Spaldeen Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmare, or, what is the worst thing you've even cooked/baked?

[Spaldeen]

Ok so last night I made something truly horrendous, and now I'm not even entirely sure what to do with the leftovers (more on that later).


I had some company come over, and I decided to try to make something different. I have a pretty good green thumb when it comes to the garden, but I'm not that great in the kitchen, but it's only me right now so I do the best with what I have. I visited the local Korean food store (yes, the same place that I got the beondegi from in my last thread), and spotted some goat meat for sale! It was frozen, and kind of hard for me to tell what sort of cut it was, and even if it was a particular cut I wouldn't have recongnized it even if someone slapped me in the face with it! It was also on sale, and I bought somewhere around 2-3 pounds of it.

So I get this meat home, thaw it, and then I could see it was in cubes, about three inches by three inches, and I'm thinking I will just bake them in the oven. I'm guessing they are some kind of soup bone, but in a cube? I don't know. Not exactly like a soup bone, but similar. Suffice to say I was worried about the amount of meat that was on each piece, but went ahead and baked them up anyways.

I have had goat meat before. The smell emminating from my stove was horrendous!! It stunk, like bad gamey meat. None of my guests seemed to really comment on it, and I tried to make a small joke about it, but everybody including myself seemed to avoid it for the night.

That brings me to this morning! So I'm stuck with these cubes of semi-tough cubed baked goat cube thingees, and I refuse to throw them out. I put them in the fridge last night, and I decided I would eat one this morning with my coffee and a piece of toast.

Oh. My. God.

That smell from last night coming out of my oven was NOTHING compared to the smell that came out of the microwave when I heated one of these things up! It's unholy! The worst thing is that the smell lingered, and when I heated up my cup of coffee, it came out smelling like Parfume de Goat.

So I guess I have three questions!

What is YOUR worst cooking/baking story you are willing to share

What would YOU do with these coat cube bone things- would you eat them? Throw them out?

And finally, seriously, how do you get a smell out of your microwave from something like this?

[OffWithTheirHeads]

1. Ha! You think goat smells bad?

When I got my first apartment (a looong time ago), I wouldd usually fry up a couple if eggs for breakfast. One sleepy morning I accidendly poured dish soap instead of oil in the pan. It was over 40 years ago and I still can't get that smell out of my mind. As for your goat cubes/ bones/ whatever, make stew.

[Spaldeen]

2. Gross! Did it mess up the pan?

And can you make stew out of something you've already baked? Do you just throw it in with the rest of your ingredients?

Sorry, I'm a baking novice.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

6. Using leftovers for stew/soup absolutely

especially when you just cook for one.

bake a whole chicken for dinner 1, reheat for dinner 2, scraps and whatever is left goes into chicken soup for dinners 3 and 4.

Roast - same idea. leftovers can make beef stew, stroganof and taco meat. at least 5 meals.


I hear goat is an aquired taste. maybe freeze it for now so it doesn't go to waste.
I have several ziplocks of meat in the freezer, bits of roast or steak, pork etc. Some of the best stews I've made had 3-4 different bits of beef cooked different ways with different spices.

[libodem]

3. Is it mean spirited to have laughed

Funny story. Sorry. I can't stand mutton either. So I'm trying to get into your shoes and image this fiasco. Hee hee hee. I hate wild game, too. But my brothers and ex hunted. My mom would get out the GARLIC.

So my bet would be to disguise it in a pot of spicy chili or into spaghetti sauce. Cook it until it almost dissolves. But only a small batch. You still might have to dump it.

Lord this was hilarious. Or I'm just a mean ass bitch in the morning.

[Spaldeen]

4. No, it's not mean spirited to laugh.

No it's alright. I think we should all be able to laugh at each other now and again.

Seriously, I have at least six or eight of these goat cube knuckle things taking up space in my fridge. See I have had goat before (that I didn't prepare) and it was delicious! Maybe my particular goat was have a particularly bad day when he snuffed it.

Does anybody know how to get the "smell" out of my microwave though? It's strong enough to take you by surprise when you open the microwave door.

