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Pioneer Woman
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One per thread. I already used it. Sorry. :flowerforyou:
So, what was the most aggressively time-consuming, arcane, or complicated recipe/dish or meal you ever cooked, and why? Was it worth it?1 -
One per thread. I already used it. Sorry. :flowerforyou:
So, what was the most aggressively time-consuming, arcane, or complicated recipe/dish or meal you ever cooked, and why? Was it worth it?
Not me, but my husband once made something similar to this:
https://www.bbc.com/food/recipes/raised_chicken_and_ham_63537
If you watch GBBO, you've seen them make these. They are an absolute pain, and I have no idea why he wanted to do it.
For myself, I once spent hours on homemade croissants, only to have all the butter run out in baking. That was depressing
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Not me, but my husband once made something similar to this:
https://www.bbc.com/food/recipes/raised_chicken_and_ham_63537
If you watch GBBO, you've seen them make these. They are an absolute pain, and I have no idea why he wanted to do it.
For myself, I once spent hours on homemade croissants, only to have all the butter run out in baking. That was depressing
Oooo, the chicken/ham thingie: that's beautiful. Was it good?
Sorry about the croissants: That is disappointing.
When it comes to pastry, I'm drawing the line at pie crust and choux pastry. (I actively like making the latter, especially now that so few folks bake: People are surprised at homemade eclairs or creampuffs, and I don't have to tell them how freakin' easy they are.
).
Beyond that, frozen commercial filo and puff pastry will have to do. (I know, it's an abomination. ).
I've only watched a few episodes of GBBO. It was fun, but I lack patience for watching pretty much any TV anymore, I'm sorry to admit. (I'm not claiming that as any kind of virtue, BTW . . . I kind of think my attention span is getting shorter as I age, or something.)0 -
Oooo, the chicken/ham thingie: that's beautiful. Was it good?
Sorry about the croissants: That is disappointing.
When it comes to pastry, I'm drawing the line at pie crust and choux pastry. (I actively like making the latter, especially now that so few folks bake: People are surprised at homemade eclairs or creampuffs, and I don't have to tell them how freakin' easy they are. ).
Beyond that, frozen commercial filo and puff pastry will have to do. (I know, it's an abomination. ).
I've only watched a few episodes of GBBO. It was fun, but I lack patience for watching pretty much any TV anymore, I'm sorry to admit. (I'm not claiming that as any kind of virtue, BTW . . . I kind of think my attention span is getting shorter as I age, or something.)
It was fine. Not worth the effort, in my opinion, but hey - he wanted to do it!
I think I know where I went wrong on the croissants, after watching a lot more videos and techniques (yes, I enjoy watching other people cook on TV
) I don't think I'll be trying it again, though, or at least not until I'm retired and looking for ways to fill my time.
I can't make a decent pie dough to save my life. Choux pastry is fun! Filo dough? Not a chance, lol.1 -
Me too, and don't do anything special. Mostly goat loin chops, however, where the main concern is drying them out. I usually just roast similar to rack of lamb, but am aware that there's less fat so they cook fast.
Here's an option involving a shorter amount of marinating: https://www.splendidtable.org/recipes/grilled-goat-chops-with-garlic-oregano-and-lemon
I was aware of the nature of the recipes before buying (I have 3 of her books, bought at different times, and bought the first based on a review). It was a feature not a bug. Partly because I love reading books about the traditional cooking of various areas with beautiful photos, whether I make them or not, and partly because I have aspirational ideas about someday doing it. And partly because I get inspired and do some half-a*sed US knock off. (Although I have great ethnic groceries in my city (Chicago), so could try to do it right, I'm just lazy.)
My thing is I hate cooking from recipes. Once I realized that I became a much better cook. I read recipes to learn about cooking and try things from them, but I cook without them (which is why I prefer cooking to baking, where recipes are more important unless you understand the ratios and science better than I do).
Yeah I have one or two cookbooks like that. I like them both, the more frustrating one is the German bread baking cookbook because it's an issue with the availability with different types of flour. It's a beautiful book and I enjoy thumbing through it, but I won't be making much use of it until I live in Germany again.1 -
It was fine. Not worth the effort, in my opinion, but hey - he wanted to do it!
I think I know where I went wrong on the croissants, after watching a lot more videos and techniques (yes, I enjoy watching other people cook on TV ) I don't think I'll be trying it again, though, or at least not until I'm retired and looking for ways to fill my time.
I can't make a decent pie dough to save my life. Choux pastry is fun! Filo dough? Not a chance, lol.
