Rookie Mistake

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larry_stewart

Master Chef
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So I've been cutting down (significantly) on my carbs for medical reasons. After being really strict for the past 2 months , I now allow myself 1 cheat meal. I made a calzone along with spaghetti 1 a mushroom marinara sauce , that my dad used to make from a Julia Childs cookbook.

Anyway, I've made the sauce countless numbers of times, so I dont really need to look at the recipe. everything was going fin until I reached into the cabinet to grab the oregano ( recipe calls for approximately 1 tsp of dried oregano). Tapped out about 1 tsp in my hand and dumped it in to the pot ( which already had the garlic, onion, olive oil and butter going. Mixed it up a bit, then gave a little taste, which is when I realized It wasn't Oregano. I looked at the spice jar and realized I just dumped in Marjoram instead. I started carrying on, using a few choice 'cooking gone bad' words which I shall not repeat. My wife thought I burned myself , the way I was acting. When she realized I screwed up, she just kept quiet and let me get it out of my system. I didnt thoroughly mix it in, so I grabbed a soup spoon and was able to fish out some of it. I then added the oregano and went on my merry way.

It definitely could have been worse, and oregano is a strong enough herb that it hid most of the flavor. But what annoyed me is that I had one meal to look forward to and I screwed it up. The jar was clearly labelled . Problem is, all the jars from the same company are the same size, shape, color, label .... except for the written words. Yeah, I know OREGANO and MARJORAM look nothing alike. But having cooked in this kitchen for 20 + years , and making this recipe for probably about the same amount of time, I was on autopilot.

Could have definitely been worse, and wasn't a bad sauce, just not the sauce I was looking forward to having all week. I guess better luck next week :)

Any of you guys have any rookie mistakes that you made ( later on in your cooking life, not true rookie mistakes when you were truly a rookie. Lord knows I have many of those :LOL: )
 
I had ona e at the worst possible time, while making a spaghetti with ragu sauce at my Mother In Law's home.

The sauce was coming along fine, and was smelling good. Buty it wasn't complete. It needed grlic. As there was no fresh garlic in the house, I reached into the cupboard for granulated garlic. I grabbed a bottle labeled as such, and dumped about a half tsp. into the sauce. To my surprise, and horror, cinnamon erupted from that bottle. My MIL had repurposed the bottle and filled it with ground cinnamon. I tried to save it, but it was unsalvageable. I had to throw it out and start over again. Thankfully, the meat was not yet added.

I could say that it wasn't really my fault. However, I should have smelled the open bottle before using the contents. I usually do, to keep the fragrances of differing herbs and spices fresh in my memory.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
Marjoram and oregano are close in flavor, so you definitely could have done worse! In fact, I often use it instead of oregano, in many things calling for oregano, though I have to use more of it. And I definitely like the fresh marjoram better than the fresh oregano I have grown.

If it's something that you use frequently, maybe put it in a different jar - like a tall, skinny olive jar, so you can distinguish it quickly?
 
Marjoram and oregano are close in flavor, so you definitely could have done worse! In fact, I often use it instead of oregano, in many things calling for oregano, though I have to use more of it. And I definitely like the fresh marjoram better than the fresh oregano I have grown.

If it's something that you use frequently, maybe put it in a different jar - like a tall, skinny olive jar, so you can distinguish it quickly?

I initially ( out of anger) tossed it in the trash. Then after I composed myself, I dug it out of the trash and placed it on the top shelf of the cupboard, out of reach ( unless on a chair). This way I wont make the same mistake. If I do, then I deserve it :LOL:
 
I was camping a few years ago with friends and we had a potluck taco night. I was responsible for the browned beef. I sizzled up the meat and gussied them up with cumin, chili pwd, garlic, pepper flakes and minced onion.

All good except that chili powder and ground cloves are the same color and I added a whopping amount. Never noticed until there were some strange faces at the potluck and then finally... "does anyone else have tacos that taste like Christmas cookies"?
 
I was camping a few years ago with friends and we had a potluck taco night. I was responsible for the browned beef. I sizzled up the meat and gussied them up with cumin, chili pwd, garlic, pepper flakes and minced onion.

