Saturday, February 21, 2009

Woe is me!

SO there has been no cooking, no experimenting, no incredibly amazing dishes, no nothing in my new little apartment. I do have to commend myself on a very nicely done steak with pan gravy and mushrooms and onions. The problem wasn't with the food though, it was with the setting. Let's just say I don't exactly have a full dining set, it's more of a plastic plate set atop my dog's kennel! I know, I know at least I have a roof over my head.
But I do have to say that my love for cooking has not diminished, I am constantly on the search for that new and exciting dish that will make me go oh man!! The problem is, the setting and as any seasoned eater knows, the setting and the company are a very crucial part of the dining experience. So needless to say that since I dine on top of my dogs kennel, I don't invite too many people over for dinner. I think until I am done with this semester and can find something a little more permanent and a little bigger, HAHA, I will have to depend on others cuisines for my major eating and dining experiences.
I am planning on doing some mussels here in the near future, so you may just see another post from me shortly!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

One Meal, One Family

So it finally happened last night!! My son ate the exact same thing that I ate, no difference whatsoever. I was ecstatic. He is finally developing those tastebuds for something more than chicken, broccoli and carrots. While there is nothing wrong with that, I just want him to have a good understanding of good food. I was making a new skillet meal, ground beef, mushrooms and tomatoes (seasoned accordingly of course). Jokingly, I asked if he wanted what daddy was eating and he looked in the skillet and said yes!! I couldn't believe it. I made some peas and roasted some red potatoes and he ate everything and kept telling me what a good cook I was. Now while I like the fact that his instincts are telling him to praise my culinary skills, I even more so enjoyed the fact that he appreciated a good meal. Of course I let him help me as I always do and I think that really helps, because that is usually when I get him to try something new at least once. Next is going to be fish, so I have to find a kid friendly fish recipe that hopefully won't have to be breaded in anyway. No more picky eaters in this house!!

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Disaster

I failed. Well, I won't say that I failed completely but it was definitely not what I thought it would be. The chicken curry was to say the least very curry-y! I went off of a recipe that called for curry sauce and not knowing how much powder that would equate to, I just put in what I thought would be right, well it was ridiculously spicy. The curry overwhelmed everything. Now I do like spicy food, but I would have liked to have tasted the coconut milk and the other ingredients that I put in there. Those other ingredients included, eggplant, red pepper, onions and potatoes that I roasted first to try to bring out the full flavor of them. It was for sure a learning experience, and now I just want to try it again and make it even better. That's for another day though however.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Injecting a little love.

So I read an article today in Clean Eating that was entitled "Injected with Love." I found this very intersting, becasue the author was speaking to me, of this I was sure! I love to cook for people and have hours of preparation by myself in the kitchen, dissecting recipes and deciding on flavors. Now while I don't get to do this much, I plan on doing it more. Sometimes I feel that I will be the only one to enjoy the things that I come up with, but I have yet to create a dish that has not been enjoyable. I love cooking, I love family and friends and I love company over meals. These things all require a little love. So from here on out, even if the meal is just for me or for friends and family, I am injecting some love!!

I'm in!!

Well I recently moved into my new place over the weekend and got everything settled. I have been so excited to cook my first real meal in my own place that I have been submerged in cookbooks and recipes trying to find the perfect house-warming meal to myself. I know originally I said chicken curry, but I'm a little scared honestly. I don't want to mess anything up or do it wrong and turn myself off to it.
On second thought, that's what I'm doing!! Why deprive myself of my own experiments and skills (I'm humble I swear). I know I can do it and I will have pictures and taste descriptions to share.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Pasta n' Sauce

Thank goodness my family is blessed with either super fast metabolism (kids) or a lifelong membership to the gym (me). I say this because I don't think it would be possible for us to go a week, no even two days without eating some sort of pasta concoction. Now I cook healthy, I don't use store bought sauces, so our noodles are very much so a healthy contribution to our diets. That being said, I have always been a fan of alfredo, in fact I think I could eat it a couple times a week and not think a thing of it. Especially now that I have perfected my own recipe. Garlic, cheese, fat free half n' half, onions and wine made for the perfect noodle clinging ooey gooey goodness that was our dinner last night. I used a Pinot Grigio that I absolutely love. I pan seared a chicken boob and diced it then threw it in the pan with the sauce and the noodles to let it finish cooking in the liquid. So everything really pulled together. I have to say that I have made it before, but as the saying goes, "practice makes perfect!" And it surely did, I couldn't believe how amazing it was. I almost saved the leftovers for the next day, notice I said ALMOST!!

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Desperate times call for desperate measures!

