Don't make this recipe!

[suziquzie]

Oh great, now we're all related?
Like my mom didn't ALREADY have a favorite.......

 

[ironchef]

I don't think you did anything wrong by posting this Karen. I just tried to see why it didn't turn out favorably. Being served cold is what I came up with. I must say I can feel that cold bacon grease in my mouth just thinking about it!

It is, however, a very personal thing - - - - taste. If a recipe has all ingredients we like then why is it we didn't like it? I have a recipe like that now. I made it one time and will never make it again and it's full of stuff I like. I guess I just don't want these things in the same bowl at the same time . The friend that sent this to me (many, many years ago) LOVES it and raves and makes it all the time and it darn near made me hurl. I sent her my macaroni salad recipe and she said it was very mayonnaise-y - well, yea, the dressing is made with mayo (among other things) so it's not going to be anything BUT and don't eat the dressing not mixed in. This macaroni salad recipe is one that people have me to make all the time and have even come to the house to watch me make it so they get it right. "To each his own" comes to mind (I did that for you Q ).

I would view this as a place to figure out "what went wrong" and how could it be made better. Again, personal taste plays a part but something might just hit the nail on the head and solve the issue. Tweaking - either with ingredients, or it could be tweaked right into File 13

+1

It's not so much about always having to be positive, but I think it's much more productive to talk about a recipe, what happened, and how to tweak it and fix it. Like KElf said, you might find a recipe that has ingredients that you like, but when you made it, it didn't turn out. Why? Maybe you didn't season it correctly. I would much rather see something like: "Okay, I followed this recipe to a T, and it just didn't come out. It tasted blah blah blah blah. Does anyone have any ideas on how to make this dish better?"

 

[buckytom]

add foam and micro-something?

 

[ironchef]

add foam and micro-something?

Only if it tastes good!

But seriously, have you ever read some of the recipe reviews on allrecipes.com? People will poorly rate a recipe and say a dish didn't taste good, even though in their review they clearly state that they didn't follow the original recipe.

 

[MexicoKaren]

Thanks for all the feedback. Perhaps the thread should have been titled "Recipes I won't make again." In this case, I think the concept of the "bacon gravy" salad dressing is just not a good one. Although I know that there is a "cooked" dressing that tastes alot like Miracle Whip that was very popular in the 40s and 50s. I guess I should have added that serving something well-chilled is really a requisite in our tropical climate. Letting anything sit at room temp, when room temp is 85-90F (with high humidity) for very long is an invitation to the ER.

 

[DramaQueen]

Only if it tastes good!

But seriously, have you ever read some of the recipe reviews on allrecipes.com? People will poorly rate a recipe and say a dish didn't taste good, even though in their review they clearly state that they didn't follow the original recipe.

Boy have you got that right!! I get into the FoodTV Network recipe reviews and am amazed at how many people with substitute, eliminate, add and make up ingredients for a published recipe then complain because it turned out bad. The recipe that was published was not even close to the one they turned it into.

As for the cold bacon gravy taste, I can understand that if the macaroni was chilled. Bacon grease coagulates and the mouth feel is awful. The recipe for the dressing on the macaroni is very similar to the recipe for warm spinach salad with bacon dressing. That's a great salad but the bacon dressing is warm and that makes the difference.

I agee that people have different tastes. I have a good friend who thinks that anything made with cilantro is disgusting. I love cilantro. See? The recipes in Sunset magazine are tested and I don't think they would publish it if it were that bad so give it another try - this time using warm macaroni or warm dressing. I think I might try this one myself.

 

[kitchenelf]

Thanks for all the feedback. Perhaps the thread should have been titled "Recipes I won't make again." In this case, I think the concept of the "bacon gravy" salad dressing is just not a good one. Although I know that there is a "cooked" dressing that tastes alot like Miracle Whip that was very popular in the 40s and 50s. I guess I should have added that serving something well-chilled is really a requisite in our tropical climate. Letting anything sit at room temp, when room temp is 85-90F (with high humidity) for very long is an invitation to the ER.

