Recipes NOT to be repeated!!

npsmama

I'm SO :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:!!!!

I tried making Nigella Lawson's Fried Calamari which not only was horribly expensive (£7 on the calamari for 2 people :eek:) but it didn't work. The cornflour/semolina mix came off the calamari in the oil.
I even went to the trouble of making up some Old Bay Spice.

What a waste!

I think I'm no longer a fan of Nigella having made her Mustard Pork Chops and getting a just-about-edible result.

So what are your 'not-to-be-repeated' recipes?

Gingham_Ribbon

I discovered the other day that I shouldn't put hot filling onto the pastry when making pasties. (It went straight through the pastry and it all collapsed when I tried to pick it up.)

thriftlady_2

Oh dear, and that looks so delicious in the book

I made some fruit bread from The River Cottage Family Cookbook. Pretty straightforward to an experienced baker but the cooking time given was too short by half. All gooey. I whacked it back in the oven and cooked it for another 20 mins and it was fine. Not really a disaster as I managed to fix it, but very disappointing that a big, expensive cookbook should have such glaring errors in it. I've since donated the book to Oxfam.

angie_loves_veg

Jamie Olivers Pork chops with pears has always been my disaster dish - turns out grey and unappetising and downright bland. I spoke to a colleague (Jamie's biggest fan) about it at the time and the same had happened to her..... yuk.

Looked great in the photo, such a shame.. they were lovely chops too...

Sola

Making treacle sponge in the microwave with too much golden syrup - the whole thing bubbled over in a gooey sticky mess, coating the inside and outside of the bowl, all of the microwave, sticking my oven gloves together, and was completely inedible.

Fay

Jamie Olivers ricotta and spinach canalloni for me-his sauce was just too watery. I'm not a massive fan of any of his recipes though to be honest, although his BBQ marinade was good!

Gingernutmeg

I hate TV tie in cookbooks, the recipes are never researched/tested enough.

My never-again recipe comes from a cake book by Mitzi Somebody - some of the recipes are great but there's one cake that I CANNOT get to work. It's a white chocolate and toffee cake and I must have tried it about three times, and it comes out soggy, greasy and tasting revolting. It's a shame 'cause the picture looks lovely, but it just doesn't work.

Edit: I've just remembered the name of the book - rather ironically it's 'Can't Fail Cakes' by Mitzi Wilson ...

HariboJunkie

thriftlady wrote: »

Oh dear, and that looks so delicious in the book

I made some fruit bread from The River Cottage Family Cookbook. Pretty straightforward to an experienced baker but the cooking time given was too short by half. All gooey. I whacked it back in the oven and cooked it for another 20 mins and it was fine. Not really a disaster as I managed to fix it, but very disappointing that a big, expensive cookbook should have such glaring errors in it. I've since donated the book to Oxfam.

I haven't tried that particular recipe but every single other one I've tried from that book has worked perfectly. Did you have problems with any of the other recipes thriftlady so I know what to avoid as I work my way through it.

dND

Mine’s a childhood memory. My mother gave me curried scrambled eggs for breakfast before school. It didn’t help that they looked slightly green too. I felt ill all day – never felt like trying it again myself!

stefejb

.... butterbean rissoles ...... shudder - can't remember where i got that from

Penelope_Penguin

HariboJunkie wrote: »

I haven't tried that particular recipe but every single other one I've tried from that book has worked perfectly. Did you have problems with any of the other recipes thriftlady so I know what to avoid as I work my way through it.

DD and MIL (a very experienced cook) tried HFW's Turkish delight - huge disaster

I've never managed to get beef in beer to work. Am planning to try again in the SC.

Penny. x