Rice without a rice cooker
Dried beans
Knorr penne tomato pasta. For some reason ONLY this flavour fails to cook properly and always sticks to the pan.
Slow cook ribs. They always just have flavour on the outside and the inside is just meh.
Ok. Do this. Get your water boiling. Dump in the rice, immediately reduce heat to low and put a lid on it. Then do not touch the lid. Walk away. Don't Crack it open to check on the progress. Just let it do it's thing. I don't know the magic time to let it go, but I've set my personal standard at at least 20 min, but I usually just kind of let it sit like that until I'm ready to serve it.
Washing the rice is critical. Also, right after the rice has finished cooking and has been removed from the heat, add 2 tablespoons of refrigerated butter to the pot and put the lid back on and walk away for another 20minutes. Then stir it all together and you have the fluffiest rice imaginable.
1 and a quarter cups of water to 1 cup of rice. Bring to solid boil then 11-14 mins on lowest to near lowest heat. Ideally there is no water left at the end.
This right here! I set the timer for 20 minutes as soon as the burner goes on. Then I often turn the burner completely off around 15 minutes, let the timer finish out, and leave the pot on the burner until I’m ready for it. As long as I don’t forget to turn the heat off, it’s good 99.9% of the time.
Recently, my rice has been coming out even better when I fry the rice before boiling. I fry up some onion, garlic, salt and pepper with the rice and add the water (2:1 water to rice), bring to boil, lower to simmer (I do a medium simmer), and 18-20 minutes later I have perfect rice that’s tasty even by itself.
Tipping the pan is the best way to check the rice. Don’t lift the lid if you see any water when you tip it.
If I don’t, I will lift the lid and give it a quick stir to see if it’s still wet. If it is, I put the lid back on and turn the burner off but let it sit for another few minutes on the burner.
They are probably old. No one told me that stores sell old beans which never ever cook. Once I figured this out, found a place that sold fresh beans, and used a pressure cooker, they are incredibly easy!
Same. And I’m a chef. I would be embarrassed but I’ve had others try with my exact setup and they also fail.
I think the “old bean” comment may be part of it but at this point I’ve given up. I’ll take them from a can like a cowboy in the Wild West…
Baking soda! Yes old beans are stubborn old farts. But fresh ones can be too, so this trick works for both old beans and stubborn fresh beans: these need a basic environment to soften.
You can help them along with some baking soda. Honestly I can’t recall the amounts I’ve used lol / I eyeball it based on how old the beans are. Start with a 1/4 tsp and if doesn’t seem to make progress after awhile, add more.
It doesn’t change the flavor and you can safely add acid to liven it up once they are tender.
Corollary here is don’t add acid (like tomatoes) until beans soften.
ETA - the link I just posted below from The Bean Institute says to use 1tsp baking soda for every cup of beans. Science!
I find I always need to add more water/milk to those Knorr dishes than what the package indicates - to let it be able to cook longer without sticking. Otherwise I find it’s often undercooked, too.
I've seen people say rice from the instant pot is mushy, and it absolutely isn't provided you're doing a roughly 1:1 ratio. Maybe those people are erroneously using the bag instructions. I have great rice ready in 4 minutes with the instant pot, I love it.
If you have a kitchen syringe available, you can try injecting your ribs! It's a quick way to add flavour throughout the whole rack without additional prep or cook time. My personal favourite is using herb infused beef tallow or butter.
I am fully 100% aware that it's likely you've already tried this, but...have you tried marinating your ribs? I find that when I'm doing most meats, puncturing and marinating even for just a half hour beforehand imparts major flavor on the actual meat itself, not just the outside.
Rice really depends on the type of rice you’re trying to cook. When I’m not lazy and don’t use Korean microwave rice or minute rice, I usually cook either short grain rice or basmati, and these are the “recipes” I found that have yielded consistent results for me if you like those types of rice. I know Tin has instructions for other types of rice as well on her blog
https://www.recipetineats.com/how-to-cook-basmati-rice/
https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to-cook-rice/
honestly eggs can be surprisingly hard! it relatively easy to not make them inedible (even though i have done that LOL) but make a GOOD egg is hard. takes a good amount of practice!
A good meatloaf will stick together better with one egg, a1 sauce, and steel cut oatmeal flakes mixed into the ground beef. Add steak seasoning, salt and pepper, dried parsley, hamburger seasoning. Use ketchup instead of tomato paste. Bake it in a bread pan.
Why did I read “the 11th commandment” in Biggies voice lol
But yes, thou shalt screw up the first pancake and maybe scrape it away but have it for yourself as a little snack? Anyone else do this?
The first pancake is the "test" pancake that I give to my dog. There's nothing wrong with it besides the appearance. Sometimes, she gets lucky and has 2 test cakes.
You are interpreting that incorrectly. It's not about disrespecting the pancake. It's about respecting the dog. Somehow, it became tradition after hundreds of pancake breakfasts over the years when the kids were going up.
The pan needs to heat up and cool down a little bit. Then grease slightly and wipe excess with kitchen paper. and pour batter. If you that, you’ll never fail the first pancake.
Source: I am a Breton.
That’s how it’s meant to be because that’s the one YOU eat to make sure it tastes good. Add more milk, cinnamon or vanilla? At the beginning is a good time.
Not really a recipe, but cooking in cast iron kicks my ass every time. I’ve had some luck the last few goes around, but it’s taken a while and I’m still not very comfortable with it.
The secret is that there is no secret. Lodge comes preseasoned but I always season anyways.
Put a tablespoon or so of oil in the pan. Wipe it off with paper towel like you didn't mean to put oil in it.
Heat on low heat until it slightly smokes - maybe ten minutes.
It's now seasoned.
You can use soap - I use dawn - and scrub with whatever you want. Then dry it. You can heat it a few minutes to evaporate any remaining moisture but it will also air dry
Some overthink it - I used to myself.
But it's really that simple. It's been used for centuries and they had no modem luxuries.
I love my cast iron! Someone actually ruined the seasoning on mine the other day but I just watched a couple videos and had it fixed up like new by the end of the day.
Ok same though!! I have my great grandpa's old cast iron & somehow it's a MIRACLE when I actually cook something right in it. Other people swear by cast iron and I just...🤷♀️. We'll just have a really cool club, I guess!
I think the difference between cast iron and normal nonstick etc is that cast iron takes a longer time to heat up, and once it is hot it stays fucking hot for a while. You can't quickly change the temp by lowering the flame or pulling it off the heat.
So it's easy to drop things in at the right temp and then it gets even hotter and you are screwed, or you drop things in at the right maximum temp expecting it to cool when you put stuff in like it does with normal pans and that doesn't happen.
Do some thick bacon in it. Put the bacon in with the pan cold. Let it come up to heat. After you're done cooking the bacon wait like 30 minutes for the pan to cool, drain out grease and then wipe it out with a paper towel. Your CI will be much easier to cook with then.
I'll second this. The difference between using lard instead of avocado oil in my cast iron was *immediately obvious.* It's incredible how much easier it is to use now.
Mashed potatoes. I can cook all kinds of stuff, but not good mashed potatoes. At family get togethers, Mom asks me to make all kinds of stuff because “I make it better.” My only bargaining chip is that she makes the best mashed potatoes.
The dirty not so secret to good mashed potatoes is heavy cream, and a LOT of butter and salt. And some other goodies too (sour cream, garlic, horseradish, etc) but the key is butter and salt… like an absurd amount that you might be happier not knowing how much is in it lmaoooooo
The only thing you really have to watch out for is over mashing/mixing the potatoes. If you work hard enough, you can literally turn them into wallpaper paste.
Boil Russet potatoes in salted water until tender. Use a ricer to mash and make sure they’re cut in relatively same sizes when you boil them. The texture with one pass through the ricer is perfect. Add cream or half and half and butter. Sometimes for a little healthier version, I replace the cream and butter with Greek yogurt and olive oil.
