I love de-stressing by cooking so I made some dinner tonight.
Sadly, because of school I haven't been able to cook as much and it pains me to spend so much money on restaurants and eating out. I'm trying to control my spending...
Anyway, off to the food.
Autumn is a great time for pumpkin and butternut squash, and things in the squash family in general. I have NEVER cooked with these ingredients, but it's always fun to try. And I'm trying to learn to cook more seasonally.
Mmm, butternut squash. I think it already has a sweet natural flavor to it. So I decided to add to it to make a sweetened butternut squash mash. I was completely playing around with flavors. I added some freshly grated nutmeg, white chocolate chips (note to self: not that great of an idea, don't really like the taste), honey, almonds, and marshmallows =P I seriously wish I had cinnamon, but I do not. and FYI, freshly ground nutmeg is some powerful stuff, got to hold back next time.
Since I only had a dessert-like part of my meal, I had to make some protein. I seasoned up some mahi mahi with salt, freshly ground black pepper, and paprika. I got a nice brown color on both sides cooking it with some butter.
I used the technique where you tilt the pan, collect the butter and continuously spoon the melted oil over the fish to cook it slowly. It was really good. I loved the butter and all the flavors of the fish. it wasn't AMAZINGLY moist, but definitely better than some fish I've made. It definitely was not dry like a rock in the desert. Good enough for me, making progress.
Mmm, flaky, moist fish...oh and I just like putting colors on my plate so lately I've just been ripping up some spinach and topping the dish off like that =P
Beautiful dish Chris! Did you cook THAT in a dorm room? (lol).
ReplyDeleteYou're right, the act of cooking can de-stress you. And, learning HOW to cook can improve your nutrition and save money over expensive take-out.
You appear to have a grasp on basic cooking methods. Did you follow a recipe or make this up yourself?
I'm especially impressed if you created the recipe because that's when cooking is REALLY fun.
Just poking my head in to say hello and great job on using seasonal ingredients to make wholesome, nutritious food.
Chef Todd Mohr
WebCookingClasses.com
@Chef Todd Mohr
ReplyDeleteThank you so much :D I really appreciate it!
I'm actually just starting my senior year in college so I live in an off campus apartment so I have a fully (almost =P) functioning kitchen.
This particular dish I just played around with flavors, so I actually didn't follow a recipe. So I guess you could say it's an original recipe...
Thank you Chef Todd for stopping by!
omg..............wow you are really pro
ReplyDeleteAwesome dish, Chris! I wish I was as creative as you with cooking :)
ReplyDelete