Foods You Love To Eat, But Are A Pain To Make

Cafe Society
61

That’s the real time-sink, ofcourse. I’ve only made fresh pasta a couple of times, and though I tastes really good, I just don’t think it’s worth the effort for lasagna (I’ve never tried it with lasagna or bolognese sauce but my guess is that you can’t really taste the difference; when I have fresh pasta, I want a light and subtle sauce so I can taste it)

Yeah, you need some time for that, but it doesn’t take too much work. I do a beef & beer stew occasionally and that takes about the same of time and the same amount of work (well worth it, too).

My vote for real pain would be either wontons or those filled pasta dishes (especially if you’re making the dough yourself). Filling those things takes ages. I’d rather peel shrimp :slight_smile:

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If you have premade noodles, you don’t need to cook them first. Start the bottom with sauce, then noodles, and just make sure that each noodle layer is completely covered with sauce etc. The liquid in the sauce is enough to cook the noodles while the whole thing bakes.

My mom loved finding that out. :wink:

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And it makes the crinkly edges of the noodles all crunchy and yummy.

Some people don’t care for this (heathens! they’re missing the best part!). If you have one of those in your family, like I do, there are lasagna noodles that don’t require pre-boiling. There’s one Italian brand of no-boil lasagna noodles, but I can’t think of which one it is right now.

I put foil over the pan when I make lasagna that way (unless I’m using no-boil noodles). I thought that was required to keep the liquid in and cook the noodles.

64

I’m one of those.

I’ve tried the no boil method and the noodles just don’t have the right consistency.

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Eggs Benedict
This reminds me of a dirty joke.

What do Eggs Benedict and Blow Jobs have in common?

You can’t get either of them at home!

:smiley:

66

There’s a definite textural and taste difference. In fact, I think it makes all the difference and I never use premade pasta sheets anymore. They just come out slippery and a bit rubbery even, while the fresh spinach pasta (as I make it) hold the final dish together better, and has a more satisfying texture.

No, Bolognese isn’t difficult, but there are about four or five steps you have to make before you can sit down. Peeling and chopping your onions, celery, carrots pancetta/prociutto and possibly chicken livers. Frying those ingredients, putting in the meat and breaking it up, adding the white wine and waiting for it to evaporate, adding the milk and waiting for that to cook down, and then adding your liquid (I use equal parts tomato puree and stock). Then you can sit down and read a book or watch TV peacefully. But it takes at least a half hour to get to this point.

67

Mine is the exact same has Hillbilly Queen’s, but for extra, i toss in a bag of pre-peeled baby carrots (makes me feel like I’m eating more healthy). Making the noodles is the biggest pain. I also use the biggset pot I own and fill that to the brim, freeze left overs and eat 5x a week for a couple/few weeks.

68

Wow, the first thing I thought when I saw this thread title was “Pastitsio.”

Which is the Greek version of lasagne. You got to make a thick spicy meat sauce, a white sauce with cheese, boil a buncha pasta, then layer it all in a casserole (pasta, then meat, then cheese), bake, brown, and wait for it to cool.

Delicious, but hard to make when your wife is terrified of fat and your daughter has dairy allergies.

hillbilly queen: Oddly enough, we had chicken and dumplings for dinner tonight. I sorta consider it a convenience food.

I put the chicken and vegetables (onion, carrot, celery, garlic) and bay leaves in the pot, covered it with stock and started it simmering. Let it cook for an hour while I had lunch. Turned it off and took a nap. An hour before dinner I took the (cooled) chicken out of the (by now rich) soup, boned and shredded it by hand, and put it back in, and mixed up the dumpling batter. 20 minutes before dinner I turned up the heat, dropped the batter into the soup, and dinner was on the table by 7:30.

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I watched my niece make a Greek meal for us years ago. The spanikopita and moussaka alone would have made me open a vein.

70

Oh, man…don’t even TALK to me about Spinach Pie.

Three-man job…one guy peeling off the phyllo pastry, another one brushing the butter, the last keeping the butter hot on the stove without browning it.

Too bad it tastes so damned good.

For a fabuloso Greek dinner that takes much less time and effort, make a stifado. Onion stew flavored with bits of beef, garlic and tomatoes. Sits on the stove for hours, and one of the rules is you leave it alone to cook by itself. Slice up some bread and feta, put out the olives, and din-din’s on the table.

Full recipe on request.

71

I just made my Dad’s recipe for Chicken and Dumplings last week. It takes some shortcuts but is really delicious and tatstes just as good as full scratch versions. It still takes an hour and fifteen minutes but there is only about 10 mins. prep time and about five minutes of that prep runs during the cooking time.
Dad’s Chicken and Dumplings

1 large whole chicken breast
1 medium onion chopped
2 stalks of celery chopped
1 large potato peeled and cubed
1 large carrot chopped
1 can of cream of celery soup
1 can of chicken broth (14.5 oz.)
2 cups of bisquick
1/4 to a 1/2 of a cup of milk

Sautee the vegetables in a large pot with a tablespoon of oil until slightly softened/translucent.