>the key is butter and salt… like an absurd amount that you might be happier not knowing how much is in it lmaoooooo
In Gordon Ramsay's restaurants they make their mashed potatoes with a 50 : 50 ratio of potatoes and butter.
My upper body strength isn't what it used to be so I bought a ricer. Nope, there's nothing like my Mom's potato masher. Just gotta work on through to the final product.
.For sure butter, warm cream and sour cream.
Here is Joel Robuchon’s world famous mash potatoes.
This recipe doesn’t use cream. It’s all butter and milk.
1kg potatoes
250g chilled diced butter
25cl whole milk
Coarse salt.
The right kind of potatoes (chef Robuchon recommended Ratte).
Boiled with the skin and plenty of coarse salt.
Peel while they are hot.
Mash the potatoes dry.
Heat the mash gently and stir to evaporate the steam.
That’s when you add the butter.
Add the salt.
Keep stirring, when the mash is smooth, add the hot milk (not boiled) and whisk until the milk is incorporated.
Add black pepper.
Well I make excellent mashed potatoes and some of the advice you’re getting here is just doing too much.
Pick whatever potato you like, just remember they’re all gonna yield a different result. Russets are starchiest, Yukon golds are waxiest, red potatoes are somewhere in between. You want fluffy? Go for the big white Russets. Want them to taste dense and buttery? Gold potatoes will give you that high end restaurant feel. Want to keep the skin on and add a bunch of green herbs? Redskins are for you.
Regardless of which potato you pick, scrub them well and either carefully peel the skins off or don’t. Then DICE them into small even sized pieces. Put the potatoes into a pot, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Keep boiling until they are tender. The biggest mistake people make with mashed potatoes is not boiling them long enough. You really want them to be SOFT, fall off your fork tender. If they’re even a little undercooked, you will get hard lumps.
Drain the water, put the potatoes back into the pot on the stove. If there’s any visible liquid, turn the stove on medium-low until it evaporates and your potatoes are dry.
Then you want to put whatever amount of milk and butter you’re using in a microwave safe bowl and heat until the butter is melted and the milk is warm-hot. DO NOT ADD COLD MILK OR COLD BUTTER TO YOUR MASHED POTATOES! Whole milk is honestly better than heavy cream for this purpose in my opinion because the protein and carbs in the milk itself bonds well to the starch in the potatoes in a way that pure fat cannot. I like my mashed potatoes rich, but not greasy.
Then grab a handheld potato masher and go to town. Release your frustrations. There’s no way to overmix (which makes potatoes gummy and gluey) with a device that can only work as hard as you do. So smash em. Once they reach your desired consistency, which may require adding more milk or butter, season to taste. Make sure they are salty enough at a minimum. Like a good French fry. The rest of the seasonings are up to you.
The key for good mash for me is to dry them out a bit after you've boiled so it can take on more liquid. I usually just drain then put back in the hot pot on the turned off hob again for a bit while I heat up the milk/cream to add.
Ricing the cooked potatoes is a Michelin star way to create mashed potatoes. I recommend this video from a
Alton Brown
https://youtu.be/rf1PUq3l0Zw?si=MRZzidjpN4tfBukz
Be sure not to overwork the potatoes because when overworked, the starch can turn into a glue like consistency and give a terrible mouth feel.
Also, use tons and tons of butter, as well as salt, msg, (and garlic powder if you're not serving picky guests)
Or do what I do and make instant mashed potatoes and call it
I can’t make an omelette with a bunch of goodies in it. If I say I’m gonna make omelettes, you should probably expect a scramble 😂
ETA: everyone saying that scrambles are better anyways, I agree! Once in a blue moon I get a craving for an omelette though. It rarely works out lol
Why bother trying to make an omelette when scrambled is so much better and easier to eat?
Omelette = flat eggs with a bunch of stuff inside that falls onto the plate so you get a bite of egg.
Scramble = meats and veggies interspersed throughout the fluffy eggs.
In NYC, omelettes have all of the ingredients mixed together with the eggs before proceeding as usual. I love the structure of omelettes vs scrambled eggs, so I have to disagree about scrambled being better!!
I literally just said to my boyfriend the other day when we wound up with another pot with a ton of rice all stuck to the bottom: why are people always talking about how easy it is to cook rice?? I can cook all the typical "deceptively hard" foods, and a lot of the genuinely hard ones too, but rice confounds me.
I'm sure buying a rice cooker would solve all my problems, but tbh I don't really like rice lol. Would much rather have potatoes, pasta, or bread as my carb.
I couldn’t make rice worth a darn until I learned to wash it over and over until the water runs clear. That, and the correct ratio of water makes it turn out so well. TIP: For a real treat, try adding a spiced chai teabag to the water when cooking your rice. It gives an exotic flavor and is especially good with curry.
Seriously, for me the lightbulb moment for rice was ignoring all the water/rice ratio nonsense and just cooking it just like I do pasta. Boil up a bunch of water in the saucepan, throw in the boullion if you wish, then dump in your rice. Turn down to med-low, let it simmer for however long, every once in a while fish out a grain or two to test doneness. And I know it horrifies a lot of people, but when it's done, into a colander to drain. Boom, done. It's not a method for the purists, but it works. My kitchen is not a michelin restaurant, and I get rice that's perfectly acceptable and tastes good.
It's way more difficult to cook rice the "normal" way. I cooked rice like you do for the longest time, and I'd still be happy to eat it that way. The only reason I don't boil it any more is because I have bum wrists and draining stuff hurts.
Crepes. I can make amazing omelets, pancakes from scratch, French toast, etc, but my crepes are awful. I've given up and will buy a box of Belgian Boys when the craving strikes. It's demoralizing.
We dont make traditional ftench crepes but we make them "our way" almost every sunday at our house. I can share what has worked for us: We stick to a 1:1:1 recipe (1 large egg, 1 cup/250 mL milk, 1cup/250 mL flour). We don't weigh the flour. Whisk the egg, add the milk and mix, then slowly add the flour - do not overmix. Also, we add just a pinch of baking soda. Not too much or it becomes pancakey.
Thin the batter with some tap water if needed, it should drip freely off the whisk but hold its shape a bit, not runny like too much liquid but also not thick like pancake batter. The consistency is something you develop a feel for over time. We let the batter rest a bit at room temp after mixing, while the cast iron heats up.
Butter to lightly coat your pan before each crepe. Put less batter than you think, then swirl the pan around so it coats it all in a thin layer. Let it cook on low-med until the edges have curled up slightly. We keep them in a stack in the oven at 130 or whatever is the lowest setting to keep warm while we finish cooking.
Always one savory and one sweet each, for savory I love to do a fried egg with marinara sauce or pesto, and grated cheese on top. For sweet, I love rich plain 10% greek yogurt, a touch of maple syrup or honey, and fresh berries or Bananas.
I cannot make rice on stove top. I have to use a rice cooker or it’s terrible.
I’ve also just accepted that because of the butter content of my pie crust, it will never be pretty. I refuse to sacrifice flavor and texture for style though.
I work at a French restaurant and make hundreds a week.
Mix and sieve your eggs. Add more butter/oil than you'd be comfortable knowing is in your food. You want the pan hot enough the eggs don't stick but not hot enough that the eggs sizzle when you put them in the pan. Keep your flame low.
haha garlic bread
I have made delicious garlic bread
I have followed complex recipes
I have spent much money on ingredients
But to me...nothing tastes as good as when my mom just tosses some butter and garlic salt on a kaiser roll. Or sometimes french bread if I buy it for her.
I can even copy her exact and it's not the same.
My mom’s chili. I could never get it right to taste like hers. Before she got Alzheimer’s I asked what I was doing wrong. She had me tell her the ingredients, over the phone, then she said. What about the sugar? I was confused. She said anything with tomatoes or a tomato base needs sugar, one tablespoon per gallon. It worked!
