Most challenging food...?

Originally posted by barkingdogamato
Pad Thai! I lived in Thailand for years, and can make Thai dishes with no problems except PAD THAI. Always comes out in a congealed lump. I finally gave up on this one, easier to pick up one on the way home.

I'll root around for a recipe for sure! I love pad Thai but all the places around here make it really sweet. Thanks for the suggestion

Ever tried making homemade noodles for your Thai recipes?? I have a super fun udon noodles recipe if you like that sorta thing...

I eat that su du jour every day,man thats good.I think they use a different chef every day though because it always tastes different.

If you like authentic Mexican food and are up to a true challenge, try your hand at preparing Mole Negro -- a rich, dark sauce normally served with fowl. For a run down on the intensity of this dish, check this out. There's a link for a recipe at the end, although you can find several good ones online.

It is well worth the effort to prepare at least once in a lifetime. Good luck and enjoy!

reply to post by Oldethc


I love to cook, I love food, but there is just something about this, that just doesn't seem right.




Peace, NRE.

Originally posted by maria_stardust
If you like authentic Mexican food and are up to a true challenge, try your hand at preparing Mole Negro -- a rich, dark sauce normally served with fowl. For a run down on the intensity of this dish, check this out. There's a link for a recipe at the end, although you can find several good ones online.

It is well worth the effort to prepare at least once in a lifetime. Good luck and enjoy!

That is a wonderful idea!!!!! It is now definitely on my to-do list! Thank you I have heard of chefs spending their whole lives trying to perfect that sauce... I need to get a metate or molcajete to complete the experience-- grind everything by hand! I try to do everything the "old fashioned" way at least a few times to feel the experience completely. Most of the time I am stubborn and keep doing it that way, even though it's far more time consuming. It's like I can feel the love I'm putting into it transfer when I use my hands more than anything.

Originally posted by NoRegretsEver
reply to post by Oldethc

 

I love to cook, I love food, but there is just something about this, that just doesn't seem right.


Peace, NRE.

Hence me not responding to that post... It's too much meat for me personally. Plus everything has to be de-boned and cooked evenly... Bllechhh

Have you heard of the Sultan's meal?

Here's the recipe... It's been proven to be a true dish!

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/050a39640935.jpg[/atsimg]

In a cookbook called International Cuisine, presented by California Home Economics Teachers, 1983 (ISBN 0-89626-051-8), you will find:

Whole Stuffed Camel

1 whole camel, medium size
1 whole lamb, large size
20 whole chickens, medium size
60 eggs
12 kilos rice
2 kilos pine nuts
2 kilos almonds
1 kilo pistachio nuts
110 gallons water
5 pounds black pepper
Salt to taste

Skin, trim and clean camel (once you get over the hump), lamb and chicken. Boil until tender. Cook rice until fluffy. Fry nuts until brown and mix with rice. Hard boil eggs and peel. Stuff cooked chickens with hard boiled eggs and rice. Stuff the cooked lamb with stuffed chickens. Add more rice. Stuff the camel with the stuffed lamb and add rest of rice. Broil over large charcoal pit until brown. Spread any remaining rice on large tray and place camel on top of rice. Decorate with boiled eggs and nuts. Serves friendly crowd of 80-100.

reply to post by donatellanator


Cooking to me too is an art!!!

I love to cook and I love presentation

I was just telling my mom how I am not a baker because I don't find it challenging although I did tell her French foods are great for that.

I love to cook mostly European foods and my next is going to be a souffle and the dish Asala mentioned. I found a recipe for it and it looks delicious....

Funny thing is while reading comments on the recipe people complained how long it too and skipped steps then complained how bland it was...Well in French food you dont' skip steps!! They are there for a reason The longer it cooks the more flavor you get esp with stews....

So I shall be making a very French themed dinner this weekend and shall post the results here. I just bought some bowls for souffles at the thrift store and Im dying ot use them!!


Oh my first challenge when I was 10 was Dilly Bread...Omg it was hard but now I have mastered it

Originally posted by donatellanator


I have a recipe for that... The trick is everything has to stay cold cold cold!! Maybe even invest in a marble rolling pin that you can pop in the fridge/freezer

Thanks for the pie crust recipe, I'll give it a shot (again.. and again..) I love making pastries, anything from Opera Cakes to Puff Pastry to Italian Meringue Buttercreams.. But pie crust is my Achilles heel. Go figure

Originally posted by donatellanator
Have you heard of the Sultan's meal?

Here's the recipe... It's been proven to be a true dish!

Whole Stuffed Camel

That is insane..

Originally posted by maria_stardust
If you like authentic Mexican food and are up to a true challenge, try your hand at preparing Mole Negro

Mmm, one of my all-time favorite Mexican dishes. Thanks for the link. That will be a good fall meal to whip up.

In my own professional adventure through the culinary world, I have found the most challenging aspect of cooking, at home or professionally, has been chacuterie. It's roots are based so far back through history, preserving food has always been a major concern in its preparation and consumption. The modern day chacuterie is a verry challenging aspect of the culinary arts.

