Disastrous Cooking (or why I need a dog)

I am one of those people who might be termed an “adventurous” cook. I love experimenting with recipes, trying new ingredients, and I really do like a variety of dishes.

However, I am married to an engineer. Who happens to like his food cooked in a predictable, ordinary way. Whenever I try a new recipe, I get a raised eyebrow.

Tonight I decided to try a recipe for Jack Daniels Chicken. This sounded like a great idea. After all, TGIFridays makes good chicken. Why not? The problem was, there were about 100 different knock-off recipes and it’s been a while since I’ve eaten that type of chicken. So I ended up choosing the one with the fewest ingredients and decided to give it a shot.

My first clue that this was a disaster-in-the-making should have been the recipe direction where I was instructed to set the pan on fire. With a match. Oh, and watch out for the soaring flames. I, being a safety girl, decided to wait until my husband was at the hardware store before using a grill lighter to set the Jack Daniels on fire. In retrospect, the flames shot a little higher than I anticipated (read: I nearly incinerated the microwave). But it looked like fun, and what cook doesn’t want to try that trick at some point?

The recipe also called for 4 tsp. of tarragon. I had to dig around before I found the spice bottle and then when I dutifully measured out the ingredients, it occurred to me that my chicken dish was beginning to resemble grass clippings. Huh.

Last, I was supposed to boil and reduce the sauce for 25 minutes. At the 15 minute mark, I had approximately one tablespoon of liquid left in my skillet. It resembled a sauteed lawn. Ick. So I went ahead and finished out the recipe, adding the heavy cream and hoping it would taste better than it looked. It didn’t.

My family picked at the dish, and we eventually threw it out and reheated the corned beef and cabbage from last night. Oh well. Worth a shot!

What’s the worst recipe you’ve ever tried?