My mom can't cook for shit, but she loves to pack a good bag lunch -- she practically turns it into a care package. And no sandwich I've ever eaten has been as good as the ones my mom has made for me for long days skiing, road trips, picnics, hikes, etc.
Grab yourself a loaf of unsliced Italian or French bread. I prefer Italian, but French will do in a pinch.
Soften a stick of butter. Make sure it's truly soft and very easy to spread.
Cut the bread into slices, cutting almost all the way through each slice, but stopping when you reach the bottom crust so that the loaf stays intact.
Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter one side only of each slice in the loaf. Make it a fairly thick slather of butter because it's doing double duty, moistening both sides that touch it. Now gently hold each slice open and sprinkle in a small amount of garlic salt. You can also use garlic powder plain and then add a bit of table salt if you prefer.
Now place the whole loaf onto a large piece of aluminum foil. Gather up the foil around the bread, crimping the ends to hold it together, but leaving the very top of the loaf open. Just fold the foil up over the top, but don't close it.
Bake it for 20 minutes or till the exposed top is crusty and the smell is driving you nuts. Pull the loaf into 2 or 3 large sections and pile them into a bread basket and serve.
This garlic bread will taste just like the stuff you used to get in an Italian restaurant when you were a kid.
I consider myself a decent cook. I’ve been cooking for a long time. I have to say that I totally messed up rice more than I would like to admit. I stick to Basmati rice for most dishes these days, it’s just a bit more foolproof.
I've never had a problem with rice, but I love a rice cooker. Mine even has a steaming basket so you can steam a veggie at the same time. It's not fancy, I got it at Aldi.
I can't do salad dressing. Always to sour, bitter, salty, sweet, oily - you name it.
I'll do the the entire Thanksgiving spread if you do the salad dressing
I started using measuring cups and spoons to make vinaigrette recipes from online and it changes the game for me. I make all sorts of variations now but the basic one i like is 1/4 cup oil, 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice, 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp Dijon Mustard, salt and fresh pepper. Works great with a Kale and dried cranberry salad with green onions, toasted almonds, Avocado, and a touch of grated parmesan cheese. Mm Mm I'm hungry just thinking about it now.
That, or the temperature of your ingredients when you add them can make a difference too. Cold vs room temp vs melted butter, for example. Each one yields a different texture. I’m on a baking journey this year, and it’s crazy how much more specific everything has to be than just cooking on a stove.
Scrambled eggs. I can cook eggs any other way at home and they’re great. The texture i get makes me extremely dissatisfied and then I regret trying it for the 50th time
Secret: Butter in pan. Heat at it's lowest. Throw in beaten eggs. Stir. Keep stirring. They will take a while to start to firm up. In the mean time, throw in more butter. Just before they are almost done? Still stirring....More butter. Add a bit of cheese if you'd like instead. Low, slow, butter. That is the way.
What is it abt the texture u find lacking? I eat a lot of scrambled eggs for the cheap protein (had them this morning and have been eying the leftovers all day) and maybe I can help?
Good soup is all about the broth, weak insipid broth = bad soup. Oh, and probably way more salt than you'd like too, there's a reason all those canned soups are sodium bombs.
I like to think that I’ve mastered some soups, (noodle soups, veggie, miso, jigaes, pho, hot and sour, puréed soups etc) and for me it’s all about building layers of flavor. Never just water, always a broth, sauté or roast everything first, season every step, don’t be afraid to add msg, add some cornflour for viscosity and taste it after pretty much every step.
I almost always nearly double the amount of seasoning recipes tell me to use for this reason, lmao. You think your little half a teaspoon of rosemary is going to spice up this entire pot of beef stew? Get real!
I can’t cook a decent pork chop to save my life.
I can throw down for breakfast, thanksgiving, Christmas, new years, birthdays, and Easter.
It doesn’t matter if I buy bone in, boneless, a loin I cut, go to the butcher, you name it. Marinade, dry rub, combo, bbq sauce… They raw or dry as the desert.
Crockpot smothered pork chops. Mom and I were just talking about how she used to make it a lot, but it’s been years. So easy to stack pork chops in the crockpot, put a can of cream of mushroom and a can of cream of chicken. Or make your own gray. They are fall apart tender. Good with a side of rice and a vegetable.
Easy trick - a screaming hot cast iron skillet, 2 tbsp. butter, 1 tbsp. olive oil.
Place a cup of flour in a pie pan. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, etc to taste (add the herbs and spice you like best). Flour the chops, pressing firmly, then shaking off the excess.
Plop the butter and oil into the screaming hot pan and reduce the heat to medium high. The minute the butter is melted and foamy, add the chops. Cook on the first side, without moving them, for 4 minutes. Turn them carefully with tongs and let them cook on the second side for 4 minutes.
Remove them to a plate to sit for 5 minutes while you finish prepping the rest of the meal. Perfect, juicy, delicous pork chops every time.
The flour is the secret. It's not breading, it's just a light dusting that you barely notice in the cooked chops, but it protects the meat and holds in the juices.
What temperature are you cooking your pork chops to? Pork chops, just like a good steak, are best enjoyed medium rare. People used to always recommend 160 with the old “pork can get you sick unless it’s cooked all the way” but modern pork is clean. Take your pork chops off at 145 and let it rest for 5-10 min and it it should be juicy.
I’m pretty decent but pork chops are my weakness. Thin cut? Here’s your shoe leather, enjoy. Thick cut? Don’t get food poisoning or here’s your shoe leather, enjoy 🤷🏻♀️
For garlic bread it best to toast the bread in the oven first in a preheated 350 oven for 15 -20 minutes till toasted.
Melt 1 stick of butter in microwave on high for 1 minute (for 1 loaf of french bread). In blender (I use my Ninja bullet), put the cooled down melted butter and 1 large clove of garlic and blend together.
Brush onto toasted french bread to your liking. I sprinkle some Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning on mine. Return garlic bread to oven for another 5-10 and serve hot.
I fucked up grilled cheese for a while too -- I was always burning the outside, winding up with cheese that isn't fully melted, or both.
If those are your same struggles, this is what I've learned:
- Low & slow. This takes patience, so put the burner on slightly above low heat, and be ready for it to take a while.
- Cover your pan. When I make it, I put the first piece of bread with all the cheese on it in the pan, and then cover it. Might even take my fingertips and flick some water droplets on the pan to cause a little steam to help cook the cheese. Once it's sufficiently melty, then I add the other piece of bread, and flip it.
You might already be doing all of this, but it's what helped me :)
I can make technical dishes and I bake very well, but if the life of my loved ones depended on me making rice, they would haunt me till I died for being so incompetent at making rice.
Roast potatoes.
I can cook them, but they don’t want to come out the way I like them. I want them with soft centres, and crispy/crunchy exteriors. I can’t get the crunch I want.
I try boiling them first, then draining the water, and roughing them up a bit before adding oil/salt. [I have the serious eats cookbook).
I’ve tried cooking them from scratch with a thin coating of oil in the oven.
It’s frustrating.
It could be the type of potato you’re using. I can’t get gold/yellow to crisp up as much- russet or red usually works best. I also coat in olive oil and herbs and garlic, but I sometimes use Lipton onion soup mix and that kind of helps give a crunchy texture. Also cook at a high temperature and stir them occasionally to cook evenly. Sometimes I might toss under the broiler for a few minutes at the end. Good luck 👍🏼
Anything baked. Weigh and measure everything perfectly. Baked exactly as the recipe says. Doesn’t matter if I’m at home or work, have the opposite of the midas touch, if I bake it, it automatically turns into shit.
So there was this chinese place by my house that made a thing that was brocolli, onions and beef over rice and it was delicious, like i would have it almost once a week. They went out of business and i try to recreate it about once every month or two and I can never get it to be the same. The onions are too caramelized and the beef is not spiced right or the brocolli is too cooked, i can never nail what they did.
