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Salvaging Cooking Errors

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HistoricFoodie View Drop Down
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    Posted: 09 November 2012 at 04:54
Last night I had planned a sweet potato mash to go with the herb-crusted lamb chops I was making. Friend Wife, unfortunately, lost track of the sweet potatoes, and by the time she was done they were seriously overcooked. That is to say incredibly soft and liquidy.
 
What to do? I started by plumpking some currents in Creme de Cassis. These were mixed into the sweet potato "puree," along with grated fresh ginger, salt, pepper, and a hint of cayenne. An egg, and just enough flour to bind the mass, were mixed in.
 
This mixture (which was still rather soft) was dropped by soupspoons onto breadcrumbs, which were used to fully coat the patties.
 
Finally, the patties were fried in peanut oil until browned and crisp on both sides.
 
Wow! Sometimes I impress myself. These were so good they not only salvaged the sweets, but will become a regular part of our meal planning.
 
I'm sure others have had experiences where they took an otherwise "ruined" dish and, with a creative twist, salvaged it. I'd like to hear about some of them.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ChrisFlanders Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 November 2012 at 05:42
Very creative solution, Brook. Only cooks with a lot of experience go that route.
But as I read somewhere, ... isn't experience the sum of our errors?
You need to give your creation a name, Brook. Croquettes... something? Maybe other forum members can come up with a good name?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Margi Cintrano Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 November 2012 at 06:36
An oval type of Ñame, or Caribbean Tuber originating in Western
Africa.
 
 
A Western African, Caribbean and South American Boniato Tuber.
 
 
 
Brook,
 
Pleased to hear about your sweet potato croquettes turning out so well after your minor boo boo !!
 
Thinking with hindsight to find a means to solution, and quite a lovely solution; Your croquettes sound lovely.
 
 
A nice idea for the Western African Tuber varieties; boniato ( deep wine brick red oval with ivory interior), batata ( Orange Yam Sweet Potato hornish shaped),
 
and the Ñame, which is a large hairy ovalish or elongnated tuber with ivory interior, & with a sweet like milky pasty interior;
 
and Malanga; a hairy hornish shaped tuber, with an ivory interior, that is semi sweet and used in Cuba and other poor Caribbean / South America & Western African regions, to supplement for the lack of commerical cow Milk.
 
Have you ever employed any of these tubers ?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Good topic. 
 
" To err is to be human,"   and thus, we all make errors from time to time. The key is to, learn from the mistakes.
 
 
I once tried to prepare a dough recipe out of my realm and NOT Mediterranean or of USA Origins; and the dough failed terribly.
 
I just threw it out, as there was no way to recuperate the dough and turn it into something great.
 
 
Kind regards. Margi.  
 
 
 
 
Volamos a Mediterraneo, un paraiso que conquista su gente u su cocina.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote HistoricFoodie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 November 2012 at 09:00
Croquette would probably come closest, Chris. And certainly sounds better than "patty." So let's go with Sweet Potato Croquettes, unless something better comes along.
 
Occurs to me, too, that for an additional flavor note, a flour made of hazelnuts would work better than regular flour. Or (and I wish I'd have thought of this last night), garbanzo flour.
 
Margi, you forget where i live. We don't even see sunchokes in the markets around here, let alone exotic tubers like those.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Margi Cintrano Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 November 2012 at 09:08


Brook,
 
Chickpea flour or Almond flour? .
 
Chickpea flour is much more non porous or does not permit oil to seep in sautéing and frying; which is why many well known chefs prefer Chickpea flour particularly for frying adobe fish and croquettes and so do I. I use bleached white flour if there really is not an alternative, or prepare something not requiring  this ingredient.
 
Brook: someone lives in MIAMI, in the family, yes ?  Well, then, you can easily get your wonderful cooking hands on these tubers, for your croquettes !!! LOL
 
Kindest. Margi.  
   
Volamos a Mediterraneo, un paraiso que conquista su gente u su cocina.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote HistoricFoodie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 November 2012 at 12:42
FWIW, Margi, I never used bleached flour in any form. Generally it's either unbleached all purpose flour or unbleached bread flour. When I need a soft flour, it too is unbleached.
 
Fortunately, I'm only 45 miles from Weisenberger Mill, and we get our flours directly from them. We stock up with the two white flours in 25 pound bags, and get smaller bags of the other stuff (i.e., whole wheat, rye, semolina, pastry, etc.) as needed. Thus is usually a twice-yearly trip.  
 
I'm not a big fan of almond flour. When I make these again, to plan, I'll grind hazelnuts into a flour, first, for the additional flavor. Or use chickpea (garbanzo) flour, depending on my mood.
 
My son lived in Miami until recently, when he moved back to NYC.....just in time for the big storm. So, sadly, that venue is out.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Margi Cintrano Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 November 2012 at 13:12
Brook. Are your son and his wife okay ? The newspapers all had front page on the storm and news coverage around the clock here. Excellent reporting and interviews from numerous people victims the govt of Nyc police etc. I We followed. Where in Nyc are they ? Mar.
Volamos a Mediterraneo, un paraiso que conquista su gente u su cocina.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote gonefishin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 November 2012 at 14:50
  NIce HF,

   The ability to improvise a dish is what really sets accomplished cooks apart, great job Brook!  I would imagine you do fairly well in most situations...that's really something to be proud of.

Dan
Enjoy The Food!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Margi Cintrano Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 November 2012 at 15:06
Dan GF. I agree with you. Brook is a fine HG And Coach too.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote HistoricFoodie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 November 2012 at 17:44
Thanks for asking, Margi.
 
They're on 38th street. Other than the usual widespread problems and confusions faced by all the city's residents, all they suffered was a lack of power for a few days.
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