I want to be a good cook. And not just decent, like I can only whip up an okay dinner for the family. I want to be amazing. I want folks to envy whoever I make dinner for. Today I was uploading photos to my Facebook album "Culinary Creations" and I felt a mix of surged confidence by seeing all the dishes I am good at preparing, but also an overwhelming desire to be even better. Perhaps I subscribe to the notion from Julie and Julia that by learning to cook we learn more about ourselves. Let's just hope that in learning to cook I don't start looking like Molto Mario (I'm not a ginger so even if I did, it wouldn't be as bad.) So here is what I want to learn to cook:
- A Signature BBQ Sauce. I've seen Food Network, I know how things work. Every chef has a signature BBQ sauce. And I don't have one and I need one. I'm interested in a blackberry BBQ sauce recipe I found, but I'd have to alter it so it was solely mine.
- A Signature Salsa. Like BBQ sauce, every chef seems to have a salsa they are famous for. My mom makes amazing mango salsa. Seriously, it is amazing. And I want to create my own...maybe a peach one or a black bean one.
- Cornbread. I make decent cornbread, but it is by no means amazing. My mom makes super moist cornbread, and although I know how she makes it, I feel a need to incorporate what she does, but make it better. Sorry Mom, but I need to be the Lord of the Cornbread.
-Spicy food. I am not too good at the spicy component of cooking. Grandpa Melburn was known for his spicy cooking and I think I've finally mastered his spicy gravy for when we make a beef roast. But I want to be super good at it. I think I rely too much on green chiles, which aren't particularly spicy, but I enjoy the flavor of them.
- Fish Tacos. Simply because they are good and I love them.
- Everything on the grill. I'm not a griller. That's Kevin's department. But I would like to get decent on it. Especially so I can make his cured pork recipe.
- Chicken. I'll tell you a secret: I am afraid of chicken. I get so terrified of salmonella-poisoning folks that I tend to overcook all poultry. It's sad but true. And I want to be better at cooking chicken dishes. I have a few decent recipes, like my Poppyseed Chicken, but I need to have more.
- Italian Cooking. I love Italian cuisine, but I am not very good at cooking it. Thanks to learning the ways of the Spaghetti Factory I can make a good Garlic Mizithra Cheese dish...but that's about it. But I would like to make a good lasagna. And perhaps a marinara sauce from scratch. I just am not a huge fan of cheese and that has always been my downfall in Italian cooking.
Now here is what I'm already good at:
- Chocolate-chip cookies (I have a super moist recipe which I believe to be the best recipe in the world for them.)
- Pumpkin Bread...Let's face it, my pumpkin bread is good.
-Slow-Cooked pork. I have a handful of recipes that I've developed with are all pretty good. So I like to believe that I am decent in the slow-cooked pork department.
- Soups and Chili. I've had a few misses, but even those weren't bad, they just weren't worth keeping the recipe around. I think I am better at make chili than soup, because with chili you want to be hearty and soup needs to be a bit dainty and lighter. But I'm pretty good at both.
- Grilled Pineapple. I've heard it described as better-than-Tucano's. And that's saying something.
- Bread, thanks to my sister-wife Carolyn and her 55 minute bread recipe.
I am not sure what to tackle first...but I am determined to be amazing. I started a bucket list a while back and one of the things on it was to develop enough of my own recipes to have an entire cookbook of spectacular dishes. Even if I never published it, I think it would be cool.
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