so I had the cook book in my hand

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

so I had the cookbook in my hand....

I was out shopping today and had the tome "Mastering the art of french cooking volume one" in my hands hard cover, so close to discovering how to cook in Julia's kitchen.... but then I thought what the heck? do I want to master the art of french cooking, dude I am trying to lose weight sweating at the gym 2 hours every other day... to turn around and cook with pounds of butter and fatty duck liver? hmmmm no thanks.

I will have to start by journey through someone elses kitchen, maybe Jaime Oliver or the barefoot countessa...Nigella or even better Chef Ramsey... I can swear my way through one of his cookbooks... I may just start light and dig out my everyday foods with Martha... it really is a good thing-- most days. hehe

So I will see how this goes I will keep you all on the edges of your seat with my adventures in my tiny kitchen tripping over two rowdy dogs, using my beautiful yellow le cruset pot trying not to break it. Yes I am capable. I do have a some fabulous cereal bowls that I also love "Cooking" with. cheerios are my favourite.
until next time cook on my friends cook on.



Mango curry with rice....

Let me start by saying I need to grocery shop hence the awkward pairing of Mango curry and salmon..
what can I say, it is truly a westcoast "fusion" cooking experience..

I had some dental work done this morning so I was numb until 2ish this afternoon and then once I thawed it was fairly sensitive (aka. raw and painful) so I was not looking for anything crunchy or rough in any way.. so I was rummaging through the cupboards in search of inspiration... none to be had!.... instead I called my friend who cooks up a storm and she happen to be cooking at that very moment so we chatted and I found a package of mango curry paste... and that is where it all started.

I made a pot of rice, found a salmon fillet in the freezer thawed it and cooked it with some sesame oil until tender then added the mango curry paste, added some frozen mango chunks that had seen better days from the dark recesses of the freezer and threw in a container of coconut tofu... covered it up and let it mingle.

your tummy may be chrurning at the idea of all those flavours in one place but let me tell ya the tofu melted nicely so I didn't have to add milk (which is good cause I had half a carton that didn't pass the sniff test!) It took on the coconutty flavour and mixed with the soft mango chunks that would prolly have freezer burned had I not cooked them, not to mention the salmon separating into delicate chunks as it all melded with the subtle heat of the mango curry paste.... all in all a very tender tasty dish to serve over rice.

So I sit here contented, thinking it would be nice to have a little something sweet after a meal like that but alas mother hubbard I am and yes the cupboards are bare, my mouth feels good, no worse for wear after dinner so I think I will have a couple advil and pop in a movie as I page though a cook book I picked up at the library today... I am hunting for some inspiration... perhaps Jaime Oliver can save me!