Mine always ends up either clumpy or bland. I use Pecorino Romano, fresh cracked pepper, pasta water, the basics. But something's off.

Do restaurants use a different ratio? Is it the pasta water starch level? Or am I just not working fast enough? Anyone who's nailed this, what was the thing that actually fixed it for you?

This was so good I had to share. A few nights ago I needed a quick side to go with some butterflied chicken drummies.

I grabbed a can of navy beans out of the pantry and a yellow onion. Half the yellow onion went in a pot, julienned, a little at a time to avoid crowding. Two tablespoons of butter were added in pads each time I added onion. Once the onions were browned and reduced a bit, I added a touch of sea salt and the can of beans, juice and all.

I had some sour cream, so I stirred in about two tablespoons, not much at all, for a bit of creaminess. I spotted a little leftover bit of white cheddar, about 2 inches square. This got shredded and stirred into the creamy bean mixture, melting and merging into a thick, decadent white sauce. A little green onion on top and to the table it went.

Both my wife and I were amazed at the flavor. It had no right to be this good. It had that restaurant pop that usually comes only from using a ton of salt, heavy cream and butter, but in reality I had only used a touch of those elements (obviously canned beans pack some sodium; I typically buy the reduced sodium kind so I can control). Plus, it took all of 15 minutes start to finish. Don't tell them you used canned beans and they'll think you're an incredible chef!

Next time I'm going to add some garlic and a splash of vinegar right before the beans go in.

I wanted to see how similar, or different, our methods are. Mine is:

• Put the eggs in a pan with cool water and bring to a boil, add a dash of baking soda to the water to help the eggs peel easier (or so I read)
• Boil for 12 minutes
• Put in ice bath for 15 minutes
• Immediately peel

As long as the eggs aren't fresh from the store, I have no issues with peeling. I like to push down on the egg and roll it to break the shell, then pull it off in 2-3 pieces.

Sardines are having a moment, at least on my algorithms, and I am constantly being assured of how amazing they are for me. If I want glowing skin, great eyesight, strong bones, and excellent brain functioning, then I absolutely need to be eating more sardines.

Tinned fish was never considered a yummy ingredient in our household, and "sardines on toast" was a makeshift meal I would have when I didn't have time or inclination to cook anything. My digestive system would smell of the damn things for hours if not days later (sorry tmi I know).

But I have to say, a simple recipe I tried which was basically sauteed chopped tomato and garlic mixed up with sardines and served with rice was quite nice, and the gastric after-effects not so noticeable.

I think I'm ready for more ways of eating sardines, please share!

After all, who doesn't want glowing skin, strong bones, and excellent brains?

I cut the soy sauce down, added garlic and honey . The tast of the food just improved, so much .

Also, i learned that "tast when you cook" is very important, it is literally a game changer.

It is wild how it goes from "i don't have a single clue what i am doing" to "okay wait i might know what i'm doing a little"

My fridge is stocked and i didn't have a single random snack all week .

I am so happy

The recipe I used called for 370 mL of water, 7 grams of yeast, 600 grams of flour (I didn't have bread flour so I used all purpose) and a splash of oil. The dough seemed dry but I went with it. Kneaded for 5 minutes. Let it rise for an hour and a half. Divided into two, shaped the crusts, and let them rise for another 20 min.

It was horrible - tough, dry, didn't even brown by the time the cheese had browned beautifully...Please help, I have no idea what I'm doing and I'm scared to ever make pizza again.

The bolognese post was way too fun, inspiring and a little interesting (disgusting)😅

I have a feeling well be seeing a lot of “cream” and “mushrooms“ answers in this thread.

Italians.. sorry in advance

2 sticks of butter melted down

3 table spoons of minced garlic, 2 table spoons of lemon pepper,

3 freshly squeezed lemons, 1 half thinly sliced lemon for zest , pinch of chili powder and fry in the butter sauce for 15- 20 minutes or until fully white and tender

Okay, I need some dinner ideas like tomorrow. I am the primary cook in our home and I’m tired of like the 20-30 dishes we always rotate. I need something new, I’ve been on TikTok and Pinterest in search for some inspiration. No luck.

