Read The Instructions!

As I cooked tonight's dinner, I was surprised that I had no panic or fear. I am beginning to look at the whole thing as a challenge and really want to learn to cook. No, sorry, let me correct it - I NEED to learn to cook. Every guy should! (Wow, I can't believe I'm writing this! What a transformation!). 

Let me tell you something I am not so proud of. Tonight I got so carried away with the preparation of ingredients and watching over the poor chicken that ended up in a pot and was quietly simmering there, that I forgot to read the instructions on the pack of cream of chicken soup. You are supposed to mix it in cool water and then bring it boil, instead of pouring it into the boiling water (I can almost hear most of you saying, "Duh!"). Yup, that's my glorious moment for tonight. As I'm sure you all know, when you pour the cream of chicken soup mixture into the boiling water, you can stir all you want, still it won't dissolve. So what should a not-so-smart guy do in a situation like that? Pour that darn soup down the drain and start from scratch? Nah, at least I know that much. I called the reinforcements. In came Matet with a grin on her face. "Next time read the instructions!", she said. Again, duh! (She was gracious enough not to say it out loud)... So, the lesson for today - Don't rely on your own wisdom (I know I don't have much of it anyway), just read those instructions!

OK, with that off my chest, let me share with you the details of my special dinner number 2.

Dish # 1 - Toasted Bread with Salsa

Serves 4 Time to Prepare 10 minutes 

4 slices of wheat bread, toasted or fried with butter
1/2 small red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 small green bell pepper, chopped
1/3 cup olives, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons French salad dressing, or extra-virgin olive oil

Mix all the ingredients for salsa. Toast the bread, and top it with salsa.

My experience: Matet made this a few days ago, and I really liked it, so I decided to give it a try. Instead of toasting the bread (which tends to dry the bread), I chose to fry it with butter. The rest is kind of obvious.
Our verdict: Easy and quick to make, this makes a great and healthy appetizer or breakfast.

Dish # 2 - Chicken Noodle Soup

Serves 4 Time to Prepare 5 minutes Cooking Time 40 minutes

• 9 ounces boneless, skinless chicken meat
• 3 ounces uncooked spaghetti
• 1-1/2 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon onion, chopped
• salt to taste
• 4-1/3 cups water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 tablespoons cream of chicken soup, from a pack
• 
  
• 1. In a large pot, bring the water to a boil. Add the salt and olive oil.
• 2. Chop up the chicken, and add it with the onion and garlic to the pot. Let it simmer over medium heat for 30 minutes.
• 3. Break the spaghetti into small pieces, no longer than half the size of your pinkie; add to the pot. Stir occasionally. Remove the chicken. Get rid of all the bones and skin, and shred the meat. Put it back in the pot.
• 4. Dissolve cream of chicken soup in a cool water, and add it to the pot. Stir for 5 minutes.

My experience: All I had to do was to follow instructions. Oh silly me!

Our verdict: Very nice and filling soup.

Dish # 3 - Pork Chops with Watermelon Salsa

Serves 4 Time to Prepare 10 minutes Cooking Time 10 minutes

4 thick-cut pork chops, at least 1/2-inch-thick each

1/4 cup flour

salt and pepper

oil for pan-frying

For the Salsa:

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

1/3 cup red watermelon, chopped

1/3 cup yellow watermelon, chopped

2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 red onion, chopped

salt and pepper

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1. Dredge pork chops in salt and pepper, then in flour. Pan-fry until done. Keep warm while preparing the salsa.

2. Toss all salsa ingredients together and serve with the pork chops.

My experience: Making this dish was quite fun and straight forward.

Our verdict: Pork chops and watermelon may not be the first combo you think of (we did not, for sure), but this salsa completely cuts the fatness of the pork chop and makes for an elegant and quick meal. Keep the meet warm, and allow that salsa flavor to permeate the meat. Nothing too special about the pork chop, it's the salsa that you remember after eating this dish. You can also substitute the pork chops with chicken breast or fish fillet.

Dish # 4 - Fruit Salad

Serves 8 Time to Prepare 10 minutes

• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1 (16 ounce) can cherry pie filling
• 1 (15 ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained
• 1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)
• 
  
• 1. In a large bowl, fold together the condensed milk and whipped topping.
• 2. Add the pie filling, pineapple, marshmallows and pecans (if desired). Mix well and refrigerate until chilled.

