Food that’s not worth the effort

[BarrelOfOtters]

Crab…picked yourself
Unfilleted fish
globe artichoke all that finiking for some little bites

The orange thing surprised me. My method is, using a serrated short knife ( kitchen devil) cut the top off the orange, then score done from the top edge to the bottom, about 5 or 6 times, around the orange and pull the peel off.
Quite simple, years ago, my mum had a an orange peeler, which was very much a knife on one end and a crochet hook on the other, to score the peel to May it easier to take off. Same principle.

Lasagne a big faff, so I cheat with a jar of lasagne sauce ( not the best) or a packet of cheese sauce mix, which I add milk to, ok option, but still more additives than you really want.
M&S did a lovely lasagne years ago, now it’s nasty and could be out of a tin.

These peelers make oranges very easy

The art of the poached egg. Use a frying pan, not a saucepan.

Much easier to cook and handle the eggs.
I add a capful of vinegar, ( maybe a teaspoon would do) white wine or cider vinegar, not malt, and have the water simmering. ( not boiling)
Add eggs ( no swirling the water about) keep it at a simmer, until they look cooked.
Take them out when cooked using a slotted fish slice, drain lightly, still on the fish slice on some kitchen roll, to remove any remaining water and serve.

Cheesecake cooked in a cheesecake ‘bath’ last time took me forever and then I dropped it on the floor. So not worth it

Sadly not as the filling is too thick.

Mangoes aren't difficult and they're rather lush... don't know why I don't have them more often.
Pineapples are a bit of a pain though and I don't think they're that much nicer fresh than tinned.

I'm in Portugal so I have to say sardines and hope nobody from there reads this.

Home made cakes well some if them to much faff now
Roasts are my favourite but hate cooking them 😒

I just add a bit of milk to it, still quite sweet but not as bad, and I prefer the thinner texture. Tbf birds powder custard is pretty simple and tastes better

Risotto shouldn’t be hours and hours - 19 mins from when the first ladle of hot stock goes in, until the last - and the rice will be at the right consistency.

Slightly undercook your veg then put in a covered dish in the oven til ready to serve .eirks best with Auntie Bessie's frozen Yorkshire as you can turn off the oven after a couple of mins, whereas homemade Yorkshires need alot longer.

Like the sound of the recipe
Must try it one day
😀Thank you

I dried red grapes for raisins. Terrible!

Although I did learn that dried green grapes are sultanas…

Lettuce

I have a wonderful pineapple slicer and corner that cuts a whole pineapple into cubes in about a.minute.

I’ve never tasted anything with such a disgusting texture as artichoke hearts def not worth any effort lol!!

I decided to make my own custard last year after the cost of the Madagascan style custard tipped £2.60 and appears to only come in single use plastic!
Its now a doddle to make in 5 mins and costs me about £1.

I think my house was too cold and they just wouldn't prove. They had to be proved at least twice from memory, meant to be for an hour at a time or when doubled in size but it took way way longer than an hour for them to prove!

Birds custard is one of the most vile things I’ve ever had. It’s not custard it’s just wet cornflour.

Waitrose Madagascan is the one for me. Better than Sainsbury’s or M&S.

Homemade custard is great, but needs a lot of stirring.

Moussaka. Supermarket versions are just as good as anything I can make and I think I'm an OK cook. Just too many stages and the end result is disappointing. Once tried a tarte au citron from scratch and it literally took all morning to make, used about 12 eggs and tasted worse than one from Tesco which cost the same as just the eggs, never mind the pastry ingredients, lemons, sugar etc.

I was going to say pomegranate and see it has already been mentioned.

Brandy snaps and cheese straws - simply can't be arsed and don't see the attraction in any event.

I have made birds custard three times, it has always come out lumpy and bright yellow and tastes awful. What is the point when it's simple pimple to make proper custard which is delicious? Honest question.

On the lasagne point, it is worth it but has to be made in bulk. I usually make a huge ragu, with about 4kg of mince one weekend, we'll have spag bol and I'll freeze some more servings and the remainder of the ragu. Then a week or two later pull.it out of the freezer and make a large quantity of bechamel. Assemble three large lasagne, bake and freeze. The faff isn't worth it for a pound of mince and dish for 4.

Christmas cake and Christmas pudding. However, I think a really good rich fruit cake unadorned at Christmas is usually better quality than the iced confections for an exorbitant price. I have been known to buy a good dark fruitcake and to marzipan and ice it myself.

The overhyped and artificial tasting boozy creams at Christmas. Teaspoon of icing sugar, a half pint or pint of double cream and tablespoon of brandy or suitable sticky works just as well.

Puff pastry. Mine is never as good as jus-rol.

Bread.

Ice-cream

Decorative French Flans - we have a fabulous French Deli close by - I can match the quality but am not prepared to when £20 does it.

Homemade custard is great, but needs a lot of stirring.

Baked custards are very easy though. Different texture but very nice imo. At the start of lockdown we had no supermarket deliveries so no yogurt, but could get lots of eggs and milk, so I regularly made a batch, in teacups as I don't have many ramekins which we had instead. (Then we realised we could buy freezedried yogurt cultures - that's also very easy to make with a simple yogurt maker, uht and a bit of dried milk. )

Sourdough starter - supposed to be "so easy", I've tried 5 times and it's never worked. Easy homemade starter is a conspiracy theory. Can't be arsed and just buy the loaf now.

Half the time fruit is disappointing, and anything with pips turns me off. Bananas are hit and miss. Easy to eat but often have no flavour. Oranges are often pithy and pippy. Raspberries are usually fine but on the whole I avoid fruit.