How many dishes are in your regular cooking repertoire?

Using your categories, under "stew", I've made beef, veal, and goat.
Omelettes -- various cheeses + whatever vegetables I have in the house.
Chicken -- marinated and roasted with assortments of vegetables.

etc.

lemon juice
olive oil
fresh garlic
rosemary
white wine vinegar (or other light vinegar)
salt + pepper

Basically be generous with everything, except perhaps the vinegar, and especially the lemon and garlic. Make sure to puncture the chicken a bunch of times with a fork to let the juices in and the longer marinaded the better. Best grilled or broiled.

wow. and I thought I loved garlic

Especially now that I don't have a regular range stove or oven and have to do everything on plug-in appliances.

I'm not opposed to using recipes (when baking desserts I follow them, but I haven't done that in a while) but after you get used to cooking certain dishes, you figure out know which ingredients will go well together and which ones won't. Then you can be free to mix and match at will and not be burdened by having to follow directions.

This cooking philosophy was greatly inspired by watching many, many episodes of Iron Chef.

This for me depends on how central the ingredient is to the flavor palette of the dish. If it's a slight accent spice, forget it. If it's a central thing and I know where I can get it (the markets around here are amazing), and it's not TOO expensive, I'll give er a go.

Usually I'm just looking for new combinations of old favorites.

I made larb gai the other day. it was probably pretty inauthentic, but it tasted like larb gai to me. It was a success.

Pasta Sauces:

Bolognese
al Ragu (not the bottle sauce)
Arrabiata
Isalbella
Carbonara
al Vongole
a prawn cream one
meatballs

Stews:

Ordinary Beef or Lamb with dumplings
Oxtail
Tagine
A sort of petit sale with beans or lentils with bacon or sausage
Duck Vindalho
Merluzo ala Galega
Stroganoff
Goulasch

Quick things:

Lamb or Pork chops baked with garlic and anchovies
Thai Green or Red curry (OK so I use premade paste)
Tortilla (spanish)
Omlettes of all kinds
The full english breakfast
Pancakes, both english and american
Bruschetta

Soups and Stocks:

Stock of any kind
Soup derivatives of the above
Matzo balls
Tortelini in Brodo

Roasts of al kinds with trimmings
Although my timings are often a little crap
Gravy
Stuffings for above

Ordinary Bread Baking

Many kinds of quick sauces and reductions
Mayoniase
Aioli

Salads:

a damned fine ceasar
chicken and Bacon, lemon and walnut dressing
potato
throw leaves in a bowl and make dressing salads

- Pasta and one of the following sauces: tomato, courgette/anchovy, puttanesca, tomato/tuna/olive, creme fraiche/leek/pea/green beans/camembert
- Risotto: celery/pancetta, mushroom, pea/broad bean, tomato
- Stir fry usually containing half a dozen ingredients, whatever's in my fridge
- Couscous with tomato/chickpea/aubergine/whatever else is in my fridge that would work
- Noodles with broth, a green leafy vegetable of some kind, chilli, coriander, lime and either stripey tuna or stripey chicken
- Vegetable stew, usually containing swede, celery, pearl barley, carrots, spuds and mushrooms. Lasts several days.
- Protein/potatoes/vegetables, the kind of dinner my mum makes.
- Jar of curry sauce with chicken or lamb - kind of cheating, but I was surprised how light on additives some of the sauces are, so I don't think of it as Bad Food.

Pasta puttanesca
Meatballs
Pesto, in the summer when basil is so cheap it's practically free
Cuban sloppy joes
Cuban sandwiches
Feijoada
Thai basil chicken
Gumbo
New Orleans roast beef
Vaca frita
Chicken vesuvio
Vinegar chicken
Red beans and rice
Risotto
Adobo

Jambalaya
Spanish rice & tomatoes
Beef burgundy stew
Cheesy potato soup
Ostrich burgers (pan-cooked)
Chicken (oven-fried lately)
Chicken noodle soup
various pastas
Fish (usually pan-fried tilapia, grilled ahi tuna or baked salmon)
Sour-cream pancakes
Crepes (sweet & savory)
Omelets (my specialty, of course)

And of course there are the nights with cereal or a frozen pizza for dinner.

pinto beans (from dried, not canned)
burritos using same
beef fajitas
chicken fajitas
spaghetti with sausage
eggs/omelette

I think that's about it for the regular stuff.

