I just though of this funny little story to share. For any of you that might ever be in the vicinity of Corey and I when we talk about cooking, we may start to crack up at a reference to "Tuna Casserole".
I am hoping that he can, maybe fill in more details, but what I remember is that he had made a lovely birthday dinner for a friend of ours (way back in the high school/early college days). This is actually a great story of how the whole 'telephone game' can work or, in this case, not work.
If I recall correctly, another one of our friends was telling me about this magnificent dinner he had made and some how translated in her mind a Tuna dinner - as in a piece of tuna acoompanied by other wonderful foods, into good, ole' fashioned, down-home tuna casserole.
Now, the way my grandma makes tuna casserole, which I love, by the way, is with canned tuna. Knowing Corey, the gourmet cook he is, that is about as far as one could get from the beautiful meal I am sure he prepared for our friend!
To this day, when we are talking cooking and mention of tuna comes up, we both crack up and think "Tuna Casserole!"
Monday, December 1, 2008
Brownies anyone?
Ok, so this isn't quite a "worst" recipe, but I just had to share.
This weekend I made some brownies, yes from a box (but a REALLY GOOD box!) from Trader Joe's if anyone needs to know. Something came over me, possibly that the thought of using an entire stick of butter, AND my last stick of butter at that, was too hard to swallow. So, I replaced half the butter with coconut oil and also greased my pan with coconut oil.
YUMMY!
As one friend pointed out, they tasted almost like a Mounds or Almond Joy candy bar!
HOWEVER, for future reference, should you try this little technique, I highly recommend using less total oil than the recipe calls for because they are a bit on the greasy side.
I brought the leftover brownies to the office to share and one of our bookkeepers, who keeps a gluten free diet, directed me to this amazing brownie recipe made with -- of all things -- BLACK BEANS!! I will have to try this sometime, she says that they come out fantastic! Here is a link to the recipe: Amazing Black Bean Brownies. I am hoping our 'test kitchen' (Ahem, Karen) will try these out.
As a result of this discovery, you can now enjoy other fine recipes from 101Cookbooks.com by clicking on the link on the right of this page. In addition, Hannah will be one of our new authors for this blog.
Which, reminds me....Hey you Worst.Recipe.Ever bloggers, haven't seen any of you post recently!!!
This weekend I made some brownies, yes from a box (but a REALLY GOOD box!) from Trader Joe's if anyone needs to know. Something came over me, possibly that the thought of using an entire stick of butter, AND my last stick of butter at that, was too hard to swallow. So, I replaced half the butter with coconut oil and also greased my pan with coconut oil.
YUMMY!
As one friend pointed out, they tasted almost like a Mounds or Almond Joy candy bar!
HOWEVER, for future reference, should you try this little technique, I highly recommend using less total oil than the recipe calls for because they are a bit on the greasy side.
I brought the leftover brownies to the office to share and one of our bookkeepers, who keeps a gluten free diet, directed me to this amazing brownie recipe made with -- of all things -- BLACK BEANS!! I will have to try this sometime, she says that they come out fantastic! Here is a link to the recipe: Amazing Black Bean Brownies. I am hoping our 'test kitchen' (Ahem, Karen) will try these out.
As a result of this discovery, you can now enjoy other fine recipes from 101Cookbooks.com by clicking on the link on the right of this page. In addition, Hannah will be one of our new authors for this blog.
Which, reminds me....Hey you Worst.Recipe.Ever bloggers, haven't seen any of you post recently!!!
Monday, November 17, 2008
Worst Recipe Ever - Saved!
About a year ago, at this time, I truly did make a Worst.Recipe.Ever. It was another one of those recipes cut out from a magazine that looked and sounded great, that is, until I did one little ingredient replacement and then the whole thing went south. Very south. The Deep south.