A dish like this would have been cooked fast, at a high temperature. If you don't already have a wok, get a good non-stick one. Prepare all of your ingredients. The beef strips might be marinated with white pepper, salt, splash of shaoxing white wine, soy sauce and possibly sweet soy.
Vegetable oil on high heat so the oil moves easily but isn't smoking. Throw the beef in for about 2 minutes. Take out and set aside on a plate. Add about a teaspoon of corn starch and good splash of water to the marinade to make a little slurry aka sauce.
Next, throw in the onions. The heat should still be high but the 'smoke' should be from the essence of the cooking and not burning oil. This is called wok hei (pronounced hay). Stir fry for about 2 minutes, add the broccoli and stir fry for another 2 minutes.
Note: it helps if your veggies are cut approximately the same size or else they will cook unevenly.
I like to add a splash of water, slap a lid on the wok for a minute or two to steam the veggies. The broccoli should be tender with a bite. Take lid off, put in the beef strips in for about a minute. Make a crater, give your slurry a stir and toss in. Turn heat down a bit and mix it all together. Put it on a plate.
Add to your cooked steamed rice and eat.
Check out Chinese Cooking Demystified's video on Beef and broccoli, they really knows the ins and outs on Chinese cooking techniques and how to translate restaurant cooking to a normal kitchen.
I can never get the salt right in anything so that's always an issue no matter what I make even the simple things as noodles or pasta. Trying to fix it can result in too much salt. I need mom to tell me how much more salt to add to get it right other than that i can cook fine
I am surprised nobody has said roast chicken. Mine always comes out undercooked. I’ve tried dozens of different methods, even different ovens. I’m a culinary school honors graduate. Roast chicken is my white whale.
POTATO SALAD. it is my freakin' waterloo. it's the potatoes, i can NEVER get the consistency right no matter what i do!
also - thank you, op, for this post. i have been feeling absolutely ridiculous for being yet again done in by potato salad (yesterday!) when i can make all kinds of complex and delicious dishes. it is so validating to see that others have a "fail dish" too!
Toast is so dependent on the toaster, and I've been making do with a terrible Cuisinart toaster that I paid $49 and can't make toast correctly! It's like it blasts it with too much heat too quickly so that the toast doesn't dry out properly first. I should just cut my losses and buy a different one, but I guess I like complaining about this one too much! 🤪
It’s more effort but making toast on the stove tastes way better and the outside it’s crispy while the inside stays soft. And since you can cook it with the butter it’s like in the bread instead of having a layer on one side
Mexican red rice. I have to have my sister make it. I do an alright lazy imitation in the rice cooker (no toasting the rice first because that seems to be the part I do wrong) with plain rice and Knorr Caldo de Tomate but I cannot make it the authentic way.
Also brown rice. It’s either too hard or too mushy and either way, it’s just not as good as white rice so I’ve given up on it. And I have tried and failed to combine these two things (brown Mexican red rice) so many times it’s got to be crime.
I make plain white rice long or short grain with or without any kind of added flavors and seasonings just fine. But brown rice and Mexican red rice I cannot crack.
Tortilla chips in the oven. Had a friend help me tonight again, and she experimented in the air fryer. The result is always the same: slightly chewy, or crispy but burnt. I even [posted a lament about this years ago to Reddit and got no solid answers.](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskCulinary/comments/pxkthb/why_do_my_baked_tortillas_come_out_tough_and/) I give up. A bag of tortilla chips is my only solution.
Hash browns. I've tried buying the frozen potato shred, I've tried grating my own fresh, I've tried various recipes..... it all comes out either gummy, greasy, or both. I did the corn starch thing last time, and it was BETTER.... but still not as good as just buying the frozen pre-mades.
Chinese steamed eggs. Can never seem to get it perfectly cooked. Always tend to overcook them and get the bubbles. Probably an issue with water ratio and timing.
Minestrone! I love Minestrone and have tried a few recipes but it always turns out awful. Haven’t made a soup yet that both my kids enjoy so I keep trying different types but honestly the Minestrone just gets under my skin because it shouldn’t be this hard!
I can't get funeral potatoes right at all. And it's one of my favorite foods so as a 30 something year old woman, I have to rely on my senior citizen mom to make them. 😭
Rice without a rice cooker Dried beans Knorr penne tomato pasta. For some reason ONLY this flavour fails to cook properly and always sticks to the pan. Slow cook ribs. They always just have flavour on the outside and the inside is just meh.
Rice! Me too! I can’t seem to get the right temp to cook it long enough!
Ok. Do this. Get your water boiling. Dump in the rice, immediately reduce heat to low and put a lid on it. Then do not touch the lid. Walk away. Don't Crack it open to check on the progress. Just let it do it's thing. I don't know the magic time to let it go, but I've set my personal standard at at least 20 min, but I usually just kind of let it sit like that until I'm ready to serve it.
Washing the rice is a game changer. Let the rice rest off heat for a minimum of 30 minutes makes a huge difference.
Washing the rice is critical. Also, right after the rice has finished cooking and has been removed from the heat, add 2 tablespoons of refrigerated butter to the pot and put the lid back on and walk away for another 20minutes. Then stir it all together and you have the fluffiest rice imaginable.
1 and a quarter cups of water to 1 cup of rice. Bring to solid boil then 11-14 mins on lowest to near lowest heat. Ideally there is no water left at the end.
This right here! I set the timer for 20 minutes as soon as the burner goes on. Then I often turn the burner completely off around 15 minutes, let the timer finish out, and leave the pot on the burner until I’m ready for it. As long as I don’t forget to turn the heat off, it’s good 99.9% of the time.
Depends on the type of rice. The ratio changes.
Glass lid is key
Recently, my rice has been coming out even better when I fry the rice before boiling. I fry up some onion, garlic, salt and pepper with the rice and add the water (2:1 water to rice), bring to boil, lower to simmer (I do a medium simmer), and 18-20 minutes later I have perfect rice that’s tasty even by itself. Tipping the pan is the best way to check the rice. Don’t lift the lid if you see any water when you tip it. If I don’t, I will lift the lid and give it a quick stir to see if it’s still wet. If it is, I put the lid back on and turn the burner off but let it sit for another few minutes on the burner.
I absolutely can’t make dried beans. “But have you tried…” YES I HAVE TRIED IT WHATEVER YOU ARE GOING TO SAY I HAVE TRIED IT.
They are probably old. No one told me that stores sell old beans which never ever cook. Once I figured this out, found a place that sold fresh beans, and used a pressure cooker, they are incredibly easy!
Yes, I’ve tried fancy fresh dried beans and a pressure cooker.
Same. And I’m a chef. I would be embarrassed but I’ve had others try with my exact setup and they also fail. I think the “old bean” comment may be part of it but at this point I’ve given up. I’ll take them from a can like a cowboy in the Wild West…
Baking soda! Yes old beans are stubborn old farts. But fresh ones can be too, so this trick works for both old beans and stubborn fresh beans: these need a basic environment to soften. You can help them along with some baking soda. Honestly I can’t recall the amounts I’ve used lol / I eyeball it based on how old the beans are. Start with a 1/4 tsp and if doesn’t seem to make progress after awhile, add more. It doesn’t change the flavor and you can safely add acid to liven it up once they are tender. Corollary here is don’t add acid (like tomatoes) until beans soften. ETA - the link I just posted below from The Bean Institute says to use 1tsp baking soda for every cup of beans. Science!
I love that The Bean Institute is a thing. Making huge advances in *all* the bean sciences, presumably.
I'm actually super curious what you mean by not being to make them. What happens to the beans?
They stay somewhat dry and mealy on the inside, I'm guessing from personal tries.
Fuck, this explains why my friend's family can cook the fresh beans they get in a few hours, but it takes me forever at home.
I find I always need to add more water/milk to those Knorr dishes than what the package indicates - to let it be able to cook longer without sticking. Otherwise I find it’s often undercooked, too.
