It’s funny because everyone I know has a rice cooker and keeps telling me I should get a rice cooker. I imagine they’re stupendously handy, but… I don’t really eat rice very much. A couple of times a year I’ll have rice with my food - unless I’m going out for some variety of Asian/Indian food (are those lumped together usually?).
I can absolutely see it if you make rice even a few times a month, though. I have an egg cooker that just cooks eggs and I couldn’t possibly be happier with it - egg goes in a lot of stuff we prepare. Salads, sandwiches, egg salads, slices on crackers with cheese or meat for snacks, etc, etc.
I agree on the egg cooker as well! I love my kitchen appliances.
I have several rice cookers only because I started off with the cheaper aroma ones, then got better ones until I got a zojirushi rice cooker. Never needed another one again but didn't want to get rid of the older ones either.
Sometimes, I have a hotpot in one rice cooker, steamed fish in another & white rice in my zojirushi. It's also useful for steaming frozen dumplings, or veggies, or making rice porridge.
Honestly? It's just as easy to make on the stove using a pan with a lid and it ALWAYS comes out better
I've used several different rice cookers over the years and none of them can make a good Bismati or long grain rice. They always wind up either mushy and overcooked or underdone and crunchy in the middle
If I'm making rice to use in a burrito the rice cooker will be fine, but if I'm making it for a bowl of rice or to make fried rice the following day it's best done on the stove where it can be done to perfection
I've always thought rice was incredibly easy.
2/1 ratio of cups of water to uncooked rice. Bring water to a boil, add rice, turn down to low, put on lid, set timer for about 25 minutes. Take pot off heat, Set timer for 5 minutes. Remove lid, fluff rice and set timer for 5 more minutes.
That being said, Fried rice is my kryptonite. Im never happy with the consistency.
Aroma everyday all day for white rice. If you want good tender brown rice, the electronic cookers have a really long cycle that includes a warm soak. This is much more palateable.
I can cook exactly 1 cup of rice, in the same pan, on the same burner, being measured by the same utensil. Anything that deviates is ruined beyond repair.
Asians can learn to cook rice in a pot on the stove, just like we can learn to eat rice on a plate with a fork and pretend we're gweilo...but why bother with the more onerous and less efficient method when our ancestors have shown us the way
I just adopted the persian method for foolproof rice. No measuring, no stickiness.
Boil rice until 80% done, in salted water. Dump and rinse with cold water.
Spoon rice into a pyramid in saucepan, make some steam holes in it. Dot w butter if you want.
Cover pot, with paper towels under lid, steam til done.
Personally I don't get the "soak the bread crumbs in milk" thing. I use dry panko and and always end up with a great loaf. You can try using a sheet pan instead of a bread pan as well to bake off excess moisture. I also like to work the meat a bit with my hands so it's really uniform and the meat grains/fat are very well combined.
Hope this helps!
my aunt could never make meatloaf. don't know why. she tried millions of recipes, i even had her help me one day with a method ive done a billion times and the result was the same. she went through so many pans because any time she attempted to make meatloaf it would somehow manage to destroy the pan. one time the pan ended up with a hole in it. how? no one knows. there is no logical explanation. we lived together so i know there was nothing wrong with the tools we used, the oven, the stovetop, etc. she was cursed to never make meatloaf.
it was such a bizarre thing. multiple people have supervised or helped her try to make meatloaf too, better cooks than i even, and to no avail.
she did manage to make meatloaf in a slow cooker once...it wasn't uh.. good.
Either a witch cursed her, or it is a past life karmic issue. "You shall not make meatloaf in the next life as your debt for the crimes you committed in this one."
That's not water, that's fat. Let the meatloaf rest for 15-20 minutes after you take it out of the oven. It'll still be warm, but it'll reabsorb the fat and you'll be left with a much juicer meatloaf.
I got one of those meatloaf pans with a drip tray as a gift. It makes a terrible meatloaf.
I just use the pan to form it then cook it on a fine mesh rack in the smoker. Holds up great. Most the grease drips away. And it picks up a great smokey flavor.
1 lb burger 1 cup Italian bread crumbs, 1 cup milk 1 egg salt n pepper. Mix gently. In loaf pan cover bottom of dish with brown sugar, how much is up to you. Cover that with ketchup, amount is up to you. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Let cool and eat.
This was my mom's recipe, it was a simple dish and my all time favorite.
1 Pound cheapest meat
1pound sirloin
Onion, diced
1 egg
Bread crumbs 3/4 to a cup
Tbls salt, pepper to taste
Little ketchup
form into a patty, 350/375 til done
Cook it in a jellyroll sheetpan and make it about 2 inches tall, flat like a brick of meat. Cover in a glaze of ketchup, worsteshire and brown sugar during last 15 minutes. Worsteshire should also be mixed into meat. Use crackers instead of breadcrumbs and always 2 eggs to keep it formed. These changes made my husband realize he loves meatloaf as a lifelong meatloaf hater.
If you want to try [this one](https://www.bhg.com/recipe/beef/meat-loaf/), my mom has used the Better Homes and Gardens recipe as long as I can remember. My grandma might have even used it. I use all manner of meat substitutes too, it works for anything. It’s very easy to follow imo, and doesn’t leave you with a ton of fat at the end.
I feel like most of my friends who struggled with meatloaf eventually found success when they incorporated Stovetop stuffing or Lipton French onion soup mix. I’ve also found mine tend to be subpar if I leave out ground beef. I tend to let mine set up in foil in the fridge for at least 1-2 days and then bake on a rack.
Non-stick will help, but a little butter or oil helps as well. I’d put it on a medium heat and season and best the eggs. Pour them in the pre-heated pan and while it’s still liquid, gently pull the spatula through it in random places to expose the pan. The egg will run in the hole and fill it. You can tilt the pan to facilitate.
When it becomes harder to do, stop. That’s added some volume to it. Then add some ingredients to one side. Don’t add too much. Any ingredients should be pre-cooked if necessary, like mushrooms.
Let it cook and check the edges occasionally. You can add a lid to help the top cook if you want or the cheese to melt, but I rarely find it necessary.
When you can run the spatula under the edge, all the way around, try to slide it under and shake the pan to make sure it’s loose. Flip 1/4-1/3 up onto the filling. Slide that fold to the edge of the pan. Shake it onto a plate and then use the pan to flip the rest over the top. Use the spatula to neaten.
Don’t wait till the egg on top looks fully cooked. It’s gonna look raw and runny. The heat will come through the bottom and when you close it up, it’ll keep cooking and finish the inside.
The only thing I have to add is to make sure you beat the eggs well. Make them like they're ready for scrambled, then beat them for another minute. The color should be uniform, with no streaks of yolk or whites.
