PrintI never knew ____ could be so complicated!
What easily-prepared-by others-dish or food always fails for you? Here's my story.... baked custard...simple, elegant, classic...easy. I cannot make it resemble the creamy, comforting memory of the little pyrex cupfuls eaten during childhood. What's a culinary struggle for you? Baking..? Grilling...? Picking out a good tasting...?
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
Start Talking!
Need a question answered? Have advice to share? Start a Talk topic now!
Sign up to get your questions answered and share advice.
Recently Commented On in Talk
Sponsored Link
Recipe
Mango Bean Salad
Fresh fruit and hearty beans make a refreshing side for our Morningstar
Farms® Southwestern Style Veggie Cakes.
Get this recipe »
53 Comments:
poaching eggs.. no matter what techniques i try.. vinegar, whirlpool, etc. it never comes out in a nice solid mass like you see, well, on TV!!!
goodbyeohio at 9:39PM on 03/08/08
Omlettes. Your dog wouldn't eat my omlette.
Susquehanna at 9:08AM on 03/09/08
I'm with you, Goodbye Ohio...cannot poach an egg to save my life. One Sunday I plan to do nothing but go through 2 dozen eggs trying to achieve perfection. Still haven't tried that Julia Child technique...maybe that'll work.
bessfour at 11:08AM on 03/09/08
Cooking rice.
For now, I've generally outsourced it to Sanyo.
renzata at 11:45AM on 03/09/08
argh, i simply cannot get pasta alla carbonara to look like anything beyond pasta tossed with scrambled eggs. driving me nuts!
cafepeach at 11:45AM on 03/09/08
Well, until a few days ago, I'd have said piecrust. But it looks like that one MIGHT be finally licked. We'll see!
I'm with Susquehanna... I too would like to master the perfect French omelet. I want it to be just like the ones I've eaten in Paris. Although mine are always edible, and I do sometimes actually achieve the (mostly) desired results, I'm inconsistent at best. But, then again, I've never spent an entire weekend doing dozens of eggs, so...
Here's a wonderful article by Francis Lam called Chasing Perfection that ran in the March issue of Gourmet. The whole story revolves around the writer's obsession with perfecting the humble omelet. It's insightful and amusing, and ties right in to this subject of wanting to master a cooking skill. It really spoke to me.
Please keep practicing on those poached eggs. I went through many failed techniques myself before it finally clicked. The one thing that is absolutely essential to success is fresh eggs. If you can get those, the method that works for me 99% of the time is (1) large non-stick skillet filled with water (2) a tablespoon of vinegar and a teaspoon of salt in the water (3) water at a bare simmer and perfectly still (4) eggs cracked into a shallow dish and carefully tipped into the water to avoid setting the water in motion. You'll have a little bit of floaters -- it's inevitable due to the runnier part of the white. Leave alone 3-5 minutes (this is where you have to get a feel for it). Any unappetizing threads can be easily removed before serving.
LoCo at 3:50PM on 03/09/08
cafepeach, the last time i made pasta alla carbonara, i tossed in a handful of chopped flat parsley right at the end. not traditional, but it looked great and i loved the fresh green dimension it added.
cybercita at 4:29PM on 03/09/08
I'm terrified of pie crust.
MargieinDallas at 5:39PM on 03/09/08
@LoCo---thanks for the link to the Francis Lam article--perfect timing:)
@ MargienDallas---lol--love how you used the word "terrfied"---so true for many of us!
I've beat this one in the ground...but..yeast-dough challenged, that's me.
My mashed potato prep is a little iffy, too:(
JEP at 6:58PM on 03/09/08
I'll likely fail at cooking dishes that I cannot spell. I left an "e" in omelette/omelet above. Yikes. I'm a painfully average speller . . . .
Susquehanna at 8:23PM on 03/09/08
Read the article in Gourmet by Francis Lam last week. It was extremely entertaining. So entertaining, in fact, I went out and bought 2 dozen farm fresh eggs. Not one perfect omelet has come out of my pan, but we are eating a lot of eggs at our house. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of hungover friends to feed the bad omelets to.
