Confessions of a Cook off his Game

The last few days have been hard for me in the kitchen. While my victories have been more numerous than defeats, I must confess a few shortcomings. The thing that strikes me most is that my shortcomings have come when preparing the most basic of dishes. Earlier this week, I managed to screw up roast chicken. I blame the terrible uneven cooking of my oven, but I know better. I did something wrong. After hundreds of roasted chickens, I went awry somewhere. I just don't know where. My diners didn't know, either. The breast was perfectly brown and crisp on the outside (the skin) and moist and flavorful within. The thighs, however, were barely cooked on the outside and just steamed inside. Nowhere near done evenly. I was incredibly frustrated. I carved, roasted in pieces, and just dealt with it.
My mistake tonight was less my fault, but equally frustrating. I overcooked beef. I am notorious for my rare steaks. I absolutely loathe the gray toughness of overcooked red meat. It took me years to even accept braising as a technique because it requires one to raise the temperature of perfectly decent beef higher than 130 degrees. In all seriousness, however, I used my neighbor's gas grill and allowed a deliciously and meticulously seasoned flat iron steak to find its way from perfect to unpleasant in a short 3 minutes. Everything tasted fine, but the texture was all off and I was mortified that my dear friend and neighbor had to share my shortcomings.
There are numerous complicated personal reasons that my game may not quite be 100% right now, none of which do I intend to publish here. My point is -- even those of us who are experienced in the kitchen and have above average culinary confidence sometimes make mistakes. Nobody's perfect. Just brown your thighs, apologize for your tough steak, whip up a sauce, and eat! I started this post thinking it would be a good way to "woe is me" about a few kitchen missteps, but now I realize that part of being a good cook means you don't cook everything perfectly every time. What a relief.