I guess in retrospect, the recipe was not the worst, it was the ingredient that was the worst for that recipe. I had made a French Pumpkin Soup, recipe found HERE on my facebook recipe binder. This recipe specifically calls for a Rouge vif D'Etamps pumpkin (otherwise known as a "Cinderella Pumpkin" - different fron "Fairytale" pumpkins). I was not interested in hunting down a special pumpkin and figured I could cook this soup in any old pumpkin - WRONG!!! It was simply put, disgusting!
This year...... I felt inspired. Having driven around parts of Santa Cruz county and on 92 near Half Moon Bay (where there are lots of pumpkin farms) I felt like it could not be too terribly difficult to find this fancy pumpkin. I ended up on the internet, which by the way, has very little out there about this special pumpkin, and I found Crystal Bay Farm in Watsonville. I wrote to Jeff and Lori and Jeff responded that indeed he had a few Rouge pumpkins left and some suggestions for other varieties that might work.
Off I went to Crystal Bay Farm, which is beautiful and has a fantastic honor system farm stand and found my pumpkin. It was 14 pounds which was a little larger than the recipe calls for. That weekend I made my soup, yet again, praying and hoping, that it came out better.
AND....OH MY! It did! So, although this recipe started out as a Worst.Recipe.Ever, it has now graduated to full yumminess. The pumpkin simply melted into the soup and even the stringy bits were tasty, almost like a spaghetti squash. In order to make it edible for the vegetarians in my household I swapped out the Chicken Broth for Veggie broth which was delicious.
There really is not much healthy in this recipe, between the shredded cheese and full stick of butter, but it is worth it. In addition, cooked in the pumpkin, it makes a beautiful soup tureen serving piece worthy of any holiday table. Try it out!
I guess in retrospect, the recipe was not the worst, it was the ingredient that was the worst for that recipe. I had made a French Pumpkin Soup, recipe found HERE on my facebook recipe binder. This recipe specifically calls for a Rouge vif D'Etamps pumpkin (otherwise known as a "Cinderella Pumpkin" - different fron "Fairytale" pumpkins). I was not interested in hunting down a special pumpkin and figured I could cook this soup in any old pumpkin - WRONG!!! It was simply put, disgusting!
This year...... I felt inspired. Having driven around parts of Santa Cruz county and on 92 near Half Moon Bay (where there are lots of pumpkin farms) I felt like it could not be too terribly difficult to find this fancy pumpkin. I ended up on the internet, which by the way, has very little out there about this special pumpkin, and I found Crystal Bay Farm in Watsonville. I wrote to Jeff and Lori and Jeff responded that indeed he had a few Rouge pumpkins left and some suggestions for other varieties that might work.
Off I went to Crystal Bay Farm, which is beautiful and has a fantastic honor system farm stand and found my pumpkin. It was 14 pounds which was a little larger than the recipe calls for. That weekend I made my soup, yet again, praying and hoping, that it came out better.
AND....OH MY! It did! So, although this recipe started out as a Worst.Recipe.Ever, it has now graduated to full yumminess. The pumpkin simply melted into the soup and even the stringy bits were tasty, almost like a spaghetti squash. In order to make it edible for the vegetarians in my household I swapped out the Chicken Broth for Veggie broth which was delicious.
There really is not much healthy in this recipe, between the shredded cheese and full stick of butter, but it is worth it. In addition, cooked in the pumpkin, it makes a beautiful soup tureen serving piece worthy of any holiday table. Try it out!
Friday, April 25, 2008
Eating Cardboard
Well, it is that time of year again -- Passover!
And now, you know how I come to titling this blog, "Eating Cardboard." Granted, I do like matzah, but after the first few days, it starts to feel like it is sticking to my insides.
This brings me to one of my more favorite cooking disaster stories: Dad Bakes the Passover Kugels.
In my family, we make these muffin/popover type rolls, that are kosher for passover, that we call Kugels. I don't know where the recipe that we use comes from, however we eat these on passover as long as I can remember.
