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.

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.

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!!

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.

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!!!

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.