Don't let it sit at room temp - make it and then eat it while still warm. I do understand though. I guess if you had left-overs they would then have to be either heated stovetop or nuked a bit to "release" the bacon grease to a liquid state.

I'm actually thinking of making this for Father's Day - I'll let you know what I discover.

 

[expatgirl]

Only if it tastes good!

But seriously, have you ever read some of the recipe reviews on allrecipes.com? People will poorly rate a recipe and say a dish didn't taste good, even though in their review they clearly state that they didn't follow the original recipe.

Oh, my.... one of my favorite grips! I made an easy, very tasty clams in linguine sauce. Always got raves about it and one of my best friends and her family wolfed it down. Begged for the recipe and I gave it to her..........later she complained that I had left out some ingredients on purpose......well we went back thru the recipe.......did you use 6 garlic cloves.......well no I used garlic powder....... 3 cans of clams.......well, no, only had one.......did you use a stick of butter.......well, no, I mean it was ridiculous......I have teased her about it ever since........oh, and she substituted dried parsley for fresh.... what do you expect????

 

[DramaQueen]

I have the same gripe with people who change recipes then complain that it was awful or didn't turn out like mine. I stopped giving out recipes when a woman friend asked me to give her my famous cold spaghetti recipe that everyone was raving about. She had never had it but wanted to bring it to a pot luck dinner.
The recipe calls for, among several other things, Kraft Golden Caesar dressing (this is an oil based dressing) and 1 jar of Salad Supreme Seasoning. This is a specific product. I was very explicit telling her that she HAD to use those 2 ingredients because they were the reason the salad tasted so good. She substituted the Caesar dressing with Hidden Valley Ranch, and substituted the Salad Supreme seasoning with Mrs. Dash's - not at all the same products. She told me no one liked it and no one ate it and she would never ask me for a recipe again. That was 22 years ago and I have just recently started giving my recipes out again.
I ALWAYS state on my recipe that if you change, delete, substitute, add or otherwise alter this recipe, you are on your own and it is NO LONGER my recipe.

 

[LadyCook61]

I have the same gripe with people who change recipes then complain that it was awful or didn't turn out like mine. I stopped giving out recipes when a woman friend asked me to give her my famous cold spaghetti recipe that everyone was raving about. She had never had it but wanted to bring it to a pot luck dinner.
The recipe calls for, among several other things, Kraft Golden Caesar dressing (this is an oil based dressing) and 1 jar of Salad Supreme Seasoning. This is a specific product. I was very explicit telling her that she HAD to use those 2 ingredients because they were the reason the salad tasted so good. She substituted the Caesar dressing with Hidden Valley Ranch, and substituted the Salad Supreme seasoning with Mrs. Dash's - not at all the same products. She told me no one liked it and no one ate it and she would never ask me for a recipe again. That was 22 years ago and I have just recently started giving my recipes out again.
I ALWAYS state on my recipe that if you change, delete, substitute, add or otherwise alter this recipe, you are on your own and it is NO LONGER my recipe.

I agree. It is irritating to say the least when people change ingredients and expect the same results and blame you if it does not taste the same.

 

[MexicoKaren]

DQ, the "disclaimer" is a great idea. I'll have to start doing that.

 

[kitchenelf]

Couldn't agree more. I have a VERY specific hamburger recipe with about 5 or so ingredients in it. I even specify how delicate these burgers are. Don't leave out 3 of the ingredients and then tell me they are nothing special and that you flipped them SEVERAL times and they fell apart. I think I said flip them GENTLY ONCE and the 3 ingredients you left out are the basis of the flavor



If, however, you make them as specified and didn't like them - well, that's a different story.

 

[Barbara L]

Couldn't agree more. I have a VERY specific hamburger recipe with about 5 or so ingredients in it. I even specify how delicate these burgers are. Don't leave out 3 of the ingredients and then tell me they are nothing special and that you flipped them SEVERAL times and they fell apart. I think I said flip them GENTLY ONCE and the 3 ingredients you left out are the basis of the flavor...

Kind of like following the directions for building a 2-story brick house, substituting wood, and leaving a lot of it out, then complaining when you end up with an outhouse!

Barbara