Most prideful cooking achievement

[jaybee]

Learning to make a really mouthwatering roast chicken is one of mine. I use goose fat to baste and very good fresh chicken. I ordered the cookbook of Jean Ducloux, the owner/chef of Restaurant Greuze, who serves a roast chicken dish I would make journey for. I can't wait to try my hand at that one.

A close second is the chicken dish with a sauce made from yellow wine, creme frais and morilles--poulet vin jaune avec morilles. Not yet up to Chez Maitre Paul but a few more times will get me there. I keep several bottles of Chateau Chalon hand in case the opportunity strikes.

[col klink]

I'm particularly proud of my smoked leg of lamb. It's smoked over 3 hours at a low temperature, served medium-rare. Most recently I took the marinade, reduced it in half, removed the olive oil and added a stick of butter. Made for a real nice accompaniment. I've slayed dozens with it. It's something I've tinkered with for the last year and a half and it's probably the tastiest thing I can do.

[Shermar]

A friend of mine went hunting and brought me back two pheasants and 12 quail. I made a dinner for six on very short notice that is still fondly recalled. I roasted the pheasants on a bed of aromatics and root vegetables. The quail were wrapped in bacon, stuffed with sage, garlic and rosemary and served on a bed of polenta.

An accidental masterpiece occurred once when I combined braised lamb shanks in a white bean stew with leftover roasted duck meat--two days later WOW!

[aaustin]

I made a 6-layer coconut cake for my sister's baby shower that involved a ton of work and fed 20 and was a stunner.

But, the one cooking moment that taught me the most and that I'm most proud of is this: I was working in catering and had a lunch for 80 to get together that morning--mostly last-minute stuff like plating fruit, etc. Except...for the shrimp bisque I had to make from scratch. I had to make stock, then I had to figure out how to make a roux, which I had no idea how to do. I was too proud to ask how to do it, so I figured it out under fire. And I did it.

[snowangel]

My crowning achievement was not actually mine, but my daughter's (live vicariously); her name is Diana. At just over age 10, she prepared an anniversary dinner (for our 20th) for Paul and I and the three kids.

Menu: Roasted chicken (from Marcella Hazan). In order to keep this a surprise, she asked our neighbor when she grocery shopped and Diana gave her money to buy a chicken). The neighbor kept the chicken in her fridge for one day.

Mixed greens with pears, walnuts and blue cheese and balsamic vinagarette. When I later asked Diana how she selected this salad, she said that she went through the fridge, found lettuce (which I always have), a hunk of blue cheese that was just the right amount. The freezer offered a bag of walnuts, and the fruit basket a pear that was just perfect. She has been making balsamic vinegarette for a couple of years.

Roasted new potato. She cut them into quarters or eighths, to get them into equal sizes, tossed them with EVOO. Garnished with tarragon fresh snipped from the garden. She also roasted individual garlic cloves, and knew how to time the whole thing.

Dessert was a heath bar brownie recipe from Maida Heatter. She had to bike to three convenience stores to get the heath bars.

The day of our anniversary, Paul was at work, and I was at a conference. Heidi's aide was with the kids, and since she was pretty busy with Heidi and Peter, I know Diana did this on her own (other than procurring the chicken).

Everything was done at the same time. The table was set beautifully with my great grandmother's china, and she had even gotten a bottle of wine from our "cellar" (basement). She had snipped flowers from the garden and they were floating in pyrex custard cups (so we could see everyone and not be hidden by a large, tall floral thingee.

All of this, and she wasn't even 11 years old. What really impressed me was her ability to look at what we had (other than the chicken), and figure out what to do. Somewhere along the line, I must have done something right. And, the kitchen was not a pit when we sat down to eat.

[Elizabeth_11]

WOW. Snowangel--your daughter sounds like a natural! Is she considering the culinary arts? (I know she's young, but maybe she's thought about it???) Pretty impressive stuff!

-Elizabeth

[stagis]

Hmmm... edible smoked chicken (after I spent a summer building a brick smoker without ever having smoked ANYTHING before).

Sushi

Biscotti

Lasagne on Charcoal (I'm a Scout leader.....)

[=Mark]

Mine was having my Piquant Salmon Rolls featured on TV Food Network. They were fair a blaizin' too,2 kinds of habaneros as well as dried chipotle in the filling!

[jaybee]

Snowangel, that is a wonderful story. What a delightful experience for your daughter and your family.

[GordonCooks]

Last Year, because of a flu epidemic, Christmas eve dinner a la Italia for my girl's family including Chicken French, Lasagne, Braciole, cioppino for the aunts and uncle's....sausage and peppers at midnight. By back is still sore.

