Bam!
Normally during the week, I don’t cook. It’s probably a good thing, because I seem to be rather slow when I cook, plus I really like not having to cook when I get home at night. Weekends are the time when I try to cook. This weekend I made a seafood casserole that was super yummy and chicken cordon bleu with parsley rice. The chicken was really good, but I’d like to improve on the cheese inside (need me some melty, cheesy goodness when I bite into it!). I know that aspect of it could be a lot better. I also want to try stuffing the chicken breasts instead of cutting them in half, more for the looks once it’s finished. The recipe for the chicken came from Emeril (hence the reason for this post’s title), with only a few slight changes based on what I like and what I could get in the grocery store. I’m coming to realize that Emeril has a lot of really good recipes and his style closely matches my palate. I also used his recipe for making the strawberry ice cream I made awhile back.
I’ve thought about taking some cooking classes, but haven’t found anything in the immediate area yet. I think some knife & prep skills would especially help me in being faster and more organized when in the kitchen. A few months ago I got a Japanese cookbook. I haven’t made anything from it yet, but I keep planning to. When paging through the cookbook, it looked like there were a lot of dishes that I would like to eat.
About half the things I’ve made recently have been my mother’s recipes. There’s nothing like Midwest home cookin’. If you’re not really familiar with casseroles and “salads”, I’d highly recommend reading (or listening to) How to Talk Minnesotan: A Visitor’s Guide for a ridiculously hilarious explanation of the common food dishes in Minnesota.
In the next week or two, I should be able to start eating all the vegetables I’ve been growing (minus the arugula, which unfortunately died due to excessive heat). The baby bok choy and the lettuce and Mesclun mix look amazing. They’re getting sooooo big! I can safely say that I’m really excited to start eating my beautiful vegetables.
