Thursday

the cook needs to pay attention ~

Recipes ~ gotta love 'em!  I just love flipping through cookbooks and cooking websites and watching food shows on tv checking out new recipes.  I get tons of info and ideas; but rarely do I actually follow a recipe to the T.  I'm always discombobulating it and rearranging this and adjusting that until I've come up with something totally unique and on it's own, a completely new recipe. 

Sometimes this works ... and sometimes not :(

Take my cornish game hens that I deep fried last night ~
The recipe said EXACTLY 15 minutes in the fryer ... not a minute less, not a minute more.

B E A U T I F U L
It was crispy skinned, 
the meat was so tender and juicy. 
Delicious with a capital D.

In goes the second hen ...

I'm setting the table ... 
mashing potatoes and making a gravy.  
I'm watching the clock.

I think I'll grab my camera and maybe post about this tomorrow.  Okay, keep an eye on the clock I have 10 more minutes of frying time.  I'm outside on my deck using my turkey fryer to make these birds.  I go into the house to finish up setting the table.  I tell Dear Hubby, let's dig in and start eating.  We'll share the first bird; because I don't intend on eating a whole cornish hen myself and he doesn't need it either.  Dear Hubby asks why I'm cooking the second bird in the first place.  I proceed to tell him that I plan on it for lunch tomorrow.  We'll be out in the woods making firewood, and it'll be a quick meal for lunch time. 

Dang... I look outside and the fryer seems to be smoking.  I look at the clock ... Double Dang ... it's now been 17 minutes.  Two whole minutes over the EXACTLY 15 minute time period.  Oh what can 2 minutes extra really do?

It was not only burnt ... it was absolutely disgusting.  
The burn flavor was all the way through the meat. 
It really was inedible.  
Yuck with a capital Y.

So what's for lunch today???

Until next time ...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel


13 comments:

  1. Oh no... not good at all :)
    I've never deep fried game hens, turkey etc. But, if I ever do, I will watch them very closely. What a difference a few minutes made!

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  2. LOLLLLOLLLLOLOOOLLLLLOOOOL
    BlessYourHeart

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  3. WOW girl, I cannot believe only two minutes done that!! Looks like the turkey of Sherry's that I left in the oven and added 4 hours to the cook time. OUCH, I can see hours, but minutes, you gotta be kidding, that is at least 30 minutes to long!!!!

    Too bad, I know Slim ate it with out a gripe.(stretch) Now if you were Debbie over in kentucky, her hubby Gary would have chewed every burnt bit.He knows better than complain about Deb's cooking.

    But all of us 'Good Cooks' take a license with a recipe, but evidently you went too far.

    Love ya!
    Sherry & Jack down here laughing!!!

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  4. I'm surprised 2 minutes dud that too. Hot oil isn't something to mess with! I can't live without my noisy timer my forgetter is so good at forgetting!

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  5. at least you
    didn't burn the
    deck down

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  6. I had to return to apologize for laughing~~~really! I just wanted folks to know that you are the ultimate chef/cook/baker/canner/food-doer, of the entire family so when you have such a major booboo, sorry but it really hit my funny-bone.
    I'm sure you made good of what you could.
    Hope you had a great lunch.
    BlessYourHeartMelDeeDee

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  7. I like everything well done so I may have even ate this little done chick.

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  8. OH.NO! Sorry, I can't help giggling just a little. It's nice to see someone else mess something up occasionally. (and admit it)

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  9. I'm sorry, but I also laughed at the burnt bird! Timing is everything!!! This is probably a meal that you will remember for a VERY long time.

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  10. I can never understand all this recipe business! But I do know when the food is good. Burn it for me. I like burnt meat! ☺

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  11. All my clocks and watches are off by a minute or two, so I can see this happening to me. Such a shame. The other one looked delicious. My mouth was watering. Would have made a great lunch. What did you finally have?

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  12. NEVER leave the fryer! But you know that now - don't you?! It's amazing how fast things can change in a deep fryer.
    'love & hugs from afar'

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  13. Well, it doesn't look THAT bad!!

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