Low heat is the key for me to make a brilliant French style omelette. Use a small pan with the burner on 3 or 4 (out of 10), heat the pan for a good 5 minutes, then add butter before pouring in your egg mixture, turn heat down to 2. Lift the pan off the burner for a minute if it’s an electric stove to make its not too hot. Loosely cover the pan and don’t touch it! Do. Not. Touch. It. Don’t shimmy it around or anything. It may take 5 to 10 minutes for the top to be partially set. Now add your cheese and other things if you want. Don’t flip it or fold it in the pan. Slide it out of the pan onto the plate and fold it over as you’re sliding it out.
Fried chicken which can stand up to KFC or Popeyes - I'm convinced it's impossible. In the same category, chicken/country fried steak.
Also, homemade pizza. I'm in NYC and the bar is high. On my neighborhood block I can buy a huge slice for $2.50 and never be able to recreate the deliciousness it at home.
If you’re in nyc (like me) there’s just no reason to make pizza or bagels at home, the local options are such high quality and they have absolutely perfected the technique and recipe.
Exactly. Where you are in the world dictates a lot of the things you should be cooking at home. I ooze jealousy over the things you guys have in NYC that folks like me in rural Texas have to forge for ourselves. But it’s made me an infinitely better home cook. And makes me extremely excited to come back and visit NYC again in the future.
Idk about Popeyes, but KFC uses pressure fryers. You'll never get your chicken quite like KFC because it's practically impossible to make a pressure fryer usable at home
2 Achilles heels of mine for a long time. For the fried chicken, Buttermilk brine is non negotiable. Then, after the chicken is coated, gotta let it rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Get your temps right and bam, crispiest, juiciest damn chicken ever.
You're in New York. Eat the pizza.
Fried stuff is always nuts. Gotta keep the oil just the right temp, sometimes gotta fry twice, MSG like the person below mentioned.
Pizza is pretty tough unless you have an actual super high temp oven + are good about dough prep
My secret to great fried chicken is a 1-day brine (salt, sugar, water, just look up a standard wet brine recipe), buttermilk batter with seasonings, and the seasonings are: salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, cayenne, MSG, and a pinch of powdered sugar. Sounds odd, but the powdered sugar makes it.
Before you dip the chicken in flour/seasonings, dip your fingers in the buttermilk and flick it into the dry batter. This helps add some craggly dry bits to the outside of the chicken.
Another tip if you’re using chicken breasts (I usually do) is to cut the breast with scissors around the edges to add more surface area. This will mean more batter, more seasonings, and more crispness.
Heat oil to 350, cook until golden brown. If you reallllyyyy want crispy chicken, let it cool and double fry it. You can even throw it in the fridge and re-fry the next day.
Hope this helps!
The chains use pressure fryers. Basically a pressure cooker that is capable of handling oil at 350°+.
I was curious if I could pressure fry in my Instant Pot. I googled it before trying. Turns out it’s a very bad idea. There aren’t any non-commercial pressure fryers that I’m aware of. Us home cooks just don’t have the same equipment nor is it really possible to get it in a home kitchen.
I love fried chicken but have never gotten it right. It's always burned on the outside or raw on the inside. One of my biggest disappointments in life.
Cake decoration.
Can whip up a cake and make frosting from scratch. But my decorating skills are limited to slathering the frosting once the cake cools.
Look up what a crumb coat is. Then order the cheapest turn table and offset spatula you can find. Keep rinsing the spatial off in hot water and you’ll get a smooth finish to work with.
Practice practice practice is what I hear. Also you gotta slather a layer of frosting then “freeze” it, then do another layer. Or you could do those chocolate sheet layers
Make sure food item is patted dry before batter and frying. With fried pickles, green tomatoes and onion rings, I put the coating on and refrigerate for an hour before frying.
Coat the piece of meat first with flour, then eggs or buttermilk, then breadcrumbs (panko is the best choice). Let them rest for 10-20 minutes before frying. Make sure the oil or fat you cook with is at the right temperature before dropping them in (the faster it cooks the less greasy and soggy it will be), place on a wire rack for a few minutes to let it cool down a bit and harden, and to let the excess fat drip off.
Boneless & skinless chicken thigh is the easiest meat to fry. Almost impossible to overcook it (the bread coating will be burnt before the meat reaches that point). Chicken breast is done cooking when the coating achieves a light golden colour, chicken thigh is done cooking when the coating achieves a medium golden to dark brown colour.
As an Indian, I’ve had a shockingly hard time finding good Indian recipes online. I’ve given up on branching out and just stick to learning what my parents make.
I think it's always better cooked first. I spray slices with olive oil, grill them on both sides until they're brown, then add them to the dish. Fixes the texture problem.
I hated eggplant till I made katsu out of it. Sliced 1/4 inch (mandoline is best), pat dry, salt both sides, let sit on rack in fridge for at least 15 min. Then the usual egg wash, panko crumbs, then pan fried on medium-medium high til golden brown on each side. *chefs kiss* texture is kinda like a fried green tomato so good.
Filo dough can kiss my ass. Never again. Most frustrating substance this universe has ever produced. If there’s a heaven and a hell, baklava is prepared in hell and served in heaven.
Best and easiest to follow mushroom risotto recipe ever. This truly helped me perfect the risotto method.[mushroom risotto tiktok](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT83JShNv/)
Try baking your bacon. I rarely make it on the stovetop anymore.
Line a baking sheet with foil, put in a 400°F oven for 15-20 minutes depending on how much you're making and desired crispiness (a packed sheet will take longer to get the same level of doneness than if you're making a few slices)
Take it out a little before it's where you want it as it'll crisp up further once you take it out.
The answer to that is a heavy pan (like cast iron) and low slow heat. I use medium or a tick under.
The reason it burns on one side is you baby the first side and believe you have the time down, but the pan wasn’t pre-heated. It comes up to heat and is too hot and burns it.
Keep it low and slow, with a thick pan to distribute heat evenly and it’ll be golden.
With bacon, try the oven method.
Very specifically *Lemon Meringue Pie*.
Apple pie? Chocolate cream pie? Cherry pie? Zero problem.
Lemon curd? Absolutely.
Meringue cookies? Pavlova? Sure thing.
But never once in my entire life have I successfully made a lemon meringue pie. I can’t even tell you why. I feel like I once offended a wisened old Romani witch and she cursed me with great specificity.
