Kitchen Mishaps

Wednesday, March 23, 2011 - 
Hubs and I like to cook together, especially on the weekends.  We can take our time, sometimes making things that take a bit longer to do.  This past weekend was the same case - our menu consisted of crab dumplings and saffron rice - our two kitchen mishaps.

Exhibit A: Crab Dumplings (aka gyoza, pot stickers, whatever you like to call them)

Exhibit B: Saffron Rice

kitchen mishap.  What I mean is they didn't turn out the way we intended them to, aka they weren't delicious.  We ate them, but we didn't keep any leftovers.  Why weren't they delicious?  A salty dough and filling combination for the dumplings and soggy rice that was lackluster in flavor. Despite the work in the kitchen, there were two disgruntled people in the kitchen. 

This got me thinking, "why do I never see kitchen mishaps on blogs?"  I know everyone has them, but are people just not willing to say so?  I mean come on, chef's have them too - that is how they get to the glorious point where they currently are, they learn from their mistakes.  Sometimes you see them publicly (ie. Top Chef).  But I'm wondering, do most people sweep them into the closet so no one can see? 

So here I am, admitting defeat. 

I even crimped them.  ::sigh::

Then again, maybe if we had people over, they would have loved the meal?  We are sometimes our worse critics, aren't we?

Does that mean we won't try this again?  Not at all - I know the rice suffered because of the grain we used (we just grabbed what we had in the pantry), lack of timing (shift of hands between the two of us) and lackluster ingredients. Is this is a fail?  Not at all, just a lesson in cooking.

That my friends, is why I love the kitchen.  I love to experiment and not measure, so of course things like this happen.

What about you?  Any mishaps lately that you are willing to share?