# Food disasters **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 23, 2013, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-disasters/648060 "2013-01-23T00:23:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-disasters/648060/21 "2013-01-23T12:33:59Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Heating up pizza in a skillet is perfectly cromulent. It makes for a not-soggy crust. I don’t know why you’d cover it, though. Or leave it in the skillet for more than, like, 5 minutes. You’re preaching to the choir. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-disasters/648060/22 "2013-01-23T13:47:16Z")
> [@grude](#): > > My wife decided she was going to make lasagna her own way, which meant taking a tub of ricotta and sauteing it in a pan with half a block of cookeen and sugar to make a rue. I was going to say that it’s _roux_, but I think that perhaps your use of ‘rue’ here is more appropriate. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-disasters/648060/23 "2013-01-23T14:02:04Z")
Many, many years ago I obediently followed a recipe for chili. Made a huge pot of it, I did. The recipe called for 5 or 6 cloves of garlic. What I did not know, though, is the difference between a \*clove \*of garlic and a \*bulb \*of garlic. I not only had to throw the chili out, I had to dispose of the pot as well. There was no getting that smell out. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-disasters/648060/24 "2013-01-23T14:21:48Z")
I may have told this story before. At a fancy dinner, the lady of the house had slaved away for hours to serve us, and she had used up all her pots and pans and containers in the process. When she needed one more container to whip up cream for desert, she took the first empty container she could find. It was white on the inside (this is important later). When the beautifully made dessert was served, topped with the freshly made whipped cream, we all discovered that the container had not been empty. It had been the salt jar, with a inch thick layer of white salt on the bottom, and the whipped cream was rife with salt. The cream _was_ beautifully stiff, though. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-disasters/648060/25 "2013-01-23T15:26:43Z")
> [@grude](#): > > My wife decided she was going to make lasagna her own way, which meant taking a tub of ricotta and sauteing it in a pan with half a block of cookeen and sugar to make a rue. > > [Shortening - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cookeen) > > Then pouring it over cooked noodles and baking it, with ketchup on top. > > :eek: Even she won’t eat it! I am sorry for your loss. I will send you some lasagna… ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-disasters/648060/26 "2013-01-23T16:48:44Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Heating up pizza in a skillet is perfectly cromulent. It makes for a not-soggy crust. I don’t know why you’d cover it, though. Or leave it in the skillet for more than, like, 5 minutes. The way it’s supposed to work is that you put it in a skillet on med-low. It slowly toasts and crisps up the crust and the lid holds in the heat to melt the cheese and heat the sauce. If you toss it into a hot, uncovered skillet, the crust will burn before the cheese melts. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-disasters/648060/27 "2013-01-23T17:00:39Z")
> [@Hockey\_Monkey](#): > > If she had used flour instead of sugar, and cooked the flour in the cookeen for several minutes before adding the cheese, it may have come out OK…no make that passable. Sugar was the killer. > > In my food prep lab today we actually made rouxs for mac and cheese. One of the experiments was making a dark roux for the recipe. Don’t do this for mac and cheese. It’s bad. Our experiment turned out perfectly demonstrating just how bad. OTOH, learning how to make a good blond roux as part of making the bechamel sauce that underlies most mac & cheese is a really good thing to know. I’m still trying to wrap my head around where exactly a lasagna needs any sort of roux. It’s basically layered bolognese sauce, noodles, and ricotta, and bolognese doesn’t need a roux at all. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-disasters/648060/28 "2013-01-23T17:02:57Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Many, many years ago I obediently followed a recipe for chili. Made a huge pot of it, I did. The recipe called for 5 or 6 cloves of garlic. What I did not know, though, is the difference between a \*clove \*of garlic and a \*bulb \*of garlic. > > I not only had to throw the chili out, I had to dispose of the pot as well. There was no getting that smell out. > mmm I’d eat that. Seroiusly. When I was tending bar there were a few other garlic-heads that were regulars and on slow nights we would order pizza. I’d tell the place to put extra-extra garlic on it and then right before it was going out the door, throw some more garlic on it. It would be crunchy with garlic and we would wolf down 2 large pizzas in complete bliss. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-disasters/648060/29 "2013-01-23T17:16:16Z")
