If I won the lottery and could build a home to my own design, it would have a professional kitchen and a dedicated library.
In the kitchen I’d have good equipment, but one of the main requirements would be lots and lots of counter space. large freezers and fridges of course, lots of storage, high grade knives, but what kitchen ever has too much space to spread out?
I have a knack for making things taste good, no matter what they are. I actually think my most useful skill in the kitchen is saving recipes-gone-wrong and turning them into something that’s still yummy, even if it might not much resemble what it was initially supposed to be.
I’m pretty damn good at cooking. I could never be a pro because I can’t get things done at the right times, I don’t know what a lot of fancy-chef-phases mean, I don’t want to, I like to drink while I cook, etc. But I do know what lots of spices are good for, what flavors go well together, how to get the best flavor out of various raw foods, etc. My room mate has said, more than once, that he should have put my cooking into the lease agreement. If you give me protein, vegetables, starch, garlic and other spices I’ll make you something tasty. If you don’t like garlic, you’re a liar, everyone likes garlic. Deserts I can’t do, though. I can offer you a tasty digestif, but I can’t cook anything sweet.
I’ve got nothing on my paternal grandmother, though. If she had a bucket full of clams she’d make the stuff of dreams. She literally kept her deviled clams recipe locked up. To this day, even after we’ve found the recipe, we can’t get it quite right. To say nothing of clam chowder and clams casino.
Two knives?! I have at least two knives on my person at all times, not to mention the home-defense tools I have stashed within easy reach. Besides, knives are easy to clean and forging them is so much fun.
I’ve been cooking for as long as I can remember. My mother even admitted that I was a better cook than her by the time I was about 12 or 13. I love watching cooking shows and finding new recipes- but I don’t have the time, patience, or money to actually execute them. So for now, I stick to microwaveable dinners and mac n cheese boxes.
My level of expertise could be summed up as: what I do, I do quite well - and I’m smart enough not to attempt to do a lot.
I can buy decent trout. Things like fresh Great Lakes pike or perch, forget it.
I’m really good.
I’ve had a love for and studied cookery all my life and I’m fearless. Have successfully tackled and triumphed over most everything, including pastries, breads, desserts and mains of all sorts.
Love making things from scratch that most people find to be too much trouble, including pasta, pie crusts, breads, cakes, candies, salad dressings, smoked fish, home canned goods such as jams, pickles and vegetables. Also make some cheeses, yogurt, wine, liqueurs and occasionally, beer. Used to raise most of my own meat, still keep a good garden and chickens for eggs. And I continue to do this for just me alone, though I eat much more simply now.
When I had husbands to cook for (one at a time), I enjoyed doing it more. The ex-husband confessed he stayed for 5 extra years just for the food. I did not take this as a compliment, just a waste of my time. But for this thread, it’s sadly appropriate to mention.
My second husband built the dream kitchen I wanted, and I love cooking in it to this day. But I still remember making Hollandaise sauce on top of a cheap and nasty electric stove in a single wide trailer using just the heat from the oven, because the coil burners were incapable of maintaining a low enough temperature. The dream kitchen does make cooking tasks much easier.
I’m no pro and I know it. I have no idea how to scale up recipes, how to order and keep food for hundreds moving and fresh. I’m a tidy cook but I find it tedious to cook well for more than about 8 people at once. So I stay in my lane.