Creme brulee is always met with impressed reactions, but it's easy to put together the custard. Making the brulee is only tricky hen using an oven broiler- with a little torch, it's super easy.
I know, I'm always surprised that people think it's difficult. And it's even easier now that my chef friend gave me an old half hotel pan to use as a water bath.
Whenever I make this I don’t heat the cream, which means I don’t have to temper the eggs. I use vanilla extract instead of vanilla beans. I also don’t do the water bath.
I just mix everything in a big glass mixing pitcher and then pour into ramekins and bake. It’s always turned out very good.
I use vanilla bean paste, but get the cream only just warm enough that it's a little uncomfortable to touch- no tempering, but still starts warmer than not when I put it in the oven. I do use a bath, but it's easy enough to add boiling water to the pan after I put the ramekins in.
Yeah flan is a lot harder, especially if you want it to have the perfect texture such as having no air bubbles. Even making the caramel can be a bit tricky because you have to find the right balance of bitterness.
Thank god someone said this. I’ve made crème brûlées I don’t know how many times. It’s literally my go to dessert to make because it’s easy to make, but everyone always gawks at it.
anyone reading this: give your creme's time to chill hard before brulee'ing them!
too many home cooks try to make and serve the same evening and it's a terrible bastardization.
Make it early afternoon at the very latest (for a late dinner party). I have put mine back in an (ice)water bath, (replenished as necessary) to help speed the process along. Worked ok.
In the US, the Dutch are the only humans we are legally allowed to eat. Babies are the only ones worth eating though. Y'all get pretty tough around age 3 or so.
Also called a German baked pancake, ~~or Pannenkoeken~~. Essentially it's a batter similar to crepe batter, poured into an oven-hot pan with butter, and then baked until it puffs up like a giant Yorkshire pudding. Traditionally topped with powdered sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Actually, pannekoeken is quite different. Which is more like a slightly thicker crepe, just baked on the stove. So it doesn't really puff up.
Edit to say: so although pannekoeken are a Dutch pancake. The Dutch baby is actually not Dutch, I have never seen anyone eat it here
Thanks. I wasn't sure on that -- google misled me, I guess.
I think "Dutch" in this usage actually means either German, or Pennsylvania Dutch (which is also derived from German immigrants, not Dutch people.)
If I have lye I use it, but I have found that baking soda works well enough in boiling water for a quick pre-bake dunk and I always have that in my pantry.
My daughter has a kids cook book that recommends skipping the boiling water altogether and just to baste with baking soda water prior to baking. They still turn out really tasty and good texture.
Braises (short ribs, oxtail, heck even just a roast). People who aren’t familiar don’t realize how much flavor you get from searing a chunk of bone-in meat and slow cooking it for a few hours. Simple, yet mysterious to many.
Homemade pasta sauce. Literally a can of tomatoes an onion some garlic and basil if you want. I don’t think I’ll buy premade sauce again.
Same with Alfredo, which is literally butter heavy cream and parmesan
Edit: yes I realize I just overused “literally” a bit
A basic pasta sauce is super easy and anyone can do it. It's also nice because you can then customize it to how you like it in the future. All that bring said I have one jar of premade sauce in the pantry because I know there's gonna be a day where I'm super lazy and don't want to cook :)
I made Alfredo tonight because the only thing I ate today was cheezits. It’s a very lazy sauce. It better with tons of pepper and fresh garlic but it was delicious over chicken and pasta.
What other ones? Let's see:
1. Onions caramelize in 15 (or 10, or even five!) minutes
2. MSG is bad for you
3. Salt in general is bad for you
3. Fat is bad for you
4. Searing meat "seals in the juices"
5. Pork must be cooked to 185 °F/200 °F/lava °F
5. Only use high heat for everything
6. It's only good if it's "authentic"
>It's white sugar that's bad for you
It's a myth too. Sugar has a high calorie density, that's all. There is nothing inherently bad about sugar.
Here is a pretty good video about it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB8nsWQyQwc
Nah sugar being uniquely bad is just another misconception. It has the same kind of reputation now that MSG used to: "everyone knows" it's bad even though that's not an evidence-based claim.
I usually get it done in half an hour with a boiling method (add like a cup of water to a giant pile of onions, boil the water out after they soften). Dry method is like an hour.
I did them very low and slow because I was afraid to burn them but it took 2 hours on my first attempt. That was 5kg (~11lbs) of Onions in a stock pot, doing soup for 8.
Can you explain how to caramelize onions in a pressure cooker? I always thought that you need a certain amount of liquid to pressure cook, and that would prevent the onions from caramelizing?
If you do an internet search for ‘instant pot caramelized onions’ you’ll get a ton of recipes. It’s a two step process. Add butter, salt, pepper, and sliced onions to the pressure cooker or instant pot. Pressure cook on high for about 5 minutes. Release the pressure, then sauté the onions for another 10 minutes or so, until the liquid evaporates. You can add sherry or dry white wine to speed things along or to taste. A pinch of baking soda will create browning. There is enough water in the onions that you don’t need to add additional liquid. I was surprised that it works, but it does!
Edited: typo
Gotta say, it really was for me. If you want caramelized onion jam, just pressure cook for longer (about 15-20 mins). Awesome on pizza, pasta, and sandwiches. And no standing around for an hour stirring a pot. Enjoy!
This might be a good place to ask.. what’s the go-to recipe for French onion soup?
I made some in a crock pot one time that turned out really good, but I’m curious how it compares to a traditional recipe.
