A cooking repertoire
Ever since I left home to live on my own and started to really get into cooking, I've always wanted to try new things. I'm endlessly fascinated by the possibilities that lie in cooking and by all the new ingredients and dishes waiting to be tried out. The "symptom" has been aggravated since I started this blog and again when I started the 2007 challenge which consists in making a new dish from one of my many cookbooks every week for a year. I wholeheartedly enjoy all the experiments but I've also come to realise that it might be nice to have a cooking repertoire. A number of dishes you rely on, you know so well you can make them with your eyes closed (well, almost) and despite (or is it because?) having eaten them many times you still look forward to whenever they're on the menu. How comforting and reassuring would that be? I used to have favourite dishes as a child which my mother would make on request for my birthday - why not now? And since I'm the cook, I won't even have to wait for my birthday!
Here's what I've come up with so far:
- My grandmother's macaroni and cheese
- Oven-baked cod with tomatoes and onions
- Julia's chocolate cake
- Jamie Oliver's smashed courgette paste
- The best apple torte
- Pasta with yoghurt and caramelized onions
- Moroccan carrot salad
- Pasta e fagioli
What are your staples? Let me know in the comments.
3 comments:
My staples shift with the seasons (since I live in New York) but I spent some years growing up in New Orleans and make Jambalaya, Gumbo and Red Beans & Rice consistently! chefjp
my staples are some easy pasta tosses, macaroni and cheese, a black bean tortilla pie, my mom's chicken and dumplings, and my dad's beef stew. Also a quick easy "hobo dinner" fried cabbage, potatos, carrots, and smoked ham.
one of my favourite is:
red lentil salad with avocado and if available rocket salad seasoned with salt and condimento di aceto balsamico.
quick and easy!
peanutbee...still loving you blog!
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