One Dish Dinner Success Story

by Ron
(Stuart, FL)

This one dish dinner success story almost wasn't, but thanks to not giving up, I prevailed and learned something in the process. Here's my harrowing tale of how I got there:

I wanted to try the Seafood Tetrazini method today, so I bought an "All Purpose" aluminum pan with a clear plastic lid at my local grocery chain...
(It was all they had.)
I assembled what looked good to me (basically the same as the video, with the addition of Old Bay and scallions), and stuck it in the oven...

About 25 minutes later, I opened the oven - and the plastic lid had melted! It didn't drip into the pan, but shrunk to about 1/4 its size and stuck up in the air at one corner!
In a panic, I pulled the pan out, took off the plastic, remixed the ingredients as best I could, covered the pan in aluminum foil and stuck it back in the oven for about 20 minutes...

Much to my surprise, it worked!
Aside from a few noodles (actually, thin spaghetti broken in a towel like in the video) not getting cooked because they hadn't been in the liquid, it came out pretty good!

Thanks, Chef Todd, for:
#1 getting me to try to cook something for myself (most of my meals come from the frozen food section - but I'm working on it!).
and
#2 the confidence to not panic and toss everything in the trash and give up when things don't work out perfectly.

After watching your series of videos, some several times, the veil of "mystery" over cooking is being lifted - and I'm anxious to try lots of other things!

Thanks again,
Ron in Florida

Chef Todd Says:
Ron - I have absolutely nothing to add because you said it all. Your thought process was sound (in realizing that the dish needed to be covered while cooking) - that's cooking method. And when things didn't go just as you planned, you used your eyes and intuition and found a solution. I love it! You are really cooking now, Ron. Can't wait to hear more.