[libodem]

5. Vinegar?

Might work. Maybe wipe down the inside and then put some vinegar water in a cup and heat it up in the microwave until it steams. When the vinegar smell dissipates the goat smell should be gone. I hope.

[eridani]

21. Try leaving a bowl of banking soda in it overnight n/t

[A HERETIC I AM]

17. A minor point , but...

Mutton is sheep meat, not goat.

[libodem]

18. Yes, I do know

But I've never had goat and that is the closest I can imagine. I can understand how you must have thought I figured it was the same by the way I wrote it.

[procon]

7. I raised dairy goats for 30 years

Goat meat tends to be gamey, and it can be very tough if cooked improperly. Goat meat is very lean and there is little marbling. Using a fillet knife to remove any visible surface fat will help reduce the undesirable odor that is most concentrated in the fat, membranes, sinews and gristle.

Thinly sliced, well seasoned and soaked in an acidic (citrus, vinegar, tomato and/or wine) marinade will make for some great BBQ. On the stove, braising with hearty aromatic herbs and veggies, not baking, will produce a meat that is tender and flavorful and best used in robust stews and soups.

After baking it, the meat is probably dried out, tough and almost inedible. Don't give up, you can still salvage the meat by long and slow braising in a well seasoned acidic broth over low heat. Even better, use a pressure cooker to tenderize it. When it is falling apart tender, pick the meat from the bones and use it in a hearty, full flavored stew or soup with a tomato base.

[Freddie]

8. Do you have a dog?

I don't but wish I did sometimes, then I wouldn't feel guilty throwing out bad kitchen experiments if someone got to enjoy it.
Worst thing I ever made was...I was in a hurry to get food on the table and decided to make panko-coated fried chicken tenders. Quick and good, right? Opened the package of chicken (not expiration date yet) and it smelled a trifle "off" but sometimes it's the packaging that smells funny. Dredged, fried the chicken, smelled good cooking, took a bite. Ewww, spit in napkin! More than a trifle "off" and the coating/frying just sealed in the badness. Quick told DH & kids "don't eat that!!" and since we had to be somewhere soon, it was cereal for dinner.

[japple]

9. I would vote for giving it to the dog or cat if the goat thingies don't actually have bones

Last edited Sat Apr 12, 2014, 07:35 PM - Edit history (1)

in them.

To clean your microwave, put a few spoons of baking soda in a microwave-safe container and fill with water. Microwave on high until it boils. Let it sit in the microwave for awhile--maybe an hour. Then wipe it out completely with a damp sponge. If that doesn't work, put a little bowl of vinegar in there and let it sit overnight.

Edited to correct the reply title.

[SheilaT]

10. It's okay to throw out a failed meal.

Last edited Sat Apr 12, 2014, 07:33 PM - Edit history (1)

I've done it more than once, and I consider myself a pretty decent cook.

My only advice to you is NEVER make something radically different for guests. Never. Even doing a variation on something can result in disaster. That said, I do admire your willingness to do something like that.

A few times back when I was married I tried something new, my husband and I took two or three bites, looked at each other, threw out whatever it was and headed off to a restaurant. One of his best qualities is that he never complained at times like that, just took it in stride.

I've had goat once or twice and liked it, but I would never try cooking it myself.

(edited to fix a typo)

[Freddie]

11. Excellent advise "don't try something new with guests"

DH dosen't always like being "experimented on" either so I try to do new things maybe once a month.
Desserts are different, you can pretty much tell by the ingredients if it's going to work or not. I always make 2 desserts for company, something chocolate and something with fresh fruit. My worst dessert flops have been custard-type pies that did not "set" so I don't make them anymore; the secret to lemon sponge pie (a PA Dutch specialty) is in heaven with Grandma. Will try again someday.

[SheilaT]

12. The chocolate cake recipe on the back of the Hershey's cocoa box

is absolutely no fail. I make it as a sheet cake -- I'm a total failure with layers and gave them up decades ago -- and everyone loves it.

True story: A while back was my mother's 80th birthday and we had a nice party for her. My sister, who was hosting it, asked me could I please make a couple of my cakes for it. I did. Had you been there that day, when dessert came around, you'd have had a choice of chocolate cake with chocolate frosting or chocolate cake with white frosting. Or some other graham cracker thing my sister made. Anyway, everyone who took a piece of cake ate the entire piece. My sister was shocked, as she was used to even little kids eating only part of a piece. She always used cake mixes. I said, It's because this is the real thing.

