ECH's thoughts on true culinary skill

[East Coast Hustle]

Two years ago, if you had asked me what my best dishes were, I would have said they were my pan-seared scallops in lobster sauce, my apricot-ginger glazed duckling, and my chateaubriand.

But though I do believe that I excel at those dishes, that would have been the wrong answer.

Fois Gras terrine, salmon mousseline, halibut cheeks en pappilote....fancy stuff that has it's place, but that only a small percentage of the world's population even has the skills to attempt let alone be good at.

I have come to the conclusion that the true test of one's culinary skill lies not in the ability to make something that hardly anyone else can make, but to make something that EVERYBODY can make and to make it better than anyone else can make it.

Ask me that same question now and my answers are: lasagna, pozole, chicken & dumplings. Simple stuff. Peasant food. Anyone can do it and almost everyone is familiar with it and likes it. But one things (among many) that this job has taught me is that I take far more pleasure out of hearing someone say "this is the best damn lasagna I've ever had! It's better than my grandmothers!" than I do out of being praised for something that can generally only be found in high-end restaurants for $30 a plate.

Now, that's not meant to discourage people from taking chances in the kitchen and learning new and fancy things, but I would exhort you not to do so at the expense of figuring out how to make that meatloaf or homemade mac 'n' cheese goddamn perfect. And in the end, refining your techniques and learning about the flavor profiles of such simple fare will aid you greatly when you do decide to move on to trickier and more exacting dishes.

[Don Coyote]

That is extremely encouraging, and now I want mac and cheese.

[Triple Zero]

I wanted to say this is most motivating, but Coyote said the correct word, encouraging While I love trying out new stuff, like sous-vide, it's cool because it's weird and sciencey, most of the time I'm cooking more mundane things, and I also love figuring out how to get those just right. Knowing a bit about the science behind it helps though, but everybody needs some framework.

On a somewhat related note on that topic. The past couple of times I made stock, I tried your method of cutting the onions in half, unpeeled, and cooking them for a while until the undersides turn brown. First of, I noticed that if you cut them the "wrong" way, that is in half between the roots and tip, not through them like you'd normally do if you'd plan on dicing them, it's much easier to get the peel of a hot onion afterwards. But most importantly, I'm not going to do it next time. Or maybe just with one or two onions and the rest just plain. Maybe I got different onions than you, but even though the flavours are really excellent, for some reason it makes the onions really really sweet. So sweet, that it makes the stock kind of too sweet. Especially when I later made red beet soup out of it, and added another couple of onions (prepared the same way) to the mix. People liked it, but I know it was too sweet. I didn't even eat the leftover (it was just one bowl).

[The Rev]

I couldn't agree more with the OP.
A couple of nights ago I came up with the following, I am sure it has been done before, but here and now I made it up.

Skinless chicken breast.
1/2 to 1 cup crushed almonds
tarragon
thyme
rosemary
mint
garlic salt
onion powder

Tenderize chicken and marinate it in rum for 30 minutes.
Make milk and egg wash

add generous portion of tarragon, 2 or 3 pinches of rosemary and thyme and 1 pinch of mint to wash.

add almonds, garlic salt and onion powder to flour.

wash and bread

brown breading then reduce heat to low and simmer lidded until done.

Damn, it was good.

ETA: fry in first cold press olive oil.

LOL, I took the almonds out of my wifes can of deluxe nuts, put then in a glad freezer bag and beat the piss out of them with the back side of a hatchet.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I am in fact banned from the kitchen after the last fire.   

If the women leave, I'll die.

[The Rev]

I am in fact banned from the kitchen after the last fire.   

If the women leave, I'll die.

I love to cook. The only thing about this RV park that bothers me, other than the neighbors, is the fact that there is no grill outside and we forgot to buy one.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I am in fact banned from the kitchen after the last fire.   

If the women leave, I'll die.

I love to cook. The only thing about this RV park that bothers me, other than the neighbors, is the fact that there is no grill outside and we forgot to buy one.

I like trying to cook, but the directions are very vague, and bad things happen.  I don't fucking understand it.  I can do anything else I set my mind to, but when I touch food requiring heat, all kinds of bad shit happens.  I have precisely zero (0) talent in this area, and I am insanely jealous of people like ECH and Freeky, who just throw shit at the pot and make pure taste bud sexiness.

[The Rev]

Get a part time job in a restaurant, that'll learn you some basics.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Get a part time job in a restaurant, that'll learn you some basics.

I'll need to clone myself first.

As for ECH's OP, the point that interested me is that a Chef can get away with murder if it's shit nobody's ever tasted before, because they have no standard by which to judge it...But EVERYONE has had lasagna, which means you better know your shit if you want to impress them.

[The Rev]

I agree, simple food, well prepared and presented, is an art in itself.

[Luna]

I am in fact banned from the kitchen after the last fire.   

If the women leave, I'll die.

I love to cook. The only thing about this RV park that bothers me, other than the neighbors, is the fact that there is no grill outside and we forgot to buy one.

I like trying to cook, but the directions are very vague, and bad things happen.  I don't fucking understand it.  I can do anything else I set my mind to, but when I touch food requiring heat, all kinds of bad shit happens.  I have precisely zero (0) talent in this area, and I am insanely jealous of people like ECH and Freeky, who just throw shit at the pot and make pure taste bud sexiness.

I struggle with it, myself, but I'm learning. 

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Two years ago, if you had asked me what my best dishes were, I would have said they were my pan-seared scallops in lobster sauce, my apricot-ginger glazed duckling, and my chateaubriand.

But though I do believe that I excel at those dishes, that would have been the wrong answer.

Fois Gras terrine, salmon mousseline, halibut cheeks en pappilote....fancy stuff that has it's place, but that only a small percentage of the world's population even has the skills to attempt let alone be good at.

I have come to the conclusion that the true test of one's culinary skill lies not in the ability to make something that hardly anyone else can make, but to make something that EVERYBODY can make and to make it better than anyone else can make it.

Ask me that same question now and my answers are: lasagna, pozole, chicken & dumplings. Simple stuff. Peasant food. Anyone can do it and almost everyone is familiar with it and likes it. But one things (among many) that this job has taught me is that I take far more pleasure out of hearing someone say "this is the best damn lasagna I've ever had! It's better than my grandmothers!" than I do out of being praised for something that can generally only be found in high-end restaurants for $30 a plate.

Now, that's not meant to discourage people from taking chances in the kitchen and learning new and fancy things, but I would exhort you not to do so at the expense of figuring out how to make that meatloaf or homemade mac 'n' cheese goddamn perfect. And in the end, refining your techniques and learning about the flavor profiles of such simple fare will aid you greatly when you do decide to move on to trickier and more exacting dishes.

YES YES YES, A THOUSAND TIMES YES!

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I am in fact banned from the kitchen after the last fire.   

If the women leave, I'll die.

You're on a roll tonight.

[LMNO]

Please tell me more about this Halibut en Papillote...


LMNO
-wife gets bored.

[East Coast Hustle]

Nope. but I'll tell you about Pozole all damn day if you want.