So I told you all how I was deprived of a heating unit. Well, in cleaning out the kitchen (still trying to stay in the general vacinity), I found in the back of my cupboard, an electric wok. A much under appreciated gift (at the time) from an ex-girlfriend. Now I am quite thankful to have something that provides any sort of heat to contact with my meals, besides the fire I tried to build in the front yard. So now I have successfully boiled water for pasta, whole skillet meals, and breakfast dishes in this odd contraption that plugs into the wall.
I will soon be moving in to a new residence and recieving one of my biggest desires, a gas stove. I have lived with electric stoves for a very long time and will be happy to return to the regulatable world of true fire. I have decided that my first dish back, will be curry of some sort. I am very excited.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Man vs. Food

Ok so this one is a general rant and rave about the so called entertainment that the Travel Channel has delineated to the public, called Man vs. Food. Not only is it a sad rip-off of Triple D, on the Food Network, but honestly who wants to see some guy every week see how much he can possibly eat and how fast he can destroy his GI track? I mean they already had their food paradise shows, which often had the feeling of stuffing your face, but then they went so far as to name one of the series episodes, All You Can Eat: Food Paradise. I mean, we all like to eat, but come on there is a line right. Besides it's not like he is finding unique food, well besides the shear size. There is no special uniqueness transcending from the heritage of the place or some hole in the wall with a gourmet, classically trained culinary student hiding in the back. Essentially what I am trying to say is, that I hope this show flops and soon! We don't need to be encouraging overeating, we need to be encouraging good food, tasty, homey, unique and well-made food. And of course the option of being health concious should come in at some point as well. I feel that in the spirit of supporting my favorite and the true culinary discovery channel, The Food Network, that I say that Man vs. Food is a ripoff and deserves any and all bad reviews of what it is at face-value, because it is simply nothing more than that anyway!!!

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Bad Times!

Well the reason there have been no posts lately is because I have had no stove. No . . . I didn't forget to pay the utility bill, the element went out. I never knew how dependant on that thing I was until I didn't have it anymore! So what do you do in a time like this, make sandwiches and utilize the microwave. I have quite literally come up with at least ten variations in the last couple days on how to make a turkey and cheese sandwich. Canned soup has become one of my best friends and salads (I think God could have made me a rabbit and I would have been just as happy in this life). I have not dropped to TV dinners yet, nor am I going to the restaurants for my nutritional sustenance. I am however getting bored and have been seriously thinking about getting a single burner range. But hopefully my stove will get fixed soon and I can return to my "lab" shortly. Until then it's sandwiches and watching the food network and the sad excuse for a culinary show; Man v. Food on the Travel Channel. That show is very dissapointing and to say the least a rip off of one of my ofavorites, Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (but that is a whole other post).
I have a feeling that this weekend I will probably pack up the family, get out of town and eat at some restaurant that has been calling me. I have however in this down-time decided on some must have meals when I get my lab up and running again. The number one meal . . . curry! The coconut milk, curry powder, saffron and turmeric have been yelling at me from my kitchen. So I can't wait to try my hand at a new international dish that will hopefully be a new favorite.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Who vants de stroganoff?

So I never realized that I liked certain types of food, dishes, whole culinary discoveries, because my mother, God knows i loved her, called everything by some odd Joy-ism (Joy was her name). Ya the basics we got but stroganoff . . . not quite what I remember it. MAybe that's because she knew me well enough that if she had told me that it was anything to do with mushrooms I wouldn't have gone near it. Well I sit here typing, remembering two nights ago when I shared one of the most amazing dishes that I have ever created with one of my best friends. He liked it too. When I invited himn over, I didn't ask what he wanted to eat, mistake, no I think not, this kid will eat just about anything, he is like me in a lot of ways. So I pulled out noodles, a bag of frozen peas that I have been wanting to eat and my stash of italian turkey sausage. Obviously the start to a great meal, but I was missing the connective tissue of this meal that would pull it together. My first thought was red sauce, garlic and basil. The stand by if you will. But this was a day to live outside the box. So in to the veggie cooler and the pantry I went. From the frig I pulled, mushrooms, green peppers and onions. From the pantry I found the key ingredient, yes the faithful, the everlasting and the oh-so easy undeniably wonderful can of mushroom soup, YES!! Gastronomical victory was at hand. I put it all together slopped it on some plates and poured acouple galsses of vodka and man were we set. Now I write slopped, only because my friend doesn't care about presentation or the like. For me though, not cutting the sausage and making sure that there were the right amount of peas atop my mountain of noodles was just as important as teh wonderous taste that accompanied this man-food! So we feasted we drank, then we played guitar hero . . . Rock on!!

