Sometimes it seems like online life is all about perfection, right? Picture-perfect styling, lighting, only showing the good stuff or successes – kind of like the reality TV version of reality. Well, my aim is authenticity – for better or worse.
Today is one of those “for worse” moments, if I can be a little dramatic. I’ve been wanting to make something with amaranth and millet (see the ‘on my shortlist’ sidebar –>) AND I love a nice warming breakfast during the cold winter, so I tried out a slow cooker multigrain porridge recipe. One cup steel cut oats + half cup millet + quarter cup amaranth + quarter cup quinoa + six cups water, pinch of salt, eight hours in the slow cooker overnight and BOOM – wake up to greatness…or so I was told.
However, this recipe was FAR from perfection. Was it still edible? Sure. Throw some dried fruit and maple syrup on just about anything and it’ll taste good 🙂 But, it was WAY overcooked…basically a big glob of mush. No texture left in any of the grains, and other than the nutritional value, the whole appeal of using different grains is to enjoy different textures when you eat it.
I’ll definitely do some more tinkering on this one – ratio of grains, amount of water, length of time in slow cooker – before posting a recipe.
So what about you – any recent recipe fails?
Michael Pecoraro says
A famous quote I heard a long time ago and use often is … if you haven’t failed recently, you aren’t trying hard enough … put another way, no risk = no reward. I commend you for trying out new stuff. We can all learn more from our mistakes than success. Keep pushing forward.
Annie says
Did you ever mess up the famous veal parmigiana? Any tweaking there before you found the perfect version? 🙂
Kristen says
Well, it’s a good thing you specifically asked for “recent” fails because I overcooked and under seasoned just about every piece of meat I ever made for the first half of my cooking life! Definitely too many fails to list here.
I’m happy to say that most of what I make nowadays turns out pretty well but I still consistently have trouble with whole grain baked goods… I usually always try to reduce the called for sugar in a recipe and also substitute a whole grain grain for some the AP flour usually specified. but I have not perfected the knack of knowing what to increase or perhaps add to keep the moisture and correct density/crumb. Instead, many times I end up with a too dry or coarse texture. Anyway, I’m always fiddling!
Annie says
I know what you mean about the whole grain/lower sugar baking…that’s a tough one to get right because there’s so many variables. I was thinking of doing some baking today, actually…it’s a good day for it!
Kristen says
Btw, as an daily morning oatmeal with blueberries lover, your concoction looks great! I use almond milk and add flax meal in at the end and by the time it’s all stirred together it does somewhat resemble mush! But it’s the one time I actually love that. 🙂