Here's the thing with filo: The frozen sheets are fine, IMO. Yes, it's a little fussy. I pretty much never do sweets, because that would mean brushing butter on every sheet, which is tedious. However, for savories, a simplifying idea is to use a mister (or commercial spray) to spray olive oil on each sheet. You still have to avoid their drying out while you work (plastic sheet from the carton, plus slightly damp dish towel over the to-be-used stack), and it's still messy (overspray: spread a cloth!). But it's much quicker/easier, IMO.
Once in a while for a potluck (so I don't eat the whole <bleep> thing quickly all by myself), I like to make a filo cheese pie in a baking-size rectangular dish, using this method. Buncha sprayed filo sheets, fillng, more sprayed filo sheets, bake to crispy golden. In my world, the cheese filling must contain minced fresh rosemary, as well as the usual cheese/egg/garlic/onion kind of stuff. So rich, fragrant, delicious!2 -
One per thread. I already used it. Sorry. :flowerforyou:
So, what was the most aggressively time-consuming, arcane, or complicated recipe/dish or meal you ever cooked, and why? Was it worth it?
Making ramen from scratch is probably the most time-consuming if only because it takes days and involves so many steps. It's not that it was hard, it was just a lot - and that's without making the noodles from scratch...
Making strudel dough successfully is probably the hardest thing that I've done, in part because I didn't grow up doing it and it requires more patience than say, macarons which are also hard for me but in a very different way.1 -
Making ramen from scratch is probably the most time-consuming if only because it takes days and involves so many steps. It's not that it was hard, it was just a lot - and that's without making the noodles from scratch...
Making strudel dough successfully is probably the hardest thing that I've done, in part because I didn't grow up doing it and it requires more patience than say, macarons which are also hard for me but in a very different way.
Ooo, those all sound interesting! I've not done much nuanced exploration in Asian food (just Indian).
Are the homemade macarons extra good? Any bakery ones I've had so far (limited) were not that thrilling. Sturdel, though . . . !
I have made regular pasta, including ravioli, from scratch. Good, but unlikely to repeat. 0 -
Here's the thing with filo: The frozen sheets are fine, IMO. Yes, it's a little fussy. I pretty much never do sweets, because that would mean brushing butter on every sheet, which is tedious. However, for savories, a simplifying idea is to use a mister (or commercial spray) to spray olive oil on each sheet. You still have to avoid their drying out while you work (plastic sheet from the carton, plus slightly damp dish towel over the to-be-used stack), and it's still messy (overspray: spread a cloth!). But it's much quicker/easier, IMO.
Once in a while for a potluck (so I don't eat the whole <bleep> thing quickly all by myself), I like to make a filo cheese pie in a baking-size rectangular dish, using this method. Buncha sprayed filo sheets, fillng, more sprayed filo sheets, bake to crispy golden. In my world, the cheese filling must contain minced fresh rosemary, as well as the usual cheese/egg/garlic/onion kind of stuff. So rich, fragrant, delicious!
In my world, frozen filo and frozen puff pastry are 100% acceptable. I've seen what making filo involves, and that will never happen in my kitchen. My husband also has this weird aversion to any recipe with filo. I think he was force-fed some bad baklava as a child or something Your cheese pie sounds amazing, though! I might have to try something similar out on him to undo the former trauma. 1 -
I made croissants years ago, and they turned out a little too well- I plowed through 5 or 6 of them at one sitting, if memory serves. I made a 7-strand braided challah a few years back that strained the limits of my hand-eye coordination. It was beautiful, but my usual 4-strand loaves are almost as pretty and taste just the same.3
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I do plan on making PW's mac and cheese, but meanwhile came across this recipe https://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2018/10/01/cauliflower-mac-and-cheese-recipe/ and also had cauliflower in the frig, so decided to make it. I had good luck with another recipe recently that seemed to be replacing some rice with cabbage. While I would never replace all of a starch with cabbage or cauli, I love the idea of reducing calories by replacing some of the starch.
I compared this 'Cauliflower Mac And Cheese' to my JOC 'Mac and Cheese' and the former seems to be replacing 1 C / 8 oz/ 841 calories of macaroni with 2.5 C / 63 calories cauliflower. And it worked really well - even my OH, who was not a fan of cauliflower, liked it and went back for seconds.
Now to see if this thread gets bumped and if anyone notices my post
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I like your post. Only reason I knew about it is that I subscribed to notifications on this thread.
