Family foods that sucked, but didn't know any better.

[Woodson]

I grew up in a house with brick pit built in the front yard. My dad was the king of the bbq pit, but he only made one thing: Thin sliced pork steaks. The were amazing, so i was taught.

What he made was more aptly described as pork steak jerky. I discovered he was doing it wrong, and taught me to do it wrong, and to this day i cannot make a pork steak worth its weight.

On a side note, I married a Japanese gal, and she makes everything with rice & soy sauce.

I'm like, "Babe, I love rice and soy sauce, but not mixed with my polish sausage and kraut." (true story)
She says thats how she was taught to make it when she was a little girl.

is there some strange family recipe you were brought up on, or maybe one your spouse makes for you that challenges all that is good in the world?

(ACTIVELY LOOKING FOR A PORK STEAK RECIPE.)

[MBMorgan]

I’m going to throw Dear Ol’ Mom’s corn beef hash on the fire here ... literally ... burn the taste away ... please ... seriously ... please ...

[Woodson]

+1 LOL Thats what im talking about. When i make it back home everyone is chowing down pretending it's good. I respect corn beef hash, was never a fan though

[mnavarre]

My mom used to murder the crap out of vegetables, just turn 'em into grey mush. I think I was around 10 when I discovered green beans were actually good.

But the meatloaf. The meatloaf somehow managed to be severely overcooked, mushy, mealy, and have chunks of what seemed like raw onion all at the same time. Truly mystifying how she managed it. Luckily she hasn't threatened to make it for years.

Also my Pop used to boil ribs in french onion soup and then grill them, but those were actually pretty good.

[Woodson]

Those boilers swear by that technique don’t they! Soup, Dr Pepper, beer. Whatever. My deceased uncle would bring Dr Pepper pork chops to family gatherings and would brag that they were the first thing gone. Well, RIP uncle Steve, but they were the first thing gone because a. you didn’t bring a lot, and b. you brought an army of vagabonds whom you let flop at your house who ate it all. Too soon?

[smokin fool]

Another vote for meatloaf, the brown over cooked cube of overdone hamburger and remorse followed closely by Mac n Cheese, the vile concoction that sadly lacked in all things cheese.
Mom did the best with what she had, at least we always had food in our bellies.

[synodog]

Mom’s meatloaf again. That’s what started me down the road hating ketchup because I must’ve began associating it with trying to cover up nasty dry flavor.
My wife’s meatloaf is actually pretty good.

[Attjack]

I read the thread title a immediately thought of steakums. Probably not what you had in mind.

As a kid I would make "ramen". I would boil the noodles then drain them completely and add some of the seasoning packet. To me that was ramen.

[lemayp]

I still make ramen when the wife and daughter are away. Only like the chicken flavor now though...

[58limited]

I do the same - drain all water before adding seasoning.

[Steve B]

I still get cravings for Steakum’s.
Love those 🤔 steaks.

[lemayp]

My mom grew up in Iowa. I thought it was just her that liked overly well done, but recently discovered everyone on her side is that way. There can be no pink in anything. We used to put everything under the broiler and take it most of the way to jerky, then drown in gravy. Still have a negative opinion of lobster and venison from childhood experiences.

Stepdad would put every leftover in a soup and yell goulash. That was always a scary meal...

[Sam6687]

I had a scoutmaster that on Sunday morning at the end of summer camp all the leftovers went into the eggs for breakfast to use them up. he said he learned that in the navy during world war II, I figure that winning the war and getting out of the navy so I wouldn't have to eat eggs like that any more was a leading factor in the victory in the pacific.

[mrteddyprincess]

About 1980 my sister and I stayed all night with my paternal grandparents. I was ten. We lived on a farm and we had just put 1/2 a beef in the freezer. My mom sent us with four frozen steaks. Grandma, God bless her, cooked those steaks in her microwave. We ate them. I don't remember how.

[Butchman]

My mom made me eat my vegetables. I’d chew em up then spit em into my napkin. My most feared were Lima beans and cooked carrots. I still won’t eat them to this day.

[mrteddyprincess]

I'm with you on gawdawful lima beans.

[fzxdoc]

I'm with you on that. I was saved sometimes by our dog under the table, eating up anything I could sneak to him.

K.

[parkerj2]

I despise limas. my entire family still loves them with cornbread or whatever else. they are foul.

[FireMan]

My ma went to the same school as yer dad as far as pork chops/steaks were concerned. I did not know moist meat existed until I move out in my early 20’s, not paying close attention to Whoppers & Big Macs. That might be my first "moist" meat.

