Experiments in the Kitchen

It seems like I haven’t written much about cooking lately, but I’ve actually been experimenting quite a bit since I got back from vacation. Over the past few weeks I’ve made a couple of new recipes including an outstanding egg salad recipe that tasted like deviled eggs. I’m not a huge fan of mayonnaise, (OK truth be told I absolutely hate the stuff), so I substituted sour cream and it turned out light, fluffy and delicious.

Last Saturday I made chili for the UM tailgate. Well I probably shouldn’t call it chili since it didn’t have any chili powder in it. Instead I substituted jalapeno peppers from my garden and a bit of hot sauce. I would’ve included chili powder, I just didn’t have any on hand. I also didn’t use a recipe this time, instead I dumped a bunch of ingredients into the pot until it tasted just the way I wanted. I included ground beef, kidney beans, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, yellow onion, Worcestershire, garlic, jalapeno, cumin, salt, pepper, cayenne and paprika. I served it with green onions, sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese. It must have been tasty, because there was only one spoonful left by game time.

Tonight I made my own version of chicken scallopine. I started with this recipe, but then completely diverged when I realized I didn’t have half of the ingredients on hand. I used Gouda cheese instead of Fontina and added a mixture of salt, pepper, oregano and Italian seasonings in place of the sage. I also doubled the amount of garlic and threw a bunch of shallots into the tomato sauce. I definitely need to find a better technique
for pounding chicken breasts. I just couldn’t seem to get them thin and wide enough for my taste.

Tomorrow I’m planning on making smashed red potatoes. I have a bunch of dill in the fridge that is two days away from turning and a bag of red potatoes that have been in the cupboard for a bit too long. I also need to find a recipe that will enable me use the red pepper and limes sitting in my fridge. If all else fails I’ll make fajitas.

I’m happy to report that since we’ve returned from vacation I’ve only allowed a few lettuce leaves to spoil. I absolutely hate to throw away food and I’m determined to eat the fruit and veggies in the fridge before they expire.

1 thought on “Experiments in the Kitchen”

  1. came across your blog last night, and went back and read it all the way through. Good stuff..looking forward to reading more.

    Reply

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