Sunday, January 31, 2010
Week 2, Fried Rice!
This week I was feeling a little ethnic and craving Chinese food, so I decided to make chicken fried rice. I wanted to branch out, and since I chopped some vegetables last week, I figured I could use a little more practice with that. I've also never cooked white rice before so I was a little nervous, because I've heard its difficult. To be properly prepared for fried rice I had to go to the grocery store to purchase fresh vegetables that the recipe called for.
I found this recipe at allrecipes.com, which is my new favorite site for my new cooking experience. This site seems to have all types of recipes, ranging from very easy to very difficult and includes all types of ethnicity's. The recipes says that you can use pretty much any types of vegetables that you prefer in your rice. I decided to use peas, mushrooms, carrots and onions because these are the vegetables that are usually in the fried rice I order from takeout restaurants. The recipe also calls for white rice (obviously) eggs, soy sauce, butter (to saute chicken in), 2 chicken breasts. Here is a link to the website http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Aprils-Chicken-Fried-Rice/Detail.aspx
The only problems that I encountered while making the fried rice was that I may have cooked the white rice a little too long because it ended up being somewhat sticky, and was a little difficult to "fry." Also, I could have used a bigger pan to make it in. The biggest pan I owned was a little too small and I didn't realize how many ingredients had to go into the pan. Also, the recipe used only 2 tablespoons of soy sauce. I love soy sauce so I used quite a bit more, it definitely needed it otherwise it would've been very dry. Overall, the rice was very delicious and I had plenty leftover (2 containers full!!!) If I cook this again, I will probably make a little less and cook the white rice less so it is not overcooked.
Next week I plan on making a pasta dish. I LOVE pasta from Italian restaurants, so I would ideally like to replicate a dish from Olive Garden or something like that. Since I have some experience with chopping vegetables, I could make a recipe that required to chop. So far, I've really enjoyed everything that I've made. I also plan on collecting all the recipes I've used during this experience and making a cookbook of my own. I will include recipes that I enjoyed making and hopefully ones that I didn't get a chance to make. It will inspire me to cook more and I will have recipes for the future, to use my skill. I'm really looking forward to making pasta, because like I said before, its my favorite!!
Also, the cheddar and broccoli soup didn't last very long at my house! My roommates ate it right up, and it tasted even better leftover! It was super easy to heat up for lunch on a cold winter day!
I found this recipe at allrecipes.com, which is my new favorite site for my new cooking experience. This site seems to have all types of recipes, ranging from very easy to very difficult and includes all types of ethnicity's. The recipes says that you can use pretty much any types of vegetables that you prefer in your rice. I decided to use peas, mushrooms, carrots and onions because these are the vegetables that are usually in the fried rice I order from takeout restaurants. The recipe also calls for white rice (obviously) eggs, soy sauce, butter (to saute chicken in), 2 chicken breasts. Here is a link to the website http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Aprils-Chicken-Fried-Rice/Detail.aspx
The only problems that I encountered while making the fried rice was that I may have cooked the white rice a little too long because it ended up being somewhat sticky, and was a little difficult to "fry." Also, I could have used a bigger pan to make it in. The biggest pan I owned was a little too small and I didn't realize how many ingredients had to go into the pan. Also, the recipe used only 2 tablespoons of soy sauce. I love soy sauce so I used quite a bit more, it definitely needed it otherwise it would've been very dry. Overall, the rice was very delicious and I had plenty leftover (2 containers full!!!) If I cook this again, I will probably make a little less and cook the white rice less so it is not overcooked.
Next week I plan on making a pasta dish. I LOVE pasta from Italian restaurants, so I would ideally like to replicate a dish from Olive Garden or something like that. Since I have some experience with chopping vegetables, I could make a recipe that required to chop. So far, I've really enjoyed everything that I've made. I also plan on collecting all the recipes I've used during this experience and making a cookbook of my own. I will include recipes that I enjoyed making and hopefully ones that I didn't get a chance to make. It will inspire me to cook more and I will have recipes for the future, to use my skill. I'm really looking forward to making pasta, because like I said before, its my favorite!!
Also, the cheddar and broccoli soup didn't last very long at my house! My roommates ate it right up, and it tasted even better leftover! It was super easy to heat up for lunch on a cold winter day!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Pictures of the Cheddar and Broccoli Soup!
Sorry it took so long to post the pictures, but here they are! It was so much fun making this soup, easier than I thought and it tasted absolutely DELICIOUS! Better than Panera!! :)
The Ingriedients and Recipe
I had to chop onions, my eyes were watering the whole time...
Voila!!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
First Blog
For my by-hand blog, I've decided to take on cooking. It took me a while to figure out what I really wanted to learn and what would be useful in my everyday life. I love shows like Top Chef and Ina Garten on the Food Network Channel. They are my inspiration to be a fabulous cook. I also took a cooking class senior year at my high school, but it was kind of a joke and we never really cooked much. But I did learn chopping, measuring and baking techniques that could help me out.
I realized that I want to learn something that others can enjoy as well, and cooking is perfect! I have two roommates that love to eat, so I think they will definitely take advantage of me cooking for them. My cooking abilities right now consist of making break&bake chocolate chip cookies and macaroni&cheese. So I'm hoping to expand on what little recipes I know. My theme is making food that I usually buy from the store or restaurants. Some examples are homemade pizza, french fries, broccoli and cheddar soup, homemade pasta, fried rice etc.
I've already browsed several recipes sites, looking at what particular things I want to learn how to make. I plan on starting out fairly easy with sides, desserts and soups. My plan is to gradually be able to make more difficult recipes and eventually entrees with different sides! I'm really excited to start.
I've already planned on my first cooking experience to be broccoli and cheddar soup. I've been craving this soup, I usually go out and buy it from Panera Bread. Here's a link for the recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Broccoli-Cheese-Soup/Detail.aspx it seems fairly easy. I'll have to chop some vegetables, and measure various liquids but I've done this before. I need to go grocery shopping for the ingredients (which is also another part involved with cooking- planning ahead.) I'm going to make this soup tomorrow night, so after I do I will post pictures of how it goes! Wish me luck!
I realized that I want to learn something that others can enjoy as well, and cooking is perfect! I have two roommates that love to eat, so I think they will definitely take advantage of me cooking for them. My cooking abilities right now consist of making break&bake chocolate chip cookies and macaroni&cheese. So I'm hoping to expand on what little recipes I know. My theme is making food that I usually buy from the store or restaurants. Some examples are homemade pizza, french fries, broccoli and cheddar soup, homemade pasta, fried rice etc.
I've already browsed several recipes sites, looking at what particular things I want to learn how to make. I plan on starting out fairly easy with sides, desserts and soups. My plan is to gradually be able to make more difficult recipes and eventually entrees with different sides! I'm really excited to start.
I've already planned on my first cooking experience to be broccoli and cheddar soup. I've been craving this soup, I usually go out and buy it from Panera Bread. Here's a link for the recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Broccoli-Cheese-Soup/Detail.aspx it seems fairly easy. I'll have to chop some vegetables, and measure various liquids but I've done this before. I need to go grocery shopping for the ingredients (which is also another part involved with cooking- planning ahead.) I'm going to make this soup tomorrow night, so after I do I will post pictures of how it goes! Wish me luck!
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