Tuesday, November 29, 2005

recipes

I’m not very good at following recipes but I like to have them. There are many reasons for this, but the blame comes down most squarely on the shoulders of my mother, who I almost never remember actually cooking from a recipe.

I always start with a recipe mind you, but I look at it and think well I don’t like mushrooms and gorgonzola is too expensive so I either leave out or substitute things. I also tend to gravitate towards whatever is in my fridge. I rarely decide what to have for dinner until I have to start cooking it so I am left with a bunch of disparate ingredients trying to make something wonderful. Usually I’m fairly successful (well, I like my cooking anyway and Andy knows not to complain). Take tonight, for example. I had some salmon fillets and Andy said he wanted a white sauce so I decided to poach the salmon in a mixture of milk and wine (looks and smells seriously gross while cooking but is honestly nice), then use the cooking liquid to make a béchamel style sauce. This served with boiled potatoes. I meant to do something imaginative with vegetables but didn’t get round to it. I didn’t even do anything unimaginative with vegetables to be honest but I might eat some when I come back from yoga tonight. Must confess to not really feeling much like it but I missed it last week because I had a really bad migraine.

Food I make almost always tastes good but it rarely looks particularly presentable. I don’t know why this is. I think it may be because by the time it’s cooked I’m absolutely ravenous (unless of course I have been sneakily eating a piece of cheese or some nuts while cooking) and just want to shovel it onto the plate and into the mouth asap. I must learn to savour my food.

2 Comments:

Blogger starbender said...

Ha! That's how I use recipes 2.
Substatutions are wonderful things!
I munch on everything while I cook, and then when it is finally done, I'm not real hungry!!!
I need 2 stop doing that I guess.
;)

3/12/05 4:22 am  
Blogger concerned citizen said...

Yep, i'm the same too. I have been cooking for a long time & I don't care about anthing but the taste. I substitute for things we don't like & if i don't have a certain ingredient. I like to make new things & experment. I use alot of staples in my cooking as compared to ready mades, because we have a food budjet.

4/12/05 3:43 am  

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