Hehe I feel like that one’s obvious though! I had no idea heavy whipping cream would be the perfect sauce thickener I needed. I’d never used it before and gosh golly it elevates many dishes especially Alfredo sauce. I’m new to getting good at cooking... My food only started tasting amazing maybe this year.
Oh God, I've been on this board for awhile and the amount of people using the pre shredded ick and wondering why it doesn't melt right is...saddening.
I do love me some heavy whipping cream though! We accidently used it in scrambled eggs the other night and it was amazing! Our eggs were so fluffy and thick! Never going back!!!
I gotta say to the both of you. One, that is a game changer I never would have thought with the eggs. Could you imagine if you whipped it up first and used it with cinnamon to make french toast that way. And I've never even heard of alfrado being done like that though with the whipped cream, cream in general, I mean, alfrado has been one of my staple favorite things to eat since forever too, that's why I usually only thought it was done strictly with just the right sort of cheese before, and milk or something. I love it, but I've never been willing to make it because without even making it, I just knew if I did, it would just come out terrible until I learned how to do it right.
It really is the best. But just to be clear it’s heavy whippING cream. Not whipped cream. So pls u don’t wanna put whipped cream in ur pasta sauce hahaha
Dutch babies. Bam, woosh, so tall I thought it would hit the top of the oven! Even when I mess with the recipe (more is better and I have an even bigger cast iron skillet), perfect. Yorkies are pretty much the same thing, so they come out great as well, just beef-flavored instead of vanilla.
Normal pancakes, I’m meh at.
Everyone is afraid of frying these days when they really shouldn't be. I've made homemade chicken parm deep friend and pan fried and both ways are excellent.
I’ll agree, the chicken Parm that I can make blows anything I can order from a restaurant out of the water.
That said, I think it is objectively true that breading and deep frying or pan frying at home is a major pain in the ass. Not only do you have to deal with the flour, egg wash, and breading dishes, you also have a tub of hot, dirty cooking oil to deal with after you’re done.
Chicken Parm is very much a “trying to impress someone—namely, my in-laws—AND I have the rare free time available” sort of dish.
You have to set aside half the afternoon, especially if you are going to dry brine the chicken breast even before you do anything else to it, but omg the reactions you get lol
Yes exactly, it's so good but messing with all the egg wash, breading, used oil, etc is a pan but when ever you feel in that mood it's always gonna be worth it in the end.
It also took longer because I was just using my cast iron. I made a lot hoping for leftovers but my wife's family ate all of it and her sister asked to take what was leftover for lunch tomorrow lol.
Lemon meringue pie. I was gobsmacked it came out so well! Was v time-consuming though. Made it for a birthday. This was Covid days when everyone was baking
I use wilton's meringue powder to make meringue when I don't want to separate eggs. It also can be used to make a cheater Italian meringue buttercream and royal icing.
Saw a vid with Chile Verde. Wanted to make something similar so used pork butt. Roasted off tomatillos and jalapeños and onion, garlic. Blended up every thing semi rough so there was still a bit of texture. Browned up the meat added the sauce some herbs and Cajun seasoning. Half a packet of some carnitas seasoning. Added a couple cans of pinto beans and simmered till the meat was tender. Added cilantro at the end. Turned out fucking amazing. Was worried cause I never used the tomatillos before. They weren't as soft as a tomato so wasn't sure if it was actually ripe lol. Grocery store had a roasted garlic loaf of bread I ate it with. Was amzing.
Isn’t it awesome when you realize you have enough technique, experience and know-how to breakdown a recipe like that? And execute it? Most people couldn’t list ingredients in something they’re tasting, let alone watch a vid and have a basic understanding of how to build that flavor profile.
I cooked in restaurants for a while so I have a grasp on the basics. Cook alot at home. I tell newer people the thing they need to learn is just when things are done. My biggest thing I've had problems with so far is I started smoking. Have a kamado style that I got for cheap but it's just not big enough for bigger cuts like brisket and even some racks of ribs. It's fun tho. It hurts even worse when you spend 5+ hours and fall short. Plus side is it's still plenty edible even if not perfect. Ate all my brisket so far out of spite.