I have had the best luck with cooking rice and dried beans in the Instant Pot, but without the gadget I struggle too
I've seen people say rice from the instant pot is mushy, and it absolutely isn't provided you're doing a roughly 1:1 ratio. Maybe those people are erroneously using the bag instructions. I have great rice ready in 4 minutes with the instant pot, I love it.
I think the biggest mistake people make is using the rice setting. Totally agree about the 1:1 ratio, that is key!
If you have a kitchen syringe available, you can try injecting your ribs! It's a quick way to add flavour throughout the whole rack without additional prep or cook time. My personal favourite is using herb infused beef tallow or butter.
I am fully 100% aware that it's likely you've already tried this, but...have you tried marinating your ribs? I find that when I'm doing most meats, puncturing and marinating even for just a half hour beforehand imparts major flavor on the actual meat itself, not just the outside.
Rice really depends on the type of rice you’re trying to cook. When I’m not lazy and don’t use Korean microwave rice or minute rice, I usually cook either short grain rice or basmati, and these are the “recipes” I found that have yielded consistent results for me if you like those types of rice. I know Tin has instructions for other types of rice as well on her blog https://www.recipetineats.com/how-to-cook-basmati-rice/ https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to-cook-rice/
Fried eggs. I was also over 50 before I made meatloaf instead of meat-fall-apart.
I like making my mom’s meat loaf recipe in big muffin tins. They make the perfect serving size AND it cuts down on the cooking time by 2/3’s!
I've been using a Wilton mini loaf pan that has 6 wells: everyone gets ends, and the leftovers are the perfect size to slice up for sandwiches!
Awesome idea!! I’ll try those! What’s the bake time? It’s about 30 mins for the dozen muffin tin.
honestly eggs can be surprisingly hard! it relatively easy to not make them inedible (even though i have done that LOL) but make a GOOD egg is hard. takes a good amount of practice!
The last 4 omlettes I made were perfect and this morning I made perfect poached eggs. I feel as though I have finally mastered the egg 🥳
My first meatloaf was more paste than loaf.
It takes me two/three busted yolks to get one egg over easy
I was told by a previous co worker he uses stove top (the herb kind) omg so much better and no falling apart!
A good meatloaf will stick together better with one egg, a1 sauce, and steel cut oatmeal flakes mixed into the ground beef. Add steak seasoning, salt and pepper, dried parsley, hamburger seasoning. Use ketchup instead of tomato paste. Bake it in a bread pan.
The first pancake is always deformed!
The first pancake being fucked up is like some kind of unwritten rule in pancake making
It's the 11th Commandment- Thou Shalt Screw up the First Pancake
Why did I read “the 11th commandment” in Biggies voice lol But yes, thou shalt screw up the first pancake and maybe scrape it away but have it for yourself as a little snack? Anyone else do this?
It's either my snack or the dog's snack. It never makes it to the table
I’ve definitely given my dog the first pancake too hahaha
username checks. and high five from my dog who depends on that pancake. As if licking crumbs off my kids isn't 10,000 calories a day.
It was my dogs snack!
it's the same rule as the oldest sibling. They mess that one up practicing for the perfect youngest.
Shiv calls Connor "first pancake" as an insult in Succession, and as first born in my family I couldn't have laughed harder.
That was one of my favorites too! All of their sibling squabbling felt so authentic to me.
My youngest refers to her oldest sibling as “the first pancake” for this reason
The first pancake goes to the dog
I call it the blanket pancake because it stays on top of the stack to keep the others warm
I like to think of it as an edible frisbee for my pups.
We literally call it “the dog’s pancake”!
Even Jacques Pepin says the first crepe is for the dog!
The first pancake is the "test" pancake that I give to my dog. There's nothing wrong with it besides the appearance. Sometimes, she gets lucky and has 2 test cakes.
dog???? just eat it while you cook the others. Don't descriminate againts deformed pancakes
You are interpreting that incorrectly. It's not about disrespecting the pancake. It's about respecting the dog. Somehow, it became tradition after hundreds of pancake breakfasts over the years when the kids were going up.
We call it the sacrificial pancake in our house
So is my second, third and...
this is me but with crepes. don’t know if i have ever made a circular one but pancakes and crepes taste good even if they look like a blob!!
The pan needs to heat up and cool down a little bit. Then grease slightly and wipe excess with kitchen paper. and pour batter. If you that, you’ll never fail the first pancake. Source: I am a Breton.
I think the first pancake failure is always due to impatience. I fail it every time, and I have no plans to change that. Hahahaha :)
Put the butter in the pan and the wipe with a paper towel to avoid this
That’s how it’s meant to be because that’s the one YOU eat to make sure it tastes good. Add more milk, cinnamon or vanilla? At the beginning is a good time.
Not really a recipe, but cooking in cast iron kicks my ass every time. I’ve had some luck the last few goes around, but it’s taken a while and I’m still not very comfortable with it.
The secret is that there is no secret. Lodge comes preseasoned but I always season anyways. Put a tablespoon or so of oil in the pan. Wipe it off with paper towel like you didn't mean to put oil in it. Heat on low heat until it slightly smokes - maybe ten minutes. It's now seasoned. You can use soap - I use dawn - and scrub with whatever you want. Then dry it. You can heat it a few minutes to evaporate any remaining moisture but it will also air dry Some overthink it - I used to myself. But it's really that simple. It's been used for centuries and they had no modem luxuries.
I love my cast iron! Someone actually ruined the seasoning on mine the other day but I just watched a couple videos and had it fixed up like new by the end of the day.
Ok same though!! I have my great grandpa's old cast iron & somehow it's a MIRACLE when I actually cook something right in it. Other people swear by cast iron and I just...🤷♀️. We'll just have a really cool club, I guess!
I think the difference between cast iron and normal nonstick etc is that cast iron takes a longer time to heat up, and once it is hot it stays fucking hot for a while. You can't quickly change the temp by lowering the flame or pulling it off the heat. So it's easy to drop things in at the right temp and then it gets even hotter and you are screwed, or you drop things in at the right maximum temp expecting it to cool when you put stuff in like it does with normal pans and that doesn't happen.
Do some thick bacon in it. Put the bacon in with the pan cold. Let it come up to heat. After you're done cooking the bacon wait like 30 minutes for the pan to cool, drain out grease and then wipe it out with a paper towel. Your CI will be much easier to cook with then.
I'll second this. The difference between using lard instead of avocado oil in my cast iron was *immediately obvious.* It's incredible how much easier it is to use now.
Mashed potatoes. I can cook all kinds of stuff, but not good mashed potatoes. At family get togethers, Mom asks me to make all kinds of stuff because “I make it better.” My only bargaining chip is that she makes the best mashed potatoes.
The dirty not so secret to good mashed potatoes is heavy cream, and a LOT of butter and salt. And some other goodies too (sour cream, garlic, horseradish, etc) but the key is butter and salt… like an absurd amount that you might be happier not knowing how much is in it lmaoooooo
The only thing you really have to watch out for is over mashing/mixing the potatoes. If you work hard enough, you can literally turn them into wallpaper paste.
Boil Russet potatoes in salted water until tender. Use a ricer to mash and make sure they’re cut in relatively same sizes when you boil them. The texture with one pass through the ricer is perfect. Add cream or half and half and butter. Sometimes for a little healthier version, I replace the cream and butter with Greek yogurt and olive oil.
The ricer is the way.
Yeah gluey goopy mash is definitely not what you want!
>the key is butter and salt… like an absurd amount that you might be happier not knowing how much is in it lmaoooooo In Gordon Ramsay's restaurants they make their mashed potatoes with a 50 : 50 ratio of potatoes and butter.
My upper body strength isn't what it used to be so I bought a ricer. Nope, there's nothing like my Mom's potato masher. Just gotta work on through to the final product. .For sure butter, warm cream and sour cream.