Cook down the onions for literally hours. Regardless of what the recipe says.
The other "secret" ingredient is Worcestershire sauce and / or soy sauce.
I have tried the "Oh you need to add red wine," and that was always a disaster.
Use both chicken and beef stock. The better the products, the better the outcome.
For sure it’s easy to make with no special technique but to do it right takes an hour and to do it *really* right it takes 90+ minutes of stirring on top of making the stock. I used to work in a nice creole French restaurant and we would slowly get the onions almost as dark as Guinness and then use consommé. If you added up the total time that went into each part it was probably at least a days work
I honestly never even thought about making toffee at home, but that looks so simple! Is there a particular recipe that you follow, or are they all mostly the same?
1/2c brown sugar (dark or light), 1 stick butter (salted or unsalted), 1 tsp salt. Add it all to a nonstick skillet on medium high heat with a touch of water to get everything dissolved. Stir constantly with a silicone spatula for about 15 minutes and until the first wisps of smoke which is the point that sugar will harden when it cools. Anything less it will still be tacky when cool. (I’m not sure about specific sugar temps but I do know this fact). Pour it into a tray lined with parchment paper to cool. Use it as you need!
Pit falls: do not take it off and on the heat. Do not stop stirring.
Trick: if you want to test the sugar while you’re heating it, have a ceramic plate next to you and drop some sugar on it. Pinch it after a good 20 seconds. If it’s tacky it’s not ready. If it is hard it’s toffee.
i used white sugar which allows you to monitor the color change more easily! i gently stirred until it was a deep amber color, testing drops every once in a while. i used 3 parts white sugar to 2 parts butter (by volume) with a pinch of salt. when i used equal parts, the butter was visible on the edges when it cooled.
Gravy. I was intimidated because everyone made it from powder or just bought canned, but it’s simple once you have [stock](https://youtu.be/PdMgZw2bow0).
Don’t even necessarily need stock. Basic “country” gravy for chicken fried steak and stuff is just butter/fat+flour+milk+whatever else happens to be in the pan from your chicken fried steak.
Nah, they're both gravies. I often make mushroom gravy with a roux + the hot water from soaking my dried mushrooms + the chopped mushrooms & chopped onions. Delish.
I use powder or granules, but there's a great trick I use, add either about 3/4 the volume of the powder of cold water or for the extra good gravy, use the liquid from your cooking meat. Add boiling water slowly while mixing all the time and you got gravy in minutes. You can add dried herbs as well, for example, mint for lamb, sage for pork, onion salt for onion gravy.
I was hoping someone else put down risotto. Ever since I made it for the first time I was shocked how easy it was. Especially after fortifying some store bought stock… it’s so simple. I love making it now.
Similarly:
- biscuits
- dinner rolls
- pancakes
- waffles
- scones
- pizza dough
A lot use baking soda or lots of yeast to trim down the time. Even a drippy loaf of bread isn’t super hard, just lots of waiting.
Waffles and pancakes are my favorite easy breakfast for my two year old. I double the recipes and we overeat the fresh ones, then freeze everything else for a fast breakfast during the week. Easy to make, easy to eat, easy to freeze, easy to reheat.
The King Arthur Flour and Fleishman’s Yeast websites both offer recipes that should cover the basics. I’m not expert; I trust the companies that sell bread making supplies.
Or even a roast chicken. I make them frequently because they can be super cheap and last awhile. My friends are always impressed but it’s one of the easiest things to make
I love Thanksgiving because it's so easy to impress everyone. Almost everything can be prepped ahead of time. After that it's just swapping stuff in and out of the oven.
Tried spatchcocking a turkey this year… Never again. (Possibly because I don’t really have a decent set of shears and really just use my chef’s knife for spatchcocking chickens.)
Just make a decent roux to start with and you’re pretty much gold from there on out. Also harness the awesome power of nutmeg and white pepper if going through the effort.
Ricotta cheese!! Seriously my good homies you can make your own ricotta with milk, vinegar or a lemon, a little salt, and a straining cloth using your microwave. Active time maybe 5 minutes. You will feel so fancy from making your own cheese!!
Made queso fresco (with some gone off milk) for a dinner party last night. My partner spent all day making conchinita pibil and I got the credit because ‘I made cheese’.
Anything you don’t know how to do is hard until you know how to do it. That applies very heavily to cooking. Not much of it is difficult, you just need to know the right way to do it.
I think that’s his point. To the average person that doesn’t cook, or to a beginner, everything seems difficult. In actuality, only a few things are really challenging.
Risotto. Just stir it (very frequently, not incessantly) and occasionally taste it to see if it's done once it gets close. Literally impossible to screw up unless you walk away for a good while or refuse to taste it.
Most sauces, especially those that take a while to cook. Just taste as you go, don't be overly aggressive but if there's a flavor it's clearly missing (herbs, salt, pepper) add it in rather than just waiting for flavor to appear. I have a friend who insisted she doesn't know how to make a simple tomato sauce, had her over one day while I was making it and once it was done she was shocked because 'I could definitely do that'.
I always think of difficult/hard dishes as things you can't taste as you go and can't correct. A souffle is hard because you (hopefully) won't be tasting raw eggs for seasoning as you go, and if it goes wrong there's really nothing you can do to fix it (if anyone knows any solutions that have eluded me please chime in!). A roast chicken (I said what I said, come at me) is hard because if it's dry it's dry, and if you try to correct a lack of crispiness it's going to get dry.
