Your cooking achievements that astonish your guests/family..

[SoCalDem]

I have two:

I can go into my kitchen totally blank on what to cook, and have a full dinner on the table within 20 minutes... (and not a crappy dinner:P..)

I somehow have the knack of having everything ready at the same time..all hot..and no jumping up from the table to retrieve burned rolls :P

what are your "bests"?

[NMDemDist2]

1. I had to ask Mr. K that one

he says "You go into the kitchen for 15 minutes and food comes out fit for a king"

that's a direct quote LOL

[eleny]

2. Same here...

My husband calls them "magic meals". Some of it may be frozen leftovers. But you always do something different with it to give it a new personality.

[Stinky The Clown]

3. Cleaning the aftermath on the night of the crime

I get hugged when I do that. :)

[NMDemDist2]

7. you just do that cuz Sparkly Princess has "water control" issues

or at least that's the rumor.......


:yoiks:

[Sparkly]

47. I heard that!!!

:spank:

Besides, flooding the floors, counters and walls is one method of thorough cleaning.

[NMDemDist2]

48. ahHA! so you admit it?

maybe you should have Stinky install one of these to assist in the "through cleaning"

?????

:rofl:

[Sparkly]

50. I could flood the whole neighborhood with one of those!!

[demgurl]

4. I have several....

I make the best popcorn. I know this sounds unimpressive but my husband begged me for my secret the first time I made some for him!

Hubby also says that I make the best lasagna he ever tasted - even better than his Mom's lasagna. (I am not allowed to tell her that, though!!!)

My best friend, in high school was astonished at how good my scrambled eggs are. Years later we had our nephews sleep over and they said that my scrambled eggs beat their Mom's eggs by a mile!!! Hubby usually cooks the weekend breakfast these days but this past weekend I let him sleep in and I made it. He took one bite of my eggs and burst about how good they are. Nice to know that even after 20 or so years my eggs are still as good.

My final "cooking" achievement is salsa. I make a mean homemade salsa. It is delicious and nutritious!!!!

[GoneOffShore]

5. Try buying D'Artagnan Truffle butter

Make the popcorn and melt the truffle butter over it.

The popcorn will become sublime. And the truffle butter isn't that pricey. SuperFresh has it and so does Wegmans. And you can buy it online.

https://www.dartagnan.com/index.asp

look for truffle products and scroll down.

[demgurl]

18. I am always up for trying new things.

Do you melt the butter in a pot or in the microwave? We do not have either store chian, you mentioned, around here. I will check out local store chains and then order it online if I have to. Thanks!!!!!

[GoneOffShore]

19. I just soften the butter first

Then put it over the hot popcorn.

It makes a great surprise munchy when you're having people over for dinner.

You could always use truffel oil instead. But don't make the popcorn in the truffle oil Heat destroys the flavor.

I'm sure that any of the big chains do D'Artagnan products.

We buy the duck breast and cook that. Saving the fat of course, for making potatoes.

[demgurl]

31. I bet Whole Foods might have truffle butter.

Does it taste like mushrooms? I ask because my hubby HATES mushrooms. I always have them when I am home alone since he does not like them at all.

Thanks for the reply and the tips, I really appreciate it.

[GoneOffShore]

41. Truffle is distinct

There's an earthy, oaky, woodsy taste. Possibly hints of barnyard. White truffles are a bit more "ethereal" but that flavor is still there. You could always sneak it in on him. Give him the popcorn with the truffle butter on it. I've done that and had confirmed fungiphobes rave over it.

I've got a bottle of truffle oil with a nugget of truffle in it that I keep adding canola to. It's kept in the fridge next to the walnut oil.

Hey, there's a thought for putting on popcorn - Walnut oil.

[demgurl]

43. Wow, Gone, you are so creative!

Thanks for all of the suggestions. Whole Foods is in the next town over so I will not get there until next week sometime. I will give it a try and see how it works. Thanks so much for all your time.

[Shakespeare]

6. The timing thing, like you.....

Set up my mise. Assess all dishes to be made. List out in my head what steps need to be started/finished when, so that everything's ready at the same time. Go!

I recently traumatized my parents and sister, who--when they learned I wasn't coming home for thanksgiving--said, "But who will make the mashed potatoes???" That's one of the dishes I'm officially assigned for that particular holiday meal.

And I make a miraculous creme brulee.

