Ok, ok, maybe not terrible. But bad enough that I shed a small tear in frustration and asked why in the world I thought I cook anything more complicated than spaghetti, to which my mom replied, "1. It's only your first try, 2. This is what "recipe developing" is like, and 3. Calm the heck down."
I felt a little better.
While I think we had a good idea going, we just didn't get the flavor we were looking for. I tried two different versions. Both had a Gorgonzola cream sauce as the base (that I didn't actually make--I got to borrow it from our chef at work for experimenting), which ended up being the most prominent flavor. One version was topped with a roasted pear, the other with diced apples and pears that had been sauteed in white wine, and both were finished with toasted walnuts and Gorgonzola crumbles. Now on paper, it sounds delicious (or at least, to me it did). But in real life? Ehh (shrug). Both my mom and grandmother loved the overall dish, but agreed that the Gorgonzola sauce overpowered the fruits (which were supposed to be the highlighted flavor). Granted, I didn't know what I was doing. But still--it prompted me to explore other directions/ingredients. Hors d'oeuvres are what I do best, so I think I'll stick to what I know.We're headed back to the lake this weekend to celebrate my grandmother's 91st birthday (yeah, she's a rockstar) so I'm going to enlist my family as guinea pigs once more. This week the Washington-state ingredients are dungeness crab and sweet onions. Here's to hoping I don't cry this time!
