What's on your cooking bucket list?

[The Late Night Gourmet]

@The Late Night Gourmet

My brother has one like that. It really does not take a hug amount of wood. Find free.

When using chips soak them in water. Squeeze out the excess water. If the chips are not soaked they will catch fire. Not what you want.

Good tip! The one time I smoked the brisket, I had to replace the chips every 20 minutes or so, and what remained was mostly ashes. This will slow that down considerably.

 

[ElizabethB]

My bucket list is:

Home made bread. After the first of the year.
Asian - I would like to try Asian cuisine. That would be a good fit for my Honey. Without rice.
Light Sauces - I love sauces and play around with different flavors and condiments - always looking for something new - especially now that heavy, high fat sauces are no longer on the table.
Salt crusted fish
Oysters Bienville - a favorite dish that I have never made
George's "secret" for Red Fish Sauce Picante.
"From Scratch" Baking
Soufflé - there is a local restaurant that serves the most amazing soufflé for desert. It is made to order so you order desert at the beginning of the meal. One bite and I nearly swoon.
Soft Shell Crab with Piccata sauce. I tried it once but it did not turn out the way I wanted it to. The problem was the crabs - they were not live. Must try this again.

 

[Elawin]

What is an illusion cake? I'm not a great cake maker and I too haven't really mastered any fancy icing or cake decorating. The trouble is I've no reason to make such things as no-one here likes them

If you have a chance, watch The Great British Bake Off (Channel 4), episode 1. Perhaps some illusion cupcakes would be more appropriate

 

[Francesca]

Yes...there are some things on my to-do list, and mostly it's down to simply setting aside enough time to do them:

• Souffle
• Salt-Crusted Fish
• Paella
• Cheese - yes, I know it's easy to make. But, I haven't yet tried.
• Smoked food - I have put wood chips in a foil "boat" on my grill to smoke a partly-cooked brisket once, which certainly counts as smoking. But, I have yet to smoke something from beginning to end. I even have a smoker that I haven't put together yet. Even when I do, this will be a long time commitment keeping up the wood chips.The weather isn't cooperating now, either. so this might have to wait until the spring.
• A good gluten-free bread - I have made gluten-free bread, but it wasn't very good.
• Oxtail soup - this will have to wait until I can find oxtails!
• Savory foams - I have a box of "charges", but no whipped cream canister. This seems pretty easy to fix, but it isn't high in my list.

@The Late Night Gourmet

Interesting that you have three Spanish traditional dishes that you would like to prepare ..

Paella, Oxtail and Salt crusted fish ( very common during the Xmas holidays ) ..

As far as getting oxtail ( bull´s tail actually ) abroad, I would suggest that you contact butchers in the Chinook Region of Montana ..

Paella does not require that much time however, you need: Fallera Arborio Valencian Rice which is the rice Chef José Andrés
endorses and uses .. And Saffron from Toledo, Spain which is easily available in Latin Markets / Grocers ..

 

[Morning Glory]

If you have a chance, watch The Great British Bake Off (Channel 4), episode 1. Perhaps some illusion cupcakes would be more appropriate

Do you mean the last series? Yes I saw it. I get the idea now. I must say I find some of these creations a bit ridiculous and unless done supremely well they just look amateur.

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

Home made bread. After the first of the year.

I highly recommend you start with rolls or a flatbread instead of a loaf of bread. It's basically the same concept - yeast to get the dough to rise, form into shape, then rise once more before baking - but you don't have to worry about the peculiarities of baking a loaf. Specifically, a loaf of bread, among other things:

• can stick to the bread pan - a minor concern when it comes to rolls sticking to one surface of a baking sheet
• may not cook fully in the middle - also, virtually impossible with rolls (and, you will have a dozen others that you can bake longer if you mess one up).
• might not develop the crust you want (not something you care about with rolls)
• will dry out fairly quickly after baking (whereas you can refrigerate rolls and keep the insides fresh for much longer)

I'm suggesting rolls or flatbread so your first experience is a good one. Then, feel free to do whatever you want. My first homemade bread was a loaf, and it turned out...okay. Denser than I wanted, and without much of a crust to speak of on the top. I rarely make loaves of bread anymore, since I find that flatbreads and rolls are much more versatile.

 

[Francesca]

I highly recommend you start with rolls or a flatbread instead of a loaf of bread. It's basically the same concept - yeast to get the dough to rise, form into shape, then rise once more before baking - but you don't have to worry about the peculiarities of baking a loaf. Specifically, a loaf of bread, among other things:

• can stick to the bread pan - a minor concern when it comes to rolls sticking to one surface of a baking sheet
• may not cook fully in the middle - also, virtually impossible with rolls (and, you will have a dozen others that you can bake longer if you mess one up).
• might not develop the crust you want (not something you care about with rolls)
• will dry out fairly quickly after baking (whereas you can refrigerate rolls and keep the insides fresh for much longer)

I'm suggesting rolls or flatbread so your first experience is a good one. Then, feel free to do whatever you want. My first homemade bread was a loaf, and it turned out...okay. Denser than I wanted, and without much of a crust to speak of on the top. I rarely make loaves of bread anymore, since I find that flatbreads and rolls are much more versatile.

@The Late Night Gourmet & @ElizabethB

Focaccia is very simple to make and a true pleasantry ..