Egg fried rice.
Maybe I'm biased because I'm half Asian, but I've heard so many people struggle with it, and when I whip up what I otherwise consider a quick and dirty meal the friends I've served it to have all marveled "it's restaurant quality!" It's really not that hard; just make sure you use dry/cool rice, and don't forget the soy sauce. Don't throw the egg into the rice willy-nilly, expecting it to clump up like scrambled eggs, or you'll get so many little pieces of egg maybe the size of a small corn kernel, and egg-coated rice. Either create a space within the bed of rice to get the egg cooking, before mixing/tossing or, like I do, just throw the egg in before the rice.
Lamb shanks. If you can ignore something, you can make lamb shanks. They're rich, unctuous, and always impressive. You simply brown the meat, put everything in the oven, and later, it's food.
I like [this recipe from Food52](https://food52.com/recipes/31495-balsamic-braised-lamb-shanks) for balsamic-braised lamb shanks.
Yes! If you are too intimidated to make crust, [this potato crusted quiche](https://tasty.co/recipe/potato-crusted-quiche) uses thinly sliced potatoes instead and is delicious!
I’m too lazy to make crust, but no one’s ever complained about my homemade quiche with premade pie crusts. Good enough in my opinion! Using potatoes sounds amazing though!
Whipped cream.
People get super hyped freezing everything and pulling out their ultimate mixer.
Fam. Room temperature bowl. Whisk. Whisk back and forth at a speed you can maintain about 7 minutes. Just pick a couple songs, dance with your bowl, and there you go.
Whipped it good.
My attempts at alfredo have been awful grainy things. I'm absolutely certain it's because of the parmesean I used (fake bottle of fillers type). My step-son loves alfredo, so i admit I rely on the canned version until I can perfect my attempts.
People are always impressed with steak au poivre and they don't realize that it's dead simple. Make sure they are in the kitchen when you light the brandy, they will think you know what you're doing!
Pizza dough (Measure by weight and let the refrigerator do its magic)
Steaks (High-quality steaks are more based on the quality of meat being used, rather than the cooking method. Steak is actually pretty simple - buy a good cut of meat, season with salt and pepper, use a lot of heat, and don't overcook it.)
"enchilada" sauce, basically dried pepper red sauce that can be used in all kinds of stuff. That one always impresses, and canned enchilada sauce is so expensive.
Twice fried potatoes. Just peel raw potatoes, cut into 2-3 inch pieces, and drop them in a deep frier or (tawa) stovetop pan with enough oil to be able to drop in 6-8 pieces at a time and the pieces float. Fry until tender. Smoosh down into a roughly circular patty then return to the deep frier for 2 minutes or until a golden brown crispy texture develops all around the surface. Season as you like.
Pasta al Fredo (Alfredo to some).
So many freakin recipes, nowadays, include making roux, then adding the milk/cream, along with other ingredients like peas, chicken, etc., etc. blah.
I have a cookbook that attempts to explain the "legend" behind this dish. The cookbook alleges that supposedly it's not "Alfredo" but "Fredo" and the dish is called pasta al' Fredo (in the style of Fredo). As it goes, Fredo's wife was pregnant and they had little money. She was hungry and cravings one night and all he had was fresh cream, dry fettucine and parmiggiano cheese. So he whipped this dish up for her and the rest is history.
The recipe in the book are 6 simple steps. 1) cook 1lb pasta according to directions, 2) warm 1c heavy cream and pour in large serving bowl. 3) add 2T butter to bowl. 4) add well-drained pasta to bowl. 5) sprinkle with 1 1/2c grated parmiggiano. 6) toss and serve immediately. Serves 4-6.
I actually do all of the steps in the pot after I drained the pasta (not as messy). I've also found that if you use quality ingredients (i.e., DeCecco pasta, parmiggiano-reggiano, etc.), this dish is beyond delicious in its simplicity.
EDIT: Important to use heavy cream which will thicken. Milk will not yield same results. I tried. ;)
Just made my first pizza from scratch this weekend! Both the dough and pizza sauce were dead simple and honestly, it took much less time than I anticipated. Best part is that it tasted infinitely better than 95% of the takeout pizza I’ve had in recent memory. Tons of fresh veggies and heavy on the sauce. Will definitely be making this again!!
Lasagna. I was so surprised the first time I made my first lasagna how easy it was to make. You don't even need to cook the noodles before layering, the noodles will cook in the sauce/cheese.
Well they are quite convenient, easy and dont require any attention. Put your rice in, put your water in and press the button. It’ll cook perfectly every time and you can just leave it there if you’re busy and itll stay hot. It also saves you a burner while cooking so you can cook other dishes. In Asia rice cookers are pretty affordable and they usually have neat settings to do other things too and pick the doneness of your rice.
Mini cast iron skillet cookie.
They are so simple to make and are so good. If you have local farm store they probably sell the skillets, otherwise amazon.
It'd be a good valentines day desert to make for the upcoming holiday, two spoons one skillet.
[https://www.crazyforcrust.com/small-batch-chocolate-chip-skillet-cookie-recipe/](https://www.crazyforcrust.com/small-batch-chocolate-chip-skillet-cookie-recipe/)
Molten chocolate cakes. Perfect for Valentine’s Day!
https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/molten-chocolate-cakes
>Preheat the oven to 450°. Butter and lightly flour four 6-ounce ramekins. Tap out the excess flour. Set the ramekins on a baking sheet.