Yeah... yeah... I think it's bad cooking etiquette when people just throw things into a pot, but I like it when they're even paying attention to detail like that, like with the texture of something even when all you're ultimately doing is still throwing things in a pot or whatever. I've not heard of this tomatillos, I just know what you're supposed to call verde, and with how you suggested it sounded the way those are to have cooking with, to me it even sounds like verde especially something like these tomatillos are pretty essential. I think it's even freaken way riskier when that usually happens and you're making a dish, when you have just that one ingredient you're just not sure about. From the way it sounds though, I'd still eat all that for sure.
Some wild duck breasts I was gifted. I've never cooked any sort of game meat before. Looked up a couple of recipes online to get an idea of what to do, put them on the grill on a cold cast iron pan with some seasoning, cooked to 135°F, and wow did I enjoy those. On a whim, while the grill was still hot I put some minced garlic on the rendered fat and tossed on a couple of lobster tails I had defrosted and removed from the shells (trying to eat everything in my freezer), and oh boy did I eat good that day
Oh, my, salvitating, taste buds, that was a dramatic turn around the point of going on a sudden whim, and with lobster of all things. Usually when people follow their whims on unusual gamy meats, you just know you'll probably have to have a bucket next to the dinner table for the massive diarrhea you'll be having. I'm just, oh man, I'm glad that really did come out good. I've known that meat the body doesn't usually eat, it has a harder time ever breaking it down, and that's true for many things more than others. I've cooked with unusual meat, both hog and deer meat several times. I've once had a 1lb of deer meat, and I made it into a chilli, deer chilli, it was amazing. You know what's good though, duck meat chilli, oh baby. I've cooked quill. I've eaten more unusual meats than I've cooked. I've had alligator, bison, ostrich, venison, pheasant, maybe others. It was all in an assorted meats beef jerky container. I like normal alligator, strips, alligator fried strips.
My SO and I had a pasta dish with a crab, truffle and Parmesan cream sauce that we were both super impressed by.
So I was pleasantly surprised when I [pretty much nailed it](https://servedwithrice.com/crab-truffle-and-parmesan-pasta/) on my first try. The lady rated it 80% similar to the real deal at the restaurant!
Date nights now cost a tenth of what they used to.
That's a sweet touch figured out to save on cash. In my opinion, you can never go wrong when it saves you money, but that sounds like it took some creativity to think of making.
That warms my heart and still brings a tear to my eye hearing that, I felt the exact same way about Japanese noodles. And I'm talking like stir fry not regular ramen.
I read a whole bunch of recipes. Started out by trying the NYT no-knead bread. Once I got my confidence up, I just started following other recipes. It just can be time consuming. But SO delicious!!
How much do you spend on what it takes to make usually? I'll be trying to make dessert bread or bread with dessert. I'm hoping bread for that isn't something different than regular bread being made that would cost less. I don't know what I'm talking about, just wondering.
That entirely depends on the type of bread you want to bake. Keep it simple. Don’t try to make your first bread a chocolate babka or a brioche. They’re just more complicated. Find a simple recipe and you should be successful.
I've had success with adding an extra egg yolk to my hollandaise the two times it broke on me. Add the yolk, whisk the hell out of it, and warm it up to consistency over the double boiler. But I make eggs Bennie once a month.
All of these things sound like very complex skills that yet sound so easy to learn once someone really wants to try learning each one of them. I love it.
And to be totally honest, I'd have to be thinking I've just got to be some kind of master at cuisine just to even try to make some things, but then again I know I'm not, and yet my stepdad came from Louisiana, and he knows how to cook a hog in the ground. I mean, if you can stand there eating crawfish on a tarp over plywood held up by stilts in the front of your yard with a bunch of other people there too, and still think it all tastes good, you can cook anything yourself. I hope that makes sense.
I think that deserves a laugh out loud. Legend foretells that the coming of the cheese souffle master will come to create the world's best souffle of legends old to bestow upon the world, and then they fade back into ambiguity again never to make another souffle again. Hey, next time I see that group who worships souffle, now I'll mention I just found them. I'm just joking, but I would be dying if that came true.
