Amateur Hour: Home cooks’ mistaeks that you never make

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:hygiene stuff: handling raw chicken and then not cleaning; same plate for raw/cooked.

not balancing acid/salt/sweet.

undersalting as much as oversalting.

Why do so many otherwise reasonably sophisticated people serve dinners at dinner parties and NEVER serve water. Does no one else drink water? It's like every single friend we have who have had us over we practically have to beg for water.

Overcooked meat.

Not having enough food for the number of people you are serving.

Inviting people over for dinner and not having snacks or starters and then having dinner 2-3 hours later and then underserving.

As many hospitality issues as cooking issues!

That is so funny: I’ve never not been served water, but that sounds awful, honestly!

I agree with not having enough food. My MIL routinely underestimates and then frantically flies around the kitchen and I’m like dude…you could have just remembered this from last time and bought more than one chicken leg for each person.

Here’s one another one—season. Your. Meat. Season it! There is nothing worse than an unseasoned drumstick or sad piece of fish.

I understand the water thing (or rather I've been guilty of the not offering water). You're cooking, you're trying to get everything to the table at the same time at roughly the same temp, you've already spent the time to get people drinks, poured wine, etc - and then suddenly you have to fill all the water glasses from your filter and it.......takes......forever..........

So I've learned to fill a pitcher of water in advance, keep in fridge, and put on table, with all places set with a water glass. Or, assign it to the person hovering asking how they can help.

Filling water glasses is the task that my mother assigns me at family holiday dinners. I'm still the 13yo who can't cook in her eyes. Lol.

[Anonymous]

The water thing drives me crazy. I don’t know how anyone can eat a meal without some kind of liquid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Under salt. Too many people are afraid to season their food.

Given how many people worry about this and the differing quality of people's tastebuds, I have started to do this more. It is easy to for you to add salt to your liking at the table.

Salting at the table is terrible. I can't remember the last time I added salt to a cooked dish, you should season the dish and serve it.

100% agree. Having salt and pepper on the table is such an 80s thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The water thing drives me crazy. I don’t know how anyone can eat a meal without some kind of liquid.

My husband grew up with a family rule that you do not get any drinks with your meal. Once the meal is served he will not touch a drink. If he does have water, it has to be room temperature with no ice, and he'd only drink it after he's finished eating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was teaching a friend some very basic recipes. We made chocolate chip cookies together and she didn't believe me that you need to combine ingredients in a certain order and though I was being super fussy to not just dump everything in and mix.

You don’t “have” to. If you made two batches, one where you dumped and mixed and one where you properly creamed the butter and sugar and didn’t overbeat the flour, you’d probably find they were noticeably different but it might not be enough to care.

You would be wrong about that. I did this once - dumped everything together without creaming the butter and sugar - and you know what you get? Crumb topping with chocolate chips in it. Not cookies.

Or you have to overmix to get the ingredients to combine and you end up with a tough texture-those cookies that are little lumps. I guess for a lot of people a cookie is a cookie. I learned to bake while working a bakery and my dad was a professional cook, so the difference is clear to me. One time I was served a piece of peach pie at a dinner party, the baker said so proudly "the peaches are so sweet that I didn't have to add any sugar and I was out of minute tapioca so I used the large size tapioca." The result was...wow.

[Anonymous]

Threads like these make me never want to invite people to dinner. The anxious hosts that are nitpicky and make dinner uncomfortable are the worst. I like good food but mostly I want relaxed company to eat it in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Under salt. Too many people are afraid to season their food.

Given how many people worry about this and the differing quality of people's tastebuds, I have started to do this more. It is easy to for you to add salt to your liking at the table.

This is not the right way to cook.

Many people have said this. So you just ignore the dietary restrictions and tell them it’s wrong to cook that way?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Under salt. Too many people are afraid to season their food.

Given how many people worry about this and the differing quality of people's tastebuds, I have started to do this more. It is easy to for you to add salt to your liking at the table.

This is not the right way to cook.

Many people have said this. So you just ignore the dietary restrictions and tell them it’s wrong to cook that way?