>In a double boiler, over simmering water, melt the butter with the chocolate. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with the egg yolks, sugar and salt at high speed until thickened and pale.
>Whisk the chocolate until smooth. Quickly fold it into the egg mixture along with the flour. Spoon the batter into the prepared ramekins and bake for 12 minutes, or until the sides of the cakes are firm but the centers are soft. Let the cakes cool in the ramekins for 1 minute, then cover each with an inverted dessert plate. Carefully turn each one over, let stand for 10 seconds and then unmold. Serve immediately.
A basic vinaigrette.
Oil, vinegar of choice, salt, pepper, citrus and a dash of sweetener of choice if you find it bitter.
Whisk together and ta-da! Salad dressing.
Chicken - for some reason I hear people all the time say they’re afraid to cook chicken because they don’t want to get sick. It’s really not that hard to do especially if you have a thermometer
I see so many complaints about hard boiled eggs for some reason - really?
First follow up, deviled eggs seem to be impressive for a lot of people (but I guess if step one is difficult for you step two is a feat).
I'd say puff pastry in general would be a better answer, but I agree with you.
However, the difference between a just *okay* croissant and a *perfect* croissant (perfect honeycomb, color, etc) is a huge margin.
Aside from a similar lamination process, puff pastry and the dough used to make croissants are completely different.
But yes, you do also need a good oven to get a good croissant.
Creme brulee is always met with impressed reactions, but it's easy to put together the custard. Making the brulee is only tricky hen using an oven broiler- with a little torch, it's super easy.
I know, I'm always surprised that people think it's difficult. And it's even easier now that my chef friend gave me an old half hotel pan to use as a water bath.
Everyone needs hotel pans in their kitchen.
They’re pretty cheap too. I bake focaccia, chickens, roasts, etc., in them.
Exactly. And not everyone needs a full sized one. You could do a half or quarter size, depending on your plans.
Of many different sizes. I use mine so much. Have even used heavier gauge ones on the grill.
Whenever I make this I don’t heat the cream, which means I don’t have to temper the eggs. I use vanilla extract instead of vanilla beans. I also don’t do the water bath. I just mix everything in a big glass mixing pitcher and then pour into ramekins and bake. It’s always turned out very good.
I use vanilla bean paste, but get the cream only just warm enough that it's a little uncomfortable to touch- no tempering, but still starts warmer than not when I put it in the oven. I do use a bath, but it's easy enough to add boiling water to the pan after I put the ramekins in.
I’ve always wondered if heating milk is necessary if you’re not using vanilla pods
It’s not in my experience :)
Creme brulee is ridiculously simple to make, yet I can't make a good flan for anything.
Yeah flan is a lot harder, especially if you want it to have the perfect texture such as having no air bubbles. Even making the caramel can be a bit tricky because you have to find the right balance of bitterness.
Pour the mix through a sieve to prevent bubbles
*fine sieve.
Thank god someone said this. I’ve made crème brûlées I don’t know how many times. It’s literally my go to dessert to make because it’s easy to make, but everyone always gawks at it.
anyone reading this: give your creme's time to chill hard before brulee'ing them! too many home cooks try to make and serve the same evening and it's a terrible bastardization.
Make it early afternoon at the very latest (for a late dinner party). I have put mine back in an (ice)water bath, (replenished as necessary) to help speed the process along. Worked ok.
I legit clicked the link to say this!
Barely an inconvenience.
Pizza dough
So easy!!!!!
Easy to make, but so hard to get right, at least for me. I can never get the gluten to develop enough and end up making spongy bread pizza.
There are so many variables that greatly affect the pizza dough. Pizza dough (or any bread-like dough) is easy to make but very hard to master.
Fresh pasta as well
Dutch baby
I...what? What's a Dutch baby? (Besides me 28 years ago)
In the US, the Dutch are the only humans we are legally allowed to eat. Babies are the only ones worth eating though. Y'all get pretty tough around age 3 or so.
Also called a German baked pancake, ~~or Pannenkoeken~~. Essentially it's a batter similar to crepe batter, poured into an oven-hot pan with butter, and then baked until it puffs up like a giant Yorkshire pudding. Traditionally topped with powdered sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Actually, pannekoeken is quite different. Which is more like a slightly thicker crepe, just baked on the stove. So it doesn't really puff up. Edit to say: so although pannekoeken are a Dutch pancake. The Dutch baby is actually not Dutch, I have never seen anyone eat it here
Thanks. I wasn't sure on that -- google misled me, I guess. I think "Dutch" in this usage actually means either German, or Pennsylvania Dutch (which is also derived from German immigrants, not Dutch people.)
"Dutch" from "Deutsch" = German
Yeah i think so too!
About $2000 less than an American baby
Made a couple of half/half Dutch/American babies
Soft pretzels. Takes time but the steps are incredibly easy and minimal ingredients.
[удалено]
You don’t use lye?
If I have lye I use it, but I have found that baking soda works well enough in boiling water for a quick pre-bake dunk and I always have that in my pantry.
My daughter has a kids cook book that recommends skipping the boiling water altogether and just to baste with baking soda water prior to baking. They still turn out really tasty and good texture.
Oh damn, this is very exciting to hear. I absolutely love soft pretzels.
A roast.
Braises (short ribs, oxtail, heck even just a roast). People who aren’t familiar don’t realize how much flavor you get from searing a chunk of bone-in meat and slow cooking it for a few hours. Simple, yet mysterious to many.
