Dishes every serious cook should know how to make

[DukeUsul]

So I'm addicted to the Food Network. And given their recent directions, I end up watching a lot of their reality cooking shows. Lisa keeps telling me I should go on them, but I always think about the things I don't know how to make. What if they asked me to make my own pasta - I've never done it before!

So I got to thinking. I would like to educate myself to have a complete repertoire of cooking skills. A few months ago I decided I needed to learn how to cook my own bread. So I did. I think now I'm motivated to try making my own pasta. But what else do I need to know? What is the complete set of skills a serious home cook needs to know?

With all the great cooks on CTN, I thought maybe we could collaborate and come up with a list. Once we get the list together, I'll plan to go through it and teach myself to make the things I've never done before.

Stocls:
Chicken Stock
Beef Stock
Fish Stock

The five "mother sauces" of French cuisine
Bechamel
Espagnole
Hollandaise
Tomato
Veloute

Yeast Breads:
French bread
Italian bread
Dinner rolls

Soups:
Chicken soup
Tomato soup
French onion soup
Minestrone soup

Pasta:

Poultry dishes:

Meat dishes:

Vegetable dishes:

Breakfast dishes:

Desserts:

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

Under desserts, knowing how to make a 1,2,3,4 cake is basic. The addition of appropriate ingredients could allow you to create chocolate, red velvet, orange, strawberry, etc. You should also know how to make one or more types of frosting or icings. Buttercream would be one of the basic ones.

I think a well trained cook/chef would know how to make ice cream and other frozen desserts.

How about a pie crust?

[YmoBeThere]

Under desserts, knowing how to make a 1,2,3,4 cake is basic.

I used to know how to play pattycake, does that count?

[DukeUsul]

Great ideas DITBD

Stocls:
Chicken Stock
Beef Stock
Fish Stock

The five "mother sauces" of French cuisine
Bechamel
Espagnole
Hollandaise
Tomato
Veloute

Yeast Breads:
French bread
Italian bread
Dinner rolls

Soups:
Chicken soup
Tomato soup
French onion soup
Minestrone soup

Pasta:

Poultry dishes:

Meat dishes:

Vegetable dishes:

Breakfast dishes:

Desserts:
1,2,3,4 cake
Ice cream
Pie crust
Buttercream frosting

[CathyCA]

Oh boy. I think it depends on who your audience is.

Everyone should have a recipe or five that can be prepared and served in less than an hour. These meals are served after you've had a long day at work but still need to feed the family:

Spaghetti and meatballs and a garden salad
Baked chicken breasts, broccoli and corn on the cob
Hamburgers, oven fries and butterbeans
Salmon, asparagus spears and fruit salad
A dessert of fruit cobbler (peach, blueberry, apple)
Sweet Tea

Then, everyone should have a few recipes for comfort food. These are the meals you bring to people who've just had a baby, or who are sick or who have had a death in the family:

Poppy Seed Chicken
Fried Chicken
Cheesey Potato Casserole
Macaroni and Cheese
Baked Beans
Spinach-stuffed Meatloaf
Chocolate Cake
Chess Pie
Pecan Pie
Blueberry Cream Pie
Derby Pie

There are the dishes you'd make for company:

Lasagna (tomato or bechamel sauce)
Shrimp & Grits
Shrimp Gumbo
Jambalaya
Low Country Boil
Brunswick Stew
Squash Casserole
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy (winter)
Spinach with Hot Bacon Dressing
Steaks and Baked Potatoes
Quiche (hamburger, sausage, broccoli or plain)
Roast Beef with new potatoes, corn and onions
Fried Okra
Corn Bread
Biscuits
Potato Salad (summer)
Key Lime Pie
Pound Cake (regular pound cake, sour cream pound cake, or rum cake)
Chocolate Cake
Appetizers, including stuffed mushrooms, spanikopita, guacamole

It's not exactly a high falutin' chef's list of foods, but the above foods have served me well over the years. Come to think of it, when I look at this list, it's a wonder that my mid section isn't any bigger than it already is.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Everyone should have the phone number of at least the local Chinese and Italian restaurants for pickup or delivery. Add a deli and an Outback if you've got them locally.

[windsor]

Given that tastes are influenced by region and ethnicity (my comfort foods all Hungarian - one pot 'field hand food') I would offer that more than mastering specific dishes you master basic techniques. Such as:

Broiling, sauteing, pan sear, braising, roasting, grilling and stewing. Knowing which technique works with what.

Familiarity with some basic spices/herbs - you don't need every item known to man but it helps to have good basic understanding of what is what. Your definition of 'basic' may vary by personal taste/region/ethnicity. If I do not have onions, fresh garlic, whole pepper corns and Hungarian Paprika I declare a state of emergency.

