Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Move Over Gordon Ramsay???

If you’ve read my posts here or on my website before then you know I’m not a fan of cooking.
I’d rather sharpen rusty garden hoes with a nail file (in preparation for the zombie apocalypse of course) than plan, prep and cook a meal. I’ve always been content to let Master Chef run the show while I chip in with setting the table and cleaning up.
But recently (after I was clearly abducted by aliens in my sleep and experimented on) I’ve discovered that cooking isn’t so bad and that I can even *gasp* enjoy it. Okay, so those times may or may not include dessert based dishes or foods that have been traditionally labeled as bad for us, but I still consider that progress.
Some of my experimenting (I’m obviously waaaaay to creative to stick to the basics) have worked out well and others…not so much. I happen to be a huge mushroom lover. I’ve even brought Master Chef, who had little use for the fungi family, over to the dark side. He rarely eats steak without them anymore.
And so I thought I’d give this recipe a try. Gordon makes it look sooooo simple, how could it go wrong, right?


 Which leads me to 5 things I learned so you don’t have to:
  1. It’s not as easy as it looks to scoop and toss those babies around in the pan like that. Apparently that’s what culinary school is for. Better to practice while procrastinating on a book.
  2. Avoid making recipes that don’t actually tell you how much of an ingredient is being used. Watching the clip and making shit up guesstimating may not yield accurate results.
  3. Following this recipe (or doing whatever the hell I did) may turn off even the most hardcore Fungus Forever mushroom lover.
  4. They pretty much taste like cold mushrooms sprinkled in cinnamon/nutmeg. *gag*
  5. I will not be replacing Master Chef in the kitchen anytime soon. I’m not even sure he’s letting me touch the utensils anymore.

So what about you guys. Love to cook? Hate it? Have you made anything your family just won't let you forget?

3 comments:

PG Forte said...

I love cooking. I just don't feel the need to do it ALL THE TIME.

My most famous dish was Margarita Chicken. It's a recipe I invented on the spot some years ago and made exactly once. The kids LOVED it. My daughter still asks for it to this day OVER ten years later.

Unfortunately, I don't really remember what I did. There were margaritas involved, as you might have deduced. One of these days, I really have to try that again.

Kate Davies said...

I have a few recipes that I do really well. When I try to branch out, it rarely goes well.

Nineteen years later, and my husband STILL gives me crap about the potato-crusted chicken recipe.

Meg Benjamin said...

Right now I'm on an ultra-lo-carb diet, so I'm trying to learn to cook whole grains. It's not going well.