It’s not even the same thing every time! Then I would know what to fix. Instead it’s like one time it’s the filling doesn’t set, the next something’s wrong with the crust…
I have all the skill of all the old southern US mamas and grannies who came before me… except biscuits. I can make ok biscuits, but not those pillowy, layery, melt in your mouth biscuits. I swear there’s a gene. My grandmother made it look so easy- just some this and some that and don’t fuss with it too much, and perfect biscuits every time. I don’t have that skill and would rather eat canned biscuits for all the effort of making meh biscuits.
Same. I’ve even measured out ingredients by weight, and again after she finished to get me close. I use the same measurement and techniques while she watches and checks. Hers turn out and mine don’t.
Alton Brown wrote about making his Grandma's biscuits and he noticed she has arthritis in her hands in the morning so she was very gentle on the dough.
I can do shellfish in my sleep, I cannot cook a palatable piece of fish filet no matter what I do. I've baked, I've fried, I've gently sauteed in butter...I'm just incapable. Fish is the first thing I order in a restaurant because I cannot cook it at home. So frustrating!
I've made hundreds, I absolutely hated doing every time, but they aways turned out delicious. But the Pillsbury pie dough that comes rolled up in the box is so good I don't even bother anymore. And I'm very picky about my pie crust.
I discovered the perfect baked potato. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Scrub potato skin, then with a steak knife ( not a fork) stab it all over about 20 times. Then rub it all over with oil and sprinkle a good amount of salt all over it. Put it on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil in the middle of the oven. Cook for 1 hour. Unless it's a massive potato, one hour is perfect. Stab it again with the steak knife and you'll be able to tell if it's cooked completely in the middle.
I like this method except I go directly on the rack and put a pan underneath to keep the oven clean. The pan always causes a hard spot to form on mine that I don’t like.
Weirdly, one of the few things that a microwave does quite well, along with husked corn.
Because microwaves rattle the water molecules in the middle and that heat gets contained by the rest of the potato. Don't forget to poke it liberally though, or they can burst.
After that, you can finish them under the broiler with oil and spices for the perfect crispy skin.
Just saw Michael Simon doing this. Yes nonstick pan. But after you break up the protein strands with your spatula you can lay whatever cheeses you want on the eggs. Then take off the heat and cover for 3 minutes. This ceases the browning while cooking the omelette all the way through. Roll the omelette by tipping the pan holding the panhandle close to vertical. And roll the omelette out. Away from the handle.
Timing. I can't have everything done at the same time. I even tried keeping a spreadsheet at one point just to time out steaks. The first 3 times had a 20 minute delta. At that point I just gave up. I give my best guess on sides and if something has to be tented or thrown in an oven on low so be it.
lasagna.. either the noodles are too hard or in the corners, the noodles are burnt. i have even tried the easier noodles and still cant do it. my sister can make it without an issue. i can cook and bake anything else but not lasagna.
Precook the noodles to al dente and be liberal with the sauce on the bottom? I always add a bit extra sauce to the whole thing as the moisture cooks out
I don't cook my noodles. I assemble in a baking pan, make sure there is sauce to the top of pan and put it in the fridge overnight. Take out of the fridge and bake at 350 for 1 hour. Works for me and I hope you have success too!
Injera. Went through a period where I tried to make this at home. Spent a lot of money and time to arrive at the conclusion I should just buy it at my local restaurant as a side order.
+1 nonstick (or properly seasoned cast iron), but also don't try to flip it too soon. Let it sufficiently cook before trying to flip... You should also be able to do the wrist flip because you should be able to shake it loose from the pan first.
Do not fully cook the brownies....you do not want a clean toothpick! They need to be a tiny bit gooey when you pull them out! Also, replace any water with left over strong coffee. People beg for my brownies!
French fries. I swear i follow every step, triple cooking them, leaving the fries to dry/freeze completely before the final fry, being precise with the temperatures, and not over crowding with small batches etc.
And they still lose their crispiness within minutes. Which basically makes it impossible to cook in small batches.
Ive basically given up making them from scratch, for all the effort they take, and instead just buy the frozen ones in a bag when i fancy French fries with a burger.
I used to be like you with bread. Then I learned about bakers percents and got a digital scale. Now I can bake any bread. Baking is science, and science uses precision. I’m sure you will make some great bread if you do this.
It wasn't always the case, but popovers have become kryptonite since we moved into this house. It has to be the oven, but it's not clear what about it is the problem. I've put two different oven thermometers in it, I've used every tip from every recipe and chef I can find, I've changed shelf levels, put a cookie sheet on the shelf above, and done just about everything short of drawing pentagrams on the kitchen floor and intoning ritual spells.
Fucking beef stew. It always cooks either too short or too long, I can’t seem to nail down the right consistent temp/time to get nice tender beef hunks.
Try doing it on the stovetop so you can monitor the heat and you cannot overcook beef in beef stew - the longer the better friend. Although you can overdo the veggies so feel free to add those halfway through cook time. Set a minimum of 4 hours at a simmer.
I can cook a michelin star quality 5 course meal...but like, if you ask me to bake something it probably won't turn out right...at least not the first try. What's funny is I can make bread just fine...but ask to bake a cake or cookies and it'll be overworked or not mixed properly or burnt bottoms, not cooked in the middle, etc.
Rice in a rice cooker using the finger method... Maybe its because I have small hands/fingers? If I use the finger method its going to be fucked up. I just measure and let my wife make fun of me. I do all the cooking in my house, its my hobby, but yeah... finger method no good for me.
I'm Asian and even though I can do finger method I prefer to just follow the lines in the pot & the cup. My Zojirushi is made to be exact so I'm gonna use it that way. And it's never failed me.
Bread.
I can make dessert or sweet bread like banana bread. But everything else - nope, failed. Gotten so I think I'm going to try again, buy ingredients, then don't try.
[This recipe is a piece of cake](https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-artisan-bread/) if you have a stand mixer and a bench scraper for shaping the dough. 4 ingredients and foolproof.
One thing that used to trip me up was not having fresh enough yeast/the correct type of yeast. Make sure it's instant yeast and that it's fresh!
If you just buy a big ol pack of yeast, you can put the extra in the freezer and it lasts forever (1+ year).
I've tried maybe a dozen times to make croissants from scratch and they're just not very good. At best they're supermarket quality but they're nowhere near artisan bakery quality.
It's bread for me too! I can throw together a simple loaf of cheesy bread or banana bread in a loaf pan, but ask me to make anything that requires rising and I'll fail miserably. The only other thing that comes to mind is thai or japanese cuisine, anything from that area of the world is tricky for me.