A low sodium diet includes no more than 1,500 to 2,400 mg of sodium per day. If you are cooking with fresh meats and raw vegetables, and add a teaspoon of salt to your meal while cooking, assuming it is around four portions, you are adding less than 600 mg of sodium per portion to the meal. It is certainly possible for you to use salt while cooking and still prepare foods - good tasting foods - that conform to a low sodium diet. There is no reason to eat bland food, even if you are on a low sodium diet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lol, “mistaeks”

Its mispelled!

[Anonymous]

Pet peeve - meat that smells and tastes like the animal it came from. Use spices, herbs and seasoning to transform the taste of non-vegetarian food. Please.

Over the years, I have now got all the equipment needed to cook and host for around 50-60 people at a time. The right equipment and the correct setup for entertaining is the key to success to hosting. I used to cook in small pots and pans and on regular stove and it was a nightmare.

Basics - I don't overcook or undercook. I don't cross contaminate. I season correctly. My food is heated perfectly. I ask about allergies and food preference. I make large quantities of food so that there is plenty of food. I use the best and freshest ingredients.

My pro tips - I cook a day or two in advance. My dining table is set the day before the party. I use beautiful chafing dishes to warm food.

[Anonymous]

When I throw a dinner party, I make sure that all dishes from appetizers to soup, entrees to desserts - everything has a different taste, look, texture, shape, ingredients, recipe, color and presentation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pet peeve - meat that smells and tastes like the animal it came from. Use spices, herbs and seasoning to transform the taste of non-vegetarian food. Please.

Over the years, I have now got all the equipment needed to cook and host for around 50-60 people at a time. The right equipment and the correct setup for entertaining is the key to success to hosting. I used to cook in small pots and pans and on regular stove and it was a nightmare.

Basics - I don't overcook or undercook. I don't cross contaminate. I season correctly. My food is heated perfectly. I ask about allergies and food preference. I make large quantities of food so that there is plenty of food. I use the best and freshest ingredients.

My pro tips - I cook a day or two in advance. My dining table is set the day before the party. I use beautiful chafing dishes to warm food.

The meat can’t taste like meat? Why use it in the first place then?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Under salt. Too many people are afraid to season their food.

Some do it for diet reasons. I have a neighbor who throws parties constantly and is on a low salt diet - the food is so bland and awful.

You probably eat too much salt and ate desensitized to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pet peeve - meat that smells and tastes like the animal it came from. Use spices, herbs and seasoning to transform the taste of non-vegetarian food. Please.

Over the years, I have now got all the equipment needed to cook and host for around 50-60 people at a time. The right equipment and the correct setup for entertaining is the key to success to hosting. I used to cook in small pots and pans and on regular stove and it was a nightmare.

Basics - I don't overcook or undercook. I don't cross contaminate. I season correctly. My food is heated perfectly. I ask about allergies and food preference. I make large quantities of food so that there is plenty of food. I use the best and freshest ingredients.

My pro tips - I cook a day or two in advance. My dining table is set the day before the party. I use beautiful chafing dishes to warm food.

Sorry, no. That's ridiculous. Some recipes, because they are using scraps or inferior cuts, benefit from heavy seasoning. That's delicious. But a good, quality cut of meat, if cooked properly and to the right temperature, is delicious with just a little salt and pepper. I'm not trying to make my steak taste like herbs and spices, I want it to taste like steak. If you don't like it, eat something else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pet peeve - meat that smells and tastes like the animal it came from. Use spices, herbs and seasoning to transform the taste of non-vegetarian food. Please.

Over the years, I have now got all the equipment needed to cook and host for around 50-60 people at a time. The right equipment and the correct setup for entertaining is the key to success to hosting. I used to cook in small pots and pans and on regular stove and it was a nightmare.

Basics - I don't overcook or undercook. I don't cross contaminate. I season correctly. My food is heated perfectly. I ask about allergies and food preference. I make large quantities of food so that there is plenty of food. I use the best and freshest ingredients.

My pro tips - I cook a day or two in advance. My dining table is set the day before the party. I use beautiful chafing dishes to warm food.

OMG. NO you cannot make most meals the day before and heat them up for service unless you want to serve shitty wedding food.