What Have You Cooked Recently?

[The I Scream Man]

How can I stop making bland food? I'm using the right spices for what I cook. I'm using Salt and Pepper, and yet I keep having my food come out bland. What am I doing wrong?

Define bland... do you mean food that doesn't just pop off with flavor? If so, experiment with more spices. I would recommend broadening your cuisines as well, a good thing to do in my opinion is to go try real Indian and Thai foods (for example) and then explore what spices they use. You can even ask them and they'll probably tell you

In general I like to add peppers and other hot spicy things to liven up foods, but experimentation is the name of the game

 

[ChaosReignsOnSomeSaturday]

Define bland... do you mean food that doesn't just pop off with flavor? If so, experiment with more spices. I would recommend broadening your cuisines as well, a good thing to do in my opinion is to go try real Indian and Thai foods (for example) and then explore what spices they use. You can even ask them and they'll probably tell you

In general I like to add peppers and other hot spicy things to liven up foods, but experimentation is the name of the game

By bland I mean an almost total lack of flavor period. Like you taste the pasta and nothing else but the pasta.

 

[The I Scream Man]

By bland I mean an almost total lack of flavor period. Like you taste the pasta and nothing else but the pasta.

In that case you definitely should experiment I'd honestly just google it, or watch some Youtubes if that's your jam

Another place you'd have a good time is your local spice store, I've got a dedicated spice store near me (because life is still beautiful) and they're always willing to talk about what goes good with what

 

[Srumab]

By bland I mean an almost total lack of flavor period. Like you taste the pasta and nothing else but the pasta.

Please also note that pasta is basically condensed flour, water, and eggs. So you need to use stronger spices than you might think.

Also if you are following a recipe please be aware that larger companies like Cooks Country, America's Test Kitchen etc, deliberately tone down the amount of spice in a recipe. Treat any measurement of a spice found in those as the absolute minimum.

Here's a vid where they explain why they use unsalted butter:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAUpelESAXo

I have no idea how to time stamp but it's at the 5:40 mark or thereabouts.

No one should have to sit through an entire Tested video that wants to retain higher brain function.

 

[Terrifying Organisms]

How can I stop making bland food? I'm using the right spices for what I cook. I'm using Salt and Pepper, and yet I keep having my food come out bland. What am I doing wrong?

Have you considered the possibility that your food is fine and you are just horribly depressed?

 

[Betonhaus]

How can I stop making bland food? I'm using the right spices for what I cook. I'm using Salt and Pepper, and yet I keep having my food come out bland. What am I doing wrong?

garlic, butter, onions, seasoning salt, hot sauce (such as frank's or siracha), pesto, Italian seasoning mix, ketchup, etc. Just go to the grocery store and find something that's more interesting then strange.

 

[ChaosReignsOnSomeSaturday]

Please also note that pasta is basically condensed flour, water, and eggs. So you need to use stronger spices than you might think.

Also if you are following a recipe please be aware that larger companies like Cooks Country, America's Test Kitchen etc, deliberately tone down the amount of spice in a recipe. Treat any measurement of a spice found in those as the absolute minimum.

Here's a vid where they explain why they use unsalted butter:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAUpelESAXo

I have no idea how to time stamp but it's at the 5:40 mark or thereabouts.

No one should have to sit through an entire Tested video that wants to retain higher brain function.

In my sort of cooking I don't tend to use recipes just due to the limited ingredients I'm working with on hand, but this is good info for me to have. Thanks

 

[ChaosReignsOnSomeSaturday]

Have you considered the possibility that your food is fine and you are just horribly depressed?

Look I've been barrel of the gun to my temple depressed before and food has still tasted fine. Plus this is a consistent thing like over the course of awhile. I'd hope it wouldn't be depression each time as I actually get a modicum of joy out of cooking.

 

[AnOminous]

By bland I mean an almost total lack of flavor period. Like you taste the pasta and nothing else but the pasta.

Do you put sauce on it even?

Also the salt goes in the water. Enough it tastes like ocean water. Then if you make your own sauce you can recycle some of the water into the sauce. It doesn't need much. One of the best marinaras is just tomatoes, sauce or whole, onions, and butter or olive oil. Canned San Marzanos should be fine.

Basically just saute the onions a bit, add the tomatoes and butter, slow cook a couple hours, smash it up or use an immersion blender if you like it smooth. You can also use garlic, oregano, basil, crushed red peppers, etc.

It shouldn't be really complicated.

It's a base sauce you can add anything reasonable to, like hot Italian sausage (although I like thin-sliced kielbasa), mushrooms, even ground beef, anchovy paste, fish sauce.

If you do this and can't taste anything maybe you had the coof or something and it stole your taste.

 

[ChaosReignsOnSomeSaturday]

Do you put sauce on it even?

Also the salt goes in the water. Enough it tastes like ocean water. Then if you make your own sauce you can recycle some of the water into the sauce. It doesn't need much. One of the best marinaras is just tomatoes, sauce or whole, onions, and butter or olive oil. Canned San Marzanos should be fine.