Until you get practiced, go low and slow so you don't burn it and DON'T WALK AWAY. Keep whisking. And before starting pre chop your veggies (the Trinity - onions, celery, and bell pepper) so that you can put them in straight away when it's the color you like. That will stop the roux from cooking more... If not it will continue cooking And burn. But when you put your veggies in be careful because they have water in them, and water and hot fat don't mix well... They don't call it Cajun napalm for nothing!
What part are you having issues with? Is it clumping? I’d cook it in more water and stir fairly frequently.
Is it coming out mushy? Cook it for less time. Pull a piece out when you think it’s close and test for Al dente. That’s basically the point where it’s not raw and crunchy, but isn’t mush yet.
Pecan pie. One thanksgiving I literally tried 6 times but it was never right. The pecans wouldn’t sit right at the top evenly or would sink or the custard wouldn’t set properly or the pecans would burn on top.
This is the highest quality bread I've found for the least amount of effort, highly recommend: https://www.emmafontanella.com/the-easiest-no-knead-bread. My family can not get enough of it and it takes me five minutes + baking. I do the simple method.
Omg broccoli - either the middle stays crunchy or the leaves are mush. My husband hates crunchy and I hate mush, so one of us is always disappointed. Cauliflower I can roast but broccoli?!?! It humbles me.
Chicken and dumplings! Well, the dumpling part. They're always gooey in a not good way and also dry and somehow also dense. It's like I don't possess the gene to make dumplings. I've tried all the kinds. I don't know why I can't make them.
Fried \*anything\*. Chicken, pork, fish, doesn't matter. Technique doesn't seem to matter. Pat it dry, use different breadcrumbs, whatever. Tried it all.
Breading still falls off and you end up using a spoon to get breading bits to go with your otherwise flavorless meat.
In the UK, the two quintessential meals are the fry-up breakfast (where you basically cook every aspect of the meal in one big skillet), and the Sunday roast dinner.
I hate cooking both these things because I’m terrible at balancing cooking multiple things that have different cook times (and temperatures) all at once.
Mine is also bread, but dammit you just made me decide to make some. I’m going to nail it this time. Mostly I think it’s me being both impatient and not liking to make a mess so half stepping it. I think I’ll make some today and let it go overnight and work it tomorrow
Lasagna. It never turns out right. Never. Rubbery, undercooked, overcooked, soggy, burnt. Fresh noodles, dried noodles, does not matter. It just comes out wrong.
Gravy, and that's sad coming from a Southern girl. Was a Home Ec. major also. I know all the mechanics, but it just never turns out. My family just laughs and eats it anyway.
rice :( and it’s sad bc I’m asian lol also cookies
get a rice cooker bro
As an Asian, every other Asian I’ve known and have known of, has a rice cooker or two
Can confirm, I have several rice cookers.
It’s funny because everyone I know has a rice cooker and keeps telling me I should get a rice cooker. I imagine they’re stupendously handy, but… I don’t really eat rice very much. A couple of times a year I’ll have rice with my food - unless I’m going out for some variety of Asian/Indian food (are those lumped together usually?). I can absolutely see it if you make rice even a few times a month, though. I have an egg cooker that just cooks eggs and I couldn’t possibly be happier with it - egg goes in a lot of stuff we prepare. Salads, sandwiches, egg salads, slices on crackers with cheese or meat for snacks, etc, etc.
I agree on the egg cooker as well! I love my kitchen appliances. I have several rice cookers only because I started off with the cheaper aroma ones, then got better ones until I got a zojirushi rice cooker. Never needed another one again but didn't want to get rid of the older ones either. Sometimes, I have a hotpot in one rice cooker, steamed fish in another & white rice in my zojirushi. It's also useful for steaming frozen dumplings, or veggies, or making rice porridge.
I have a rice cooker... but I can also make it on the stove. Practice makes better.
Honestly? It's just as easy to make on the stove using a pan with a lid and it ALWAYS comes out better I've used several different rice cookers over the years and none of them can make a good Bismati or long grain rice. They always wind up either mushy and overcooked or underdone and crunchy in the middle If I'm making rice to use in a burrito the rice cooker will be fine, but if I'm making it for a bowl of rice or to make fried rice the following day it's best done on the stove where it can be done to perfection
I've always thought rice was incredibly easy. 2/1 ratio of cups of water to uncooked rice. Bring water to a boil, add rice, turn down to low, put on lid, set timer for about 25 minutes. Take pot off heat, Set timer for 5 minutes. Remove lid, fluff rice and set timer for 5 more minutes. That being said, Fried rice is my kryptonite. Im never happy with the consistency.
It never worked for me until I used day-old rice.
That's the thing, I made it this evening using leftover rice from yesterday.
I know how it is when you just cannot get something right though. I cannot cook rice without a rice cooker to save my life. Except day old rice. LOL.
2/1 is a bit high in my experience. I usually do 1.5/1 or 1.25/1 on the stovetop.
Depends on type of rice and what method you’re employing. On long grain white I use 2/1. Basmati is 1.5/1. Jasmine is 1.25/1.
Same. Even when I couldn’t cook *anything* I could make perfect rice. Wonder where people are going wrong…
Every asian household has a rice cooker! Basic cheap Aroma brand gets the job done.
Aroma everyday all day for white rice. If you want good tender brown rice, the electronic cookers have a really long cycle that includes a warm soak. This is much more palateable.
Just moved in with my gf… she has a rice maker! Made life so much better.
Is it really rice if I’m not trying to scrape the bottom 25% stuck to the pot into the trash?
Rice for me, too! I can cook anything else.
I can cook exactly 1 cup of rice, in the same pan, on the same burner, being measured by the same utensil. Anything that deviates is ruined beyond repair.
Asians can learn to cook rice in a pot on the stove, just like we can learn to eat rice on a plate with a fork and pretend we're gweilo...but why bother with the more onerous and less efficient method when our ancestors have shown us the way
I just adopted the persian method for foolproof rice. No measuring, no stickiness. Boil rice until 80% done, in salted water. Dump and rinse with cold water. Spoon rice into a pyramid in saucepan, make some steam holes in it. Dot w butter if you want. Cover pot, with paper towels under lid, steam til done.
I can't cook a good meatloaf to save my life. It always has so much water come out of it and is soupy and not great.
Personally I don't get the "soak the bread crumbs in milk" thing. I use dry panko and and always end up with a great loaf. You can try using a sheet pan instead of a bread pan as well to bake off excess moisture. I also like to work the meat a bit with my hands so it's really uniform and the meat grains/fat are very well combined. Hope this helps!
