Starting from Scratch

For me, this entry marks the convergence of the Internet, a passion for cooking, and my desire to engage others in all-things-Foodie. This will be my portal to the world, to share my passion for cooking and food.

Starting from Scratch is an appropriate title, since that's the way all good cooking should begin. I'm a proponent of using what's fresh in the market along with the finest available ingredients, but I'm not beyond the time-saving steps of canned broth, tomato sauce, or chicken. In fact, many will claim that canned tomato sauce is a superior product to sauce made from fresh tomatoes. But then again, I just witnessed a wonderfully simple sauce made from fresh tomatoes and basil, on Mark Bittman's Best Recipes in the World (Episode 13 - Sunday Dinner in Europe).

Good food need not take long to prepare. To make a great simple soup, combine canned chicken broth with fresh basil or Italian parsley, and pasta or rice. Canned chicken makes wonderful chicken salad when mixed with chives, celery, water chestnut and sweetened, dried cranberries. Tomato sauce mixed with fresh basil and roasted garlic makes wonderful pasta sauce in the time it takes to boil pasta! Look for recipes and other time-saving steps in the future.

Tip-of-the-day: Zest!
Fresh citrus zest is one of my favorite ingredients. Tangerine is particularly wonderful, along with lemon and lime. I use lemon zest to brighten tuna salad, vinaigrettes, and tomato sauce. Use a Microplane grater/zester to create the best zest. Take your favorite zest and combine it with either coarsely-ground salt or sugar to use in future dishes. Lemon and lime salt are great for marinating meat. Orange and tangerine sugar make a great dessert topping. Turn these into gifts for the holidays, or any special occasion.

I look forward to the future, to meeting new friends and sharing all the creativity of preparing and enjoying good food.