Know how to cook the basic meats to a decent level of 'doneness'. good steak = rare Tuna Steaks = rare...rare chicken...not so much
Pork in particular presents a fine line between raw and dried out. Fish and shellfish - broil, boil or bake.

Vegetables - the same methods/seasoning can work for a variety of veggies - learn a few ways to prepare them that don't leave them pale and limp!

Learn to handle a yeast dough - bread, rolls...doesn't matter...yeast doughs are touch and feel and only experience will get the job done.

Specifics:
I think you need an inventory of tried and trues you can fall back on in a pinch. They should, IMO, include
an omelet. a nice fluffy omelet with whatever you like in it
a pasta dish (with meat or veggies) and the sauce to go with it - a marinara and an Alfredo would be a good start
a stew - beef is the classic but really anything will do - cooked low and slow
a pork tenderloin whatever way you like them
at least two chicken dishes
one fish you are comfortable working with (that doesn't included opening a can of tuna)
grilling a good steak
a decent hamburger
a vegetarian main dish
Potatoes - backed/fried/broiled/mashed... Idaho, new, red...(I love me some red 'taters) variety! Find a couple recipes you like
a few dips/spreads
a few 'hot' appetizers
chili (it's a stew )
fresh salsa (could be classic, could be mango/tropical but FRESH)
a handful of vegetable dishes, which should include a casserole type (I have a wicked good corn casserole recipe), broiled, baked and grilled

I am not a huge fan of sweets - but a fruit cobbler of some kind, a decent cake recipe and a pie.
I usually whip up a chocolate cake with chocolate whip cream icing (I despise butter cream) in season you'll find strawberries in there too.

A handful of basics and you can mix and match. Being comfortable with the 'staples' will free you up to experiment. If you know the tenderloin and roasted potatoes will be good you can take chance on a new veggie dish and not starve ;) .

Understand that failure will occur. Somewhere, sometime something is going to end up the trash. Oh well. Stuff happens.

[Miles]

This is a great idea DukeUsul! When I first read the title of this thread I thought to myself "I hope he includes stocks". It's easy to overlook, and a lot of people take them for granted but stocks are the key to many a great dish and there is no substitute for a homemade stock. I make about one to two gallons of chicken stock a week and it goes fast.

Where would you classify pasta sauces? I think every chef should be able to make a ragu and bolognese.
Breads: Soufflé
Soup: Clam chowder
Pasta: Ravioli
Seafood: Paella.
Breakfast: windsor nailed it, omelet. This is probably one of the most abused dishes in the kitchen. I would also add a poached egg. Crepes are another.
Poultry: A simple, roast chicken.
Meat: Roasted rack of lamb. Rib roast.

I think it's important variety of the "trinities". Mirepoix, soffritto, sofrito, etc. If you know a good handful of these off the top of your head, you should be able to walk into a grocery, pick up the basics and then improvise.

Gotta think more.

[windsor]

I think it's important variety of the "trinities". Mirepoix, soffritto, sofrito, etc. If you know a good handful of these off the top of your head, you should be able to walk into a grocery, pick up the basics and then improvise.

Gotta think more.

Absolutley! I hadn't thought of that but so very true.

I forgot soups but certainly a clear broth soup (chicken, veg. et al) and a cream based - chowder/potato etc.

If it were not 93 degrees and 70% humidity I would be craving potato soup and a big hunk of pumperknickel bread.

[Ima Facultiwyfe]

May I suggest a cookbook? The New Basics Cookbook from Silver Palette. I keep one at home and one at the lake. Very good. Very basic. Very informative. I swear by their pie crust.

I'm a Food TV addict, too. I record all of Alton Brown and America's Test Kitchen. I like the fact that they teach us WHY something works.

Love, Ima

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

Given that tastes are influenced by region and ethnicity (my comfort foods all Hungarian - one pot 'field hand food') I would offer that more than mastering specific dishes you master basic techniques. Such as:

Broiling, sauteing, pan sear, braising, roasting, grilling and stewing. Knowing which technique works with what.

Familiarity with some basic spices/herbs - you don't need every item known to man but it helps to have good basic understanding of what is what. Your definition of 'basic' may vary by personal taste/region/ethnicity. If I do not have onions, fresh garlic, whole pepper corns and Hungarian Paprika I declare a state of emergency.

Know how to cook the basic meats to a decent level of 'doneness'. good steak = rare Tuna Steaks = rare...rare chicken...not so much
Pork in particular presents a fine line between raw and dried out. Fish and shellfish - broil, boil or bake.

Vegetables - the same methods/seasoning can work for a variety of veggies - learn a few ways to prepare them that don't leave them pale and limp!