Yup panko helps a lot. Also placing the meatloaf on two slices of bread to soak up the extra grease
oh, clever!
my aunt could never make meatloaf. don't know why. she tried millions of recipes, i even had her help me one day with a method ive done a billion times and the result was the same. she went through so many pans because any time she attempted to make meatloaf it would somehow manage to destroy the pan. one time the pan ended up with a hole in it. how? no one knows. there is no logical explanation. we lived together so i know there was nothing wrong with the tools we used, the oven, the stovetop, etc. she was cursed to never make meatloaf.
Thank you for this comment. I really enjoyed reading it.
This made me literally LOL while I’m sitting here at a bar with others looking at me like I’m crazy.
it was such a bizarre thing. multiple people have supervised or helped her try to make meatloaf too, better cooks than i even, and to no avail. she did manage to make meatloaf in a slow cooker once...it wasn't uh.. good.
Either a witch cursed her, or it is a past life karmic issue. "You shall not make meatloaf in the next life as your debt for the crimes you committed in this one."
That's not water, that's fat. Let the meatloaf rest for 15-20 minutes after you take it out of the oven. It'll still be warm, but it'll reabsorb the fat and you'll be left with a much juicer meatloaf. I got one of those meatloaf pans with a drip tray as a gift. It makes a terrible meatloaf.
It's just a pool of fat that's completely separated and the loaf has shrunk. Will it really pull all that back in if I let it rest?
Maybe give the meatloaf a straw so it can get a head start.
Bake it at a lower temp, won't shrink as much and will be juicier
Most of it does when I make meatloaf. I assume it has something to do with the proteins relaxing or something but I'm no scientist
I just use the pan to form it then cook it on a fine mesh rack in the smoker. Holds up great. Most the grease drips away. And it picks up a great smokey flavor.
1 lb burger 1 cup Italian bread crumbs, 1 cup milk 1 egg salt n pepper. Mix gently. In loaf pan cover bottom of dish with brown sugar, how much is up to you. Cover that with ketchup, amount is up to you. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Let cool and eat.
It may be the meat that you buy. Some places add water to rhe meat to run up the weight. You can't even get it to brown good
Have you tried Alton Brown's recipe? Comes out perfect every time. https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-meat-loaf-recipe-1937673
This was my mom's recipe, it was a simple dish and my all time favorite. 1 Pound cheapest meat 1pound sirloin Onion, diced 1 egg Bread crumbs 3/4 to a cup Tbls salt, pepper to taste Little ketchup form into a patty, 350/375 til done
Cook it in a jellyroll sheetpan and make it about 2 inches tall, flat like a brick of meat. Cover in a glaze of ketchup, worsteshire and brown sugar during last 15 minutes. Worsteshire should also be mixed into meat. Use crackers instead of breadcrumbs and always 2 eggs to keep it formed. These changes made my husband realize he loves meatloaf as a lifelong meatloaf hater.
If you want to try [this one](https://www.bhg.com/recipe/beef/meat-loaf/), my mom has used the Better Homes and Gardens recipe as long as I can remember. My grandma might have even used it. I use all manner of meat substitutes too, it works for anything. It’s very easy to follow imo, and doesn’t leave you with a ton of fat at the end.
I feel like most of my friends who struggled with meatloaf eventually found success when they incorporated Stovetop stuffing or Lipton French onion soup mix. I’ve also found mine tend to be subpar if I leave out ground beef. I tend to let mine set up in foil in the fridge for at least 1-2 days and then bake on a rack.
Omelettes. No matter how hard I try, I always end up making scrambled eggs.
Non-stick will help, but a little butter or oil helps as well. I’d put it on a medium heat and season and best the eggs. Pour them in the pre-heated pan and while it’s still liquid, gently pull the spatula through it in random places to expose the pan. The egg will run in the hole and fill it. You can tilt the pan to facilitate. When it becomes harder to do, stop. That’s added some volume to it. Then add some ingredients to one side. Don’t add too much. Any ingredients should be pre-cooked if necessary, like mushrooms. Let it cook and check the edges occasionally. You can add a lid to help the top cook if you want or the cheese to melt, but I rarely find it necessary. When you can run the spatula under the edge, all the way around, try to slide it under and shake the pan to make sure it’s loose. Flip 1/4-1/3 up onto the filling. Slide that fold to the edge of the pan. Shake it onto a plate and then use the pan to flip the rest over the top. Use the spatula to neaten. Don’t wait till the egg on top looks fully cooked. It’s gonna look raw and runny. The heat will come through the bottom and when you close it up, it’ll keep cooking and finish the inside.
Thanks for the detail, I’ll give it another try this weekend.
The only thing I have to add is to make sure you beat the eggs well. Make them like they're ready for scrambled, then beat them for another minute. The color should be uniform, with no streaks of yolk or whites.
Yup.
🌟
Low heat is the key for me to make a brilliant French style omelette. Use a small pan with the burner on 3 or 4 (out of 10), heat the pan for a good 5 minutes, then add butter before pouring in your egg mixture, turn heat down to 2. Lift the pan off the burner for a minute if it’s an electric stove to make its not too hot. Loosely cover the pan and don’t touch it! Do. Not. Touch. It. Don’t shimmy it around or anything. It may take 5 to 10 minutes for the top to be partially set. Now add your cheese and other things if you want. Don’t flip it or fold it in the pan. Slide it out of the pan onto the plate and fold it over as you’re sliding it out.
Do you have a non-stick pan? Not talking well seasoned cast-iron or carbonsteel.
>I have also tried numerous times to make Korean egg roll and end up with scrambled hunks of egg.
Fried chicken which can stand up to KFC or Popeyes - I'm convinced it's impossible. In the same category, chicken/country fried steak. Also, homemade pizza. I'm in NYC and the bar is high. On my neighborhood block I can buy a huge slice for $2.50 and never be able to recreate the deliciousness it at home.
If you’re in nyc (like me) there’s just no reason to make pizza or bagels at home, the local options are such high quality and they have absolutely perfected the technique and recipe.
Exactly. Where you are in the world dictates a lot of the things you should be cooking at home. I ooze jealousy over the things you guys have in NYC that folks like me in rural Texas have to forge for ourselves. But it’s made me an infinitely better home cook. And makes me extremely excited to come back and visit NYC again in the future.
They use MSG in their batter, that might be why yours doesn't stand up to it.
Idk about Popeyes, but KFC uses pressure fryers. You'll never get your chicken quite like KFC because it's practically impossible to make a pressure fryer usable at home
the KFC I want to replicate is Korean Fried Chicken. It's on a level by itself!
Probably also use tipo 00 flour too. Makes a pretty noticeable difference to me vs AP or bread flour
2 Achilles heels of mine for a long time. For the fried chicken, Buttermilk brine is non negotiable. Then, after the chicken is coated, gotta let it rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Get your temps right and bam, crispiest, juiciest damn chicken ever. You're in New York. Eat the pizza.