Once upon a time, in a land far far away...... oh, ok, in Hackensack, NJ. Anyway, my dad was living in his Hackensack apt. not long after having moved out on his own. Here he was at Passover time and it was time to make his own Kugels. First of all, he thought, "I love these Kugels, I'm a big guy, I think I'll make them in a Texas-sized muffin tin!" So, dad called his mom, my Nanni, for the recipe and away he went!
By the time my sister and I came to visit that weekend, he had tried 2 or 3 times and each time they came out disgusting. He couldn't figure out why. So, I tasted one...indeed, they were GROSS! So, I went through the recipe and ingredients with him, he had it all correct. I went through the quantities and steps, it all seemed correct. Then I started to look at his ingredients, one by one...maybe the butter had gone bad.....hmmm. I finally got to the salt and out of his bare 'bachelor-pad' cabinets, he pulls out the jar of salt he used - a potassium salt substitute!
Of course, the first time the recipe went bad, he added more salt becuase it tasted bland. As he added more and more each time, he was simply enhancing the bitterness of the salt substitute.
So, lesson learned: when baking, don't substitute sodium chloride with potassium chloride -- ue the real thing!
This does make me wonder about other substitutes that we use - for wheat flour, for sugar, egg beaters for real eggs. When do we get to the point where we are not eating anything that is 'real' anymore? Can we even call it food at that point?
What are your thoughts on food substitutes - either good ones to use or on substituting for the 'real thing' in general?
Here is the correct recipe for The Wiener Family Passover Kugels:
4c Matzo Farfel (basically little broken up matzo crumbs)
2c lukewarm water
2 tbs oil or melted butter (or shmaltz like my grandma would use!)
5 eggs
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Soak the Farfel in the water for about 15 minutes (make sure it is evenly mixed together). Beat the eggs well and add to the soaked farfel with the oil. Salt and Pepper to taste (i reccomend slightly over salting WITH REAL SALT!). I also add a little hint of onion powder. Grease muffin tins and fill about 2/3 high. Bake for about an hour until golden brown and crisp on the outside.
Best eaten straight out of the oven!
Chag Sameach(joyous festival), have a blessed spring and year!
And now, you know how I come to titling this blog, "Eating Cardboard." Granted, I do like matzah, but after the first few days, it starts to feel like it is sticking to my insides.
This brings me to one of my more favorite cooking disaster stories: Dad Bakes the Passover Kugels.
In my family, we make these muffin/popover type rolls, that are kosher for passover, that we call Kugels. I don't know where the recipe that we use comes from, however we eat these on passover as long as I can remember.
Once upon a time, in a land far far away...... oh, ok, in Hackensack, NJ. Anyway, my dad was living in his Hackensack apt. not long after having moved out on his own. Here he was at Passover time and it was time to make his own Kugels. First of all, he thought, "I love these Kugels, I'm a big guy, I think I'll make them in a Texas-sized muffin tin!" So, dad called his mom, my Nanni, for the recipe and away he went!
By the time my sister and I came to visit that weekend, he had tried 2 or 3 times and each time they came out disgusting. He couldn't figure out why. So, I tasted one...indeed, they were GROSS! So, I went through the recipe and ingredients with him, he had it all correct. I went through the quantities and steps, it all seemed correct. Then I started to look at his ingredients, one by one...maybe the butter had gone bad.....hmmm. I finally got to the salt and out of his bare 'bachelor-pad' cabinets, he pulls out the jar of salt he used - a potassium salt substitute!
Of course, the first time the recipe went bad, he added more salt becuase it tasted bland. As he added more and more each time, he was simply enhancing the bitterness of the salt substitute.
So, lesson learned: when baking, don't substitute sodium chloride with potassium chloride -- ue the real thing!
This does make me wonder about other substitutes that we use - for wheat flour, for sugar, egg beaters for real eggs. When do we get to the point where we are not eating anything that is 'real' anymore? Can we even call it food at that point?
