Pet Peeves - Epicurian Division

[Ron_Slye]

there are a handful of items where the fresh farm version is so much better and different that it’s essentially a completely different ingredient. garlic is at the top of that list. the garlic you get at a supermarket is so bland, dry, and lacking in flavor and aroma that you’d need 20x to make any impact whatsoever. i’m very serious about garlic.

Yaacov (or anyone who loves garlic): if you haven’t already done this - and if you have, I expect you’re doing it every season - when the fresh young garlic is available in the farmers’ markets, make garlic confit. Peel as many cloves as you have the energy to peel, cover in a small saucepan with high quality canola oil, and put it on your lowest burner setting, preferably on a diffuser, for about an hour. It should never get above the gentlest of simmers. The resulting cloves are sweet and delicate and pure, and can be thrown whole into every vegetable dish right at the end, smashed on top of toast, used in dressings…tons of uses. Store them in the fridge in the oil used for cooking, and use the oil as well for light sautees in which you want just a hint of garlic. We do 20-30 heads of garlic like this every season.

To the original question, comments often drive me crazy, for many of the same reasons that Jay mentions. There are also recipe quirks that drive me crazy. Notably, most recipes don’t want to admit that it takes as long as it takes to caramelize onions. They all say “sautee onions until light brown and caramelized, about 15 minutes.” Bullsh-t.

Same with instructions for reducing - it takes a lot longer than most recipes tell you.

I can also go off on plenty of restaurant pet peeves, like temperature issues. For instance, cheese shouldn’t be cold. I get that this is the land of lawsuits and regulations, and people get hysterical about refrigerating everything constantly, but cold cheese is gross. Sushi and sashimi also shouldn’t be cold.

Absolutely on caramelizing onions! Years ago I made the mistake of making onion soup the night before we were going to serve it. I thought, a few hours, get the onions ready, nice night’s sleep, etc. I was up all night. And there is such a big difference between onions that are properly caramelized and those that are just translucent or browned.

I actually gave up a long time ago on paying much attention to timing in recipes.

[Ron_Slye]

[/quote]
Check out Thomas Keller’s recipe for French onion soup:

FOR THE SOUP: Melt the butter and oil in a large heavy stockpot over medium heat. Add the onions and 1 tablespoon salt, reduce the heat to low. Cook, stirring every 15 minutes and regulating the heat to keep the mixture bubbling gently, for about 1 hour, or until the onions have wilted and released a lot of liquid. At this point, you can turn up the heat slightly to reduce the liquid, but it is important to continue to cook the onions slowly to develop maximum flavor and keep them from scorching. Continue to stir the onions every 15 minutes, being sure to scrape the bottom and get in the corners of the pot, for about 4 hours more, or until the onions are caramelized throughout and a rich deep brown. Keep a closer eye on the onions toward the end of the cooking when the liquid has evaporated.
[/quote]

This was the recipe I followed. It took more than four hours to do it properly!

[Jay_Miller]

I do a version of caramelized onions that’s pretty easy and has the advantage of cooking a chicken dinner for part of the time the onions are caramelizing.

Slice the onions, place on the bottom of a lidded pan. Layer the fresh herb of your choice on top (thyme, tarragon, etc.). Place chicken thighs skin side up on top of the herbs. Cover and cook over low heat for 30-40 minutes, then remove the chicken.

I finish the chicken under the broiler to crisp up the skin, sometimes adding some more flavor (a rub, a bbq sauce, etc).

I leave the the onions which are cooking in chicken fat and juices infused with the herbal flavor on the stove for another 2 hours or so uncovered.

[David_K_o_l_i_n]

12 lbs of sweet onions, 10 sprigs of fresh thyme, salt, and 5 or so hours later.

Thank you.

BTW, that may for the inspiration to load homemade bread with scallions. Brilliant.

[Betty_C]

There are very few recipes on Earth calling for two cloves of garlic that are actually good with only two cloves.