Friday, January 9, 2009

A Tour of Italy!

Ok so I didn't go to Olive Garden! Nor did I get a new stamp on my passport, that actually has no stamps, ok I don't even have one! But none of that is the point here, I felt like I was in Italy with my family, without even leaving our dining room table. I had decided that last night would be a good italian dinner night. Well my first thoughts went to wine, I know I am a wine junkie (any excuse is good enough for me). So of course, my next step was to decide on a meal plan. Well when I think of italian food, I am very stereotypical, but who isn't really. Cheese, tomatoes, oil, bread and pasta, all the comforts of the boot shaped penninsula right on your plate! So my mind immediately ran to a dish that I had actually made once long before I began my culinary endeavors . . . Chicken Parmigiana. Once this crossed my mind I was immediately stimulated into full creative mode, side dish, appetizer, wine and sauce ideas all began floating through my brain. But then I thought well you know I want wine chicken and sauce, why all the extra stuff. Simplicity is elegance in my book. So I set out with some chicken, some sauce, cheese and dreadging components and had wuite possibly the best dinner that I've had the pleasure of eating in a while. I simply dredged, pan fried and finished the chicken in the oven. I decided that ribbon/egg noodles and a nice fresh salad would go well with the dish and not overpower or contrast too much with the dish. Now it was time for the wine, chianti was the most suggested wine that I could find, but that was simply too dry of a wine for some of the palates at the table. So instead I went with Yellowtail Shiraz. I have been wanting to try the Yellowtail brand and I figured why not, especially with a new wine as well. Well, let's put it this way, I hope that all their wines taste that good!!
So overall, great dinner, I had a very comforting warm dish that will forever be a part of my recipe arsenal. I discovered a new wine and we visited Italy, all from the comfort of our kitchen table.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Cranberries and apples and zucchini . . . oh my!







Well there were no Russian tea cakes this weekend. I had so many other things that I wanted to make and actually I was a little intimidated by them. I didn't want to mess them up and leave myself with a bad experience with them. I will for sure try my hand at them, so that I am not dependant on the holiday season to fatten up a little bit (haha). But I did however tackle other baked goodies, that I shared with others. My mom would very often bake all day and then give it all away, I never understood why, seeing as how it was so good, but now I understand. It was such an amazing feeling to see how happy people were to receive something homemade with love. I of course had my little helper, my youngest, Ayden, with me to help deliver the goodies. I made three different baked treats, two of which I had made before and the third was something that I had thought about and wanted to try, especially since I had fresh ingredients to aid the flavor. I made my mom's zucchini bread and honestly that was my favorite and I have to say that I am getting closer everytime to the perfect taste that she had. Surprisingly enough my little sous chef, Dominick, loved it. I have a feeling that if I had told him what zucchini was, he would have had no interest in it! Then I made an apple spice bread, I love apples and I love cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and the rest of the goodness, so it just goes together! It's a nice blend of sweet and savory. Now the cranberry cornbread was my prized creation. I still had the cranberries that my coworker had given me and I decided that they had been neglected long enough. So in to the batter they went. It was amazing! I held back on how many cranberries I put in there, fearing that it would mess with the batter consistency, and honestly the only complaint that I had, was not putting enough cranberries in there. Every bite was tart and sweet corny-berry heaven. I had lots of fun making, eating and delivering my loaves of love. I will take on the tea cakes, just when I build up some more courage.

Friday, January 2, 2009

The holidays are over, but I still wanna bake!

So oddly enough, I enjoyed everybody elses baked goods this Christmas and made nothing of my own. I am saddened, but there is only one thing to do that will remedy this underlying sadness. Let's get bakin'! My first baking adventure of course will be some quick breads. I really don't feel like I can turn on the oven without making some sort of lil' love loaf! With my newly acquired food processor, I will make quick work of the chopping and mixing!! Next my big one is a rediscovered love. My grandma used to make all kinds of cookies at Christmas time, I didn't know what each one was I just knew they were made with grandma love! Well, grandma isn't with us anymore (heaven is fortunate), so needless to say I have not had the pleasure of enjoying her baking delights. Recently though a good friend and sort of adopted grandma made some cookies and insisted that I take some home for the boys . . . they got chocolate chip and sugar . . . I discovered the lil' balls of heaven. Now there are names such as russian tea cakes, mexican wedding cakes, peppermint tea cakes and so on! All I know is that when I ate the last one the other day I had to find the recipe and get to work! So I will be adding that to my list of treats this weekend. I will have pictures and words of enjoyment come Monday!!