining cheese and sprinkled it over the lasagna; during the ten minutes I normally let it cool, it was still enough time to melt the cheese nicely (even if it didn't have the slight crust baking normally does. The lasagna, as far as I can tell, tasted as good as always (there were certainly no half-eaten plates). And as a bonus, a bunch of us munched down on the crispy slab o' cheese, which was every bit as tasty as you'd imagine.

I suspect I might have to make this "mistake" again.

Comments

[rubian77.livejournal.com]

OMG, I adore cheese-encrusted things like lasagne and artichoke dip. That's the best part!!

Someone online (a loooong time ago) posted a thing about basically frying cheese in a skillet until it's crispy on the bottom, folding it up, and eating it like a taco. He called it a "chupaqueso" -- "either because you will suck (chupa) the cheese (queso) out of the middle, or because it's made of cheese and it sucks." I haven't tried it, but every time I fry off a cheeseburger I think about how tricky the technique must be.

[yendi]

I've been known to just throw small bits of shredded parm on a nonstick skillet and eat the resulting cheese "crackers." :-)

[greylistening.livejournal.com]

According to Cooks' Illustrated, those are called "frico." :)

[yendi]

Good to know! I just call them "snacks."

[greylistening.livejournal.com]

"Snacks" works, too. :)

[gev.livejournal.com]

Nomnomnom... Every once in a while I buy a tub of Parmesan crisps over at Whole Foods. My favorite is the kind with bits of garlic cooked in...

[greylistening.livejournal.com]

I love slabby cheese crust.

When I make scalloped potatos, I make a very thin layer in the bottom of a very LARGE pan, because my family likes the crusty top layer best.

[yendi]

Cheese is generally the best part of any dish it's in.

[arielstarshadow.livejournal.com]

I'd have just left the crispy cheese on top :)

[yendi]

I thought about that, but I'd have ended up with less crispy cheese that way.

[enderfem.livejournal.com]

I would have skipped the lasagna (though I am sure it is great) and run off with the slab o'crispy cheese. Yum. Crispy cheese.

Back when I was with The Guy Made Entirely Out of Cheese, there was one Mexican restaurant we could dine at together, as they had a dish called "Plato del Queso" which was literally a slab of melted cheese on a plate.

[yendi]

I would totally eat that dish.

[raidingparty.livejournal.com]

Cheese is a strong contributor to my lack of veganity.