It's all technique that takes a lot of time and patience and practice. I've been working in restaurants my entire life, truly I've never had a different job. My first job was as a dishwasher, and I moved my way up. But the percision of every ingredient, each time frame, to the percision of knife skills has always proved challenging to me, though I accept the challenge and conquer it quite often. Chacuterie is gastronomical science mixed with culinary artistry. And on top of that, most of the time the process is taking less-desired cuts of meat and creating something fabulous out of them.

You'd be shocked how difficult making a delicious dry-cured salami is. Then, making another one that tastes exactly the same. Mhm. Oh yeah...and not killing someone with it in the process.

Originally posted by sleepypoet
You'd be shocked how difficult making a delicious dry-cured salami is. Then, making another one that tastes exactly the same. Mhm. Oh yeah...and not killing someone with it in the process.

edit on 6-9-2011 by sleepypoet because: (no reason given)

Ahhh, there's the rub. Don't kill the guests.

Blurred memories of good bacteria that helps the process, bad bacteria (that kills the guests) and salt peter in measured doses to keep the two in their respective corners.

I have to agree with asala. If you are able to master the technical aspects of French cooking then you can cook just about anything. I prefer now to challenge myself by cooking unusual or hard to find ingredients. I recommend using some of Thomas Keller's French Laundry recipes or Nobu Matsuhisa's Nobu the Cookbook for a Asian-fusion take on technical cooking.

Originally posted by mblahnikluver
So I shall be making a very French themed dinner this weekend and shall post the results here. I just bought some bowls for souffles at the thrift store and Im dying ot use them!!

Sounds great. We did a seven course wine pairing dinner in the spring and it turned out fantastic. There was a lot of prep work but it was worth it in the end.

I can never seem to get the technique right when making my own pasta. It never seems chewy enough for my tastes. Bechamel seems to trip me up sometimes too but I'm getting the hang of it.

I really really want to make homemade chocolate croissants. But the recipe I have says I need a freestand mixer to make the dough. They're really expensive and I don't want to have to spend $300 to make croissants!

Does anyone have know a recipe to make croissants without a mixer? Thanks!

Originally posted by Xaberz
I really really want to make homemade chocolate croissants. But the recipe I have says I need a freestand mixer to make the dough. They're really expensive and I don't want to have to spend $300 to make croissants!

Does anyone have know a recipe to make croissants without a mixer? Thanks!

Here ya go, just remember to have patience... doughs can be tricky

Croissants

To make them chocolate just add some pieces of bar chocolate or some chips in the middle before rolling up. Mmmmm!!!

Originally posted by FEDec
I can never seem to get the technique right when making my own pasta. It never seems chewy enough for my tastes. Bechamel seems to trip me up sometimes too but I'm getting the hang of it.

You mean making it from scratch? If so, only dried pasta gets chewy. Fresh pasta ALWAYS has a different texture. Have you tried messing with the gluten content? Perhaps try pastry or bread flour-- a lot of Italians use OO flour and/or Semolina (durum wheat) flour. OO is very soft, semolina is a little more "hard".

OO Flour on Amazon
Semolina on Amazon


If cooking dried pasta, just add salt to the water (until it tastes kinda like sea water) and boil for a minute or 2 less for al dente.

reply to post by donatellanator


Wow! Thanks! I will try to make them next week How exciting!

Originally posted by Xaberz
reply to post by donatellanator

 

Wow! Thanks! I will try to make them next week

How exciting!

Good Luck, let us know how it goes!!!! Would love to see pics good or bad (but I'm sure they'll be yummy!).

You mean making it from scratch? If so, only dried pasta gets chewy. Fresh pasta ALWAYS has a different texture. Have you tried messing with the gluten content? Perhaps try pastry or bread flour-- a lot of Italians use OO flour and/or Semolina (durum wheat) flour. OO is very soft, semolina is a little more "hard".

What are you talking about? I have personally tasted fresh pasta which is quite chewy. It involves manipulating the dough in a certain way which makes the pasta quite dense. I know of the technique I just don't know the technique.

Noodle boiling instructions?
Seriously? I'm no Ferran Adria but it's obvious from the few sentences I posted that I am a little past that. Maybe you didn't mean to but you've come off as terribly condescending.

Originally posted by AugustusMasonicus

Originally posted by mblahnikluver
So I shall be making a very French themed dinner this weekend and shall post the results here. I just bought some bowls for souffles at the thrift store and Im dying ot use them!!

Sounds great. We did a seven course wine pairing dinner in the spring and it turned out fantastic. There was a lot of prep work but it was worth it in the end.

That sounds awesome!

I actually like prep work. I start really early when I get up. It's relaxing to me. Sometimes i will make certain things in advance. It just depends on my mood.

Now my lasagna if I make it completely from scratch takes two days between prep and cooking. I have done it in a day but it was a LONG day!


There is a French Restaurant here that has a 6 course wine paring dinner the first Thursday and Friday of every month. It's a really cute and very popular place here. I am going to try and go next month. Next month it will be wine from Argentina. If I can't make it to October I will definitely go in November.