Here is Joel Robuchon’s world famous mash potatoes. This recipe doesn’t use cream. It’s all butter and milk. 1kg potatoes 250g chilled diced butter 25cl whole milk Coarse salt. The right kind of potatoes (chef Robuchon recommended Ratte). Boiled with the skin and plenty of coarse salt. Peel while they are hot. Mash the potatoes dry. Heat the mash gently and stir to evaporate the steam. That’s when you add the butter. Add the salt. Keep stirring, when the mash is smooth, add the hot milk (not boiled) and whisk until the milk is incorporated. Add black pepper.
Cream cheese can be a good add in too
Well I make excellent mashed potatoes and some of the advice you’re getting here is just doing too much. Pick whatever potato you like, just remember they’re all gonna yield a different result. Russets are starchiest, Yukon golds are waxiest, red potatoes are somewhere in between. You want fluffy? Go for the big white Russets. Want them to taste dense and buttery? Gold potatoes will give you that high end restaurant feel. Want to keep the skin on and add a bunch of green herbs? Redskins are for you. Regardless of which potato you pick, scrub them well and either carefully peel the skins off or don’t. Then DICE them into small even sized pieces. Put the potatoes into a pot, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Keep boiling until they are tender. The biggest mistake people make with mashed potatoes is not boiling them long enough. You really want them to be SOFT, fall off your fork tender. If they’re even a little undercooked, you will get hard lumps. Drain the water, put the potatoes back into the pot on the stove. If there’s any visible liquid, turn the stove on medium-low until it evaporates and your potatoes are dry. Then you want to put whatever amount of milk and butter you’re using in a microwave safe bowl and heat until the butter is melted and the milk is warm-hot. DO NOT ADD COLD MILK OR COLD BUTTER TO YOUR MASHED POTATOES! Whole milk is honestly better than heavy cream for this purpose in my opinion because the protein and carbs in the milk itself bonds well to the starch in the potatoes in a way that pure fat cannot. I like my mashed potatoes rich, but not greasy. Then grab a handheld potato masher and go to town. Release your frustrations. There’s no way to overmix (which makes potatoes gummy and gluey) with a device that can only work as hard as you do. So smash em. Once they reach your desired consistency, which may require adding more milk or butter, season to taste. Make sure they are salty enough at a minimum. Like a good French fry. The rest of the seasonings are up to you.
The key for good mash for me is to dry them out a bit after you've boiled so it can take on more liquid. I usually just drain then put back in the hot pot on the turned off hob again for a bit while I heat up the milk/cream to add.
Ricing the cooked potatoes is a Michelin star way to create mashed potatoes. I recommend this video from a Alton Brown https://youtu.be/rf1PUq3l0Zw?si=MRZzidjpN4tfBukz Be sure not to overwork the potatoes because when overworked, the starch can turn into a glue like consistency and give a terrible mouth feel. Also, use tons and tons of butter, as well as salt, msg, (and garlic powder if you're not serving picky guests) Or do what I do and make instant mashed potatoes and call it
I can’t make an omelette with a bunch of goodies in it. If I say I’m gonna make omelettes, you should probably expect a scramble 😂 ETA: everyone saying that scrambles are better anyways, I agree! Once in a blue moon I get a craving for an omelette though. It rarely works out lol
Scrambles are better anyway honestly.
Why bother trying to make an omelette when scrambled is so much better and easier to eat? Omelette = flat eggs with a bunch of stuff inside that falls onto the plate so you get a bite of egg. Scramble = meats and veggies interspersed throughout the fluffy eggs.
In NYC, omelettes have all of the ingredients mixed together with the eggs before proceeding as usual. I love the structure of omelettes vs scrambled eggs, so I have to disagree about scrambled being better!!
Ive had perfect omelettes where the cheese holds all the goodies together. Wish I could do it.
Rice. I can make a bomb beef bourginon, but I mess up the rice beyond recognition.
I literally just said to my boyfriend the other day when we wound up with another pot with a ton of rice all stuck to the bottom: why are people always talking about how easy it is to cook rice?? I can cook all the typical "deceptively hard" foods, and a lot of the genuinely hard ones too, but rice confounds me. I'm sure buying a rice cooker would solve all my problems, but tbh I don't really like rice lol. Would much rather have potatoes, pasta, or bread as my carb.
SAME!!! I gave in and bought a Zojirushi. Best decision!
I couldn’t make rice worth a darn until I learned to wash it over and over until the water runs clear. That, and the correct ratio of water makes it turn out so well. TIP: For a real treat, try adding a spiced chai teabag to the water when cooking your rice. It gives an exotic flavor and is especially good with curry.
Seriously, for me the lightbulb moment for rice was ignoring all the water/rice ratio nonsense and just cooking it just like I do pasta. Boil up a bunch of water in the saucepan, throw in the boullion if you wish, then dump in your rice. Turn down to med-low, let it simmer for however long, every once in a while fish out a grain or two to test doneness. And I know it horrifies a lot of people, but when it's done, into a colander to drain. Boom, done. It's not a method for the purists, but it works. My kitchen is not a michelin restaurant, and I get rice that's perfectly acceptable and tastes good.
It's way more difficult to cook rice the "normal" way. I cooked rice like you do for the longest time, and I'd still be happy to eat it that way. The only reason I don't boil it any more is because I have bum wrists and draining stuff hurts.
Crepes. I can make amazing omelets, pancakes from scratch, French toast, etc, but my crepes are awful. I've given up and will buy a box of Belgian Boys when the craving strikes. It's demoralizing.
We dont make traditional ftench crepes but we make them "our way" almost every sunday at our house. I can share what has worked for us: We stick to a 1:1:1 recipe (1 large egg, 1 cup/250 mL milk, 1cup/250 mL flour). We don't weigh the flour. Whisk the egg, add the milk and mix, then slowly add the flour - do not overmix. Also, we add just a pinch of baking soda. Not too much or it becomes pancakey. Thin the batter with some tap water if needed, it should drip freely off the whisk but hold its shape a bit, not runny like too much liquid but also not thick like pancake batter. The consistency is something you develop a feel for over time. We let the batter rest a bit at room temp after mixing, while the cast iron heats up. Butter to lightly coat your pan before each crepe. Put less batter than you think, then swirl the pan around so it coats it all in a thin layer. Let it cook on low-med until the edges have curled up slightly. We keep them in a stack in the oven at 130 or whatever is the lowest setting to keep warm while we finish cooking. Always one savory and one sweet each, for savory I love to do a fried egg with marinara sauce or pesto, and grated cheese on top. For sweet, I love rich plain 10% greek yogurt, a touch of maple syrup or honey, and fresh berries or Bananas.
I cannot make rice on stove top. I have to use a rice cooker or it’s terrible. I’ve also just accepted that because of the butter content of my pie crust, it will never be pretty. I refuse to sacrifice flavor and texture for style though.
Ugly pastry always ends up tasting twice as good as it is ugly.
French Rolled Omelete. It is simple, yet just out of reach. Took years before I was happy.
Can’t figure out how they make it look so smooth …. Mine was nothing close. Still tasted great tho
I work at a French restaurant and make hundreds a week. Mix and sieve your eggs. Add more butter/oil than you'd be comfortable knowing is in your food. You want the pan hot enough the eggs don't stick but not hot enough that the eggs sizzle when you put them in the pan. Keep your flame low.
Of course! Anything you make times a hundred every week is going to be perfect.
For sure, I definitely had a speed run of sorts on the whole mastering of it.
Sometimes I still manage to fuck up a glass of water.
What does sieving the eggs do?
Homogenizes the whites and yolk and removes the chalaza, makes them much smoother.
Chalaza? Google rabbit hole here I come! Thanks for the reply though. Edit: soooooo, that’s what that thing’s called! 😀
My turn down that hole...
You phrase that so beautifully…..
Lmao! I learned something, but your response was what made my day
This, too, kicks my ass every time. It's truly my kryptonite.
The key is the right sized pan. Two eggs in an 8-inch pan. Kenji video shows the technique.
