DIVA DISASTER - A WEBER THANKSGIVING

Good Afternoon dear Chefs..

It was Thanksgiving 1996 and a horrible snowstorm reared it's ugly head just the day before.  I was expecting 23 dinner guests.  The menu was Thanksgiving customary.  Turkey and all the trimmings; potatoes, vegetables and dessert.  Everything was prepped the night before.  Stuffing made and refrigerated, potatoes peeled, vegetables cleaned and ready to go; I had baked two pumpkin pies that night, since I knew my oven would be occupied to at least 2:00 p.m. the next day.  The turkey was washed, dried and salted, wrapped in towels and refrigerated.  The refrigerator was packed with barely enough room to close the door.  Everything was ready to go. 

The night was ueventful, weather-wise; the snow eased, but you can hear the wind howling in the darkness throughout the night.  My day started at 5 a.m. I preheated my oven, stuffed the bird, washed dishes and put the turkey in the oven. 

Now my Thanksgivings are quite traditional, but over the years I added my own traditions, separate of the meal itself.  At 9 a.m., the family tunes into the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and I head out to Walgreens for their pre-Black Friday sale. 

When I return home, I find everyone just sitting around with the TV off.  A little over an hour had passed, since I left and I was wondering why the parade wasn't on.  I learn that the power had gone out and has been out since I left.  OMG!!  My oven.  My turkey.  The power outage effected several hundred homes in the area and there was no repair in site.  I have 23 people to feed in less than 4 hours and my beautiful bird had another two hours to go.  The refrigerator remained cold, but still all that food had to be removed and made.  I had no idea how I would salvage this meal or how to accomodate all these people without lights, heat or a flushing toilet. 

Then it hit me...I'll use the grill.  I got the grill going.  I proceeded to carve the turkey in its semi-cooked state, removing all the meat from the bones and creating a platter to take outside with me.  I started boiling water on the side burner for the stringbeans and the potatoes were quartered, the mushrooms remained whole and I cut up some onion to make kabobs, alternating the two types of potatoes, with mushrooms and onions in between.  I was outside for the better part of two hours, freezing, trying to cope with the bulkiness of a winter coat.  I put the stuffing into an aluminum pan and set that on the grate next to the turkey.  The stuffing was already cooked and just needed a good warming.  I mixed some of the juices from the turkey pan with a can of turkey gravy, thickened it a little and got that warming to serve as gravy.  The turkey was cooking nicely and as it was coming off the grill, it went onto a divided platter to separate the dark from white meat.  As each dish was done, everything was wrapped in heavy aluminum foil to retain its heat and placed inside the still warm oven. 

Guests began to arrive and were told about the power outage.  We accomodated everyone, with very little discomfort.  I was asked about the food and told them what I did to salvage the meal.  They were appreciative and joked how they never had barbecue for Thanksgiving.  Yeah, me either....

Knowing what I know now and how much stress went into pulling this off, if there is ever a next time, my guests will be joking about having Chinese for Thanksgiving.  

Until next time.....love and good eats to all of you!!

DIVA DISASTER - LESSONS LEARNED THE HARD WAY

Good Afternoon dear Chefs...

Today, is the DIVA Disaster post and most fittingly, I want to address the whole Julie & Julia thing.  Here's my take on it.  Yes, Julie Powell transformed herself into a marketable entity.  Through her story, we revisited the life of a very talented woman, Julia Child; that perhaps without such creativity on Julie's part, we would only know Julia Child as one of the notable cooks of all-time.  Unless of course, you were schooled through her Alma Mater, studied French cooking or had other personal interest in this woman's life.  It was through perserverance, that both women gained public and personal successes; but certainly not without having to face challenges that I, timidly confess, would have defeated me. 

I, did, however, after seeing the movie, felt inspired to forge ahead in my kitchen; I gained respect for butter and stopped holding myself hostage to lack of skill or knowledge, in some areas.  I walked away realizing that our cooking disasters are an integral part of our learning process.  That it is only through failure that we find success.  This was, for me, the lesson learned especially since I am super hard on myself.  So for that, I am grateful.

This past Christmas, I was gifted the lastest edition of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking", by Julia Child, et. al.  At first, I wondered who had it in for me.  Then it became apparent that it was time for me to leave the confines of comfort and try something new.  I wasn't at all familiar with any of the recipes in this book and to make matters worse, you guys already know how I view a cookbook.  Thus, "COOKBOOK COMBAT".   But I was going to give it a shot, following the rules as so elegantly set, by one of the world's most noted beloved. 

