How to Rescue a Ruined Meal
Try to cook foods you know for special guests., Have backup and emergency repair foods on hand for help., Consider the type of food that's ruined., Prepare another side dish if needed to take the place of something ruined., Use your imagination to...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Try to cook foods you know for special guests.
Don't try your wildest experiments if you're trying to impress important people. -
Step 2: Have backup and emergency repair foods on hand for help.
These can include flour, eggs, milk, bread, oatmeal, spices, salsa, sugar, baking powder, canned soups, chicken or beef broth, frozen vegetables, butter, oil, vinegar, fruit or tomato juice, flavored jello, cake mix, frozen pie crusts, salad dressing, etc. , Each one will require different treatment.
Check recipes online for specific ingredients and how they can be used in a different dish that you could make from what you have.
A green salad is ruined if it sits in dressing too long and gets limp.
There's little to do but add it to a soup (canned or from stock) and cook it.
Vegetables are ruined if they are cooked until mushy.
Again add them to a soup, or mix with eggs and bread crumbs/flour, butter, and flavors to make a baked casserole.
Meat is ruined if it's burned or cooked until dry and shriveled.
Cut off burned parts, and chop the remainder into small bits to use in soup, or add to a vegetable mix, omelet, or meat pie. (see recipes for meat pies or quiches) Soup is ruined if it gets too salty, thick, or thin.
To remove salt, float slices of raw potato in it and boil lightly, then remove and discard the potato.
Water down thick soup with any liquid (water, broth, juice, milk, etc.) and thicken soups with bread bits, oatmeal, pasta, rice, or grains (barley, couscous).
Stews are ruined if they cook dry, or too many flavors clash.
For dry stew, add any liquid (as in soup).
Too many flavors can't be fixed.
Thin it with plain water or stock, and serve in small amounts with condiments (bread crumbs, boiled egg bits, bacon bits, nuts, fresh herbs, etc.) Breads and baked good are ruined if they burn, fall (fail to rise or over-rise) or are undercooked and wet inside.
Usually these can't be saved.
Try slicing off the burned edges and see if the rest tastes ok.
Bread that falls can only be eaten as is, used as crumbs or in a pudding, or thrown away.
Undercooked cakes can be returned to the oven if they are still hot. (see recipes for bread puddings) , Don't cry over spilled milk, literally! , Put the vegetables on top of the potatoes, or the meat into the soup.
Add a fried egg on top of a dish that has been reduced in size to add flavor, volume, and protein. -
Step 3: Consider the type of food that's ruined.
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Step 4: Prepare another side dish if needed to take the place of something ruined.
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Step 5: Use your imagination to combine parts of the meal that usually don't go together.
Detailed Guide
Don't try your wildest experiments if you're trying to impress important people.
These can include flour, eggs, milk, bread, oatmeal, spices, salsa, sugar, baking powder, canned soups, chicken or beef broth, frozen vegetables, butter, oil, vinegar, fruit or tomato juice, flavored jello, cake mix, frozen pie crusts, salad dressing, etc. , Each one will require different treatment.
Check recipes online for specific ingredients and how they can be used in a different dish that you could make from what you have.
A green salad is ruined if it sits in dressing too long and gets limp.
There's little to do but add it to a soup (canned or from stock) and cook it.
Vegetables are ruined if they are cooked until mushy.
Again add them to a soup, or mix with eggs and bread crumbs/flour, butter, and flavors to make a baked casserole.
Meat is ruined if it's burned or cooked until dry and shriveled.
Cut off burned parts, and chop the remainder into small bits to use in soup, or add to a vegetable mix, omelet, or meat pie. (see recipes for meat pies or quiches) Soup is ruined if it gets too salty, thick, or thin.
To remove salt, float slices of raw potato in it and boil lightly, then remove and discard the potato.
Water down thick soup with any liquid (water, broth, juice, milk, etc.) and thicken soups with bread bits, oatmeal, pasta, rice, or grains (barley, couscous).
Stews are ruined if they cook dry, or too many flavors clash.
For dry stew, add any liquid (as in soup).
Too many flavors can't be fixed.
Thin it with plain water or stock, and serve in small amounts with condiments (bread crumbs, boiled egg bits, bacon bits, nuts, fresh herbs, etc.) Breads and baked good are ruined if they burn, fall (fail to rise or over-rise) or are undercooked and wet inside.
Usually these can't be saved.
Try slicing off the burned edges and see if the rest tastes ok.
Bread that falls can only be eaten as is, used as crumbs or in a pudding, or thrown away.
Undercooked cakes can be returned to the oven if they are still hot. (see recipes for bread puddings) , Don't cry over spilled milk, literally! , Put the vegetables on top of the potatoes, or the meat into the soup.
Add a fried egg on top of a dish that has been reduced in size to add flavor, volume, and protein.
About the Author
Andrea Taylor
Writer and educator with a focus on practical creative arts knowledge.
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