Comments on: post off: what’s your recipe deal breaker?

By: sp

sp — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 05:50:36 +0000

@ raegan: i’ve bought pre-washed haricot verts (some type of french green bean) at Safeway. i’m definitely not a wolfgang puck but i’m pretty lazy so i always check out the prewashed/precut/prediced veggies.

By: Nina

Nina — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:43:13 +0000

misspellings, both on recipes and restaurant menus

By: ashley

ashley — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:35:55 +0000

I love Sloan’s comment. I’d never really thought about it that way before, but, yeah, no pictures and I’m turning the page.

By: shelterrific » Blog Archive » kitchen disasters: my cake flop

shelterrific » Blog Archive » kitchen disasters: my cake flop — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:58:05 +0000

[...] my post on recipe deal breakersI thought it only fitting to open the discussion up to kitchen disasters. I would imagine many of [...]

By: Dorian

Dorian — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 23:03:31 +0000

As a pre-teen I was super into making all kinds of candy, and I did it without a candy thermometer (drip test, like Elise above–you can drop the candy concoction into a glass of cold water, and much like a crystal ball gazer, cook to ’soft ball, hard ball’ or soft crack stage… how I ) and managed to make lots of tasty candy (which when you are 12 is super awesome!). Alas, as an adult living in Seattle WITH a candy thermometer, I’ve learned that either the cold damp here makes candy-making difficult if not close to impossible, or I’ve grown into an adult candy-making idiot. I suspect the latter.

So yeah, candy thermometer, probably out.

Mostly though I’ll try anything once or twice…I do have more of a list of things I won’t do except for a special occasion like deep fat frying…. but I’d have to say “knead dough for xx minutes/hours/forever…” is a deal breaker. I guess I don’t love fresh baked bread enough to offset how much I hate to knead dough!

By: Amy

Amy — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:20:10 +0000

great post - my deal breaker (as I posted on my blog today after reading this) is any recipe that has “DO NOT OVERCOOK” in the directions. It never fails that I undercook it and it doesn’t turn out.

By: miriam

miriam — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 02:51:06 +0000

Anything that goes in a bain-marie, or water bath, while in the oven. Forget it.

By: JW

JW — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:02:50 +0000

Well, meat stuff, since I’m veggie, but otherwise I flip past anything that uses olives or capers as major ingredients (if they’re minor/garnish, I leave them out), and anything with mayonaise. That stuff gives me the willies.

By: Amanda on Maui

Amanda on Maui — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 02:09:15 +0000

Dairy products & gluten foods (if I plan on eating it).

I have to modify recipes that ask me to use an electric mixer. Seriously, they’re freaking expensive and most people I know don’t own them. I hope to own one someday, but my grandmother didn’t use a stand mixer and she was a cake maker!

I don’t own a grill either, so I stay away from grilling recipes. It saddens me, but some day I hope to own a grill. Heck, I don’t even own a grill pan!

Oh, and things like duck & entire fish…I don’t do those.

By: ellobie

ellobie — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:05:28 +0000

Dough