What have you cooked recently which didn’t turn out very well?

[RainySummer01]

I made a leek and potato pie following a BBC good food recipe and it was rubbish. Too much pastry, not enough filling, dc said it smelt the house out and it just didn’t taste particularly nice. I won’t make it again!

I make great soup…but made some last week that was so bland nothing rescued it. I have a theory that if I’m in a bad mood when cooking then it’ll be awful.

@mixedpeel try mere sodas daily dal, it’s brilliant.

Thanks, just checked it out and looks delicious. Red lentils much more reliable than the chana dal I was using, too.

(Totally agree on the bad mood theory btw)

I’d be delighted with that I love a severely undercooked brownie

I am normally a pretty good cook and have made this cake numerous times. Made it a couple of days ago and oh my word, it came out as dense as hell. Followed the recipe to the letter as well

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/lemon-drizzle-cake

Soda bread. Added lemon juice to the milk to curdle it and make buttermilk as instructed. The result was revolting- the smell made me heave.

@HRTQueen
Re Using Dry Lasagne sheets

Make sure there’s enough liquid
Cover with foil for most of the cook time.
Take foil off once you’ve stuck a knife in to check if the sheets have cooked.
Then finish the bake uncovered

Try vinegar instead
You get a lovely real soda bread taste.

You only need a good dash ( for a full loaf about a tablespoon and allow to sit for 20mins )

Goodness me I’m full of advice today after burning the house down making toast 🤣🤣🤣🤣

So many things here resonate with me. I can't make mash, no matter how much I mash the potato its still lumpy. I tried using a hand blender and it turned into wallpaper paste.

I've tried and tried with flapjacks and have never made a successful batch.

My latest bad bake was lemon drizzle cake which I decided to bake as small cakes rather than one loaf cake. They turned out as hard as cricket balls. Birds liked them though.

On the other hand, when I was working, I often got requests from people in my department to make my date & walnut cake. So it's not all bad, lol.

Sainsburys own frozen mash - a game changer and no nasties in it

Have you tried mashing and scraping the masher on the bottom of the saucepan each time. So mash down and along …repeat ….repeat

Plus cut the potatoes into small cubes so they cook quicker and are softer

If I was cooking mash today id upload a video. Well if I knew how to upload a video I would ( but that’s another thread 🥴)

I made the stick blender mashed potatoes mistake once. Never again. As you say, wallpaper paste.

Get a potato ricer. Basic, manual tool , a bit of a faff, but absolute game changer. Not only no lumps, ever, but also makes them even more creamy delicious. Obviously add milk ( not too much) lots of black pepper and butter to the final thing and mix thoroughly.

No, it's genetic, potatoes and me are not friends.

Which is either understandable or ironic given my ancestry 🤔 possibly an internal conflict.

So I’m guessing. 👋

I meant to post this earlier but got completely distracted by the horrors of gluey leek and potato soup. I made this chocolate and plum cake a few years ago and it was absolutely disgusting. I'm hit and miss with lots of cooking but my cakes usually turn out nicely so I was really disappointed! So heavy you could have used it to wedge your heavier doors open and weirdly lacking in flavour or sweetness. I buried it in the centre of the compost heap! www.waitrose.com/ecom/recipe/sticky-chocolate-plum-cake

Last night, one of those small half boneless hams, mashed spuds, carrots and stuffing.
Tonight dh cooked (thankfully) lamb shanks, with Dijon sauce, used the leftover veggies from night before.

Sorry thought I was in the whats for dinner thread. But I can add that the ham was not good.

@BigDahliaFan , made Meera Sodha’s daily dal last night - not really suitable for this thread as it was delicious! Many thanks for the recommendation.

Oh great! Glad it worked for you. I make it fairly often - it freezes well for an easy dinner!.