What do you think is the most challenging thing in cooking?

dragnlaw said:

taxy... best one yet!

OK, guys? Listen up... first of all ... I am NOT going to buy waxy potatoes for "this" and dry potatoes for "that" and another potato to roast, or bake, or mash... Tarnation! I buy ONE bag of potatoes and make with them what ever is on the list!
No, potatoes are not the most expensive vegie on the list but to buy 2/3 different kinds? Nope - ain't happening in my world.

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You don't have to. Yukon Gold potatoes work well for both.

When it comes to potato salad, I'll try to use a waxy potato, but if I don't have that at home, I'll go with whatever potato type I have. There are some Danish and Swedish potato salads that definitely work better with waxy potatoes. Those are potato salads that use slices and look nicer with slices that hold together fairly well.

Momma used Miracle Whip and made awesome potato salad, so I use it for potato salad (as well as when I make Mom's turkey salad.) I add yellow mustard to mine as well. Celery, onion, salt, hot shot, and diced sweet pickles along with hard-cooked eggs. After cooking potatoes in the skin, I peel them while still warm and dice them. The texture is appealing to me when I make them this way. I mix everything but the Miracle Whip together and then add just enough Miracle Whip to hold it together. Pickle fans, extra egg slices, and paprika pretty it up.

I have used mayo and vinegar with a bit of sugar in place of Miracle Whip, but then my potato salad turns out too saucy.

Although I have improved, my challenge continues to be pie crust.

Kathleen said:

Although I have improved, my challenge continues to be pie crust.

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“Crisco will do you proud every time!”
- Loretta Lynn

Aunt Bea said:

“Crisco will do you proud every time!”
- Loretta Lynn

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Really? Well, I need to give it a try. I mean, I will use miracle whip if potato salad is on the line, so won't be too proud to use Crisco!

I don't use any sugar when I use vinegar in my potato salad. I also don't use very much vinegar. The sweetness of Miracle Whip is one of the reasons I don't want it.

Now with the Miracle Whip and crisco, I think people are coming up with things they think that sound ridiculous, like that Ranch Dressing ice cream I saw in the news a while back.

GotGarlic said:

You don't have to. Yukon Gold potatoes work well for both.

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Thank you GG- absolutely the best answer to all this.

Because I do not have the best memory for certain things and 'type's of potatoes' is one of them. Which ones are waxy, which ones are floury, which ones are...
hence my "I don't give a poo-poo. Just buy some and make what you will"

So Yukon Gold wil be my 'go to' potatoes. If I remember when in the store.

dragnlaw said:

Thank you GG- absolutely the best answer to all this.

Because I do not have the best memory for certain things and 'type's of potatoes' is one of them. Which ones are waxy, which ones are floury, which ones are...
hence my "I don't give a poo-poo. Just buy some and make what you will"

So Yukon Gold wil be my 'go to' potatoes. If I remember when in the store.

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Do you use the Our Groceries app on your phone? If so, do you use it in the store? You could put "Yukon gold potatoes" as one of the items in your shopping list. If you use a paper list, you could write it on the list. Include the name, not just "potatoes".

Yes, I have a shopping app. But what if Reds are on sale?

pepperhead212 said:

Now with the Miracle Whip and crisco, I think people are coming up with things they think that sound ridiculous, like that Ranch Dressing ice cream I saw in the news a while back.

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I'll second this.

And I've been reading everyone's tips and strategies to making potato salad, but I still ain't trying it again

A white bean dressing will work for potato salad or macaroni salad.

• 1 (15 oz) can white beans rinsed and drained (see notes)
• 2/3 cup (160 ml) plant-based milk
• 1/4 cup (40 g) hulled hemp seeds or 1/3 cup of soaked cashews (see notes)
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1/2-1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp lime juice or lemon juice
• 1 tbsp white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp sea salt + more to taste
• black pepper to taste
• fresh dill to taste

I've tried a creamy tofu dressing but I don't care for it as much as a white bean dressing. Nut based dressings that are mostly nuts ground up, are delicious but on the high fat side so we avoid that being the main ingredient.

