Cooking defeats - What have yours been? Did you learn anything from them.

[Bella99]

Got a 10lb bag of cheese curds last week. Tried to use some in a mac & cheese. Turns out curds don't melt very well, and I had a big lump of cheese and mushy pasta from me trying to stir it..

What I learned : Stay shredded for when it needs to melt

 

[LPBeier]

I think the biggest one for me would have to be when I was making chicken cacciatore for a wedding I catered. I gave it to one of my staff to look after because I trusted him to get it done. He took on the chicken and had other, inexperienced helpers doing the chopping. It took them forever to get the onions and peppers ready and my staffer seared the meat well, but when he put it in the oven he didn't allow extra time for it to cook as the original recipe said 20 minutes (for 8 servings in a skillet on top of the stove). We had to do it in the oven which takes much longer. My bad was I never checked it and several servings were reported as being "pink". I had to pull the dish, nuke the chicken, put it back in the sauce but by this time no one wanted to eat it. I ended up refunding the amount of the chicken on a wedding I really wasn't making much on anyway.

What did I learn? Even if I trust my staff, always do my own quality control. It was a moot point, however, because that was the last event I did as I put my leg out in the middle of it and realized my body had had enough! Now I just consult and do cakes.

 

[taxlady]

Got a 10lb bag of cheese curds last week. Tried to use some in a mac & cheese. Turns out curds don't melt very well, and I had a big lump of cheese and mushy pasta from me trying to stir it..

What I learned : Stay shredded for when it needs to melt

Make poutine!

 

[LPBeier]

Make poutine!

+1!

 

[didiod]

First time I tried to impress a boy with my cooking - Marinated a rump steak in tobasco sauce. That put a whole new meaning to the words HOT DATE.

Lesson: There is a reason why a label says only use a few drops !

 

[Siegal]

First time I tried to impress a boy with my cooking - Marinated a rump steak in tobasco sauce. That put a whole new meaning to the words HOT DATE.

Lesson: There is a reason why a label says only use a few drops !

Omg! This is the best story I ever heard. What did he do?

 

[CWS4322]

+1!

+2 Cheese curds don't work for mac and cheese, but they are essential for poutine!!!! YUMMMY!!!

 

[CWS4322]

I cannot make those unbaked chocolate-oatmeal cookies. My grandmother used to make those all the time. They do not work for me. I don't know what I do wrong, but they don't set.

 

[Alix]

Mine is cream puffs. Hockey pucks every time. I can make the best pie pastry in the world, flaky and tender. Choux pastry defeats me. My Mom even stood over me and watched and I did everything EXACTLY as instructed. Still rocks. Oh well, I'll buy mine at costco!

 

[bakechef]

I cannot make those unbaked chocolate-oatmeal cookies. My grandmother used to make those all the time. They do not work for me. I don't know what I do wrong, but they don't set.

I either make them too runny, or so dry that they crumble. My mom made them perfect every time when I was a kid. Every recipe I've seen says to boil for 2 minutes, but I may need something more precise than that, using a candy thermometer.

 

[CWS4322]

I either make them too runny, or so dry that they crumble. My mom made them perfect every time when I was a kid. Every recipe I've seen says to boil for 2 minutes, but I may need something more precise than that, using a candy thermometer.

+1

I have the same results! I have given up! And I use a candy thermometer. I've used butter, I've used margarine, but I've never been able to make them like my grandmother did.

 

[Steve Kroll]

Got a 10lb bag of cheese curds last week. Tried to use some in a mac & cheese. Turns out curds don't melt very well, and I had a big lump of cheese and mushy pasta from me trying to stir it..

What I learned : Stay shredded for when it needs to melt

I'm not in the poutine camp. In my mind, cheese curds are tasty all on their own (especially if they are fresh and squeaky). They don't need a supporting cast.

 

[CWS4322]

I'm not in the poutine camp. In my mind, cheese curds are tasty all on their own (especially if they are fresh and squeaky). They don't need a supporting cast.

Steve--10 lb of curds are a lot of curds. Poutine would use up some of them. Locally, you can buy fresh curds at the gas station--I have been known to grab a bag and eat them on a road trip...as is, just curds.

 

[Bella99]

Make poutine!

Oh I did, way too much...

 

[Claire]

My paternal grandfather was a Quebecoise cheesemaker, and I don't think Daddy (who now is in Florida) had had them until we moved to this very, very cheesemaking area. Now I can't go to Florida or send a winter package home without curds. We even know a place where if you visit on certain days, they' have a sign out letting everyone know it is curd day and people come in and buy them straight out of the vat of whey (I may have incorrect terminology).

 

[Dawgluver]

I'm not in the poutine camp. In my mind, cheese curds are tasty all on their own (especially if they are fresh and squeaky). They don't need a supporting cast.

Mmmm. Squeaky cheese curds, haven't had them since I was in Wisconsin many moons ago.

 

[Siegal]

Never had a cheese curd but they sound like something I want to try. What are they and how do I get them?? I live in S. Florida??

 

[CWS4322]

Never had a cheese curd but they sound like something I want to try. What are they and how do I get them?? I live in S. Florida??

You can order them on line, not sure if they are available in FL or not. To learn more about cheese curds:

Cheese curds - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Bella99]

Oh look what i've started

 

[Claire]

OK, as far as I know, cheese curds are not available in Florida, period. A climate thing, But I am NOT an expert, and may be wrong, and willing to admit it. I don't send them to Dad in the warm months, because they wouldn't be curds, they'd become a mass off goo. I believe cheese curds are probably a fresh cheese thing, Little Miss Muffett, Sit on her Tuffet, Eating her Curds and WHey. I never understood what that meant. When I was a child, Dad tried to tell me about curds and whey, but I didn't get it until I moved here.

Now Dad counts on those curds. A taste from his childhood.