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Similar to yours, I made a Thai Dungeness Crab in Green Curry. I started with a homemade curry paste. Then a whole crab is cleaned but legs left attached. Then the crab body and top shell are filled with a mixture of crab meat, a small amount of ground turkey (for binding) garlic, cilantro & other seasonings. The extra filling is made into meatballs. The filled crab is steamed and the meatballs are poached in a sauce made of curry paste and coconut milk. Then all is artfully arranged and sauced and served with jasmine rice. It came out great!

Mine was an entire German/Austrian meal for a group of 20 people. We had the works: wienerschnitzel (hand-pounded until thin), spaetzle, sauerkraut and red cabbage (both made from scratch). The whole production took foreeeeever. The pounding of the wienerschnitzel cutlets took forever and the last ones weren't very thin (I was so tired by that point!) and the red cabbage stained my kitchen counters pretty badly. But the meal was oh-so-delicious, so it more than made up for all the effort behind it. :)

Beef Wellington - the first time. It was too expensive a dish to practice, but I should have made the pate' and duxelle's ahead of time, at least. I'll say this about it - it sure didn't look as pretty as the photo in my cookbook (the puff pasty was way too thick and UGLY, but it tasted delicious. I didn't know you could buy puff pastry. Actually, maybe it wasn't available back then? I made a dish I had never tasted and never attempted - for a holiday I've made it many times, since, but learned to enjoy the effort.

I have since made more complicated dishes, but that one probably stressed me out the most. You always want to impress and make a memorable meal on a holiday, you know?

Cassoulet. I did not do the confit (fat content scared me off) but I did roast the duck and layer it in with the beans, lamb, pork, etc. It came out great and was well received. It's also definitely worth the time.

The second time I made Beef Wellington was hellish, becuase the crust was a nightmare to handle, and essentially a complete fiasco: I suddenly realised that I had no sifted flour, and had to make do with whole-meal, and the result was something I prefer to not recall (the words 'gritty' 'greasy' 'separated' and 'over-brittle' are involved).
The first time making croissants was challenging, because I had some doubts about the recipe, but was too impatient to look further. The wretched things collapsed on me during steaming, and I couldn't figure out if they had fallen, or if they simply looked flat because most of the butter had oozed out, so could not decide what to do. I stared at them for a few moments, then thought to poke one; it responded like risen dough, so I heated the oven, shoved them in, and tried to forget about them until the timer rang. They came out a bit flat, but not actual pancakes, and the textures were all correct. And the only other person to see them was not hypercritical, but enthusiastic about the whole fresh croissant concept.

I also have made fondant, praying that my using a recipe without corn syrup (I dislike the flavour), and my not having a candy thermometer or a marble slab would not end in frustrating granulation. First time was fine, second time I must have overcooked the sugar syrup--it seemed soft-ball--and was defeated in the 'beating briskly phase'. I'm quite strong, but this stuff was the consistency of fast-congealing wood glue, and I was reduced to a nearly nude (I worked up a serious sweat), weeping mess. I was very glad to be alone at that time.

I will definitely make these again, however (with the proper ingredients and equipment, that is).

I've made ravioli with meat stuffing a few times. It isn't actually that hard, there are just a lot of steps involved. (make the pasta and let it rest; saute the meat, grind it up, and let it cool; roll out the pasta into sheets; make the ravioli; cook the ravioli; saute the ravioli in butter and sage)

One dish that I've never had much luck with is paella. It isn't that complicated (or at least doesn't seem that complicated), but it's never turned out exactly right.

I've been known for making creme brule. I never used to cook anything else but I was always intrigued by the process of making creme brule, and let me tell you, it sure is complicated....

Hillary
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