Yep - I'm still cooking!!

Despite the fact that I'm no longer cooking in culinary school - I still try and get in the kitchen as much as possible. My husband and I are trying to work on a cookbook, so I'm going through all of my recipes and working through them attempting to find the best combinations worthy of going into the book. We've also been experimenting with different recipes and flavors, always attempting to create new sauces and spice rubs. I've also recently found out that I don't do well with gluten, after learning from my allergist that I have (although not celiac disease) a gluten intolerance. So, yet another limitation is placed on my dietary habits - although I relish the thought that this might make me feel better.

So we are now working on more recipes that appeal to both Louis and my very different eating habits, offering him the meat and potatoes that he craves, and the veggies that I desire. We've had a few mishaps with working through recipes, as some don't give him enough of a filling sensation - while items he makes are far too spicy for me. We're just trying to work them all out and figure out an appropriate mediation between us both. We've had some incredible successes including our Roasted Green Chile Sauce which was a mixture of roasted poblanos, anaheims, tomatillos, jalapenos, cilantro all blended together. It was truly fantastic.

Here are some pictures of a few of our meals that we've created - showing the vast difference in our eating habits. Christmas Breakfast, Broncos Dinner with Friends, Chinese Dinner with Friends, Fish Dinner, and Veggie Dinner.

Christmas Brunch

Veggie Scramble: eggs, tomatoes, onions, kale, spinach.

Fruit salad: mango, banana, apple. Mango Mimosa. Avocado on the side.

Maple and Pepper Bacon

Our breakfast

Broncos Taco Dinner with Friends

My fantastic Guacamole and Pico

Lou's excited for the Broncos

Homemade Roasted Green Chile Sauce - it was amazing.

The difference between Louis and I: chorizo and beef filling or spinach, kale, mushroom and onion filling?

Grilled Chicken with poblanos

Spinach, Kale, Green Bean, Mushroom and Onion

The whole setup

All the fillings

All of the toppings

 Chinese Dinner with Friends: Mushu

Our mushu filling: Snow peas, Peppers, Carrots, Bean Sprouts, Onions, Mushrooms, Water Chestnuts, Cabbage with Rice Noodles

Homemade Thin Pancakes

Mushu Filling - chicken added if desired - all done with a plum, mustard and spice rub

Plum Sauce: plums, hoisin, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, chili flakes

Chicken and Vegetable Mushu

Fish Dinner (just Lou and I)

This dinner consisted of 3 components: starch, protein and vegetable. Our starch was a quinoa salad that had avocado, garbanzo beans, tomatoes and a mustard lemon vinaigrette. The protein was blackened tilapia that was heavily spiced. The vegetable was sauteed spinach with asparagus, onion and kale spiced with basil, parsley, paprika, chili powder, garlic and oregano. It was all delicious.

 

My Vegetable Saute

This saute consisted of butternut squash, onion, mustard greens, edamame, carrots and quinoa. I cooked the vegetables together and then added the quinoa and mustard greens last. I spiced it with vegetable broth, paprika, chili flakes, lemon, salt, pepper, garlic, and basil. It was amazing and lasted for 2 days before I devoured it all. 

 

So I just plan on cranking out the recipes, tweaking things here and there and putting everything together in the hopes of getting a cookbook completed. I have absolutely no clue where to go from there, but it's a fun project that gets my creative juices flowing and allows me an excuse to cook up some delicious food!