why we test recipes

Things are starting to get REAL up in here at Eat and Greet and quite frankly, I dig. Don't you? Sugar coating is for babies (and girls, myself included, when trying on outfits and asking for opinions) and there's certainly no need to do so when panning a recipe.

I watched my girl Ina Garten of The Barefoot Contessa (I ask you, who doesn't want her life?) make a mustard roasted fish and dilled potatoes a while back and the episode quite honestly moved me to tears. I realize I sound like an emotional freak. Truth be told, well, I am an emotional, err, freak. But the simplicity and Scandinavian-esque flavors she was highlighting just spoke to me in the sweetest way. I had to try it out.

And so I did just that. I tried the recipe before an upcoming dinner party to see how fabulous it was before my guests indulged with me. And, well. It was meh.

In Ina's defense, the recipe calls for Red Snapper to which I said no thank you, Salmon, please. I don't doubt that in many ways, the moderately unfortunate outcome of the recipe was my fault. I subbed without asking permission. But I'm the boss of me so I said "dooo it." What happened was the crème fraiche-mustard-shallot-caper sauce that gets spread on top of the salmon and then baked, took on a mayonnaise-y quality to it. Unpleasantly thick and gloppy, it turned a perfectly beautiful piece of salmon into a slightly unenjoyable one.

The potatoes too, need a little tweeking. They didn't come out nearly as crispy as Ina's looked which made us a little sad and feel slightly inadequate. What was going on?!

Was it a #fail? Well, not entirely. But would I make it again? No. No, I would not make it again. And to be honest, this was kind of the shocker of the century. Ina's recipes are fool proof. Classics. Always crowd pleasers. But her Mustard Roasted Fish? Well, it just fell flat for us.

But you need not worry. I got plenty of scrumptious pictures in the meantime.

Enjoy. xo.