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10 „Scary” recipes I managed to do

Gabriela Lupu

We all have our limits in the kitchen and we try every day to go beyond them. My first recipes, really scary recipes, are now done and the list is new.  Maybe for some of you were easy, but for me, were a fight which I manage to win after a test or two.

  1. Meringue / Pavlova

After reading about it on the internet, I got so scared that I postponed for a few months making this recipe, even I was dying to eat some meringues. The first time I did, I manage to make them perfect. Even with my old rusty oven, I found that if you leave the oven door cracked for the entire time, you will get your job done.

Meringues meringues

Next step was to make Pavlova. The first one I wanted without sugar or just a tablespoon of sugar and it was a big mistake. Great taste, but no shape. Lesson learned: meringue/ Pavlova need sugar to have the beautiful crust.

Chocolate Pavlova chocolate pavlova

  1.  Crème Brule

Keep in mind that I started cooking, really cooking, just a few years ago, and I was so scared to try complicated recipes. So crème Brule, a French dessert, which I managed to do it after one try.

Crème Brule with raspberries  GAB_0494_res

  1. Bread

Making homemade bread is an art. My mom used to make it without the bread machine. I am a modern cook and a scared one so I bought a bread machine. It helps me a lot, but the bread my mom used to make tasted so good.

Bread with chia and flax seeds   GAB21_m_res

  1. Plum crumble

The first time I did a crumple I wanted to have the texture I really like in a crumble, the combination between the soft plums and the crispy crumble.

Plum crumble  plum crumble

  1. Cooking pumpkin

When I decided to bake a pumpkin, I choose a recipe which felt so good just looking at the photos. I remember reading the ingredients and seeing in my mind the pumpkin in my oven.

This recipe is one of my best recipes and the one that I make when I want to eat pumpkin.

Baked pumpkin with porcini mushrooms and bacon  pumpkin

  1. Goulash

When you love goulash and you don’t have a place to eat a great goulash next to your home, you have only one option: make it yourself. Yummy!

Goulash  goulash

  1. Lobster

That was a great recipe. I poured my soul in that recipe and it went great. The second time, changed the recipe, and it got the same taste but a little to liquid. Lesson learned: If a recipe is great don’t change anything.

Lobster bisque  lobster soup

  1. Sweet cream soups

I discovered that I don’t like sweet meals. I love desserts, but not sweet soups or stews. So I add ginger or garlic or chili.

Sweet hot and spicy soup  soup

  1. Vegetarian chili

After you have a real traditional chili con carne is difficult to find a recipe for a vegetarian chili which will taste as great as the one with meat.

Vegetarian chili  vegetarian chili

  1. Cake with whole pears and whole pears in pastry

After I saw this recipe, I couldn’t stop thinking how beautiful it looked and how much I wanted to take photos of this cake. The only fear was that the pear will not be whole after baking.

Cake with pears and Pears baked in pastry  cake with pears

pear baked in pastry

I already made my next “scary” list:

  1. Macaroons
  2. Beef bourguignon
  3. Lamb
  4. Coq au vin (Chicken in wine sauce )
  5. Sushi
  6. Croquembouche (Caramel-glazed cream puffs)
  7. Tacos
  8. Enchiladas
  9. Escargots a la Bourguignonne (Snails in garlic-herb butter)
  10. Ratatouille

Any advice? I need a lot of courage to start any of them. I don’t feel that I am ready, yet.

Published by Gabriela Lupu

Hi. My name is Gabi and I am a professional photographer, a new mom and a wife. I wanna learn to cook healthy food for my little one, so I made this blog to share my cooking experiments with everyone. It's gone be a long and a bumpy ride but a funny one, so stay tune for news and enjoy my ride.

198 thoughts on “10 „Scary” recipes I managed to do”

  7. My grandmother used to make something she called “Charleston Chews.” But, I have looked up recipes by that name and they did not describe what I remember. Then I did some digging and realized she was making Meringues with chopped dates in them. They were marvelous! Now that I have launched, separate from my children, and will soon have time to do things like bake my grandmother’s bread recipe, I will also try the recipe for “Charleston Chews,” as well as some of yours listed here. Thank You!

