Originally Posted by
tomsundstrom
I frequently have a hard time cooking halibut to the proper doneness. It seems there is a razor-thin margin between nicely cooked and tough and overcooked.
Homemade pasta and I are not friends- I think I always overwork it, and it has the texture of a rubber band.
Lentils are also a thorn in my side. Too often I wind up with a lot of unabsorbed liquid and a pot full of mush.
I usually do ok with risotto, but it is such a pain in the butt that I've all but abandoned it in favor of paella, which is almost impossible to screw up and really easy to make.
There are so many pasta recipes out there. I found however, that the ones that work best are written by people from the same country as you are in. It's not xenophobia, but a matter of climate. Aside from different types of flour having different properties, the temperature and humidity can make a huge difference to any dough.
Risotto - try using a big frying pan and a lower temperature