Ninja NekoProgress - 5 years after starting this goal
I had a big breakthrough this year. It may sound trivial to some but for me it was a reason to be a little proud: while cooking a new recipe, I decided to change the ingredients on the fly, adapting and figuring out what would taste better to me. I didn’t even realize I was doing it, until afterwards. When I first started this goal the idea of diverting from a recipe would have terrified me. And now I’m confident to do this without even thinking about it. I guess I am a better cook than 5 years ago. Not completely there yet though!
I actually kept a list of the new recipes I tried throughout 2011, but then my laptop was stolen last month…
Some highlights that have stuck:
I can now also cook
Some new staples in my kitchen:
- Chili con carne (Smitten Kitchen recipe)
- Moroccan minced lamb pitas (Delicious magazine recipe)
- Sweet & sour pork noodles (Delicious magazine recipe)
And had some kitchen disasters:
- Potstickers (Jamie Oliver magazine recipe) >> the filling tasted spot on but making the wrappers myself was a big mistake. It was exhausting and they kept shrinking, ended up tasting like rubber :(
- Fried eggrolls (forgot the source) >> the filling tasted spot on again, but while (deep)frying the eggrolls they kept coming to the surface due to trapped airbubbels – the bottom half of the eggroll was fried, the top half ripped and oil got inside, one big mess.
Conclusion: I’ll leave these Asian cooking techniques to the skilled experts.
On my list for 2012
- Salads. Friends make it look so easy. Why can’t I do it then? I have that mandoline now, so no more excuses.
- Still want to try fried rice.
- And still want to get to know more vegetable recipes. I got Plenty from Ottolenghi from the local library, but it looks a bit too advanced for me still :/ 16 months ago