    Reply

  9. Needless to say your photos are so good and yes its impressive that you could finally manage to do those real scary recipes.
    Do try out your next list 🙂

    Reply

  13. I can totally relate to this post. I have tried many recipes that scare the bejesus out of me, but most of the time, they work out fine. Macarons are on my list too. I am trying cream puffs tomorrow — have always been scared of the pate de choux — so we’ll see how that goes. BTW, tacos and enchiladas – you got those girl. If you can make that pear in the cake, those are a cinch!

    Reply

  20. I love the look of that bread – it looks amazing. My husband always uses a bread maker but I prefer to do it by hand (especially if it’s not a very ‘yeasty’ bread). I love the look of the next list – try the Croquembouches – I made profiteroles a while ago and they really aren’t as bad as they look. Just took ages and lots of patience! Good luck!

    Reply

  21. Wow, that pear cake at the end looks amazing, just my kind of thing!
    I see that have macarons on your next list, I’ve made them a few times myself and, while they can be very time consuming for such a little end product, I didn’t find that they went disastrously wrong with any attempt! Most importantly I think with them is to let them rest for a good 15-20 mins once they’ve been piped.
    Loving your blog and definitely following,
    Rory
    http://teaandthat.com

    Reply

  22. Thank you for your like on my blog. Your food is beautiful! I love to cook and I actually have a Pinterest Board called “It’s Complicated” and its recipes that were scary to try but I did them! Great job!

    Reply

  25. I’m very impressed by your results! I must do the same, write a list of ‘scary’ things and Just Do It. I think, first of all, I’d have to face bread making…

    Reply

    2. Bread is easy when you follow through step by step and have the right ingredients.. I taught myself how to do kitka bread once I got the hang of it, it was easy! Go ahead and try, you can do it!

      Reply

  28. I’m not really scared of any recipe but what I’m scared (and love at the same time) of is having friends over for dinner and everything that can go wrong…..goes wrong!!! It’s so frustrating specially when you have a reputation of being a skilled cook :p

    Reply

  29. I love this idea of making “scary” recipes! Sushi is not too scary though. :- ) If you want any tips just email me – hellogreenturnip@gmail.com. I am no professional sushi chef but I can definitely share how I make simple-at-home sushi from my experience living in Japan. Jessy

    Reply

  31. I love your scared list! I want to try the Pavlova and the pears in pastry but those are scary for me. I will keep those ideas in the back of my mind for when I’m ready. 🙂

    Reply
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  35. OMG!! I love your Blog. Makes me want to go into the kitchen and tackle another something that I’m afraid of doing which, is all ways a 50 / 50 hit or miss. LOL I’m glad I stumbled into you. I’ll be back. Thanx hun..and good luck with every recipe you do… 🙂

    Reply
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  45. Beautiful accomplishments! Advice: Keep going! Enchiladas are a favorite in my house and they are fun to make! I love the recipes on The Pioneer Woman’s site! ❤️

    Reply

  46. I enjoy seeing the summary of your 10 scary recipes and the 2nd list. I posted a similar ‘cooking bucket list’ of foods I want to make, successfully, one day on my LiveJournal, started long before I ever thought of writing a blog.

    http://a-boleyn.livejournal.com/134513.html

    I just realized that I haven’t updated it in some time. Macaroons are still on my list as I’ve only tried them twice and they’re not quite right. I think I’ll pass on the snails. I like eating them but making them myself isn’t as intriguing.

    I’ve had a lot of fun over the years with Japanese dishes in general. I think the secret of good sushi is getting the rice down. After that, the rest isn’t too bad. Lots of prep work though.

    http://a-boleyn.livejournal.com/tag/japanese

    PS: Make sure you buy full sized sheets of nori. You can always cut them in half if you need to. On my last shopping expedition I bought a package of 200 half sheets so am restricted to hand rolls and single ingredient thin rolls called ‘hosomaki’ until I use them up.

    Reply
  47. Pingback: Taking on the Scary Recipes – Strange Salmagundi

  48. I like to see what other people think is hard. Sushi was my ‘scary recipe’ too and I’ve learned to make a few kinds. So tasty! Don’t be afraid of bread without the maker. Just find yourself a simple recipe, follow it carefully a couple of times, and you will build confidence. It is really more of a theory or set of guidelines than a really tricky recipe.

    Reply

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