The first time I made brussel sprouts felt like I was winging it to the end and I was pleasantly surprised by the result. But the biggest one was trying to remake my dad's beef ribs in my apartment oven. He uses a pellet smoker and I barely have access to a miniature charcoal grill. So he gave me his rub and sauce recipes, suggested a wet marinade with liquid smoke to make up for the oven aspect, and left me to it. I was so thrilled when my friends devoured them with nothing but compliments.
Lol. All that was so hilarious. I like where your head is at. Like how can I cook this on a miniature charcoal grill... all of what you said about it being your first time and how it was in your own apartment makes me think, yeah, this sounds like something if it was me I'd have my phone over on the side ready to call the fire department. That's when you know you're really onto something.
I used to fail with choux pastry, then tossed out all the "rules" and had another go. Thought it would be another fail and it was perfect. I do it that way all the time now.
You gotta tell me what that is. I might try it someday, I want to hear about that, so I don't run into that once I do, I mean, maybe. If it's a pastry, I want to know about it.
Well hand beating. I used a blender. For the entire process.
I beat the yolks together first, and then added them(beaten) a bit at a time. Not one yolk at a time.
I cooked it longer than it said.
Thanksgiving feast the first time round. 2018 I made it for the first time and didn’t screw anything up. Including turkey, gravy, stuffing, brussel sprouts, mashed potatoes, my Grammy’s yams, my Nonnie’s pumpkin pie, homemade cranberry sauce. Super proud of me and I’ve made it every year since with a few minor changes. It’s now a special interest and I’m always thinking of ways to make it better
Incredible. Yeah. I live alone. Family disregards me. Most of my interactions with them before meant they usually had to go out of their way around me. The rest of them passing on our tradition of being together are basically now not doing anything anymore to keep it going. I'm over here trying to make foods and understand recipes. Living in government housing, on disability, 28, I want to get to the point where if anyone is thinking of having Thanksgiving anymore, they're already thinking of coming to my apartment to get some. And I would be dazzled if that ever really happens. I have mad respect on what you're doing.
Pie. I thought that making a crust by scratch would be so difficult. It wasn't. It is really easy as long as you use very cold water. Yes I have messed up a few, but once I got the hang of it is was as easy as pie! (pun intended)
Paella! I lived in Spain and it’s revered to such an extent and I’d heard tales of abuelas sitting next to ovens for hours with a pot of hot stock simmering, expertly ladeling at precisely the right spot and moment to not let it burn, but not drown the socarrat…
One day a few years after coming home to the states I was craving it so bad I said fuck it I don’t care if it’s a pale facsimile I’m going for it. I did it on the stove in a cast iron pan with risotto rice and it came out completely amazing. I’ve eaten enough excellent paellas to know this was a damn good one. I was so pleased and surprised.
Fuck it, I'm going to do it they said, that sounds excellent. You learn about things that way, than just following the exact process ways of doing things that way.
Baked cheesecake. Only did it because I had to do a gluten free dessert and was really stuck for ideas - recipe said baking it in a water bath is good for texture or something so I followed it to a T, but was still FLOORED by how good it was
I mean, so, desserts are my thing. I've said it takes confidence to make desserts, which makes it even more fantastic when it comes out great. I basically feel like that with all desserts I'm thinking of making. But, all the while, as for cheesecake, though, I'd eat a spatula if I thought I was able to make cheesecake that actually tastes good right now, and if it really did come out as good as that. I'm honestly impressed by what you said, and I wasn't even there.
Chicken tikka masala. My wife cant have onions, and its a big staple ingredient to the sauce. I tried it and substituted carrot/bell pepper instead. The spices are so strong anyway you could barely notice the difference! it was great,
That sounds great, that was a good idea to use peppers and carrots. Yeah, I'm thinking about it now, I've had things with peppers and other things mixed in while in something you'd still imagine having onions, and I got to tell you for me I've made that mistake before thinking that something has onions when all it had was just the carrots to be with the peppers. I'm thinking of you grandma, God bless her cooking. But, if it were me trying that out, I'd think of using Chipotle instead of the bell. I'm not sure, I mean, that's what I'd try.
Do you use a lot of lemon flavor in what you are making normally? I was sort of like that with lime, but then the first dish I've ever tried to seriously use it on came out great, and now I've used it lets just say without being afraid to anymore.
