PrintI'd like to give myself a personal culinary reward for _____
Taking the flip-side of Southern-bella's thread on what dish you have no success with...What's a recent culinary fear you have conquered? A technique? Prep method? Delicious twist on an old ingredient? Ventured into an unfamiliar cuisine? I deserve a gold star for _____
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19 Comments:
Duh--I meant "award" not reward.
JEP at 7:15PM on 03/03/08
No, Reward is the benefit of eating your effort! I have mastered "Pittsburgh Rare" on my new Weber grill!!! Very exciting. Breaking in a new grill is difficult. I now have a 6 burner grill that heats to close 1000 degrees. I guess I need to reward myself for being able to lift the lid!!
crazyspice at 7:53PM on 03/03/08
That's OK, I read it as "award" anyway.
The first thing that sprang into my head is: "Bringing a healthier lifestyle to my BF and all his friends." These people had no idea what butternut squash was and they used to use butter ALL THE TIME (never olive oil oil). Secondarily, I'd like to award myself for continuing to spread the very valuable lesson that real food is so much better than anything fake.
Teaching someone you love about cooking is a legacy. Pillsbury cake mix when it's done, is an empty box.
Christmas 2007. Italian Christmas Eve for fourteen people. Multiple plated courses of seafood - a parade di mare. That was a feat.
chiff0nade at 8:06PM on 03/03/08
Don't laugh at me, but hard cooked eggs. For years I tried everything, but no matter what, the shells stuck, the eggs smelled like I'd crawled into a sulfur pit, and you could bounce them like a handball. Finally, a few years ago, some guy from The Egg Board was on Sara Moulton's Cooking Live show, who explained exactly, in a way that actually worked, how to do them. From that day on, they're perfect. No sticky shells, a tender white, no green ring around the yolk, and hardly any sulfur smell.
chisai at 9:39PM on 03/03/08
Making an omelet. It sounds strange but for the longest time I could not, for the life of me, make an omelet. Every time I make one and it turns out perfect, I have to show everyone like a little kid. Look at what I did! Maybe I'll buy myself some gold stars to give myself!
evilchefmom at 11:35PM on 03/03/08
Soup! And even though I've heard folks say that soup is about the easiest thing in the world to cook, I have had some HORRID soup in my time (and I'm all of 22!) The best one? I make some of the creamiest potato soup ever; it's a favorite around the house.
SparklingDiamond at 11:40PM on 03/03/08
I'd like to receive some kind of reward for making my boyfriend understand that taking an extra 20 or so minutes in the kitchen is worth it when it comes to making homemade pasta dishes as opposed to the horrible pasta in a box things he used to live off of. I've always become very good at cuisines of different cultures, like Thai, Cuban and Mexican goes without saying. When I was younger I would have never believed I would have come this far when it came to food, not only making it, but being able to branch out and make the foods of other people. It's awesome.
PumpkinBear at 6:46AM on 03/04/08
It is reward/award enough to pass on my passion for cooking to a new generation of young men. My proteges are far more popular than the "football jocks" could ever hope to be!
czken at 8:11AM on 03/04/08
@evilchefmom: Mine is an omelet too and I do the exact same thing! I run around making everyone look at how it looks better than most magazine/cookbook photos! Ha ha. My family runs from the room when I am making them now. I guess I can stop the praise seeking, but it was such a struggle for the longest time, so I was really proud of that one.
I get the hard cooked egg one too.
The next thing to conquer is pad thai!
radley24 at 8:42AM on 03/04/08
I deserve a gold star for..my pizza. I make everything but the cheese myself and never grow tired of folks telling me, "this is the best I've ever had".
grampart at 9:10AM on 03/04/08
hey thanks for the mention!!
cooking is a constant learning process for me, so I don't think there's anything I can truly reply with on this.
OK, this might count, roasted chicken, after pulling out either undercooked or overcooked birds from the oven, I mastered perfection with the... don't laugh.... Ronco Rotisserie. It makes the most fabulous roasted chicken, and standing rib roast too. The downside to using it is that you're unable to make any kind of "gravy" or "au jus" from using one, which is fine with me, seeing as I don't like gravy.
Southern_bella at 9:11AM on 03/04/08
Getting really comfortable with deep frying; it took a while, but now I just can't do it often enough. (Before anyone brings up the state of my arteries or my waistline--if done properly, deep frying can be less fattening than sauteeing.)
BaHa at 11:18AM on 03/04/08
Wedding cakes. I never thought I could do them but I've done 2 in the last 3 months. I made cake for 300 at the end of December and though it nearly killed me, the bride and groom were pleased. I just made my SIL's wedding cake this past weekend- much smaller scale but I received tons of praise for both looks and taste. I am on a baking hiatus (especially wedding cakes!) until at least next December since I'm STILL battling the pregnancy queasies and just don't have it in me to do much more than get off the couch to go to bed.
AuntJone at 11:55AM on 03/04/08
over easy eggs can't seem to flip without making a mess, I've finally taught myself to make the best belguim fries ever even after an hour out of the frier they're crunchie and pillowy soft on the inside, I broke my arm slapping my self on the back for this one
Markbb at 12:23PM on 03/04/08
Haha I sound pretty snobby saying this, but: creme brulee!
Among my friends, I'm known for making creme brulee. I bought myself a kit in college and just loved to make it! I had a bit of a fixation, to say the least.
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 1:03PM on 03/04/08
For keeping my husband on his toes and rarely making the same thing twice :)
bitchincamero at 4:29PM on 03/04/08
For convincing my sister that her philosophy of "Ten minutes to cook/Ten minutes to eat" was horrible. I started by sending her quick and easy pasta and stir fry recipes & teaching her how to cook her favorite dishes. She still has way too many boxes in her pantry for my taste, but she's definitely cooking real food almost everyday. phew. Knowing that my new niece will be eating real food is reward enough.
Once I get to that souffle, I will feel like I've conquered a culinary fear.
@JEP--are you the one who has the gruyere & herb souffle recipe?
wookie at 4:53PM on 03/04/08
I did a little dance when I did the julia child french bread recipe the other weekend, it came out lovely with a nice chewy crust.
jennywenny at 4:56PM on 03/04/08
All you SE's deserve a metal of honor & a big high 5!
@wookie..nope, not me...anyone know?
So what's next on everyone's culinary related to-do-list?
JEP at 5:39PM on 03/04/08