Saturday, March 13, 2010

Cooking as Creative Expression


One of my favorite things about cooking is the ability to create, to improvise, to invent - and have it turn into something useful and meaningful and purposeful. (Even when the improvisation turns into something inedible - at least you learned something from it in the process!)



Now, I am not a chef. I have no distinguished palate. I don't make gourmet meals or create elaborate modern presentations with my food. But - I enjoy the fact that I can put a meal together and think that perhaps no one has ever quite had that meal before.



I tend to play it pretty safe with my cooking most of the time now - when you're feeding a house full of picky eaters - improv and invention is not always the best way to make sure they are fed. But, every once in a while I have time to just cook for myself.


Tonight I went to the grocery store with no meal in mind and wandered around gathering items. I ended up with some chicken, saffron rice, and the ingredients for guacamole.


Cooked the rice, mixed the guacamole, grilled the chicken. I kept some of the onions, tomatoes, and cilantro to sprinkle over the top of the chicken and rice. Nothing fancy - but I enjoyed the mix of flavors and the ability to just cook without a line of people coming in the kitchen and asking what it is :)


2 comments:

  1. I too enjoy the creative process of cooking. I like it best when I don't measure anything. I could take a lesson from your book though. I need to expand my horizons and be daring in trying more things. You inspire me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. you do make great gourment burgers and i've learned that you appreciate the appearance of the meal, as well. your dinner looks very appealing and of a real southwestern/tex mex kinda theme. you seem to def be in your element with trying new things and have a beneficial positive attitude that even if its inedible you've still learned something.

    ReplyDelete