My 2 most outstanding mistakes happened at my Mother In Law's home.
1: I was making spaghettis with a meaty ragu where all ingredients, except the meat, and garlic, came from the garden. The tomatoes, onion, basil, and oregano
were at their peak. This was supposed to show off my cooking skills. The only thing I didn't have was fresh garlic. I reached into the spice cupboard and grabbed a bottle labled granulated garlic. Perfect. I tipped the plastic container to sprinkle in the garlic. To my horror, about a tbsp. of ground cinnamon erupted and fell into my ragu, completely ruining it. I'd heard of cinnamon used in some Mexican sauces, and so tried saving it. It ended up in the trash. Moral of the story, If working in someone else's kitchen, verify everything, as like my MIL, they may re-purpose containers, or not have the right tools for what you are doing.
2. The Webber Kettle was properly filled with a load of lump charcoal I ignited it, and prepared some ribeyes purchased from a meat market called Iowa Meat Farm Outlet. They sold premium, wet aged beef in vacuum sealed plastic. Supermarket meat usually required tenderizing. My standard tenderizing method was to liberally sprinkle on Adolph's Meat Tenderizer, and price the meat repeatedly with a fork, then let it sit for 15 minutes before grilling. I did this with these ribeyes. That was a mistake, as the steaks were already very tender. After cooking to a perfect medium rare, I served them to my family. The texture was like meat paste, not a good thig.
Lesson to be learned: don't assume anything. Know what you are working with so that you can obtain the results you desire.
I hope these shown mistakes can help new cooks not make them.
Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
1: I was making spaghettis with a meaty ragu where all ingredients, except the meat, and garlic, came from the garden. The tomatoes, onion, basil, and oregano
were at their peak. This was supposed to show off my cooking skills. The only thing I didn't have was fresh garlic. I reached into the spice cupboard and grabbed a bottle labled granulated garlic. Perfect. I tipped the plastic container to sprinkle in the garlic. To my horror, about a tbsp. of ground cinnamon erupted and fell into my ragu, completely ruining it. I'd heard of cinnamon used in some Mexican sauces, and so tried saving it. It ended up in the trash. Moral of the story, If working in someone else's kitchen, verify everything, as like my MIL, they may re-purpose containers, or not have the right tools for what you are doing.
2. The Webber Kettle was properly filled with a load of lump charcoal I ignited it, and prepared some ribeyes purchased from a meat market called Iowa Meat Farm Outlet. They sold premium, wet aged beef in vacuum sealed plastic. Supermarket meat usually required tenderizing. My standard tenderizing method was to liberally sprinkle on Adolph's Meat Tenderizer, and price the meat repeatedly with a fork, then let it sit for 15 minutes before grilling. I did this with these ribeyes. That was a mistake, as the steaks were already very tender. After cooking to a perfect medium rare, I served them to my family. The texture was like meat paste, not a good thig.
Lesson to be learned: don't assume anything. Know what you are working with so that you can obtain the results you desire.
I hope these shown mistakes can help new cooks not make them.
Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North