FOOD FIASCO: I decided to make the Mushroom and Sun-dried Tomato Risotto from Vegan with a Vengeance. Mistake #1= making something I had NEVER made before. I went to the grocery store and couldn´t find dried shiitake - so I bought dried porcini instead. No problem. But then I couldn´t find sun dried tomatoes, rosemary, or nutmeg. Yesterday afternoon I got home around 3pm - plenty of time for the insanely late dinner we had planned at 8ish/9ishpm (how do Brasilians do it???). I started by making scones for the strawberry shortcake. I didn´t have time to make homemade vegetable broth so I had bought a vegetable buillon cube at the grocery store....or so I thought.
I couldn´t find them anywhere yesterday, and by the time I was ready to prepare the dish it was too late to run to the grocery store. Mistake #2= making something I know nothing about without several key ingredients. The recipe in VwaV serves four so I decided to double it. The whole process went fairly well. Risotto is labor intensive but I didn´t cut any corners (just ingredients) and 45 minutes later it looked like I thought most risottos should look, thought it tasted bland (obviously). Mistake #3 = letting the risotto sit in a hot pan for two hours. When it came time for dinner I was left with a gelatinous gluey mucky mess. They loaded up on cheese and olive oil and nobody said a word. My first inclination was to comment on how overcooked it was but I couldn´t decide if that would then invite more criticism or I would have to deal with protests of denial. You never know with Brasilians - they can be very nonconfrontational and complimentary or they can be brutally honest - and I wasn´t really in the mood for either. The strawberry shortcake was okay. I made the Macadamia Créme the night before and it would have been very good if I hadn´t burnt the nuts while roasting them. I didn´t have the time to redo it the day of the dinner so I didn´t serve it. I made the strawberry sauce the night before which is not a good idea - the strawberries lose texture and the taste is slightly alcoholic. Luckily I had another box of strawberries that I cut up and used. But I don´t really think it was to their taste - except for Tia Sô who ate four scones. I should have just made the avocado mouse I have perfected (we eat avocados sweet here, not salty)On a scale of 1-10, one being the worst fiasco ever and ten being an enjoyable food fiasco, I would rank it as a 4. The food wasn´t very tasty but (hopefully) it didn´t make anyone sick and wasn´t burnt or green. What makes it SO bad is that now I will always be that American that says I like to cook but can´t really cook. It is like an affirmation that I should have just ordered out or left the cooking to the maids. AND I´m sure this information will spread like wildfire through the family: "Melissa´s dinner wasn´t very good, watch out if Melissa says she wants to cook, the food wasn´t that tasty...." But never fear - I will perservere! Teehee. Flavia plans on inviting me to dinner at her house. I am just going to make something and take it (only if it is really good) and say I am so bummed the risotto sucked and lets try this.
And don´t worry - I won´t starve. Between my aunt´s grocery shopping, my grandmothers insistence that I take food from her house, and my biological father´s very good cooking, I am only gaining weight!
Besides all that I am doing well. I received a postcard. Woohoo. I love mail.
1 comment:
You get an A+ for effort and the food! I am sure the food was turned out much better than you described. I am sure you did much better than I could do. However, I am learning how to cook quite a few, all be it simple, meals. Abel says they're tasty!
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