Getting to Know You Giveaway: A Kitchen Challenge
Happy Wednesday, everyone!
On Monday and yesterday, we discussed three-course meals. They may sound decadent, but are really rather feasible! We want to know when you’ve really faced a kitchen challenge:
What is the most challenging thing you have ever cooked?
Answer the above question in the comments section below by 6 pm ET today, and 5 of you will be randomly selected to win a a copy of Real Women of Philadelphia: The Cookbook!*
Miss Philly
*Some restrictions apply. Click HERE for Official Rules for today’s Community Cookbook giveaway.
This giveaway is now closed. We will randomly select 5 of you and send you a Private Message this evening. We'll report back soon and let you all know who won!
Update: Congratulations to the winners of this giveaway: Kathleen Knight, Dorothy Pyefinch, niki, JJ and Kate!
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Congratulations to the winners of this giveaway: Kathleen Knight, Dorothy Pyefinch, niki, JJ and Kate! -
Wow! Thanks everyone for your fun and endearing comments! The giveaway is now closed. We will randomly select 5 of you and send you a Private Message this evening. And we'll report back soon and let you all know who won!
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Beef Wellington. Getting the mushroom mixture just right, then the puff pastry, then make sure the meat isn't overdone... I'm breaking out in a sweat just from the memory. -
Don't laugh, but it's Rice Krispie squares. They always turn out hard, not ooey and gooey like they're supposed to be. I've even tried reducing the amount of cereal and keeping the marshmallows the same but that hasn't helped.
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I had so much trouble perfecting puffed pastry. It would end up runny and a disaster when coming out of the oven. The trick is to have everything room temperature and take your time. This cannot be a rushed process.
Patience is truly a virtue when making puffed pastry. -
Xmas family diner for 38 guests; the theme was Italian and it was a huge challenge and very interesting trying to prepare so many courses for that many people. But as always it all works out in the end.( with a little help) -
Chocolate pudding. Evidently my whisking skills are lacking and I can't make it without little black bits floating everywhere.
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I watched my Mother bake bread in every form imaginable all of my life. So, one day I attempted and faithful followed all the steps. As my husband said, it was good enough to be used as a doorstop. So from that day, I purchased a bread machine and have been successful. I would still like to try it again. Only I wish my Mother was still with me, so she could help me with it.
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The hardest thing I ever made takes me back to my early years as a baker. I have always enjoyed cooking and baking for family or friends even in my early childhood. When I was 10 I decided that I would surprise my Mom (who was at work) and brothers with a Lemon Meringue pie which I probably couldn't even spell at the time. Unknowingly, I used an instant pudding for the filling and then proceeded to create a beautiful meringue and place it in the oven to brown. Little did I know that instant pudding liquifies when reheated, and to this day we remenisce about the "Lemon Soup" pie that I made for the family. They were troupers and ate it anyway, but did share the story at my wedding 15 years later.
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For me, it is a toss up between the Vina Terta (Icelandic Christmas Cake) I prepared for my mother's birthday one year and the authentic Spanish Paella I prepared for a dinner club, which took me an entire afternoon to prepare. The Vina Terta was a challenge due to the seven, ultra thin layers of cake batter. The Spanish paella was challenging but so rewarding because it was a great lesson in building layers of flavour over time - the time this takes is absolutely worth while. What an enjoyable time I had making both of these.
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The hardest thing I ever made was a beef wellington. It takes lots of steps to make, but turned out pretty tasty.
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Coq au vin. I had visitors from France and wanted to impress them with a French dish. I must have missed a step somewhere and let's just say I ended up ordering in pizza.
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Had to do a thanksgiving dinner for both sides of the family and needed to cook the turkey...lets say i had to call my mom to help....sorry can't and won't go into details :) Have a great summer everyone!!
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Emeril Lagasse's Port Wine Glazed Duck, complete with Au Jus, pureed sweet potatoes and Hericots Verts.
It was a long, but VERY rewarding day! -
I have to say, the most challenging thing I ever cooked was my stuffed pork tenderloin for last year's contest! Getting that thing stuffed, sauced, and cooked through for the judges in an hour was nerve wracking to say the least! -
Handmade Chinese noodles. I saw them being made on television (guy was pulling them and making the noodles thinner and thinner) and thought,"Hey that looks like fun!" Gave it a try and nope, it's not fun when you have no idea what you're doing.
