meatn3
(equal opportunity eater in the NC Triangle)
10
I’ve participated and helped a little with coordinating the Home Cooking Dish of the Month.
The idea is to choose a dish (ingredient and method) to cook during the month. “soup” is too broad - "beer-cheese’ soup would be specific enough. As participation on CH has dwindled the DOTM has become a little less specific. For example, last month it was Souffles rather than specifying sweet or savory. This month is Stew with no specification as to ingredients.
Basically there is a week of nominations (dish listed in caps). The coordinator then winnows the top nominations into a group that makes the most sense for the vote. Voting lasts about a week. Then the new thread with the winner is introduced. There is also a thread which simply lists the monthly themes with links - useful as a cooking resource and as help when making nominations.
It is fun, develops community, helps you up your cooking game and find proven recipes.
A number of the CH DOTM participants are on HO too. I think it could work!
Like Presunto I’d participate in the DOTM if I were interested in the Dish chosen though a nomination and election. If I voted for the dish I would be bound to cook it.
As for the COTM, Cookbook of the Month, I was a Very active participant almost from the start. It’s only in the last few months, and certainly after the roll-out, that I became disenchanted with the books being selected. For example this month is the third time the Zuni Cafe book is being cooked from.
Both cooking boards really need a coordinator. Usually it’s a six month term. Volunteers are requested by the current coordinator sometime before the six months are up.
meatn3
(equal opportunity eater in the NC Triangle)
17
They initiate nominations, format the voting and start the thread for the months winner. They answer questions, try to keep things on topic and often provide extra info (links, trivia, etc.) to provide inspiration for those who need it.
Ex: DOTM Souffles - I provided a link for a video of Judith Jones demonstrating a souffle for one. This seemed to open the idea up for several cooks who had thought a souffle would be too much food for their use.
I would participate . Only if you don’t have to buy a cookbook of some chef and cook a recipe out of it . I would cook the dish putting my spin on it . Not into cookbook recipes .
I would be interested in DOTM if it went back to how it was originally intended to be (specific item/specific technique) and not the broad and random direction it had taken the last few months before the split to HO.
I would understand a specific item such as beef neck . I not getting the technique part .??? I would think braising , soup , or other . Set me straight .
According to the original guidelines DOTM has a specific ingredient and a specific technique. For example: stuffed vegetables, devilled eggs, meatloaf, poultry soup, vegetable terrines.
Beef neck might not be easy for everyone to get but braised beef or beef soups would be great suggestions. Seeing everyone’s different interpretations is the cool part.
I would be interested in DOTM as I am trying to cook more dishes from scratch and broaden my repertoire.
My job is high stress , I have a two year old and sometimes my husband doesn’t get home from worksites until later. I got in a rut of package rice/ noodles , grilled meats and some kind steamed vegetables with salad- still cooking but not very creative for someone who enjoys cooking.
Since Christmas I started to ramp things up. I made Cantonese food for New Years and I’m just trying to keep the motivation up.
I’m not interested in the cookbooks. I would probably end up with too many cookbooks that I wouldn’t use. I have more fun getting recipes on line.
Actually I don’t know the CH rules for COTM, never been there. If we need to buy a new cookbook to participate, it’s not very interesting. If the cookbook has a few online recipes, or a collection of recipes from a certain chef… then, it’s more interesting.
How about CHEF OF THE MONTH, we vote for a chef and try his online recipes.
As for DOTM, if it’s just stew, soufflé, I don’t see much challenge. It needs to be out of the comfort zone while it’s still in the capacity and the interest of everybody to do it.
No matter what the dish, or cookbook, of the month is, it’ll be outside some folks’ comfort zone and inside others’. The public library, or the reading area of the nearest bookstore, are free resources for cookbook perusal. Sometimes websites/blogs are appropriate recipe sources but they ARE more likely to have errors and be sloppily/confusingly written than the contents of a printed cookbook.
