I was just going through the thread about what was the thing you CAN NOT cook, and thought, ok…we are all foodies since we are here, surely there are some dishes that we feel we do well and are not afraid to cook for our partners or company.
What are you good at?
What have you made so many times you can make it in your sleep and it comes out well?
For me it’s a toss up between a simple roast chicken and a loaf of sourdough pan de campagne.
The roast chicken has been a several decades long experiment. I thought I made a pretty good roast chicken until I went to Paris to L’ami Louis, and realized “I was not worthy”. Since then I have made countless roasts chickens in an attempt to make the perfect one. Making one is akin to a Zen tea ceremony…you can always get better, but perfection is difficult to attain.
My technique for this ostensibly simple dish is as follows… A dry (preferably) or a wet brine, schmear the chicken with butter, coarse ground pepper, and stick it in, back side up in a well preheated 450 degree oven. Flip it breast side up after about 20 minutes, take it out when the core temp is 145-150. Let it rest while you make the gravy with the drippings. It works for me… Breast and thigh meat is moist, perfectly seasoned, skin is crisp. I’m happy with my roast chicken.
The pan de campagne came from the plague years. I had always been a dilettante baker, but like so many, got more seriously into sourdough during the pandemic. After reading a book about making baguettes at home ("In search of the perfect loaf " by Samuel Fromartz), I read his recipe for sourdough pan de campagne. Using his recipe and my sourdough technique, a batard made from this recipe just makes me happy, and checks all of the squares for a good load of bread. My partner and I regularly make 2 loaves…one for ourselves, and one for coworkers or neighbors.
What do you make that you have worked hard to make best? What can you make that you can serve to guests or family that you dont have to worry about. I’m curious to hear.
I’m kind of new to making a quiche, but I really like them and I’ve honed my ability to make a very nice quiche. I need to give credit to John Kanell (Preppy Kitchen - YouTube) for the recipe and teaching me the basics.
Despite my solidly German heritage, I’m pretty good at making pasta dishes — specifically mushroom pasta, but really any pasta dish is usually a winner @Casa Lingua (excluding The Philadelphia Disaster, but we don’t talk about The Philadelphia Disaster ).
Also, pork & lamb souvlaki, tzatziki, and melitsanosalata. My mom had a Greek BF for almost 2 decades, so we spent many a summer traveling to Greece & I grew up eating a lot of Greek food
Chicken piccata is another dish I mastered over the years, and it is one of my PIC’s favorites.
I am also known as the salad queen in my circle of friends, and peeps often request I bring a salad to potlucks — in the winter it’s usually my fennel / pomegranate / blue cheese salad with walnut vinaigrette (another variation is fennel, grapefruit, walnuts, blue cheese), in the summer it’s choriatiki. Not sure salads count as cooking, tho
Potatoes au gratin. Gravlax. Tuscan soup. Laab. Thai curry.
If I may include my partner, his youvetsi is legendary (also developed over the years based on my mom’s BF’s recipe), as are his Armenian lamb kebabs.
Chocolate chip cookies. I just follow the Toll Housw recipe, but people swear I have some secret recipe or special ingredient.
Simple roasted chicken. I turn mine a couple of times, but it’s something so simple yet not often served any more.
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BarneyGrubble
(Fan of Beethoven and Latina singers)
6
Soufflés: cheese, chocolate, Grand Marnier, and pear. I’ve posted pictures here before.
One of these days I plan to try one that is half chocolate and half Grand Marnier. It will be difficult as the textures are different, so it will be hard to ensure it is not lop-sided. But, I have a plan!
Paella, though purists would sneer at mine since I include onions, sausage, chicken, and shrimp in one. I manage to get soccarat (my definition of it, that is). Mine is toasted and crunchy, but I’ve read claims that it should be black. I’ve been served black at a Spanish restaurant; to me it was just plain burnt!
Whole Roasted Chicken. This would be my last prison meal, should I ever have the misfortune of being on Death Row, provided I could make it myself.
Pot Roast. Preferably my Mom’s.
Seared Sea Scallops. I’m best when I’m making 4-5 just for myself; not sure I’d want to try doing the same quantity times 4 for a small family dinner party.
Yep, my daughter makes these and they’re my favorite style - I don’t like cookies that are soft/cakey. I like to add chopped walnuts, and sometimes coconut.
Potato salad, family recipe that my mom and aunt learned from a German neighbor in Chicago. No secret ingredients but rather a combination, and I alter it a bit. Usually gets positive comments and yes, it’s unhealthy.
Tomato Beef Chow Mein, Chicago style with black bean, onions, green bell peppers and garlic, not sweet or ketchup-y like the West or East Coast. Admittedly the chow mein part didn’t come together until a few years ago after I watched “Cooking with Lau” on how to make HK style pan fried noodles. My mom’s method was very similar but Lau had a few tricks to make it easier.
Marcella Hazan’s Roasted Chicken with 2 Lemons is easy and perfect. Same goes for Woks of Life Milk Bread.
Marcella’s recipe for pasta dough (I use ½ AP, ½ 00, wrap in plastic wrap and rest on counter ½ hour before rolling). It’s so easy using pasta attachments for Kitchenaid mixer. Her Pesto recipe is great, too.
I really love the ATK recipe for Carrot Cake, will be making one this month.
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BarneyGrubble
(Fan of Beethoven and Latina singers)
13
Is this with both fresh and frozen? I can only get frozen or “previously frozen” sitting in liquid.
BTW, the only bay scallops I’ve had in restaurants were like rubber bullets, so I’ve not tried making them. Have you had any luck with them?
Greek-style tomato sauce, which I used for all of the tomato-based dishes I post in WFD. I’ve modified it to make it a little lighter:
shallot and lots of garlic
1 can Cento petite diced tomatoes. Use the empty can to measure
1/2 of the can stock, or water and Penzey soup base
about 1/3 of the can red wine
thyme, oregano, a pinch of cinnamon and a few flakes of red pepper.
Simmer for a short time, add fish, shrimp, chicken, ground meat, meatballs, lamb, canned beans, fresh string beans–whatever you like (maybe not all at the same time;)
Bay scallops are different animals. You have to thaw them, then cook very quickly, even a minute or so, stirring them in the pan. As soon as they’re a little white, get them off the heat. Mine are usually tender, if I’m paying attention.
Ahh, I should have said fresh local dry sea scallops. I still have them sit on some paper towels for 10-15 minutes, and there might be a bit of dampness when I move the scallops to a plate pre-cooking, but the dry scallops sear much more easily in a hot skillet.
I don’t buy bay scallops. They’re supposed to be sweeter, but I do fine with the sea scallops, coral-pink colored scallops if I can get them while they’re in season. Those are the absolute best, IMO.
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