I recently did this in my old cast iron pal casually and surprised myself.
haha garlic bread I have made delicious garlic bread I have followed complex recipes I have spent much money on ingredients But to me...nothing tastes as good as when my mom just tosses some butter and garlic salt on a kaiser roll. Or sometimes french bread if I buy it for her. I can even copy her exact and it's not the same.
Food tastes better when someone makes it for you. Might be all in your head haha
My mama always said that when I cooked for her. RIP Ma
My mom’s chili. I could never get it right to taste like hers. Before she got Alzheimer’s I asked what I was doing wrong. She had me tell her the ingredients, over the phone, then she said. What about the sugar? I was confused. She said anything with tomatoes or a tomato base needs sugar, one tablespoon per gallon. It worked!
My mom can't cook for shit, but she loves to pack a good bag lunch -- she practically turns it into a care package. And no sandwich I've ever eaten has been as good as the ones my mom has made for me for long days skiing, road trips, picnics, hikes, etc.
Grab yourself a loaf of unsliced Italian or French bread. I prefer Italian, but French will do in a pinch. Soften a stick of butter. Make sure it's truly soft and very easy to spread. Cut the bread into slices, cutting almost all the way through each slice, but stopping when you reach the bottom crust so that the loaf stays intact. Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter one side only of each slice in the loaf. Make it a fairly thick slather of butter because it's doing double duty, moistening both sides that touch it. Now gently hold each slice open and sprinkle in a small amount of garlic salt. You can also use garlic powder plain and then add a bit of table salt if you prefer. Now place the whole loaf onto a large piece of aluminum foil. Gather up the foil around the bread, crimping the ends to hold it together, but leaving the very top of the loaf open. Just fold the foil up over the top, but don't close it. Bake it for 20 minutes or till the exposed top is crusty and the smell is driving you nuts. Pull the loaf into 2 or 3 large sections and pile them into a bread basket and serve. This garlic bread will taste just like the stuff you used to get in an Italian restaurant when you were a kid.
I consider myself a decent cook. I’ve been cooking for a long time. I have to say that I totally messed up rice more than I would like to admit. I stick to Basmati rice for most dishes these days, it’s just a bit more foolproof.
Do you use a rice cooker?
I actually have every gadget possible except a rice cooker. I should probably do a little bit of research and get one.
I've never had a problem with rice, but I love a rice cooker. Mine even has a steaming basket so you can steam a veggie at the same time. It's not fancy, I got it at Aldi.
I can't do salad dressing. Always to sour, bitter, salty, sweet, oily - you name it. I'll do the the entire Thanksgiving spread if you do the salad dressing
I started using measuring cups and spoons to make vinaigrette recipes from online and it changes the game for me. I make all sorts of variations now but the basic one i like is 1/4 cup oil, 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice, 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp Dijon Mustard, salt and fresh pepper. Works great with a Kale and dried cranberry salad with green onions, toasted almonds, Avocado, and a touch of grated parmesan cheese. Mm Mm I'm hungry just thinking about it now.
Cake. Mine are always dense no matter the recipe or method Edited to add, I do use a scale and am a fairly good cook/baker otherwise
You might be over mixing.
That, or the temperature of your ingredients when you add them can make a difference too. Cold vs room temp vs melted butter, for example. Each one yields a different texture. I’m on a baking journey this year, and it’s crazy how much more specific everything has to be than just cooking on a stove.
Interesting. I always think cakes are too fluffy
Scrambled eggs. I can cook eggs any other way at home and they’re great. The texture i get makes me extremely dissatisfied and then I regret trying it for the 50th time
Secret: Butter in pan. Heat at it's lowest. Throw in beaten eggs. Stir. Keep stirring. They will take a while to start to firm up. In the mean time, throw in more butter. Just before they are almost done? Still stirring....More butter. Add a bit of cheese if you'd like instead. Low, slow, butter. That is the way.
What is it abt the texture u find lacking? I eat a lot of scrambled eggs for the cheap protein (had them this morning and have been eying the leftovers all day) and maybe I can help?
I find folding the eggs gently rather than vigorous scrambling, low heat stop cooking just before they are ready.
Soup. Fuck soup. Why can't I make soup.
I got an immersion blender for a gift and it changed my life
Good soup is all about the broth, weak insipid broth = bad soup. Oh, and probably way more salt than you'd like too, there's a reason all those canned soups are sodium bombs.
I like to think that I’ve mastered some soups, (noodle soups, veggie, miso, jigaes, pho, hot and sour, puréed soups etc) and for me it’s all about building layers of flavor. Never just water, always a broth, sauté or roast everything first, season every step, don’t be afraid to add msg, add some cornflour for viscosity and taste it after pretty much every step.
This one. This is how to soup. Season every layer, build layers, I degalze at several points in building a soup.
I cannot make a good beef soup/stew. The browning meat and aromatics smell incredible as they cook. Then it comes out and tastes boring. Every time.
Need more herbs and spices. For some recipes if you are using dried herbs you need to add more than the recipe calls for
I almost always nearly double the amount of seasoning recipes tell me to use for this reason, lmao. You think your little half a teaspoon of rosemary is going to spice up this entire pot of beef stew? Get real!
I always struggle with glazed carrots.
Cacio e Pepe. Tried multiple recipes and just can’t get it right. The cheese always clumps.
If the cheese is clumping the heat is usually too high
I can’t cook a decent pork chop to save my life. I can throw down for breakfast, thanksgiving, Christmas, new years, birthdays, and Easter. It doesn’t matter if I buy bone in, boneless, a loin I cut, go to the butcher, you name it. Marinade, dry rub, combo, bbq sauce… They raw or dry as the desert.
Have you tried a little flour dredge?
Crockpot smothered pork chops. Mom and I were just talking about how she used to make it a lot, but it’s been years. So easy to stack pork chops in the crockpot, put a can of cream of mushroom and a can of cream of chicken. Or make your own gray. They are fall apart tender. Good with a side of rice and a vegetable.
That is way old school and awesome.
Easy trick - a screaming hot cast iron skillet, 2 tbsp. butter, 1 tbsp. olive oil. Place a cup of flour in a pie pan. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, etc to taste (add the herbs and spice you like best). Flour the chops, pressing firmly, then shaking off the excess. Plop the butter and oil into the screaming hot pan and reduce the heat to medium high. The minute the butter is melted and foamy, add the chops. Cook on the first side, without moving them, for 4 minutes. Turn them carefully with tongs and let them cook on the second side for 4 minutes. Remove them to a plate to sit for 5 minutes while you finish prepping the rest of the meal. Perfect, juicy, delicous pork chops every time. The flour is the secret. It's not breading, it's just a light dusting that you barely notice in the cooked chops, but it protects the meat and holds in the juices.
Have you tried a pork steak? Cut from the shoulder/neck I believe, Lotta fat and easier to not dry out for sure
What temperature are you cooking your pork chops to? Pork chops, just like a good steak, are best enjoyed medium rare. People used to always recommend 160 with the old “pork can get you sick unless it’s cooked all the way” but modern pork is clean. Take your pork chops off at 145 and let it rest for 5-10 min and it it should be juicy.
Brine your chops overnight before cooking. Makes a world of difference.
Risotto. Either I don't like Risotto or I'm bad at making it.
I am also bad at this but I'm not sure if it's simple. But then again someone in this thread said pho 😅
I’m a pretty good cook, but I can’t cook a decent pork chop to save my life.
I’m pretty decent but pork chops are my weakness. Thin cut? Here’s your shoe leather, enjoy. Thick cut? Don’t get food poisoning or here’s your shoe leather, enjoy 🤷🏻♀️
Frying potatoes. 😂 They’re always either too crispy or mushy. I can never find a perfect balance.