@JEP - My mashed potatoes have been so much better since I started warming the cream and butter before incorporating into the potatoes. Do you dry your potatoes out well before mashing?
frederika at 10:28PM on 03/09/08
This is embarrassing but... I make terrible coffee. Really bad. My husband usually takes pity on me and makes it on the weekends -- and he doesn't even drink coffee!
For the pie crust folks -- I hear you! I was always frustrated with pie crusts until I stopped using my food processor. Ever since I started using a pastry cutter for the butter, I've had no more problems. I also add an egg yolk in place of one tablespoon of the ice water. It works!
CookiePie at 11:31PM on 03/09/08
I couldn't make good rice if my life depended on it. It either comes out hard, too soupy or totally burnt on the bottom. Also, does anyone remember the episode of Top Chef where they talked about how you can tell how good of a cook someone is based on their scrambled eggs? I SO don't think that's a fair assessment! Making perfect scrambled eggs is much harder than people make it seem.
PumpkinBear at 12:25AM on 03/10/08
@Susquehanna--LOL about you "e" word!
@frederika--ya know, I feel like I've tipped-toed around with every mashed potato method. I've now come to giving up the "responsiblity of making the mashed potatoes" to whoever might guest might be for that occasion!
Gravy challenged anyone?
JEP at 5:19AM on 03/10/08
GGRRRAAAYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am afraid! So totally AFRAID! My brown gravy was so bad years ago, I have not even attempted to make it.
crazyspice at 9:50AM on 03/10/08
I CANNOT make gravy!!!!! I try and try and try and try and I have complained here before about it...it's always too thin, too thick (lumpy) or the flavor is off.
I also have issues with picking good fruit. I think the answer comes down to no longer buying produce at grocery stores. I don't have the same issues at farmer's markets. Grocery store produce always "looks" ripe, but certainly doesn't taste or smell ripe!
radley24 at 10:28AM on 03/10/08
Man oh man. I struggled with gravy (and other roux-based sauces) for such a long time. Lumps were my biggest problem. But now I'm the Queen of Gravy. I wish I could teach you in person. The things that I've found to be most critical for gravy success...
(1) using the right amount of fat
(2) cooking the roux long enough
(3) removing the roux from the heat and letting it rest about five minutes before adding HOT liquid and whisking (don't return to heat until roux and liquid are fully incorporated)
Also, if it's a brown gravy, you need good dark drippings or fond, and you need dark stock (I usually reduce mine to make it really meaty tasting).
LoCo at 12:40PM on 03/10/08
Gravy for me too. It looks so simple on TV and yet I can never get it to come out right. So I blame my electric stove.
RichardCrystal at 1:10PM on 03/10/08
MOLE SAUCE !!!
and since i am NEVER making it again i am having a contest for the leftover chil's etc... PHEW!!!
http://www.cookeatfret.com/mexican/2008/03/05/mole-negro-oaxaqueno-and-pssst-a-contest/
cook eat FRET at 1:26PM on 03/10/08
I struggle with making a stir fry. I end up making a mess and it looks nothing like what I order in a restaurant. Probably need to learn to plate my foods better. I'm a bad plater!
Jane M at 2:35PM on 03/10/08
Boiled water! But not anymore, thanks to the rigorous writers at Cook's Illustrated:
"Like many people, I enjoy the moist aroma and sinus-soothing vapors from a pot of boiling water. But it is often difficult to get a roiling boil just the way you remember it as a child. In my quest to perfect boiled water I began by collecting a dozen different recipes ranging from family hand-me-downs to restaurant standbys. But none of these recipes produced a water boil precisely as I remember it."
beagle72 at 2:41PM on 03/10/08
@beagle72........thanks for the link. I added it to my favorites and can't wait to read more. Hilarious!!!
PerkyMac at 2:47PM on 03/10/08
for me it's ganache.... so simple it's supposed to be... melt chocolate into cream... but my breaks every time! Argh.... I went through 3 pounds of Sharffen Berger's chocolate trying to make ganache for a friends babyshower once... I wanted to scream, and I'm pretty sure there were a few choice swear words thrown in.
