Akira Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 As a university student, I suddenly found myself having to cook meals for myself every night. Some may see this as a chore, but so far I'm really enjoying cooking; the experimentation, the experience, the satisfying meal that is the end result! So, whenever I cook something new, I'll post about it here. Whether you use this blog for ideas in your own cooking, or just read it for entertainment purposes, I hope you enjoy. [Spoiler=Meal 1: Veggie Pasta] I used: 1 Tin of chopped tomatoes Half a pack of mushrooms, sliced Half a large onion, diced 2 cloves of garlic, diced Worcester sauce Tabasco sauce Tomato Puree Mixed Herbs Black Pepper Salt Pasta Fairly straight forward. Decided that mushrooms would be the bulk of the meal and hence didn't use any meat. First off I fried up the onion and garlic together. Lovely aroma. I like to ensure that onions are well cooked to bring out the flavour (also, undercooked onions just generally don't agree with me). Once well cooked I added the tin of tomatoes, the mushrooms and all the sauces/seasoning, and allowed it to simmer for about 20 minutes. Looking back I probably should have added the mushrooms before the tomatoes as they have a nicer texture when fried, but never mind. Got the pasta on the go next, giving the sauce extra time to cook down nicely while the pasta boiled. Served nice and hot, really enjoyable and satisfying meal despite the thing with the mushrooms which I can always do differently next time. The tomato purée added extra richness whilst the Tabasco and Worcester sauces delivered extra bite. Looks like those left over mushrooms will be used up in my next meal, as they don't keep for very long. Time to get creative![/spoiler] [spoiler=Meal 2: Chicken Stir Fry] I used: 1 Chicken fillet Half a pack of mushrooms, sliced Half an onion, sliced 3 Cloves of garlic (no I'm not insane), diced 1 Red pepper, sliced Black pepper Soy sauce Took care to slice the chicken on a separate chopping board to all the veggies. Good hygiene practise! Once everything was chopped up and ready, I added the chicken pieces to the pan as I had already been heating up some cooking oil. I used a generous amount, as I wanted to make sure that everything fried up nicely and didn't burn or stick to the pan. Soon after, I added the onion (which I left in larger chunks this time) and the garlic. Allowing these to cook together at the start helped to saturate the chicken with their rich flavours! The mushrooms followed, and these were much more successful this time round as I allowed them ample time to fry, giving them a perfect texture and making them nice and juicy. Once everything bar the red pepper was on the go, I ground in a decent amount of black pepper, then made sure it all got thrown around in the pan nicely using a spatula, to ensure it was all cooked through properly and mixed up. I added the red pepper about half way through in order to preserve their crunchy sweetness, because that's just how I like them. Right before serving, I splashed in the quintessential ingredient to a successful stir fry – soy sauce! I made so much in the end that the meal was substantial enough on it's own without the need for pasta or rice. Really pleased with this one![/spoiler] [Spoiler=Meal 3: Spicy sauteed potatoes and chicken fillet] I used: 1 Onion, diced 3 Cloves of garlic, diced 2 Chilli peppers (from an assorted “hot” pack), sliced 3 Medium potatoes 1 Chicken Fillet Salt Pepper Oh dear. This meal was an embarassment. Not so much due to the end result which wasn't too bad, but more what happened whilst I was cooking it. I shall start from the top. Decided to boil the potatoes whole before sautéing them, so I let them cook for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, I was busy chopping up the onion, garlic and chilli peppers. Once ready, I chucked the load into a hot frying pan, as you do. What happened next was somewhat disastrous. The extra hot chilli peppers produced such strong pungent fumes that myself and the other 3 in the kitchen started coughing violently. I apologised profusely, feeling my face turn red with shame, but they smiled and took it in good nature despite the intermittent spluttering. The next 15 minutes were painstaking as I had to allow the chicken breast ample time to cook even though I was desperate to take the pan off the heat and put an end to everyone's suffering. Near the end, I quickly drained the potatoes and sautéed them briefly but not for as long as I'd liked, for the same reason. In the end however, the chicken was perfectly cooked and really juicy, and the fried chilli mix was a delight despite it's insistence on attempting to kill everyone present during the process. Potatoes were slightly underdone, but I blame the chillies once again. Won't be making that mistake again![/spoiler] [spoiler=Meal 4: Chilli Con Carne] I used 1 Onion, diced 2 Cloves of Garlic, diced 1 Tin of chopped tomatoes 1 Tin of red kidney beans 2 Bird's Eye chillies, diced 250g of mince Worcester sauce Salt Rice Sour cream Tomato purée Diced up the onions and garlic to begin with – generic starting point! Fried those up together with the mince and a dash of oil. I then started to slice up the red pepper into chunks and diced the 2 chillies finely whilst my fabulous assistant Bethy gave the mince and onions a thorough stirring. Once sufficiently browned, I added the tin of tomatoes, drained the kidney beans and added them too. THEN the chillies went in along with the red pepper – no noxious fumes this time round thank you very much! Bethy continued to shine as she dutifully kept stirring as I added the multitude of ingredients, lastly of which were the tomato purée, Worcester sauce and salt. I allowed this to simmer away nicely as I got the rice on the go. The rest was simple; stirred occasionally whilst waiting for the rice and that was it. Served with a generous amount of sour cream which was a good thing too as those chillies made it tantalisingly spicy! All in all a great value, filling meal with enough left over to put in the fridge and have tomorrow.[/spoiler] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murar Bonefang Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 if you consume beer here is a very good recipe. make pork ribs fry or chicken leg fries. make sauce with tomato, pepper, chilli onion and extra- garlic in a mixer great with alcohol, like beer or vodka or whisky, not scotch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akira Posted September 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 Everything is good with beer :3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunar Origins Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 [quote name='Akira' timestamp='1317120972' post='5543397'] Everything is good with beer :3 [/quote] Will you make a movie of this blog? xD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akira Posted September 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 Not really the vlogging type, and filming my cooking would get distracting. May take some pictures if I can be bothered though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agro Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 Wait, this is because ur a uni student? Every night? You don't have a union? Or a cafeteria/commons? