Most complex dish you've cooked

[daeryn]

I don't get a chance to cook much more than generally simple and low budget stuff very often, but when I do it's extremely satisfying to spend the time and make something more complex - it sometimes feels more substantial. What are some of the more complex dishes/recipes you've put together, and how often do you make it?

I've got three favorites, but my first is a ceasar salad where I make the dressing from scratch - that includes mincing and grinding the garlic and anchovies yourself, coddling egg yolks, and other steps I wouldnt have thought would be necessary for such a seemingly simple result... but you can really taste a difference; its a MUCH richer taste that depends strongly on the quality of the ingredients, the olive oil in particular. It can take ~30 minutes to make if you work fast.

Maybe if this topic gets going I'll write up my other two :)

-Daeryn

[davesmistress]

The hardest and most time consuming I have cooked was at work, I had to make Chicken Crepes....Ughhhhhh

thanks for the new topic

[2Hip]

I guess it would have to be, salt water taffy. It took me many many tries till i got it just right.

edit: But then on 2nd thought that in no way was the most complex. It just seemed to be the hardest.

[Funnyshoes]

I once made a chicken riesling stew

Its a stew that uses 750cl of wine as a base, along with 14 chicken breasts, 10 rashers of bacon, 2 finely chopped leeks and a mess of other crap. It was complex just for the amount of shit I had to prepare and cook all in time for it to be made properly.

[Pervysage]

Im a chef in a family of chefs take your pick

[domread]

The most complex dish ive cooked was white with blue patterning.

[daeryn]

Im a chef in a family of chefs take your pick

Give us a good description of a dinner entree then!

Wow, a lot of response on this topic... so as promised, here's a second dish of my own: Lasagna, from scratch. On the plus side, you get to pick the sauce you flavor it with (or make your own - I usually use either a roasted garlic or vodka sauce), and what types of cheese you put in (Muenster is surprisingly good), but on the other hand you have to grate ALL of the cheese, and the softer cheeses are hard to do that with. Then, layering the pan with the ingredients is really error prone because if you layer it too deep, it's going to boil over in the oven! x.x It takes a really long time to prepare and cook, but if you make it RIGHT... cheesy goodness that is crazily filling. Make a lot, because it actually tastes BETTER a day or two later!

-Daeryn

[Pervysage]

Its hard to tell people on the internet how to make something the right way with out a small wall of text. So with that class today we are going to be making Roasted pork tenderloin with a Ginger-lemon Sauce. This it's super easy and you wont burn your house down. ( If you do don't sue me please )
FOR THE MEAT
1/2 cup soy sauce,1/4 cup cheap wine 2 teaspoon minced garlic, 4 scallions, 2 tablespoon minced ginger 2 tablespoons lemon juice,1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 pounds pork Tenderloin trimmed of fat. OK mix everything here together in a ziplock bag and let sit for 2 hours in your refrigerator . Okay 2 hours later preheat your oven to 400. Now In a oven proof skillet heat your 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Once hot brown your tenderloin lightly on both sides next place skillet and tenderloin in your oven for 15 minutes or till meats internal temp is 150F (you don't want to eat undercooked pork)
FOR THE SAUCE
1/2 cup left over marinade from the tenderloin ,1/2 cup chicken broth,2 tablespoons lemon juice, 2tablespoons minced ginger,2tablespons sugar,1teaspoon sesame seed oil 1 teaspoon minced lemon zest, 1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons of water salt and ground black pepper. Okay now bring to a boil then to a slow simmer the 1/2 cup of left over marinade in a small saucepan with the chicken broth,lemon juice,ginger,sugar, sesame oil and lemon zest. Stir in the cornstarch/water mix let cook over medium heat for a few minutes stirring often ( If you don't sauce will burn) once done add salt and pepper to your taste. YOU ARE DONE you just made a Pork Tenderloin with Ginger-lemon Sauce and didn't burn your house down I hope. Now serve in 1/2 inch cuts with sauce over it. Hope you enjoy this should serve a family had to reduce the portions so I hope they are right.

[daeryn]

Its hard to tell people on the internet how to make something the right way with out a small wall of text. So with that class today we are going to be making Roasted pork tenderloin with a Ginger-lemon Sauce. This it's super easy and you wont burn your house down. ( If you do don't sue me please )
FOR THE MEAT
1/2 cup soy sauce,1/4 cup cheap wine 2 teaspoon minced garlic, 4 scallions, 2 tablespoon minced ginger 2 tablespoons lemon juice,1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 pounds pork Tenderloin trimmed of fat. OK mix everything here together in a ziplock bag and let sit for 2 hours in your refrigerator . Okay 2 hours later preheat your oven to 400. Now In a oven proof skillet heat your 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Once hot brown your tenderloin lightly on both sides next place skillet and tenderloin in your oven for 15 minutes or till meats internal temp is 150F (you don't want to eat undercooked pork)
FOR THE SAUCE
1/2 cup left over marinade from the tenderloin ,1/2 cup chicken broth,2 tablespoons lemon juice, 2tablespoons minced ginger,2tablespons sugar,1teaspoon sesame seed oil 1 teaspoon minced lemon zest, 1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons of water salt and ground black pepper. Okay now bring to a boil then to a slow simmer the 1/2 cup of left over marinade in a small saucepan with the chicken broth,lemon juice,ginger,sugar, sesame oil and lemon zest. Stir in the cornstarch/water mix let cook over medium heat for a few minutes stirring often ( If you don't sauce will burn) once done add salt and pepper to your taste. YOU ARE DONE you just made a Pork Tenderloin with Ginger-lemon Sauce and didn't burn your house down I hope. Now serve in 1/2 inch cuts with sauce over it. Hope you enjoy this should serve a family had to reduce the portions so I hope they are right.

Impressive! I've made something like this before, only I used rice wine vinegar instead of regular wine to add flavor to the soy sauce. With a little sugar it actually turns out rather tasty, though my version was not nearly as complex - I may have to try this version sometime!

I love the detail you put into this - could we perhaps get another such recipe from you? *blatantly curious what you could do with other types of meat :)

-Daeryn

[Pervysage]

Sure no problem just tell me what kind of meat. Oh yeah I should have said cooking wine just to clear up anying mistakes

[Alido]

Eclaire's. Took me a while to get em right but it was well worth it.

[daeryn]

Sure no problem just tell me what kind of meat. Oh yeah I should have said cooking wine just to clear up anying mistakes

Honestly, I'm rather blatantly fishing for recipes to test out since I was quite impressed by the detail of your first one... but with that said, let's think about it. Chicken dishes are generally taken as 'healthier' regardless of the actual health content... but personally I tend to enjoy steak/beef tastes far more. I'd be interested in either one, honestly. Oh, and thanks for the responses by the way - I'm really enjoying this!

-Daeryn

[nyquil]

this is good stuff because i actually want to start cooking more and learning new tasty recipes...i havnt done anything from scratch yet but it sounds fun but challenging. any suggestins for somthing easy?

[Kyanzaki]

The most complex dish that I've cooked was...chicken enchiladas and what makes it crazy, I added black beans as well. Yeah that was complex

[Mistabig]

Probably turkey pot pie. Made the bread from scratch as well.