# Dishes you like but are too much of a pain in the ass to cook. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 30, 2015, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-you-like-but-are-too-much-of-a-pain-in-the-ass-to-cook/736202 "2015-10-30T20:37:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-you-like-but-are-too-much-of-a-pain-in-the-ass-to-cook/736202/101 "2015-11-02T16:52:55Z")
> [@DummyGladHands](#): > > Pumpkin pie from a fresh pumpkin. Oooh, good one. Along the same lines, I once made cranberry sauce from fresh cranberries. Never again. It tasted VERY MUCH like the stuff in a can, and was a pain to clean up from. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-you-like-but-are-too-much-of-a-pain-in-the-ass-to-cook/736202/102 "2015-11-02T16:55:50Z")
> [@Dr.Girlfriend](#): > > I rarely fry anything at home. I have a small kitchen and it seems like the grease gets everywhere if I do. Protip: use your deep fryer outside. It’s not messy and your house won’t smell for days afterwards. Double protip: Don’t _leave_ your deep fryer outside. You’ll have a small fireworks show if you try to use it after it’s been out in the rain and there’s water in the oil. Remember that toaster in [Ghostbusters](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vYRyqMw9yE#t-0m40s), yeah, that. Actually, rewatching that, it sounded pretty similar. Also, as I write this, I’m thinking you mean pan frying. You can get a splatter screen, but sometimes that’s just as much as a hassle. I mean, it’s nice because you don’t get hot grease on you, but it’s still another thing to clean and, frankly, wiping down the counter is easier than cleaning a fine mesh screen. Also, you have to move it every time you need to do anything with the food. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-you-like-but-are-too-much-of-a-pain-in-the-ass-to-cook/736202/103 "2015-11-02T17:00:22Z")
It’s been said numerous times in the thread already, but yeah, for me too: anything that requires filling and heating up the deep fryer. Making a batch of fried chicken, falafel, doughnuts, or whatever, you’re left with the following unsavory choices: - Keeping a fryer (or pot or Dutch oven) full of slightly used oil hanging around to be used (fairly soon) - Straining and storing a gallon of oil for the next time you feel like frying. - Making a metric shitload of fried food right there and then to justify the oil and the effort, and since fried food don’t generally refrigerate or freeze very well, you’re also signing yourself up to eat a shitload of fried things within the next 24 hours ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-you-like-but-are-too-much-of-a-pain-in-the-ass-to-cook/736202/104 "2015-11-02T18:26:45Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Oooh, good one. Along the same lines, I once made cranberry sauce from fresh cranberries. Never again. It tasted VERY MUCH like the stuff in a can, and was a pain to clean up from. I’ve made pumpkin pie several times from scratch (due to being in places where canned pumpkin was not available) and I honestly couldn’t tell the difference between it and the stuff made from canned pumpkin. (I’d disagree about the cranberry sauce, but that’s pretty easy to make and hardly any effort, assuming you just mean the chunky stuff with the berries in it and not the jelly.) ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-you-like-but-are-too-much-of-a-pain-in-the-ass-to-cook/736202/105 "2015-11-02T18:41:37Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Speaking of friends asking about the secret ingredient… But I have to be careful about when I use it, as several friends are vegetarian. They wouldn’t want to eat something cooked in oil previously used for chicken, it contains some rendered chicken fat. Yes, I do watch for issues like that. However, it’s probably telling that one of my vegetarian relatives has announced a “don’t ask don’t tell” policy regarding my use of homemade turkey broth, chicken oil and bacon grease. Win one for the carnivores! ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-you-like-but-are-too-much-of-a-pain-in-the-ass-to-cook/736202/106 "2015-11-02T19:23:48Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > Oh, I thought of another one. There’s this Cuban snack I grew up on called Bollos. > > They are so addictive, but you have to soak black eyed peas overnight and then remove the skins. That is a pain in the rump. > > Then you create a paste with the peas and garlic and form small little balls and deep fry them. AH, I can help you there 😃 Soak the peas overnight, then take a linen towel, and plop a couple handsful of the peas in, wrap it up and whap it around, and rub - the skins will come off the peas. Honestly? I think the thing I don’t like making the most is the fine paperlike dough for strudel. I learned to stretch it so it covers the kitchen table and you can read through it - and it can take more vertical time than my body allows now so I cheat and make single portion ones out of commercial filo dough. [and I can tell you exactly why lumbar spinal stenosis makes one suicidal.] I absolutely adored the sous vide for making beef wellington - you cook the damned thing to medium rare while the duxelles