This year - My friend's Grand Opening Gala at his Thai restaurant - he decides to cook fusion - In 4 hours (with 1 prep chef)- 3 apps - 3 mains - 2 desserts for 65 - whew....no way I could do this night after night. Hats off to Sous Chefs everywhere.

[maggiethecat]

I am thinking of and rejoicing with Snowangel about her daughter's expertise. Thought about starting a new thread on the lines of "Can your children cook? What?" But then I realized that Diana's dinner could be considered one of Snowangel's proudest culinary moments. She has shaped a child who cares about food, knows about it, and is comfortable in the kitchen. Congratulations.

In a similar vein, my daughter Honor grew up in a house where both parents care about food, talk about it, and cook like madmen. In college, she worked part time for a woman who runs a high-end video-editing boutique, working mostly with television commercials. When the black Prada-clad "Creatives"came in from NYC or LA, there was always a big flap about what to do for lunch. No expense was spared on these jaded folks. When one group said they were bored by Trotters, Spago, etc., my daughter's boss got fed up and decided to feed them in the office. My daughter volunteered to cater the meal (on three hours notice) ran out to shop for the food and cooked without a book.

The advertising people said it was the best lunch they had eaten for two weeks.

Proud parents! Maybe that was our finest culinary moment.

[Jim Dixon]

Sometime in the mid-70s I ate at Mammounia (excuse the spelling), a Moroccan restaurant in San Franciso. The pastilla (aka b'steeya and several other phonetic spellings) blew me away, and I spent several months looking for a recipe. I finally found Eva Zane's Middle Eastern Cookery (most likely out of print, but a keeper if you find a copy) that included it.

With a couple of friends to help, I spent the better part of a day poaching the chicken, reducing the stock, cooking the eggs, picking the meat, toasting almonds, and then assembling everything with what seemed like acres of phyllo and butt-loads of butter. We popped it in the oven, crossed our fingers, and kept drinking.

It was incredible, almost as good as the restaurant's version (of course we had drunk a lot more beer by the time we ate). I haven't made it again since.

I think this sticks with me after so many years because I'm a much better cook now. I know a lot more about ingredients and techniques, and I've cooked lots of things that were as good or better. But there was something about that long day in a tiny, poorly-equipped kitchen that still makes me feel good.

Jim

[Suvir Saran]

My crowning achievement was not actually mine, but my daughter's (live vicariously); her name is Diana.  At just over age 10, she prepared an anniversary dinner (for our 20th) for Paul and I and the three kids.

Menu:  Roasted chicken (from Marcella Hazan).  In order to keep this a surprise, she asked our neighbor when she grocery shopped and Diana gave her money to buy a chicken).  The neighbor kept the chicken in her fridge for one day.

Mixed greens with pears, walnuts and blue cheese and balsamic vinagarette.  When I later asked Diana how she selected this salad, she said that she went through the fridge, found lettuce (which I always have), a hunk of blue cheese that was just the right amount.  The freezer offered a bag of walnuts, and the fruit basket a pear that was just perfect.  She has been making balsamic vinegarette for a couple of  years.

Roasted new potato.  She cut them into quarters or eighths, to get them into equal sizes, tossed them with EVOO.  Garnished with tarragon fresh snipped from the garden.  She also roasted individual garlic cloves, and knew how to time the whole thing.

Dessert was a heath bar brownie recipe from Maida Heatter.  She had to bike to three convenience stores to get the heath bars.

The day of our anniversary, Paul was at work, and I was at a conference.  Heidi's aide was with the kids, and since she was pretty busy with Heidi and Peter, I know Diana did this on her own (other than procurring the chicken).

Everything was done at the same time.  The table was set beautifully with my great grandmother's china, and she had even gotten a bottle of wine from our "cellar" (basement).  She had snipped flowers from the garden and they were floating in pyrex custard cups (so we could see everyone and not be hidden by a large, tall floral thingee.

All of this, and she wasn't even 11 years old.  What really impressed me was her ability to look at what we had (other than the chicken), and figure out what to do.  Somewhere along the line, I must have done something right.  And, the kitchen was not a pit when we sat down to eat.

I read the thread thinking I would add something, but my experiences would pale and find no sense of place here.

Thanks for sharing that great story.

Now only if our TV Networks would find the courag to showcase such worthy incidents. But no.. they would rather spend millions promoting garbage for the most part.

eGullet is precious for we are able to hear such wonderful real incidents.

Thanks for taking time to share your daughter and your experience.

[jaybee]

When I started this thread, I imagined the eGullet folks would have good stories to tell. So far they have exceeded my expectations. What fun and what inspirational reading.

I second Suvir's comments.

Liza--here's an idea for a great "reality" show for FoodTV--"My Proudest Moment in the Kitchen" Recreate the event using cinema verite technique and supply recipes. Amateurs achieving high culinary art.