Hope you had an enjoyable weekend! Today was another relaxed Sunday with all the regular Sunday chores- grocery shopping, a bit of cleaning, writing a paper and doing some reading.
Since coming to London, I have been cooking nearly every meal for my boyfriend and I, especially dinner, as it is much more cost efficient to do so. While cooking dinner tonight, I began thinking of the best and worst food experiences I have had since cooking in London, and I would like to share them with you!
Best
5. Lox and Bagels
Perfect for any time of the day! Toast a bagel and smother it with whatever. Traditionally it is done with cream cheese, but I hate cream cheese, so I either use a less pungent soft cheese or hummus on my bagel. Top with smoked salmon, and you have a meal! It is best when done in a toaster oven, because you can warm the salmon.
4. Macaroni and Cheese with Sriracha
Sounds insane, right? Don't judge until you've tried it. This is a favorite of my roommate and I, as it is easy, cheap, and delicious. Best of all? You can make it in a rice cooker! To make, just put equal amounts pasta of your choice (elbow macaroni and farfalle are my favorite) and water, then add a few more tablespoons of water. Cook until the pasta is no longer chewy, drain, then add cheese and milk. Add real cheese- not the yellow mystery powder that Kraft puts in the box. We usually added a generous amount of Sargento cheddar cheese to the pasta while in the rice cooker. Cook about 5-10 minutes, then serve with a bit of Sriracha on top. The spicy compliments the sharp cheese very well!
3. Shrimp Stir Fry
This has been my go-to meal since coming to London! Many stores (Waitrose, Sainsbury's, etc.) have "Meal Deals"where you can get a meat (I usually do shrimp), rice noodles, a vegetable mix and stir fry sauce for about £6. You can serve about 4-5 portions from this, so it is an excellent value. To make, you heat a wok (but of course no one has a wok, so a large frying pin), add a bit of the sauce (I always get the black bean sauce), and cook until the meat is mostly done. Add rice noodles, vegetables, and the rest of the sauce. Let it simmer in the "wok" and stir occasionally. Another easy dish!
2. Spinach and Ricotta Tortellini in Creamy Artichoke Sauce
Sounds fancy? It is. Sound difficult to make? Nope. Stuffed pasta is really common in London, and it is so delicious! My favourite so far has been stuffed tortellini with spinach and ricotta. I first made this with a tomato-based pasta sauce, which was good, but not great. I picked up a creamy artichoke & pecorino sauce, which complimented the flavours much better. Just put the tortellini in boiling water and heat the sauce and voila! Unfortunately, my boyfriend refuses to try this (he doesn't eat his greens), so I usually make it for myself when I prepare him beef or pork for dinner.
1. Salmon with Pesto over a Bed of Angel Hair
This is one of my favourites! If it wasn't already pretty obvious, I eat very little meat, and when I do, it is usually salmon. I take a filet of salmon, cut it open longways from about 1/4 down to 3/4 down, then fill it with pesto. I cook in the pan until light pink and flakey. Serve over a bed of angel hair pasta and [vegetarian] bolognese sauce with sauteed brussel sprouts. Yum yumm!
The Worst
5. Anything Labeled as "Chicken" With a Pork by-product
For clarification: I do not eat beef, pork, or any beef or pork by-products. Not even broth. I cannot put a figure on how much money I have wasted on buying items like "Cream of Chicken Soup" or even "Barley Stew" and a "Chicken Sandwich" to find that these items have pork by-products once I get home. I usually thoroughly inspect food labels, but I thought the barley soup would be safe since it was a tomato base, but not so. There were chunks of dead pig in my barley soup. There were also bits of bacon in my Chicken sandwich. Perhaps they should label it Chicken and Dead Pig Surprise on Ciabatta?
4. Treating Rice Noodles as Pasta
Do not do this. It is a trap. Rice noodles are not pasta. They have their place in Asian cuisine, but they must remain there to be tasty in the least. This is actually my inspiration for this post. I prepared salmon and steamed vegetables for dinner, but had half a bag of rice noodles that expired today in the fridge. Being a clever young lady, I decided I would prepare and serve them like pasta. This was a dire mistake. They were crispy and refused to absorb any of the flavour of the sauce, so it was like long strings of rice topped with tomato goop. Do not make the same mistake I did.
3. Trying to cook pork
I don't eat pork, and haven't since I was 12 years old. Therefore, I don't know how to cook pork. My carnivorous boyfriend, however, does eat pork. I felt bad for depriving him of other meats, so I bought a few pieces of pork (not a clue the name of the cut) at the market. I went home, thinking I could just throw it in the pan and cook it to perfection. About mid-way through cooking it, I realized that: 1. I don't know what pork looks like cooked 2. I can't taste test it 3. I don't know when it's cooked thoroughly.
Scared to death I was going to poison him from serving undercooked meat, I just kept cooking it. And cooking it... then I cooked it some more. I put it on the plate and tried to cut through it to see if it was done. A table knife wouldn't work, so I grabbed a steak knife, which also wouldn't cut it. When I couldn't saw through it with the cleaver, I deemed it not edible and cooked the second piece to a slightly more digestible consistency. All in all, not a good plan for me to cook food I am afraid to even touch.
2. Creamy Tomato Sauce
On our first visit to the store, my boyfriend and I each chose a pasta sauce. He was hesitant towards my selection, but I insisted. I chose an orangey creamy tomato sauce, imagining it would have a strong tomato flavour with a hint of basil and all the fragrance of Italy in the jar, which was absolutely wrong. I eagerly fixed penne and heated up the ENTIRE can of this sauce, thinking I had just discovered a new favourite dish. I poured the sauce generously over our pasta, covering nearly every inch (I like a 1:1 pasta and sauce ratio). I took my first bite in great disappointment. The sauce had the consistency of curdled milk. Maybe it will get better as I eat? An acquired taste, perhaps? Absolutely not. The sauce, though hot, tasted like uncooked tomato soup with chunks of despair scattered throughout. My boyfriend and I agreed to ditch the pasta a few bites in and resorted to eating bread and olive oil for dinner.
1. One Dinner: Two Kitchens
My first night making dinner in London was a complete disaster! I decided to make chicken, green beans, and toasted bread. I had bought pre-seasoned chicken breasts at Waitrose, which I was comfortable with cooking. I applied Extra Virgin Olive Oil to the baking tray, put the chicken on the tray, and popped them in the oven at about 250 C. After about 20 minutes, I opened the oven to have overwhelming amounts of smoke fill every corner of my kitchen. I could hardly breathe or see through the smoke now filling my entire flat. My eyes burned and I was forced to forsake the chicken on the counter, grab the green beans, and find refuge in my boyfriend's flat to continue cooking. Luckily, the green beans came in a nifty bag. All I had to do was put them in the microwave to steam them, or so I thought. After about 15 seconds, the microwave started to pop and catch fire! I hadn't punctured the bag, which was quite a problem. When I opened the microwave, a smaller, less threatening stream of smoke began to fill the kitchen. We ate what little dinner we had in the living room of my boyfriend's flat. I realized the importance of: 1. Reading instructions 2. Converting Fahrenheit to Celsius.
Whatever you cook, whenever you cook, do it in style.
xo
BJordan
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