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ieyasu Tokugawa Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 [quote name='AggroDrago' timestamp='1317129474' post='5543489'] Wait, this is because ur a uni student? Every night? You don't have a union? Or a cafeteria/commons? [/quote] The food there is generally subpar. Grilled cheese sandwiches get cooked in mass quantities then are left to dry out for hours and taste bad afterward. Vegetables are left to simmer in their own juices for far to long and get soggy. The only time you're assured something good is when you specifically ask them to make you something right then and there, or if you happen to get there when they did so on their own. Yes I'm being picky. It's food. We can be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agro Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 Wait, do u 2 go to the same school? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ieyasu Tokugawa Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 No. Akira's british and I'm american, so if we do something's wrong. I'm just using my own dining hall as a basis for other dining halls, and mine is supposedly one of the better ones in my area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agro Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 [quote name='Miror B.' timestamp='1317129896' post='5543497'] No. Akira's british and I'm american, so if we do something's wrong. I'm just using my own dining hall as a basis for other dining halls, and mine is supposedly one of the better ones in my area. [/quote] My cousin goes to oxford and we live in america, so that's not completely true... ANYWAY... not all college cafe/union food is bad (especially if u don't go to a community college) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ieyasu Tokugawa Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 I never said it was bad, just that sometime I'd like a freshly cooked grilled cheese than that dried up stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akira Posted September 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 We could choose whether or not we wanted to stay in catered halls of residence. I opted for self catered because I'm picky and cafeteria food is often trashy like Miror said. Plus it's good fun and life experience, hence this blog! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDDRodrigo Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 [quote name='Akira' timestamp='1317130425' post='5543501'] We could choose whether or not we wanted to stay in catered halls of residence. I opted for self catered because I'm picky and cafeteria food is often trashy like Miror said. Plus it's good fun and life experience, hence this blog! [/quote] Agreed. If I was in the same situation, I'd do the same. I'm very picky on food... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ieyasu Tokugawa Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 I still eat at the dining hall because they have meal plans, and if I didn't get one my mother would get worried sick and continuously call asking if I had enough food. As it is now I have the 99 meals a semester, which translates to about 6 meals a week, so I still end up cooking for myself. And you'd be surprised how small things can actually taste good, like how making those small chicken ramen noodle packs, but throwing an egg in the middle of cooking the noodles. And that's just a small thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tentacruel Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 I've never eaten the food at my College's cafeteria. It looks pretty good though. Pizza, subs and chicken tenders and all that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akira Posted September 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 Just made tonight's dinner and by god was it heavenly. About to update the blog~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ieyasu Tokugawa Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 On chicken stir fry, can garlic be optional? I'm assuming so, and I really want to try this out tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akira Posted September 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 Of course. If you like hot food you could replace the garlic with a sliced fresh chilli pepper. It's always good to experiment! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ieyasu Tokugawa Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 May actually do that And hot=/=spicy. There's a difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akira Posted September 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 Uh, you say that, but I once described something as spicy and the person thought I meant spices as in herbs, but not hot spicy. So I never know which definition to use <_> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 I'd cook, but I lack A stove, money, and a car Dx Food is actually pretty good here, though o,o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ieyasu Tokugawa Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 If you want to differentiate between those, use spicy hot or something, because hot is used for temperature. I've once made spicy cookies that were still spicy even after they had cooled down. (had a lot of fun with those d:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.Rai Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 Oh guise, always boil pasta with salt. People I know always forget to season the pasta too. Quite like both recipes, but I always make a better stir fry. And ramen, or anything Asian. And I'm disappointed you've not made any British food yet :< You traitor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akira Posted September 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 British food is so generic though might make a corned beef hash next. As for the stir fry, I know I could have made it better with other stuff like beansprouts etc but really it was just a reason to use up my leftover mushrooms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDDRodrigo Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 [quote name='Cursed Reaction' timestamp='1317148922' post='5543898'] Oh guise, always boil pasta with salt. People I know always forget to season the pasta too. [/quote] Yeah... I hate when I eat pasta without salt. I wanna see you doing Brazillian food, tho. We have stuff more spicy than mexican food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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