Basically just saute the onions a bit, add the tomatoes and butter, slow cook a couple hours, smash it up or use an immersion blender if you like it smooth. You can also use garlic, oregano, basil, crushed red peppers, etc.

It shouldn't be really complicated.

It's a base sauce you can add anything reasonable to, like hot Italian sausage (although I like thin-sliced kielbasa), mushrooms, even ground beef, anchovy paste, fish sauce.

If you do this and can't taste anything maybe you had the coof or something and it stole your taste.

Two things.
1. Don't have an immersion blender
2. Can't have the stove going for hours on end.

But besides all that I know how to do sauce correctly from watching YT people like Babish go through doing so multiple times.
Today I essentially used some premade alfredo sauce but I juiced it up by adding in eggs and tempering them like you would for Carbonara. It worked really well and I got it to come out well, but I had too much pasta for the little amount of sauce. Really today is a bad example just because I know why it turned out bad in the end, but every other time I'm blindsided by it turning out bland.

 

[Betonhaus]

Dumb question. A friend claims that canned/jarred alfredo sauce is an uncooked paste that needs to be fully cooked. But that friend is a very fussy stomach who grew up taking advantage of a nearby natural foods store that was so horribly mismanaged that it regularly threw pallets of mostly still good food into the dumpster so idk

 

[Nig🞗A🞗Roni]

Opened a restaurant lately so I've been eating fuck all but bar food and pizza for a month, felt good to cook at home for once

I always rub chicken breast in herbs I have growing around the place, this time added a bit of ground mustard and white pepper and it was nice

 

[W00K #17]

How can I stop making bland food? I'm using the right spices for what I cook. I'm using Salt and Pepper, and yet I keep having my food come out bland. What am I doing wrong?

I mean, this depends on what exactly it is you're cooking.

A good cut of steak?

Don't need anything more than salt and black pepper with an olive oil brushing. The flavor of a prime or choice steak should speak for itself.

Chili? You're going to want a bunch of different spices and herbs.

 

[Srumab]

Dumb question. A friend claims that canned/jarred alfredo sauce is an uncooked paste that needs to be fully cooked. But that friend is a very fussy stomach who grew up taking advantage of a nearby natural foods store that was so horribly mismanaged that it regularly threw pallets of mostly still good food into the dumpster so idk

Technically correct but disingenuous as fuck.

They do come with heating instructions... because most of them contain eggs and nobody wants to get sued like Jack In The Box did in the early 90s for: undercooking their burgers, spreading E.Coli, and killing a bunch of kids.

And they use bechemel sauce as a base which contains a lot of the same ingredients as craft paste...but so does pasta.

TLDR: It's a legal thing because of eggs. Feel free to use as a dip right out of the bottle.

 

[ChaosReignsOnSomeSaturday]

I DID IT
I did it Anon!
The sauce/broth is deep and rich with complex flavors that linger on the tongue.

 

[Betonhaus]

I have a big bag of white lentils I want to use and no idea what to do with it that's relatively simple and easy. I have a bag of split peas I could make a soup with bacon, but since we had ham and split pea soup yesterday i'd get complaints.

 

[fìddlesticks2.0]

I have a big bag of white lentils I want to use and no idea what to do with it that's relatively simple and easy. I have a bag of split peas I could make a soup with bacon, but since we had ham and split pea soup yesterday i'd get complaints.

How about spicy lentil cakes. Like a fish cake but instead of potato it's lentil. Remember to be really heavy on the spices as lentils need it and soak it all up. Mash a bit and combine with an egg and deep fry or pan fry. Fry and egg to eat with it or add it in a pita with lots of tzatziki?

I made a smoked fish pie for the family. I love smoked fish dishes. Wish it was more popular where I am. Smoked fish, sour cream, chives, vodka and blinis is my idea of heaven

 

[Troonos]

I have a big bag of white lentils I want to use and no idea what to do with it that's relatively simple and easy. I have a bag of split peas I could make a soup with bacon, but since we had ham and split pea soup yesterday i'd get complaints.

Make dal. It's delicious, or it would be if I weren't allergic to lentils.

 

[mindlessobserver]

In the process of making spaghetti and meatballs. Pretty much all from scratch using my own tomato sauce recipe, some meatballs made by mixing panko bread crumbs, italian herb blend, parmesan cheese and olive oil in ground beef. Rolled small and air fried. Then basic bitch box spaghetti. I think the cost of the entire meal is like 8 bucks, with the most expensive part being 3 dollars worth of ground beef.

I'd love to add some red pepper flakes to both the sauce and the meatballs, but SOME PEOPLE are fucking spice whimps. So I just put it on after the fact for my plate.

 

[retard strength II]

How can I stop making bland food? I'm using the right spices for what I cook. I'm using Salt and Pepper, and yet I keep having my food come out bland. What am I doing wrong?

Are you using enough? I was very frugal with spices and salt when I first started cooking then would get upset that no flavor came through.