What food item or drink did you finally make from scratch/homemade that blew you away?

For me it was homemade bread and eggnog. I baked my first loaf of bread not to long ago and holy cow it was amazing. So simple with only four ingredients but so much better than store bought bread.

I love eggnog. I drink my weight in it around the holidays. Homemade eggnog was a game changer. So creamy and flavorful. Sprinkle on some fresh ground nutmeg….. heavenly.

Spaghetti sauce. The jarred stuff is terrible. I make a big batch and freeze it for busy nights.

salsa
hummus
sodium citrate queso
beer

Tortillas and salsa

Outdoorag011 said:

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I love eggnog. I drink my weight in it around the holidays. Homemade eggnog was a game changer. So creamy and flavorful. Sprinkle on some fresh ground eggnog….. heavenly.

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I too like to sprinkle eggnog on my eggnog.

Hahaha good catch

Bruce Almighty said:

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Tortillas and salsa

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Homemade tortillas are one of my favorite things, getting a tortillas press and learning to make those was well worth it. Easy to make and delicious. I also make salsa every couple of weeks.

Another couple I'll add:

Ice cream. You can control the ingredients, flavor, and even the texture. Whether it's simple homemade vanilla, high quality chocolate, or fresh fruit you're in control. One of the best discoveries is the use of nonfat milk powder to control the texture so it doesn't freeze rock hard. If you use the right amount it's almost like soft serve straight out of the freezer.

Bacon. I don't make it often but homemade bacon is a much different product that what you get in the grocery store. You can use different smoking woods, different sugars, and different spice mixes to customize the flavor. I've given homemade bacon as Christmas gifts before and it's been a big hit.

Bruce Almighty said:

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Tortillas and salsa

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I started making my own salsa and I'm never buying store bought again.

This reminds me of a sad/funny story.

When my wife were dating she was cooking one night and busted out some box powder mashed potatoes. As seriously as I could without being mean about it I walked over, threw them away, and told her that if boiling potatoes was too difficult then I will gladly do it but I'm never eating powdered potatoes.

It didn't take her but one batch to see the light. Every since she has been experimenting with flavors and makes some damn good mashed taters.

Salami

Hummus. It's much better than store-bought even if you use canned chickpeas. If you cook your own chickpeas, it's even better.
Pasta. Fresh pasta is just a different product compared to dried.
Jerky. The ability to customize the seasoning and saving a boatload of money making it.

chili con carne

superunknown said:

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Bruce Almighty said:

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Tortillas and salsa

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I started making my own salsa and I'm never buying store bought again.

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Same here

Tortillas, especially when I use rendered smoked beef tallow or lard to make them. Every now and again I make a no knead bread that is pretty good, but it isn't a regular thing.

Link sausage (smoked), breakfast sausage, chili grind, burger grind, pastrami, corned beef. I make my own bacon as well that is way better than store bought. Only time i use store bought now is if I need something to wrap stuffed jalapenos, and that is because the thinner cuts are just easier to use for that application.

I would say salsa, but tx4guns makes a damn good store bought one now that I buy because its worth it (Gunslinger Salsa).

Also, preserves - fig, strawberry, dewberry, peach, etc. All are generally way better when you make them in the kitchen versus buying them off the shelf because you control the process and ingredients and don't have to add stabilizers or anything of that nature.

Marmalade. Doesn't compare to the flavorless, almost runs-free stuff at the grocery store.

Bread - The Ken Forkish book is excellent
Lemoncello - Pretty sure I saw it from this forum. That stuff is liquid gold.
Sodium citrate queso
Ground venison, pork shoulder, and bacon ends - Perfect for burgers, meat sauce for pasta, dirty rice, etc

Anybody ever made pickled nopalitos? I cut a bunch of young pads yesterday and want to make some. Proven recipes?

Pepper Jelly
Bread
Pasta
Pizza Dough
Ketchup

Homemade mayo
Hamburger buns

Eggrolls. Way better than any frozen or restaurant's I've tried.

lck90 said:

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Eggrolls. Way better than any frozen or restaurant's I've tried.

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Recipe?

Red curry
Deer chili
Street tacos
Lumpia
Pepperoni rolls
Tandoori chicken
Chocolate zucchini bread
Salsa
Queso

Off the top of my head. I try to make everything from scratch.

zooguy96 said:

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I try to make everything from scratch.

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This is the way. Making the vast majority of things from scratch requires little more effort and maybe a bit more planning.

The best example I can think of are Biscuits. I can have a batch of homemade biscuits mixed, rolled, and cut in less time than it takes the oven to warm up. Canned biscuits are flat out disgusting

zooguy96 said:

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Red curry
Deer chili
Street tacos
Lumpia
Pepperoni rolls
Tandoori chicken
Chocolate zucchini bread
Salsa
Queso

Off the top of my head. I try to make everything from scratch.

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What store are you finding deer chili at?

DatTallArchitect said:

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zooguy96 said:

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Red curry
Deer chili
Street tacos
Lumpia
Pepperoni rolls
Tandoori chicken
Chocolate zucchini bread
Salsa
Queso

Off the top of my head. I try to make everything from scratch.

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What store are you finding deer chili at?

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. East Tennessee, dude.