[TygrBright]

8. I can't time anything properly...

...except Thanksgiving dinner. TG dinner is also the only "party" meal I can successfully pull off, but thanks to many, many years of attempts I have gotten it down. The really ODD thing is that stuff I make for TG dinner that turns out just lovely on that occasion, I can't always do reliably at any other time. Go figure. But if you want a dinner of moist succulent whole turkey with sage dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans with butter and slivered almonds, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, green salad with mandarin orange slices, marinated artichoke hearts, and glazed almonds, relish tray, parker house rolls, cranberry-apple and pecan pies, I'm yer woman.

Once a year, anyway.

Other than that, it's entirely hit or miss except for risotto, clafoutis, and (at Christmas) butter almond toffee.

resignedly,
Bright

[Warpy]

9. I guess coming into a home with a basket full of little dishes of

chopped ingredients, then churning out an eight course Chinese dinner using one wok with a paper towel wipe between courses.

Chinese food is all mise en place. Once you've got the prep work done, just set the dishes out and GO. The first dishes to be cooked were kept warm with a plate coveering the serving bowl. It wasn't fancy but it worked.

[Gormy Cuss]

17. Me too.

Nothing makes me happier than making a many course Chinese dinner for six to ten people. I've learned to appreciate those inexpensive flexible cutting boards as course stations -- all the ingredients for one dish are lined up on a mat, even the little bowls with the premixed sauce or cornstarch. I've even learned how to adapt when I'm offered only an electric cooktop for that wok.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

10. My greatest achievement is that I can go into almost anyone's

refrigerator/pantry/freezer and prepare a tasty meal with just what THEY have around - and a creative one too.

[babylonsister]

11. I got nothin' but a husband who doesn't like to eat and a critical

m-i-l, so don't relish cooking around either of them. :cry:

[NMDemDist2]

13. Mr PITA stikes again huh sis?

:pals:

[Tab]

12. It's a weird mix, but I think they don't appreciate the important parts

My family appreciates the flavor combinations, and that everything is (usually) cooked as it should be and not overcooked. That's not to be unappreciated, but what I personally pride myself in, and what gets overlooked, is the ability to time everything to come out at the same time. This isn't a god-given talent - I learned this working in restaurants. It just takes practice and mental math. Coming out on time, which you get at restaurants, is one of those things that is so "assumed" that it's underappreciated. At the same time, if you keep stuff warm because it was early, people "understand" because if they don't cook themselves, they've run into the same problem. Yet, if you don't have it out on time, people notice.

[SoCalDem]

14. Amen.. I don't think my mother ever sat down to a meal

without jumping up to get something that was still cooking, or to retrieve briquet-biscuits or rolls that were forgotten.

I don't know where I learned how to time things, but for me, it must have been luck because I sure did not learn it at home :)

My only gripe about cooking is that no one ever tells me what they want, and it's all on me to decide what to make for dinner.. I ask my husband what he wants for dinner and his stock answer is "food"...:grr:

I have even gone the toddler route and given him only 2 choices, and he still says "you choose"..

[TygrBright]

15. That drives me nuts, too...

...and moreso that when I ask him how something was he ALWAYS says "fine, great..." whether he scarfed it or pushed it away. It's difficult to get a read on what he does/doesn't respond well to, when that's all I get. I've told him I'd like a bit more detail, but he doesn't go in for details.

I get back at him, though. When we're going out to eat and he says "Where would you like to go?" I almost always say "Oh, you pick someplace."

heheheheh

evilly,
Bright

[NMDemDist2]

16. I think that's better than dear Mr K when I say "I'm thinking such and so

for dinner"

and he says "Really? what else have you got? I don't feel like such and so tonight"

:mad:

[DemExpat]

36. LOL, just like my son when he comes over once or twice a week....

and sends me an Email beforehand asking, "What cha cookin', Mom?"
When I tell him what's planned he often asks me for something else. :banghead:

I often comply though and make him a Momma's meal of his choice and put my plans off for a day.....

:7

DemEx

[NMDemDist2]

37. what a good Mom!

:hug:

[politicat]

20. Making the decisions and creating interesting foods out of random stuff.

I like to play with recipes, and have something close to a photographic memory, so as long as there's stuff in the cabinets, I'm usually good. But since neither my friends nor family can make a decision if their lives depended on it (they'd starve if they had to decide what to eat for themselves) the fact that I can look at a kitchen and make a decision impresses the hell out of them.

