I love the extra cooking time I get in the summer. I’ve made broths, sauces, breads, and sawmill gravy (The only dish besides jambalaya and gumbo that I learned like oral history—these recipes feel different when I make them. Maybe I should explore that in another post…).
This week’s output will also include some rolls, French toast (made from aforementioned bread), maybe some pasta and pizza dough. Of course, these are “official” recipes. I improvise a lot in the kitchen and it mostly works. Mostly. It’s like practicing scales on an instrument. The hands and ears work together to help build technique. Cooking technique is similar. How do these tastes/textures/aromas work together? Can they work together? You get better at this the more you cook. Just like you get better at playing an instrument by, yep, playing the instrument. As simple as this idea is, I have had many a good friend who could not grasp this proposition.
And I need to start writing down the recipes that work. Otherwise, the good ones are like playing a great improvised solo and forgetting to hit the record button. I had a great recipe for nachos with asparagus tips and some other foodstuffs (Bacon? Black olives? Green onion? Hmm …) Anyway, it was good. I promise.
And now I want to make tomato sauce. I used to make it every Friday night. Of course, I never wrote down the refined recipe so it will be like starting over. I know It started with oil, onion, salt, and grated carrots. Yessir, grated carrots. Good for the prostate this sauce was and maybe that’s another post as well.
Stephen McClurg 