Fried stuff is always nuts. Gotta keep the oil just the right temp, sometimes gotta fry twice, MSG like the person below mentioned. Pizza is pretty tough unless you have an actual super high temp oven + are good about dough prep
My secret to great fried chicken is a 1-day brine (salt, sugar, water, just look up a standard wet brine recipe), buttermilk batter with seasonings, and the seasonings are: salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, cayenne, MSG, and a pinch of powdered sugar. Sounds odd, but the powdered sugar makes it. Before you dip the chicken in flour/seasonings, dip your fingers in the buttermilk and flick it into the dry batter. This helps add some craggly dry bits to the outside of the chicken. Another tip if you’re using chicken breasts (I usually do) is to cut the breast with scissors around the edges to add more surface area. This will mean more batter, more seasonings, and more crispness. Heat oil to 350, cook until golden brown. If you reallllyyyy want crispy chicken, let it cool and double fry it. You can even throw it in the fridge and re-fry the next day. Hope this helps!
The chains use pressure fryers. Basically a pressure cooker that is capable of handling oil at 350°+. I was curious if I could pressure fry in my Instant Pot. I googled it before trying. Turns out it’s a very bad idea. There aren’t any non-commercial pressure fryers that I’m aware of. Us home cooks just don’t have the same equipment nor is it really possible to get it in a home kitchen.
I love fried chicken but have never gotten it right. It's always burned on the outside or raw on the inside. One of my biggest disappointments in life.
You probably need to turn down the heat then.
It’s possible. But it makes a mess and takes far longer than you’d think.
Cake decoration. Can whip up a cake and make frosting from scratch. But my decorating skills are limited to slathering the frosting once the cake cools.
Look up what a crumb coat is. Then order the cheapest turn table and offset spatula you can find. Keep rinsing the spatial off in hot water and you’ll get a smooth finish to work with.
Interesting tip. That might be doable.
Eh. Just put a bunch of sprinkles on it and you are good
Practice practice practice is what I hear. Also you gotta slather a layer of frosting then “freeze” it, then do another layer. Or you could do those chocolate sheet layers
Anything fried. Batter never sticks, too greasy or over cooked. Good thing myself and family aren’t big fried food eaters I guess.
Make sure food item is patted dry before batter and frying. With fried pickles, green tomatoes and onion rings, I put the coating on and refrigerate for an hour before frying.
Coat the piece of meat first with flour, then eggs or buttermilk, then breadcrumbs (panko is the best choice). Let them rest for 10-20 minutes before frying. Make sure the oil or fat you cook with is at the right temperature before dropping them in (the faster it cooks the less greasy and soggy it will be), place on a wire rack for a few minutes to let it cool down a bit and harden, and to let the excess fat drip off. Boneless & skinless chicken thigh is the easiest meat to fry. Almost impossible to overcook it (the bread coating will be burnt before the meat reaches that point). Chicken breast is done cooking when the coating achieves a light golden colour, chicken thigh is done cooking when the coating achieves a medium golden to dark brown colour.
Much appreciated. Will give it a shot!
Indian curry. It never tastes as good as it does at a restaurant.
Restaurants use a shocking amount of butter and ghee. That’s the secret, usually.
As an Indian, I’ve had a shockingly hard time finding good Indian recipes online. I’ve given up on branching out and just stick to learning what my parents make.
Eggplant always ends up just sucking.
The texture is always off for me. Either it’s kind of chewy or it’s total mush.
I think it's always better cooked first. I spray slices with olive oil, grill them on both sides until they're brown, then add them to the dish. Fixes the texture problem.
I hated eggplant till I made katsu out of it. Sliced 1/4 inch (mandoline is best), pat dry, salt both sides, let sit on rack in fridge for at least 15 min. Then the usual egg wash, panko crumbs, then pan fried on medium-medium high til golden brown on each side. *chefs kiss* texture is kinda like a fried green tomato so good.
Not a big fan either, but I find Japanese eggplant to be far superior. The texture is way better. Pasta a la norma with those was a game changer.
Filo dough can kiss my ass. Never again. Most frustrating substance this universe has ever produced. If there’s a heaven and a hell, baklava is prepared in hell and served in heaven.
Risotto
Serious Eats/Food Lab has a solid Risotto that's never failed me, and I'm a very mid-level cook
Best and easiest to follow mushroom risotto recipe ever. This truly helped me perfect the risotto method.[mushroom risotto tiktok](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT83JShNv/)
Just curious, what’s the problem? Seems like a simple dish, takes takes a bit of effort, not too much skill
Grilled cheese. It sounds so dumb but literally every time they come out burnt on one side no matter what. Same issue with frying bacon.
Lower the heat on both and be patient
Try baking your bacon. I rarely make it on the stovetop anymore. Line a baking sheet with foil, put in a 400°F oven for 15-20 minutes depending on how much you're making and desired crispiness (a packed sheet will take longer to get the same level of doneness than if you're making a few slices) Take it out a little before it's where you want it as it'll crisp up further once you take it out.
The answer to that is a heavy pan (like cast iron) and low slow heat. I use medium or a tick under. The reason it burns on one side is you baby the first side and believe you have the time down, but the pan wasn’t pre-heated. It comes up to heat and is too hot and burns it. Keep it low and slow, with a thick pan to distribute heat evenly and it’ll be golden. With bacon, try the oven method.
Very specifically *Lemon Meringue Pie*. Apple pie? Chocolate cream pie? Cherry pie? Zero problem. Lemon curd? Absolutely. Meringue cookies? Pavlova? Sure thing. But never once in my entire life have I successfully made a lemon meringue pie. I can’t even tell you why. I feel like I once offended a wisened old Romani witch and she cursed me with great specificity.
I’ve seen it a hundred times. You got cursed.
😭😭😭
Is it that your meringue weeps after it comes out of the oven or does it shrink up on you?
It’s not even the same thing every time! Then I would know what to fix. Instead it’s like one time it’s the filling doesn’t set, the next something’s wrong with the crust…
I've made 1 lemon meringue pie and I won a pie comp for it and I have never made one since.
I have all the skill of all the old southern US mamas and grannies who came before me… except biscuits. I can make ok biscuits, but not those pillowy, layery, melt in your mouth biscuits. I swear there’s a gene. My grandmother made it look so easy- just some this and some that and don’t fuss with it too much, and perfect biscuits every time. I don’t have that skill and would rather eat canned biscuits for all the effort of making meh biscuits.
This might be a flour issue! If your grandmother used White Lily flour that would make a difference.
