A Flop and A Challenge
October 8, 2010 in Uncategorized
I’ve had a bad week, haven’t been feeling so well, and work has been hectic with deadlines all over the place, and so my darling daughter NJ stepped up and took over my kitchen. She made us some gorgeous meals, like a creamy chicken stew, chips with pork rashers and a salad to die for, oh, and she catered a friend’s kitchen tea last Saturday (I forgot to take photos of the kitchen tea, sorry!)
For the kitchen tea, NJ made a banana bread, using the ‘1 bowl, 1 fork, 1 banana’ recipe (it’s the only one she uses), to which she added a whole bar of chopped milk chocolate – it was so delicious, full of chunks of chocolate. She also made her famous flapjacks, spread liberally with strawberry jam and dollops of vanilla cream. The other bridesmaids made chilli-bites – I really enjoyed those, haven’t had any for ages – and chocolate crunchies topped with chocolate icing (by the way, Firefly, I need that recipe, please??). We had a good time, the guys went 4×4-ing in the mud, the bride-to-be got some lovely pressies, and then we all had a braai in the evening. Good times with friends.
The only thing I did cook this week was a disaster (how does one make a mess of cous cous? well, I managed it, ha-ha). That got me thinking about flops, after all, I am sure we all make them occasionally, you know, on those evenings when you just feel off-colour, or not hungry, or just plain blah?
I made a flop of epic proportions a few weeks ago when I tried a recipe for energy bars which I got from Inspiration’s blog. The recipe really appealed to me, but of course I didn’t have all the ingredients, so I did some tweaking, and that, people, is where things went pear-shaped. The recipe came out so wrong, but the goodies tasted so jolly more-ish I actually took photos.
Energy Bars a la Zabwan (make at your own risk)
250 grs butter
5 Tbsp golden syrup
150 grs treacle sugar
250 grs oats
100 grs chopped dates
50 grs mixed seeds (I used a mix of mostly sunflower with some sesame, poppy and linseeds)
4 Tbsp desiccated coconut
6 Tbsp raisins
4 Tbsp chopped nuts
Melt the butter, syrup and sugar, then mix in the remaining ingredients, blending very well. Spoon into a greased and lined baking tray, level the surface. Bake at 180°C for 20 minutes, until golden brown and done.
Well, my first indication that something was wrong was the smoke coming from the oven. When I opened it I discovered a lava flow of butter and syrup oozing over the sides of the baking tray – horrors!!!! I quickly pulled the tray into a larger tray, but the damage was done. Smoke continued to billow.
The energy bars cooked well, and I cut them up as instructed. They were incredibly oily, so I had the brilliant idea of laying them on kitchen tissue to absorb some of the fat, whereupon they bonded with the tissue paper on a molecular level (truly, see my photo). Once they were cold, I had to peel unco-operative kitchen tissue off each one, but at least half the batch was irredeemable.
The taste test showed that they were absolutely DELICIOUS, so satisfyingly chewy, sweet, rich and nutty in flavour, that the slight inconvenience of peeling kitchen tissue was worth it, and it seems that kitchen tissue is quite digestible, if not all that palatable.
So, people, there you have it – monumental FAIL! Now, here’s the challenge – do a post about a flop you’ve made!! I would love to hear your stories.
It’s Friday people, and that means braai night. Have a awesome weekend!!!!!
PS I told Tandy about my flop – she made her energy bars again and they came out perfect – so it must have been my tweaking 
suggest you make her recipe instead!
leaineskitchen said on October 8, 2010
Ha ha – I know all about flops especially baking gluten, dairy and egg free – I shall indeed blog about my mishaps – have a lovely weekend
Zabwan said on October 8, 2010
I can imagine that since you cook such experimental food, sometimes things go awry!! Please do share!!
sharonsmit said on October 8, 2010
At least the kitchen towel is kinda edible… hehe
My friend and I used to bake these cookies (kat tonge, and we were primary school) for some reason the ones we baked at her house always flopped – but to the nice extend- couldnt eat enough of it. Didnt like it quite as much when they came out right! Still dont know what was different! Wonder if my mom still has that recipe…
Glad you are feeling better!! Have a fabulous weekend too!! xxx
Zabwan said on October 8, 2010
LOL, that’s my new motto ‘if you can eat it, it’s not a flop’ thanks Sonel!! *hugs*
Zabwan said on October 8, 2010
Kitchen towel may be edible, but it doesn’t taste so lekker
See if your mom has the recipe still, I’d like to see your version??
Awesome weekend, doll!! xxx
tandy.sinclair said on October 8, 2010
I once made a meal where every element went wrong – the peas were burnt, the pasta was over cooked and it ended up all over the kitchen, including down the kitchen sink by mistake. Hope you get some sleep tonight xxx
ninatimm said on October 8, 2010
I need something to pep me up and these delicious bars should pep me up!!!
Zabwan said on October 8, 2010
It was the kitchen tissue, not such a good ingredient, lol – thanks so much for your faith in me
*hugs*
Zabwan said on October 8, 2010
Well, I hope at least you had a chuckle! I must say, the bars were really delicious – I’ll have to try make them again, with some more tweaking…
Zabwan said on October 8, 2010
In our house, it’s usually the beans or the rice that gets turned into a burnt offering! I did sleep better last – woohoo!!!! Here’s hoping I can do it again tonight
slicesofkiwi said on October 8, 2010
*hugs* I made an epic fail out of health bread this week. Tasted like cardboard. Have a great weekend Z
pinkpolkadot said on October 8, 2010
Flop or no flop – it looks delicious!! Have a wonderful weekend!
Zabwan said on October 8, 2010
Guess it’s unavoidable to have things go wrong in the kitchen sometimes! Have a great weekend too, SoK *hugs*
Zabwan said on October 8, 2010
You’re too kind Pink!! Thank you,they were amazingly delicious, I swear I put on 2 kilos snacking on them!
Have an awesome weekend
Sous-Chef said on October 8, 2010
Yes, sometimes the tweaking can be the downfall, I will give your challenge some thought. Don’t think I’ve taken any pics of my disasters!
Juno62 said on October 9, 2010
These look great for school lunchboxes (which are the bane of my existence)
Gaby866 said on October 9, 2010
perfect crunchies ! and its not in the look but in the taste daaahhhlink !!!
Zabwan said on October 9, 2010
Let’s face it, we usually forget about the disasters real quick!! No photos needed for the challenge
Zabwan said on October 9, 2010
They would be great for lunch-boxes! Hope yours come out better than mine
Zabwan said on October 9, 2010
LOL! Thank you, Gaby!
Hopestar said on October 10, 2010
Hi Zabwan,
Your interview is up doll:)
http://letterdash.com/Hopestar/interview-with-10-Oct-2010
*hugs*
x x x x
ric007gp said on October 10, 2010
Loved the Hopestar interview. It brought back lovely memories of my growing up in “Rhodesia”. Thanks.
Zabwan said on October 10, 2010
THANK YOU, hun!!!!!!! hugs & xxx
Zabwan said on October 10, 2010
Thank you, Richard!! Good days, weren’t they?