Which course do you enjoy cooking most?

[chefathome]

Whilst I enjoy cooking almost everything in general mains would have to come out on top for me. There is something so gratifying about cooking the perfect duck or quail or lamb or sweatbreads and the pan sauces to go with them.

[LaurCar]

I love to do it all in the kitchen, but here is order of favorites (i also like the zen of prep and the challenge of getting everything together at the same time)
1. soup
2. bread and doughs (pizza)
3. grains and pasta dishes
4. shellfish
5. muffins or cookies or small bakes good (quick breads)
6. fancy apps

[lizzy]

For me it's dessert. I find I am more creative and confident when making dessert. I am also more willing to try a long/complicated/difficult/intricate recipe, even when I have company and I am trying it for the first time. Second place goes to appetizers, again I think this course allows me to express my creativity. We have a lot of appetizer only parties during the year, and I think it allows me to fulfill my duel need for something elegant and something comforting at the same time. The bronze would probably be salads, I know it doesn't technically involve cooking but I have decent knife skills and I like to chop. The rest after that is a blur, for some reason I have a mental block when it comes to being creative with main courses. If I am having a dinner party, the menu usually comes about after I have decided what I will make for dessert.

[JungMann]

I've always been a fan of making the appetizers/hors d'oeuvres. Those little bites leave a lot of room for creativity and the challenge of creating something visually impressive that makes a flavorful statement that excites you for the dinner to come gets my culinary engine going.

[lattelover]

I love to make desserts most. They can be made to look so beautiful. They can be deceptively simple, like brownies, or as ornate as a wedding cake. I love the idea of combining fruit and herbs ie. strawberries with balsamic or thyme ice cream or pepper in cookies.

[chef chicklet]

Favorite is appetizers, first course. Then then the main, these are the things that give me joy. I don't get all that excited when doing desserts....

[purple goddess]

Definitely the main. As others have said, it's the Zen-factor of the prep, after a busy day, that I love so much.

[cyberroo]

I'm known for desserts and enjoy making them, so they're definitely my favorite. But I really like making any element of a meal, but I'm not very good at actually putting things together in a cohesive way, so I don't love to do a full meal for guests. I tend to make things that I like rather than things that necessarily go together, regardless of my efforts to the contrary.

[dkenworthy]

I also like cooking everything, but I guess the main wins, because I plan all the sides around the main, rather than the main around the sides! If I skimp on anything, it is dessert, I often end up serving very low-work desserts, like strawberries dipped in brown sugar and sour cream rather than something impressive like a cake or pie. My mom is the baker in the family, and I don't get to eat with her that often.

[Pampatz]

Really good post and really hard question. As a control freak, I like to do it all. Favorites would have to be sides, breads and dessert. Soups/salads/apps/sides/dessert are usually more interesting than the entree.

[chefathome]

When I read your post I had to laugh - I'm exactly the same way. A kitchen control freak!

[anzu]

I like doing sides or apps, mostly b/c I'm not a big protein person. I like fish a lot, but don't cook it often, and I don't do meat.

Also, I wonder if influences my decision, but whenever I eat out, I also typically like the sides/salad/desserts better than the entree itself.

[swsidejim]

# 1 Main course

# 2 Soups/stews/gumbos/etc.

#3 Appetizers

#4 Deserts

[chefathome]

Although my favourite is mains (as I initially posted) I also enjoy sidest. My least favourite would be dessert. Although I love making artisan breads I sort of fall short on desserts sometimes.

I am very creative and innovative and no matter what course I am doing put my soul into it. My desire (and I am sure this is the same with many others) is to perfect skills and techniques so I tend to spend more time creating lovely meals than many (I am a homemaker and trained chef/teach cooking classes). No matter how you look at it, cooking is my life. I dream it, sleep it, eat it, breathe it.

[Emme]

i love baking desserts or sweet snacks.

i also love cooking mains that are made to be healthy and improvements on existing fatty recipes - i love to hear, "wait, this is healthy? but it tastes so good!"

my least favorite part of cooking is prep, particularly chopping, slicing, and dicing.

[bubbles4me]

See I love prep, it's my little zen, quiet time. I really enjoy mains but I think my favorite has to be appetizers, lots of tiny details and the chance of deep frying!

[manraysky]

I love prep! I really enjoy chopping vegetable. I have pretty good knife skills, and making mounds of diced vegetables is very satisfying to me. I don't do it in anywhere near the quantities I did when I was working in kitchens, when I would a dozen onions at a time for soup.

[diablo]

I'm with bubbs and man. Love the details involved in appetizers and will freqeuntly make a meal of them.

[manraysky]

I love baking more than cooking, but for cooking I love to make soup. I probably make twice as much soup as anything else. I love having soup in my fridge, ready to warm up a portion whenever I want it.

[relativeways1]

I like doing the apps or side dishes...I don't cook much (just like eating...), so cooking the main dish kind of intimidates me...although I will have to start sooner or later. But apps and sides are fun and you can be creative with it cause they're smaller and more manageable.

[almccasland]

Great post! For breakfast (my favorite meal to cook), I enjoy cooking the mains. For lunch, I really like to make the bread, as I typically make some sort of wonderful sandwich. For dinner, I love to make the side dishes/accompaniments. I suppose I enjoy the challenge of finding new ways to prepare a veggie.