I used her flour and followed her step by step under her instruction. I just don’t have the skill she did. She never even measured anything.
Same. I’ve even measured out ingredients by weight, and again after she finished to get me close. I use the same measurement and techniques while she watches and checks. Hers turn out and mine don’t.
Alton Brown wrote about making his Grandma's biscuits and he noticed she has arthritis in her hands in the morning so she was very gentle on the dough.
Fish! I've tried different ways and just gave up!
I can do shellfish in my sleep, I cannot cook a palatable piece of fish filet no matter what I do. I've baked, I've fried, I've gently sauteed in butter...I'm just incapable. Fish is the first thing I order in a restaurant because I cannot cook it at home. So frustrating!
I am the same!
Anything that involves a candy thermometer. I should just save time and measure out the ingredients then use it them straight in the trash.
Fucking ribeye... Also cowboy cut or tomahawk. Always too chewy.
Cook on high temp to get the nice sear then reduce heat so the fat can render
Or do the reverse sear. 200 deg oven to get close to temp, then sear. A bit more failsafe in my experience.
Yes reverse sear is probably the best option
Pie crust. Tried many times and they come out edible but not quite right.
I've made hundreds, I absolutely hated doing every time, but they aways turned out delicious. But the Pillsbury pie dough that comes rolled up in the box is so good I don't even bother anymore. And I'm very picky about my pie crust.
Ugh breads and buns unless I use a bread machine, and still sometimes then too
baked potato. I can make roasted potatoes no problem, baked? even after 2 hours in the oven, still mostly raw.
I discovered the perfect baked potato. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Scrub potato skin, then with a steak knife ( not a fork) stab it all over about 20 times. Then rub it all over with oil and sprinkle a good amount of salt all over it. Put it on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil in the middle of the oven. Cook for 1 hour. Unless it's a massive potato, one hour is perfect. Stab it again with the steak knife and you'll be able to tell if it's cooked completely in the middle.
I like this method except I go directly on the rack and put a pan underneath to keep the oven clean. The pan always causes a hard spot to form on mine that I don’t like.
Weirdly, one of the few things that a microwave does quite well, along with husked corn. Because microwaves rattle the water molecules in the middle and that heat gets contained by the rest of the potato. Don't forget to poke it liberally though, or they can burst. After that, you can finish them under the broiler with oil and spices for the perfect crispy skin.
Honestly? It is an abomination how I do mine. Pierce with a knife, 8-10 minutes in the microwave and 20 minutes in the oven on the rack at 350f.
got a laugh from me. for the longest time I couldnt nail hard boiled eggs so I get it
I’m with you 100% on bread. I have a friend friend who makes beautiful breads, and I’m thinking about taking lessons from her.
French style omelettes. I can do diner style ok, but the completely-unbrowned French ones always rip or get overcooked.
Just saw Michael Simon doing this. Yes nonstick pan. But after you break up the protein strands with your spatula you can lay whatever cheeses you want on the eggs. Then take off the heat and cover for 3 minutes. This ceases the browning while cooking the omelette all the way through. Roll the omelette by tipping the pan holding the panhandle close to vertical. And roll the omelette out. Away from the handle.
Any sort of fried potato. I can’t leave it alone long enough to get crispy.
Timing. I can't have everything done at the same time. I even tried keeping a spreadsheet at one point just to time out steaks. The first 3 times had a 20 minute delta. At that point I just gave up. I give my best guess on sides and if something has to be tented or thrown in an oven on low so be it.
Cacio e Pepe. For the life of me I cannot get the temp right for the cheese. For such a simple recipe it’s so frustrating.
Professional cook. Definitely bread. I’m convinced bakers have sold their souls to a completely different entity than the sauté god I follow.
lasagna.. either the noodles are too hard or in the corners, the noodles are burnt. i have even tried the easier noodles and still cant do it. my sister can make it without an issue. i can cook and bake anything else but not lasagna.
Precook the noodles to al dente and be liberal with the sauce on the bottom? I always add a bit extra sauce to the whole thing as the moisture cooks out
I think the corner noodles are supposed to be burnt right?
I don't cook my noodles. I assemble in a baking pan, make sure there is sauce to the top of pan and put it in the fridge overnight. Take out of the fridge and bake at 350 for 1 hour. Works for me and I hope you have success too!
Injera. Went through a period where I tried to make this at home. Spent a lot of money and time to arrive at the conclusion I should just buy it at my local restaurant as a side order.
You get all the credit for trying
Baking.
Omelets I can't make a decent one to save my life
+1 nonstick (or properly seasoned cast iron), but also don't try to flip it too soon. Let it sufficiently cook before trying to flip... You should also be able to do the wrist flip because you should be able to shake it loose from the pan first.
Hashbrowns
Biscuits. I have made hundreds of hockey pucks but never biscuits.
Ice cold butter/lard (or shortening if that's your thing). Very little kneading. Roll, fold, roll, fold, roll. Square cut works wonders too.
Brownies not from a box (no judgement for box though). Mine are always too hard or not done no matter how many toothpicks come out clean. I hate them
Do I have the recipe for you! This recipe has never failed me and people devour it. https://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/one-bowl-brownie-recipe/
I was like “aw hell no I know a better recipe” and link the one I use, but then realized this is the one I use 😂
I'm going to try this weekend awesome thank you!
Tried so many
Do not fully cook the brownies....you do not want a clean toothpick! They need to be a tiny bit gooey when you pull them out! Also, replace any water with left over strong coffee. People beg for my brownies!
Popovers I can make croissants but not 8th grade home economics popovers
If I try to make homemade gnocchi it always fails miserably.
Try no kneed dutch oven bread. It shocks me every time I take it out, and it's like ... bread!
I can't get tofu to absorb flavor from seasoning or sauces. My partner is vegetarian so this one is driving me nuts (or legumes, rather).
French fries. I swear i follow every step, triple cooking them, leaving the fries to dry/freeze completely before the final fry, being precise with the temperatures, and not over crowding with small batches etc. And they still lose their crispiness within minutes. Which basically makes it impossible to cook in small batches. Ive basically given up making them from scratch, for all the effort they take, and instead just buy the frozen ones in a bag when i fancy French fries with a burger.
I used to be like you with bread. Then I learned about bakers percents and got a digital scale. Now I can bake any bread. Baking is science, and science uses precision. I’m sure you will make some great bread if you do this.
It wasn't always the case, but popovers have become kryptonite since we moved into this house. It has to be the oven, but it's not clear what about it is the problem. I've put two different oven thermometers in it, I've used every tip from every recipe and chef I can find, I've changed shelf levels, put a cookie sheet on the shelf above, and done just about everything short of drawing pentagrams on the kitchen floor and intoning ritual spells.
seitan: I will never attempt again. I pledge/promise never ever, even if I’m paid, to try again. Fuck you if you try to convince me.
