RECIPES.......... no wonder some people do not like cooking

[idun]

I have tried two new recipes this week, both of which gave poor results as far as I was concerned.

One was for onion relish the other for a whisky sauce.

By the time I had finished tweaking them, they were really nice...... but if a cook is unsure, and afraid of messing up, what on earth do they do when after all that effort, because it was, they have a dish that is at best mediocre, and lacking flavour.

I am not a person who has lots of talents, know plenty of people who do, but I can cook and bake, always could, so that must be my only talent really. And I do feel for people who feel limited enough to follow all recipes to the letter.

Some recipes do work.......... but shouldn't they all?????

[hyacinth bucket]

I do agree, I can usually rescue a so-so result, but many people are not confident/experienced enough to have a go. Which is why, if searching for a recipe on the interwibble, I always look for one with reviews from people who have actually followed the recipe, and often have suggestions to improve it.

[Yumm-food]

My advice is ....start simple. Cooking is more of an art than a science.

There is no problem taking a recipe and then tweaking it to make it your own as long as you follow a few basic rules.

Try and use the best quality ingredients you can and as your confidence grows then you can explore more complicated dishes.

I am not averse to a bit of cheating either. Combining tinned confit canard with my own dauphinoise potatoes and veg is perfectly legitimate in my book!!

[Patf]

Yumm - I agree about starting simple. Also try to be creative with what you've got on hand.

My friend's husband likes to cook. He spends ages looking online for a recipe he fancies, than sends her out to look for all the obscure ingredients. He follows the recipe to the letter, and she says they usually turn out well, but are expensive, and get eaten in one go.

Like others I need to produce a meal every day so try to be more economical and adapt things to what's in the pantry.

eg yesterday I spent some time making cauliflower cheese, thinking it would last 2 days, but it didn't, a little bit left.  So today I boiled up some chopped fennel and carrots and added those thinning the sauce with more milk and adding more cheese. Under the grill for 10 minutes and it was fine.

We had fish and potatoes with it.

BTW has anyone ever used sémoule moyenne? Husband bought 3 packets for some reason and I don't know what to do with it. I made some dumplings with it once but they weren't very good. Someone in front of me in the supermarket had some so I asked her and she said she just boils it.

[mint]

I use it if I am baking biscuits, especially shortbread, using it to replace some of the flour.  The biscuits then have a nice crunch.

If I make fishcakes or fish goujons, I use it instead of flour.  Semoule, then beaten egg then bread crumbs and it makes everything bind together well and, again, you get a crunch.

However, one single packet lasts me ages so I am not sure what you'd do with your three!

[Jonzjob]

I was always taught that a recipe is a guide and only that. I love cooking and the last thing I did was yesterdays lunch, an omlette asperges sauvages with the goodies collected on our walking group outing Tuesday.

I have cooked with whisky a couple of time and I actually put some in the grub once, but not too much. Wine too and some of that goes in the grub too [:-))]

[Pierre ZFP]

I thought it was only me that did stuff like that (only 1 packet though)

I tried using it to thicken a sauce which it did, but the texture was Yuk!

Mint has the best idea, use it as a coating. Try it around slices of brie or Camembert and fried. I hate to think how many calories but it is so good [:P]

[Patf]

Good idea for coating fried fish etc - thanks [:)]

[idun]

I often do a search on Google France in French for recipes. Semoule moyenne recette brings up endless recipes.

Me I use it in cakes, i put a little in my pizza dough as it makes it crunchier. But mainly that word usage is simply what the 'english' call cous cous, and that is a pet hate of mine, as as far as I am concerned, it is the semolina that is part of a cous cous dish. And we enjoy a cous cous from time to time, and the good thing about it is that it can be rich and tasty or quite 'hot' itself and then there is the harissa sauce which is pokey and served separately.

Not keen on merguez myself, but my family love them with it. Also a great vegetarian dish.

The other thing is that i make taboule, i really do not like it with other things like bulgare etc, semoule moyenne is just lovely.

Lots of uses for it, and​ I have never heard of dumplings made with it, i would have to look at a few recipes before going down that route.

[Patf]

I got the recipe for the dumplings off Google - they had an Arab name. But they were very solid, though the taste was ok. Herby.

These look good, but not what I meant:

http://www.lesfoodies.com/chamsaya/recette/mini-harcha-ou-galette-semoule-marocaine

[Chancer]

My Maracaine lady friend who has sadly moved on to a more enlightened and welcoming area made the best crêpes that I have ever tasted (other than hers I hated crêpés)  they were made from kneaded dough and more like chapattis, what made them superb was the semoule sprinkled on them, a great taste and texture.

[idun]

But, Patf, you have two bags to use, so why not some light fluffy semoule with a couscous, I actually use my fingers to keep the grains apart as they steam. otherwise they can stick and be heavy............. or some lovely lovely taboule.

I could certainly use it easily. There would also be three lovely gateaux of various sorts too.

[Patf]

I just realised today that it's the same stuff used to make sweet semolina puddings etc in fact that was probably what the french lady in the shop was telling me "boil it in milk" etc. No wonder she was surprised when I said "nice with tomato sauce".

[idun]

I have never used so much semoule as I have since you mentioned it! Onto my third packet now and am using more this weekend.

Taboule, couscous, and various cakes, all delicious.