Sometimes I'll make a cake and bring it to work, and it's gratifying how much everyone loves it, but truly sad how rarely anyone has the real thing anymore.

Me, I generally don't like bakery cakes because they have that chemical flavor that tells me they're made from a mix. And very rarely do they make a real butter cream frosting.

[Spaldeen]

14. That sounds good

I'm not a fan of cake, but I am a fan of REAL cake! You are right, it is hard to find a REAL cake anymore. I've never tried making one though, so I have to rely on the charity of others if I want some.

Pie, now, that's a different story.

[dem in texas]

20. Yes, nothing tastes as good as a cake made from scratch

It has all fresh ingredients, pure butter, good flavoring and all the chemical preservatives are left out. When food is fresh made, you can tell by the taste.

My favorite cake recipe is a one bowl white cake recipe that my late sister in law gave me years ago. I make it in a flat pan, too. I top it with a fluffy butter cream frosting with cream cheese in it and sprinkle lots of finely chopped coconut on top. So simple and so good.

[japple]

22. Yes, SheilaT, that recipe from the Hershey's box is my go-to recipe for making

a cake that everyone loves. The frosting is absolutely heavenly. Family members request it for their birthdays and every kid that's ever had it eats the whole thing, even if it's cupcakes. Children will usually just lick the icing off the top and throw the cake part away.

[Atman]

13. It was bad goat!

I've made curried goat a couple of times, always bought the meat fresh from the local farmers market. I didn't stink at all, and it was very tender and delicious. My guess is you just got some stinky goat!

Scrub out every inch of the micro with some serious cleanser, then wipe it down with water (you don't want that cleanser getting into your food). As for the leftover goat meat, leave it out in the yard. Some critter will be happy to eat it during the night. And next time, buy fresh goat.

[Spaldeen]

15. Thanks

I used some Simple Green Cleaner on it last night and also some baking soda and water, and left a little cup of vinegar in it all night. So far, I think it's gone!

You guys saved my microwave from the ghost of goat!

[laundry_queen]

16. Yeah, sometimes you can get a bad one

according to one of my uncles (by marriage). He was a good cook and used to make all kinds of curries when we got together (infrequently, we lived far apart). One year, he decided to make goat curry. Wouldn't you know it, that was the same day my aunt and I had taken our kids (we had little kids of the same age) to a petting zoo and we had played with baby goats. We got back home and my uncle had went out and bought goat and made a goat curry.

At first, my aunt and I thought it was just because we had been playing with little baby goats and that's why we found it unappetizing, but we didn't say anything...until my uncle put his fork down and declared even HE couldn't eat it, LOL, it was so awful. He said it happens every so often - you get a really bad stinky one. It didn't go to waste though - my father, the human garbage disposal who will eat anything that is or once was (but may no longer be to normal people) edible, ate it all over the course of a few days.

Anyway, a curry might work because the flavors are so strong, but it's possible the meat may just not be salvageable. Oh, and I'm so sorry but I LOL'ed at your goat-flavored coffee

[dem in texas]

19. Your nose is telling you something - the meat is bad

Don't eat it, don't feed it to the dog, throw it away. Your senses are telling you something. You always want a clean smell in raw food, even it is a strong smell, it is still a clean smell. Same for touch, taste and sight. If it feels mushy when it should be crisp, it is bad, it the taste is off, don't eat, if it does not look fresh, don't buy it. I have eaten a lot goat and lots of game meat such as deer, moose and caribou. Some if this meat will be strong, but it still will have a clean smell and taste to it. I would have taken the meat back to the grocer and asked for my money back

About the worst thing I ever cooked was wild ptarmigan that my husband had shot up north of Fairbanks, this was years ago when we lived in Alaska. The birds had been feeding on blueberries and flesh was a purple color, very weird taste, even my husband couldn't eat them. The little spruce hens were a different matter. When they'd been eating low bush cranberries, the meat was a pale pink and had a slight taste of the cranberries. Delicious.

.