Learn to cook

I just cooked a spectacular meal of tri-color fettucine with scallops in a sauce of white wine, butter, fresh basil, garlic, cream, and onion. Everything was fresh (we went to the fish market and got scallops that were caught this morning) and I used good pans and my timing was good and there was lots of wine left over to accompany the meal. Also, we had gone to the vegetable market (la vega) and bought radishes the size of your fist, so we peeled and sliced some and squeezed some lemon juice over them for an appetizer, in true Chilean fashion. I finished it with some Argentine chocolate. Lovely!

that the other night i absolutely sauteed some spinach to perfection.

add pasta, chicken, and pesto, and holy christ was it a good meal.

So I made a nice autumn feast. Here in South America, we have this wonderful variety of pumpkin called “zapallo”, and I’ve been craving it like mad, so I made some. I wanted to make a soup with it, but I couldn’t find any broth that wasn’t dehydrated tablets, so I gave up on the soup. I steamed it with some cinnamon and sugar. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s not possible to steam pumpkin in the microwave! I also made some corn, chicken, and zucchini. Sauteed zucchini, for some reason, is something I always seem to do perfectly. It’s simple – some oil, a minced garlic clove, and a little salt and pepper – but if you cook it just right it tastes great. About 2-3 minutes, until it’s tender and just a little crisp.
The chicken I improved on, but I still need work. I made it in a much better pan, and selected thinner pieces. However, it still threw my timing WAY off, since it had to cook a lot longer than expected. I should probably just start cooking it in the oven, but I really like it stovetop, and it’s easier for my neurotic self to check. Anyway, there was nothing exciting spice-wise about this meal, but it still tasted great and homemade. Just a little salt, pepper, and paprika on the chicken; salt, pepper, and garlic on the zucchini; and sugar and cinnamon on the pumpkin (and of course butter and salt on the corn). But it looked very pretty, and it was very nutritious. I’m not a low-carb eater – quite the opposite, actually – but I found this meal stood just fine for me without bread, rice, potatoes, etc., although they could all be used just fine too.
Next time I cook chicken I need a better plan. But other than that, yay to a yummy meal! :)

so i cooked meat. i cooked it in a bad pan, thick pieces of it, and nobody died. this is what i made:
i had all these key limes left over from when i made pisco sours last weekend, so i marinated the chicken in fresh lime juice and garlic. then i cooked it (stovetop, which was a mistake for pieces that big), and i made a salsa of corn, black beans (soaked overnight and boiled for 2 hours – to perfection, i must say), red onion, and red pepper, with lots of cumin. i decided the meal needed something green, so i served it with avocado. it was a really beautiful meal after all was said and done, and pretty healthy too. yay!

i’m not really sure when i should move this to the completed list. i feel like i’ve come so far. huge progress was made tonight when i had the revelation that i enjoy cooking a whole lot more when the idea and recipe come straight out of my untrained head. it’s a huge feeling of accomplishment when it tastes good, and my tummy’s happy too.
what i made tonight isn’t for everyone, but it was awesome for me. for those curious, it was pasta (of course) with sauteed red pepper and onion, and an avocado sauce. in the sauce was avocado, butter, salt, pepper, a dash of cumin, a garlic clove, lemon juice, and some cilantro, all mixed and mashed together. the overall outcome was a delicious but could have had a little more kick to it – however i figure it’s better to underspice than overspice when you’re learning, because you can always add more. also, next time i make this dish i’m adding chicken (i meant to do so tonight but the power went out a while ago and i’m not sure about the state of the chicken in the freezer).
anyway, cheers!

ok, i can officially make good, fluffy eggs. i can also make them slightly runny, the way the chileans eat them, but i prefer the drier variety.
as a side note, i often avoid cooking because it’s a pain the ass, but it really does boost the morale to have scrambled eggs in the morning instead of, say, bread or granola, which are my usual breakfasts. eggs are wonderful in the morning. add tea and you’re all set.
maybe my goal should be edited to read something like “learn to love the process of cooking”.
yay.

i was told that if i can cook a decent omelette, it goes far with people in the world of cooking. i bought some eggs. here we go.

So I’m making quinoa risotto tonight, probably accompanied with some kind of fish. And as I live in Chile, I’m sure there will be wine. I’m excited!