Brown Sugar Parsnips

It's been a couple days- though I don't have readers yet, I would like to update fairly consistently. At least once a week is my goal.

This recipe is a spin on brown sugar carrots that my mom made when I was younger. For those of you that don't know, parsnips are a type of root. They are related to, and resemble, a carrot, however, they are less colorful and more flavorful. Prior to potatoes, which were brought to Europe from the new world, parsnips held their spot in many dishes. Interestingly enough, they grow better in colder climates. But enough of a history lesson, the fact is, I've found them to be yummy.

What You Need:
2 Parsnips
4 Tablespoons Butter
3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

Now, these ingredients are estimates- if you have a big family, you'll want more than 2 parsnips, and you may prefer more or less butter and brown sugar- it's up to you.

Melt the butter in a pot on the stove. Slice parsnips as thin or thick as you like and add to melted butter. Evenly add brown sugar over the parsnips and stir in. This will yield a sweet, flavorful side dish that's a bit of a change from the every day.

Because parsnips do add starch when cooking, watch to make sure the butter/brownsugar mix doesn't become too thick- unless that's what you're aiming for ;)

Ingredients: The Scavenger Hunt

Everyone knows that there's more to cooking than what you do in the kitchen: one of the most important things is doing the shopping. With the advent of supermarkets and instant cooking, some ingredients are becoming harder and harder to find. When I first moved in- I wanted to try a lemon chicken recipe I had which called for lemon curd. After figuring out what I was looking for, I found it in only one of the 4 grocery stores in town. More recently, I've been looking for frozen rhubarb and Mexican sweet chocolate. As far as the frozen rhubarb goes, it seems that the dole product has had a falling out with major supermarkets, and I will have to replace it with fresh rhubarb. For the Mexican sweet chocolate, I am lucky enough to work with a Mexican man who was able to direct me to a handful of Mexican grocers, and tell me at least one brand that I'll definitely be able to find.

The lesson here- is when you have a recipe that calls for an ingredient that you're not completely familiar with, look for that ingredient first before you get any others, or make any plan to use that recipe. Not everything is as readily available as you might think.

The Future?

So, I was reading the cover story in this weeks Time Magazine, "10 Ideas that are Changing the World." And I found #5 to be quite interesting.

"Kitchen Chemistry. Why the squishy art of cooking is giving way to cold hard science."

I realize not too many people have found my blog yet, but I encourage you to read the story. The article talks about things like using specific measurements rather than relative judgment, which is not so off the wall. But then moving on to things like using chemicals like agar-agar and xanthan gum, which it claims are better versions of gelatin and cornstarch. It also mentions speed ovens that can cook a 3.5 lb. chicken in 14 minutes, and stove tops that can change temperature by the degree.

I believe there is a level of science to cooking, and certain ingredients should be exact; however, there are other portions of cooking that should lie on judgment. We've certainly come a long way from throwing spaghetti against a wall to see if it's done, but there's individual taste to consider.

Take for example salt. The amount of salt added to a dish goes far beyond one person's preference for a salty taste. The sodium in saliva differs from person to person, which means one persons over-salted dish may be perfect to someone else. It's alright if Kraft knows that an egg cooks differently at 60 degrees Celsius than at 61 degrees Celsius, but to the home cooks- we know when an egg looks cooked; and with experience, that judgment is close enough.

We can't let the personal touch leave the kitchen- after all, without the personal touch, will we ever taste anything new and exciting? Or will it be like going to a diner, that have the same dishes, made the same way they were 30 years ago? Remember, be creative and don't treat a recipe as a complicated formula- everyone has a preference, and some type of personal touch, even if it's as simple as a shake of the salt.

Cheese Spaghetti: A Family Favorite

This recipe is something my mom, her mother and grandmother have made for a long time. Now, I don't believe that my family can take credit, I believe it may have been in a magazine some 30 odd years ago. What's important is that I think everyone should try this, I haven't had a naysayer yet.

What You Will Need:

• Water
• 1 Box San Giorgio Spaghetti (Used to be #8, but their new packaging seems to be not using numbers, so just the regular spaghetti)
• 1 Can of Tomato Paste (I believe it's about 6 oz., it's a can slightly smaller than a soup can)
• 1 Jar of Cheese Whiz
• Salt and Pepper
• 1 lb. Ground Beef

How to Put it Together:
1. Fill a 4-5 qt. about 2/3 of the way with water, add salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
2. Once boiling, break up ground beef into small (pinch-sized) pieces and add to water.
3. After all the ground beef is added, break spaghetti into thirds and add to water.
4. Once the spaghetti is cooked, there should be very little water left; if there's still water in the pot, you can drain out some of the water, or let it boil off.
5. At this point, lower the temperature and mix in the tomato paste and the cheese whiz. 6. Because of the thickness, I suggest adding them in slowly, otherwise it takes a lot of effort to mix in.
7. Once everything is mixed in evenly, it's ready to go- best served with garlic, or buttered bread and a green veggie ;)

Not exactly gourmet- but definitely delicious and easy to make. Enjoy!

Trust Me, There's a Difference

I often browse the cooking magazines at the grocery store, considering that they change a lot more often than the cookbooks at the bookstore. I've been looking into Mexican recipes lately and I feel that there is a very important distinction that must be made.

You see, my girlfriend is not a big fan of spicy things- as many people aren't. But one has to remember that Mexican food is not what you get at Taco Bell, which is the difference I'm talking about. There is a humongous difference between Mexican and Tex-Mex. Although there are many traditional Mexican recipes that use hot peppers, not all of it is spicy. Tex-Mex is the category in which Taco Bell and 5-Alarm Chili falls.

Lastly, it's very important that everyone who cooks keeps this in mind, because the retail stores won't differentiate for you. As a matter of fact, I find that the Old El Paso and Taco Bell taco kits are in the international foods aisle at the grocery store.

Just something to keep in mind.

Introduction

Since moving out of my parents house, into an apartment with my girlfriend, I've started to cook a lot more than Easy-Mac and Ramen noodles. The goal of this blog is to share my experiences in the kitchen, along with some tasty recipes.

A word of caution- because I am young and fairly inexperienced, some of my tips and revelations may be old news to those that have been cooking for a while.

I hope this blog will be helpful- and I am always open to criticism and suggestions.