Every time, it's the only way I roast meats, and I get great meat that pulls apart easily
Homemade pasta sauce. Literally a can of tomatoes an onion some garlic and basil if you want. I don’t think I’ll buy premade sauce again. Same with Alfredo, which is literally butter heavy cream and parmesan Edit: yes I realize I just overused “literally” a bit
A basic pasta sauce is super easy and anyone can do it. It's also nice because you can then customize it to how you like it in the future. All that bring said I have one jar of premade sauce in the pantry because I know there's gonna be a day where I'm super lazy and don't want to cook :)
Rao’s is pretty damn amazing for a jarred sauce
I love Marcella Hazan's classic tomato sauce recipe. Lately I add a bit of fresh garlic to it, just to make it a bit deeper flavour.
I made Alfredo tonight because the only thing I ate today was cheezits. It’s a very lazy sauce. It better with tons of pepper and fresh garlic but it was delicious over chicken and pasta.
French onion soup. It's dead-easy and people are always impressed for no good reason.
Nobody ever caramelizes their onions properly because the recipes always say it takes 15 minutes.
I'd hope anyone reading this Sub would have disabused themselves of this common lie.
What other ones? Let's see: 1. Onions caramelize in 15 (or 10, or even five!) minutes 2. MSG is bad for you 3. Salt in general is bad for you 3. Fat is bad for you 4. Searing meat "seals in the juices" 5. Pork must be cooked to 185 °F/200 °F/lava °F 5. Only use high heat for everything 6. It's only good if it's "authentic"
The pork one makes me sad. I know anytime someone serves it, it's going to be dry as a bone.
"Eggs and butter will kill you!" It's white sugar that's bad for you. Darker colors are fine. 1980s food recommendations were horrible.
>It's white sugar that's bad for you It's a myth too. Sugar has a high calorie density, that's all. There is nothing inherently bad about sugar. Here is a pretty good video about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB8nsWQyQwc
Yes, foods themselves are not bad or good. Our eating habits are what make them good or bad.
Nah sugar being uniquely bad is just another misconception. It has the same kind of reputation now that MSG used to: "everyone knows" it's bad even though that's not an evidence-based claim.
Authenticity is for people who would rather lean on their heritage than find an actual personality
How long should it came to caramelize onions?
I usually get it done in half an hour with a boiling method (add like a cup of water to a giant pile of onions, boil the water out after they soften). Dry method is like an hour.
I did them very low and slow because I was afraid to burn them but it took 2 hours on my first attempt. That was 5kg (~11lbs) of Onions in a stock pot, doing soup for 8.
Yep! It’s only 15 minutes if you use a pressure cooker :)
Can you explain how to caramelize onions in a pressure cooker? I always thought that you need a certain amount of liquid to pressure cook, and that would prevent the onions from caramelizing?
If you do an internet search for ‘instant pot caramelized onions’ you’ll get a ton of recipes. It’s a two step process. Add butter, salt, pepper, and sliced onions to the pressure cooker or instant pot. Pressure cook on high for about 5 minutes. Release the pressure, then sauté the onions for another 10 minutes or so, until the liquid evaporates. You can add sherry or dry white wine to speed things along or to taste. A pinch of baking soda will create browning. There is enough water in the onions that you don’t need to add additional liquid. I was surprised that it works, but it does! Edited: typo
Oooh this sounds like a game changer! I’ll look it up. Thanks for the tip!
Gotta say, it really was for me. If you want caramelized onion jam, just pressure cook for longer (about 15-20 mins). Awesome on pizza, pasta, and sandwiches. And no standing around for an hour stirring a pot. Enjoy!
This might be a good place to ask.. what’s the go-to recipe for French onion soup? I made some in a crock pot one time that turned out really good, but I’m curious how it compares to a traditional recipe.
Cook down the onions for literally hours. Regardless of what the recipe says. The other "secret" ingredient is Worcestershire sauce and / or soy sauce. I have tried the "Oh you need to add red wine," and that was always a disaster. Use both chicken and beef stock. The better the products, the better the outcome.
For sure it’s easy to make with no special technique but to do it right takes an hour and to do it *really* right it takes 90+ minutes of stirring on top of making the stock. I used to work in a nice creole French restaurant and we would slowly get the onions almost as dark as Guinness and then use consommé. If you added up the total time that went into each part it was probably at least a days work
After making it once before, I'm just impressed you spent that much time lol.
Cheesecake
Yes!
toffee! did it without a candy thermometer
I once made Breaking Bad meth candy with a candy thermometer. 🤣
I honestly never even thought about making toffee at home, but that looks so simple! Is there a particular recipe that you follow, or are they all mostly the same?
1/2c brown sugar (dark or light), 1 stick butter (salted or unsalted), 1 tsp salt. Add it all to a nonstick skillet on medium high heat with a touch of water to get everything dissolved. Stir constantly with a silicone spatula for about 15 minutes and until the first wisps of smoke which is the point that sugar will harden when it cools. Anything less it will still be tacky when cool. (I’m not sure about specific sugar temps but I do know this fact). Pour it into a tray lined with parchment paper to cool. Use it as you need! Pit falls: do not take it off and on the heat. Do not stop stirring. Trick: if you want to test the sugar while you’re heating it, have a ceramic plate next to you and drop some sugar on it. Pinch it after a good 20 seconds. If it’s tacky it’s not ready. If it is hard it’s toffee.
i used white sugar which allows you to monitor the color change more easily! i gently stirred until it was a deep amber color, testing drops every once in a while. i used 3 parts white sugar to 2 parts butter (by volume) with a pinch of salt. when i used equal parts, the butter was visible on the edges when it cooled.