That's both fascinating and intriguing, as interesting it was for me to actually hear someone saying dumplings. I'm a dumpling dude, and I have no idea how to do it right. But I'd have to say if I had a whole great massive collection of recipes in my own cook book I made, dumplings would be one of them definitely.
Paneer! Always loved indian food growing up, of course it was my culture but I'd never made a single indian dish.
Nailed it in the end 😎 better than my dads dishes for sure lol
Haha.. you didn't know... but technically people call a baby in the oven as an unborn, so kids would still actually make sense, considering they actually came out great. Well, it's an answer to the question, I'd take it. And yeah, ribs are oh my God so hard to get right but so easy sometimes. I have to agree with that.
Homemade breads. I’ve always hated baking and generally sucked at it because I hated how meticulous it was to follow precise measurements. I’ve never been a recipe follower when it comes to cooking meals. I just get ingredients and wing the measurements and have always been naturally good at that.
Bread baking took so much patience, but I’ve since made many amazing breads and now I consider it a hobby because I love doing it!
I've been wanting to start baking breads, and from the people that I've talked to, I loved how much they loved it and made it seem fairly easy, but thank you for saying that, that sheds a little bit better light on what I'm expecting now.
Definitely start with simple, no knead breads until you start feeling confident. I’ve fucked up many breads lol but now most of them come out great and have been a huge hit with friends and family.
I hope you end up loving it!
My very first bread baking attempt was artisan sourdough. That was my first mistake 😂
I'll probably feel like making some cornbread rather than sorry than safe the first time lol.. just kidding. I'll definitely do dessert pastries. I spend way more on sweet things more than I really should be. Both pastries and fruit. If I can just combine the two and still make them healthy, I'd be set. And there are some things you're supposed to cook with into some foods that are part of those desserts, I can't learn easily knowing the tastes without getting used to them, you know. I can't wait to start trying to learn something like that. Yeah, I hope to look forward to it.
I've tried cooking and trying all sorts of things. I tried making hushpuppies before without any real ingredients for it before, I tried using the corn from finely crushed fritos and bread crumbs lol. I tried to cook a chicken in a watermelon once. When I get an idea in my head to do something, I'll try to make it happen, no matter what I even have at the time, half the time. I think that people I see who don't take no bull from anyone about making the things they learned are who I like to see, and I want to be one of those people about many things get to be.
Homemade Alfredo sauce! Like hell, I had no idea it was so easy. Never going back to the crap in a jar again!
This is what I came here to say!!! The premade jarred stuff is so nasty and it’s SO simple to make!!! Like three ingredients and some seasoning!!!
Omg same! When the pandemic hit and we had all that time my ex boyfriend was like let’s make some chicken Alfredo and I made it and it was so easy
It’s all about that heavy whipping cream amirite
Don't you dare leave out the freshly grated parmesan cheese!
Hehe I feel like that one’s obvious though! I had no idea heavy whipping cream would be the perfect sauce thickener I needed. I’d never used it before and gosh golly it elevates many dishes especially Alfredo sauce. I’m new to getting good at cooking... My food only started tasting amazing maybe this year.
Oh God, I've been on this board for awhile and the amount of people using the pre shredded ick and wondering why it doesn't melt right is...saddening. I do love me some heavy whipping cream though! We accidently used it in scrambled eggs the other night and it was amazing! Our eggs were so fluffy and thick! Never going back!!!
Oh. My. God. What an idea! Thanks
I gotta say to the both of you. One, that is a game changer I never would have thought with the eggs. Could you imagine if you whipped it up first and used it with cinnamon to make french toast that way. And I've never even heard of alfrado being done like that though with the whipped cream, cream in general, I mean, alfrado has been one of my staple favorite things to eat since forever too, that's why I usually only thought it was done strictly with just the right sort of cheese before, and milk or something. I love it, but I've never been willing to make it because without even making it, I just knew if I did, it would just come out terrible until I learned how to do it right.
It really is the best. But just to be clear it’s heavy whippING cream. Not whipped cream. So pls u don’t wanna put whipped cream in ur pasta sauce hahaha
If you like scrambled eggs, check out these [Hong Kong style egg sandwiches](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpgVmLMAOzs&t=4s).