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Well, that's a tough one...its between a pomme berny with no deep fryer or cooking dinner for twenty people between visitations when my father-in-law passed away. The pomme berny turned out great, I baked it instead of deep frying it and it actually looked like a pear~so cool! The second situation, my mother-in-law just kept inviting people back to her house between visitations so I had about an hour and fifteen minutes to make dinner and for everyone to eat. I found some chicken breast, which I deboned, and some porkchops...I pan fried them and then put them in the oven in her crock pot dish with mushroom soup and fresh mushrooms. While that was baking, I made pasta and rice. I set it up buffet style and they had their choice of pasta or rice and chicken or chops...it worked out perfectly! -
Can't remember the year, and this may not seem like much to too many fantabulous cooks around here; but my toughest meal was Christmas dinner for 6 of us. LOL....I know that doesn't sound like much but I was ill at the time and it was a little more than I could handle. But with the help of my mother-in-law and hubby we managed just fine. It turned out wonderfully! :) -
Well it's not exactly cooked, but I had to make Buttercream Icing in front of a class for the first time. And it was my very first time teaching the course/class too. I was Very nervous, and thought I could just wing it, no, I didn't practice beforehand either. Yup, disaster in the making!. Let's just say, by the time I got to class, I forgot how my Stand Mixer worked - the lock switch on my left, and the speed switch on my right. Out of stage fright, I dumped in everything together, all at once. (Not supposed to do that!)... The shortening was practically frozen (Didn't know any better), poured in the water & flavourings, and 2lbs of icing sugar, etc. No splatter shield or J Cloth to wrap around the mixing bowl, during mixing time. Then I told the class I was going to make the icing, thought I locked the machine, and turned on the machine at the lowest speed. Nope! (I actually unlocked the machine, and hit the switch to the highest speed! No. 10) And FOOF!!! went the icing sugar into the air, onto me and my face (I looked like a Geisha!), & flying pieces of shortening and water towards my students! The machine was going like a wild horse on the go! Oh my!, I just wanted to die on that very spot. I thought my teaching career was over.. My icing was Not icing at all, clumpy little sugary things that did not even resemble close to icing! In the end, I was very lucky my students were very understanding people, and I needed to get my notes and practicing together Before I set my foot into the classroom to teach! Lesson learned there! :) -
The most challenging thing I ever made was Boston Cream Pie for as a birthday party. It was my first time making it, so I followed a recipe to the exact measurement. The cream filling would not hold, and it would spill all over the edges of the cake. I had to remake the filling until it would hold. Then, I had to make the ganache for the top. That was a nightmare of a mess. The chocolate sauce did not have the right consistency because I think the chocolate seized on me as I rushed to melt the chocolate. And, I had to redo the ganache again. Then, pouring the ganache over the top of the cake was just a mess of chocolatey goo all over my counters. It took me the entire day to finally make a half respectable cake, and I panicked all throughout the process because my guests and the birthday boy were on their way late that day. It was very stressful!
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As a young bride I invited my parents for Christmas only to have the hydro go out with a half cooked turkey! It ended up cut in half , wrapped in foil, on a hibachi in a snow bank outside in the back yard. Our Franklin fireplace worked up enough heat to warm vegetables. A very rustic, chilly Christmas meal. Putting our heads together to create it was more fun than it was trouble. Makes me smile just to remember....
ceebee -
The hardest thing that I have ever tried (and didn't turn out) was veal oscar. The thin meat has to be cooked perfectly with nice breading (mine overcooked and soggy) and the sauce has to be smooth and creamy (mine a little lumpy). The other problem I had was that I bought fresh crab legs in the shell and when I opened them at home they had hardly any meat. It was a disaster...
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I learned a tip for making perogies recently and maybe it will help you Rachelle. It made them much more doable for me.
Make your dough and roll it out on a flour sprinkled counter. Pick a spot to put a little filling and then fold the dough over the filling while it is still in a large piece. Then when it is sealed, cut it with a glass to separate it from the big piece of dough. It is much easier then them way my grandma did it with little pieces in her had that she flattened with her fingers and filled. I don't know how she did it so fast or how she seemed to never have leaky perogies.
Anyway, I find this works better for me. As I finish each one I lay it on a cookie sheet and freeze them. Then put them in zippy bags and take them out as needed. -
My biggest challenge: Making Dainty Danish and Croissants from scratch. At the time, I was in Chef Training, (before I became a pastry chef). My daughter was getting married and we were having the family and guests over for brunch the day after the wedding. I wanted something very special for my girl, so I decided to practice some techniques I was learning at the time for danish (several kinds) and croissants(thank you to my then instructor and mentor, Chef Baumann who encouraged and guided me - he is the reason I pursued education to become a pastry chef) It was a very big undertaking on top of the wedding festivities, but it all turned out great and about 70 people enjoyed the brunch. I still love making these dainty danish and mini croissants for special occasions and every time I do, I hear Chef B say "you can do this!" -
I remember a point in time when I had no job, I was a single parent, and I had no food to make a decent meal to feed my 2 children, everything had been used up. Those few days still bring tears to my eyes as I applied for short term welfare to be able to survive. Within the month our situation changed and we were able to purchase the groceries needed for a simple meat...and potato...AND vegetable meal with a little something for dessert. Never again do I want to wonder what will I cook for my children when there is no food, that is challenging.
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