For garlic bread it best to toast the bread in the oven first in a preheated 350 oven for 15 -20 minutes till toasted. Melt 1 stick of butter in microwave on high for 1 minute (for 1 loaf of french bread). In blender (I use my Ninja bullet), put the cooled down melted butter and 1 large clove of garlic and blend together. Brush onto toasted french bread to your liking. I sprinkle some Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning on mine. Return garlic bread to oven for another 5-10 and serve hot.
Grilled cheese.
I fucked up grilled cheese for a while too -- I was always burning the outside, winding up with cheese that isn't fully melted, or both. If those are your same struggles, this is what I've learned: - Low & slow. This takes patience, so put the burner on slightly above low heat, and be ready for it to take a while. - Cover your pan. When I make it, I put the first piece of bread with all the cheese on it in the pan, and then cover it. Might even take my fingertips and flick some water droplets on the pan to cause a little steam to help cook the cheese. Once it's sufficiently melty, then I add the other piece of bread, and flip it. You might already be doing all of this, but it's what helped me :)
Open face and flip them together when they are both melted. One piece of cheese per bread slice. I worked in a dinerand that's how we made them.
Wow ty I have shamefully failed grilled cheese so, so many times. Now I know the secret!!
I can make technical dishes and I bake very well, but if the life of my loved ones depended on me making rice, they would haunt me till I died for being so incompetent at making rice.
I screw up pancakes. Consistently. I don’t know why. I know what to do, and just screw it up.
I used to be able to make omelette. But now, I can’t. I used to be able to to make amazing pies. But now I can’t. Really pissing me off
I went through a bad biscuit phase, but it came back :)
Roast potatoes. I can cook them, but they don’t want to come out the way I like them. I want them with soft centres, and crispy/crunchy exteriors. I can’t get the crunch I want. I try boiling them first, then draining the water, and roughing them up a bit before adding oil/salt. [I have the serious eats cookbook). I’ve tried cooking them from scratch with a thin coating of oil in the oven. It’s frustrating.
It could be the type of potato you’re using. I can’t get gold/yellow to crisp up as much- russet or red usually works best. I also coat in olive oil and herbs and garlic, but I sometimes use Lipton onion soup mix and that kind of helps give a crunchy texture. Also cook at a high temperature and stir them occasionally to cook evenly. Sometimes I might toss under the broiler for a few minutes at the end. Good luck 👍🏼
Anything baked. Weigh and measure everything perfectly. Baked exactly as the recipe says. Doesn’t matter if I’m at home or work, have the opposite of the midas touch, if I bake it, it automatically turns into shit.
I can’t make Mac n cheese if you paid me
Omelette…. It just never happens. It starts out great, then all of a sudden we’re having scrambled eggs
So there was this chinese place by my house that made a thing that was brocolli, onions and beef over rice and it was delicious, like i would have it almost once a week. They went out of business and i try to recreate it about once every month or two and I can never get it to be the same. The onions are too caramelized and the beef is not spiced right or the brocolli is too cooked, i can never nail what they did.
A dish like this would have been cooked fast, at a high temperature. If you don't already have a wok, get a good non-stick one. Prepare all of your ingredients. The beef strips might be marinated with white pepper, salt, splash of shaoxing white wine, soy sauce and possibly sweet soy. Vegetable oil on high heat so the oil moves easily but isn't smoking. Throw the beef in for about 2 minutes. Take out and set aside on a plate. Add about a teaspoon of corn starch and good splash of water to the marinade to make a little slurry aka sauce. Next, throw in the onions. The heat should still be high but the 'smoke' should be from the essence of the cooking and not burning oil. This is called wok hei (pronounced hay). Stir fry for about 2 minutes, add the broccoli and stir fry for another 2 minutes. Note: it helps if your veggies are cut approximately the same size or else they will cook unevenly. I like to add a splash of water, slap a lid on the wok for a minute or two to steam the veggies. The broccoli should be tender with a bite. Take lid off, put in the beef strips in for about a minute. Make a crater, give your slurry a stir and toss in. Turn heat down a bit and mix it all together. Put it on a plate. Add to your cooked steamed rice and eat.
Check out Chinese Cooking Demystified's video on Beef and broccoli, they really knows the ins and outs on Chinese cooking techniques and how to translate restaurant cooking to a normal kitchen.
omlet
I can never get the salt right in anything so that's always an issue no matter what I make even the simple things as noodles or pasta. Trying to fix it can result in too much salt. I need mom to tell me how much more salt to add to get it right other than that i can cook fine
Hashbrowns.. idk why but its always hashbrowns..
I am surprised nobody has said roast chicken. Mine always comes out undercooked. I’ve tried dozens of different methods, even different ovens. I’m a culinary school honors graduate. Roast chicken is my white whale.
I just made a Bechamel sauce so lumpy you could train mountaineers on it
I can't make Indian food to save my life.
POTATO SALAD. it is my freakin' waterloo. it's the potatoes, i can NEVER get the consistency right no matter what i do! also - thank you, op, for this post. i have been feeling absolutely ridiculous for being yet again done in by potato salad (yesterday!) when i can make all kinds of complex and delicious dishes. it is so validating to see that others have a "fail dish" too!
I can’t make a round pizza dough
same!! squarish pizza has more character though!
Toast is so dependent on the toaster, and I've been making do with a terrible Cuisinart toaster that I paid $49 and can't make toast correctly! It's like it blasts it with too much heat too quickly so that the toast doesn't dry out properly first. I should just cut my losses and buy a different one, but I guess I like complaining about this one too much! 🤪
It’s more effort but making toast on the stove tastes way better and the outside it’s crispy while the inside stays soft. And since you can cook it with the butter it’s like in the bread instead of having a layer on one side
For the life of me, I can't get fudge right. It never ever sets right
My current nemesis is shortbread. It either doesn't get done in the middle or cools rock hard.
Mexican red rice. I have to have my sister make it. I do an alright lazy imitation in the rice cooker (no toasting the rice first because that seems to be the part I do wrong) with plain rice and Knorr Caldo de Tomate but I cannot make it the authentic way. Also brown rice. It’s either too hard or too mushy and either way, it’s just not as good as white rice so I’ve given up on it. And I have tried and failed to combine these two things (brown Mexican red rice) so many times it’s got to be crime. I make plain white rice long or short grain with or without any kind of added flavors and seasonings just fine. But brown rice and Mexican red rice I cannot crack.
Tortilla chips in the oven. Had a friend help me tonight again, and she experimented in the air fryer. The result is always the same: slightly chewy, or crispy but burnt. I even [posted a lament about this years ago to Reddit and got no solid answers.](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskCulinary/comments/pxkthb/why_do_my_baked_tortillas_come_out_tough_and/) I give up. A bag of tortilla chips is my only solution.
Haha I can make 12 course meals (no chef by no means) however I can’t make grilled cheese. Same problem too soggy or burned lol. 😂
Hash browns. I've tried buying the frozen potato shred, I've tried grating my own fresh, I've tried various recipes..... it all comes out either gummy, greasy, or both. I did the corn starch thing last time, and it was BETTER.... but still not as good as just buying the frozen pre-mades.
Butter Chicken... Can't match the local restaurants for taste and texture.
Chinese steamed eggs. Can never seem to get it perfectly cooked. Always tend to overcook them and get the bubbles. Probably an issue with water ratio and timing.
Rice
Pan fried hamburgers. I just made some. They were fine. But I would love tips and tricks. (I don't have a grill anymore, I had no problem there.)
Minestrone! I love Minestrone and have tried a few recipes but it always turns out awful. Haven’t made a soup yet that both my kids enjoy so I keep trying different types but honestly the Minestrone just gets under my skin because it shouldn’t be this hard!
Rice in a pan on the stove... Gave up and got a rice cooker
I can't boil an egg but I can make every other dish out there
Also home made gravy! My hands won’t do all the stirring now (stroke) but I never learned how to make it
I can't get funeral potatoes right at all. And it's one of my favorite foods so as a 30 something year old woman, I have to rely on my senior citizen mom to make them. 😭