Tuesday, August 2, 2011

My delusions will become reality

Dan and I watch a lot of cooking shows. Our favorites are the competition shows, especially with Gordon Ramsay. His flair is "stunning." We love when a mystery ingredient is revealed - we look at each other and ask, "what would you make?" When we're bored in the car, we play "Chopped" where we try to come up with the most jacked up combinations of foods (ribs, Cheerios, passion fruit and Jello, anyone?) to see what the other would make with them. It's a nerdy little thing we do, and cuisine is something we're both interested in.

All the cooking shows have ignited this fabulously inflated perception that I actually could cook like a chef. The reality is, we eat crock pot chicken weekly and I sometimes over-cook asparagus. While I may never actually get to go to culinary school, I'm inspired to at least try to expand my horizons and learn some new techniques. I've been keeping a mental list of things I see that I want to learn to make, and I've decided to create a sort of bucket list and challenge myself to learn them. Not perfect, but try. It may not be fabulous, but I want to at least give these foods a shot. Now some of these may make you say "pshaw, I make that in my sleep." Well, I don't. Feel free to share your recipe :)

My Cooking To-Do List:


  • Risotto

  • Lemon curd

  • Ravioli from scratch

  • Mascarpone

  • Live lobster

  • Tiramisu

  • A grown-up Mac'n'Cheese

  • Cornish game hen (just 'cause it sounds fancy)

  • Beef Wellington

  • Caesar dressing

  • Ceviche

  • Crabcakes

  • Trifle

  • Red wine reduction (I know! I should know how to do this)

  • 3 gluten free dessert recipes

  • Shrimp tempura sushi roll

  • French onion soup

  • Hollandaise sauce (I don't like it, but I feel like I should know how to make it)

  • Stuffed french toast (a Chopped staple)

  • Homemade tortillas

  • Caramel

This list will, I'm sure, be expanded. These are just the items I've added to my mental list over the last few weeks, and I'm sure I'll come up with more. But I think it's a good starting point.


What's on your cooking to-do list?

4 comments:

donatelli98 said...

Cornish Game Hen = Little tiny chickens! My MIL makes them for Christmas - not really a fan. I have made a few of these things ... 1 gluten free dessert, grown up mac (with carmalized onions - yumm!!), cornish game hens, trifle and caramel. Good luck!

megemoney said...

I don't know how grown-up my mac and cheese is, but I like to use a lot of cheeses and shredded chicken. With Gluten Free pasta.

I made an amazing Ceviche (it was Tuna) with my aunt a few years ago. Holy hell it was good!

Sushi is really fairly easy once you get the hang of it.

That's all I can say about your list. I used to want to go to culinary school as well. Not sure why I didn't...
<3

Shana said...

I'm am just like you...addicted to food porn (aka Food Network) and fancying myself a gourmet chef. I've been trying lots of things and some have been horrid disasters, but some have come out great.

I made a grown up mac and cheese recently and it was super easy and delish. Ditto for Tiramisu. And once I attempted to make caramel and it was a big, messy, sticky, burned disaster.

Good luck...and remember to take pictures...which is something I never do.

Oh...and you can make mascarpone cheese? I mean...I guess you can make it...but I wouldn't even have attempted it. It's always just something I buy at the store.

Amanda @ It's Blogworthy said...

Do you know Jen Bardall? Her blog is misadvenures of Mrs.b. aanyway, she is a food/life Blogger who regularly posts yummmyfoods like above, but explains them in an easy to follow way. You should check her out! Caramel looks awesome...invite me over for lots of these, but def. The caramel.