[TygrBright]

21. Heck, darlin', it impresses the hell out of ME...

I am terrible at figuring out what to cook, even with a well-stocked pantry and refrigerator.

resignedly,
Bright

[politicat]

23. Okay, here's the secret: Dice.

Specifically, polyhedral dice like used for Role Playing Games. (d4, d6, d8, etc.) I sat down one day and created a list of recipes and ingredients and stashed a set of dice and the cards in the back of my junk drawer. (This is what I mean when I said polyhedral dice - they come in a lot of different shapes.) http://www.rpgshop.com/product_info.php?products_id=36638&
http://www.rpgshop.com/product_info.php?products_id=36638&

I use dice for a lot of somewhat minor decision making.

So here's an example: I've got lamb, pork, cooked beans, tofu, fish, shrimp, chicken and beef in the freezer. They're all assigned a number, 1-8. I roll a d8 and come up with a 3 - cooked beans.

Then I have a list of cuisines: Italian, American, French, Japanese, Thai, etc. I have 20 on the list, so I roll a d20 and get 11, Mexican. Well, that one was easy. We're having refried bean and cheese burritos. Or if American, vegetarian chili. Or if french, a cassoulet. There are very few cuisines that don't have a recipe where white, black or pinto beans can't be used, and when I make beans for something else, I make a double batch and freeze half of them. The microwave is a wonderful defroster.

I have lists for vegetables and starches and casseroles, too, and then I have a big list of 100 recipes and if I'm really stumped, I'll roll percentile dice (special 10 sided dice that have a set numbered for tens - 10, 20, 30 etc - and ones) and pick the recipes that come up, discarding rolls that won't work together. I once got au gratin potatoes with miso soup. I kept the potatoes and I think we had steak delmonico with them. I also have something called d4 casserole: I wrote down the various basic ingredients to a few dozen casseroles (noodles, rice, potatoes, couscous; tuna, chicken, shrimp, beans; bechemel, cheese, mushroom, beefy mushroom sauces or soups; broccoli, green beans, peas, spinach; cracker crumbs, bread crumbs, potato chip crumbs, dried onion) and I roll the dice to determine what goes in them. By the way, a spinach, bean and rice casserole with beefy mushroom soup to bind it is REALLY good. Especially with fried or dried onions on the top.

The key is to know what's in the fridge and freezer, and doing early prep work. I rarely have roasts in the freezer - there are only two of us after all - so if there's a good price on roasts, I either pre-cook them and use them across several meals or cut them up into smaller servings. We have lots of steaks, ground meats, chops and B/S chicken as well as 8 ounce containers of tofu and beans, and I only buy fish filets (I can't deal with an eye staring back at me from my cutting board or plate.) I buy in bulk at either Costco or the local meat market (less of the latter now that they're thinking about retiring and Costco is carrying a lot more organic meats) and I have a few dozen staples that I keep around, like cream of mushroom soup (I like a boxed variety from Whole Paycheck) and cheese sauce (white sauce with some American and cheddar type cheese; it freezes in ice-cube trays REALLY well). We're obviously omnivores with a passion, but I gave the method to a friend who is vegetarian and she has had very few problems with it. Same with vegetables: frozen green beans, pre-cut broccoli (Costco's huge bags are perfect for freezing), frozen peas and spinach; carrots, onions and potatoes, some leafy and tomatoes and cucumbers are always on hand.

Once you take the basic Omnivore's Dilemma (what specifically to eat out of so much that's available) out of the equation, it gets far easier to come up with solutions, and it takes the feeling of "eh, I don't want to decide" out of the equation, too.

Yes, I AM a huge geek. But I'm also indecisive, and the only way to combat the latter was to use my talents for the former. Because then we'd ALL starve!

[SoCalDem]

24. Oh my..

You truly amaze me.. If I had to do that, I would retreat to the bedroom and duck under the covers while my husband phones for pizza :evilgrin:

I head for the kitchen, start opening cupboards and peek into the freezer, and then decide :)

[NMDemDist2]

25. now **That** is too slick!

I just take a "lazy" reading then decide based on the amount of work any meal available will take to prepare

and the "how hungry are we" reading makes a big diff too. if we needed to eat 10 minutes ago it will change the meal from "we won't want dinner for an hour or two"

it's easier in the new house cuz my big freezer is out of commission until the new gasket gets here so what I pick up at the meat market on my twice weekly trips lowers my choices a lot

[midnight armadillo]

27. Brilliant! Publish it.

Seriously, you could probably write all those recipes down and get a cookbook published with that system. I'd offer to help but all my connections are in the Hollywood move biz, so if you can make it a screenplay let me know.

