CULINARY ARTS
NOVEMBER 2023 My original culinary concepts page. You can consider it as an appetizer of sorts for the upcoming selections.
To view the latest dishes, select page number "1" in the numbered navigation below:
GALATOPITA 🇬🇷
This almost looks like I cooked it in an open hearth somewhere in the heart of ancient Greece. Here's to appearances.
HOMEMADE SMOOTHIES
Smoothies are way better than an energy drink. (…at least in terms of actual nutrients.) And with no caffeine or added-sugars, your body will thank you in the long run.
POACHED PEARS
A subtle dessert in a light wine sauce. (I realize poaching is illegal, so don't tell anyone.)
TOMATO LENTIL SOUP 🇮🇱
Someone was wondering about the stew Jacob served to Esau, so I decided to try my hand at a modern variation of it. It came out passable, but not good enough to sell a birthright for!
JANSSONS FRESTELSE 🇸🇪
A personal serving of a Swedish classic, albeit with slightly less crisping of some of the elements.
CHEESECAKE BARS
I've attempted multiple versions of this, trying to perfect it. Now finally the student has become the teacher! (Not really, but I've always wanted to say that.)
BREAK-APART SANDWICH
Have you ever seen a Break-Apart Cheese-Filled Bread? I took it a step further & applied a simplified version of that technique to a sandwich top.
STUFFED SHELLS
In school, for some reason kids hated it when Stuffed Shells were on the cafeteria menu. Sure, it takes work stuffing each individual shell, but it can be a really delicious meal.
SESAME CHICKEN & BROCOLLI
Some who have actually visited China say their food is nothing like our Americanized versions. That's likely true, but I'm quite content with our takes on their dishes.
FRIED FISH
You've already seen this image in the Sauce Week section, but I still wanted to showcase the main ingredient. Welcome to the Friday night fish-fry!
CHOCOLATE BANANA BREAD
I wonder who came up with the banana & chocolate combination. You wouldn't expect this to work, but it does.
SPAGHETTI & MEATBALLS
A slightly spicy remix on an Italian classic: meatballs with a light Creole sauce.
EGG FOO YOUNG
A simplified version of the Americanized Asian dish. And yes, you already saw this photo in the Sauce Week section.
GREEK HONEY CAKE 🇬🇷
I saw this recipe for a compact Mediterranean dessert and I was curious to try to prepare it. And I'm glad I did.
ARROZ CON POLLO 🇵🇪
I really should be better at making this type of dish. Is using chicken stock the key to a savory Spanish rice? Hello, anyone?
EGG-DROP SOUP
I was surprised how easy it was to put this soup together and the taste was fairly close to a restaurant version. Plus, no MSG added!
PEACH COBBLER
After all this time, I learned you can actually briefly broil a dessert to achieve a golden top crust. Shows you how much I don't know about cooking!
LEMON CUSTARD PIE
This recipe was different from most of the other ones I had found and though the texture was fairly unique for a lemon pie, it was spot on.
UPSIDE-DOWN FRUIT CAKE
The texture of my first upside down cake left much to be desired. But the "a la mode" topping did wonders for my presentation. (Thank you ice cream!)
MOCO LOCO
A tribute to a Hawaiian classic. Of course, I remixed it ever so slightly, but the core elements are still there.
CHOCOLATE CAKE
I prepared this using a baking form I found & experimented by making the frosting from scratch. Consistency could be varied, but I actually like that dripped-glaze look.
SAUCE WEEK
Welcome to Sauce Week! Whether you refer to a sauce as a roux, a relish, a salsa, a gravy, or any combination of the above, I think we can all admit that a "sauce" often completes what could otherwise be a very plain dish. Since the emphasis was on the sauces themselves, the plating for the examples below is mostly minimal. (Or you could chalk that up to shrinkflation. Or you could attribute it to attempts to replicate a typical gourmet dish where ingredients are sparse and prices are astronomical!) So join me as I endeavor to improve my cooking skills while preparing both common and less well-known sauces & spreads.
WINE SAUCE
Wine sauce with a side of Salmon. Or is it Salmon with a side of Wine sauce?