“two cloves of garlic? Don’t mind if i add 8” - my general motto

I remember the day I learned this. In college cooking for some friends. Misread mom’s recipe that called for one clove of garlic and used one head. Turned out way better than mom ever made it.

I’m curious - do you remember what you made?

[Brian_Gilp]

“two cloves of garlic? Don’t mind if i add 8” - my general motto

I remember the day I learned this. In college cooking for some friends. Misread mom’s recipe that called for one clove of garlic and used one head. Turned out way better than mom ever made it.

I’m curious - do you remember what you made?

It was a chicken dish. Probably a version of chicken cacciatore but am not sure. I checked her handwritten recipes and the only cookbook of hers that I kept and can’t find it.

[Betty_C]

I remember the day I learned this. In college cooking for some friends. Misread mom’s recipe that called for one clove of garlic and used one head. Turned out way better than mom ever made it.

I’m curious - do you remember what you made?

It was a chicken dish. Probably a version of chicken cacciatore but am not sure. I checked her handwritten recipes and the only cookbook of hers that I kept and can’t find it.

I can see how a whole bulb of garlic would make that better.

[TimF]

When I make risotto, I add two bulbs of roasted garlic. My wife claims she can barely taste it.

[Andrew_Kotowski]

Not washing your rice before cooking.

Uncle Roger DISGUSTED by this Egg Fried Rice Video (BBC Food)

[Pau1_M3nk3s]

Love how this thread on the idiocy of changing the recipe is now a paean to changing the recipe.

[TimF]

Love how this thread on the idiocy of changing the recipe is now a paean to changing the recipe.

Isn’t it ironic?

[Betty_C]

Love how this thread on the idiocy of changing the recipe is now a paean to changing the recipe.

Isn’t it ironic?

Don’t you think?

[RichardFlack]

I nearly always follow a recipe to the letter first time round, unless there is something clearly wrong in a minor aspect (in which case the responsibility is mine). If I think there is something major wrong, I look for another recipe.

One exception for a first time out “tweak” is, and this is my pet peeve, that quantities for sauces, braising liquid etc, are often inadequate so I may ratio all those ingredients up by 25% or 50%, but keeping everything in proportion.

Subsequently, I very often tweak the dish according to my taste.

Other pet peeves… mixing measuring systems, why doesn’t everyone just give everything in grams? 5tbsp of this, 1/4 cup of that, 6oz of the other… I also weigh liquids it’s faster and more accurate.

And, as has already been noted, often the quoted prep time may be reasonable after you have done a recipe a few times but is usually too short for the first time out.

Recipes that don’t have a total prep and cook time (incl any resting or cooling times) at the beginning so you have get out a pencil and paper to figure out when to start.

[RichardFlack]

Love how this thread on the idiocy of changing the recipe is now a paean to changing the recipe.

Isn’t it ironic?

That was just the example to get started. The thread is pet peeves. Number one seems to be dishonest recipes.

[Edited for typo]

[alan_weinberg]

I always tweak the recipe. Recipe may say 1 sprig of whatever but what if it is weaker or stronger than usual? So tasting is important.

[Pau1_M3nk3s]

I’m a tweaker. Not the drug addict kind.
Richard, not sure if some recipes are dishonest so much as inadequate.

[Mark_Golodetz]

One of the more entertaining threads. Not surprising that Berserkers can’t keep to a recipe.

[RichardFlack]

I’m a tweaker. Not the drug addict kind.
Richard, not sure if some recipes are dishonest so much as inadequate.

“ misleading “. Will that do?

[Pau1_M3nk3s]

I’m a tweaker. Not the drug addict kind.
Richard, not sure if some recipes are dishonest so much as inadequate.

“ misleading “. Will that do?

[David_K_o_l_i_n]

I always tweak the recipe. Recipe may say 1 sprig of whatever but what if it is weaker or stronger than usual? So tasting is important.

I never stick to a recipe (other than baking). And I usually don’t follow baking recipes. I use them for ideas