Add the chicken broth and cream of celery soup, plus a soup can of water.
Bring to a boil and add the whole chicken breast to the pot, cover with a lid.
Reduce heat to low and simmer for one hour.

Remove chicken breast after an hour and cut into bite size chunks. Add the chicken back to the pot.

Mix the bisquick and milk to make a very stiff batter. Add spoonfuls of the batter on the surface of the Stew to cover. Replace lid and let simmer for ten minutes.

Serve up the chickeney goodness.

72

Holeee mackerel. Consider this a request.

73

Actually, moussaka is exactly what I was thinking…but at least it’s worth it, served with a good red wine and a large salad, moussaka is about as close as you can get to the food of the gods.

Bagels and croissants from scratch are incredible…but og they’re time consuming.
The bagels need boiled, grilled and baked, and by the time you’ve rolled, buttered, folded and rolled the croissants to readiness your arms are about to fall off and your arteries are already screaming in protest.

74

>>>

Can I get a recipe for this? My boyfriend lived in Germany for several years and loves Sauerbraten but I’ve never had it or made it.

75

But see, if you make the croissants yourself, you’ve spent so much effort and so many calories into the preparation of the dough and that counterbalances the evil yummyness. :wink:

76

Hmmm, I’m another one who doesn’t understand why chicken and dumplings is difficult to prepare.

Roast a chicken for dinner. Save all the bones, drippings, scraps, etc and make stock. This isn’t hard, just cover with water and simmer for 3-4 hours. Make sure you scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom of the roasting pan for the stock, though! Put the stock in the fridge.

When you want to make the dumplings, peel off the schmaltz from the stock and use it to saute some onions, carrots and celery. Dump in the stock and any leftover chicken and any other vegetables you have, plus a handful of barley and whatever herbs/salt/pepper you like. Simmer until the vegetables are cooked. Mix up drop dumplings…these are just flour, butter/schmaltz, baking powder, salt, and milk. Drop spoonfuls onto the barely simmering liquid, cook uncovered for ten minutes and covered for another 10. You’re done.

And eggs benedict. I admit there’s some assemblage here, but the only difficult thing is the hollandaise sauce. And hollandaise is a pain in the ass because it’s fussy, not because it takes a lot of time/work. Hollandaise, poached eggs, canadian bacon/ham, and english muffins. Get the sauce made, make the poached eggs, toast the muffins, slap a slice of ham on the muffins, dump an egg on each, pour on the sauce and serve with Mimosas.

77

1 lb. beef chuck or flank steak
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup good olive oil
3 lbs. yellow onions, peeled and cut into large chunks
5-6 cloves garlic, minced
1 6-oz can tomato paste
1/2 cup red wine
Oregano, marjoram, or rosemary
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Slice the beef into narrow strips, as if for Stroganoff. Pour the lemon juice over the meat and stir it to coat every piece.

Heat the olive oil until it begins to sizzle in a large, heavy pot with a close-fitting lid. Put in the beef and, stirring constantly, cook it until it is browned on all sides. As soon as this happens, toss in all the ingredients, including a generous dose of one of the herbs, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir all this together well, cover the pot firmly, and turn the heat down as low as it will go. The stifado must cook very, very slowly for 4 to 5 hours. Watch the pot – no steam should visibly escape the lid. Listen to the pot – no sounds should emerge, no hissing or sizzling.

At the end of the third hour, open the lid, gently stir the contents, and taste for seasoning. The onions should be reddish-golden, not brown, soft but intact. Continue to cook for another hour or two at the same low temperature, or until all the liquid has evaporated, leaving the top off the pot for the last 15-20 minutes if necessary.

Serve with wine, olives, and plenty of good bread and butter.

(paraphrased from John Thorne; Simple Cooking, Viking, 1987)

78

I know what I’m making this weekend! Thanks, Ukelele Ike.

79

blink

You’re the only other person outside my in-laws who’s ever heard of this! Everyone looks at me funny when I say “grape pie.”

I made one last night, too. And since I can only get Concord grapes for about 2 weeks of the year, and no one announces when they’re here, I missed it last year. So it’s been 2 years since I’ve made one. So I forget how long it takes. I made the mistake of starting the whole process at about 9:00, and the pie finally came out of the oven around 11:30 – way past my bedtime!

How do you get the seeds out? My process is this: pick the grapes off the stems (4 cups per pie). Wash the grapes. Squeeze the pulp out of the skins, put in separate vessels. Bring the pulp to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 5-10 minutes, until the grapes fall apart. Squoosh the pulpy mess through a sieve, until pretty much only the seeds remain. Add the skins back, add sugar, flour, salt, lemon juice, and butter. Pour into pie shell, top with either strusel or pie crust, then bake for 40 minutes.

It’s so good, though, it’s worth it – like grape juice in pie form. And since it can only be done when the grapes are available, at least I don’t get requests for it year-round. 'Course, the downside to that is that I never feel I can perfect it, since I can only make a few each year. Oh well. :slight_smile:

80

Let’s hope the 4000 year old noodles doesn’t catch on as a new delicacy.