My experience: I used all-purpose cream instead of whipped topping, omitted the pecans, and added mandarin oranges. The cherry pie filing was incredible! I think if I do this salad again, I will add bananas and pecans, and probably some red wine. 

Our verdict: The more variety of fruits, the better. Pecans would have added some crunchiness. It turned out a bit too sweet (tolerable levels), so we wonder if it would work to substitute the condensed milk with plain yogurt. Not sure. Red wine would definitely go well with that awesome cherry pie filing!

Thanks again for reading the transcript of my therapy session! Huge thanks to my one and only sister who has decided to cook everything I will cook! That's special and means a lot to me. If after reading this or any other cooking therapy post on my blog you decide to try cooking a dish or two, please share your experience. It would be great to find out how it went for you and what you thought of the end result. 

On a personal note, I am slowly moving from fear of cooking to an excitement about this experiment and challenge. As I close for the day, I am beginning to think that fear (whatever shape or form it takes for each of us individually) tends to grow big in our heads. But when we open up and share it with someone else, and take the first steps to confront our fear, we realize that it is not really that big and we certainly should not allow it to control us or to shape who we are. I'm glad I started this journey.

The Fear Factor

Have you ever watched the show called "Fear Factor"? On that show they make participants do crazy things, like eat worms, or lie in a sealed cage with rats or snakes for a few minutes. Obviously, the participants freak out when faced with the thing they dread the most. Well, my dreaded Saturday finally arrived, and after doing some grocery shopping, I finally set myself to the task of cooking. Up to that point I kept telling myself, "I can do this! I can do this! I can do this!", but when it was time to start cooking, I really panicked ("What in the world made me do this??? Can I just back out?"). To cut the story short, boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to announce that I actually did it. Not only that, but somewhere between mixing the ingredients and laying them out for the photo shoot, I realized that my fear isn't as horrible as snakes or rats or worms. I can actually do this thing! In fact, tonight we feasted on a four-course meal! Well, I still lacked confidence in the process and kept bugging Matet with a thousand questions, but the end result was very gratifying. I guess confidence will come eventually, as I keep doing this. Confidence and habits are formed over time, so it's a good thing my therapy includes 52 Saturdays. Uhmmm, make that 51! I'm exhausted after a day of shopping, panicking and cooking, but... it feels good! So, let's cut to the chase and talk about tonight's dinner...

Dish # 1 - Crunchy Green Salad

Serves 4 Prep Time 5 minutes

1 bag of salad greens
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1 cup store-bought herbed croutons
1/4 cup bottled bacon bits
1 bottle French salad dressing

1. Arrange salad greens on a bowl
2. Top with walnuts, croutons and bacon bits
3. Drizzle with enough dressing just before serving

My experience: Making it was a breeze and helped me to get going. We did not find any walnuts today, so instead we put some olives, and the croutons were just regular, not herbed.
Our verdict: Simple, easy to make, and has a great taste.

Dish # 2 - Cream of Corn Cheese Soup

Serves 4

1 cup corn kernels, drained
1 cup cream of corn
2 cups chicken stock or water
2 tablespoons cheese pimiento
1 cup cream

For garnish
1 teaspoon spring onions, finely diced
some nacho chips

1. Place corn kernels and cream of corn in a saucepan. Pour in stock and bring to a boil over high heat, and let simmer.
2. Stir in the cheese pimiento until dissolved.
3. In a bowl, temper the cream by adding some of the hot liquid from the soup into it. Take this warmed mixture and stir it into the soup. Simmer over low heat for 5 minutes.
4. Serve in individual cups and garnish with spring onions and nachos.

My experience: Again, extremely easy to make. This was my very first soup ever made.
Our verdict: The finished result was a bit too watery, but tastes good. We loved it.

Dish # 3 - Sole Fillet with Butter Cream Sauce

Serves 2 Prep Time 5 minutes Cooking Time 15 minutes

2 pieces sole fillet
salt and pepper
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup flour

For the sauce
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1/2 cup cream
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon chives, chopped
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon Spanish paprika

1. Season fish with salt and pepper. Dip both sides of the fish in egg, then dredge in flour. Fry on each side until golden brown.
2. For the sauce, melt butter chunks in medium heat then slowly pour in the cream, mixing until you a think consistency. Remove from heat and add the rest of the ingredients. Mix.
3. Pour the sauce on top of the fish and garnish with chives. Serve with brown buttered beans (recipe below) and rice.

