Thursday 27 December 2018

2018 Recipe Disasters!

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

What day is it?!
I don't know about you but this time of year is always confusing for me as I have no idea what day or month or year it is because of all the holidays. Thankfully, I did manage to get my act together today and round up my recipe disasters of the year for you. Keep scrolling for melting cakes, erupting blenders and Nutella explosions. Nothing is ever peaceful in my kitchen!

Recipe Disasters, previously: 2017 // 2016 // 2015

Khoya - I needed khoya for a batch of falooda that I was testing out. Khoya is a dairy product which is made by cooking milk down low and slow. It can take a while a make in a pan and so I decided to try this quick microwave version.
Guys, I just don't know what happened. It kept getting darker and darker. In the end, I gave up because it looked nothing like what the video had promised me.


Khoresht-e-Fesenjan - Guys, I had such high hopes for this Persian chicken walnut stew and unfortunately, I was not impressed.
I followed the original recipe pretty precisely but was not impressed with the results. The sauce was so strange with all the walnuts in it. Maybe it's just an acquired and personal taste because I know that this stew is one of the favourites in Iran.

Summer Berries and Ricotta Cake - there was nothing wrong with this cake at all but I just thought I would share this behind-the-scenes shot of it melting in the hot Summer heat.

Mango Praline Eclairs - nothing wrong with the eclairs or their filling but the problem was with the glaze on top. The chocolate glaze used brown sugar which simply refused to dissolve even when warmed up so it was still gritty. Really annoying as the eclairs were so gooded and I finally cracked choux pastry.


Cauliflower Quesadilla - these quesadillas were actually delicious. Although I did manage to really badly burn one!
My go-to cauliflower quesadilla recipe is this one!

Nutella Doughnuts - I was so excited to try these Nutella doughnuts but didn't properly follow the recipe instructions. The recipe gave a precise technique to sealing the doughnuts properly so that the Nutella filling would not leak out. I decided to go down the lazy route and paid for it dearly.
The doughnuts broke open in the hot oil and leaked Nutella into it which subsequently burned. Lovely.

Masala Chai Porridge - this was a recipe idea gone wrong. I thought it would be a good idea to cook porridge oats in masala chai. The result was weird!

Mayonnaise - my first time making homemade mayonnaise and it just would not thicken. I used this recipe and in the end, resorted to mayo from a jar like a normal person. I have seen videos online using a processor to make it so might try that next time.

Smoked Salmon Yoghurt Quiche - randomly, I bought a pack of smoked salmon. This is unusual for me because I'm in no way a fan of the stuff. In the end, it sat in the fridge for a while until I finally had to use it up. I found a recipe for this quiche in a Mary Berry book and baked it, hoping that the quiche would help mask the strong salmon flavour. Ooof, let's just say it was as strong as ever and I was not a fan!

BBQ Chicken - this has been my nemesis for a few years now, and this year's offering was just as bad. Nothing wrong with the flavour but my technique is still off. The chicken was marinaded, then half-cooked then went on the bbq, and was still not fully cooked!

Raspberry 7-Up - nothing wrong with the taste but a technique issue that resulted in a very sticky kitchen. Basically, the jug in this photo was filled with frozen raspberries and fizzy 7-Up. As soon as I started blending, the whole thing exploded out of the jug and all over the kitchen!

Lemon Star Anise Mousse Cake - this cake was baked in a water bath. The water from the water bath decided to seep through the foil wrapped around the cake and through the tin.
Even when the cake was cool, it was still so gooey and undercooked. I could not understand why it was so wet and only realised when I lifted the cake out of the tin!

South Indian Chicken Xacuti Curry - guys, I was so excited about this curry but again took another shortcut which I later regretted. The recipe asked for freshly grated coconut which I did not have and decided to replace with the same amount of desiccated coconut. As the curry cooked, the coconut just would not dissolve and I was ready to give up. Desiccated coconut is my idea of food hell so I was not happy. Thankfully, my Mother had the brainwave idea to sieve the curry sauce. A great idea because the end result was delicious served with rice.

Aloo Paratha - when testing the recipe, I thought I was so clever making these ahead of time to cook later. Unfortunately, the moisture got to them and they ended up like this. Lesson learnt - assemble the aloo parathas just before cooking.

Confetti Birthday Cake - I'm still baking lop-sided cakes. I have decided that cakes with straight and neat edges are over rated!

Keep me in your duas please!

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!


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