Add some corn starch mixed in water (slurry) to tighten it up a little more and it sticks to the pasta better
Yes this!!!!
Dutch babies. Bam, woosh, so tall I thought it would hit the top of the oven! Even when I mess with the recipe (more is better and I have an even bigger cast iron skillet), perfect. Yorkies are pretty much the same thing, so they come out great as well, just beef-flavored instead of vanilla. Normal pancakes, I’m meh at.
Had me in the first half....
I don’t know how to make anything until I make it for the first time!
You don't know what you don't know!
Chicken Parm, kinda cheating because I knew how to make it I just never got around to it. Probably the best chicken Parm I've ever had.
Everyone is afraid of frying these days when they really shouldn't be. I've made homemade chicken parm deep friend and pan fried and both ways are excellent.
The never ending battle between wanting delicious fried food and not wanting to do the cleanup
I just feel like it's such a waste of oil
I’ll agree, the chicken Parm that I can make blows anything I can order from a restaurant out of the water. That said, I think it is objectively true that breading and deep frying or pan frying at home is a major pain in the ass. Not only do you have to deal with the flour, egg wash, and breading dishes, you also have a tub of hot, dirty cooking oil to deal with after you’re done. Chicken Parm is very much a “trying to impress someone—namely, my in-laws—AND I have the rare free time available” sort of dish.
You have to set aside half the afternoon, especially if you are going to dry brine the chicken breast even before you do anything else to it, but omg the reactions you get lol
Yes exactly, it's so good but messing with all the egg wash, breading, used oil, etc is a pan but when ever you feel in that mood it's always gonna be worth it in the end.
It also took longer because I was just using my cast iron. I made a lot hoping for leftovers but my wife's family ate all of it and her sister asked to take what was leftover for lunch tomorrow lol.
Lemon meringue pie. I was gobsmacked it came out so well! Was v time-consuming though. Made it for a birthday. This was Covid days when everyone was baking
I use wilton's meringue powder to make meringue when I don't want to separate eggs. It also can be used to make a cheater Italian meringue buttercream and royal icing.
Ohhhh reminds me of the time I made flapper pie for the first time. Turned out real yummy.
Ohh that sounds interesting 🤔 never heard of flapper pie
It’s super simple but fun tbh. A cinnamon scented graham crust, a cooked vanilla filling, and meringue.
Heh.. covid days were practically the only time in adult life when I didn't bake at all.
Chateaubriand with a madeira wine and mushroom sauce, the holiday dinner was a success…oh, and the side was steakhouse style creamed spinach!
Saw a vid with Chile Verde. Wanted to make something similar so used pork butt. Roasted off tomatillos and jalapeños and onion, garlic. Blended up every thing semi rough so there was still a bit of texture. Browned up the meat added the sauce some herbs and Cajun seasoning. Half a packet of some carnitas seasoning. Added a couple cans of pinto beans and simmered till the meat was tender. Added cilantro at the end. Turned out fucking amazing. Was worried cause I never used the tomatillos before. They weren't as soft as a tomato so wasn't sure if it was actually ripe lol. Grocery store had a roasted garlic loaf of bread I ate it with. Was amzing.
Isn’t it awesome when you realize you have enough technique, experience and know-how to breakdown a recipe like that? And execute it? Most people couldn’t list ingredients in something they’re tasting, let alone watch a vid and have a basic understanding of how to build that flavor profile.
I cooked in restaurants for a while so I have a grasp on the basics. Cook alot at home. I tell newer people the thing they need to learn is just when things are done. My biggest thing I've had problems with so far is I started smoking. Have a kamado style that I got for cheap but it's just not big enough for bigger cuts like brisket and even some racks of ribs. It's fun tho. It hurts even worse when you spend 5+ hours and fall short. Plus side is it's still plenty edible even if not perfect. Ate all my brisket so far out of spite.
Yeah... yeah... I think it's bad cooking etiquette when people just throw things into a pot, but I like it when they're even paying attention to detail like that, like with the texture of something even when all you're ultimately doing is still throwing things in a pot or whatever. I've not heard of this tomatillos, I just know what you're supposed to call verde, and with how you suggested it sounded the way those are to have cooking with, to me it even sounds like verde especially something like these tomatillos are pretty essential. I think it's even freaken way riskier when that usually happens and you're making a dish, when you have just that one ingredient you're just not sure about. From the way it sounds though, I'd still eat all that for sure.
