As far as cooking and/or baking, what’s your specialty?

I don’t have one speciality, but I have been cooking more and experimenting more.

I’ve been cooking more Mexican food for my husband, he’s Mexican, and the latest thing is pozole soup. A flavorful broth with hominy and pork (you can use chicken instead). I salt pork ribs and boil them with some onion and a few dashes of garlic salt. Boil about 40 minutes. Then I sauté the ribs in a pan in some of the fat I skim off of the top of the broth. Then I put a cup of the warm broth in a blender and add dried ancho pepper (remove the seeds and top of the pepper before hand) let soak 20 minutes. Then purée and add back to the rest of the broth. The peppers can be hot, so add half and taste. I don’t make the soup very hot, just flavorful. Then rinse canned hominy and add to the soup, let the flavors marry for 5 minutes at a summer. Serve with small diced fresh onion, cilantro, and lime. The ribs can be served separately or in the soup. You can google pozole recipes to see various takes in the same soup or YouTube’s.

I make really good salmon. It’s so simple. Large piece of aluminum foil on a baking sheet. Salmon on the foil, lightly salt the fish lots of dill, then cover the fish in sliced tomato and salt the tomatoes well. I usually have some extra slices on the side for extra tomatoes. Close the aluminum over the fish, but I don’t seal it all up tight on the sides. I usually make it in my toaster oven so protecting the top matters more than a full oven. Bake at 400, or whatever you usually use at the usual time. Depends on how large the salmon is and how done you like your salmon. I like mine cooked through, but not dry. It’s delicious.

A friend gave me a few apples that weren’t very good, so I looked up an apple cake recipe and adjusted it a little. I gave her half the cake and her husband liked it so much she just gave me more apples to bake him another cake.

I’m good at smoking a turkey on the Webber and popping popcorn.

My brownies are known far and wide so I guess that’s my most famous specialty. Ialso bake a mean blueberry or peach and raspberry pie.

My kids like my lasagna but that’s just the recipe off the Ronzoni box. I cook a lot of good comfort food type meals like chili, mac and cheese, etc. but I wouldn’t call any of them my specialty.

Baking is more my forte.

I’ve been making all my own bread for a few years now, and buying favors from the neighbors with it. It’s easy and not time consuming. If you want that, let me know. Keepin mind that I am quite lazy, so it’s very easy. :-)

^^I’d love a great bread recipe. We have made a couple of loaves the last few months, and neither were good enough to repeat. We ate them both, but I didn’t love them.

I’m very good at breakfast. Omelettes, French toast, scratch pancakes.

Over easy eggs on Texas toast.

* St Louis Ribs* – - must use St Louis ribs

235* F for 5 hours

Put mustard on ribs then favorite rib rub (some like it hot some not).

High in ceramic smoker with heat barrier between burning lump and ribs. Wait for an hour after temp in cooker gets to 235* F before putting ribs on, that way the “bad smoke” from VOC is gone.

After 4 and half hours put Sweet Baby Ray’s sauce on ribs, cook for another half hour.

Serve with coleslaw and mac-n-cheese.

Spaghetti
Tri-tip
Guacamole
French bread
Steak
Hamburgers

It’s frustraiting to order something in a restaurant, and know you can make it better.

@filmfann Oh – you just reminded, I make a mean guacamole too.

(we so need a Fluther dinner party)

Grilled cheese. It’s underrated because it’s considered unhealthy and juvenile. But any adult who’s had a proper grilled cheese knows that there are few thing better than butter, bread, and cheese.

Yes, I’m a horrible cook, but my grilled cheese is frequently requested in my house.

@hello321 I’m always up for a good grilled cheese sandwich!

Bread.

Sushi! I’ve been trying all sorts of combinations and preparations. I vary the rice stickiness depending upon whether the rice will be inside or outside the nori.
I made many different kinds: vegan sushi, tuna and mango, the usual California rolls with crab, breakfast sushi with eggs, bacon and cheese, chicken,and bacon…
At the grocery store today I bought a mango and avocado for some rolls I’ll make later in the week.
This sure is fun.