> [@grude](#): > > My wife decided she was going to make lasagna her own way, which meant taking a tub of ricotta and sauteing it in a pan with half a block of cookeen and sugar to make a rue. > > [Shortening - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cookeen) > > Then pouring it over cooked noodles and baking it, with ketchup on top. > > :eek: Even she won’t eat it! You didn’t marry her for her cooking skills did you. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-disasters/648060/30 "2013-01-23T17:16:27Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > Reminds me of [Wanda’s macaroni salad.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4zw99VsoMA) Youtube link to the making of an gazillion calorie “salad”. Dear lord, just watching that makes my teeth hurt. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-disasters/648060/31 "2013-01-23T18:37:54Z")
I got 2 My basic buttercream frosting ratio is 6:1 powdered sugar to butter. Mixing it up and making it 6:1 butter to sugar does not make for tasty butter. Pumpkin Pie with no sugar. To quote Mrs. Cad “it tastes like death.” I almost made the same mistake AGAIN for Thanksgiving. Now Mrs Cad has the job of watching me put sugar in the filling. ---
**Author:** ![FrankJBN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@FrankJBN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrankJBN)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-disasters/648060/32 "2013-01-23T18:58:26Z")
re skillet reheated pizza: You put the lid on to create an “oven” to heat the top and interior of the pizza fully without over crisping the bottom. I first reheated without lid, works much better with lid. re the OP - Sorry, i just can’t get my head around it. I in fact refuse to believe OP when he states that wife is not a bad cook and has made “home-made mac & cheese”. The actions described are those of an idiot . ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-disasters/648060/33 "2013-01-23T19:03:56Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Dear lord, just watching that makes my teeth hurt. It actually looks quite healthy, if you leave out the sugar, condensed milk, vinegar, mayo, and macaroni. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-disasters/648060/34 "2013-01-23T19:07:32Z")
> [@grude](#): > > My wife decided she was going to make lasagna her own way, which meant taking a tub of ricotta and sauteing it in a pan with half a block of cookeen and sugar to make a rue. > > [Shortening - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cookeen) > > Then pouring it over cooked noodles and baking it, with ketchup on top. > > :eek: Even she won’t eat it! This qualifies as Food Terrorism under both man’s and god’s laws. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-disasters/648060/35 "2013-01-23T19:08:36Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > It actually looks quite healthy, if you leave out the sugar, condensed milk, vinegar, mayo, and macaroni. ??? The vinegar is the only healthy thing in the whole dish. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-disasters/648060/36 "2013-01-23T19:13:17Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > ??? > The vinegar is the only healthy thing in the whole dish. The carrots and onions aren’t healthy? ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-disasters/648060/37 "2013-01-23T19:14:21Z")
> [@bump](#): > > OTOH, learning how to make a good blond roux as part of making the bechamel sauce that underlies most mac & cheese is a really good thing to know. > > I’m still trying to wrap my head around where exactly a lasagna needs any sort of roux. > > It’s basically layered bolognese sauce, noodles, and ricotta, and bolognese doesn’t need a roux at all. Some lasagnas have a bechamel layer as well as or instead of bolognese. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-disasters/648060/38 "2013-01-23T19:36:00Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > The carrots and onions aren’t healthy? You’re right - I was just looking at the stuff you listed. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-disasters/648060/39 "2013-01-23T20:04:20Z")
When I was first married the first time, we scrounged up the money to buy a pot roast (2 or 3 pounds, if I recall correctly). I asked my mom how to cook it. She said brown both sides, add the liquid, then simmer, covered, about an hour per pound. I figured after 45 minutes, it’d be good. Looked good to me, anyway. It wasn’t. I learned to listen to my mother. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-disasters/648060/40 "2013-01-23T20:25:44Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Many, many years ago I obediently followed a recipe for chili. Made a huge pot of it, I did. The recipe called for 5 or 6 cloves of garlic. What I did not know, though, is the difference between a \*clove \*of garlic and a \*bulb \*of garlic. > > I not only had to throw the chili out, I had to dispose of the pot as well. There was no getting that smell out. > mmm I’m pretty good at making chili and I like making it with beer. Chili + beer, what could possibly go wrong? Unless you’re the kind of numbskull who thinks that sing some super swanky super bitter IPA might be a nice change. :smack: Bad Idea. One pot straight in the trash ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-disasters/648060.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-disasters/648060.md?page=3)