The Flop

Looked pretty online, but real life was another story

I am the first to admit it when a dish goes South.  I told you a few days ago that I was making Balsamic Root Vegetables for Thanksgiving.  My reasons were:  I liked the picture, I've NEVER cooked or eaten a parsnip before, and since it was a crockpot dish, that would be one less project going on in the kitchen, one less body.  Well, unfortunately, it sucked.  

My mother-in-law liked it and I think maybe one other person was positive about it, but I was not.  The vegetables weren't overly mushy, but I probably could've stopped the cooking a little earlier.  The flavors were good.  But, for me, the failure was in the look of the dish and the smell.  The vegetables didn't retain their color and all kind of looked alike.  However, it was the smell that really did me in.  I can't quite put my finger on it.  Balsamic sauces usually smell very good, so I'm thinking perhaps it was the balsamic aroma mixed with the red onion?  It wasn't the kind of smell where someone would walk in and exclaim something like "What the hell is that smell?" but it was just "off-putting."  

• I can't even believe I just used that phrase.  Donatella Arpaia uses it ad nauseum on the Next Iron Chef and it drives me up the wall.  I get her meaning, but I'm pretty sure "off-putting" isn't really a word.  But, in this case, it's the best I've got.

Chalk this one up as a "tried and failed."  No big deal; can't win 'em all!