Who do you experiment on?

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Red Handed Jill

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I mean, with your recipes
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My DH is a pretty good tester, because he's fussy. My kids, not so much, because they'll eat ANYthing that can't run fast than they can. Personally, I am absolutely SICK of eggs (in any form). I'm no longer sure my judgment is any good.
BTW - big appreciation here for the recipes shared. Nothing like the tried-n-true.
 
On guests of course! Yesterday I made southwestern eggs (the tried & true egg bake with no chives but a couple heaping spoons of salsa instead), sausage (I have given in and usually now serve either bacon or sausage), and a new recipe of cornbread. The cornbread did not bake as it should - fortunately I had made bread the night before and so made toast when I gave up. DH & I had a sort of cornmeal mush from it - it was good but not for guests. But the muffins were also a new recipe and they liked them - Oatmeal Blueberry.
Since they wanted ramps, this morning I made potatoes and ramps with bacon, scrambled eggs with sour cream and Romano cheese, and venison brats. Big hit again.
Tomorrow will be the Walnut Oatmeal Pancakes.
 
Guests. For the same reasons you mentioned...I don't like a lot of stuff and Gomez will eat anything.
 
I would say that when you have cooked/baked long enough, you will instictively know what the final product should be. Experience will tell you that certain flavors should turn out a certain way. And a ratio of flour to eggs should turn out a certain way. And a ratio of brown sugar to white sugar should turn out a certain way.
Go for it on the guests. Let them feel special that they are the guinea pigs. It's a good ice-breaker. You might even get better test stomachs (thanks Swirt) out of them than you do from people close to you. You might not, but oh well!
You might surpise yourself, too. ;)
 
I tried new recipes out on the guests. They didn't seem to mind. Even got the occasional chuckle when I'd say, "In full innkeeper disclosure, this is a new recipe, so tell me what you think!" If you have a knack for putting flavors together and presentation, you shouldn't really have any trouble with something new. Good luck! :)
 
ditto the guests ... i'd ask as i served. they seemed to enjoy being asked ..... some 'ate it up' so to speak.
some recipes were thumbs down ...
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but that's the way it goes.
 
The first couple of years as a innkeeper I would experiment on us. After gaining more confidence and experience, I changed and experimented on the guests. It's better for the waistline that way!
 
Depends what it is I experiament on my partner as he used to be a restaurant manager and is mad about food and its quality but sometimes the guests. You get a feel for the guests for example I wanted to try a new type of oil so asked one of our guests who was staying for a week and a half if he would be my guine pig and he liked it so much he is going to change to rapeseed oil as it is low on colestoral. So all good all round.
 
Hmm. Thanks for the paradigm shift. I ended up experimenting this morning. It all got eaten, and i was fairly generous, so I guess I don't even need to ask if it worked (it was sort of gillumhouse's sour cream egg bake, only I didn't have chives, so I used parsley, and didn't bake it, but scrambled it in sausage drippings instead).
I know experience will help. I've been doing a lot of baking for a while, so I don't even hesitate in trying new things there. My sense of security with teh cooking part isn't quite there yet.
 
When I was formulating the charteryacht's cookbook about five or so years ago, I experimented on my mother. On the weekends, I put her through the typical day on a charteryacht which meant a full breakfast, including muffins, fruit and mimosas, then came lunch - a full, hot lunch which would sometimes be a pizza, pasta, homemade soup, something from the grill, etc. Around late afternoon came sundowners and hot/cold appetizers. Then dinner...complete with salad or soup, homemade bread, entree, followed by an incredibly rich dessert. Oh...and homemade ice cream after lunch. Frankly, it was just too much food for one day! And when I finally bought the boat and moved to Miami, her doctor was quite happy. My mother had gained a lot of weight being my guinea pig. LOL Oh, and did I mention she also had to test all of the bar drinks we came up with, and well...I helped, too! :) Now you can see why a yacht's chef's day is exhausting! When we're "on", we go through that routine everyday. And of course, when we're "off", it's power tool time. There are no days of rest. I had to get one of those gel mats because at the end of the day, my feet and back are killing me.
These days with my mother being in Atlanta, I experiment on my friends and neighbors. I never experiment on guests. A couple of weekends ago, it was two of my friends - Lobster Tail. I don't like seafood, but they really enjoyed being my guinea pigs. I rarely experiment anymore as my culinary collection is pretty full. Every now and then, I pick up a recipe from here, try it, and add it to my collection, but that's about it. My latest additions were the ham and egg tartlets with English Muffin Bread. :)
 
Hmm. Thanks for the paradigm shift. I ended up experimenting this morning. It all got eaten, and i was fairly generous, so I guess I don't even need to ask if it worked (it was sort of gillumhouse's sour cream egg bake, only I didn't have chives, so I used parsley, and didn't bake it, but scrambled it in sausage drippings instead).
I know experience will help. I've been doing a lot of baking for a while, so I don't even hesitate in trying new things there. My sense of security with teh cooking part isn't quite there yet..
Basil, tarragon (does not take much), dill, and oregano are alternatives to the chives also. How much to use depends on whethr it is fresh or dried. If using dried, use less!!
 
Hmm. Thanks for the paradigm shift. I ended up experimenting this morning. It all got eaten, and i was fairly generous, so I guess I don't even need to ask if it worked (it was sort of gillumhouse's sour cream egg bake, only I didn't have chives, so I used parsley, and didn't bake it, but scrambled it in sausage drippings instead).
I know experience will help. I've been doing a lot of baking for a while, so I don't even hesitate in trying new things there. My sense of security with teh cooking part isn't quite there yet..
Basil, tarragon (does not take much), dill, and oregano are alternatives to the chives also. How much to use depends on whethr it is fresh or dried. If using dried, use less!!
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gillumhouse said:
Basil, tarragon (does not take much), dill, and oregano are alternatives to the chives also. How much to use depends on whethr it is fresh or dried. If using dried, use less!!
Oh, this reminds me (thanks!)...it's time to plant my herbs. I found these window box brackets that hold a window box planter over a railing. I'm going to plant my herbs in window boxes and hang them from the railing of the flybridge (upper level). I will be able to move them from shade to sun easily when the Miami summer sun gets too intense. ....and a little catnip for my elderly, blind kitty. I love having fresh herbs, and it's been a couple of years because I could not find a good way to grow them, absent any kind of yard. I hated having the planters sitting on the bow - it was always a mess after the daily afternoon thunderstorms, and it looked very "liveaboard" - right out there with hanging laundry to dry over the railing. YIKES! With the brackets I found, I can hang them so no one can see them. :)
 
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