Learn to handle a yeast dough - bread, rolls...doesn't matter...yeast doughs are touch and feel and only experience will get the job done.

Specifics:
I think you need an inventory of tried and trues you can fall back on in a pinch. They should, IMO, include
an omelet. a nice fluffy omelet with whatever you like in it
a pasta dish (with meat or veggies) and the sauce to go with it - a marinara and an Alfredo would be a good start
a stew - beef is the classic but really anything will do - cooked low and slow
a pork tenderloin whatever way you like them
at least two chicken dishes
one fish you are comfortable working with (that doesn't included opening a can of tuna)
grilling a good steak
a decent hamburger
a vegetarian main dish
Potatoes - backed/fried/broiled/mashed... Idaho, new, red...(I love me some red 'taters) variety! Find a couple recipes you like
a few dips/spreads
a few 'hot' appetizers
chili (it's a stew )
fresh salsa (could be classic, could be mango/tropical but FRESH)
a handful of vegetable dishes, which should include a casserole type (I have a wicked good corn casserole recipe), broiled, baked and grilled

I am not a huge fan of sweets - but a fruit cobbler of some kind, a decent cake recipe and a pie.
I usually whip up a chocolate cake with chocolate whip cream icing (I despise butter cream) in season you'll find strawberries in there too.

A handful of basics and you can mix and match. Being comfortable with the 'staples' will free you up to experiment. If you know the tenderloin and roasted potatoes will be good you can take chance on a new veggie dish and not starve ;) .

Understand that failure will occur. Somewhere, sometime something is going to end up the trash. Oh well. Stuff happens.

As I read the original post, I was thinking that the main thought was how to cook and how to improvise, so the idea of mastering basic techniques will be the key to culinary success. If you go to a real cooking school of any sort, technique will be emphasized before any embellishments are added to create a specific dish.

Continuing in that vein, all this talk about sauces begins with how to make a good white sauce and how to make a roux.

In the breads department, there is more to this category than yeast breads. What about biscuits and cornbread? Different rising agents, different main ingredients (flour vs. meal). I'd throw pancakes and crepes into this category mostly because of the ingredients and to some extent the method. Doughs have many iterations as well.... note the difference between a pie dough and pastry dough with the layers you'd expect for a Danish, for example. The observation that it's all about feel is absolutely true.

In addition to the techniques for preparing various kinds of meats or veggies and fruits, knowing the kind of cookware best suited for each purpose is a helpful building block of knowledge.

Learn the basic techniques and how to use various spices and herbs.... then your ability to improvise will take off.

If you don't have Julie Child's Joy of Cooking, it would be a great addition to your cooking library.

Bon Appetite!

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

May I suggest a cookbook? The New Basics Cookbook from Silver Palette. I keep one at home and one at the lake. Very good. Very basic. Very informative. I swear by their pie crust.

I'm a Food TV addict, too. I record all of Alton Brown and America's Test Kitchen. I like the fact that they teach us WHY something works.

Love, Ima

Both of these cookbooks are great suggestions. The Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook (red and white check in a notebook format) and McCall's Cookbook are excellent general cookbooks with all sorts of information related to selection of ingredients (cut of meat, herb or spice) and technique. I've found Secrets from the Southern Living Test Kitchens Revealed to be helpful as well. It's arranged alphabetically by key words or phrase like a dictionary. Along with a description and perhaps history of an item there is often a good recipe.

[windsor]

[ Continuing in that vein, all this talk about sauces begins with how to make a good white sauce and how to make a roux.

In the breads department, there is more to this category than yeast breads. What about biscuits and cornbread? Different rising agents, different main ingredients (flour vs. meal). I'd throw pancakes and crepes into this category mostly because of the ingredients and to some extent the method. Doughs have many iterations as well.... note the difference between a pie dough and pastry dough with the layers you'd expect for a Danish, for example. The observation that it's all about feel is absolutely true.

Two thumbs up to a white sauce and roux.

I picked on yeast doughs because novices tend to shy away from them. Rise time and ingredient quantitites (specifically your flour and your liquid) are highly variable...as is kneading time. Certainly biscuits/breads/crepes deserve attention as well....I make a wicked crepe by the way

[CathyCA]

Wait a minute. I just re-read the topic, and it's about serious cooks.

I'm not a chef. I read cookbooks for pleasure, but I don't use them. I cook by feel.

Disregard anything I typed above. I like to cook, but I'm not a serious chef.

Never mind.

[windsor]

Wait a minute. I just re-read the topic, and it's about serious cooks.

I'm not a chef. I read cookbooks for pleasure, but I don't use them. I cook by feel.

Disregard anything I typed above. I like to cook, but I'm not a serious chef.

Never mind.