:(

Butternut squash soup
Beef & broccoli wok stuff
Tofu & green bean wok stuff
Hamburgers
Fake-meat burrito-thing
Pizza (our dough)
Pizza (somebody else's dough)
Chicken with some kinda marinade
Shrimpy noodle
Shrimpy pasta
Sausagey pasta
Shroomy pasta
Dumplings
Poached salmon on leaves with a fruit salsa
Risotto
French onion soup
Black bean soup
Breakfast for dinner variation 1 (waffles, bacon)
Breakfast for dinner variation 2 (omelette or frittata)

cottage pie
steak and kindney pie
beef and guinness pie
creamed chicken and mushroom pie
a spectacular irish stew
beef stew with horseradish dumplings
(actually all the pies are essentially stews with apastry lid on them)
pork and sherry terrine
jerk chicken with rice and peas
fried chicken with spring onion cornbread
smoked garlic roasted chicken
roast lamb with parsnip gratin and rocket
roasted vegetables (fennel is the key ingredient here)
penne con pommodorini al forno
lasagne
a wicked meat loaf
cheese and lentil bake with chives
maple syrup and mustard glazed roast ham
poached salmon
smoked makerel pate
soda bread
(can bake pretty much anything but tend not to that often)
apple pie
apple crumble
various poached fruit things
killer orange and dark chocolate mousse
cantonese-style slow-cooked pork bellies with preserved vegetables
a quite acceptable chilli (i could still use some tips from some of the texans in the house re this)
curries, both indian and thai, vegetable and meat
honey, lime and ginger chicken wings
pretty awesome ribs
homemade burgers of several different varieties
blah blah blah

Vegetables:

Thin slices of leeks, drizzled in olive oil and baked until crispy,
Sauted halves of brussel sprouts poached in chicken stock and lemon,
Steamed broccoli or cauliflower with lemon and fleur de sel,
Boiled carrots with olive oil and fleur de sel,
Rondelles of zucchini (courgette) sauted in white wine and tarragon,
Kale, spinach, bok choy, pea sprouts, artichokes, asparagus etc... as appropriate to meat.

Salads:

Lightly sauted magret de canard with arugula (rocket) and tomatoes in a lemon vinaigrette,
Thrice cut endives with italian parsley in a mustard à l’ancienne, lemon, and smushed avocado dressing,
Roast chicken leftovers (inluding roast potatoes if available) are cut up and put in a salad with almost anything left in the fridge, including, cucumber, grated carrot, tomato, green onion, gruyère, usually with a mustard vinaigrette based on lemon or red wine vinegar,
Boiled leeks, cooled and served in vinaigrette,
Céleri remoulade

My favorite desert is probably oranges and dark chocolate put the gf is very good at a tarte tatin although she often makes it with a mixture of apples and pears.

This sounds exquisite.

Fruit/booze/cream often works for me too.

this looks great. another top salad is radiccio, *RIPE* juicy pears, walnuts and big, fat parmesan shavings

Every summer, there is a Hot and Spicy Food Festival down by the lakefront. The first year I went, I sampled all sorts of spices and hot sauces, and bought the stuff I liked best. The quality of my cooking (particularly chili) improved greatly.

I don't like eating eggs so I've never made them (not counting baked goods with eggs as an ingredient). Will I ever find a significant other if I don't know how to cook eggs? I mean, I could cook them, but I don't even know what good eggs taste like. #egganxiety

I think you'll be ok finding a SO if you don't know how to cook eggs. But if you wanted to start, you could try making a frittata/tortilla because the other flavors usually overwhelm the egginess. I didn't eat eggs until I was like 30 or something!

Crüt, is your egg aversion due to flavor or texture or both or something else?

my wife doesn't eat eggs

no you can't have her

But if you wanted to start, you could try making a frittata/tortilla because the other flavors usually overwhelm the egginess

Or a shakshuka! I can't stand fried eggs or boiled eggs or whatever, but this was tasty and easy as hell to make.

