What's your cooking confession?

Gloomtastic!

Made some mint sauce for the roast lamb we had today. Loads left over so I drank the lot.

Cedrus

Whenever someone says they won't like what I'm cooking for them, I sneak a spoon of MSG into it and they invariably love it and express amazement at their conversion.

Markcheese

Cedrus wrote: »

Whenever someone says they won't like what I'm cooking for them, I sneak a spoon of MSG into it and they invariably love it and express amazement at their conversion.

And if that doesn't work a spoonful of arsenic ensures no one EVER complains a second time

sillymoo

I can't boil potatoes

highly1111

My confession is laziness - i'm consider making a lasagne from scratch when I use jars. Given they're about 89cent in Aldi, I just cannot justify the time.

At the ripe old age of XX I've found how to poach the perfect egg - completely stolen from the Penguin cook book. Boil water, add a drop of vinegar, crack egg into a cup and then pour it into the water (whisking makes no odds & don't crack egg directly in!!) and then turn off heat and cover for 3 minutes. I SWEAR it works - I've had poached eggs on toast all week....!! I never believed it would work - eh, turn off the heat!?!? - but it does!! if you want a hard yoke, then leave it covered for 5 minutes. madness!!

implausible

confusticated wrote: »

I can't judge portions of spaghetti, pasta or rice, but refuse to use a measuring cup or scales or anything to solve the problem. Also, can either do thin pancakes or round pancakes. Not both.

I have to pour pasta onto a plate and imagine how much bigger it will get!

Bobblehead Panda, you've described my omelettes, whaddaya mean they're not proper omelettes?! Thought that's the way they were meant to be. Mind you, I've never eaten one made by anyone but myself or my dad...

darlett

Secret ingredient in a plethora of home made sauces and dishes. Red Sauce. Or if it needs more hidden depth. Brown Sauce.

I'm going to hell.

Loire

My BIL doesn't drink alcohol, which is fair enough, but also won't eat anything that's had alcohol added to it. I've made lots of lasagne over the years with a good glass of red wine and have been telling him I didn't put any into the lasagne. Why should we all suffer? :pac:

syklops wrote: »

I can not make Bechamel sauce. It either tastes floury or turns out too gloopy.

It used to be a ditto for me until I bought The Silver Spoon:

Melt 50g butter in a pot
take off the heat
add 25g flour, mix to a smooth paste
add 500ml of milk, one third first making sure it's nice & smooth before repeating with the remaining thirds
Bring to the boil, add salt & nutmeg, cover and cook on the lowest heat for 20 mins giving it the odd stir
Allow to cool

Works everytime

Cedrus

Markcheese wrote: »

And if that doesn't work a spoonful of arsenic ensures no one EVER complains a second time

I don't think that's an approved food additive. despite it's popular reputation, MSG is.

MissFlitworth

sillymoo wrote: »

I can't boil potatoes

I can't be bothered with potatoes. Having to peel each of the buggers or wash the muck off them or deal with a starchy pot = a resounding no.

Alun

sillymoo wrote: »

I can't boil potatoes

Me neither, well I can, but not Irish floury style potatoes (I'm not Irish BTW), they always turn to complete mush however gently I cook them, with my only successful attempts being when I steam them instead. Someone once told me I should boil them with their skins on and peel them afterwards, no thanks.

was.deevey

Confessions:

1. Sunny side up eggs I can't cook to save my life ... my OH can cook them in her sleep, mind you its the only thing she can!

2. I generally use packets of sauce as a base.

Tip: Boiled eggs are best done in a rice cooker (while you are cooking rice) - they turn out perfect everytime.

syklops

Loire wrote: »

My BIL doesn't drink alcohol, which is fair enough, but also won't eat anything that's had alcohol added to it. I've made lots of lasagne over the years with a good glass of red wine and have been telling him I didn't put any into the lasagne. Why should we all suffer? :pac:





It used to be a ditto for me until I bought The Silver Spoon:

Melt 50g butter in a pot
take off the heat
add 25g flour, mix to a smooth paste
add 500ml of milk, one third first making sure it's nice & smooth before repeating with the remaining thirds
Bring to the boil, add salt & nutmeg, cover and cook on the lowest heat for 20 mins giving it the odd stir
Allow to cool

Works everytime

What is this silver spoon you speak of?

Loire

syklops wrote: »

What is this silver spoon you speak of?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=the+silver+spoon

emaleth

Loire wrote: »

My BIL doesn't drink alcohol, which is fair enough, but also won't eat anything that's had alcohol added to it. I've made lots of lasagne over the years with a good glass of red wine and have been telling him I didn't put any into the lasagne. Why should we all suffer? :pac:

I do this to one of my mothers-in-law, though it's not just wine she objects to, it's effing everything. Will eat roasted into oblivion chicken breast, well done hamburgers, steak bits and pasta. Everything else ist verboten. She has no idea what I've been feeding her in her pasta sauce for years

Ditto anchovies, chicken liver and any other allegedly gross foods that are in fact the FOOD OF THE GODS and well worth adding to lasagne/bourguignon/anything au vin. I fed a room full of phobic Americans a lasagne sauce that was 30% or near enough liver and they ate it like it was their last meal. Tell them it was liver, though, and they'll have left the house lest their air be contaminated with parts of actual animal.

Mary-Ellen

I try to buy and cook as little processed food as possible for my boyfriend and I. He's happy with the situation but it's really me that drives it.

When he's away for a week with work though I could have noodles for dinner every night. Just couldn't be bothered cooking for one .......and I like noodles

Alun

Me too, I hate cooking just for myself, and tend to live on takeaways and ready meals when the other half is away for any length of time

Puzzle35

Mary-Ellen wrote: »

I try to buy and cook as little processed food as possible for my boyfriend and I. He's happy with the situation but it's really me that drives it.