This is some good advice .. I would love to learn how to do a Normandie Baguette, however, it is not as simple as one thinks .. I have Bio French flour from a boutique mill in Normandie .. Maybe one day I shall tackle this ..

Mini Rolls : Do you use bread flour for these ? Or an All Purpose flour ?

 

[Morning Glory]

I highly recommend you start with rolls or a flatbread instead of a loaf of bread

I'm not sure about this. I reckon a simple one rise loaf (no tins involved - just the dough plonked on non-stick baking paper on a tray) is the best first step. But I'm listening to what you say @The Late Night Gourmet.

 

[Elawin]

Yes...there are some things on my to-do list, and mostly it's down to simply setting aside enough time to do them:

• Souffle
• Salt-Crusted Fish
• Paella
• Cheese - yes, I know it's easy to make. But, I haven't yet tried.
• Smoked food - I have put wood chips in a foil "boat" on my grill to smoke a partly-cooked brisket once, which certainly counts as smoking. But, I have yet to smoke something from beginning to end. I even have a smoker that I haven't put together yet. Even when I do, this will be a long time commitment keeping up the wood chips.The weather isn't cooperating now, either. so this might have to wait until the spring.
• A good gluten-free bread - I have made gluten-free bread, but it wasn't very good.
• Oxtail soup - this will have to wait until I can find oxtails!
• Savory foams - I have a box of "charges", but no whipped cream canister. This seems pretty easy to fix, but it isn't high in my list.

Perhaps I should add oxtail soup. I'd forgotten all about that. It was another of the meals that my parents would have on a Saturday in winter, although most of the time they either had jellied eels or tripe. It was never given to me, although I had had tinned oxtail soup on the odd occasion. The problem is trying to avoid being too fatty for comfort.

As for gluten-free bread, I've only ever had it once, when I accidentally picked up the wrong loaf in the supermarket in the days when they used to bake their bread in store. I would never eat it willingly. I am of the opinion that, unless you need gluten-free for genuine health reasons, you should leave well alone.

 

[Elawin]

Do you mean the last series? Yes I saw it. I get the idea now. I must say I find some of these creations a bit ridiculous and unless done supremely well they just look amateur.

But they've all got to learn some time, especially if appearing on a programme like that. My niece's friend did a cake decorating course in the 1970s and progressed from there. She was (self-confessed) useless at baking, but boy could she decorate [someone else's] cake The wife of a friend of my ex-husband's made my daughter's wedding cake. The cake itself was passable, but the decoration was beautiful.

 

[ElizabethB]

@The Late Night Gourmet and @morning glory for your good advice. Not even thinking of attempting bread until after the first of the year. I have enough on my plate preparing for Thanks Giving and Christmas. The days seem to disappear. I took a Boston Butt (bone in pork shoulder ) roast out of the freezer this morning to defrost. I will stuff and season tomorrow then cook Thursday - slice and freeze. Defrost next Wednesday then heat Thanks Giving morning. Shopping tomorrow for sweet potato casserole- make and freeze, vanilla beans for Pig Candy and Vanilla challenge, purchasing ingredients for the Goulash challenge - don't know if it will actually get done.

I am of the opinion that, unless you need gluten-free for genuine health reasons, you should leave well alone.

DITTO - the gluten free craze is a marketing ploy to get consumers to pay more for food that is not a real issue unless you are truly gluten intolerant.

Add cheese to my bucket list also home made buttermilk. I need buttermilk for my sweet potato casserole - I may try home made buttermilk this week.

 

[Morning Glory]

Perhaps I should add oxtail soup. I'd forgotten all about that. It was another of the meals that my parents would have on a Saturday in winter, although most of the time they either had jellied eels or tripe. It was never given to me, although I had had tinned oxtail soup on the odd occasion. The problem is trying to avoid being too fatty for comfort.

As for gluten-free bread, I've only ever had it once, when I accidentally picked up the wrong loaf in the supermarket in the days when they used to bake their bread in store. I would never eat it willingly. I am of the opinion that, unless you need gluten-free for genuine health reasons, you should leave well alone.

Oxtail is fantastic to cook with and can be bought reasonably cheaply. I've not made oxtail soup but have several times made oxtail stews. I haven't found it to be overly fatty - you can trim off some of the surrounding fat.

 

[Elawin]

Oxtail is fantastic to cook with and can be bought reasonably cheaply. I've not made oxtail soup but have several times made oxtail stews. I haven't found it to be overly fatty - you can trim off some of the surrounding fat.

I am not a fan of fatty meat, except for pork (crackling) and bacon (crispy), but what I mean here is the fat that ends up in the soup itself. I know you can scoop it off, but I'd rather it wasn't there in the first place.

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

Mini Rolls : Do you use bread flour for these ? Or an All Purpose flour ?

I make them with the same recipe that I'd use to make a loaf of bread, except the bake time is less. Really, it's more because of the versatility of the individual serving size than it's because of trouble I've had making loaves.

And, my interest in gluten-free baking is 100% because my brother is gluten-intolerant. Otherwise, I wouldn't have it in my house.

 

[Francesca]

@morning glory

The Oxtail in Southern Spain is all muscle and relatively no fat .. It is a classic legacy in Madrid and southern Spain during the month of May ..

It is not too common here in Cataluna .. We had prohibited this mass slaughter a number of years ago. It is a big business ( bullfighting) ..