What started all this anyway?
So, after reading Amanda Hesser's novel "Cooking for Mr. Latte," a diary of the NYT food critic's life, I've been compelled to figure out if I have a cooking style. Much like Amanda, I find myself having a hard time collecting all the recipes I love, and love to make, and thought that such a blog would allow me not only to create an electronic recipe book with my notes and nuances, but it would begin to help me understand a little bit more about the better cook I want to be.
However, this blog may be unnecessary before it starts. In my first cooking endeavor after deciding on this brilliant idea, I already discovered and labeled my cooking "style." I am resourceful, if nothing else.
Last night's dinner explains it. After a week at the beach, there were obviously no fresh ingredients in the house. Dinner, a thought that began at 9:30pm, was limited to canned goods. The meal began as a choice between jarred pasta sauces: tomato based or alfredo. With JW preferring the tomato after a week of what seemed heavy on carbs and a day of Hardees cheeseburgers, I decided to spruce it up a little.
With whole wheat linguine boiling in the pot of salted water, I added frozen chopped spinach to a saute pan. As it began to melt, I smashed and diced a garlic clove and added it to the pan with a drizzle of olive oil, S &P. After a few minutes, I added half the jar of tomato sauce and a little Sav Blanc from the fridge. As the pasta finished cooking, I scooped a portion of the pasta water and added it to the sauce, along with red pepper flakes and some V8 juice that was in the fridge, to help make it a little thinner. Once the noodles were drained, I returned them to their pot, poured on the sauce and tossed. After scooping the pasta into bowls, I added a generous dusting of Parmesan cheese.
It turned out to be exactly what I wanted to eat for dinner. JW, of course, wanted more cheese.
However, this blog may be unnecessary before it starts. In my first cooking endeavor after deciding on this brilliant idea, I already discovered and labeled my cooking "style." I am resourceful, if nothing else.
Last night's dinner explains it. After a week at the beach, there were obviously no fresh ingredients in the house. Dinner, a thought that began at 9:30pm, was limited to canned goods. The meal began as a choice between jarred pasta sauces: tomato based or alfredo. With JW preferring the tomato after a week of what seemed heavy on carbs and a day of Hardees cheeseburgers, I decided to spruce it up a little.
With whole wheat linguine boiling in the pot of salted water, I added frozen chopped spinach to a saute pan. As it began to melt, I smashed and diced a garlic clove and added it to the pan with a drizzle of olive oil, S &P. After a few minutes, I added half the jar of tomato sauce and a little Sav Blanc from the fridge. As the pasta finished cooking, I scooped a portion of the pasta water and added it to the sauce, along with red pepper flakes and some V8 juice that was in the fridge, to help make it a little thinner. Once the noodles were drained, I returned them to their pot, poured on the sauce and tossed. After scooping the pasta into bowls, I added a generous dusting of Parmesan cheese.
It turned out to be exactly what I wanted to eat for dinner. JW, of course, wanted more cheese.
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