Recipes NOT to be repeated!!

Nicki

Brussel Sprout soup - from a recipe posted on here! I could only manage about a third of a bowl, but OH manfully had all his, seconds and the remainder of mine, and the after effects were not pleasant for the rest of the family for the rest of the night...:rotfl: :rotfl:

Unfortunately I made quite a lot (lots of sprout trimmings as it was Christmas time) so there are two tubs of it in the freezer, which I can't face bringing out, but which OH thinks he will eat. Let's hope on a night that I'm out on the tiles!

seraphina

I had one disaster with a Leith's Cookery bible - it was supposed to be an aubergine tagine, it turned out to be a nasty pot of bland grim burnt and raw mush!

I've also cooked lots of stuff that looks grim but tastes okay - last night I cooked the potato and mushroom gratin from Nigella Express. The mushrooms made the milk go all grey, and although the top was lovely and crisp, the bottom was a puddle of grey soup.

nappentass

Nix143 wrote: »

Delia's gingernuts - I got these really wrong LOL - they spread all over the baking tray and became ginger thins .

My version based on this are known as dog poo biscuits :rotfl: tasted OK but look like.....

skintscotslass

lamplady wrote: »

I once made a Keith Floyd curry that had 1/2 a pint of lemon juice in it. I made it as a leap of faith, rather intriguied how it would work. It didn't, and was totally inedible. Also, while I'm a good family cook, and pretty creative I cannot fry a decent steak..tried loads of tips and recipes, and very expensive steak and it's always really tough.

Thats the same as me...I cant cook a steak (I've never tried a Keith Floyd recipe!!)

skintscotslass

I always check what Nigella's recipes will cost before buying ingredients as I find her very pricey. I was going to make a passionfruit cheesecake and you needed 10 passion fruits. 75p each...so #7.50 just for the fruit. Nah...used cranberries instead.

ravylesley

Well I have howled at your culinary mishaps so much so that I feel compelled to add my own to the list.

Over the many years I've been cooking I've had many successes and many disasters and I think the worst of them has to be the Mincemeat from St Delias Christmas Book.Now I know many of you will have tried this recipe and found it fabulous but I've tried it three times and each time its been rank.I've followed the recipe to the letter and I've had burnt mincemeat and once I even had an oven swimming with grease:o and the end product has never been that wonderful.So may I be struck down with thunderbolts for saying this St Delia's mincemeat recipe doesnt work for me and I'll stick to bought stuff:o

Another of my astounding culinary disasters was when I made Moussaka for the first time and the recipe tells you to sprinkle salt on the Aubergines.I forgot to wash them off and ended up with the saltiest most inedible meal ever and it looked so nice as well:D

Lesleyxx

moanymoany

Many years ago - 1972 - DH made a 'Pelorous Cake' from the (usually reliable) Edmonds cook book. He lifted it out of the oven, it looked super, golden and risen.

You must see if it's cooked, I said, handing him a knitting needle. The needle went in and came out, followed by a thin spout of steam - as the cake sank below the edge of the tin.

Thanks for that - he said bitterly - and has never baked since!

FZwanab

freyasmum wrote: »

I have the river cottage family cookbook, too and I made the brownies the other day and I gave them a bit longer than stated in the book, too. I thought they were a bit underdone, and, though I know brownies are meant to be a bit underdone, I thought it was a bit much.

I must say I have the Leith's baking bible which is very expensive, I know - £35!!! - but every single recipe I have tried has come out perfectly.

Lx

I made Nigel Slater's Brownies and had the same experience, I went out and bought expensive 70% cocoa solid dark choc and everything. They were swimming in fat and that was even after giving them a lot of extra time in the oven. I eventually got a recipe from a friend that worked.

Dinah93

Shortbread. It's my nemesis. I make everything from scratch and it's almost always wolfed down, however I appear to be completely incapable of making shortbread so it isn't
a - burnt
b - gloopy and raw
c - burnt, gloopy AND raw
d) bland
e) crumble.

I'm desperate to find a good recipe, as I have something of a craving for strawberry shortbread, and as it is my birthday in two weeks, that means it's my turn to bring the cakes to work, so I was thinking banoffee cake, mini lemon meringue pies (because people at work keep nagging me to make them again!), mars bar cake and (hopefully) i'll find a way to master strawberry shortcake. Any suggestions welcomed!

competitionscafe

skintscotslass wrote: »

Thats the same as me...I cant cook a steak (I've never tried a Keith Floyd recipe!!)

Buy it from a decent butcher not a supermarket, should be well hung (21 days or more), grass fed beef. Rib-eye is my favourite, fillet is the most tender (and most expensive!), sirloin is more flavourful and cheaper than fillet, rump can be chewy but I think has more flavour than sirloin. Allow to come to room temp before cooking.

From: http://www.independent.co.uk/living/food_and_drink/features/article622639.ece
"The Cooking. Use a griddle pan and turn the heat up high from the start. Don't put olive oil in the pan, or it will burn and smoke. Better to coat the steak with oil on both sides on a shallow plate. Make sure the pan is scorchingly hot before you slam the meat down on it. For a standard-size sirloin steak, one inch thick, three minutes a side should be plenty for medium-rare. Turn the steak over only once (it's the Argentine way) and, when you take it off the heat, let it rest for a few minutes on a warm surface covered by a piece of foil."

Some tips to print here:
http://www.thenewscentre.co.uk/pdfs/howto0305.pdf

Gordon Ramsey video here (2min40secs, no swearing!):
http://www.channel4.com/food/on-tv/cookalong-live/feeling-hot-hot-hot-cooking-the-perfect-steak-08-01-15_p_1.html