A 1980 Southern Living Disaster Dinner

After being sick most of the week, our menu plan kind of went down the drain. Knowing that I was behind on my Southern Living dishes, Chris and I decided to make 3 for dinner on Friday.  We knew going in that these 3 dishes didn't really go together, but we also really weren't exicted about any of them and thought it best just to get them over with. 

I have been thinking of how to summarize this meal.  The best thing I can say is that is was edible.  We've had some horrible things in the past when we just threw it away and ordered pizza (a Raw Chicken Incident in 2010 and the disaster of Smoked Mozzerella Pasta to name a couple).  We didn't have to throw anything away uneaten last night, and I guess that made this somewhat of a success.

We had Pea Flips (Southern Living, 1980, pg. 7)

I stuck pretty close to the recipe, with two exceptions.  I did not fry these, I baked them in the oven for about 20 minutes.  For the pastry, I did make it gluten free and I think that was the downfall to this dish.

I used a gluten free flour blend of 3/4 cup Brown Rice flour, 3/4 cup Garbanzo Bean flour, 1/2 cup Arrowroot and 1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum.  I also used margarine instead of shortening - we don't really do shortening in our house.   

The Garbanzo Bean flour was a bad choice.  You could kind of taste it - and it wasn't good.

Our pea flips - not the best looking thing I have ever made.

Next, we had Creamy Crab & Spinach Casserole (Southern Living, 1980, pg 3)

I had reservations about this one from the beginning.  It wasn't as bad as we feared it could be, but it wasn't necessarily "good" either.  After having the first bite, Chris said "Well, this is exactly what a spinach casserole from 1980 should taste like."  I don't think it was a compliment, but not having too many crab casseroles in the 80's, I will accept that my husband may know what he is talking about and this could be merely an observation.

Again, I stuck pretty close to the original.  I made my Gluten Free Cream of "?" Soup using vegetable bouillon cubes.  We didn't have any sherry, so we used 2 tbls red wine vinegar and 2 tbls + of red wine (we had a bad pour that was the "+").  We also used milk instead of half and half.  And we didn't use breadcrumbs.  Not necessary (and not gluten free).   It did have a unique flavor and was very creamy and cheesy - which I guess are good attributes to a spinach dish.

This was Mia's favorite.  We gave her a taste of the crab and I don't think I have ever seen my dog drool as much as she did while this was in the oven.  At least someone in the house was exited about this dish.  

Finally, we made Garlic Spoonbread (Southern Living, 1980, pg. 14)

This was Chris' favorite.  He said it reminded him of grits and he is planning on having leftovers for breakfast.  I found this one inedible.  I only used 4 eggs instead of 5 and we eliminated the bacon.  I hate bacon.  (I know, strange, but I really can't even handle the smell of it).  I'm also not a big fan of eggs in general.  And this tasted like eggs to me.  Not good.

It looks pretty, though.  And it was light and fluffy, like I *think* spoonbread should be, but this was my first attempt at a spoonbread.  So I'm not quite sure how it should taste.  If this is an accurate spoonbread, I don't think we will be making it again - WAY too egg-y for me.  

Overall, this meal got a 1 star.  Chris looked at this plate and said, "This is about the most un-appetizing plate and it will not make a good picture."  He was correct, it does not make a good picture, but we did eat it.  Notice, I didn't even give the revised recipes - not worth it.  We wouldn't recommend or re-make any of these dishes.  Sorry, 1980.  You can have these back.

- Chery