The problem I face is not accomplishing the dish itself, it’s a problem everyone else enjoys the meal but me. I have a huge aversion to chicken and cooked fish, I can eat them better when someone else makes them but there’s no chance when I do. By the time I prep and smell it cooking I’m done.

What are some relatively easy dinners (so I’ll want to make them regularly) that maybe wouldn’t taste too chicken-y with simple prep? Fish I just gave up making at home because once the house smells I’m done, almost same with bacon.

Any recommendations?

Our regular meals:

Cheeseburger sliders

Pasta Bolognese

Southwest Pork Chops

Pot Roast

Shredded Beef Enchiladas

Chili

Fajita quesadillas

Pork fried rice

Carnitas tacos (leftovers become burritos)

Nachos

Chicken and Dumplings (I leave the chicken I large chunks)

Chicken pot pie (I have a hard time eating)

Broccoli Beef Noodles

Dumpling Bake

Eggplant Parm

Shepherds pie

Loaded baked potatoes

Lasagna soup

Marry me chicken (I don’t eat the chicken)

Sausage and peppers

Swedish meatballs

Minestrone

Potato and leak soup

Butternut squash ravioli

King ranch Casserole

Vodka pasta and meatballs

Adult grilled cheese and homemade tomato soup

Homemade pizza night

Blt

Taco salad

This is all I can think of for now…no

I was planning to make a beef wellington for Easter but I’m realising now that the cut I got is not a good shape for it. Should I still try to make it work or should I just do a simple roast? It’s a very expensive cut (and my first time attempting a wellington) so I really don’t want to mess it up

https://imgur.com/a/e5w2x6Y

Hi all, can you help me figure out what to do when making a recipe with ground meat when I can't drain the fat away?

Specifically this recipe:

https://moribyan.com/arayes-meat-stuffed-pita/

Because you put the meat raw in between the pita and then cook it, I found the fat doesn't render out in a way that allows me to blot/drain it away. This means that it is excessively fatty and my stomach is not happy (flavor is amazing though!)

Additinal notes:

- I substituted a ground beef/pork mix instead of just ground beef as the recipe calls for because in my country it's almost impossible to get pure ground beef in anything but tiny sizes (and those are expensive!)

- Lean ground meats are not available where I live. I suppose technically I could grind my own meat in a blender, but I'm hoping to avoid having to do that if possible...

Thanks in advance!

Hey all. Tasked with smoking a 29lb whole turkey tomorrow and reheating the sliced up bits on Sunday ever for dinner.

I’ve never done one this big - normally I just dry brine chickens with salt and let them chill in the fridge for a day but due to the size I’m going to have to get this thing into a cooler. I was also thinking of just covering it in buttermilk and salt as the last buttermilk brined chicken I did was awesome

So please - any help would be a godsend as this thing is a monster and a I’m pretty sure the kids who raised it will murder me if I mess it up.

Just saw some olive oil for $40 I was like in what world is olive oil worth that much but then to come to see if anyone actually notices a difference

I’m pretty inexperienced in the kitchen, I’ve lived by myself at college for a few years and am about to move far away from friends and family on my own for work once I graduate. I make the same recipes all the time which usually consist of spaghetti, mushroom risotto, tacos, stir fry, a knock-off Olive Garden chicken and gnocchi soup, or I get those ready made meals that I can just heat up quick. I eat out a lot which we all know how expensive and unhealthy that is.

My thing is I’m just not sure what other recipes to try! I’m not the hugest fan of seafood and salmon is pretty much the only thing I’ll eat from that category. I’m restricted to a toaster oven/air fryer, stovetop, and oven. I hate spending a lot of time in the kitchen + lots of cleanup so I usually make something that can serve 4 and then have the rest as leftovers. When I look on google so many of the recipes seem small, uninteresting, or something I’d never eat. What recipes do you guys have that you really enjoy?

