Most of the time, when I read a recipe, I can tell if I will like the resulting dish. But every once in a long while I misfire and the recipe is an epic fail, at least for my taste buds.
I recently found just such a recipe, for an oatmeal breakfast dish cooked in the Instant Pot. I like all of the ingredients, oatmeal, water, carrots, pineapple, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Wow, I thought, what a great breakfast that would make, oatmeal and whole servings of vegetable and fruit, perfect. So I made up a batch a week and a half ago.
Sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, but not this time. This time the whole was much, much less than the sum of its parts. Blech! It was awful.
But, all those paid for ingredients had gone into it, so there was nothing for it but to struggle through eight less-than-stellar breakfasts. The last empty bowl was just rinsed in the sink this morning. It is done. I am healthy. I ate to live, and I am sure my health benefited from it, even if my taste buds did not.
I believe there are better recipes for me, just as healthy, but far more enjoyable. The search continues.
Worldly
Weather
22°C
Date: 11:00 AM EDT Friday 12 July 2019
Condition: Mostly Cloudy
Pressure: 100.9 kPa
Tendency: Rising
Temperature: 22.3°C
Dew point: 20.3°C
Humidity: 88%
Wind: NW 13 km/h
Humidex: 30
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Quote
“Success is following the pattern of life one enjoys most.”
Al Capp
1909 – 1979
Ugh. There are some combinations that just don’t work, even if they do seem as if they should (people as well as food, but that’s another subject). If I wanted to keep the carrots, I think I’d swap out the pineapple for some raisins–and make a smaller batch!
Sorry that didn’t work out. I’m betting it’s the combination of spices with the other ingredients that didn’t work. Would you be game for a rematch, but leaving out all the spices this time? Then you could try adding spices by hand. I know it wouldn’t be exactly the same as if they were cooked in but at least it would give you control and a chance to find a tasty combination.
If you found a pleasant combination, there might even be a way to turn that into an equally tasty cookie.
What fortitude you displayed by finishing off the whole batch. Well done! I sometimes bury my flop in the garden where it can at least contribute to fertility of the soil.
P.S. I followed your link from Ronni Bennett’s Time Goes By.
Wendy, LOL, “people as well as food”, so true and so funny! I think you might be right about the pineapple, it added a little bit of sourness that just wasn’t pleasant… and the smaller batch!
The spices might have been the weak point Teri, and that is a good idea, to add things after it is cooked until I find the right combination. I love oatmeal, so finding a good combo would be wonderful!
Maybe cinnamon, brown sugar and blueberries added to the oatmeal.
That sounds like a lovely combination of flavours Eileen! Adding it to the oatmeal is a good way to go.
Welcome Cop Car!
Burying in the garden came to mind several times over the last week or so, lol. I kinda got used to it, sort of a “think of England” mentality. Not sure I’d do it again though, and with all the good suggestions here, might not have such voluminous flops in future.
Thanks for letting me know where you found me, Ronnnie’s blog is so refreshing, I like her take on life, the universe, and everything.
Do you mind my asking, why the moniker Cop Car, a very interesting choice!