what is your skill level

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm like the PP, a 7 on taste and execution but not great at presentation.

I would like to learn roasted meats (was a vegetarian for 15 years), bread (I'm totally daunted for not real reason), and cream-based pies and sauces (lactose-intolerant so never really learned).

Try the Mark Bittman no-knead bread recipe (he actually adapted it from someone else). It is all over the internet. Once you realize how easy it is to make a delicious and professional-looking loaf of bread, you'll be able to go on to other bread recipes. It's so exciting to do. I started my own sourdough starter an year and a half ago. It's like another pet. : )

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:20:04, I love Thomas Keller, The Bouchon Cookbook. I make that chicken all the time. Actually, I usually make a smaller bird, it works better.

I really like some of the recipes in The Inn at Little Washington Cookbook. Scalloped potoatoes are a family favorite. Made them for Easter.

Every time I've attempted it, it comes out underdone. I know I need a new thermometer, but then I also need to keep my DH away from it. He always puts them in the dishwasher. Then again, maybe i'm inserting it in the wrong spot..... Maybe in a couple months I'll work up the courage to give it another go.

If you look at the Tk recipe it calls for a small bird. I began using Cornish game hens. Then moved uP to larger birds and , yes increased the time.

[Anonymous]

Love all the 9s, really? I guess I am a 5, give me a recipe and I can give you a fantastic meal but I am a great cook, not a chef. I love finding great recipes though and have a good number that are good enough to serve for company.

[Anonymous]

11:49 here -- forgot to mention, occasionally I screw up, hence the 5. Like the brownies I recently made and, since the baby had been up all night, doubled the butter. Not a success. I set it outside to cool and a possum ate it, good riddance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Love all the 9s, really? I guess I am a 5, give me a recipe and I can give you a fantastic meal but I am a great cook, not a chef. I love finding great recipes though and have a good number that are good enough to serve for company.

Well, it's subjective. I am going to reveal my snobbery here and say that if, along with other posters in this forum, you find Ree Drummond to be an inspiration, you are not a 9.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Love all the 9s, really? I guess I am a 5, give me a recipe and I can give you a fantastic meal but I am a great cook, not a chef. I love finding great recipes though and have a good number that are good enough to serve for company.

Well, it's subjective. I am going to reveal my snobbery here and say that if, along with other posters in this forum, you find Ree Drummond to be an inspiration, you are not a 9.

I had to consult google to see who you were talking about! Her site is very shiny.

[Anonymous]

Mine goes to 11.

[Anonymous]

If you like The Pioneer Woman, you probably won't like PioneerWomanSux.com.

[Anonymous]

I am probably a 9.5. I'd love to be a 10, but need a bit more natural instinct when it comes to Indian food (I still need a recipe), and I don't cure my own meats or butcher my own steaks, etc.

I am very happy where I am - I can cook anything I set my mind to, change recipes more often than I use them, and am totally okay going out for Indian food (one of my great loves in life). :o)

I read Cook's Illustrated religiously and always learn something new. My current favorite cookbook is Alice Waters' "The Art of Simple Food." I would much rather eat a a high-quality ingredient prepared simply to really let its quality shine than something complicated and modern. AW's book really lets the chef take control in the kitchen - she rarely even gives measurements.

Gas. It was a "must have" on my house shopping list, but my MIL has induction and I like that as a second choice.

Something new - bake bread! So many people are intimidated of this (as I was for years), but it's so little work, very comforting, and tastes unbelievable! I second the rec for Bittman's no knead recipe. The King Arthur Floor website also has an amazing recipe database.

One more thing - I am 30. I don't say that to brag, but more to underscore this point: I think understanding food and loving it is somewhat natural and ingrained in some people. I have always loved being in the kitchen, loved experimenting, etc. I used to be in charge of dinner one night a week - by my request - when I was 12. My biggets regret so far is that I became a lawyer instead of a caterer. I used to think a chef's hours sucked...

[Anonymous]

I would say I'm a 6.5 ... would be higher if I had *any* flair for presentation. I do not. Sadly, I never will. (This is why I bought some Le Creuset -- it's fabulous enough to compensate ... somewhat.)

Also, I'm slow to learn new techniques, although I can eventually master them.

I would like to be a 10.

I recently got a small cookbook with colonial-era recipes from Williamsburg -- very interesting!

I did homemade shrimp pad thai on Sunday -- delicious. And you gotta love rice stick noodles.

[Anonymous]

5 or 6

So long as I have youngish children and work full time +, I'm okay with that level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:5 or 6

So long as I have youngish children and work full time +, I'm okay with that level.

You and me both, sister.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm like the PP, a 7 on taste and execution but not great at presentation.

I would like to learn roasted meats (was a vegetarian for 15 years), bread (I'm totally daunted for not real reason), and cream-based pies and sauces (lactose-intolerant so never really learned).

Try the Mark Bittman no-knead bread recipe (he actually adapted it from someone else). It is all over the internet. Once you realize how easy it is to make a delicious and professional-looking loaf of bread, you'll be able to go on to other bread recipes. It's so exciting to do. I started my own sourdough starter an year and a half ago. It's like another pet. : )

I agree w/ this. But if you happen to own a KitchenAid stand mixer, making regular kneaded bread is such a breeze. Really, it's unbelievably easy. The hardest part is just that it takes hours to rise once, then punch down, and rise again... a pain that breaks up the day, but the end product is (almost) always great.