Brown Buttered Beans

Serves 2 Prep Time 5 minutes Cooking Time 10 minutes

400 grams Baguio beans, tips removed (not sure what would be the equivalent of these beans where you live, but I'm sure you will figure it out when you look at the photo)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes
salt and pepper to taste
pinch of chili flakes

1. Blanche Baguio beans in hot water for a couple of minutes, making sure you maintain its crunchiness. Immediately dunk in a bowl of ice water to stop carryover cooking.
2. Melt butter on low heat. With a wooden spoon, mix constantly until it turns light brown. Remove from fire and add lemon juice.
3. Pour the butter (straining sediments as you pour) on the beans then toss and season with salt, pepper and chili flakes.

My experience: This was a challenge for me, and I had to get Matet's input quite a few times. I realized that when I panic over cooking, I tend to treat the recipe like a software development manual - everything has to be step-by-step and precise. So now I know I need to loosen up a bit. Oh, and we did not find any chives, so we just omitted that part :)
Our verdict: The main dish turned out to be absolutely incredible!!! The recipe is WOOOOW!!! The softness of fish, amazing sauce made this really special. Any five-star restaurant would be proud to serve this dish (and charge a fortune too!). If you want to impress your loved ones and/or guests, this is the recipe! I really did not expect this when I picked it out from a recipe book. Awesome!!!

Finally, the desert!

Dish # 4 - Watermelon and Yogurt Smoothie

Serves 2 Prep Time 2 minutes

2 cups frozen cubed watermelon (red or yellow), preferably seedless
1 cup chilled plain yogurt
1 spring mint leaves
2 tablespoons honey (optional)

Blend all ingredients together and serve in glasses.

My experience: The natural sweetness of the watermelon makes adding honey optional, and the addition of mint leaves makes it even more refreshing. I substituted yogurt with vanilla almond ice cream and added a little bit of water.

Our verdict: The ice cream instead of yogurt worked really well, while almonds gave an additional flavor to the mix. Yummy!

If you've read this far, thank you! I truly appreciate your support, and I would be even more delighted if you would give it a try and test any of these dishes in your kitchen.

Till next Saturday!

Fear Explained

Many years ago I was a part of a crew that cooked meals for a crowd of 70 people. We had only 2 hours each day to come up with something. Six days a week. Three longest months of my life. I was 18 years old, by far the youngest guy in the kitchen. To make matters worse, I did not speak English and, up to that point, I had never ever cooked a single meal in my life. The team leader, as kind as she was, frequently got mad at me. Seeing frustration on her face made me panic even more. I still clearly remember one afternoon when she stormed out of the kitchen raging in anger because she could not stand me anymore. I don't think I ever felt so embarrassed. I did learn to speak English eventually and learned to contribute in the kitchen, but when the three months were up, I resolved to never cook again. I detested the kitchen, period. Since then, I rarely stepped into that dreaded part of the house. The few meals I cooked were far from enjoyable for me, and the resulting dishes were miserable.

Seventeen long years have passed since that traumatic experience. I admired my buddies who were great in the kitchen (the ladies seemed to drool over them!). I watched the male chefs on various TV shows and thought they were gods. But more than anything else, I was so grateful to have a loving wife who did all the cooking and never demanded me to grow up. The kitchen was her domain.

Well, I woke up today and realized that enough is enough - it's time to get out of the comfort zone and back into the battlefield. I need to face my Goliath. So, armed with a few recipe books, clad with the mighty shield and helmet (sorry got carried away for a sec there - more like, apron and chef's hat), I stepped into the kitchen to accomplish a miracle.

The resolution is simple. Once a week, for the next 52 weeks, I will be the chef of the house. Every week I will cook something new, and for accountability's sake, I will be sharing my experience with you. 52 recipes. 1 changed man. This is my therapy. I will be grateful if you stick around, and walk this journey with me. Your encouragement and suggestions would be much appreciated. Hey, perhaps one of those recipes will come to life in your kitchen too! That would be awesome! So, check in this Saturday for my very first dish!