Alm25 at 3:28PM on 03/10/08
For years, my foodie Achilles' heel was pancakes. They were tough, I couldn't flip them to save my life, and I refused to make them because I was embarrassed that something so simple foiled me every time. I can make them these days, but I still can't get them quite right.
The other thing that continues to plague me is alfredo sauce. Butter. Cream. Parmesan. Heart attack on pasta. It should be so easy, but no matter how I make it, I always end up with a congealed, lumpy mess. After the last attempt three years ago, I just gave up and starting making mock-fredo instead. Some things, I'm convinced, are not meant to be.
jenilowrance at 4:16PM on 03/10/08
@beagle72:::::::::::: A big guffaw from PA
@LoCo::::::::::::: Why don't you do a YouTube video for the rest of us gravy flunkees?
crazyspice at 4:37PM on 03/10/08
For me, it's waffles. They always come out soggy, no matter what recipe I use. I think I need to invest in a new (better) waffle maker to help ME be a better waffle maker!
MelsDiner at 7:37PM on 03/10/08
Thanks to all of the SE community that have commented on this thread...it's been fun to read:)
@MelsDiner---SE community buddie LunaPierCook recommended the Waring Professional Pro Belgian waffle maker back in Oct. when I wanted to buy one for my daughter---maybe it would work for you!
Waffles...come to think of it, pancakes can be tempermental, too
JEP at 8:25PM on 03/10/08
Thanks, JEP! I will keep that recommendation in mind. When it comes to waffle time around here, my husband says "L'eggo my Eggo" rather than partake of my homemade waffles. Aargh.
MelsDiner at 8:44PM on 03/10/08
@beagle72--thanks for the link...it reminded me of that Epicurious recipe for "salted water" that had over 700 reviews & was one of their most popular recipes! Now we're talking the basics--ha!
JEP at 8:52PM on 03/10/08
I'm terrible at getting my meats just right. Its always too rare or too done, never the perfectly even medium rare. Even with a thermometer I can't get it right!
ag3208 at 10:18PM on 03/10/08
For me it is rice - it seems so simple, but I always seem to end up with overly dry rice or it is underdone. Good thing I have a rice cooker now - it makes perfect rice every time!
jazspin at 10:31PM on 03/10/08
Stovetop rice. I get perfectly consistent results: consistently mushy or consistently burnt. The rice cooker is my friend.
On the other hand, I make great risotto.
thebasilqueen at 10:35PM on 03/10/08
crazyspice wrote:
Hahahahahahaha... I'm camera shy... but I'll think about it! ;-)
LoCo at 4:03PM on 03/11/08
Biscuits. Not dinner rolls, but southern biscuits. I had a friend's MIL (Connecticut born & raised) tell me "Oh, you mean dinner rolls." Uh, no.
I'm starting to get there, but still have a ways to go. I've read, watched, and mimicked all the great biscuit makers on-line, on-TV, in-print, and even in-person (husband's grandmother AND mother--that was fun, NOT!). First, I make a wet mess, with flour all over the place, and big fat dough coated fingers and then I put what little dough remains onto a baking sheet and finally I have three or four edible pucks of dough--if we eat them fast enough or with enough sausage gravy it almost reminds me of biscuits, LOL!!! Thank God, I know how to make good sausage gravy! Or curses, because that sausage gravy is the only reason I try to make biscuits!
wookie at 5:21PM on 03/11/08
Frosting a cake. It doesn't matter what I do, or what fancy tools I use, or even if I just grab a spatula and smear - every cake I touch looks like a big, lumpy monster from Mars.
I have problems with the appearance of most of the foods I make - it all tastes good, at least, but I just seem to lack that artistic touch!
RickieBeth at 7:07PM on 03/11/08
uh,.... head cheese.... not the kind from pigs though.... I've never been able to make a truly gelatinous head cheese from hamsters.... A LITTLE HELP OVER HERE!