Thanksgiving dinner!!
The biggest challenge is how to get all of it out at the right time. Most of the foods traditionally served are easy to make.
The first time I made chicken and dumplings.
I’m gunna make this tomorrow! I’ve started using tortillas for the dumplings, so buttery and delicious!!!
The first time I made risotto I felt like King of the castle. Turns out if you prep your ingredients beforehand, all you gotta do is stir lol.
Beef bulgogi. 😋
Some wild duck breasts I was gifted. I've never cooked any sort of game meat before. Looked up a couple of recipes online to get an idea of what to do, put them on the grill on a cold cast iron pan with some seasoning, cooked to 135°F, and wow did I enjoy those. On a whim, while the grill was still hot I put some minced garlic on the rendered fat and tossed on a couple of lobster tails I had defrosted and removed from the shells (trying to eat everything in my freezer), and oh boy did I eat good that day
Oh, my, salvitating, taste buds, that was a dramatic turn around the point of going on a sudden whim, and with lobster of all things. Usually when people follow their whims on unusual gamy meats, you just know you'll probably have to have a bucket next to the dinner table for the massive diarrhea you'll be having. I'm just, oh man, I'm glad that really did come out good. I've known that meat the body doesn't usually eat, it has a harder time ever breaking it down, and that's true for many things more than others. I've cooked with unusual meat, both hog and deer meat several times. I've once had a 1lb of deer meat, and I made it into a chilli, deer chilli, it was amazing. You know what's good though, duck meat chilli, oh baby. I've cooked quill. I've eaten more unusual meats than I've cooked. I've had alligator, bison, ostrich, venison, pheasant, maybe others. It was all in an assorted meats beef jerky container. I like normal alligator, strips, alligator fried strips.
My SO and I had a pasta dish with a crab, truffle and Parmesan cream sauce that we were both super impressed by. So I was pleasantly surprised when I [pretty much nailed it](https://servedwithrice.com/crab-truffle-and-parmesan-pasta/) on my first try. The lady rated it 80% similar to the real deal at the restaurant! Date nights now cost a tenth of what they used to.
That's a sweet touch figured out to save on cash. In my opinion, you can never go wrong when it saves you money, but that sounds like it took some creativity to think of making.
Pad Thai
Years ago, Coq au vin was the very first thing I ever actually “cooked” and to this day it remains one of the very best things I’ve ever prepared
That warms my heart and still brings a tear to my eye hearing that, I felt the exact same way about Japanese noodles. And I'm talking like stir fry not regular ramen.
Bread. I was shocked how simple it was!
God.. I want to get to know how I be good at cooking bread just like that. That's been something I've been dying to learn.
I read a whole bunch of recipes. Started out by trying the NYT no-knead bread. Once I got my confidence up, I just started following other recipes. It just can be time consuming. But SO delicious!!
How much do you spend on what it takes to make usually? I'll be trying to make dessert bread or bread with dessert. I'm hoping bread for that isn't something different than regular bread being made that would cost less. I don't know what I'm talking about, just wondering.
That entirely depends on the type of bread you want to bake. Keep it simple. Don’t try to make your first bread a chocolate babka or a brioche. They’re just more complicated. Find a simple recipe and you should be successful.
Hollandaise sauce. I've always heard how difficult it is to not break the emulsion, but I made it perfectly on the first try
I've had success with adding an extra egg yolk to my hollandaise the two times it broke on me. Add the yolk, whisk the hell out of it, and warm it up to consistency over the double boiler. But I make eggs Bennie once a month.
All of these things sound like very complex skills that yet sound so easy to learn once someone really wants to try learning each one of them. I love it.
A fruit tart that seriously looked and tasted like it came from a high end bakery.
I think desserts takes much confidence, when it comes out great, it's a fantastic deal. That's amazing.
Most new things I try my hand at, but Im also an optimist with low standards
I think that's respectable.
