   Show Your Cooking Skills
  What was the last thing you guys cooked?  What's the best thing you cooked?  Show pics if you've got them.  Also, mention any recipe's you've created if you have any.Last thing I cooked was a teriyaki-style broccoli side dish.  Made it a few times and the parents loved it.The best thing I've ever made is probably a tie between the Herb-Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Dijion Sauce, or the Bistro-style Short Ribs with Horseradish Cream Sauce.I've made a Jalapeno and Swiss Stuffed Chicken Sandwich recipe and am currently working on a Fish 'Hot Dog'.  Oh I also made a Lime-Cilantro Turkey Taco recipe.   
  I think one of the coolest things I've "cooked" (I use the term loosely) was a chocolate rose.  Hand carved from a block of cast white chocolate, and mixed with some dark chocolate bits, and put on a bed of cherry flavoured fondant.  Needless to say the nice young woman I gave it to was impresed:EDIT: I do actually cook things as well.  Homemade pizza is probably the most common thing I make.  I've done french bread, lasagna, empanadas, baked chicken (with garlic and herbs), and flan.  I think the flan was by far the most technical thing I've done (apart from hand-carving a chocolate rose).[Edited by - Moe on August 13, 2008 3:18:56 PM];  Two months ago me and my flatmates were cooking real food every weekday, but since then i moved. now, there is no space for any of the ingredients. All can cook now is toast.   ;  (I don't have any pictures, sorry.) The last thing I cooked was a simple pasta dish: penne with a sauce of sundried tomatoes, olives, and olive oil, and topped with parmesan cheese (as always).The best thing I have ever made was probably strawberry cream cake, from America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated. Strawberry season is almost over now. If you like strawberries, I highly recommend jotting down the recipe and making it first thing next strawberry season.Of recipes I am working on, I want to develop a good 2-person size deep dish pizza.   ;  Cooking skills? I made some mac and cheese (spiderman kind with the cool shapes) two days ago. It tasted alright, but I think I added too much milk. Yep, that's all I know how to 'cook'.   ;  Alas, I'm living with my parents at the moment, and from yesterday work has just started on a total refurbishment of their kitchen; we have no stove, only one small oven (combination microwave/oven/grill), and very little work space in the other room we've moved everything to temporarily. Even before yesterday we were trying to eat our way through the contents of the freezer so that we could unplug it and store it in the garage. So sadly most of my cooking recently has consisted of microwave meals from the fridge/freezer...I did recently create an odd kind of sauce from pureed onion, garlic, and yoghurt, and it was totally inedible until my mother hit upon the idea of adding brandy. A bit of double cream and some sweetcorn thrown in and all heated together and it was quite nice with chicken breast and rice, if unidentifiable.A month or two ago I did cook an entire christmas dinner for 10 people. 14lb turkey - we got through about half of it - stuffing, roast potatoes, parsnips, sausages wrapped in bacon - I even made my own bread sauce, which came out awesomely - and my own gravy from the turkey juices. It was all excellent apart from the fact that I ended up serving it at five past midnight, but then we had only made the snap decision to do it at about 3pm earlier the same day.Oh, and I did invent my own kind of salmon burrito once. I can post the recipe if anyone's interested.   ;Quote:Original post by SirisianCooking skills? I made some mac and cheese (spiderman kind with the cool shapes) two days ago. It tasted alright, but I think I added too much milk. Yep, that's all I know how to 'cook'.Mac-n-cheese from scratch is a revelation. Seriously, give it a try. It's not difficult, but it does touch on a lot of basic, useful cooking concepts. Here's a quick recipe.Make pasta. While it's cooking, melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Drop in half a tablespoon or so of flour. Mix with a fork over low heat for a couple of minutes, until you see that the flour is starting to get a tiny bit tan. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Take 1/2 cup of milk, and add a little bit of it (about a teaspoon) to the sauce pan. mix well until it's all mixed in. Then add again from the 1/2 cup of milk, only a small amount, but more than last time, and mix well again. Keep doing this until all the milk is mixed in (about 5 additions). Doing it this way pretty much ensures that you won't have any lumps. Then put in about 1/4 cup of white wine (yes, it must be white), and a pinch of salt, and a bit of pepper. A pinch of paprika, too, if you got it. Put the pan back on the heat, and bring to a low boil, stirring occasionally, and cook for a couple of minutes. Grate 1/3 cup of grated sharp cheddar cheese (that is, 1/3 of a cup when pushed into a measuring cup but not totally smooshed down). Turn the heat to low, and sprinkle some of the cheese (maybe half) on top. Carefully mix in just a little (so you can't see any of the cheese on top any more), then put in the rest. Wait for about ten seconds, then mix gently but thoroughly. Drain the pasta well, then dump it in with the sauce. Eat. You will be glad you did not use the cheese packet.   ; decent enough to pass off as the commercial thing. [grin]   ;  Last thing I cooked was hamburgers last night.  Patties made from Beef Mince, Onion, fresh parsley, pepper and salt.  They were alright.I often make my own pasta, it's very rewarding as the taste is significantly different to packet pasta.  But I really only have time for that on a Sunday afternoon while watching the footy.The single most tasty thing I had ever made, and never repeated, was a Mixed Mushroom Risotto.  The recipe based was from one of Jamie Olivers books, but I added my own little touches.  Man that thing was delicious.  There is nothing more romantic than a perfectly made Risotto.   ;  Penne Alfredo was the last thing, and I am about to make some more but with tomato sauce leftover from pizza I made last weekend. My sweet and sour chicken isn't bad, and I make humus from time to time, I actually know how to make quite a bit of dishes, I guess it helps having a cooking adept grandma [smile].   