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« Gladwell On The Homeless | Main | Sonics: Let 'em Go » February 21, 2006The Joy Of CookingMy good friend Keith came over last night to hang out and sample some of my cooking. Cooking?, you say? Yes. Look, I've never been much of a chef. My twenties were spent shuttling between college (staple foods: ramen and pizza) and my startups (staple foods: ramen and pizza), so my culinary skills never progressed much beyond the oh-so-rudimentary "heat it up" or "put it in the microwave" phase. (I mean, what does it say about a guy when his favorite food is microwave popcorn?) So this year, I promised myself I was going to add a few phat kitchen skillz to my polished-to-a-shine ability to boil water and put stuff in the microwave. I broke out some of my cookbooks, picked out some stuff I wanted to try, and then made a date with myself to cook at home twice a week. So far, the experiment's been encouraging. I'm goofing around with homemade pizzas (yeah, yeah ... old habits die hard. At least it's not homemade ramen) and stir frys, mostly, and have enjoyed doing both. But thus far, the nicest thing has been the experience of cooking for other people. It's really fun to take a bunch o' fresh vegetables, chop 'em up and chitchat while you're marinating this and steaming that. (Oh, and you can drink wine at the same time, too.) What can I say? I know lots of people who love to cook (I mean, God knows Richard can channel Martha Stewart when he's in the kitchen), but it's taken me a while to get bit by the bug. I'm groovin' on it. Anyone got any cool vegetarian recipes they'd recommend? (Oh, and Keith - thanks for letting me experiment on ya. You're a real pal.) Posted by Gavin Shearer at February 21, 2006 9:20 AM. Posted to Misc. CommentsThe simple is often elegant. Spill a little bit of olive oil, a tiny bit of butter, and a pinch of salt into a fry pan. Add heat. Toss six to eight fresh asparagus spears into the pan and cook for 10 minutes over medium heat. Increase heat and sear for an additional 5 to 7 minutes. Voila! Seared asparagus. Simple. Tasty. I usually sear them, wrap them in prosciutto, then broil them. I have no idea what you vegetarian types can replace the prosciutto with, but let me know if you find a substitute. (Plain asparagus are still tasty and make nice garnish though.) Posted by: tony The Moosewood Cookbooks have a bunch of excellent vegetarian recipes. I have the Cooks at Home version, excellent and very simple. My now very stained copy was a Christmas gift from my brother when I was in college, and I distinctly remember that he said something along the lines of "You can't mess up any of these recipes. My roommates cook out of it and it's good stuff." (This was when I was a vegetarian and not a cook). I've also heard good things about the Greens cookbook (famous veggie place in San Francisco), but don't have the book and suspect that the recipes are a bit more complex. Posted by: schelley at February 21, 2006 11:25 AM Thanks again for dinner last night, Gavin. It was terrific! My doctor says I should be feeling my old self again in a day or two. Posted by: purple I second the Moosewood recommendation - Cooks at Home, New Classics, and Low Fat Favorites are all excellent. Great food and usually not too complex (a few exceptions, but you know you've got to have something to strive for right?) Epicurious is also a great resource - http://www.epicurious.com/ Cafe Flora also has a cookbook out, called -shockingly - The Cafe Flora Cookbook - I haven't used this one but plenty of folks love the restaurant so I'd bet it's worth checking out from the library. Posted by: Allie at February 21, 2006 2:19 PM Back on the vegetarian wagon, are we? Hmm. I've got a kickass lemon spaghetti recipe for you. It's simple, and the best part is you can make the lemon sauce in advance and freeze it. Let it thaw and dump some hot spaghetti in and you have yourself a side dish in 10 minutes. And nobody should ever diss (yes, I said "diss") microwave popcorn. Sometimes I still eat that for dinner... Posted by: marnie at February 21, 2006 6:29 PM I've been recently spending a lot more time cooking and I've found the following resources very helpful:
Posted by: guidoism at February 21, 2006 7:03 PM You might find this handy: Cook's Thesaurus Posted by: elaine at February 21, 2006 11:01 PM Post a commentThanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out) (If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.) |
