What Foods Seem Easy to Prepare but Are In Fact Difficult?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pie crust.

This definitely. Pie crust is a pain in the arse.

YES. I keep thinking at some point it will get easier with repetition but it's a PITA every single time no matter what.

You cannot go wrong with this recipe using the pastry cutter method. The icy cold water and COLD butter is key. After you cut the butter, put it back in the fridge for a while.
https://www.inspiredtaste.net/22662/flaky-pie-crust-recipe/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pie crust.

This definitely. Pie crust is a pain in the arse.

Completely agree and I don’t think homemade pie crust tastes much better than premade. Not worth the effort.

I guess this is where I truly differ! This one is just practice and studying. I read a couple different recipes and after making like 3-4 pies in a month or two during the pandemic I had it figured out. And homemade is MUCH better than packaged. The last time I tried packaged it literally tasted like a cracker and had the texture of one too.

rolling it out is annoying and never looks as nice as packaged - that’s true!

I agree, it tastes a lot better and it's not that hard (food processor is essential) but I can never roll it out into a good circle. I hate peeling and slicing all the apples more than dealing with crust.

I make it with my hands and think that’s the essential part. A food processor overworks the dough I feel like? It’s really important not to incorporate the butter too much or it won’t be flaky. I also think most people make the dough too dry and that is why they can’t roll it out. It takes like 5 minutes tops and is always worth it to me! I love pie.

My simple thing I always mess up are scrambled eggs. They are always fine but never great. It just seems like they should be better than they are and so Inam always sad I wasted the calories on them.

[Anonymous]

I also struggle with rice - my instant pot helped me a lot with this.

For the deviled eggs person - I find instant pot hardboiled eggs to be super easy to peel.

(I am not otherwise an instant pot devotee, just find it to be really good at these particular tasks.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find lasagna to be a PITA

Yes. Definitely if you are making your own red sauce with meat and béchamel sauce and have to par boil the noodles. Total PIA and makes huge kitchen mess

YES. boiling those impossible large flappy noodles makes it just a no-go. The move is no-boil noodles and use sausage. That gives enough energy to make your own marina if desired.

I'll let you in on a secret...you don't have to boil the noodles. Even if you are using the regular kind, not the no-boil kind.

Really?? Tell me more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wrapping a burrito. I swear I end up wearing my food every time.

The trick is to not to over stuff the burrito, or the burrito gods will punish you for your greed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also struggle with rice - my instant pot helped me a lot with this.

For the deviled eggs person - I find instant pot hardboiled eggs to be super easy to peel.

(I am not otherwise an instant pot devotee, just find it to be really good at these particular tasks.)

I make all my grains in the instant pot now. Grits, farro, quinoa, rice, barley…it’s so easy.

[Anonymous]

Deep frying. It takes SO much oil, no matter what I do I can't avoid splatters, and it's one of the few things I can't do better than a restaurant. Not worth it.

[Anonymous]

Rice.

I can never get perfectly cooked rice.

[Anonymous]

Boneless chicken breasts. I overcook them at least half the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shepherd's pie.

Use a large cast iron skillet. Brown mean, onion, vegetables in that, add your seasonings, a little flour and some broth. Put mashed potatoes on top and put skillet in oven.

Lamb. Brown lamb. beef = cottage pie

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pie crust.

swap half (or more) of your recipe's water for vodka and make sure your fat (butter) is cold.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While I don't find thanksgiving dinner hard per se, I find the traditional meal to be...not worth the effort you put in?

Hard same. None of it is complicated, but juggling it all so it's all ready at the same time is a PITA and the end result is... meh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rice krispie treats. Spent a small fortune on butter ver the years thinking that was the problem. Just can never get the consistency right, too hard or too gooey, messy to slice, you name it.

Choc chip cookies. Always turn out flat when making from scratch. Again, spent a small fortune on ingredients only for it to be gross. Box mix or refrigerator ones from here on out.

Personally I prefer my choco chip cookies flat and crispy and I am always trying to make em that way.

melt your butter first. For bonus flavor, brown it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think truly good pancakes are quite difficult. You have to get the heat just right.

Pancake mix is trash. I didn't know that until about a year ago. Much, much better to just make the batter from scratch.

King Arthur's mix is the tits, but yeah, unnecessary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can do much more complicated things, but totally sucked at rice.

Rice cooker was a serious improvement for me.

Agree. Always use less water than you think.

Are you sure ?

Certainly not advice from the Japanese army whose soldiers suffered during WWII due to use too little water when cooking rice.