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We've been doing a bit of chatting about what's on our book and and media stacks this winter/year.  It it occurs to me I have another stack:  Culinary Accomplishments.  I pulled off a lot of things in 2009, but there are several dishes and techniques and ingredients that I had planned to make but never found the time for.

2010 will be different!

My goal is to pull off one of these "I've always wanted to try that" recipes a quarter.  This does not include any of the random recipes I find online and make on a fairly regular basis.  These things are special.  None are insignificant accomplishments (to me), and all are more complicated than a new cookie recipe.  They push me out of my comfort zone cooking-wise, but sound so awesome that I want to try and make them myself.

Homemade Marshmallows

What's Appealing: I've lusted after these beauties for a while, but having one dropped into some ridiculously fabulous hot chocolate at a local chocolatier sealed the deal.  My sweet tooth wants to know how to do this. My experimenting side wants to perfect a base recipe then mess with the flavors until even the the most steadfast of marshmallow haters is begging for more.  I'm sure brewing up some super dark drinking chocolate to go with them won't hurt.

What's Daunting: It's candy. Not only do my candy-thermometer techniques need a lot of help, but I get sooooo impatient waiting for sugar to do it's thing.  While this may seem like making jello with an extra step or two for you, for me it's quite difficult.  Many recipes also call for beaten egg whites, which is a similar danger zone for me. Fortunately, the ingredients are pretty cheap (sugar, gelatin, corn syrup) so I can mess up several times while I attempt to master a zen-like candy making technique.



 Pho

What's Appealing:  Well, for starters, it's Pho.  Although I've been going to Vietnamese restaurants for years, I discovered Pho a couple years ago when friends who showed me what to do with the bowl of "soup" and the plate of fresh garnishes.  After several outings, I thought to myself "this is just a really good broth served over some cooked stuff. How hard can this be to make?"  Like every good challenge, the answer is something like "a minute to learn, a lifetime to master."  Good Pho broth can make or break a restaurant, so it can't be quite as simple as it seems.  This detailed recipe looks like a great place to start (and it's where I nabbed that sexy image), and like the marshmallows, once I get the foundation, the personalization possibilities are endless.

What's Daunting:  The shopping.  No, really.  Although there's no shortage of places around town where I can pick up the spices and the noodles, and even the bones, they are not places I regularly go, or have ever been to.  The only thing more nerve-wracking than going somewhere new and needing to ask for help picking out the right/best thing is doing it in a foreign language with foreign customs.  I'm sure they're more or less used to the skittish white girls seeking adventure, but that doesn't mean they want us there.  Lord knows my least favorite customer when I worked any sort of retail was the completely clueless one, even when they were nice about it.  I'm so very daunted and I don't want to be //that girl//.  Fortunately, a friend of mine has volunteered to take me shopping when I visit her to show me the ropes. Even though it'll be a different city, that confidence will help me greatly when I make future attempts.


Beef Wellington

What's Appealing:  It's steak with a mushroom sauce wrapped in pastry. Why are we still talking about this?  But seriously, how cute are these individual wellingtons?!  This recipe has been sitting in my "to make" pile for over a year now and it's just too tasty and cute to be ignored much longer.  I've never worked with puff pastry dough before, but other than that, this should be relatively straight forward and delicious. Getting the meat cooked right may take a few tries, though.  It may not be as challenging or complex as marshmallows or Pho, but after those two recipes, I think I deserve an easy "A" as it were.

What's Daunting:  The puff pastry.  I've seen it on hundreds of cooking shows, but I've never been brave enough to use it (or Phyllo - but more on that in a minute).  Plus, if you don't cheap out on the steak (which I won't), this can be pretty pricey to pull off, even if you don't make 12 at a time (which i won't).  Mistakes will cost money, but even more than that, I hate letting good meat go to waste.


Baklavah

What's Appealing:  Let's call this the "homework" item in my stack.  I feel like in order to consider myself even a fledgling cook/chef, I need to have worked with Phyllo dough once or twice. Also, there are questions to be answered like Pistachios or Walnuts, and any number of awesome flavoring tweaks to be had. I had some at a restaurant that was somehow infused with orange or some other citrus. It was probably in the honey, but even knowing that stirs my experimental side.

What's Daunting: It's Phyllo.  Even when the cooking shows try to demonstrate how "easy" it is, it's daunting.  Patience comes into play here, too.  My father in law makes his baklavah (and his spanikopita - usually in the same Phyllo-tastic feast) using the thinnest of layers stacked over and over so there's filling and Phyllo in every bite.  Every time I come across a version where they've clearly cheaped out and just smashed a chunk of dough at the top and bottom, I cry foul. It's the norm, I know, especially in cheap restaurants, but I choose to aim higher, if for no other reason than to not automatically lose the inevitable direct comparison to his work. Will I have the patience to pull out those layers without cutting corners, or cutting time that will inevitably destroy my efforts?  Like the candy thermometer, this is a serious personal challenge.


So that's my Culinary Challenge stack for 2010.  It may not seem like much, but the weeks slip by fairly quickly and shopping trips get repeatedly postponed. Finding the right window for some of these all-day endeavors can be tricky, too.  

No worries, though. On the off-chance I finish early, there are plenty of other culinary feats ready to be attempted, and I have all of 2010 to add to that list.

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When not cooking, Kelly can be found on Twitter, or not getting anything accomplished past chasing after her 1.5 children.

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