Cooking, are you good or do you suck at it?

[Outdated]

When I chop veg it's hard for me to hold the item steady with my left and cut with my right....

I had a friend who lost an arm, his mother hammered half a dozen nails through one corner of a polypropylene cutting board for him. He can push vegetables on to the nails to hold them still while he peels and cuts.

 

[Rodafina]

I like to cook. And eat. I also like to experiment a/k/a play with my food. So, today I'm going to make beef tallow.

A cattle rancher friend gave me a big chunk of beef fat (suet) from a steer (British White cattle) they had butchered earlier this summer and told me how to make beef leaf lard. So, today, I will cut up the frozen fat, put it in a slow cooker on low setting, occasionally stir it till it melts (4-6 hours, I think), then strain it through a fine mesh strainer and strain it again through cheesecloth. The hard bits left behind are called cracklings and can be added to cornbread or other things. I'll put the pure, melted, strained liquid fat in a sterilized canning jar to store in the refrigerator, and freeze some of it in an ice cube tray so I can use just a small amount to fry potatoes, add to pie dough or whatever.

I told my husband about this project, and he looked nauseated. He's a retired doctor and lectured me on the fat being mostly pure triglycerides, terrible for my health. I told him about my research into nasty stuff like canola oil and other vegetable oils that were never intended for human consumption, and that pure animal fat may actually be healthier than some vegetable oils. He looked dubious but said he would taste some potatoes if I fried them in the rendered beef tallow, but he thought I should just cut the frozen fat into chunks of suet and feed it to the birds this winter.

Should I eat it or just feed it to the birds?

@Mary Terry, you could keep going with your experimentation and make some pemmican.

Mark's Daily Apple How to Make Pemmican - Pemmican Recipe

 

[Gracey]

When I'm focused and in the zone, Yes, I can cook and bake.

Prefer baking over cooking.
I can still marvel at and appreciate the chemical reactions that raise my cake mixes when heat is applied.
(... not gonna lie, I still get a little excited when it turns out beautifully)

I have to want to do it though.
I can get easily distracted if my heart isn't in what I'm doing.

 

[velociraptor]

I'm very skilled in the kitchen. Earned my journeyman chef's ticket just before a career ending back injury. I stay active in my own kitchen, but am not physically able to function in a commercial one. Currently experimenting with a sous vide I purchased earlier this year.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

I wouldn’t say I’m bad but I’m not the best at it either. It all depends on what I’m making. It’s weird that I have burned rice before but I have managed to make corned beef to perfection on my first time cooking it.

 

[Jeff T]

Well, my belly says I'm really good at cooking.
But a chef would probably say that I ain't.

 

[Mary Terry]

@Mary Terry, you could keep going with your experimentation and make some pemmican.

Mark's Daily Apple How to Make Pemmican - Pemmican Recipe

That's an interesting idea!