I made the most delicious lamb and lentil stew Monday night. Tender (after an hour of simmering) and flavorful lamb neck; carrots, onions, garlic, and mushrooms; thickened with red lentils which dissolve nicely; and seasonsed with my patented mix of different cuisine seasoning mixes – ras al hanout, garam masala, berbere, Louisiana creole seasoning, and Veitnamese fish sauce. It was amazing – my wife loved it, as did I. It was a big pot, enough for the whole week.
Tues when I got home I took the pot out of the fridge and put it on the stove to warm up. I thought I was careful, putting it on the second lowest setting. Then I sat down and zoned out watching TV.
And forgot about the stew, which somehow burned without my knowing. My wife got home and I was distraught and ready to throw it out. But she said to add lemon juice, which at least turned it from inedible to edible. And we’ve since eaten most of it.
But the stew’s amazing flavor is ruined due to my negligence. It shouldn’t be a big deal, but I still feel shitty about it. Like I would if I made a drunk thousand dollar bet on a lost cause and lost.
Sorry to hear.
Curious about the lemon juice though. Is that supposed to neutralize the charred taste of the burnt-residue since that burnt stuff is alkaline?
I don’t know why the lemon juice work, but it did work. My wife learned all her cooking skills from her mother, so I assume that she learned this from her as well.
That sounds amazing and if it weren’t hotter than the Devil’s balls here, I would totally see about making something similar.
Interesting. Because once that charred burned flavor hits, the whole pot of food is just done for me. The best I’ve been able to do is just gently tip the rest of the food into another container, leaving the charred bits back, and if it hasn’t been sitting too long, then the charred astringency can be mitigated. I’ll keep the lemon juice trick in mind if/when my inattention causes this to happen again.
When that happens DON’T STIR!!! you can carefully scoop off the top of the unburned stew and leave the manky black bits behind.
Of course, your natural reaction will be to stir it, that would be bad but if you can resist the temptation then you can rescue a good portion of it.