[TygrBright]

29. OY!! When I saw the header "dice" I thought....

...good lord, dice EVERYTHING? Hahahahahah...

Sounds like you have evolved a system that suits you beautifully. No wonder people are impressed. I'm trying to evolve something similar (sans dice, so far) with a 3-ring binder and recipes I've made several times and gotten good responses from the eaters (especially Himself) on. But it's slow. Getting reliable results from a recipe isn't as easy as I'd wish, alas, though I do try to be careful about measuring and technique being consistent.

So far I have about a dozen and a half, but some of those are dessert and breakfast stuff. Others are too light or too heavy for a given evening-- I'm like NMDem, I check the "lazy" meter and the "hungry" meter and those readings go into the decision making process. The wild card is whether Himself has eaten lunch at all, whether he ate it early or late, whether he had a pack of peanut butter crackers and half a donut or went to Harry's Roadhouse with staff and had a pizza or a monster sammich, etc. I never know, so it's sometimes a challenge when I had a light snack in mind and he comes home ravenous, or I contemplated a comfort food binge and he had a pizza at 3:00 PM. He also gets urges for meals out fairly often, which is nice but sometimes means I have to put stuff I just thawed in the icebox and hope that the stars will align to use it on the morrow.

He is pretty good on the rare occasions when I think ahead and discuss it with him in the morning before he leaves, especially if I'm making a favorite of his. But with work and one thing and another piling up I don't often have the luxury of planning something in the morning.

Another problem I have is that with just the two of us I try not to keep too much fresh food on hand, as I hate throwing stuff away. Sometimes the stuff I bought at the Farmer's Market on Tuesday, thinking "oh, that would make a nice dinner later in the week..." just fails to match up with inclination, ability, time, other ingredients, etc., too. So although I'm well-stocked with not-too-perishables and stuff that keeps in the pantry, there isn't often much variety in the icebox. Very frustrating to plan something and then realize that you're out of lemons, and the "emergency" bottle of lemon juice only has a few drops left in it.

It's a 20-minute drive to the nearest store which is dreadful and I hate shopping there for anything, and half an hour to the nearest store I'm okay with, so I don't often make "one ingredient" shopping trips!

resignedly,
Bright

[babylonsister]

32. You sound so...organized! I'm impressed! nt

[Sparkly]

49. Ooh, aleatoric cooking -- what a concept!!! nt

[housewolf]

22. The most utterly sublime cheesecake....

it always gets rave reviews.

And... well... I've wowed some folks with bread a few times, too.

But I can't get a meal all together at the same time to save my soul!

[NMDemDist2]

26. "she said modestly"

I bet you have wowed more than some folks with your bread more than a few times

:hi:

[midnight armadillo]

28. Sometimes it doesn't take much

Last Saturday I made dinner for my mother & sister-in-law. Real easy: good quality sirloin tips, browned then braised in soy sauce, ginger, and lemon juice. Then stir fried up some zucchini and egg with the same flavor, served everything over short grain rice. This is ridiculously easy, but it makes my in-laws flip every time. Of course, they also salt it before tasting it (their main flavorings being salt and bland), which is weird since it's cooked with soy sauce. Oh well.

[NMDemDist2]

30. Mr K salts EVERYTHING! I have given up asking him to try it first

but then in this dry heat (usually, not lately) he does need his salt replenished so I guess it makes sense but still....

:banghead:

[troubleinwinter]

33. Eclairs.

Anything Pâte à Choux. Folks think it's magic, and it's so easy.

[TygrBright]

34. ECLAIRS?!? REAL eclairs??

The kind with flaky feather-light pastry wrapped around a meltingly creamy filling and glazed with rich dark chocolate????

THOSE kind of eclairs?!?!

Recipe, recipe, dammit! I very much doubt I'd be able to actually pull it off (since pastry and I have barely a nodding acquaintance) but it is so long since I've had a proper eclair... oy... I'm drooling.

::wipes chin::

Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease post the recipe?

beseechingly,
Bright

[NMDemDist2]

35. here's a recipe even I can pull off

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_28005,00.html

not true eclaires, but a fast easy cheat for home. i'm thinking subbing custard for the ice cream and it would be darn close

[TygrBright]

39. Now that is not a bad idea at all...

....especially with the custard substitution. And there's nothing the Darling Husband would appreciate more than an excuse to stop at Kip's to buy raised glazed.

