I have a talent for cooking odd things.
As tends to happen, now and then I look into the refrigerator and find that I have an assortment of leftover things that I have no idea what to do with. My talent is to combine them into things that somehow work well together.

For instance: last winter a friend gave me a freezer bag full of odd venison scraps and a couple of small roasts. I cooked the small roasts according to recipes I found online and they were all right but nothing that I would ever really seek out again. So the bag of scraps has been languishing in there ever since.

Last night I got tired of looking at the damn thing and took it out, determined to make a venison stew. I found a recipe online and followed it more or less, and ended up with something that I wasn't sure that I liked as it was a bit gamey and bitter. This irritated me to no end, so I started adding things to it. In went mushrooms, red wine, worcestershire, some chipotle and the end of a jar of spaghetti sauce. Not bad, but not that great either- something was still lacking, and I wasn't sure what.

The other night I had made a batch of puerco pibil. (Go here to find out what that is.) I had some left in a pot and was cleaning up and fished the pork out of the sauce and set it in a container in the freezer, but still had a fair bit of sauce left over. I tasted it and had an inspiration, and dumped it into the venison stew.

I can't describe the result, but I think I'm going to have to get more venison to try to replicate this. If I make the sauce without cooking it with pork it will be a fantastic thing to add to soups in the future!
( Wanderer, Mon 22 Nov 2010, 18:54, 7 replies)

I'm pretty good at this too
But not always. Chocolate-covered brussells sprouts and blood-orange pasta just didn't work.
( flatfrog Staring vacantly into space, Mon 22 Nov 2010, 19:18, closed)

I think that's because
you need more of a contrast in the flavors. Brussell sprouts don't really have that strong a flavor on their own, or rather their flavor isn't that pleasant. Combining chocolate with something salty works nicely. Similarly, pasta doesn't have a taste to contrast with the oranges. Add in some savoury chicken, maybe?
( Wanderer, Mon 22 Nov 2010, 19:28, closed)

Pickled apples
I just flash-pickled some apples in a mixture of wine and malt vinegar, with some spices (coriander, chilli, cumin and pepper) flung in. Wonderful. Hard to know whether to serve them with a sweet dish or a savoury dish.
(gordonjcp, Mon 22 Nov 2010, 21:17, closed)

So essentially,
what you made was a game version of a flamin' Homer?
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Mon 22 Nov 2010, 19:48, closed)

As long as it doesn't give me the flamin' anus.
Recently I also made a kick-ass omelet with feta, asparagus from dinner the night before with butter and lemon, and diced marinated chicken.

The problem is, it would be difficult at best to duplicate any of these as they're dependent upon what I happen to have in the refrigerator at the moment...
( Wanderer, Mon 22 Nov 2010, 19:59, closed)

I was in the bus station earlier
and needed some change so I nipped into Greggs and came out with a brie and cranberry pastry thing. It was quite spiffing and I need to find the recipe.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Mon 22 Nov 2010, 20:11, closed)

The recipe:
Refined White Flour.
Refined White Sugar.
Refined Lard.
Cranberry.
Brie.
More Flour, Sugar and Lard.
(The Incredible Sulk Finally remembered his password on, Tue 23 Nov 2010, 3:17, closed)