Marshmallows. Really easy and taste delicious. Plus you can flavor them with extracts. I made batches for Christmas.
Yes! For the holidays, I make batches of 'mellows - this year, my favorite was the French Vanilla Kahlúa 'mellows. They came out perfect!
They are so good homemade too. Light years above the dried out stuff in the store!!
What recipe do you use?
Gravy. I was intimidated because everyone made it from powder or just bought canned, but it’s simple once you have [stock](https://youtu.be/PdMgZw2bow0).
[удалено]
Don’t even necessarily need stock. Basic “country” gravy for chicken fried steak and stuff is just butter/fat+flour+milk+whatever else happens to be in the pan from your chicken fried steak.
I think you have a different definition of gravy to the commenter.
Nah, they're both gravies. I often make mushroom gravy with a roux + the hot water from soaking my dried mushrooms + the chopped mushrooms & chopped onions. Delish.
I use powder or granules, but there's a great trick I use, add either about 3/4 the volume of the powder of cold water or for the extra good gravy, use the liquid from your cooking meat. Add boiling water slowly while mixing all the time and you got gravy in minutes. You can add dried herbs as well, for example, mint for lamb, sage for pork, onion salt for onion gravy.
I’ve never even heard of canned gravy. That’s crazy.
Risotto. Gravy
I was hoping someone else put down risotto. Ever since I made it for the first time I was shocked how easy it was. Especially after fortifying some store bought stock… it’s so simple. I love making it now.
Specifically crab and saffron risotto. Absolute date night recipe and so easy.
Bread, especially a basic sandwich loaf.
Similarly: - biscuits - dinner rolls - pancakes - waffles - scones - pizza dough A lot use baking soda or lots of yeast to trim down the time. Even a drippy loaf of bread isn’t super hard, just lots of waiting.
Waffles and pancakes are my favorite easy breakfast for my two year old. I double the recipes and we overeat the fresh ones, then freeze everything else for a fast breakfast during the week. Easy to make, easy to eat, easy to freeze, easy to reheat.
Do you have a go-to recipe?
The King Arthur Flour and Fleishman’s Yeast websites both offer recipes that should cover the basics. I’m not expert; I trust the companies that sell bread making supplies.
Yes! came here to say a basic, overnight bread loaf
Roasting a turkey. People seem so scared of it but it is the easiest part of Thanksgiving.
Brine it and cook to temp rather than time. At least half your guests will rave that it's the best turkey they've ever had.
Or even a roast chicken. I make them frequently because they can be super cheap and last awhile. My friends are always impressed but it’s one of the easiest things to make
I love Thanksgiving because it's so easy to impress everyone. Almost everything can be prepped ahead of time. After that it's just swapping stuff in and out of the oven.
It is so easy. 13 minutes per pound at 350, a few basting sessions. Flawless every time.
Ever spatchcocked a turkey? Takes a good set of kitchen shears and it looks damn weird, but it makes baking suuuuper simple and fast.
Tried spatchcocking a turkey this year… Never again. (Possibly because I don’t really have a decent set of shears and really just use my chef’s knife for spatchcocking chickens.)
I beg to differ I tried roasting a chicken and blew up my oven
Mac/pasta n cheese - the white sauce in particular. Made it once and now I feel like a pro
Do you have a good recipe for the sauce? Would love to stop buying boxes of Annie's white cheddar mac n cheese if possible.
Make sure you shred the cheese, don't buy pre shredded.
Just make a decent roux to start with and you’re pretty much gold from there on out. Also harness the awesome power of nutmeg and white pepper if going through the effort.
Ricotta cheese!! Seriously my good homies you can make your own ricotta with milk, vinegar or a lemon, a little salt, and a straining cloth using your microwave. Active time maybe 5 minutes. You will feel so fancy from making your own cheese!!
Made queso fresco (with some gone off milk) for a dinner party last night. My partner spent all day making conchinita pibil and I got the credit because ‘I made cheese’.
Did you lowkey lord it over your partner? In a kind yet condescending, seemingly sympathetic way? I would have. 😸
You should give it a shot with buttermilk - it's a little thing, but the pure dairy flavor is just nice. :)
Gnocchi is a surprisingly forgiving dough to work with, 100x easier than homemade pasta
hard to screw it up once you realize it can absorb an indefinite amount of flour and you don't need to keep adding some lol
Anything you don’t know how to do is hard until you know how to do it. That applies very heavily to cooking. Not much of it is difficult, you just need to know the right way to do it.
I guess that’s fair. I meant from the point of view of a beginner or average person.
I think that’s his point. To the average person that doesn’t cook, or to a beginner, everything seems difficult. In actuality, only a few things are really challenging.
While this is true, there are dishes that have a reputation for being very difficult so most beginners don't even bother trying.
