re: "Frustration-Intensive" Foods that offer little Reward.

Tamales are a huge pain in the arse, but if they come out tasting like Manuel's, they're worth it.

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pho

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after you procure all the bones and make a stock for 12 hours and do all the other prep work

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This.

You need to make a dish like this in conjuntion with something else. You need an additional dish that you can save the stock. Then make a pho the next day. Even still, easier to run up to Tan Dihn and get the real thing for $8.

Stuffed artichokes steaming as I type this, not much work and the nostalgia is dripping off the stove. They were Sunday staple in my Italian home.

I love to cook, so labor intensive dishes don't bother me. however, I find that bisque with boulettes is just a better dish than the stuffed heads.

I could sit at a table for hours peeling crabs and drinking beer, very relaxing therapy after a week of frustrating IT issues. We always have a filler like potato salad to go with the crabs.

On a cold day with it raining, I could sit in my kitchen and peel baby shrimp with chopsticks while watching football and never get frustrated. A calm comes over me.

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Baklava

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I was coming to post this. Never again.

What's so difficult about artichokes? Am I doing it wrong haha?

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Brisket. Takes a lot of work/time to get tender. And you can do a chuck or rump soooooo much easier, and it's just as tasty.

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Yeah, i don't agree with this at all. especially the rump part.

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Brisket. Takes a lot of work/time to get tender. And you can do a chuck or rump soooooo much easier, and it's just as tasty.

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These are different meats with different preps, in general, although you can cook a brisket in the oven. But, a brisket on the pit or in the smoker is mighty fine and there's not a lot of work, but rather time waiting on it.

That being said, I love to cook, but I don't love to cook everything. I don't enjoy baking or fooling with doughs, cakes and the like even though I love the result. It's doesn't soothe me like making gumbo does, for example. I don't enjoy cleaning and stuffing crawfish heads, but I will clean every leaf or an artichoke for a fresh artichoke soup or some other dish that uses artichoke meats.

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If you make the traditional French cassoulet and make the duck confit, it's a labor intensive process.. more than just the white beans.

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Different parts of France use different meats. When I use pork shoulder for a dish, I always use the leftovers for a cassoulet the next day. Easy as hell. I've eaten cassoulet in France with pork, beef sausage, duck and chicken.

My list of things that are not worth the effort because restaurants can do it better or at least close enough:

fried chicken
Pho (even with leftover beef stock it's still work)
Donuts (yeast not cake)
Tortillas, corn or flour
Pasta (tons of work, your guests won't tell the difference from dried)
Pizza, though they're fun to make, if you have a good pizza joint near it just ain't worth making scratch unless you feel like making one.