Do You Eat Your Cooking Mistakes?

[Jingthing]

Maybe this is a sign of Cheapskate Charlie-ism.

Anyway, for you home cooks, when you cook something that turns out to be very flawed, do you eat it anyway, or do you just toss it and cook something else (or go out)?

Now I am not talking about totally burning something or accidentally cooking something with rotten meat (hope you toss those) but just big mistakes that majorly damage the dishes deliciousness.

The other night I cooked a Chinese noodle dish where I accidentally totally overcooked the noodles (and they were already cooked into the final dish). Ate it anyway, it wasn't pleasant and didn't feel pleasant to have eaten it. And I would probably do it again if I made the same mistake. Why? Well it was still edible so a waste of food to toss it, and the other reason might sound strange. I feel by eating mistakes I am giving myself a stronger INCENTIVE to do things better the next time.

[vont]

jingthing

what happens?

were you a naughty boy?

did your assistant call in sick?

glad you ate whatever you cooked.

what you considered errors might be delicacies for someone else though.

over this side of the fence, when pressing for time; noodles of any kind taste mighty good to me.

am quite an accomplished cook but am becoming increasingly lazy.

do hope you do not overcook your noodle next batch friend.

usually, it should take under 3 min to cook noodles.

unless you are cooking for a party of 10 or more, then the desired quantity will demand a little longer cooking time, that is my experience. chow.

[Gladiator]

Hang On.

I frequently get it wrong. but through trial and error eventually get it right.

In the meantime I enjoy whatever I produce.. Sometime not what I expect or plan for - but still good enough to eat.

If it is not burnt or over cooked then a gastronomical adventure.

[cardholder]

Yes.

A crap Yorkshire Pudding (in terms of aesthetic appearance) is still a Yorkshire Pudding - and therefore edible and most likely arroy.

[bonobo]

Of course, I NEVER make cooking mistakes!

To paraphrase a well-known quite, "Life is too short to eat bad food."

If I truly screw up a dish, it goes into the trash. I don't need the calories if it tastes bad. I save my calories for food I can enjoy.

[bkkjames]

If I make or get it elsewhere, if its crap, I don't eat it.

Fortuneately, I am a good cook

[smokie36]

If I make or get it elsewhere, if its crap, I don't eat it.

Fortuneately, I am a good cook

I agree. When I cook I give it my full attention....unlike say work which deserves my derision....I am a great cook....well for the 30 odd dishes in my repertoire!

If I did screw up I would likely eat it if the ingredients were expensive enough and not likely to make me ill. If it only cost a few Baht they I'd toss it and go down the steakhouse....fate that would be...a happy one!

[billd766]

I have to now since I got rid of the dogs.

They weren't fussy eaters and ate most things including a couple of ducks that my wife had bought 3 days before. At least one of them killed the duck first but was stupid enough to eat it just outside the window where I was working on my computer.

[jamora]

If its bad, and not fixable, I will toss it! But in my experience, most mistakes are fixable.

[tutsiwarrior]

"The other night I cooked a Chinese noodle dish where I accidentally totally overcooked the noodles (and they were already cooked into the final dish). Ate it anyway, it wasn't pleasant and didn't feel pleasant to have eaten it."

eeewww...it musta tasted like phlegm...

now...what ye gotta do in this case is let the mess congeal overnight then cook in the morning with butter and scrambled eggs...add lotsa 'anti-hangover' condiments, tabasco, etc and eat with buttered wheat toast...corn tortillas would be ideal...

[Raesum]

I'm sure its nothing that a bit of "Nam Pla Prik" (Chiilies,garlic,lemon juice,fish sauce etc) poured on top can't fix!! I put it on everything-even roasts.

[Jingthing]

Good cooks make mistakes too.

I don't use recipes so each time I make something it's a little different. That makes it more interesting to me, to see how small changes effect the taste. Usually still good though or I think I'd give up cooking.

Edited October 2, 2011 by Jingthing

[katana]

Tend to throw them away (luckily not too often), although if I get one that works, I always make a note of the recipe so that it can be repeated.

This guy has lots of good ones.

http://www.youtube.com/user/OriginalNakedChef

[Jingthing]

To me cooking from a recipe is like referring to a user manual while having sex.

Edited October 2, 2011 by Jingthing

[bkkjames]

Yeah jt, but if you try something the first time without knowing what you are doing, you may end in the shit

[katana]

To me cooking from a recipe is like referring to a user manual while having sex.

Let's hope not too many of your meals turn out like 'damp squibs' then lol

[smokie36]

To me cooking from a recipe is like referring to a user manual while having sex.

Let's hope not too many of your meals turn out like 'damp squibs' then lol

Some folks like fried squid with mayo squirted on the side.

[islandguy]

I find that if I use simple ingredients and techniques most mistakes are edible - with a lot of hot sauce!

[KRS1]

Depends on how bad i screw it up and how hungry i am. I usually eat my mistakes just enough to cure the hunger pain, then stop immediately to avoid further torture.

[bonobo]

Thought of this thread yesterday. I fixed steak, biscuits, corn-on-the-cob (which I just brought over from the US), and gazpacho. Pretty easy menu, right? Well, the gazpacho was off. I make it at least twice a week, but this time, it just didn't taste right. I thought about eating it anyway as it wasn't horrible, but in the end, I poured it all down the toilet.

[tutsiwarrior]

Thought of this thread yesterday. I fixed steak, biscuits, corn-on-the-cob (which I just brought over from the US), and gazpacho. Pretty easy menu, right? Well, the gazpacho was off. I make it at least twice a week, but this time, it just didn't taste right. I thought about eating it anyway as it wasn't horrible, but in the end, I poured it all down the toilet.

what's to go off?...it's only tomatoes, bell peppers and cukes anyway...innit? and if the veges were rotten you could probably smell it...

aha...if you used rancid olive oil then there might be a slight problemo...