When he's away for a week with work though I could have noodles for dinner every night. Just couldn't be bothered cooking for one .......and I like noodles

Lucky him, must be love :-)

KKkitty

I've never made my own pastry. Would love to do apple tarts but the thought of doing my own pastry is daunting. Any tips?

Malari

I use a food processor. All the ingredients in together till they come into one lump of pastry. Refrigerate for 20 mins and work away. It always works well for me.

I use Jamie Oliver's recipe for sweet shortcrust. 250g flour, 125g butter, 50g icing sugar, an egg. Zest of a lemon if you feel like it!

dee_mc

Grated orange zest is amazing in pastry too, depending on the filling!
My best tip, whether making pastry by hand or with a machine, is to add the water rid-ic-u-lous-ly slowly until you're more confident, literally a drop or two at a time, and you'll get the hang of it in no time!
Rolling out between 2 sheets of cling film is very forgiving too

The Black Oil

Eggs...not a fan personally, so I don't really make them, ever. I don't really know how to poach/boil, etc. In baking sometimes I can't be arsed to separate the yolk and just throw the whole thing in.

iirc, the first cookery book I got was one of Jamie Oliver's ones - Happy Days, I think. I don't recall ever making anything from it. Seemed to be that most of its recipes had some semi-obscure component I had never heard of.

I've never felt too confident around ordinary recipes like savoury mince, or spagetthi bolognese (more so the former) in that I've generally felt mine were a bit, erm, drab, or I could just have no sense of taste. White sauce, I've rarely made this and probably need to revisit at some point.

Hardly unique in this, but I avoid most cookery shows on TV because of the celebrity aspect, the near conveyor belt of new faces trying to make on the buy my book/feed my ego thing.

Ear to the Ground came to film in my 6th class when I was in primary school, I think it was food related. G'wan. :pac:

Boiling spuds, not sure if this makes any difference - are you guys piercing them a little before hand?

syklops

The Black Oil wrote: »

iirc, the first cookery book I got was one of Jamie Oliver's ones - Happy Days, I think. I don't recall ever making anything from it. Seemed to be that most of its recipes had some semi-obscure component I had never heard of.

The main problem I had with many of Jamie's books I have gotten.

"This next dish is ever so simple and so quick to make, its named after the sicillian whores who used to make it after a few hours plying their trade. All you need is some things you will have in the cupboard, some parmigianno, tagliatelle, chicken livers, fresh oregano!, a cup of prosecco and a little squeeze of some saucy limes".

Yes Jamie, I have all that in my cupboard.

Tbf, I have many of them now, but when I was given the book, I had a teeny weeny tesco to go to for supplies and I was working shifts so I didn;t feel like shopping round or visiting the farmers market on my off days.

kylith

I don't like floury potatoes at all. Waxy spuds FTW.

dr.bollocko wrote: »

I've got some really expensive japanese steel knives that I insisted on getting cos I wanted the best. Like hundreds of quid.
Now they're not sharp any more because I don't know WTF to do to sharpen em without destroying em.

I got a knife sharpener in Ikea. You just run your knife back and forth a few times, and there's less risk of me messing it up. It probably doesn't get them sharp sharp, but it's sharp enough not to ruin tomatoes when I cut them.

was.deevey

I've got some really expensive japanese steel knives that I insisted on getting cos I wanted the best. Like hundreds of quid.
Now they're not sharp any more because I don't know WTF to do to sharpen em without destroying em.

Some 800 grit Waterstones will get them razor sharp again, theres a few places around that do them .. if they are expensive Japanese knives its worthwhile doing it right and theres hundreds of videos on youtube.

Cheaper blades you can use the back of one knife against the blade of another to get a decent edge.

syklops

kylith wrote: »

I don't like floury potatoes at all. Waxy spuds FTW.


I got a knife sharpener in Ikea. You just run your knife back and forth a few times, and there's less risk of me messing it up. It probably doesn't get them sharp sharp, but it's sharp enough not to ruin tomatoes when I cut them.

Please do not use a yoke from Ikea to sharpen your hundreds of euro Japanese knives. Go get them professionally sharpened, then get a good steel, and use the steel on them after every use. That will keep the edge on them for ages.

syklops

Alun wrote: »

Me too, I hate cooking just for myself, and tend to live on takeaways and ready meals when the other half is away for any length of time

My diet and cooking skills go out the window when Im on my own.

I remember last winter, I was living in Athlone in a freezing cold house. I had an electric blanket and a double duvet and it was still nippy in bed. One night after a few drinks, I got 2 kebabs and ate the first in bed before going to sleep. The second kebab I put in a pocket in the duvet, and ate it in bed for breakfast the next morning. Im not proud of it, but I cant explain to you how cold it was, and a spicy kebab you could have before getting out of bed was actually a comfort.

Faith

Oh, my cooking has come on unbelievably since I moved in with my OH. When I lived on my own, a fish finger sandwich did me most nights . Unfortunately, my waistline increased with the cooking

was.deevey

syklops wrote: »

then get a good steel, and use the steel on them after every use. That will keep the edge on them for ages.

NOOOOOOOOO! don't use a steel on expensive (assuming traditional?) Japanese blades or you can completely fcuk them up.

http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/howtosharpen.html

Loire

Faith wrote: »

Oh, my cooking has come on unbelievably since I moved in with my OH. When I lived on my own, a fish finger sandwich did me most nights . Unfortunately, my waistline increased with the cooking

It's so hard cooking for one. Any time Mrs Loire is away I just end up eating junk!