What are your thoughts on food substitutes - either good ones to use or on substituting for the 'real thing' in general?
Here is the correct recipe for The Wiener Family Passover Kugels:
4c Matzo Farfel (basically little broken up matzo crumbs)
2c lukewarm water
2 tbs oil or melted butter (or shmaltz like my grandma would use!)
5 eggs
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Soak the Farfel in the water for about 15 minutes (make sure it is evenly mixed together). Beat the eggs well and add to the soaked farfel with the oil. Salt and Pepper to taste (i reccomend slightly over salting WITH REAL SALT!). I also add a little hint of onion powder. Grease muffin tins and fill about 2/3 high. Bake for about an hour until golden brown and crisp on the outside.
Best eaten straight out of the oven!
Chag Sameach(joyous festival), have a blessed spring and year!
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Scary, Yet True
Shockingly, there was a time where I might have made a Hamburger Helper meal for dinner - ugh!
I would usually get some cheese version which would approximate macaroni and cheese with ground meat thrown in. Not too bad considering I grew up with Kraft Mac & Cheese with hotdog slices for dinner on Saturday nights.
Anyway, my ex-husband liked all things Stroganoff, which for some reason always seemed gross to me - a creamy milky sauce with meat mixed in - but I went along anyway and got the Stroganoff version of Hamburger Helper.
I don't know if any of you folks out there have made this food-like substance before, but Hamburger Helper is far from attractive when you first add the mix of pasta & seasoning into the pan with water and the browned ground meat. It looks disgusting, almost barf-like in quality. Stroganoff, for some reason, looked extra gross with that powdered milky seasoning that would eventually transform into a tasty sauce.
Well, for some reason, I had to pick up this large pan of partially cooked, still in the barf-looking-phase, stroganoff hamburger helper to move it and halfway across the open kitchen floor I mistakenly tipped the pan and spilt the contents over the kitchen floor. Talk about looking like I just lost my dinner!
I remember looking up into the dining room and seeing the look on my husband's face. I imagine my look of shock was quite similar.
Honey, let's order a pizza?
I would usually get some cheese version which would approximate macaroni and cheese with ground meat thrown in. Not too bad considering I grew up with Kraft Mac & Cheese with hotdog slices for dinner on Saturday nights.Anyway, my ex-husband liked all things Stroganoff, which for some reason always seemed gross to me - a creamy milky sauce with meat mixed in - but I went along anyway and got the Stroganoff version of Hamburger Helper.
I don't know if any of you folks out there have made this food-like substance before, but Hamburger Helper is far from attractive when you first add the mix of pasta & seasoning into the pan with water and the browned ground meat. It looks disgusting, almost barf-like in quality. Stroganoff, for some reason, looked extra gross with that powdered milky seasoning that would eventually transform into a tasty sauce.
Well, for some reason, I had to pick up this large pan of partially cooked, still in the barf-looking-phase, stroganoff hamburger helper to move it and halfway across the open kitchen floor I mistakenly tipped the pan and spilt the contents over the kitchen floor. Talk about looking like I just lost my dinner!
I remember looking up into the dining room and seeing the look on my husband's face. I imagine my look of shock was quite similar.
Honey, let's order a pizza?
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Recipe Reminiscing
In enjoying a lovely dinner with friends last night (Thank you Jasper for the divine mango-chicken pasta!), we started discussing this blog which led, naturally, to a discussion of other recipe disasters.
What was brought up in my mind were, actually three classic events in my cooking memory, I'll share them over the course of this blog.
I would like to start by saying that it helps to actually have the recipe somewhere that you are trying to make, especially if it is something you have not made before and extra especially if it is something finicky, like gnocchi. In the days where I had television I would often have a lazy saturday morning watching the cooking shows on PBS while still in bed. One day, they made handmade gnocchi. It looked simple enough, just remember the ratio of ingredients. I didn't write anything down, just listened and did my best to memorize the steps and ratios. Well, of course, this was an inspiration and off I was to the store later that day to gather the ingredients.