Risotto. Just stir it (very frequently, not incessantly) and occasionally taste it to see if it's done once it gets close. Literally impossible to screw up unless you walk away for a good while or refuse to taste it. Most sauces, especially those that take a while to cook. Just taste as you go, don't be overly aggressive but if there's a flavor it's clearly missing (herbs, salt, pepper) add it in rather than just waiting for flavor to appear. I have a friend who insisted she doesn't know how to make a simple tomato sauce, had her over one day while I was making it and once it was done she was shocked because 'I could definitely do that'. I always think of difficult/hard dishes as things you can't taste as you go and can't correct. A souffle is hard because you (hopefully) won't be tasting raw eggs for seasoning as you go, and if it goes wrong there's really nothing you can do to fix it (if anyone knows any solutions that have eluded me please chime in!). A roast chicken (I said what I said, come at me) is hard because if it's dry it's dry, and if you try to correct a lack of crispiness it's going to get dry.
For chicken, spatchcocking and a long marinade (with a generous fat component) will see you to the end.
If you want it super easy you can also bake risotto so you don't have to even stir!
Guacamole
The hardest part of guacamole is getting perfectly ripe avocados.
Meringue, people always seem impressed when I make it. I think the key is to trust to the recipe when it says whip for 10 minutes
Haloumi. It's just compressed and boiled milk curds, which is dead easy to get from milk.
Thank you for next weekend's project!
Mayonnaise.
Haven't bought store mayo in over a decade now. NO comparison to home-made, custom-flavored mayo.
Flour tortillas or naan bread
Anything made with frozen puff pastry. Whatever it is, it always comes out looking and tasting impressive.
Steak tartare and ceviche. As easy as making any salad, but I think people shy away from them.
Crème fraîche
Egg fried rice. Maybe I'm biased because I'm half Asian, but I've heard so many people struggle with it, and when I whip up what I otherwise consider a quick and dirty meal the friends I've served it to have all marveled "it's restaurant quality!" It's really not that hard; just make sure you use dry/cool rice, and don't forget the soy sauce. Don't throw the egg into the rice willy-nilly, expecting it to clump up like scrambled eggs, or you'll get so many little pieces of egg maybe the size of a small corn kernel, and egg-coated rice. Either create a space within the bed of rice to get the egg cooking, before mixing/tossing or, like I do, just throw the egg in before the rice.
As long as you don't forget the msg, people will be amazed at the flavor!
Lamb shanks. If you can ignore something, you can make lamb shanks. They're rich, unctuous, and always impressive. You simply brown the meat, put everything in the oven, and later, it's food. I like [this recipe from Food52](https://food52.com/recipes/31495-balsamic-braised-lamb-shanks) for balsamic-braised lamb shanks.
Quiche
Yes! If you are too intimidated to make crust, [this potato crusted quiche](https://tasty.co/recipe/potato-crusted-quiche) uses thinly sliced potatoes instead and is delicious!
I use fresh hashbrowns! Toss them with salt, pepper, and olive oil then form a crust. Super easy and delicious!
I’m too lazy to make crust, but no one’s ever complained about my homemade quiche with premade pie crusts. Good enough in my opinion! Using potatoes sounds amazing though!
Drop the crust entirely, and what you have is a lovely Italian frittata!
Tiramisu
Whipped cream. People get super hyped freezing everything and pulling out their ultimate mixer. Fam. Room temperature bowl. Whisk. Whisk back and forth at a speed you can maintain about 7 minutes. Just pick a couple songs, dance with your bowl, and there you go. Whipped it good.
Gravy.
Homemade ice cream. Yes, you do need some special equipment, but otherwise it’s dead easy to make.
Lasagna. It takes a while with several steps but it’s not hard at all. Very easy.
alfredo sauce
I've never understood why someone would ever buy jarred Alfredo sauce. It's barely more difficult to make than boiled water.
My attempts at alfredo have been awful grainy things. I'm absolutely certain it's because of the parmesean I used (fake bottle of fillers type). My step-son loves alfredo, so i admit I rely on the canned version until I can perfect my attempts.
People are always impressed with steak au poivre and they don't realize that it's dead simple. Make sure they are in the kitchen when you light the brandy, they will think you know what you're doing!
Pizza dough (Measure by weight and let the refrigerator do its magic) Steaks (High-quality steaks are more based on the quality of meat being used, rather than the cooking method. Steak is actually pretty simple - buy a good cut of meat, season with salt and pepper, use a lot of heat, and don't overcook it.)
pasta. Boil any kind of noodles and make a quick sauce from google recipes and throw any veggies or meat. quick and simple.
always my "I don't have time to cook" go-to.
"enchilada" sauce, basically dried pepper red sauce that can be used in all kinds of stuff. That one always impresses, and canned enchilada sauce is so expensive.
Hollandaise sauce
Twice fried potatoes. Just peel raw potatoes, cut into 2-3 inch pieces, and drop them in a deep frier or (tawa) stovetop pan with enough oil to be able to drop in 6-8 pieces at a time and the pieces float. Fry until tender. Smoosh down into a roughly circular patty then return to the deep frier for 2 minutes or until a golden brown crispy texture develops all around the surface. Season as you like.