All good except that chili powder and ground cloves are the same color and I added a whopping amount. Never noticed until there were some strange faces at the potluck and then finally... "does anyone else have tacos that taste like Christmas cookies"?

Add tomato puree, brown sugar, chopped onion, kidney beans, and brown sugar and call it sloppy joes. Or add navy beans, and other suitable flavorings and call it baked beans.:LOL:

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
If we don't have mishaps at one time or another, were just not cooking right!:LOL:
Reminds me making home made tomato soup, I had accidentally grabbed the coffee creamer bowl instead of the sugar bowl. It was too late to take it back :ohmy:
The funny thing is it turned out ok and nobody was the wiser for it. Except me. (I didn't tell them) :LOL::ROFLMAO:
Really enjoyed a snicker in the corner as I chose to pass on that dinner.
P.B.&J's are good for ya. :cool:


Munky.
 
So I don't bake much. I am only recently learning to make a proper crust! But more than a few years ago, there was a request for an apple pie...made from scratch. I carefully explained that I do not make crust, so crusts were purchased. I washed, peeled, and sliced the apples for this pie. I mixed the sugar, spice and flour for the pie, etc. I carefully stuffed the pie with the apples and beautifully dotted them with butter....put on the top crust and even did cute decorations on the top. Oh...I forgot the spice/sugar mixture. But understanding science came to the rescue! In the small hole in the center of the top crust, I poured in the spices/sugar knowing that butter would melt and apples would release juices so I could just let convection do its thing! Brilliant.

There was about a 1/2 ring of pie that was edible. :LOL:

Why did I not remove the top crust? It was too soft...and I did not have another! I had been cooking wayyyy too long to convince myself that this "fix" would work.
 
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Wasn't bad or ruined , just not what I was aiming for, and since I only get one cheat meal a week, kinda was a bummer.
Don't you have some kind of low carb pasta or pasta substitute? Are there too many carbs in spaghetti squash or zucchini? Couldn't you make the sauce again, the way you want it, and serve it on something else? Or does your sauce have too many carbs?
 
Don't you have some kind of low carb pasta or pasta substitute? Are there too many carbs in spaghetti squash or zucchini? Couldn't you make the sauce again, the way you want it, and serve it on something else? Or does your sauce have too many carbs?

I do have spaghetti squash from time to time, but just doesn't taste/ feel the same as good old pasta. And since I consider it a ' cheat' day, I'm looking forward to the real thing ( the combo of the sauce with regular pasta).

I've tried dozens of low carb pastas, and most just have a grainy or strange consistency , and some just plain old taste bad. And in addition, most still have more carbs than I want to ingest at one time.
 
I do have spaghetti squash from time to time, but just doesn't taste/ feel the same as good old pasta. And since I consider it a ' cheat' day, I'm looking forward to the real thing ( the combo of the sauce with regular pasta).

I've tried dozens of low carb pastas, and most just have a grainy or strange consistency , and some just plain old taste bad. And in addition, most still have more carbs than I want to ingest at one time.

Okay, I get it. It wasn't just that you were missing out on having the sauce exactly the way you wanted it. It was the that the whole experience wasn't what you had been hoping for. I was figuring you could have the sauce just-the-way-you-want-it on a not cheat day to make up for it. But, I can see how that isn't the same thing.
 
Okay, I get it. It wasn't just that you were missing out on having the sauce exactly the way you wanted it. It was the that the whole experience wasn't what you had been hoping for. I was figuring you could have the sauce just-the-way-you-want-it on a not cheat day to make up for it. But, I can see how that isn't the same thing.

yeah, if it weren't my cheat day, I would have been annoyed, but would have probably expanded on my mistake to see what I could come up with.

Although I do like spaghetti squash, it actually serves as my " Go To Pasta" when Im trying to be good. To the point that Im starting to get sick of it :ohmy:

Ans when I saw those " no carb" noodles, Made from some indigestible starch ( or whatever ), I got excited. I bought a huge sample variety packet. Cost me over $40. Opened the first packet, was disgusted and tossed out all the others. I learned my lesson, that lesson being that I'd rather be good all week and reward myself with the real thing, then try and search out some sub-par substitute, which in most cases, just acts as a tease and actually increases my craving for the real thing.
 
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