"Mr. B!! Hanging around KIP'S?!?"

"I HAVE to. My wife wanted me to pick something up."

Ohyeh, he'll love that.

certainly,
Bright

[troubleinwinter]

40. They are just a simple Pate a Choux recipe

PATE A CHOUX PASTRY

3/4 cup cold water

6 tablespoons butter

Pinch salt

1 cup flour

4 large eggs, room temperature

2 teaspoons sugar (for sweet pastries), optional


Combine water, butter and salt in a saucepan and place it over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until the butter melts and the liquid is brought to a rapid boil.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and dump in the flour all at once. Beat with a wooden spoon until smooth.

Return the saucepan to the heat and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the mixture holds together and begins to leave the sides of the pan, about a minute or so. Remove from heat.

Stir to cool the batter just enough that the eggs won't cook. Add eggs one at a time, beating each into the batter with a wooden spoon until each 'disappears' into the dough.

The Pâte à choux dough is then spooned by the rounded spoonfuls or piped into puffs (about 2" inches in diameter or 1" wide by 3" long, for oblong puffs )and dropped onto a parchment paper or silpat mat lined sheet. Leave 2" between the puffs to permit spreading. I use a spoon, making small heaps about 2". Press down any 'pints' with a wet finger, as they will tend to burn.

Bake choux in a preheated oven at 425 degrees about 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 350 degrees about 20 minutes.

After removing the pastries from the oven, puncture them on the side or bottom with the tip of a knife to allow steam to escape. Cool. When ready to fill, cut across the middle (parallel with the base), leaving a small 'hinge' on one side.
................

I use vanilla pudding from a box for the filling (I like it better than sweetened whipped cream or pastry cream), using two boxes & a bit less milk than called for, so it is a bit stiffer. Have the pudding chilled before filling. Cover pudding with plastic wrap while chilling to prevent a 'skin' from forming. Spoon pudding into cooled shells.

I use chocolate frosting from a can!

.......................

My mother makes DIVINE hors d' oeuvres by making very small, round pate a choux pastries & filling with crab meat, finely sliced green onions & a little finely minced onion, held together with just a tiny bit of mayonnaise.

[TygrBright]

42. Interesting.... I wonder if I could actually make that...

...a pastry that doesn't require chilling, rolling, etc. might be just the trick. Thanks for the idea, troubleinwinter! I might give it a try, though the altitude will probably play nasty tricks on my results. Maybe a couple of attempts will sort out a fix.

appreciatively,
Bright

[DemExpat]

38. These are what my family and friends consider my masterpieces!

Spaghetti and lasagna

Tex-Mex meals

Indonesian Gado Gado variation meals - I am so flattered that my future son-in-law being from Indonesian parents and having grown up with the real stuff loves this meal that I make.

Stuffing, sweet potato casserole, fruit salad, green beans, and turkey for Thanksgiving - my girlfriend brings the pies....


Baked beans, potato salad and cole slaw for barbecue feasts.

Home-made healthy pizzas with sourdough crust and organic toppings....different, but delish.

All kinds of southern bean pots with corn bread, greens, and sometimes with cooked dried apricots.


No fancy stuff coming out of my kitchen, but simple down-home meals that I serve to probably create a taste of home over here!

DemEx

[dropkickpa]

44. Turkey gravy

Easy, I know, but my mother and grandmother murdered turkey gravy for years, and both gave up and went to the jarred stuff :puke:!! So, when I pull it off with a minimum of fuss, they get angry. Everyone else just digs in and says "Great!" (for T-G I generaly cook for anywhere from 14-20 people). It's the gravy they love everytime.

Also, my scalloped potatoes get RAVE reviews every year for christmas. There's never any leftovers :cry: for me to take home (I use roughly 10-14 lbs of taters to make this!!). Now if i could just figure out how to cut the recipe down enough to make just enough for me and Dropkid, especially because I never use recipes (I have the HARDEST time figuring out how to cook for just two!!). I grew up with 5 brothers, so I am still used to cooking for 8-10 people (we always had "strays" that joined us).

[NMDemDist2]

45. hiya drop!! welcome to our little corner of sanity in the riotous joy of

DU

:hi:

[dropkickpa]

46. Thanks!!!!

:bounce: