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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.

You just layer the lasagna up just like you would if they were boiled except be careful to make sure they are covered with sauce and make sure to cook it with foil over the top and it will need a little extra cook time. If this makes you nervous, you can take the extra step of soaking them in hot water for a bit. Just put them into a tray and boil water in the kettle and pour it over the noodles and soak them while you are getting everything else together. You really don't need to, though.

Very helpful, thank you!

You are quite welcome! Lasagna is my absolute favorite, but I'm a very lazy cook and have ADHD so can't handle to many moving parts with recipes. So I figured this out!

Anonymous wrote:Fluffy scrambled eggs: you have to add milk. Without milk, the texture is rubbery. Also, stir and flip and break up the eggs. Also recommend adding Cholula hot sauce and garlic and onion. And shredded cheddar cheese at the very end.

I've tried this and it didn't work.

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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.

OMFG, I hate cleaning my processor. For grating cheese in bulk, or doing a giant vat of hummus or pesto, I'll do it.

For pie crust? F no. Pastry knife, or even just two knives. Or, if you're really feeling lazy, freeze and grate your butter.

Yes! I hate cleaning food processor too. Plus I feel like it doesn’t get clean enough by hand washing and needs to go in dishwasher but takes up so much space that I end up having to hand wash a bunch of dinner dishes.

But I’ve tried to make pie crust by hand and can’t seem to get it right. Explain exactly, if you would please!

Not PP but I hated cleaning the food processor so much that I finally just got rid of mine. I was intimidated by the sharp blades as well.

I do make pie crust successfully, though, and even though I'm a crappy baker it always turns out well. I make it with butter and shortening and freeze the butter and grate it into the dry ingredients. Then I use a pastry dough cutter/blender thing, the kind you hold in your hand. Just make sure everything is super cold, including the water and the bowl.

I made a tartiflette and a salad over the weekend and the salad took more work, with twashing and drying the greens,herbs chiv,es and apple, and chopping everything and making a dressing. Hate that stuff.

Anonymous wrote:Popcorn. You would think easy, but I found a way to mess it up.

I mess it up as well, if I cook it in a pot. Gave up trying and just went back to buying the microwave stuff.

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Anonymous wrote:Mashed potatoes. These days I just buy the frozen kind and reheat.

Wow, there are a lot of really bad cooks on here. Mashed potatoes? Chocolate chip cookies? I made these well as a preteen.

I'm guessing your palate is unsophisticated enough that you don't understand that the people posting here are talking about not being able to get them perfect. You don't know what that is.

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.

My cookies are often flatties too. To stop, keep everything cool before you cook. Make the cookie dough then stick it in the fridge. Put the dough on the cookie sheet as fast as possible and handle the dough as little as possible. Then stick the sheet in the fridge for 10 minutes. Then stick in a preheated oven.

Anonymous wrote:Deviled eggs. Those shells are terrible.

Do you mean getting the shell off of the boiled egg? One trick is to submerge the eggs in cold water after they've boiled. Leave them for a few minutes. I fill a large bowl with cold water and dump in a little ice then add the eggs. Leave for 2 or 3 minutes then peel.

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Anonymous wrote:Risotto

I’ve never really understood this. I find risotto super easy to make, as long as you pay attention.

I find it easy to make but a slog. The kind of thing you do when you want a mindless task.

Exactly. It never cooks as fast as any recipe indicates. It takes a loooong time to slowly incorporate the broth. I also keep adding onions/shallots etc as it takes so long to cook I loose those flavors.

The thing I thought would be easy but turned out to be way too much work is a Tiramisu. I thought the filling was like heavy cream and mascarpone, but there is so much more to it!

Egg PP: try Kenji’s methods for fried eggs on serious eats, and the cornstarch slurry method for scrambled eggs (which is on NYT cooking I believe but also on free sites such as the kitchn)

For the deviled egg/hard-boiled egg people, the hack is to steam, not boil. Twelve minutes in a steamer and they’re easy to peel, with no risk of cracking during cooking.
https://www.seriouseats.com/steamed-hard-boiled-eggs-recipe

For the pie crust people, I make an oil-based crust when I’m pressed for time. Dump, stir, and roll. Results are flaky, not at all greasy. See the crust directions in this recipe.
https://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Rhubarb-Strawberry-Pie/

In exchange, can someone please give me tips for better eggs? When fried, I want them bubbly, lacey and crispy — but they are often just blobby and meh. When scrambled, I want them custardy — but they either take forever, get grainy, or separate and get watery. Is it my pan? (Seasoned cast iron — no sticking issues.) Heat levels? Mercury in retrograde?

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Anonymous wrote: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.

And you and the house stink afterward. I agree its' not worth it.

I have a fry daddy. I don't use it very often, but if I need to deep fry, it's the best solution.

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Anonymous wrote:Mashed potatoes. These days I just buy the frozen kind and reheat.

Wow, there are a lot of really bad cooks on here. Mashed potatoes? Chocolate chip cookies? I made these well as a preteen.

Wow, the food forum is generally nice, but there apparently is an azz5hole on here. Keeping thoughts to myself? I learned that as a preteen.

That’s the nice thing about this place. I can say exactly what I think. And yes, if you struggle to make such basic things as cookies or mashed potatoes, you’re just really bad at cooking. It takes work to screw these up.

Anonymous wrote:I find bread is deceptively difficult to prepare. I am not sure how people make such beautiful loaves of bread, and make it look so easy. I am always struggling to get the right texture, flavor and density. Bread is hard for me.

+1. Sourdough bread is hard to get right. And the time it takes to rise is so long.