Cook Something Original And Fantastic Update #1
I am off to a very slow start with my Cook Something Original And Fantastic 30-Day Goal, the first week I was focusing on minor side dishes or so busy with life that preparing anything more than a basic meal was not within the time available to me. The past few days however have been very good with some new dishes and creations that I am very proud of. No wonderful deserts yet that are worth mentioning but I still have some time to create those.
Week #1 – Indian curries
I wanted to concentrate on preparing Indian curries this week; I had not had the opportunity to cook a decent curry for at least six months. For me, curry is one of my staple dishes and I often try out different variations of the same dish to see what they are like.
Wednesday 1st of April
Chicken Korma Experiment #6 (original)
The chicken korma turned out fabulous. I was very proud of this particular dish, I varied my basic curry sauce recipe significantly and then prepared the korma sauce from that. How I cooked the chicken was what made the dish special though, allowing the chicken to cook at a much lower temperature than I normally would which allowed the flavour from the sauce to infuse deeper in to the meat.
Friday 3rd of April
Chicken Curry Experiment #12 (original)
Another chicken curry dish. I used my basic chicken curry recipe I normally employ but seasoned and baked the chicken first at a low temperature and once that had cooked, cut it up and added it to the curry sauce. I served up the curry with simple basmati rice prepared in the microwave. I also experimented with a new Naan bread recipe but had to toss out the bread as it was a failure.
Monday 7th of April
Shish Kabobs (original)
Enough curry for now, I wanted something different so I created beef Shish Kabobs. Unfortunately my steel kabob skewers are in storage right now so I used bamboo ones. Without thinking I forgot to soak them, and so did my roommate, and so the bamboo skewers caught fire about half way through cooking which was rather funny. First time I’ve ever considered using a fire extinguisher whilst grilling. 🙂 I added green peppers, onions and large mushrooms. The trick with good kabobs is the marinade, so for that I created a new sesame seed, teriyaki and golden syrup marinade that I continuously brushed across the kabobs as they were cooking. The golden syrup causes flames to leap about two feet in the air as the sugar burns off so it is quite impressive to watch someone cook these.
Boiled Corn (not original)
Not much to say about this, it is corn on the cob boiled in a large saucepan of lightly salted water. Add a little butter as you pull them out and place them on the plate to give the butter chance to infuse in to the corn.
Week #2 – Italian Pasta
Growing up I absolutely detested pasta and anything to do with tomatoes but since broadening my culinary horizon and increasing the diversity of foods I am prepared to try I have found that I truly adore pasta in all of its varieties.
Tuesday 8th of April
French Onion Soup (not original, modified recipe)
With the best of intentions are the plans of mice and men thwarted. I was feeling lazy after wrangling a bunch of source code in my current game and wound up just making a simple French Onion Soup. The modification of the recipe was to use an entire, large red onion mixed in with the standard yellow onions. One day I need to make this using a Gruyere cheese and onion mixture for the topping instead of just plain cheese.
Friday 10th of April
Rigatoni Bolognese (original)
This turned out so amazingly well. I cooked enough sauce for six people and then tossed it with a pound of rigatoni pasta. The Bolognese sauce I created took about six hours to cook and was entirely different to how I normally prepare it. This was probably the best Bolognese sauce I have ever created. It was just my roommate and I eating and by the end of the meal, there was only enough leftovers remaining for a very small snack the next day. Next time I cook this particular dish I am going to cut it with some ground pork to see if I can make it a little sweeter.
Bruschetta (not original, modified recipe)
What can you say about Bruschetta that has not already been said? *sigh* Oh love of my life! And to think I hate tomatoes with a vengeance. During my childhood I was mentally scarred by tomatoes and am only now, decades later, recovering from the incident enough to enjoy them. Each time I make this I am still experimenting with the recipe a little to get just the right mix of ingredients.
Saturday 11th of April
Beef Roast with Mushrooms in Red Wine Sauce (original)
Not exactly Italian but I did not want my waistline increasing any more this week. 🙂 The roast beef came out perfect. I brush the beef using a garlic, rosemary and olive oil mixture. After cooking the beef until it was rare I used the leftover juices and fat to create a red wine sauce in which I placed fried onions and whole mushrooms. The sauce came out so well I will definitely be using it again in the future.
Sunday 12th of April
Grilling
I do not want to burn out on pasta this week, and my waistline is beginning to feel the effects of too much good food so tonight I am grilling, specifically corn on the cob and hamburgers. Unfortunately there is not much innovation I can do with either of those two dishes so most of originality will have to be in any side dishes I prepare.
Hand-made burgers on the grill (not original)
I had to create the burgers in a hurry so I just used my stock recipe that I have employed dozens of times in the past. Ground beef, partially fried onions, handmade breadcrumbs and a few other spices to bring out the flavour. The trick to making a perfect burger is to let the burger patty sit for an hour or two so that the flavours from the spices and salt soak in to the meat.