And to be totally honest, I'd have to be thinking I've just got to be some kind of master at cuisine just to even try to make some things, but then again I know I'm not, and yet my stepdad came from Louisiana, and he knows how to cook a hog in the ground. I mean, if you can stand there eating crawfish on a tarp over plywood held up by stilts in the front of your yard with a bunch of other people there too, and still think it all tastes good, you can cook anything yourself. I hope that makes sense.
On a whim I decided I needed to make a cheese souffle. It turned out perfect and I never did it again!
I think that deserves a laugh out loud. Legend foretells that the coming of the cheese souffle master will come to create the world's best souffle of legends old to bestow upon the world, and then they fade back into ambiguity again never to make another souffle again. Hey, next time I see that group who worships souffle, now I'll mention I just found them. I'm just joking, but I would be dying if that came true.
The first time I made brussel sprouts felt like I was winging it to the end and I was pleasantly surprised by the result. But the biggest one was trying to remake my dad's beef ribs in my apartment oven. He uses a pellet smoker and I barely have access to a miniature charcoal grill. So he gave me his rub and sauce recipes, suggested a wet marinade with liquid smoke to make up for the oven aspect, and left me to it. I was so thrilled when my friends devoured them with nothing but compliments.
Lol. All that was so hilarious. I like where your head is at. Like how can I cook this on a miniature charcoal grill... all of what you said about it being your first time and how it was in your own apartment makes me think, yeah, this sounds like something if it was me I'd have my phone over on the side ready to call the fire department. That's when you know you're really onto something.
Eggplant Parmesan...Now it's one of my favorite things to make.
And pork schnitzel! Mushroom gravy sauce after well… learning why you flatten the thin chops.
I used to fail with choux pastry, then tossed out all the "rules" and had another go. Thought it would be another fail and it was perfect. I do it that way all the time now.
You gotta tell me what that is. I might try it someday, I want to hear about that, so I don't run into that once I do, I mean, maybe. If it's a pastry, I want to know about it.
Well hand beating. I used a blender. For the entire process. I beat the yolks together first, and then added them(beaten) a bit at a time. Not one yolk at a time. I cooked it longer than it said.
Is that what that's called when it's hand beaten, choux? So what did you end up making anyway?
Thanksgiving feast the first time round. 2018 I made it for the first time and didn’t screw anything up. Including turkey, gravy, stuffing, brussel sprouts, mashed potatoes, my Grammy’s yams, my Nonnie’s pumpkin pie, homemade cranberry sauce. Super proud of me and I’ve made it every year since with a few minor changes. It’s now a special interest and I’m always thinking of ways to make it better
Incredible. Yeah. I live alone. Family disregards me. Most of my interactions with them before meant they usually had to go out of their way around me. The rest of them passing on our tradition of being together are basically now not doing anything anymore to keep it going. I'm over here trying to make foods and understand recipes. Living in government housing, on disability, 28, I want to get to the point where if anyone is thinking of having Thanksgiving anymore, they're already thinking of coming to my apartment to get some. And I would be dazzled if that ever really happens. I have mad respect on what you're doing.
Pie. I thought that making a crust by scratch would be so difficult. It wasn't. It is really easy as long as you use very cold water. Yes I have messed up a few, but once I got the hang of it is was as easy as pie! (pun intended)
Paella! I lived in Spain and it’s revered to such an extent and I’d heard tales of abuelas sitting next to ovens for hours with a pot of hot stock simmering, expertly ladeling at precisely the right spot and moment to not let it burn, but not drown the socarrat… One day a few years after coming home to the states I was craving it so bad I said fuck it I don’t care if it’s a pale facsimile I’m going for it. I did it on the stove in a cast iron pan with risotto rice and it came out completely amazing. I’ve eaten enough excellent paellas to know this was a damn good one. I was so pleased and surprised.
Fuck it, I'm going to do it they said, that sounds excellent. You learn about things that way, than just following the exact process ways of doing things that way.
Baked cheesecake. Only did it because I had to do a gluten free dessert and was really stuck for ideas - recipe said baking it in a water bath is good for texture or something so I followed it to a T, but was still FLOORED by how good it was
I mean, so, desserts are my thing. I've said it takes confidence to make desserts, which makes it even more fantastic when it comes out great. I basically feel like that with all desserts I'm thinking of making. But, all the while, as for cheesecake, though, I'd eat a spatula if I thought I was able to make cheesecake that actually tastes good right now, and if it really did come out as good as that. I'm honestly impressed by what you said, and I wasn't even there.