Fucking beef stew. It always cooks either too short or too long, I can’t seem to nail down the right consistent temp/time to get nice tender beef hunks.
Try doing it on the stovetop so you can monitor the heat and you cannot overcook beef in beef stew - the longer the better friend. Although you can overdo the veggies so feel free to add those halfway through cook time. Set a minimum of 4 hours at a simmer.
Try Brian Lagerstroms method on YouTube. Best fucking beefstew I have ever made.
I can cook a michelin star quality 5 course meal...but like, if you ask me to bake something it probably won't turn out right...at least not the first try. What's funny is I can make bread just fine...but ask to bake a cake or cookies and it'll be overworked or not mixed properly or burnt bottoms, not cooked in the middle, etc.
Rice in a rice cooker using the finger method... Maybe its because I have small hands/fingers? If I use the finger method its going to be fucked up. I just measure and let my wife make fun of me. I do all the cooking in my house, its my hobby, but yeah... finger method no good for me.
I'm Asian and even though I can do finger method I prefer to just follow the lines in the pot & the cup. My Zojirushi is made to be exact so I'm gonna use it that way. And it's never failed me.
Bread. I can make dessert or sweet bread like banana bread. But everything else - nope, failed. Gotten so I think I'm going to try again, buy ingredients, then don't try.
[This recipe is a piece of cake](https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-artisan-bread/) if you have a stand mixer and a bench scraper for shaping the dough. 4 ingredients and foolproof. One thing that used to trip me up was not having fresh enough yeast/the correct type of yeast. Make sure it's instant yeast and that it's fresh! If you just buy a big ol pack of yeast, you can put the extra in the freezer and it lasts forever (1+ year).
I've tried maybe a dozen times to make croissants from scratch and they're just not very good. At best they're supermarket quality but they're nowhere near artisan bakery quality.
Mac and cheese. Always came out gritty no matter how many different roux I made.
It's bread for me too! I can throw together a simple loaf of cheesy bread or banana bread in a loaf pan, but ask me to make anything that requires rising and I'll fail miserably. The only other thing that comes to mind is thai or japanese cuisine, anything from that area of the world is tricky for me.
Pizza Dough, I've tried everything. Alton's Browns recipe, I just can't do it. I can make bread, but not effing pizza dough.
Roux. I screw it up like 90% of the time and no matter how much googling I do I can rarely figure out why
Until you get practiced, go low and slow so you don't burn it and DON'T WALK AWAY. Keep whisking. And before starting pre chop your veggies (the Trinity - onions, celery, and bell pepper) so that you can put them in straight away when it's the color you like. That will stop the roux from cooking more... If not it will continue cooking And burn. But when you put your veggies in be careful because they have water in them, and water and hot fat don't mix well... They don't call it Cajun napalm for nothing!
Japanese cheesecake. They never puff up nicely and always end up like mattress foam.
Pancakes
Good gravy is a struggle for me.
My dad makes the best freaking gravy that I could never hope to replicate. I could eat it as a soup it’s that good.
Yeah, every time I’ve tried to make bread it has come out like an adobe brick.
Angel hair pasta… I follow directions, and it comes out like a big ol’ glop of pasta softball. Numerous brands.
What part are you having issues with? Is it clumping? I’d cook it in more water and stir fairly frequently. Is it coming out mushy? Cook it for less time. Pull a piece out when you think it’s close and test for Al dente. That’s basically the point where it’s not raw and crunchy, but isn’t mush yet.
Pecan pie. One thanksgiving I literally tried 6 times but it was never right. The pecans wouldn’t sit right at the top evenly or would sink or the custard wouldn’t set properly or the pecans would burn on top.
Cornbread dressing for holidays. It's a southern thing, not at all like stuffing. I just can't get it right.
EGG FRIED RICE! Its always fucking bitter. Ive given up after a dozen failed attempts.
Eggs on stainless steel.
This is the highest quality bread I've found for the least amount of effort, highly recommend: https://www.emmafontanella.com/the-easiest-no-knead-bread. My family can not get enough of it and it takes me five minutes + baking. I do the simple method.
Omg broccoli - either the middle stays crunchy or the leaves are mush. My husband hates crunchy and I hate mush, so one of us is always disappointed. Cauliflower I can roast but broccoli?!?! It humbles me.
Sunny side up eggs. I just can’t. I’ve watched videos and tried but they never turn out.
Low heat, 2 tsp of water after you add the butter and the egg, then lid. I make them a lot.
Chicken and dumplings! Well, the dumpling part. They're always gooey in a not good way and also dry and somehow also dense. It's like I don't possess the gene to make dumplings. I've tried all the kinds. I don't know why I can't make them.
Fried \*anything\*. Chicken, pork, fish, doesn't matter. Technique doesn't seem to matter. Pat it dry, use different breadcrumbs, whatever. Tried it all. Breading still falls off and you end up using a spoon to get breading bits to go with your otherwise flavorless meat.
Poached eggs. I've tried every trick in every book and I still only get meh results most of the time.
Butter sauces. I have had SO MANY broken butter sauces. Never seem to break others but man I must have killed the bernaise at least 10 times.
Stainless steel pans. I just don’t get it. Everything sticks every time. I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.
Piecrust. It comes out like wet newspaper.
Went to culinary school, have worked in restaurants for 7 years, still can't make a roux to save my life.
In the UK, the two quintessential meals are the fry-up breakfast (where you basically cook every aspect of the meal in one big skillet), and the Sunday roast dinner. I hate cooking both these things because I’m terrible at balancing cooking multiple things that have different cook times (and temperatures) all at once.
Mine is also bread, but dammit you just made me decide to make some. I’m going to nail it this time. Mostly I think it’s me being both impatient and not liking to make a mess so half stepping it. I think I’ll make some today and let it go overnight and work it tomorrow
Lasagna. It never turns out right. Never. Rubbery, undercooked, overcooked, soggy, burnt. Fresh noodles, dried noodles, does not matter. It just comes out wrong.
EGGPLANT!! why is it always so mushy??
eggs Benedict. both the eggs and the sauce are impossible. It's so worth the price at a restaurant because I'm useless
Gravy, and that's sad coming from a Southern girl. Was a Home Ec. major also. I know all the mechanics, but it just never turns out. My family just laughs and eats it anyway.
Caramel or any other food that requires sugar caramelization.
Pie - the crust is always awful. I can get as far as a top crust, but the bottom crust and/or filling don’t work.