Three things a cooking enthusiast longs for: an audience, a gas stove and (within reason) an unlimited grocery budget. Fortunately, these have all come together for me since coming back to Satellite Beach.
The interest in cooking probably started in high school because almost all conventional food contained some form of MSG, dairy, grease, spice or caffeine and made me ill. Then, in the dorms, it was because I hated the dining hall, and in my own apartment because I loved gathering everyone for dinner parties.There are the recipes that I try just because they flat out sound good (macadamia crusted tilapia with sausage-Hawaiian sweetbread stuffing), the ones I approach as a personal challenge (Baked Alaska), and the ones I've tried because they seem like standards that anyone who claims to love to cook should know how to do (the Easter leg of lamb).
One of the small joys I've discovered out of the monotony that is Brevard County is that the library system actually has a decent selection of cookbooks. While Grandpa Fred is perusing the large-print political biographies, I head over to the culinary section and pick out a couple of books every week. The winners so far have been The Big Book of Barbecue Sides, an Old Florida favorites collection (think grilled grapefruit flambe) and The Iraqi Kitchen with a ton of delicious looking pastries full of dates, almonds, coconut and sesame seeds. I've also been using the Supercook website that lets you enter the ingredients you have a home and then comes up with recipes using those. You can even choose to emphasize or blacklist specific ingredients. Pretty neat. And of course there's taste.com.au, my long-time favorite that lets you search recipes by budget, freezer-friendly, cooking for two, lowfat, etc. Couple these with all the awesome recipes Mum already had at home, and I've got plenty of material to work with.
This led to what Dad has deemed our culinary Around the World Tour. Favorites so far include: Picadillo a caballo (picadillo over rice with a fried egg on top), Jamaican curried empanadas, Austrian Goulash, apple strudel, stuffed sweet mini peppers, BBQ pork with sweet potato fries, earthquake cake, Spanakopita, Martha's Vinyard Corn Chowder, cranberry & walnut crusted baked brie, Bubble & Squeak, tandoori chicken, cinnamon buns (the easy, no-yeast recipe) and, of course, good old fashioned spaghetti & meatballs.
There are always going to be the epic failures-- like the petit four fiasco that left every surface of the kitchen sticky with sugar glaze or the burnt-to-a-crisp shrimp because our grill doesn't cook evenly-- but I've made some important strides in my cooking skills. For example, I've learned when just to say 'no' to meringue because it's too humid to whip the egg whites, how to make my own curry set for Indian recipes even if it takes a dozen different spices and how to properly cook a leg of lamb still on the bone.
I think I owe a big thanks to my family who is so appreciative of my cooking when it's good and understanding when it's not. But at least it keeps me entertained, inspired and busy. Now all I need is a Cuban mother-in-law to teach me to make paella :)
In the meantime, off to bake some semolina almond squares. Happy weekend!
The interest in cooking probably started in high school because almost all conventional food contained some form of MSG, dairy, grease, spice or caffeine and made me ill. Then, in the dorms, it was because I hated the dining hall, and in my own apartment because I loved gathering everyone for dinner parties.There are the recipes that I try just because they flat out sound good (macadamia crusted tilapia with sausage-Hawaiian sweetbread stuffing), the ones I approach as a personal challenge (Baked Alaska), and the ones I've tried because they seem like standards that anyone who claims to love to cook should know how to do (the Easter leg of lamb).
One of the small joys I've discovered out of the monotony that is Brevard County is that the library system actually has a decent selection of cookbooks. While Grandpa Fred is perusing the large-print political biographies, I head over to the culinary section and pick out a couple of books every week. The winners so far have been The Big Book of Barbecue Sides, an Old Florida favorites collection (think grilled grapefruit flambe) and The Iraqi Kitchen with a ton of delicious looking pastries full of dates, almonds, coconut and sesame seeds. I've also been using the Supercook website that lets you enter the ingredients you have a home and then comes up with recipes using those. You can even choose to emphasize or blacklist specific ingredients. Pretty neat. And of course there's taste.com.au, my long-time favorite that lets you search recipes by budget, freezer-friendly, cooking for two, lowfat, etc. Couple these with all the awesome recipes Mum already had at home, and I've got plenty of material to work with.
This led to what Dad has deemed our culinary Around the World Tour. Favorites so far include: Picadillo a caballo (picadillo over rice with a fried egg on top), Jamaican curried empanadas, Austrian Goulash, apple strudel, stuffed sweet mini peppers, BBQ pork with sweet potato fries, earthquake cake, Spanakopita, Martha's Vinyard Corn Chowder, cranberry & walnut crusted baked brie, Bubble & Squeak, tandoori chicken, cinnamon buns (the easy, no-yeast recipe) and, of course, good old fashioned spaghetti & meatballs.
There are always going to be the epic failures-- like the petit four fiasco that left every surface of the kitchen sticky with sugar glaze or the burnt-to-a-crisp shrimp because our grill doesn't cook evenly-- but I've made some important strides in my cooking skills. For example, I've learned when just to say 'no' to meringue because it's too humid to whip the egg whites, how to make my own curry set for Indian recipes even if it takes a dozen different spices and how to properly cook a leg of lamb still on the bone.
I think I owe a big thanks to my family who is so appreciative of my cooking when it's good and understanding when it's not. But at least it keeps me entertained, inspired and busy. Now all I need is a Cuban mother-in-law to teach me to make paella :)
In the meantime, off to bake some semolina almond squares. Happy weekend!
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| Stuffed mini sweet peppers- delicious! |
