How
to Fix These Common Dinner Disasters
The
guests are assembled, the wine and the conversation is flowing,
and you are about to present an unforgettable meal - when disaster
strikes! Your sauce turns lumpy, your cake sinks in the middle,
and it looks as if your carefully planned evening is going to
be a flop.
But
don't despair. There are quick fixes for almost any dinner disaster
and here are five of the most common:
1)
Lumpy Sauce:
Learning to make a sauce from a basic roux of flour and butter
is a great culinary achievement, but it's no guarantee against
disaster. Even experienced chefs have seen their sauce turn lumpy
just to spite them when diners are waiting. But they also make
sure there is a blender handy. All you do is pour the lumpy sauce
into the blender and give it a quick whiz. The lumps will be smoothed
out instantly. If your sauce is too thick, add a little milk to
white sauce, or stock to gravy and it will be perfect.
2)
Sunken Cake:
There seems to be no greater disaster than this. A cake that doesn't
rise is enough to make a grown cook cry. But don't throw it in
the bin and reach for the frozen dessert. You can still create
something wonderful. Pierce the cake all over with a skewer and
drizzle with sweet wine or the syrup from canned fruit. Pile the
drained fruit in the centre of the cake, and cover with whipped
cream. The result is so magnificent and lush, you will be asked
for the recipe!
3)
Roast too small:
Your roast has shrunk and there's not enough meat to go round,
but you can still delight your guests with a fabulous meal. Cut
up the meat into strips. Toss it in a salad with some Hokkien
noodles (the kind you soak in hot water) and a quick dressing
made of ½ cup soy sauce, half cup water, ¼ cup warmed
honey, a piece of grated ginger and one grated garlic clove. If
you have any fresh lettuce, snow peas or scallions handy, chop
them up and toss them in as well. If you have no noodles, use
rice or pasta.
4)
The vegetables are overcooked:
sloppy vegetables when you planned something more crisp and appetizing
can be disastrous, but there are many ways to overcome the problem
very quickly. If your planned mashed potatoes have dissolved into
mush, add one egg, some chopped parsley and enough flour to make
the mixture hold its shape as quickly fried potato cakes. You
can also do this with other root vegetables such as sweet potato.
The other rescue is to change courses - add cream, cracked black
pepper to the soft vegetables and puree. Serve as a first course
soup instead of a main course vegetable.
5)
Greasy soup or stew:
If the meat was fattier than you thought, there will be a thick
layer of grease over your stew. The quickest way to remove it
to chill it - but that doesn't mean you have to put your stew
in the fridge and wait for hours. Use cold lettuce or cabbage
leaves, chilled bread or ice cubes in a slotted spoon to coagulate
the fat and draw it off the stew. Once the fatty layer is removed
your stew will be good as new.
Gail Kavanagh