Grilled corn (not original)
A simple recipe to create grilled corn, butter, fresh ground black pepper, salt and the corn on the cob itself.
Grilled onions (not original)
I love properly grilled onions that have been on the grill for the better part of an hour. The caramelisation they undergo and tiny amount of butter used brings out their sweetness so perfectly.
Grilled garlic mushrooms (original)
I have prepared a lot of grilled mushrooms but these I wanted to experiment with. They were going to be such a small part of the meal that I was not too afraid of getting them wrong. I used large mushrooms
Monday 13th of April
Asian Stir-Fry
Tonight I wanted to cook a Thai or Asian-fusion vegetarian stir fry but unfortunately my plans went awry when they met the people eating. Instead of a vegetarian dish I was persuaded into using up the leftover roast beef, which I had only cooked to a rare, from Saturday’s meal. I was intending to use it in a stir-fry, just not tonight.
I added the leftover beef to soba noodles, green onions, sweet green bell peppers, bamboo shoots and water chestnuts. For the sauce, I prepared sweet Hoisin mixture that was added just at the end of the cooking process. I also cooked up a side dish of Chinese snow peas with a simple soy sauce recipe.
Maybe I will get to do my Asian-fusion cooking next week.
Tuesday 14th of April
Rigatoni Bolognese (from the recipe the previous week, so no longer original)
I made another rigatoni Bolognese dish, this time cutting the amount of ground beef by a third and replacing it with pork. The pork increased the saltiness of the dish, which is unusual because pork normally requires a little more salt. I think that if I cut the ground beef with a little ground pork again I will reduce the amount of salt added by a smidgeon to see how it turns out. Ihave made a note of the result and this possible modification on my recipe.
Bruschetta (leftovers)
The Bruschetta I made earlier in the week I just served up after letting it return to room temperature. I obviously prepared the toasted bread fresh for this, leftover toasted bread is not so good a few days later.
Killer Garlic Rolls Experiment #6 (original)
I love good garlic rolls. I make mine out of pizza dough rolled and twisted in to little balls. Baked in olive oil, garlic and rosemary these came out nicely done. I am still experimenting to see if I can make my own garlic rolls better than those that are served at C & O Trattoria on Washington Blvd in Marina Del Rey, California.
Sugared Cream Horns with Fresh Berries and Glazed Strawberries (original)
I love making pastries and deserts so to be able to spend time in the kitchen creating one of my and my roommate’s favourite desert pastries was a rare treat for me. I was not entirely satisfied with the way that the pastries came out as they were a little undercooked on one side. Unfortunately the pastry horn molds and my piping bags are boxed up in storage at the moment so I had to improvise. They were edible but not perfect and the fresh berries I added gave the desert just the right sweetness.
Wednesday 15th of April
Grilling
Tonight I had two additional guests for dinner that I was not planning on. As I was only grilling, it was not much more trouble to throw in a few extra burger patties and pieces of corn.
Hand-made hamburgers (original)
I completely switched up the recipe for this from the one that I normally use. With handmade breadcrumbs and some special seasoning I was quite proud of the way they turned out. I was able to experiment with the seasoning in a small piece of ground beef before making the burger patties out of them just to be sure I had something worthwhile.
Grilled corn (not original)
Corn on the cob prepared on the grill has a unique flavour you just cannot get when preparing it any other way. Grilling brings out the sweetness that normally stays locked up. Wrapping the corn in tin foil with a little butter, fresh ground black pepper and a pinch of salt is as simple as it gets.
Grilled garlic mushrooms (from the recipe the previous week, so not original)
They were enjoyed the first time so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to cook them again, modifying the recipe slightly. This time I sautéed the garlic a little first before adding it to the mushrooms.
Steamed Asparagus (not original)
Personally, I cannot stand asparagus and I had nothing to do with this dish. My roommate cooked this dish up and it was probably the healthiest of all the dishes out of the ones prepared for dinner.
Cheese and Bacon Fries (not original)
My roommate loves the Aussie Cheese Fries served at Outback Steakhouse so I figured out the very simple recipe they use and now cook these about twice a year for her. They are incredibly unhealthy but so mouth-wateringly good. I was pressed for time during this meal so instead of blanching and then deep-frying the French Fries as I normally do, I just baked them in the oven. Once they were fully cooked, I browned them under the grill for about three minutes then covered them with the other ingredients. I sprinkle a few undercooked grilled onions in the centre that adds sweetness to the dish that you do not get from Outback Steakhouse.
Grilled Onions
Same old grilled onions as last time. I let my roommate cook these for me as I was busy creating burger patties and preparing the corn and mushrooms for the grill.
If you are particularly interested in the recipes for any of these dishes, drop me an e-mail and I will send them on to you personally. These recipes I have personally created and tested in my own kitchen and I am very particular about the foods that I cook. My Mother and Father were both chefs and lifelong cooks in their own right, one of my brothers taught restaurant studies, and both my roommate and her Mother, whom I regularly cook for, are avid chefs who have very discerning tastes.