Sometimes it’s forgetfulness, sometimes something just doesn’t go quite as planned, but there will be times when cooking that something will get screwed up. The bigger issue is how one handles it. Panicking will send you down a spiral of more mistakes as you rush to try and fix the original mishap. As my mom says, “You’re in too much of a rush to hurry!”

There have been a couple of times where I’ve had to totally start over from some unfortunate cooking event, but most issues can be corrected with a little tweak or a technique. Twice in the past week I’ve had to fix something while cooking, so I thought I would share the techniques I used so you can have them in your back pocket if you ever need them. (And remember I am available though Facebook Messenger if you ever need immediate assistance!)

The day before Thanksgiving I was over at my In-Laws helping to set up and prep. We had a mix of dietary restrictions coming: vegetarian (me) and gluten-free (a family friend). That put a dent in the gravy making, so my mother-in-law asked me how to work the gravy since we couldn’t use flour or bouillon in it. Cooking is about flavors, so we just harnessed all the flavor we could muster out of mushrooms, first by sautéing a few shallots in butter, then adding lots of chopped mushrooms. The mushrooms got cooked down in a medium-hot pan until much of the moisture was gone, then the mushrooms were pushed to the side, the pan was deglazed with some Sherry and I made a roux, using 1:1 GF Flour, in the pan before adding water. The intensity of the mushroom flavor was amazing. I got it to the consistency I wanted and then my mother-in-law said she didn’t think it was enough. Uh-oh!

There was plenty of mushrooms in the pan but we needed to stretch the liquid a bit further. I had put in a couple of cups of water and the roux I made was just a tablespoon each of the flour and butter. I was afraid I would lose the texture I wanted if I just added more water, but I wan’t able to make more roux in the pan because there was no way to push the gravy aside. Then I remembered about Beurre Manié.

Beurre Manié is basically making a roux in reverse, simply mixing equal parts softened butter and flour together and then adding to a sauce or soup to thicken. You will need to bring the food to a boil before adding it and then simmer for a bit to cook the flour, as opposed o a roux where you cook the flour and fat together before adding the liquid. The gravy was saved and a good time was had by all then following night, full of great food friends and family.

Earlier this week when bringing my 11 year old home from school I inquired what he wanted for dinner. “Lentil soup, with red lentils. And carrots and green beans.” Easy enough! I sautéed some shallot, ginger and garlic in a pan, added the chopped veggies for a bit, then the lentils and water. Left it to cook for a little bit and came in to check on it. It was then that I noticed the cloves of garlic sitting on the counter. Oh, you thought I had put those in because I mentioned it above? Yeah, so had I.

I started to lament the fact that I hadn’t added the garlic when my wife, who likes to cook Indian food, responded “Just make a tarka.” Perfect! One can’t add raw garlic to a soup that is almost done, but the Indian technique of tarka, sautéing spices in hot oil and adding them at the END of the cooking was just the fix I needed. As the soup finished up I grabbed a small pan and sautéed the garlic in oil, even adding a little lime zest, and then stirring that into the finished soup along with some fresh lime juice. The 11 year old had three bowls and took leftovers for lunch the next day.

So a toast to making mistakes and learning to deal with them, in cooking and in life.