Getting back to the query in thread title: I have been gathering dishes into my repertoire for decades now and I can only estimate how many I can now make with little or no reference to a written recipe. Something close to 100 I'd guess. Live long enough and sheer repetition drives them home.

Will I ever find a significant other if I don't know how to cook eggs?

Easily. First you are not alone in egg aversion, so you could find a partner who eschews them. Alternately, find a significant other who knows how to cook and enjoys it. Then they can make and eat eggs for themselves whenever they like, while loving you for your other fine qualities.

Tell her you cant cook eggs but you'll cook HER eggs, nahmean, nudge nudge

.... sorry.

i can't even imagine what inspired this revive -- did someone tell you that you have to eat eggs, crut?

classic morning-after breakfast to prove you're wifey/husbandy material

once i made a lover a plate of fine fruits, cheeses, olives, bread, etc. and she expressed some disbelief. she ate it up all the same.

i like the notion of human coupling as solely 'someone to eat eggs with', it's pretty otm

My philosophy of "don't learn recipes -- learn ingredients and techniques" makes this a hard question to answer. It would be a pretty big number. #braggin

I dont use recipes either but I still got some ol' standards in the repetoire:

- roast chicken, roast veg and homemeade gravy
- baked salmon with lemon and dill (baked in foil parcel)
- pasta with tuna and sundried tomatoes (best lazytime meal ever)
- spag bolognese
- sauteed silverbeet/whatever veg is in the fridge or garden, sauteed in onion, butter and curry, with chickpeas and served over rice
- oven baked tandoori chicken
- veg curries (dal, chickpea/potato curry, palak paneer, etc etc)

Oh! and my soups!
- potato/celeriac/cauliflower
- pumpkin
- minestrone

idk prolly like a million

crut, just make blueberry pancakes or waffles instead. kinda more labor intensive, but less room for error. And tastier.

kinda otm until tastier

i like soft boiling eggs and eating them in one mouthful pretending i'm a snake

do you hiss or do you make a dragon noise, i would make a dragon noise

my mind is so overwhelmed w/ yokey goodness that i am not cognizant of any sounds that come out of my mouth

crut eggs aren't the only game in town, you got mad skillz in other areas, eggs ain't no thing

crut eggs!

Speaking of eggs: nope.

i love eggs and i love having a partner who orders eggs for dinner when we go to a diner.

i actually ate a lot of eggs at the end of last month because i was cash-strapped and eggs are a cheap way to get protein and other nutrients.

If you're trying to eat grassfed/pastured/etc., eggs are pretty much the only affordable protein. Pastured eggs at Whole Foods are $5/doz, vs. $8/lb for grassfed ground beef and I can't even get pastured chicken around here unless I go through a co-op and pay $10/lb for chicken thighs.

woah Karl!

_But if you wanted to start, you could try making a frittata/tortilla because the other flavors usually overwhelm the egginess_

Or a shakshuka! I can't stand fried eggs or boiled eggs or whatever, but this was tasty and easy as hell to make.

Cafe right near my house does an excellent 3-egg shakshuka with a side of hummus and some bread for dippin'. Man, now I think I'll go there for weekend breakfast tomorrow haha.

Or go out to brunch and order an eggs Benedict for inspiration and delight. My husband coupled with me by taking me to brunch the morning after our first date ;) xp

Nice! I've never seen shakshuka at any restaurant I've been to, but we cook at home a lot nowadays.

Melbourne is all about its long long cafe breakfasts. People here'll eat breaky food til like 3pm on weekends, and wait in queues! Its a bit mental.

eggs benedict is my favourite breakfast dish, so versatile as well. i once had a lobster benedict that blew my mind. in general i am extremely pro-eggs, whether scrambled or poached or fried or baked or devilled or just about anything

w/r/t the thread question, the answer is one, if a bowl of muesli counts

I'm good at cooking breakfasts. Huevos Rancheros is my speciality.

I also do the best bolognese I've ever tasted.