is sauteeing up, put the damned thing together and you only have to worry about the pastry outside being cooked properly. I love to make chicken and dumplings - I will [cut in](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y6Ga9hMm4Y) spaetzel instead of rolling out noodles. Learned that from my mom’s Amish side of the family cooking traditions. We really love things like beef bourguinon, cassoulet, ricet, anything long and slow cooked comfort foodish in winters. I bake bread twice a week [well except when we were stuck in that damned hotel with no kitchen] and make dessert once a week as a Sunday family day treat. Well, I also do batches of various cookies for Christmas. We do a full on Thanksgiving dinner 4 times a year, because we like the leftovers. We generally do a 12-14 pound bird, the dressing we cook outside the bird [I use neck, wings and organs to make the broth we use to moisten the cubed and toasted bread, dried cranberries, walnuts or chestnuts as available and other traditional ingredients] and we do mashed sweet potato instead of candied yams or mashed potatoes, Chinese garlic stirfried green beans instead of that horrible casserole, and both apple and pumpkin pies [sweetened with splenda instead of sugar] and we make cranberry sauce, also using splenda instead of sugar. We have been doing it for more than 25 years so it is pretty much able to be done on autopilot in a single weekend. Then we eat, and break down the bird and turn the carcass into broth and make some soup out of it. I have to admit, I don’t mind being more or less housebound now, I do get to play in the kitchen and make real food again =) WHen I was working, my job was an hour away and getting home between 6 and 7 in the evening, and needing to be in bed at 8 to get up at 5 sucked when it came to doing anything elaborate. Now I can cook all day if I want. I was planning on making chicken and noodles tomorrow anyway, now I just feel happy that winter is coming so I can get away with the comfort foods again =) Maybe I will do a celebratory [tart tatin](http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1334/tart-tatin-with-brandy-cream) =) ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-you-like-but-are-too-much-of-a-pain-in-the-ass-to-cook/736202/107 "2015-11-02T19:29:00Z")
Chiming in to agree with the “stuffed filled things” category. I made about 150 empanadas one day, and I’ll never make them again. I was surprised to see Chicken and Dumplings listed, but then again I make it with leftover chicken, frozen stock, and Bisquick, so that would make a big difference. One Thanksgiving I made the traditional Green Bean Casserole, with the twist that I made it _completely_ from scratch, as in I made my own cream of mushroom soup, my own french fried onions, etc., etc. To this day I’m convinced someone put the recipe on the Internet as a prank. It was really good, but in the end it was still Green Bean Casserole, only it took 6 hours to make and dirtied every pot and pan in my kitchen. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-you-like-but-are-too-much-of-a-pain-in-the-ass-to-cook/736202/108 "2015-11-02T19:29:06Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > My (Appalachian) family makes a dish of chicken with thick dough-strips, but for some reason I can’t fathom, we call it “chicken pot pie”. The Appalachian side of my family calls it pop eye. Likely a regional variation. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-you-like-but-are-too-much-of-a-pain-in-the-ass-to-cook/736202/109 "2015-11-02T19:31:49Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > My (Appalachian) family makes a dish of chicken with thick dough-strips, but for some reason I can’t fathom, we call it “chicken pot pie”. My Appalachian family (mom’s side) makes the same thing and also calls it pot pie. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-you-like-but-are-too-much-of-a-pain-in-the-ass-to-cook/736202/110 "2015-11-02T21:05:40Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **scabpicker** : > > It looks like the main difference is the dough. It’s corn in tamales, yautía (starchy roots) and green bananas in pasteles. Tamales are usually steamed, and the pasteles recipe has you boil them, but I don’t think that would change them much. Ah, gotcha. I only skimmed over the recipe before, and saw that it used what it called “masa dough”, but it looks like it’s mostly banana. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-you-like-but-are-too-much-of-a-pain-in-the-ass-to-cook/736202/111 "2015-11-02T21:23:44Z")
Tamales and pasteles don’t look very much alike. [A pastel.](http://cook.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/cook/fullset/2013/12/11/0/CC_pelaez-pasteles-recipe-03_s4x3.jpg/jcr:content/renditions/cq5dam.web.616.462.jpeg) [Tamale.](http://data.whicdn.com/images/47718763/original.jpg) The dough is different. The stuffing is different. The cooking method is different. But the people who make them both speak Spanish, so there’s that. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-you-like-but-are-too-much-of-a-pain-in-the-ass-to-cook/736202/112 "2015-11-02T21:36:39Z")
