B and I have a rule, the McDonald’s Rule. The rule is simple really:
If you make dinner and dinner is really, really bad or burnt or awful, we can toss it and go to McDonald’s. (Or order pizza or something similar.)
The meal has to be pretty ruined to invoke the rule. The last time it was invoked was on a chicken dish gone…wrong. Horribly wrong. We won’t discuss how wrong. The only other time we invoked it wasn’t due to dinner but rather a leaky springform pan that oozed cheesecake all over the oven right before I was supposed to make dinner and I cried, big crocodile tears, as I scooped charred cheesecake batter out of the oven. It wasn’t pretty. I required a beer and chicken wings to make things right again.
Anyway. Last night. I was making Black Bean Chowder with Yogurt-Cilantro Relish which sounds all delicious but had some pretty specific cook times, i.e. simmer for one hour, do another step, simmer for 30 minutes and serve. I was going to make cornbread to go with it. Everyone loves cornbread! Corn bread and chowder, yum yum. My Grandpa always said a hot day called for soup, it helped to make you feel cooler. So I like to make hot soup a few times in the summer and think of Grandpa.
Except after 2.5 hours of simmering those beans, that I had soaked for a full 24 hours, were still crunchy. Really, really crunchy.
Culinary fail.
(We are not tossing it, I’m just going to keep simmering the damn chowder until the beans are tender. I expect to serve it on Friday at the earliest.)
Five Guys it is.
It is a good rule.
Ohhh … my family was a strict “you-eat-whats-on-your-plate-because-we-took-the-time-to-make-it-for-you” family … and I still remember that one night … that “failed okra expirement” … the one night in my childhood where I was forgiven … nay, instructed NOT to touch my vegetables!
Love the idea!!
I love your McDonald’s rule! In our house it is the Chipotle rule, but hey they are under the same ownership so it’s practically the same thing. We haven’t had a True Food Disaster in many months, which I am sure means I am up for about ten Food Disasters in a row. Better start looking for burrito coupons now.
I had prepared. I labored in the kitchen well. I had bought the pork tenderloins the DAY before. I had cooked them to perfection, along with the side dishes. I gleefully took my first bite and about spewed it onto my husbands plate. The pork was spoiled. Very, very spoiled. We bought roasted chicken that night from our favorite restaurant and have never served pork in our home again…ever.
I call this the Get Out of Cooking Rule: Make a dish for your loved one, something you think they’re going to seriously love (because they’ve been obsessed with fennel lately). Serve it up and watch them take three bites before they put down their fork and ask you, very sweetly and kindly, to never bother cooking dinner for them again. Sit and fake-pout while they tell you that they *really* don’t mind cooking for you for the rest of eternity. Brag to all of your friends.