So, I guess my memory is not so great, and because of this, now I write things down. Instructions seemed simple enough, I made the fluffy gnocchi dough, got my water salted and boiling and away I went. I must have gone for 'extra' fluffy, so fluff, in fact, that the gnocchi fluffed apart into a pile of starchy mush floating in my pot of water! Hmmm, what did I miss? Definitely one of those nights where I said, "Honey, how about we go out for dinner tonight!"
To see how to properly make tasty light tasty looking gnocchi, I have now found this informative video. I have not tried this recipe yet, but I have lately been feeling inspired to try my hand at gnocchi once again.
Don't worry, I have my pen and paper right beside me to write down the exact instructions.
What was brought up in my mind were, actually three classic events in my cooking memory, I'll share them over the course of this blog.
I would like to start by saying that it helps to actually have the recipe somewhere that you are trying to make, especially if it is something you have not made before and extra especially if it is something finicky, like gnocchi. In the days where I had television I would often have a lazy saturday morning watching the cooking shows on PBS while still in bed. One day, they made handmade gnocchi. It looked simple enough, just remember the ratio of ingredients. I didn't write anything down, just listened and did my best to memorize the steps and ratios. Well, of course, this was an inspiration and off I was to the store later that day to gather the ingredients.
So, I guess my memory is not so great, and because of this, now I write things down. Instructions seemed simple enough, I made the fluffy gnocchi dough, got my water salted and boiling and away I went. I must have gone for 'extra' fluffy, so fluff, in fact, that the gnocchi fluffed apart into a pile of starchy mush floating in my pot of water! Hmmm, what did I miss? Definitely one of those nights where I said, "Honey, how about we go out for dinner tonight!"
To see how to properly make tasty light tasty looking gnocchi, I have now found this informative video. I have not tried this recipe yet, but I have lately been feeling inspired to try my hand at gnocchi once again.
Don't worry, I have my pen and paper right beside me to write down the exact instructions.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Blog-Inspiring Disaster
Okay, so something hit me this weekend and I got on a cooking frenzy. I think it started while I was teaching a collage workshop on Saturday. I saw a really tasty looking picture for Pappardelle with Chicken & Winter Greens in one of the magazines and tore it out to make this week:
Tonight (monday) was the night! I had all the ingredients assembled and was ready to cook, and hungry! I guess it is something about the combination of sherry, cream, cheese, rotisserie chicken and greens that simply does not work for my taste buds. Perhaps I didn't do such a good job in preparation (I was thinking that I overcooked the greens by a minute and a half or so before adding the next step). I don't know, but when I got it in my bowl and tasted it......YEUCH!!!!
So, it is your turn, my friends! Try it out (click on the link above to get to the recipe). Let me know if it truly is disgusting or I just messed it up....badly.
As I was cleaning up this mess, down the disposal, I said to my self: "Sheesh, this was the worst recipe ever!" And here we are at a new blog.
So, let me know if you would like to join in the fun and be an author!
Tonight (monday) was the night! I had all the ingredients assembled and was ready to cook, and hungry! I guess it is something about the combination of sherry, cream, cheese, rotisserie chicken and greens that simply does not work for my taste buds. Perhaps I didn't do such a good job in preparation (I was thinking that I overcooked the greens by a minute and a half or so before adding the next step). I don't know, but when I got it in my bowl and tasted it......YEUCH!!!!So, it is your turn, my friends! Try it out (click on the link above to get to the recipe). Let me know if it truly is disgusting or I just messed it up....badly.
As I was cleaning up this mess, down the disposal, I said to my self: "Sheesh, this was the worst recipe ever!" And here we are at a new blog.
So, let me know if you would like to join in the fun and be an author!
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