When A Dish Just Isn't Right...

Have you ever looked at a picture of a recipe and said…"OOOOH,  I have to make that," only for it to be the worst thing in the world to eat or it is just ok.  Your taste buds are already and excited for something that looks so good only for it to fall short. I did that the other day. Saw this hamburger potato bake and said…"well lets give this a try". Of course I had to make it my own since I am trying to watch what I eat and to lay off the red meat. I substituted a few things and even jazzed it up a bit.

So here is what I made and the recipe that still needs a ton of work.

Ingredients I used.

3 lbs of sliced potatoes par boiled.

1 1/2 lbs ground turkey

1 cup onions chopped.

1 cup mushrooms sliced

Garlic to taste

Seasoning salt

Salt

Pepper

1/4 cup chopped basil

1/4 cup chopped chives

½ cup sour cream

1 cup milk

1 stick butter, melted

½ cup cream

2 eggs

4 cups sharp cheddar cheese shredded.

Here is what I did...

• Par boil the potatoes.  Don’t over cook them.  They will cook more in the oven.
• Saute the onions, mushrooms, garlic, basil, chives, seasoning salt, pepper and salt.
• Brown the ground turkey.  Once browned add the onion and mushroom mixture.
• In a bowl combine the milk, creamer, butter and eggs. Mix well.
• In a 9 x 13 pan layer the ingredients.   Place half the potatoes on the pan, then 2 cups of cheese.  Next add all the ground turkey mixture. Next add the rest of the potatoes. Over the top of the potatoes pour the milk mixture. Add the remaining 2 cups of cheese to the top.
• Back at 400 for 45-60 minutes. You want the cheese to start browning in the top.

Pretty easy recipe but here was the problem. The milk and eggs mixture did not work. First it was too boring and had no taste. If that wasn’t bad enough the eggs cooked and were like scrambled eggs and the milk and cream curdled because the oven was too hot and there was nothing to bind it so it wouldn’t do that.

The good things were the turkey was tasty and how can you mess up potatoes?  I would keep them as is. However you could add other spices if you like. Remember to always experiment from time to time with spices.  

So it is back to the drawing board with this one. I think it is worth a second attempt.  It looks tasty and I like all the ingredients in this dish. Though these are simple ingredients they can be the hardest to make the flavors pop like you want them to. My mistake was not going with my gut on this one. I knew that sauce was questionable. Remember, you know more than you think and when you think it is wrong it probably is.

Now go out and make something you love for yourself or for a loved one!