Creative Cooking
>> Sunday, January 22, 2012
I have been known as a teenager to cook for my siblings while my mother was working as a nutritionist for a major hospital in New York. From then my training began in being creative and making the mundane into extraordinary and a very little into a feast.
I've failed a few times but picked back up my wooden spoon and kept trying, turning water into sugar water and food coloring (most of the times there was no lemons). In college my roommates always made me cook. One is still a very good friend who still goes around telling everyone, "I remember when there was three items in the refrigerator and she would return from cooking with a five course meal and I would say, where did you get that? There was nothing there when I looked".
My secret? Cook with what you have, literally. I made this tonight:
Simple, yes but deliciouso. I was tired of red sauce so I made my own white sauce. I also added the things my family loves such as small pieces of carrots, sausage, onion, and egg whites. I forgot to add fresh corn. Now the secret really is in the sauce. So what I had in my fridge was:
-Sour cream and onion dip
-Blue cheese salad dressing
-Add powdered onion and/or powdered garlic
-Water for stretching the sauce
-Milk for stretching the sauce and simmering
-Parmesan cheese (optional)
(I have no measurements except to use according to your own taste).
Tips: It's important to put salt in the water for boiling pasta. It will improve the taste of the dish. Cook or saute' most of the ingredients separately and put together and simmer in a little milk depending on how moist you want it. Cook pasta close to done then add everything else to simmer with a cover. (No soggy pasta). Top with Parmesan cheese.
As I get other off the wall ideas, I'll let you know.