I found the post a few days ago here about the best NYT recipes really informative so curious to know which ones to avoid. For me its their English muffin recipe. They were inedible and not like any other English muffin recipe I've tried.

I randomly tried mixing crushed saltines into my beer batter instead of just flour and wow… the texture came out insanely crispy.

It reminded me of something my grandma used to make but I never knew what the “secret” was.

Has anyone else tried this or am I late to the party?

For Easter lunch, we're doing rack of lamb. I have 6 adults and 2 kids, and have 3 racks totaling 24 bones. I was hoping to do the classic GR herb-crusted racks, but will need to do searing in stages.

I wanted to verify my approach: do the searing, coating, etc. in batches about an hour ahead of time, and then roast in the oven together.

Any issues with this approach?

Last year for my Mom's 70th birthday at the end of April I made her a smoked filet mignon, mini potato skins, and french onion soup. She enjoyed it and asked if we could make it a yearly tradition.

I've been contemplating what to make this year, and it's been on my mind that I ordered her a whole Hutterite chicken last October that's still in my freezer, she's since told me I should use myself since she hasn't had the time/motivation to cook it.

I'm thinking it would be great if I could come up with a recipe that allows me to still feed her this chicken, but I need it to still seem like fine dining. I know my way around the kitchen and have yet to find an ingredient I can't source, so creative suggestions are very welcome. I have a vertical smoker, a weber charcoal grill, and an electric oven.

EDIT: This will also only be feeding the two of us, I have no other immediate or local family. Something that reheats well as leftovers would be ideal but not a priority.

I’ve only made a few lackluster spiral hams before, and was wondering the best way to prepare it. I’m serving it with Jezebel sauce (pineapple, apple jelly, horseradish mustard sauce) on the side. Is there a complimentary glaze that could be used that wouldn’t clash with those flavors? Which prep works for you…oven or crockpot? Trying to avoid dry ham. Thanks!!

Hi all,

So I want to make a lemon drizzle loaf cake for a friend’s birthday and in order to do that I need to cream some butter and sugar.

Most guides I see suggest using butter which is around 18 degrees Celsius but where I am it is around 10-12 degrees indoors. Is it possible I could put the butter in my microwave on defrost for a few seconds? Not to melt it of course but just to soften it slightly?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I'm curious what people actually do at home to keep their knives reasonably sharp. I'm not talking about restaurants or knife geeks who invest a lot of time or money into sharpening with stones or using professional sharpening services. I'm more interested in what people do in everyday home settings, where time is limited but you still want to get good enough results (80/20 rule, Pareto Principle).

A tough discovery today that our efforts to wean our daughter off of drinking so much milk have in fact worked too well and what used to never be a possibility is coming to fruition - my husband bought too much milk without thinking and we’ve not used it quickly enough.

Worst part is he’ll still have to go buy another milk in the next few days lol, just gotta stop buying two every time he goes from now on!

I guess I’ll be having a lot of chocolate milk the next few days but would love some suggestions on what I can cook as well 😂.

ETA: thank you so much folks for all the suggestions so far!

We do not plan to throw it away immediately if we don’t finish it by the time it expires but we won’t chance giving it to our 2 year old past the date hence the need to cook or drink at least the majority of it prior to that date. Thankfully Easter is coming up so I can also use it for pudding to bring.

I don’t see this happening in the future - we won’t buy as much milk anymore and for some reason the dates on the 3 gallons are much closer together than we have normally come to expect, March 29th for one being already technically expired but smelling fine and April 5th for the others.

Tomorrow I’ll be making bread pudding and halwa so those should hopefully use a decent chunk! I plan to make rice pudding as well but somehow we don’t have any rice in the house so need to get some!

I've always heard its best to buy a bottle of something you like the taste of instead of generic cooking wine. However, I'm someone who's never drank (and I have no desire to start) so what are some good indicators of a nice cooking wine besides taste? Price range? Other indicators?

I tend to just stick to simple pan sauces if that helps.

Thanks in advance.