So now being almost halfway through my summer vacation, I just wanted to share with you guys what I have been doing these past four weeks at home, and what I'll be doing in the next 4 weeks to come. This summer I decided that instead of sleeping, watching TV and eating leftovers or frozen meals everyday, I would try to make an effort to cook something to eat for breakfast, lunch, or dinner at least once a week, and to try new recipes along the way. I've always loved cooking, but being in high school I could only rarely get away from the stress and schoolwork to cook lunch or dinner during the weekend. But now that school is over for the summer I have all the time I need to pursue my culinary interests.
I was only able to do this kind of thing this summer because I only recently acquired or dug up some essential tools I was missing in my kitchen like an enamelled cast iron dutch oven, a cast iron skillet, a food processor, better cookware, better sheet pans, new knives, and more counter space. But now that those are taken care of, I have been free to cook and bake as I please provided I have the ingredients. We also planted basil, parsley, thyme, and tomatoes in our garden this year.
I wish I would have taken more pictures over the last few weeks, but it slipped my mind that I would have wanted to remember more of this in the future. To sum it up, this is what I have successfully cooked or baked since summer started:
Linguine w/Shrimp Scampi (I've made this many times before, but it's one of my favourites whenever I feel like eating a seafood dish)
Insalata caprese (Used the fresh mozarella instead of the hard bricks, tastes way better)
No-knead bread (Required the dutch oven, it was an okay recipe)
Marble cake (Made cupcakes instead of using a Bundt cake pan, great for snacks)
Mussels steamed in wine (Broth is very flavourful when served with rice or bread)
Chicken w/ 40 cloves of garlic (Used dutch oven, my favourite dish for chicken so far)
Scallops Provencal (Gives the scallops great flavour)
Fettuccine Alfredo (Got a big wedge of parmigiano-reggiano cheese to grate instead of whats in the big green container)
Cheese Straws (Discovered puff-pastry in the freezer section, makes a great appetizer)
Spinach in puff pastry (I didn't like it as much as I though I would, but everybody else loved it)
Blueberry buttermilk pancakes (Used cast iron, great recipe for light and fluffy pancakes)
Apple pie (Had to tweak the recipe the second time to get the flavours and amount of apples right)
Bacon and scrambled eggs for breakfast (Used the bacon grease to help season the cast iron skillet, used eggs to test the seasoning afterwards)
Pan-seared rib eye steak w/mashed potatoes (Made it last night, best steak I ever had, and it was really easy to cook too, but it made the smoke alarm go off)
Some pics to follow
I was only able to do this kind of thing this summer because I only recently acquired or dug up some essential tools I was missing in my kitchen like an enamelled cast iron dutch oven, a cast iron skillet, a food processor, better cookware, better sheet pans, new knives, and more counter space. But now that those are taken care of, I have been free to cook and bake as I please provided I have the ingredients. We also planted basil, parsley, thyme, and tomatoes in our garden this year.
I wish I would have taken more pictures over the last few weeks, but it slipped my mind that I would have wanted to remember more of this in the future. To sum it up, this is what I have successfully cooked or baked since summer started:
Linguine w/Shrimp Scampi (I've made this many times before, but it's one of my favourites whenever I feel like eating a seafood dish)
Insalata caprese (Used the fresh mozarella instead of the hard bricks, tastes way better)
No-knead bread (Required the dutch oven, it was an okay recipe)
Marble cake (Made cupcakes instead of using a Bundt cake pan, great for snacks)
Mussels steamed in wine (Broth is very flavourful when served with rice or bread)
Chicken w/ 40 cloves of garlic (Used dutch oven, my favourite dish for chicken so far)
Scallops Provencal (Gives the scallops great flavour)
Fettuccine Alfredo (Got a big wedge of parmigiano-reggiano cheese to grate instead of whats in the big green container)
Cheese Straws (Discovered puff-pastry in the freezer section, makes a great appetizer)
Spinach in puff pastry (I didn't like it as much as I though I would, but everybody else loved it)
Blueberry buttermilk pancakes (Used cast iron, great recipe for light and fluffy pancakes)
Apple pie (Had to tweak the recipe the second time to get the flavours and amount of apples right)
Bacon and scrambled eggs for breakfast (Used the bacon grease to help season the cast iron skillet, used eggs to test the seasoning afterwards)
Pan-seared rib eye steak w/mashed potatoes (Made it last night, best steak I ever had, and it was really easy to cook too, but it made the smoke alarm go off)
Some pics to follow
