"Mike" <mike@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:HwJNj.18856$yD6.4585@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Lisa Ann wrote:
>
>> If you've only ever made stir-fry by using pre-packaged kits, you're
more
>> likely to think, "Oh, I can't make this tonight because I'm missing
this
>> or that." But if you're used to doing stir-fry based on stuff you
happen
>> to have on hand, you're less likely to think, "Oh, we can't have that
>> tonight, I don't have the chicken the package calls for. I have ****k
or
>> beef, but it says I have to use chicken."
>>
>> That's probably a bad example, but I've been testing SQL all day today
(I
>> got it to work!) and my brain is fried. (Not that I cook brains, but
>> they've been known to cook themselves on occasion.)
>
> My favorite thought about cooking came from someone being interviewed on
a
> radio food show, who said something like this:
>
> "I don't hate cooking because I have to think, I love cooking because I
> don't have to think. If I add flour to butter and then add stock, it
> _will_ get thick. I don't have to think about it."
>
> At some point, cooking became that way for me. I rarely think about it,
I
> rarely follow recipes (and never that closely), and years ago I realized
> that nothing in the kitchen intimidates me any more.
I use recipes as a jumping off point. It frustrates my mom sometimes
because she'll ask me how I made something, and I basically give her a
list
of ingredients. I rarely measure anything, unless I'm baking. Baking
seems
to be less forgiving of "Yeah, that looks like the right amount" than
other
forms of cooking.
>
> If I'm ever on the other coast, Lisa Ann, I'll try to stop by, and we
can
> make sauce. Like Lesmond's, mine has tomatoes, garlic, onions, and
basil.
> I like green peppers too - if you add some celery and smoked sausage too
> it's well on its way from Italian to Cajun. It does have to simmer for a
> few hours, and it's almost always better the next day.
Deal. Although I think I'm going to try making sauce this Sunday. (We're
going to the Steeplechase Saturday, so no chance to cook.)
>
> Leave out the meat, add some chilies, and you're almost at salsa. Use
some
> lamb for the meat, add some okra, and you have... well, I'm not sure
what
> it is, but it's some kind of lamb and okra stew that's really delicious.
I
> made a big pot of that on Sunday, and will be eating it all week.
When I hear "okra", I think "gumbo". Which I also want to make soon.
So little time, so much to cook....
Lisa Ann
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