When your spouse requests that you make something; then refuses to eat it? Well, when you have lemons……
The Missus wanted me to make Melitzano Salata; basically an eggplant dip. So being the way I am, I selected a recipe, and made it as directed, something that I'll do just to see how it turned out.
It just so happened that I selected a recipe from a Greek Cookbook that I have, and this version, in
addition to the standard lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil, uses Greek Yogurt and finishes off things in a blender. It actually tasted delicious. But the Missus wanted a chunky version, and I guess just as you wouldn't give someone who wanted chunky peanut butter, smooth…. She just plain refused to eat it. And told me that, "you better finish every drop…."
So while the Missus stuck with Her oven roasted vegetables…..
I had to figure out what to do….. bread and melitzanosalata got pretty old pretty quickly. But I soon had an idea. On the way home, I bought free range chicken leg cut for karaage, which cost me all of $1.79. I smeared a good amount of the eggplant on a plate, poured some olive oil (they call it "liquid gold") we brought back from Crete on it, and brought it to room temp.
Meanwhile, taking the Ali Nazik Kebab, as my point of reference, I seasoned the chicken with sea salt, fresh cracked pepper, oregano, ground chili, and a pinch or cumin and seared it off. I placed the chicken on the bed of eggplant puree….
Served with roasted fingerling potatoes, thin slices of onion (love the bite of onion, it cuts the richness), and some sliced tomatoes (ditto the acid)…. this turned out to be pretty good.
So good, that the next night I bought some lamb loin chops on the way home and did the same……
Which was even better….. the Missus loved the lamb chops, but of course She wouldn't touch the eggplant. After all, it was a matter of principle and all that…..
Which leads me to the question. What have you made that you thought was a major flop, but in the end turned out to be delicious? You gotta love those blessed mistakes……