Cooking Portfolio

Here is a video I created of my cooking portfolio.  There are some dishes that I have posted about and dishes I have yet to post.  When I get a chance I try and cook something delicious for my fiance and I.  I really do love to cook and when the madness in my life dies down I'll hopefully get a chance to cook more and experiment with new recipes!  Until then...

Orzooo

If you ever need a good side dish to make with a meal try Mushroom and Zucchini Orzo.  It’s simple, quick and can be made ahead of time, which is what I normally do.  This goes well with a variety of meals.  This side dish has complimented Cornish Game Hens, Beef Tenderloin, and Chicken to name a few.  I also like to bring this dish over for family gatherings, especially when I don’t have time to cook!  I found this recipe in one of my many food magazines and I have found the recipe of the magazine’s website as well. 

Soup that freezes well!!!

A soup that is popular and a staple at my home is Lentil Soup!  The recipe comes from chef Alton Brown, whom not I’m not a big fan of but this recipe is good!  The first time I have made the soup I questioned Alton Brown’s sanity with one of the ingredients!!!  Before this recipe I have never heard of “Grains of Paradise” and now I know where to find some.  Grains of paradise has a similar look to whole black peppercorns and you can substitute black pepper for grains of paradise, which was great to know when I first made the soup.  I was able to buy some grains of paradise at the local organic food store across the street from my work. 

Four Layers of Yummy!!!

When celebrating a co-worker's birthday recently I was asking the baker what the cake was going to be and she said it's called "Better than Sex."  I was surprised at the name of it because I've never heard of a dessert by that name!  There was chocolate pudding in the cake so that was something to look forward to and to also find out if the take of the cake would live up to the name.  In my own personal opinion, that was be a big NO!

For the Pumpkin Lovers!!!

I figured I should have at least one blog post about baking since the prior posts are about cooking.  This Pumpkin Spice Bread is a recipe I decided to try back in November after I found it on Pinterest.  In my personal opinion Pinterest is a great resource for finding new and different recipes I do not thinking I can find anywhere else!

Quick, Easy & Delicious

You wanted quick and easy, well I have quick, easy and delicious!!! As requested by some of my fellow bloggers I am going to provide you with a recipe of a random dish I thought up of during my drive home from work one day.  Most days during my hour drive home from Clearwater I am usually thinking what am I going to have for dinner?  Do I really want to cook or do I really want to make it easy on myself and go towards my default of a salad?  I decided I think I'm willing to cook but as long as it doesn't take long to prep and cook everything.  

Short Ribs & Chocolate?!?!

You're probably wondering why short ribs and chocolate are combined together.  During this past Christmas Ryan and I decided to stay home and have a low key Christmas Day celebration together.  It took some time to decide what should we have for dinner that day?!?!  I personally wanted to have a beef tenderloin but didn't want to pay the price of it.  So we decided to just go to Publix and see what size tenderloins were available, when we saw that they were a bit to big we decided to try and find something else to make.  Not a second later Ryan spotted short ribs on sale and we decided to make the Short Ribs with Tagliatelle recipe by Giada De Laurentiis.  

Love For Noodles...

When trying to decide what to have for dinner the other night the choice was between Singapore Noodle and Chicken with Green Beans and Red Potatoes.  I did not have a preference and the choice was made by my fiancee, Ryan, and he ended up choosing Singapore Noodles.  Now I have never made this dish but I have eaten it so many times at Chinese sit-down restaurants and take-out restaurants.  I am not the biggest curry fan and I forgot about this until Ryan mentioned it while we were eating.  For me I grew up eating curry and I was not a fan because we had it for dinner once a week.  Since I am no longer living at home with my parents I have gained more of an appreciation for some spices and Chinese dishes that I disliked growing up and now love.