I spent several hours one evening making homemade General Tsao’s chicken. It was rather fantastic. Nearly as good, in fact, as I could have gotten from the local takeout for six bucks and a ten-minute wait. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-you-like-but-are-too-much-of-a-pain-in-the-ass-to-cook/736202/113 "2015-11-02T21:54:51Z")
Chinese, yeah, so time consuming and so cheap at the take out. Esp. when you can get it with no MSG. Same with Mexican here in AZ. Why would I even make enchiladas when there’s 100 places to pick them up on the way home. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-you-like-but-are-too-much-of-a-pain-in-the-ass-to-cook/736202/114 "2015-11-02T22:01:43Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > I spent several hours one evening making homemade General Tsao’s chicken. It was rather fantastic. Nearly as good, in fact, as I could have gotten from the local takeout for six bucks and a ten-minute wait. We could start a completely new thread on “delicious dishes you don’t bother to make because they are indistinguishable from what you can get from a can/the freezer section/a good takeout place.” I was SO excited 20 or so years ago when I bought an authentic late 19th century New England bean pot at an antiques place in Maine. Paid fifteen bucks or something. Brought it home, scoured and cleaned it out 20 or 30 times, and made a full gallon of Authentic New England Baked Beans! Hours in the oven! You want baked beans, buy a can of B&G. The bean pot looks handsome on the shelf, though. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-you-like-but-are-too-much-of-a-pain-in-the-ass-to-cook/736202/115 "2015-11-02T22:02:54Z")
Just realized a twist on the gripes here. What you make takes forever and isn’t even as good (or at least isn’t much better) as what you can just buy. Thats bad enough. But when it cost even MORE to make than to buy. Talk about adding insult to injury! ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-you-like-but-are-too-much-of-a-pain-in-the-ass-to-cook/736202/116 "2015-11-02T23:27:59Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Just realized a twist on the gripes here. What you make takes forever and isn’t even as good (or at least isn’t much better) as what you can just buy. Thats bad enough. > > But when it cost even MORE to make than to buy. > > Talk about adding insult to injury! Thai food, Indian food, (and nthing) Chinese food. So many herbs and spices. So much work. And still not as good as from the restaurant. (Probably Ethiopian food as well, but I’ve never even bothered trying to make that.) ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-you-like-but-are-too-much-of-a-pain-in-the-ass-to-cook/736202/117 "2015-11-02T23:44:55Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Thai food, Indian food, (and nthing) Chinese food. So many herbs and spices. So much work. And still not as good as from the restaurant. Have to disagree with you this. I was bitching to the Ukulele Lady the other day about the varying quality of the Indian takeout places nearby (I used to know the best ones to get certain dishes from, but they’ve all been swapping cooks or something). She said “Why would you want to order that crap? Yours is MUCH better.” ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-you-like-but-are-too-much-of-a-pain-in-the-ass-to-cook/736202/118 "2015-11-03T01:15:59Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > AH, I can help you there 😃 > Soak the peas overnight, then take a linen towel, and plop a couple handsful of the peas in, wrap it up and whap it around, and rub - the skins will come off the peas. You know, I have a vague memory of having heard of this trick before but I’d forgotten all about it. Thanks for the reminder. Maybe I’ll have to give these a go this year. I’ve remembered another dish from my youth. Deviled Crabs. You could buy them everywhere when I was growing up in Florida, but they don’t have them in California. I have a terrific recipe, but it just ends up never being worth all the effort to make them. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-you-like-but-are-too-much-of-a-pain-in-the-ass-to-cook/736202/119 "2015-11-03T01:51:09Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Tamales and pasteles don’t look very much alike. It does depend on the tamale, though. I don’t think something like [this Oaxacan tamale](http://www.missginsu.com/2008/05/recession-proof-recipes-diy-tamales.html) is dissimilar to a pastel in terms of looks. I’d put the main differences on what the dough is made of, what it’s filled with, and how it’s cooked, but it seems to me that tamales and pasteles are essentially the same thing adapted to slightly different ingredients based on the region. ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-you-like-but-are-too-much-of-a-pain-in-the-ass-to-cook/736202/120 "2015-11-03T04:32:21Z")
For me, any stuffed and baked pasta dish - cannelloni, manicotti. Enchiladas as well. Basically anything that requires two cooking steps and some repeated stuffing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-you-like-but-are-too-much-of-a-pain-in-the-ass-to-cook/736202.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishes-you-like-but-are-too-much-of-a-pain-in-the-ass-to-cook/736202.md?page=7)