In an attempt to keep myself motivated in the kitchen, I decided to document what I’ve been concocting here with you all. Hope this plan works out and that I continue to feel as excited about learning how to cook, even if it may seem basic to all of you out there in the blogosphere. I literally started only being able to cook rice…in a rice cooker. My feelings towards being in the kitchen and putting together meals has already changed drastically in only a couple of weeks. I find myself actually having a good time, although, in turn I also have noticed that I can get pretty down on myself when I make mistakes. I have to remind myself that mistakes are bound to happen, especially when I’m still at such a rookie level, but my fear of failure gets the best of me at times.
Last week, I found a recipe for penne with corn and brown butter. It seemed simple enough for a beginner like me to try to tackle so I excitedly went to the grocery store to pick up any ingredients I didn’t have at home. One big gripe I have had so far? There always seems to be one especially annoying ingredient that I cannot find at the grocery store. It is beyond irritating. This time? Oregano leaves. I decided to leave them out of the recipe, which ended up being a bad decision. It was a little bland, but I was proud of myself for browning the butter all by myself. Of course, I was obsessively stirring the butter in complete and utter fright, fearing that I would manage to burn my entire kitchen down, but all was good. I may have been a little too safe, as the hubs told me I could have left it in the pan longer, giving it an even nut-ier taste. However, good news was that I cooked the corn perfectly and no one was poisoned! I paired it with a ready-made organic butternut squash soup and was happy.
The following week, I got a little more adventurous and decided to try my luck at a penne frittata with fresh ricotta cheese and basil. I was kind of surprised at how easy it was to make until I tried it. Ugh. Dry and bland. This is the one that got me in a little tissy. I under-seasoned it, which is always a problem of mine. I’m mega-scared of the salt and pepper, which I’ve slowly learned is not necessary. I guess I just never noticed how much salt and pepper goes into the food I eat on a daily basis. Also, I’m still learning how to gauge baking times with our new oven. Seems like it bakes pretty quickly because I left it in as long as the recipe stated, but it dried out the dish. Now I know to bake for less time than stated when using my oven, and also that I shouldn’t tackle recipes with ricotta. My lactose-fearing stomach was not a happy camper. However, when done right, I can see this being a real crowd pleaser at a get-together.
In what I can only describe as a state of pure mania, I decided to bake a huge batch of cupcakes shortly after my frittata incident. And not just any cupcakes, but Snickerdoodle cupcakes! I can blame my mania excitement mostly on my new Sunbeam Cupcake Maker. I was itching to put it to use and didn’t want just your everyday, ordinary recipe for its trial run. Oh, glorious cupcakes. One thing I can actually do right in the kitchen! They were all sorts of magical. Unfortunately, I had run out of Ziploc bags (something always goes wrong, huh?), so I fudged the frosting as best as I could. I can’t tell you how wonderful the cupcake maker was – it was efficient and precise (10 minutes to bake 6 full-size cupcakes) and super easy to clean after I was done. I can’t recommend it enough for people that are as enthusiastic about cupcakes as myself. However, a batch of 28 cupcakes was overkill since I didn’t really have an event or occasion and many ended up going uneaten.
So that’s how I have been keeping myself busy in the kitchen.
Impressed? Have pointers?
Most importantly, have recipes you’d like to share with me?
If you leave me with a simple enough recipe for someone like me in the comments, I promise I will try my hand at it and post the results on the blog! Ready…set…nom!