recipe – Page 2

I really like pizza. It’s kind of the perfect food. Depending what you have on it and serve with it, you can hit 4 or 5 food groups without much effort and a lot of enjoyment. Most weekends we have pizza. Most Monday’s I have leftover pizza for lunch. Well, I do if I haven’t already eaten the leftovers. I really like leftover pizza, too. I can’t wait to go to Italy and taste it there. Taste, what am I saying? I mean EAT, ENJOY, SAVOR the pizza in Italy. Anyway, come about 4pm on Monday afternoon I am looking through the fridge and freezer to decide what’s for dinner.

Last week, after the super bowl, I cooked up some fried rice with the leftover smoked pork. It was great so I thought I would share a quick recipe. For those of you who don’t cook much, remember mix and match the veggies that you like. If you love Brussels sprouts and and have some in your fridge, add them. Well, for the record, there are no Brussels sprouts in my fridge. Me and Honey don’t much care for them. As a matter of fact, the first ever Thanksgiving meal we served, my Gramps showed up with a large green stock with green balls stuck on it. It was dirty from his garden. Gramps might have been the original organic guy, way before his time, eating seeds and nuts and juicing and growing his own produce. His idea of sharing a treat with his grandkids was rice cakes. And apparently Brussels sprouts.

I think he brought the sprouts to serve with dinner. I found the stock, balls and all, in the kitchen garbage about 10 minutes later. Honey thought Gramps was just cleaning out his car. Oops. I shoved them in the back of the fridge. We didn’t serve them. I had no idea how to cook them as I had never seen them before.

Here is a recipe from Jamie Oliver to get you started on a basic rice recipe. I always have spinach in my fridge so most recipes I add a cup, chopped, at the end. Sometimes I use fresh garlic and ginger as Jamie suggests. Sometimes instead I just add a tablespoon or two of Chinese 5 spice. I used to use the fried rice seasoning packet from the grocery store and follow the packet directions exactly. I’ve come a long way.

If you have a recipe to share link it up in the comments below.

Fridge night fried rice. I guess there was leftover wine from the super bowl too.

I am the youngest of 5 kids. By the time I was 9 or 10 and interested in the kitchen, my 3 oldest brothers no longer lived at home. Scotty, 2 years older, was deep into sports and hardly ever home for dinner. My dad was rarely home before 8 or 9pm. My mom became a warmer. She worked full time and was progressing in her career. She warmed up Swanson TV dinners, Campbell’s soup, made Hamburger Helper, Kraft Mac & Cheese.

I went off to college with my warming skills, knowing little more than how to brown ground beef. I didn’t even know how to chop a vegetable, as mom always used dried onions, garlic & onion powder, Johnny’s seasoning.

I got married. Honey knew how to cook. His mom taught him if you have a recipe and the ingredients you can make anything. Together we started going to the library, checking out cookbooks and making our grocery list. On a tight budget we made dinner together most nights. I got pretty good at following a recipe.

But I REALLY learned how to cook from the Food Network. I watched Rachel Ray cook her 30-minute meals. Ina Garten, Giada De Laurentiis became my obsession. I watched Bobby Flay, Guy Fieri, Iron Chef, Mystery Diner, Restaurant Impossible. I became inspired, downloading recipes, studying and copying their skills. My family was always willing to try something new. The only dinner table rule: everyone try a bite, no negative comments until dinner was over. We voted with our thumb if we would try the recipe again. Many never made it back to the table. Some recipes were down right awful.

The Chew was my cooking turning point. Michael Symon encouraged me to figure it out with what I liked, what I had in the fridge. Michael and the rest of the Chew crew suggested lots of options when they shared a recipe; substitute this protein for that, use this veggie or spice instead of what the recipe called for. My confidence grew. My knife skills improved. I really started to enjoy cooking.

Last night I made my version of Mackenzie’s Spaghetti Squash with Thai Peanut Sauce. I used what I had on hand; stir frying a few shrimp and bok choy to add on
top. It was delicious. Yummo!

Leave a comment on your cooking story. I would love to hear how you learned to cook, what recipes you love to make, who your influences were. Jo

What’s for dinner?

Who taught you how to cook?

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