I totally agree that sauces and spices can be challenging, especially when you're not following a recipe exactly. And wow, those sauces you mentioned from the A-tier cooks sound amazing! I find it most challenging to find the right ingredients, especially when trying to cook something exotic.

Hello Katrina, Welcome to DC.
I agree when trying some of the more exotic recipes that the ingredients can not only be challenging to find, but when you do, what do you do with the rest of the bottle that just cost $9.00 and you used 1/2 a teaspoon. It sits in your cupboard for years. Luckily they don't usually go bad but still....

The sauces you mentioned sound absolutely incredible! I also find it most difficult to find the right ingredients, especially when attempting to prepare new dishes, which I try to copy from various restaurants I visit. It adds an extra level of challenge to the cooking process.I love trying new dishes and experimenting in the kitchen. Recently, I discovered some great info on americasrestaurant.com about different ingredients and recipes from all over the world. It's been a game-changer for me and has helped me expand my culinary horizons.Thanks for sharing your experiences and thoughts on cooking challenges. It's always great to connect with other foodies and learn from each other.

You see, this is why a great forum like this is so useful.
I might buy a jar of, say, sumac for one dish but not really know what else I can use it for.
I can come here and ask and get a whole heap of different ideas from other members.
Also, it really pays to understand flavour profiles so that you can perhaps substitute ingredients. Again, using sumac as an example - it is citrus, floral and some heat. You could use lemon zest, a bit of olive oil and a touch of red pepper flakes to make a paste that would be nice.

From my perspective now that we eat whole food plant based, no oil, no refined sugar, little salt.....a lot like a vegan without the junk food, that many people talk about this challenge. The increased chopping of food. Most of the food needs to be sliced or chopped or ripped apart and they don't like doing that. They don't like doing it daily, they don't like doing it for an hour for batch cooking on the week-ends, they don't like chopping. I don't mind the chopping.

I mind how dare the greens cook down so far!

I get 4 bunches of greens, lately collards and mustard, and that only cooks down to 5 cups of greens and I eat greens daily. I've canned them but my frustration with that is having a full cooler of greens from the garden, washing and soaking out the slugs/worms/bugs, then a final wash, then steaming, and I don't even get a full canner load of 7 quarts.

On the bright side, cooking takes so much less time, oil doesn't show up on my floor, stove, oven, dishes, cabinets which makes cleaning fast and easy. Whole grains and legumes take the longest to cook, so I do batches, and that could all be even less time in an instapot if I decided to go that way.
My friend with 10 mouths to feed went to eating this wfpb'ed way a couple years ago and was thrilled how much less time she and her family needed to spend preparing foods. With 10 mouths to feed 3 times a day it was a pronounced reduction in time needed to cook.

I really like a bit of mustard greens in a salad. But, you are right, leafy greens do shrink an enormous amount when cooked.

babaliaris said:

The things that I find challenging while cooking are sauces and spices combinations. Even though you can follow recipes
you can really mess up the flavor when using spices, something I always do when I'm not following a recipe letter by letter.

I also work in a Hotel kitchen (not as a cook). The cooks there are ranked in A, B, and C tiers with A the most experienced cook.
I asked the chef what makes an A-tier cook. He said, "Certainly experience but also they know how to make lots of sauces".
I was always fascinated by the sauces they make which I never saw in home cooking. White, orange, yellow, green, red sauces, pumpkin sauces,
garlic sauces, besamel similar sauces, and more.

So what do think is the most challenging thing in cooking?
Assume we are talking about home cooking without deadlines.

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Getting everything to the table at the same time and on warmed plates.

Aunt Bea said:

For me the most difficult thing is seasoning hot/warm foods that will be served cold.

A simple potato salad is one example.

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My German Mom learned me how to make potato-salad her way.
The standard way more or less, a wee bit of sugar, mustard.
The only thing I started using long ago was adding some basilicum too.
Everybody likes it, without telling them.
On a pot-luck in Canada with family on a hot day it was gone very fast.