[RonB]

Both my parents were raised on farms and were taught to cook protein, (and everything come to think of it), well done. The meat/chicken I was raised on was so dry it could literally suck the moisture out of your tongue as you chewed it. I was an adult when I discovered the wonders of a medium steak...

[holehogg]

Now you need to move on to medium rare.

[smokin fool]

I get it on the chicken.
My father must of had a bad experience with a chicken in his youth, when he cooked chicken it was like he had a vendetta against it.
It was so badly charred by the time he was done the sand in your shoe bottoms was tastier, probably more moist too.

[Woodson]

LoL OMG, cooked it like he had a vendetta. So simple, but paints such a picture!

[Polarbear777]

Backyard burgers and brats that were so dry that you needed a ton of ketchup and mustard just to chew it.

Pork chops super well done. I’ve only recently started enjoying pork chops again.

[HouseHomey]

Nopales. Cactus. My grandma would cut from the back yard. Every time I saw her grab the machete I would start crying. Steed tomatoes, corn and whatever leftovers we had that would bulk it up.

Ugh!!!! Disgusting. I hated stewed 🍅!

[synodog]

My grandma and/or grandpa would cook nopales with grandmas salsa and ground beef. It was actually good but my sisters wouldn’t eat it. The sliminess of the nopales was too much for them.

[HouseHomey]

synodog Yup. I hate vegetable to boot. Add that slime, with stewed tomato slime.... yuk. Mamas salsas were too hot for the kids. We had them a million ways all slimy and gross. Eventually nana toned down some of here salsas for us. Didn’t help the nasty nopales though.

[Steve B]

That explains a few things. 😂😂😂

[Troutman]

I guess I'm the odd ball here, my folks were great cooks in my opinion, they originally got me interested in food and cooking. Doesn't mean mom didn't ruin a meal or dad didn't occasionally torch a steak, but generally we had good food in our house.

On the pork steak comment, I've always had my butcher cut thick steaks from a pork butt and cook them in a very similar manner as you would pork ribs. Saw this video from Malcom Reed a long time ago and have used it ever since with great result. Try it !!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRXhFktgMGM

[Thunder77]

-1000 on liver! I would have to be starving to death, and liver would have to be the only thing keeping from death for me to eat it ever again.

[Murdy]

gcdmd My grandmother made a kidney stew, and she'd go through the whole soaking/changing water routine. I could barely stand to be in the same room. I never warmed up to that one.

Liver, on the other hand, I loved by the time I was a teenager (though I don't recall being crazy about it when I was younger). She also fried that with bacon and onion.

[Craigar]

Thanks for the reminder, I haven't had liver & onions in a number of years. I am probably one of the few people who like liver & onions.

[synodog]

Tuna casserole. I won’t eat tuna anything even 30 years later because of it.

[Woodson]

Yeah, lukewarm tuna with cheese and whatever doesn’t do it for me.

[Oak Smoke]

Mom was not a great cook. Her idea of roast beef was boiling one into submission then making gravy with the water. Her meat loaf is to this day the greasiest thing I ever tried to eat. The tuna casserole she made was the winner hands down. It smelled so bad I wouldn't go in the house when it was cooking and I wasn't about to eat it. To me it smelled like someone who hadn't bathed in months.

[synodog]

Oak Smoke, what a way to describe the smell. Yuck, I can smell it right now!

[Cheef]

My Mom and Dad would cook any type of meat until there were absolutely no juices left. Literally no juice is what they strove to achieve.
Opposite end was my grandparents who would eat raw beef as in tiger meat they called it. Freshly ground beef with caraway and hot sauce they made. served up on a home made rye cracker and a small glass of beer for us kids if we wanted it. Grandma was a rebel.

[N227GB]

Sounds like Grandma would like kibbeh. It's quite good, though these days I'd have to have it without the bulgar wheat (paleo).

[ofelles]

I don't remember my Stepdad ever cooking or BBQing anything. Canned veggies is all she ever cooked. To this day if you open a can of veggies 🤢 vomit. I had to stay at the table until I finished my veggies. Spent many an evening at the table alone. Meat was well done or more, "what idiot would eat raw meat, that's just stupid"
At least this allowed the bar to be set pretty low for the first wife to hone her skills. Which she did. She introduced me to frozen veggies thank god. Fresh were still a ways off.
Me, I cremated the meat also for a long time. I started to develop an interest in cooking around my late 30's and discovered there were recipes to follow. It took many years before I would try even medium on my steaks. I'm good with med rare now and know a good meal including veggies from not so good ones.
Fudge was the only thing my Mom made that was great. Never got her recipe and am still trying to perfect my fudge.