What are your top 3 culinary flops?
We've all burned, dropped, forgotten ingredients or under/over cooked something with no time to make an alternative edible. Looking back, we laugh at our lesson learned. As a bride of 3 days, I tried to prepare fried chicken for the in-laws---first, could not cut it up properly followed by cooking too briefly in oil---yuck! Lesson learned: never cook something new for company, especially for your in-laws! What are your top 3 culinary flops?
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12 Comments:
I'm still trying to come up with a particular flavor of wing sauce that also flows right in a Sephra chocolate fountain. Yup, I also served the first watery mess to company ...
My wife put up with a lot of ridiculous fried chicken over the past couple years till I finally got it right a couple months ago.
Oh, and make sure you pat wings dry before dropping them into the deep fryer! The counter smells like old grease to this day.
LunaPierCook at 6:20AM on 10/03/07
Replacing sugar with salt in a sweet mulberry pie
shepherds pie that somehow turned into a watery swamp-like mixture
sponge cake that turned out more like a frisbee.
I have learned to steer clear or any dessert type cooking.
choc_puddin at 6:30AM on 10/03/07
While I was preparing a big family dinner, the meat thermometer in my prime rib broke- utter disaster!
Pastry cream that oozed all over the place
I made rosettes from buttercream that was too soft, and they melted
Mich23 at 7:34AM on 10/03/07
I was doing some prep for a party I was having and it was getting to be late, but I had no choice but to stay up.
I was making a soy garlic ginger dipping sauce that I was reducing in a small saucepan. I decided to sit down at my dining table and read, but I fell asleep. I woke up 20 minutes later to find a sticky splattery mess on my stove and a pan that was almost destined for the garbage can. (2 days of soaking and a good scrubbing with steel wool saved it.)
charm city cupcake at 7:41AM on 10/03/07
Anything that requires rolling food up into tidy bundles is a problem for me. Stuffed cabbage rolls, sushi, enchiladas, rugelach, spring rolls and the like all turn into messy piles of ingredients in my hands. Sigh.
Library Lady at 9:09AM on 10/03/07
No doubt, arroz con pollo in the pressure cooker is worst kitchen disaster. Followed the recipe to the letter but must have had the stove too hot because it nearly combusted right in the pan. Was left with no dinner for famished self and hubby, ruined pressure cooker and sooty flakes all over stove and cabinets!
Hmmm . . . there was also the incident with the flaming tater tots and a fire extingisher when 13 . . . and the time a few months ago when tried to clean the greasy grill grates using the oven self-clean function (seemed like a brilliant and inspired idea at the time). Upon reflection - have long track record of both major and minor kitchen disasters!
janniceinraleigh at 10:41AM on 10/03/07
My favorite: I was using my friend's recipe for sticky chicken. I had eaten it prepared by him several times. It's the perfect meeting between sweet and hot, and nothing is better served over steamed rice. I went to buy the ingredients, and purchased three lovely peppers labeled "cubanelle" (mild). I cooked the dish to near perfection, and added the peppers at the end. While slicing them, my throat was burning, and my skin was stinging. I just sliced them very small and only put in two, coughing as they began to cook. Ugh. Upon tasting, I quickly learned the difference between "cubanelle" and "habanero." And that a person ought to know her peppers before going to the store, because sometimes things are mislabeled.
I spent a week soaking my fingers in milk to relieve the burning (didn't help), and made an unplanned trip to the eye doctor.
But I swear, I only seriously mess up a dish about once a year!
Kerosena at 10:45AM on 10/03/07
Top flop #2
Heating oil in saucepan on electric stove started to smoke & I knew it was near the being on fire stage---quickly took off heat & placed on counter top. Result? Nice huge burned spot in counter top---expensive lesson!
JEP at 11:46AM on 10/03/07
Number one horrible horrible story: I was at a friend's house for the Super Bowl, and had told everyone that I was making hot wings. I love to cook for my friends, and I had never used a deep fryer before (I'm not big on deep-fried food), so I borrowed my mom's. After prep work, I plugged in the fryer to heat the oil, opened a beer, and watched some of the game. I went back to the kitchen to cook, and as I pull out the first batch, notice that there are black spots on the chicken. I just assumed my mom had used the oil before (although she had told me she had changed it) and continued cooking. Although the wings looked a little funny with the black spots, everyone assured me that they were delicious. I left the fryer at my friend's and went home.
The next day, I stopped by to pick up the fryer. After looking all over, we couldn't find the lid, and then we just stared at each other, our eyes wide in shock. I HAD MELTED THE LID INTO THE OIL, THEREFORE SERVING ALL OF MY FRIENDS WINGS WITH A COATING OF MELTED PLASTIC! I looked at the oil, it was pure black sludge.
I am never allowed to use a deep fryer again.
lo82070 at 2:42PM on 10/03/07
I tried to make soup dumplings a while back. Not only did they turn out terrible, but while I was trying to liquify a pound of pork skin in the food processor, the lid was not on properly and my kitchen was covered in globs of porkfat.
Soup_Dumpling at 4:00PM on 10/03/07
It would have to be any type of pastry crust for pies or tarts. I'll leave the pies to someone else, and I'll make much better chocolate cake or chocolate chip cookies.
Ditto on the dumplings! You must really practice to have them turn out right.
Lavendergirl at 5:44PM on 10/03/07
Profiteroles that never really puffed like it should and stayed mushy on the inside.
Burning rice because I forgot to turn down the range after boiling the water. A "D'oh!" moment for sure.
Overmelting baker's chocolate on a makeshift double boiler. It turned into ... I don't even know how to describe it. An ugly, rough, separated goop. Unappetizing and utterly unusable.
lily314 at 1:51PM on 10/04/07