We all make mistakes.
If we’re care free, we bound to make some doozies. However, if we take care in all that we do, weigh decisions from all angles, stay focused, we’ll still stumble on occasion. It’s all part of being human. No where can we taste the bitters of mistakes any more than when we cook.
One of our favorite recipes is a variation on one that my mother-in-law developed over the years for Crab Bisque. I usually serve it whenever we have company and always share the recipe. When friends from Texas, visited us, I made the soup. They loved it and inevitably asked for the recipe.
Not long after they returned home from their trip, the husband decided to make the soup while his wife was away for the day. He went to the store and shopped for the ingredients. He would surprise her with a ready-to-eat supper when she returned home. And surprise her he did. He followed each step of the recipe, but somehow, in reading it, he transposed the amount of milk and the amount of cooking wine. Instead of two cans of milk and 1/4 can of wine, he made it with 2 cans wine, 1/4 can milk.
They both gasped when they tasted his concoction. After going over the recipe and discussing what happened, they laughed and threw out supper. It was a long time before they ever told us this tale. In fact, he made the bisque, following the recipe closely several times before they shared the story that now goes along with serving the dish to their guests.
These days, knowing its adventure, I smile each time I prepare the soup. But I also know that sometimes honest mistakes can improve a recipe. In fact, much of what we take for granted in modern society has evolved out of someone’s making a mistake.
I’ve always make cornbread according to my grandmother’s recipe. Since it is the only bread I attempt to make, I know the recipe by heart. It never fails. However, the other day I must have been distracted by something because I made the recipe and forgot to add 1/4 cup of oil. I remembered the minute I put the pan in the oven. I removed it quickly and stirred the oil into the batter.
We couldn’t believe the difference. Not only was the bottom of bread crispy, so was the top. Likewise, the change makes the top of the bread a picture perfect brown also. This is a mistake that I now intentionally make each time I prepare cornbread.
And so I share recipes which now have stories of their own to tell.
Crab Bisque
1 small onion, diced
1 celery rib, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
2 T butter
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can of cream of celery soup
2 soup cans of milk (one can half and half makes it richer)
1/4 soup can of white cooking wine
crab meat from six crabs (may use canned crab)
In a soup pot, saute vegetables in margarine until soft, not browned.
Add soups, milk and wine and blend together, cooking until hot, stirring occasionally.
As soups blend, add cooked crab meat to mixture.
New Version of Cornbread
1 cup flour
1 cup cornmeal
2 T sugar
pinch of salt
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup olive oil
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix dry ingredients together. Add buttermilk and beaten eggs and stir until batter forms. Pour batter into 10- inch iron skillet greased with Crisco. Stir olive oil into mixture. Bake for 20 minutes or until top browns.
2007
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