[bonobo]

Thought of this thread yesterday. I fixed steak, biscuits, corn-on-the-cob (which I just brought over from the US), and gazpacho. Pretty easy menu, right? Well, the gazpacho was off. I make it at least twice a week, but this time, it just didn't taste right. I thought about eating it anyway as it wasn't horrible, but in the end, I poured it all down the toilet.

what's to go off?...it's only tomatoes, bell peppers and cukes anyway...innit? and if the veges were rotten you could probably smell it...

aha...if you used rancid olive oil then there might be a slight problemo...

The olive oil was good Greek--I checked it after making the soup. I also use kalmata olives, which were fine, and two kinds of vinegar, which were fine. I checked the bell pepper, of which I only used part, and it was fine, too That leaves the tomatoes and cucumbers. I guess I should have tasted them before, but I am guessing maybe one of the tomatoes was a little off as I had to cut part of it away. The part left looked fine, but like an idiot, I didn't taste it.

Anyway, the soup was still edible, but just a little off. I will normally down a liter of it when I make it, but couldn't see doing that this time. After one small bowl, I threw out the rest.

[tutsiwarrior]

now...this brings up a question that I always had regarding extra virgin and regular olive oil...we normally use extra virgin for dressings and etc where there is no heat involved...there is no heat involved in the preparation of gazpacho but would you use extra virgin for this application or regular?

I ran out of regular once for cooking and used extra virgin instead and it tasted weird...

I went to the Suphanburi tescos yesterday and got a boddle of regular; 'Sabroso' brand (Spanish), wanted to compare it with Bertolli's...there was plenty of olive oil available but no instant noodles or bottled water...

[bonobo]

now...this brings up a question that I always had regarding extra virgin and regular olive oil...we normally use extra virgin for dressings and etc where there is no heat involved...there is no heat involved in the preparation of gazpacho but would you use extra virgin for this application or regular?

I ran out of regular once for cooking and used extra virgin instead and it tasted weird...

I went to the Suphanburi tescos yesterday and got a boddle of regular; 'Sabroso' brand (Spanish), wanted to compare it with Bertolli's...there was plenty of olive oil available but no instant noodles or bottled water...

I always use extra virgin for gazpacho. I like Greek (kalmata) the best for this as I think it brings out the most flavor. But for salads, I can be convinced to use a few California, Spanish, or Tunisian types.

Actually, I use extra virgin for some heat applications, if the heat is low enough, say below 300 F. The key is knowing the smoke point of the oil, and most sources give that as about 300 F for extra virgin. FOr higher temperatures, you don't want to use it. Actually, for much higher temperatures, I only use refined canola or the refined sunflower.

I won't use Bertolli's at all. A year or two ago, some organization tested 20 major brand in the US as far as the "extra' factor in their oil. Not only did Bertolli's have the most amount of non-extra virgin oil in their extra virgin bottles, but they even mixed non-olive oils in the batches.

[tutsiwarrior]

yeah...I remember that study of olive oils...hadn't realised that Bertolli tested badly and I buy it because it is the most consistently available...I also get the tesco brand when available and the Carrefour brand used to be nice as well...usually nice color and aroma...

[bonobo]

yeah...I remember that study of olive oils...hadn't realised that Bertolli tested badly and I buy it because it is the most consistently available...I also get the tesco brand when available and the Carrefour brand used to be nice as well...usually nice color and aroma...

I came back from a short trip to the US last week, and of course I brought olive oils. I splurged on a very nice organic California, made it all the way back to Thailand, took it out of my luggage, then knocked it over a few minutes later to smash on the tile floor.

[tutsiwarrior]

that's a bitch...do you remember where the CA olive oil was produced? I haven't lived there in 25 years and CA was never known then to have an 'olive industry'...and olive trees take yonks years to grow until they can produce...

I was in the UK in July and there is a chain of markets known as 'Taj' run by arabs...I picked up about 5 kilos of assorted pulses; red kidneys, garbanzos and assorted dahl ingredients and brought them back to Vietnam where I was working, can't get them there for love nor money...then I got sick and had to return home to Thailand...I was carrying the beans in my hand luggage and had to ditch them in the HCM airport as they were too heavy for me to carry in my enfeebled condition...UK to VN then trying to get them to Thailand; <deleted> waste of effort...

just hope that the abandoned beans didn't cause a security alert at HCM airport...

[bonobo]

California has a fairly robust olive oil industry now. Mostly it is smaller, boutique olive oils, but some are quite good. Quite a few of the orchards are in the Imperial Valley, although the coastal counties have some as well.

California has always had a large eating olive industry. But except for some monasteries, I don't think there has been much in the way of oils until the last 20 years or so paralleling the rise in US demand for olive oil.

Sucks about your HCM tale.

[tutsiwarrior]

yeah...the Imperial Valley might do OK for olive orchards...a bit harsh out there without irrigation...there used to be a 'date festival' in Indio many years ago...

California always was 'self contained' with regard to nice cooking ingredients...let me tell you about the shock when I moved to Derby in the East Midlands in the UK in the late 80s and going shopping in the produce section of the local Sainsburys supermarket in the winter...couldn't believe that people could live on that shit but there were 10 different kinds of potatoes...bundled up, crippled, arthritic, diseased people hobbling around due to bad diet...sort of like a writer's dystopian nightmare...but the pubs were nice and the local beer from Burton on Trent was delightful...

[Naam]

off topic question: has the airport code really changed from SGN to HCM? there was a big row decades ago when Viet Nam demanded the change and the authority in charge refused by insisting SGN has to be used.