Pavlov at 7:07PM on 03/11/08
@ rickieBeth... Try using a crumb coat of icing before the final coat. Also, get an offset spatula for the icing.
Pavlov at 7:20PM on 03/11/08
Life. Not the cereal, either.
BaHa at 8:39PM on 03/11/08
Yeah! I can relate to the pancake thing. I can make good batter- I can plop them on the griddle and they look perfect - but when I try to flip them -eeeeeck! I can't seem to do it without flopping one on top of the edges of another one. They look like figure eights, Abe Lincoln's head, the state of Rhode Island....... crazy.
@wookie - Check out Shirley O. Corriher's "Touch of Grace Biscuits" in Cookwise. They are like lovely, fluffy clouds from heaven. They're my hubby's favorites. After you do the recipe a couple of times, you really get the hang of it.
frederika at 8:50PM on 03/11/08
@jenilowrance: I'm pretty sure that's because of the cheese available in this country. Maybe it's a myth, but someone once told me that the all the requirements and so on for cheese in the country result in alfredo that is rubbery rather than creamy and amazing. So it might have nothing at all to do with your skill, and everything to do with the fact that the USDA or the FDA or someone else equally evil had say over what kind of cheese you can get your hands on.
lovesomething at 1:02AM on 03/12/08
@frederika--thanks for the tip! I have not used much of Corriher's recipes, but I have seen great reviews of Cookwise, so I'm encouraged. Hopefully we will be enjoying biscuits and gravy this weekend. If the biscuits do not turn out well, I will fight the urge to throw them b/c I don't want to damage the drywall or my husband or my dog or any innocent bystanders. If they turn out well, I will make biscuits everyday for a week, just to make sure it wasn't a fluke...
OMG--I just realized that I have not seen White Lily flour since I moved here (Indianapolis)! I must be mistaken...surely, I've merely overlooked it because biscuits are so traumatizing. yes, I'm sure that's it.
wookie at 1:04AM on 03/12/08
Before clicking on that link from beagle72's "boiled water" post, I thought for a split second that was an actual article. Yes, I am gullible! Man, that was funny. Thanks beagle!
radley24 at 11:36AM on 03/12/08
Foccacia. I can do a lot of yeast dough recipes, just haven't gotten a handle on foccacia.
SayWhat at 7:27PM on 03/12/08
@ Pavlov - thanks for the tip, but I've done both those things already! The crumb coat does keep the crumbs out of the frosting, but it certainly doesn't make it any prettier. And I have an offset spatula -- two, in fact, in different sizes. I'm just decorating impaired or something. I could never color inside the lines either, for that matter!
RickieBeth at 8:27PM on 03/12/08
Cooking popcorn! ::holds head in shame::
I have a tendency to burn it...and I'm talking about the bagged kind :(
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 11:28AM on 03/14/08
Baking bread
heartnibbler at 10:07AM on 03/15/08
I'm with Wookie, good Southern Buttermilk Biscuits. You'd think someone who goes by Breadchick and writes a blog pretty much devoted to breads of all types could master these but something happens when I make them. No matter the recipe, how little or much I handle the dough, mine turn out to be hockey pucks...
breadchick at 10:45AM on 03/15/08
@ Chew....I always burn the Jiffy Pop. >:(
crazyspice at 11:39AM on 03/15/08
@BaHa.......Good one!
crazyspice at 11:42AM on 03/15/08
@heartnibbler have you tried the no knead bread? NY Times Recipe
It's supposedly changed alot of people's lives. o.o
cafepeach at 9:56PM on 03/16/08
I second Baha...
radley24 at 10:17PM on 03/16/08
Right now, it's also any yeast bread. I can make a quick bread fine, but I am just finally getting over my fear of baking with yeast.
blondiebrownie at 10:54PM on 03/16/08
@wookie - I haven't been able to find White Lily flour in MI (Ann Arbor) either and we have a lot of gourmet markets! I'm thinking I may have to order online. Cake flour can be substituted or Arrowhead Mills makes a white pastry flour which is suitable, as well.
frederika at 11:17PM on 03/16/08