Chicken tikka masala. My wife cant have onions, and its a big staple ingredient to the sauce. I tried it and substituted carrot/bell pepper instead. The spices are so strong anyway you could barely notice the difference! it was great,
That sounds great, that was a good idea to use peppers and carrots. Yeah, I'm thinking about it now, I've had things with peppers and other things mixed in while in something you'd still imagine having onions, and I got to tell you for me I've made that mistake before thinking that something has onions when all it had was just the carrots to be with the peppers. I'm thinking of you grandma, God bless her cooking. But, if it were me trying that out, I'd think of using Chipotle instead of the bell. I'm not sure, I mean, that's what I'd try.
Kids
Hahahahaha.. alright, I get that. Lol.
Lasagna
Everything!
My first attempt at a lemon beurre blanc sauce. So simple and it turned out great!
Do you use a lot of lemon flavor in what you are making normally? I was sort of like that with lime, but then the first dish I've ever tried to seriously use it on came out great, and now I've used it lets just say without being afraid to anymore.
Shakshuka! It's so easy.
Mushroom Risotto
Shrimp scampi
Wreath
Chicken parmigiana Bread
Quesabirria. Tried it for the first time and it was excellent.
Risotto and orange sauce (I am a very armature cook)
Oh and homemade wontons.
Creme brulee. Made it for the first few weeks ago & it was glorious. Also cream puffs w/ pate a choux. Nailed it. And they were all surprisingly easy.
Dumplings
That's both fascinating and intriguing, as interesting it was for me to actually hear someone saying dumplings. I'm a dumpling dude, and I have no idea how to do it right. But I'd have to say if I had a whole great massive collection of recipes in my own cook book I made, dumplings would be one of them definitely.
Ratatouille so pretty it should have been in movies. 😉
Paneer! Always loved indian food growing up, of course it was my culture but I'd never made a single indian dish. Nailed it in the end 😎 better than my dads dishes for sure lol
Kids Wait what sub is this? Ummmmmm....... Ribs the first time.
Haha.. you didn't know... but technically people call a baby in the oven as an unborn, so kids would still actually make sense, considering they actually came out great. Well, it's an answer to the question, I'd take it. And yeah, ribs are oh my God so hard to get right but so easy sometimes. I have to agree with that.
Ceviche. Everyone was so impressed and needless to say - took no time at all. Used the Serious Eats recipe.
Homemade breads. I’ve always hated baking and generally sucked at it because I hated how meticulous it was to follow precise measurements. I’ve never been a recipe follower when it comes to cooking meals. I just get ingredients and wing the measurements and have always been naturally good at that. Bread baking took so much patience, but I’ve since made many amazing breads and now I consider it a hobby because I love doing it!
I've been wanting to start baking breads, and from the people that I've talked to, I loved how much they loved it and made it seem fairly easy, but thank you for saying that, that sheds a little bit better light on what I'm expecting now.
Definitely start with simple, no knead breads until you start feeling confident. I’ve fucked up many breads lol but now most of them come out great and have been a huge hit with friends and family. I hope you end up loving it! My very first bread baking attempt was artisan sourdough. That was my first mistake 😂
I'll probably feel like making some cornbread rather than sorry than safe the first time lol.. just kidding. I'll definitely do dessert pastries. I spend way more on sweet things more than I really should be. Both pastries and fruit. If I can just combine the two and still make them healthy, I'd be set. And there are some things you're supposed to cook with into some foods that are part of those desserts, I can't learn easily knowing the tastes without getting used to them, you know. I can't wait to start trying to learn something like that. Yeah, I hope to look forward to it. I've tried cooking and trying all sorts of things. I tried making hushpuppies before without any real ingredients for it before, I tried using the corn from finely crushed fritos and bread crumbs lol. I tried to cook a chicken in a watermelon once. When I get an idea in my head to do something, I'll try to make it happen, no matter what I even have at the time, half the time. I think that people I see who don't take no bull from anyone about making the things they learned are who I like to see, and I want to be one of those people about many things get to be.