I also like to substitute half of the pasta/starches with vegetables. It works!1 -
I subscribe too, and an always up for a new mac and cheese recipe! This looks intriguing, but I have a new ATK one (full fat
) lined up to try next. 0 -
I like roasted/mashed winter squash in mac'n'cheese, too, but that's not so much a pasta sub as an added sauce/cheese yummifier. But not everyone loves winter squash.
No recipe, though: Never use one for mac'n'cheese - mostly only for things with "structural ingredients", such as baked goods.0 -
In my world, frozen filo and frozen puff pastry are 100% acceptable. I've seen what making filo involves, and that will never happen in my kitchen. My husband also has this weird aversion to any recipe with filo. I think he was force-fed some bad baklava as a child or something Your cheese pie sounds amazing, though! I might have to try something similar out on him to undo the former trauma.
Frozen filo is totally acceptable! I have the time, resources, and curiosity to make it myself though. I've only done it two or three times, and it's totally worth it for the process. Flavor wise, if you can get good filo then it tastes the same, but the satisfaction you get is totally worth it.
Homemade puff pastry actually does taste better in my opinion. It's tedious, but technically not especially difficult for me.
Depending on what I'm making and how much time I have, I cook very much for the process just as much as I do for the product. There are things I'm not willing to make and would rather buy (Thai and Japanese curry paste for instance), but I enjoy making things that seem either complicated or that I find difficult.3 -
Ooo, those all sound interesting! I've not done much nuanced exploration in Asian food (just Indian).
Are the homemade macarons extra good? Any bakery ones I've had so far (limited) were not that thrilling. Sturdel, though . . . !
I have made regular pasta, including ravioli, from scratch. Good, but unlikely to repeat.
The ramen was really good and totally worth it. The macarons were worth it but I a. really like macarons and b. am very determined to be able to consistently make good macarons. It's also a lot cheaper to make them than it is to buy them. I've made pasta from scratch too, but until I buy a pasta maker, I have no real desire to do it again. I did used to make a large batches of gnocchi a few times a year, in part because they freeze really well.2 -
spinnerdell wrote: »I made croissants years ago, and they turned out a little too well- I plowed through 5 or 6 of them at one sitting, if memory serves. I made a 7-strand braided challah a few years back that strained the limits of my hand-eye coordination. It was beautiful, but my usual 4-strand loaves are almost as pretty and taste just the same.
Seven-strand challah would seriously test my hand-eye coordination. Six strand is hard enough...1 -
The ramen was really good and totally worth it. The macarons were worth it but I a. really like macarons and b. am very determined to be able to consistently make good macarons. It's also a lot cheaper to make them than it is to buy them. I've made pasta from scratch too, but until I buy a pasta maker, I have no real desire to do it again. I did used to make a large batches of gnocchi a few times a year, in part because they freeze really well.
@aokoye do you freeze before or after cooking?
I made potato gnocchi once. I believe it was a recipe from ATK. It was quite good, but I must have experienced it as a lot of work, as I have not been tempted to make it again.
I no longer have a subscription to ATK, but I do use Mom's NYT's subscription, and just found Mark Bittman's Ricotta Gnocchi recipe: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1013318-ricotta-cheese-gnocchi
Normally I find his recipes more simple than I like, but this one might be perfect.2 -
kshama2001 wrote: »
@aokoye do you freeze before or after cooking?
I made potato gnocchi once. I believe it was a recipe from ATK. It was quite good, but I must have experienced it as a lot of work, as I have not been tempted to make it again.
I no longer have a subscription to ATK, but I do use Mom's NYT's subscription, and just found Mark Bittman's Ricotta Gnocchi recipe: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1013318-ricotta-cheese-gnocchi
Normally I find his recipes more simple than I like, but this one might be perfect.
@kshama2001 I freeze before cooking and cook from frozen. I'll freeze them on trays lined with parchment paper and then dump them into a ziplock bag once they're frozen (though I suspect a silpat would prevent the occasional sticking gnocchi). I've made gnocchi so often that I don't time them when I'm cooking, rather I just take them out when they start to float. I typically use the recipe from this Epicurious/Bon Appetit recipe.1 -
@kshama2001 I freeze before cooking and cook from frozen. I'll freeze them on trays lined with parchment paper and then dump them into a ziplock bag once they're frozen (though I suspect a silpat would prevent the occasional sticking gnocchi). I've made gnocchi so often that I don't time them when I'm cooking, rather I just take them out when they start to float. I typically use the recipe from this Epicurious/Bon Appetit recipe.
Thanks!0
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