In my head, the potato and goat’s cheese gratin was perfect.
On my plate, unfortunately, it was less so.
I ate it anyway, pondering how it could have been better. I also pictured my childhood self, who would probably have sat there, refusing to eat, whilst on the receiving end of my mother’s well-worn lecture about the starving babies in Africa who would have been happy to eat whatever-it-was. It was always tempting to suggest that perhaps my mother might wrap up the uneaten dinner and send it to those less fortunate than ourselves, but I generally thought better of doing that.
The also-ran gratin
My goat’s cheesy efforts had, in fact, been inspired by news of Milano’s Christmas campaign to support Oxfam’s efforts to buy goats for needy third world families. You get fed, by way of Milano restaurant vouchers which can be claimed when you shop in Oxfam, and, through the gift of goats bought with the money raised, so do those families. An approach which is, of course, far more practical than sending those unloved leftovers through the post.
Heh heh, my dad used to use emotional blackmail on me to try to make me eat sardines, “You don’t want that little sardine to have died for nothing do you?!” and I remember snivelling over the plate age six. It’s a miracle I’m not vegetarian.
It doesn’t look too bad? More cream maybe?
Oh gosh, Sarah, I don’t think my folks ever used that line on me (though I wouldn’t have put it past them!). As for the gratin, in fairness it wasn’t that bad and cream, of course, would help :)
Are you telling me your spuds went splat? I seriously doubt that… GREG
Well, splat might be too harsh a description Greg, though they definitely didn’t work out quite like I’d planned. It has also been pointed out that my standards might be, er, somewhat higher than the norm…
I can’t believe you had a less than perfect concoction here. It sounds like a marriage made in heaven. I am totally with you in thinking it would be awesome.
I am so far behind on reading so many blogs. Your’s especially, I will catch up, now that I am not teaching next semester, I suddenly have so much more free time. =)
Hey OysterCulture, I do have some theories as to why things turned out less than perfectly – next time it’ll be a winner for sure :) And I am in a similar position regarding my blog reading – so far behind it’s not funny. Hope to do better in the new year!
I thought about you today…saw a History Channel show on spuds across the world. I once tried a goat cheese fish pie that was less than attractive, but the flavors did ring through from my pre-recipe plans…Looks good in the photo, and I agree with Sippity Sup…I doubt it was not tasty!
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
Ah yes, it wasn’t like I didn’t eat it all or anything :) Great to hear from you Chef E and Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to you and yours!