@LuckyGuy I am coming to your house!!! I can even help, I occasionally make sushi. You are funner than everybody!!!

@canidmajor I tried something risky this morning but it ws a failure.

I had leftover brown Basmati rice from Indian dinner last night. That rice is not sticky so…..

I made a mix with extra Aji-Mirin (basically alcohol and sugar) to make it sticker. Then I put a sheet of nori on a dry sushi mat and began covering with rice leaving a 1” strip uncovered.
I figured the dry mat would have less adherence than my usual wet one.
For filling I used chunky guacamole so I could really pack the roll tight and the rice would pick up moisture from the guac.
I let it sit for a few minutes and then did my rolling. I made it very tight and just as I was doing the last 1” overlap some of the rice began sneaking out. I managed to finish the roll and it looked ok but was obviously fragile. I waited another couple of minutes to give it some time to set while I cleaned up the dishes.
I did my usual quick single back and forward slice with my razor sharp, sesame oiled knife – and the roll exploded. It was beyond repair.
I scooped the mess into a bowl, poured soy sauce on it. and that was my breakfast.
Still want to come over? :-)

Damn betcha! It’s never a fail if you can salvage to eat! :-)

Good save @LuckyGuy !

Thanks! Tomorrow I’ll be making 2 rolls, one uramaki, (rice on the outside) and one maki. Filling will be crab strips, avocado and carrot strips, I’ll microwave the carrot strips for a few seconds so they match the consistency of the avocado. The rice for uramaki will be less sweet but sticker. The maki rice will be sweet with lime juice for the acid instead of vinegar.
As an experiment I will mix some black sesame seeds into the rice to make the rice more interesting.
Gambarimasu!

Soup! Chicken noodle (with my special homemade noodles); beef barley; potato cheddar; cream of celery/mushroom.

Stews! Beef stew; chicken with dumplings; beef stroganoff.

Give me a hambone and just about any type of dried beans peas or lentils and I’ll cook up a pot of goodness!

Spaghetti sauce! I cooked for a couple years at an upscale Italian restaurant outside Chicago where I learned a thing or three about marinara. I think it was a money-laundering op for “da mob” but that’s a whole ‘nother story…

I made a couple of changes. Instead of the avocado, I used cucumber for a “brighter” mouth feel. I steamed the carrots by putting them in a covered bowl with a little water and microwaving them for 2 minutes. They were perfect and had a nice sweet taste.
The mild crab with the sweet carrots and fresh tasting cucumber was a nice combo.
In the uramaki (rice on the outside) the black sesame seeds mixed in with the rice gave the appearance of inconsistent rice thickness without adding flavor. I won’t bother next time. Instead i will try covering the roll with regular sesame seeds or something else crunchy.

@LuckyGuy Have you ever tried using black rice? I’ve used it for fried rice, but I understand it’s supposed to be good for sushi and sumeshi.

@LuckyGuy
Crunchy outside coating at a Japanese Sushi bar I go to is extra thin onions that have been fried.

@Strauss I have only tried Japanese Nishiki white and Nishiki brown rice. I’ve not seen black rice. I’m willing to try it. If I can get it to stick together like the Nishiki rice I’m in. @Tropical_Willie That sounds like a good thing to try. have some Lal Tadka fried onion flakes on my shelf. I can use it with a chicken filling.

I’m good at risotto. I have a 15 minute recipe that doesn’t involve any tedious stirring: heat some oil with onions, toss the rice with that, add almost all the broth you pre-made. Turn the heat down, put a lid on your pot, do not open or stir for 15 minutes. Then add sliced mushrooms and peas, butter to taste, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese.

I also like to make a super-simple potato salad: sliced cucumbers, tomatos and boiled potatoes. Crumbled feta cheese (or vegan version). Oil and vinegar mixed with a bit of sugar, salt, pepper, and oregano.

And for a special dessert, I melt dark chocolate and whip cream. Then I fold it together, sprinkling with cinnamon and adding some chopped walnuts or candied almonds on top.