Not knowing where to begin, I remembered that Boeuf Bourguignon gained notoriety in the film and it was there I would start.  I figured it was simple enough and I've made beef stew before. "What was I thinking?"  A recipe two and a half pages long was a bit intimidating, but I followed it to the letter and forged ahead making this amazing dish, that created mouth-watering aromas.  But when the moment of truth arrived and we all stood around the stove anticipating, with spoons in hand, I was devastated!!

It was too salty.  Way too salty.  The saltiness over-powered the maginficent flavors that only I could detect were there hidden in salt.  There was no fix for this.  This was a disaster of major proportions.  No amount of potato was going to soak up the salt content and if it did, it was no longer Boeuf Bourguignon.  I didn't even bother trying.  There was no way to justify it to my palate. 

I don't know how the others ate it...out of pity, if anything.  This is where I went wrong and I apply what I've learned to almost everything that calls for broth, bouillon, stock, bacon and even butter.

I have a refrigerated bouillon paste both chicken and beef flavored.  After this horrific event, I tasted the beef paste and truly, it's a block of beef flavored salt.  The proportions to achieve 3 cups of beef stock, were more than enough to kill my dish.  Add bacon and salted butter to this and you've got an unedible meal. 

I haven't tried to repeat this recipe, as of yet.  When I do, I will be using homemade beef stock and unsalted butter.  I'll post the recipe in the RECIPEVAULT; it's truly worth the effort, when done right.

No matter how much time, expense or even desire that goes into something we find important enough to put forth all this effort, there are no guarantees it will turn out as we expect.  I would rather fail and say I've tried, then to live with the not-ever-knowing.  But knowing me, I will fail and fail again and do it until I get it right or better yet, "master it"...in this case.

DIVA DISASTER - YOU CALL THAT A MEATBALL?

Good Morning Chefs...

Let's recap...As you probably already know, Friday's posts are dedicated to a series, known as D.I.V.A Disasters.  They are short stories that talk about things that have gone wrong in my kitchen, whether it pertains to a specific dish or an food incident that occurred after the fact.

What is it with people?  I've eaten over friends' houses countless times; same goes for family, extended family and so forth...Never once did I ever, no matter what was served, criticize or judge the food.  I have to admit, there were a few times when I may have been a bit hesitant to dive right in, but regardless, I ate, with a very open mind.  I guess I am one of those people who take into consideration the time and effort that goes into making a home cooked meal. The person who cooked it, was proud enough to serve it and if not for anything else, out of respect, I will eat it. 

I wish I could say the same for many I know.  I invited a couple who I was friends with and her parents over for dinner one night.  Now, this is nothing new for me.  I love to entertain, I usually go all out, but this time was a little different since I was forewarned that her parents had simple taste (when it came to food).  I had asked what their favorite dish was and she said meatballs, with pasta or rice, whatever.  Okay so simple enough, this was a no-brainer. 

I spent the day making a home-made pasta sauce, beef based, using beef rib tips I had in the freezer.  I went light on the garlic, just in case.  I had 3 lbs of ground sirloin for my meatballs, made a huge salad and put out a tray of cheese and crackers, olives and the norm.  I went shopping that morning and purchased some fresh pasta from this little Italian grocery store, a loaf of artisan semolina bread and a small wrapped block of Pecorino Romano cheese.   Pecorino Romano cheese is my favorite.  It's firm, a little salty, is perfect for grating and it doesn't melt into a stringy mess.  It freezes nicely if cut up into smaller pieces...However, its pricey!

I spent the rest of the day preparing this meal, setting the table and seeing to every last detail.  Everything was ready and my company arrived.  All was going well, until I brought this beautiful platter to the table when the woman's mother blurted, "You call that a meatball?"...in an instant I could feel myself go pale. I didn't respond to her remark.  I acted as though I didn't hear it.

As if that weren't enough, she plopped down, nearly clearing the entire table, as the tablecloth caught hold of her chair, bringing the meatball platter almost directly to her.  Still mortified, though I remained without expression, I watched her take hold of the serving spoon, dig into my meatball platter, hold up a meatball and say to her husband, "look at this baseball!".  "I've never seen meatballs this big in my entire life!"  Ugh!  I very politely, moved the platter back into the center of the table and said, "the meatballs aren't over sized, perhaps you're used to the frozen kind that come in a bag."  She just looked at me and proceeded in conversation with the others.

My other guests couldn't stop raving, including her husband, who was "subtly" getting nudged by his wife, each time he complimented the food.  She allowed herself the freedom to throw out little digs here and there, mostly directed at the others' enjoyment.  Needless to say, she was never invited back.

Love and meatballs to you all.....

Visit the RecipeVault to view the Meatball and Spaghetti Recipe.