Friday, July 15, 2016

FAIL!

Sometimes even the best laid plans end up a disaster. Most people wouldn't share a culinary fail as epic as mine on their blog, but then I am not most people. You have to take the good with the bad and you just can't hit it out of the park every time. Honesty and humility are qualities that I personally embrace.  Hubs and I went on vacation last week with a bunch of friends. We do this every year and rent a beach house in Rhode Island. Normally we have a big pig roast but this year we decided to scale it back and just have a regular old cookout. However, to keep the spirit of the pig alive, I bought a 4 pack of baby back ribs and made a batch of pulled pork. The ribs were pre-cooked and vacuum sealed. I didn't have high hopes for them but the price was right so I figured what the hell. Well, due to the abundance of foodstuffs at the beach house, they never got eaten. So, I brought them back home and finally got around to cooking them this week. I halved the racks, doused them with BBQ sauce, threw them in the crock pot, and went to work. As straight up ribs they were much better than I thought they would be. A little salty for my taste but otherwise just fine with some mashed cauliflower and sauteed fresh zucchini. However, 4 racks of ribs for two people is beyond excessive and I have leftovers up the wazoo! So, yesterday I formulated a plan to use some of the leftover rib meat. I even cam up with a cool name and everything, "BBQ Swineapple Pie". In concept, the idea seemed solid. I lined a pie plate with masa dough (because BBQ pork and corn go well together), then I sauteed some of the leftover rib meat with onions and a little more BBQ sauce. I mixed in some fresh pineapple (because pineapple and pork go well together) and poured it into the masa crust. Then I topped it with a mix of cheddar and mozzarella cheeses (because BBQ and Hawaiian pizza is yummy) and baked it for 40 minutes. When I pulled it from the oven it looked really good but when I ate it, it was not nearly as tasty as I was hoping it would be. It wasn't horrible but I really didn't enjoy it all that much. I don't know if maybe the masa could have been better seasoned. I admit I was in a rush and just threw the crust together without much thought. Maybe it needed more BBQ sauce - it was a tad dry. I thought the pineapple would release more liquid when cooked. Regardless, I was glad my husband grabbed dinner on the road and didn't want any because if I didn't really care for it, he most assuredly would hate it. Yep, kitchen fail. Oh well. Live and learn and try again later.