No worries...we hijacked it to basic cooking skills a couple of posts ago!

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

Wait a minute. I just re-read the topic, and it's about serious cooks.

I'm not a chef. I read cookbooks for pleasure, but I don't use them. I cook by feel.

Disregard anything I typed above. I like to cook, but I'm not a serious chef.

Never mind.

No worries...we hijacked it to basic cooking skills a couple of posts ago!

Good chefs have to start somewhere. Learning basic cooking terms and skills is the beginning of becoming a chef or a good cook (or maybe those overlap??), so I don't think this was a hijack at all. Some people cook. Others assemble food.

[windsor]

Cooking is an evolution...

First a recipe is a detailed set of instructions...that evolves to making a minor modification to a recipe you tried before....then substantial modification to something you've tried before...then modifying before you've tried it before...eventually a recipe evolves into a point of inspiration and finally a recipe becomes something you write down so you can be sure to make it again close to the samew way.

A good basic cookbook is essential for someone starting out - with clear pictures and illustrations of techniques and section describing the major cuts of meat and the best methods for preparing them.

The right tools for the right job. My first set of pots/pans were post college kmart specials. They sucked. I've upgraded several times since then although my prized 'kitchen' items are older than I am - a cast iron skillet and dutch oven that belonged to my great grand mother. These suckers weigh a ton...but I discovered the secret to Grammy's pot roast wasn't the ingredients it was that dutch oven.I have an assortment of 'toys' that I use occassionally but like my abilty to cook my equipment has progressed with time. I own two knives which no one is allowed to touch but me. No one. Ever. Or die.

No one goes from microwaving frozen food to a serious cook overnight... if the interest is there it takes time and energy and a sense of humor
I know a couple of folks who love food and hate cooking...friends call me for recipes...they call them for reservations

[Miles]

Aside from dishes, I think there are few things a serious cook should know how to do:
1. Sharpen a knife
2. Clean a fish
3. Filet a fish
4. Clean and prep wild game

For me, I want to learn how to break down an animal into primal cuts.
I also want to complete the marathon of preparing demi-glace. I keep demi-glace concentrate on hand for most of my steak sauces, but after reading about the process it has become one of my goals in life to complete. The recipe, from The Saucier's Apprentice calls for:
13 lbs of beef shin
13 lbs veal shank
1 stick butter
2 lbs carrots
10 onions
1 1/2 lbs pork rind
1 pig's foot
1 bunch parsely
1 tbsp + 1 tsp fresh thyme
14 bay leaves
1 clove garlic
1 lb unsalted butter
3 3/4 cups sifted flour
1/4 pound salt pork
4 cups sauce tomate
1 cup Madeira

It involves some serious splintering and browning of bones, sautéing, blanching, boiling, cooling, simmering, boiling, clarifying, roux making, straining and so on. The whole process takes 15-20 hours of boiling/simmering, add in the cooling and other prep time you're looking at over a 24 hour process.

Worth mentioning too, I highly recommend The Saucier's Apprentice for anybody that wants to take their sauce-making to the next level and higher. It has opened new doors for me in the kitchen and is one of the best gifts I've received (yaaaaaay Kelly!).

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Aside from dishes, I think there are few things a serious cook should know how to do:
1. Sharpen a knife
2. Clean a fish
3. Fillet a fish
4. Clean and prep wild game

For me, I want to learn how to break down an animal into primal cuts.
I also want to complete the marathon of preparing demi-glace. I keep demi-glace concentrate on hand for most of my steak sauces, but after reading about the process it has become one of my goals in life to complete.

I have absolutely no interest in doing any of these things. Except for maybe sharpening a knife, and I've already done that way back when. I've also cleaned a fish and filleted it. Twice. Been there, done that, not doing it again!

[Miles]

Aside from dishes, I think there are few things a serious cook should know how to do:
1. Sharpen a knife
2. Clean a fish
3. Fillet a fish
4. Clean and prep wild game

For me, I want to learn how to break down an animal into primal cuts.
I also want to complete the marathon of preparing demi-glace. I keep demi-glace concentrate on hand for most of my steak sauces, but after reading about the process it has become one of my goals in life to complete.

I have absolutely no interest in doing any of these things. Except for maybe sharpening a knife, and I've already done that way back when. I've also cleaned a fish and filleted it. Twice. Been there, done that, not doing it again!

That's okay, somebody's got to keep Outback in business. Glad it's not me. ;)

I list these as things a serious cook should know how to do because I think end-to-end preparation sets a serious cook apart from a casual cook. Learning how to properly slaughter, clean and prepare an animal are, for me, roads to understanding anatomy and learning to respect the life that was sacrificed for my nourishment and, most of the time, pleasure. Cooking isn't just about eating in my house.