There was a recipe in my Cast Iron Cooking magazine I’ve been wanting to try for a little while. This past Saturday I made my shopping list to use after writing group. The list was short though. I had everything but the chicken, the scallions, and the pineapple.
Now, it had been a minute since I read over the actual directions for the recipe. That morning, all I did was read the ingredients, not the directions. If I had read the directions, I would have seen that I was a day late on my preparations.
You see, the BBQ sauce was supposed to have been simmered for hours while it reduced. Then the sauce was to cool down completely. Essentially, the sauce should have been made the day before.
There was another misstep I discovered as I began making dinner around 4:30 for a 6:00 dinner time. The chicken was meant to be slathered in the BBQ sauce, then refrigerated for an hour. After which, the chicken needed to be baked at a certain temperature for a time before changing the temperature to finish it off.
Needless to say, the process was entirely discombobulated. Nothing was prepared in the manner for which the recipe called. I didn’t quite know what to expect. Would it be okay, or would it be a flop?
Now I’m not sure if the dish would’ve been any better had I followed the recipe to the letter. That will be an experiment for another time. What I do know is the chicken was delicious and it practically fell off the bone! It was finger-licking good if I do say so myself!
The moral of the story is, read the entire recipe when making the shopping list, preferably a couple of days ahead, but at least the day before. However, based on how good it turned out, it might still turn out okay if you don’t.
That is the joy of cooking. You don’t always know how the experiment is going to turn out. It will either work or it won’t, but it is still great fun to find out.
Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man 