re: Anyone willing to admit they are a mediocre cook?

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Our goodness as a cook often depends on who we are cooking for.

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Well, the dog thinks I am awesome.

I'm a bit more objective.

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I love food and love cooking. I'm really fascinated by just about all of it, and I think I could be really good, but not based on talent. Just that I love it enough to work hard at it and improve.

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This.

I don't know how mediocre is defined in this thread, but I'd definitely say I'm better than your average Pinterest mom. I understand what complements something else.. or when/how to use a certain technique without a "recipe" (like braising or reducing)..

But I still start anything I haven't made before with a good recipe, and go from there. I don't always follow it exactly, but it gives me a good idea.

I'll definitely admit it.

However, to my defense, I don't have the proper tools and materials to be a good cook. I never had a foundation on cooking and I've had to essentially play around and teach myself how to do things. That is including the pure basics. I am not afraid to try a recipe...I just wished I had proper instruction.

But, compared to my family, I'm John Besh.

It's hard to know what any given person means by mediocre. I'm good at using recipes as a base and slightly improvising (I made a nice beef bourguignon using modified Julia Child recipe for Thanksgiving.) Then, I can throw some things together and improvise from scratch using what I've learned from recipes over the years.

I've never once had anyone actually teach me anything. So I'd like to take a course to improve some basic techniques and then go from there.

the snobs around here would probably complain but i and others i've cooked for enjoy it. thats all that matters IMHO

I would say I am descent/good at certain types of cooking and mediocre to clueless on other types. I can cook certain things pretty good:

Gumbo
Fish
Poboys
Steak
Burgers
Various meats
Various Louisiana dishes
Wild game
Breakfast

But am clueless when it comes to certain types of cooking (Chinese, Vietnamese, French, certain Italian, Fine Dining, Desserts, etc.). I try to cook something new at least once a month which helps with learning.