Peter's Cooking Diary #1

Well this is an idea that I had pop into my head, write a little bit about my cooking, and other things related to cooking, with some pictures worked in as well, as always I would love feedback on this. Its just me looking for something to write about, and this is something I enjoy quite a bit. Not sure if this will be a weekly thing, or maybe a little bit less often, when I have something interesting to write, I guess as it is right now, it is a work in progress.

The first thing I wanted to mention is how much I like the products available at Aldi, you can't always get everything on the grocery list there, but I really like what they do have, and the prices are usually much cheaper that other grocery stores, just make sure you bring a quarter for the cart!

They really have great products for parties, summer sausage, some great quality cheeses which are very cheap (I got a $2.99 gouda this last weekend and it is great), cheap dips and hummus as well. Most canned goods that they have most canned goods regularly as well as staples like milk and eggs. There are also cheap frozen foods, but I don't but too much from that area. They also have a variety of more upscale products, an example of that from this week was the whole wheat gnocchi that I got this week for $1.50 for a similar product that would cost about $4 at a different grocery store.

I cooked the gnocchi and it was really quite good, just a little bit of whole wheat flavor which I don't mind at all, they cooked up really quickly as the instructions indicated, they would be good just in some butter with some Parmesan, but I made some sauce that I will mention below to go on them. I just think Aldi is a good place to find some new ingredients to try to cook with, I am all about experimenting with making food.

Today was a big day of cooking for me, as Sundays usually are.

The first thing I started this morning was a modified version of an Italian pot roast recipe from my favorite cooking book Slow Cooker Revolution

I also took an element learned from my favorite cooking show, Good Eats with Alton Brown, and I browned the roast on both sides, which the recipe in the book does not say to. I tried a little bit of the roast this evening, and it sure was delicious, if there is one thing I know how to do, its cook for my tastes. I liked the recipe because it does not have potatoes, while I enjoy eating potatoes, I am trying to go back to my low carb roots and lose some more weight.

The next thing I made was my version of Puttanesca sauce, which I think I may have learned from my days of watching Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals, which is full of good ideas for quick cooking. The sauce consists of crushed tomatoes(I am lucky enough to have a mother who grows her own, and turns extras into sauce. i am sure she will read this, thanks mom!), onion, garlic, dried oregano, dried parsley(also from my mother), red pepper flake, some tomato paste for a little sweetness, kalamata olives that I hand crush into the sauce the vinegar adds a little bit of acidity to the dish, and the final ingredient is canned tuna. The sauce if made in an authentic way would likely have capers and anchovies in it as well. I don't really care for capers, and I completely forgot to add a little anchovy paste that I bought. I like the sauce pretty chunky, with a lot of the liquid evaporated out. Gnocchi might not be the best pasta for the sauce, but I really enjoyed it a lot.

The final thing I cooked today was some roasted cauliflower and carrots. I did the 2 veggies on separate pans, at separate times, the carrots were supposed to cook at a lower temperature, I believe it is because they have a higher sugar content and can burn a little easier. Roasting them is very simple, the cauliflower was with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic. The carrots were with olive oil, salt, pepper, and parsley. I thought of this while I was sprinkling the parsley on, its kind of weird to season carrots with their close relative parsley, strange thought to have. The veggies are going with the pot roast, with a little bit of the pot roast juice with them.

I tasted a little bit of everything for dinner tonight, and it was all good! Well this is the end of the first installment of my cooking diary, please provide some feedback if you have any, ideas for things to talk about on here are always welcome as well.

My Culinary Journey

I was thinking back on my history of cooking. I first got interested in cooking thanks to Food Network, I remember watching Emeril Live and loving it. I actually remember watching Emeril's sit com, it took place during the commercials on Emeril live, I really don't remember if it was funny at all, just that it, at one point, existed.

I think I actually learned all of the techniques I know from the Food Network. I am sure there are many other Food Network taught cooks out there. I can't imagine what it would have been like for me in a previous age. Of all things to cook as a first real dish, I made risotto. Risotto is not a beginners dish at all, but I wanted to make it and my parents were happy to oblige. I actually remember now that it was a 3 cheese risotto, and we used 3 real italian cheeses, which really opened up a whole new world for me. I must have been like a freshman in high school at the time, maybe a sophomore. I don't think the risotto turned horribly, but I also don't think it was perfect.

The next dish I tried to make might have even been more difficult to make than risotto, it was gumbo. I guess I didnt know how to start small. Gumbo is a layered dish that has many steps. It was the first and only time that I have ever made a roux. What guy wouldn't want to make a stew with some chicken and sausage in it. It was andouille sausage if I remember correctly. I think I burned the gumbo just a little bit, and I didn't even know what to expect from it, but it was edible at the very least.

I think after those 2 dishes I took a bit of a break from cooking, but still enjoyed watching Food Network. Who doesn't enjoy some good food porn anyway?

I didn't really give cooking another shot until I had moved out on my own, and even the first year living with a bunch of roommates, I didn't really cook much, we didn't have that much room in out fridge to allow me to cook, and I guess I just really wasn't up for it at that time. When I was living in an apartment alone, and also with my little brother for a time, is when I started to really start cocoking, it gave me the freedom to do whatever I wanted to do. Since then my cooking has become much more frequent.

I have memories of a show on Food Network that I really miss called Mario Eat Italy where Mario Batali and  another guy travel to different parts of Italy and tried all sorts of different Italian dishes, and it was awesome. I loved learning about food back then, and I still do.

I think the show on Food Network that is my favorite right now is Good Eats with Alton Brown. I think it is such a cool show. Good Eats is a great cooking show for geeks that really get into the details of cooking things. I have always wanted to try to make his Dr. Pepper glazed ham, but it seems like a lot of work for a single guy to do, maybe some day, if/when I have a family I will be able to try it.

I also remember loving a show called The Naked Chef with Jamie Oliver. He had a way of making food seem so simple and easy to make, even when he was making something like sushi. I wish those old episodes were still shown, even if they were late at night. I loved watching that show so much.

My cooking method is a bit weird. I tend to create my own aggregate recipe from around 3 recipes that I will find online. I think every time I make a recipe I want to try something new in it. I love changing things and adding things to my recipes, I have been making a variation of my Chunky Chicken Chili for like 3 years now, and no 2 times is it quite the same, but it is consistently very good.

I have a weirdly good memory, I remember things that I have cooked just once. I remember the only time I made stir fry, it was a teryaki stir fry with pineapple and pineapple juice in it, and it was awesome. I don't know if I will ever be able to make it that good again,

I like grilling in the summer months, and I know I cacn make a good burger, my father's recipe, but I like to try to make some new things as well. I remember making teryaki chicken kabobs with my brother last summer that I thought was really good. I grilled lots of vegetables to go with it, and served it all on rice with some extra teryaki sauce, can't go wrong with that.

If anyone wants some help learning to cook, let me know. I wouldn't mind helping someone learn how to cook. I really think that everyone should be able to cook, its one of the most fun ways to feed yourself.

I actually consider cooking as one of my creative outlets. I love using my brain to think up new ideas of things to make. If I see something on tv that I like I will get a recipe, but that is just the beginning of the process, even before I make the recipe for the first time, I will think of ways that I can alter the recipe in a way to make me like it even more. I have definitely substituted items as I wished to make a recipe that I would love, rather than one that I might just simply like.

Food is one of the topics that I could literally blabber about forever and ever. If you want someone to talk to about food, please let me know. I think this has given everyone a glimpse into my world of cooking. Sorry if it rambles on a little bit, but I wrote it at 2:00 AM.