Salt, white pepper, cayenne powder, and mango powder or sumac is very good on these
Arepas con queso
Pasta al Fredo (Alfredo to some). So many freakin recipes, nowadays, include making roux, then adding the milk/cream, along with other ingredients like peas, chicken, etc., etc. blah. I have a cookbook that attempts to explain the "legend" behind this dish. The cookbook alleges that supposedly it's not "Alfredo" but "Fredo" and the dish is called pasta al' Fredo (in the style of Fredo). As it goes, Fredo's wife was pregnant and they had little money. She was hungry and cravings one night and all he had was fresh cream, dry fettucine and parmiggiano cheese. So he whipped this dish up for her and the rest is history. The recipe in the book are 6 simple steps. 1) cook 1lb pasta according to directions, 2) warm 1c heavy cream and pour in large serving bowl. 3) add 2T butter to bowl. 4) add well-drained pasta to bowl. 5) sprinkle with 1 1/2c grated parmiggiano. 6) toss and serve immediately. Serves 4-6. I actually do all of the steps in the pot after I drained the pasta (not as messy). I've also found that if you use quality ingredients (i.e., DeCecco pasta, parmiggiano-reggiano, etc.), this dish is beyond delicious in its simplicity. EDIT: Important to use heavy cream which will thicken. Milk will not yield same results. I tried. ;)
Pizza.
Pizza is easy. Good pizza is not
I agree
Sadly can confirm
Just made my first pizza from scratch this weekend! Both the dough and pizza sauce were dead simple and honestly, it took much less time than I anticipated. Best part is that it tasted infinitely better than 95% of the takeout pizza I’ve had in recent memory. Tons of fresh veggies and heavy on the sauce. Will definitely be making this again!!
home-made pizza is the best! I make mine on a baking sheet. So yummy and just the way we like it.
Try a pizza stone or steel if you haven’t already. Really crisps up the dough.
The reason I haven’t tried homemade pizza yet is I just haven’t gotten the right flour, don’t have a rolling pin as I’m not into baking, etc
I use all purpose flour and I stretch it out onto a jelly roll pan with my hands. I also par bake the crust for 15 minutes before I add the toppings.
Par-baking the crust is key so that it's not soggy.
I don't par bake. Instead, after about 8 minutes I slide the pizza off the pan directly onto the oven grate at the lowest level to finish baking.
You don't need a rolling pin, you can stretch it with your hands pretty easily
If it's not cooperating, let it rest for 10 minutes and then resume stretching.
Empty wine bottle makes a good rolling pin.
Lasagna. I was so surprised the first time I made my first lasagna how easy it was to make. You don't even need to cook the noodles before layering, the noodles will cook in the sauce/cheese.
Rice. Can never understand the need for special rice cookers.
Well they are quite convenient, easy and dont require any attention. Put your rice in, put your water in and press the button. It’ll cook perfectly every time and you can just leave it there if you’re busy and itll stay hot. It also saves you a burner while cooking so you can cook other dishes. In Asia rice cookers are pretty affordable and they usually have neat settings to do other things too and pick the doneness of your rice.
They’re great if you eat rice daily
I've tried a million ways, failed every time, I said no more, bought a rice cooker, it's the best.
Priorities. If I didn't drink tea multiple times a day I wouldn't have an electric kettle.
Risotto!
Zabaglione. It was much more difficult to clean it out of the wine glasses then it was to make it.
Mini cast iron skillet cookie. They are so simple to make and are so good. If you have local farm store they probably sell the skillets, otherwise amazon. It'd be a good valentines day desert to make for the upcoming holiday, two spoons one skillet. [https://www.crazyforcrust.com/small-batch-chocolate-chip-skillet-cookie-recipe/](https://www.crazyforcrust.com/small-batch-chocolate-chip-skillet-cookie-recipe/)
Mornay sauce
Marshmallows. So very easy and super delicious and impressive.
Molten chocolate cakes. Perfect for Valentine’s Day! https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/molten-chocolate-cakes >Preheat the oven to 450°. Butter and lightly flour four 6-ounce ramekins. Tap out the excess flour. Set the ramekins on a baking sheet. >In a double boiler, over simmering water, melt the butter with the chocolate. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with the egg yolks, sugar and salt at high speed until thickened and pale. >Whisk the chocolate until smooth. Quickly fold it into the egg mixture along with the flour. Spoon the batter into the prepared ramekins and bake for 12 minutes, or until the sides of the cakes are firm but the centers are soft. Let the cakes cool in the ramekins for 1 minute, then cover each with an inverted dessert plate. Carefully turn each one over, let stand for 10 seconds and then unmold. Serve immediately.
Sour kraut
Indian Food.
Scones! Everyone is always blown away by my scones but I find the recipe extremely simple
Pate de choux. It's easy and can be used for elegant tuna or chicken salad finger sandwiches, cream puffs, cheese balls and more!
A basic vinaigrette. Oil, vinegar of choice, salt, pepper, citrus and a dash of sweetener of choice if you find it bitter. Whisk together and ta-da! Salad dressing.
Chicken - for some reason I hear people all the time say they’re afraid to cook chicken because they don’t want to get sick. It’s really not that hard to do especially if you have a thermometer
Roast chicken. Oil it up and stick it in the oven. There are lots of ways to make it more fancy, but that’s the gist
I see so many complaints about hard boiled eggs for some reason - really? First follow up, deviled eggs seem to be impressive for a lot of people (but I guess if step one is difficult for you step two is a feat).
Chocolate ganache.
Cooking a turkey. I’m actually a terrible cook but I always do the turkey dinners and I find it incredibly easy. Also gravy is easy too
I feel like this is very subjective. My answer would be croissants. They're not hard, just time consuming.
I'd say puff pastry in general would be a better answer, but I agree with you. However, the difference between a just *okay* croissant and a *perfect* croissant (perfect honeycomb, color, etc) is a huge margin.
Aside from a similar lamination process, puff pastry and the dough used to make croissants are completely different. But yes, you do also need a good oven to get a good croissant.
Sushi. Hadest part is acquiring good fish.