LEMON & MUSHROOM SAUCE
Most of the mushroom sauces I've made have a subtle aspect to them. Or maybe I'm just used to spicier, in-your-face relishes.
GUACAMOLE
Is it a given that Hispanics can make good Guacamole? Is it even considered a sauce in the strictest sense? The debate rages on.
BROWN SAUCE
You can't really have Egg Foo Young without the sauce, so here's a repeat of this plate photo.
CHIMICHURRI
I was missing a key ingredient, but allow me to introduce my weak Chimichurri sauce anyway.
GRAVY
As opposed to buying a ready-made gravy off a store shelf, it's always fun making your own right from the resulting cooking juices.
ALFREDO SAUCE
Sure, this ended up being a bit on the thick side, but I wasn't aiming for an Olive Garden®-like consistency from the commercials!
LIME CREMA
A truly simple sauce that surprisingly turned out to be quite a hit. And I didn't use more than 4 ingredients.
SALSA VERDE
Pati Jinich definitely knows how to cook and this was originally her recipe. (But for the life of me, I can't recall what I used it on!)
MUSTARD SAUCE
This sauce with a little bit of kick actually seems to pair well with fish. Who knew?
SPICY SAUCE
Working from a new recipe that I had only glanced at in passing, I completely botched this. But when all else fails, just make it spicy!
SWEET & SOUR SAUCE
It turns out my version of this wasn't quite there yet, but now I know what was missing. (…besides the order-out phone number.)
HISPANIC PASTA DISH
This is my Mom's recipe of a classic Hispanic pasta dish. I styled it differently, but still used most of the same ingredients for the top-secret sauce.
QUESADILLAS? 🇲🇽
I had just a few minutes to assemble a quick lunch, so I put this together. Does it qualify as a Quesadilla? (Or maybe it's a pesadilla, depending on the taste…)
PÃO DE QUEIJO 🇧🇷
Brazilian Cheese Bread is a delicious snack that's fairly easy to prepare. But I really have to work on my shaping skills. Some of those bread balls look more like frisbees.
SUPERBOWL SNACKS
How can you watch all the Superbowl commercials without a hand-made chocolatey & gooey snack to pass the time?
7-CHEESE LASAGNA
Although this is an old recipe, I kicked it up a notch by adding more cheese (Garfield would be proud!). Next time, I'll go for at least 20 cheeses.
CHICKEN FLORENTINE 🇮🇹
My first time making Chicken in Florentine sauce clearly needed some work. But I confess it began to make me feel a little Italian at heart.
STUFFED PEPPERS
To show I'm a true rebel, I sliced the peppers lengthwise. Note: If you make these, don't forget (like I did) to season the ingredients before you stuff them!
CRANBERRY BREAD
What else can you to do with all the leftover holiday cranberries? Use them in baked bread! And you can likely make enough to last you till next Christmas.
FRUIT MIXER
Prepared a non-alcoholic multi-fruit drink and thought it would look cool served in a martini glass. But I definitely wouldn't hire myself as a mixologist.
CHIMICHANGAS 🇲🇽
Simple chimichangas (baked, not fried) on a platter. And yes, Hispanics do eat a more varied diet than just tacos, chimichangas, & enchiladas.
SALMON WITH PASTA
Introducing baked Salmon on a bed of Pappardelle pasta. From now on I think I might try napping on a bed of wide noodles. (Life does imitate art!)
CINNAMON SWIRL BREAD
My modified version of Cinnamon Swirl Bread from scratch. (Note to self: Refrain from ruining the fresh loaf by impatiently removing it from the container while still hot!)
BREADED CHICKEN
This was my attempt at making Breaded Chicken without using any bread or breadcrumbs. Next time, I'll try it without using any chicken.
SWEDISH MEATBALLS 🇸🇪
Presenting Swedish Meatballs, albeit using a different meat for the base. (And rest assured I didn't cook any small woodland creatures.)
BLUEBERRY PIE
One of my first tries at making blueberry pie. I have to remember to completely wash off my oil paintbrush before using it to dab the egg on top!