I'm in an organizing mood and you can't really start on a project like that until you rid yourself of some of the excess clutter. That includes cupboards and refrigerators. I checking the dates on my frozen food and cooking meals accordingly.
Today, I found four boneless pork chops which is not enough to feed four people but cubed and cooked with lots of beans, onions, and rice makes chili . . . sort of! I'm not claiming to be authentic but as long as it tastes good, no one complains.
A 'secret' I discovered for making this dish more tasty is to toss the cubed pork with chili powder before browning it. It sears the meat better and makes it almost taste grilled. It seems to impart the spicy seasoning more evenly, too. Once the meat is browned, I add the onions and garlic and cook it some more before adding tomatoes, red wine, sliced carrots, and simmering it. There is really no recipe to it, just add stuff until it tastes good!
I've been cooking for a long time and was really taken aback by two different remarks. One person asked me how to cook a pot roast once and I began with, "Okay, you rub the roast with salt and pepper, brown it . . ." The woman practically shouted at me, "You don't use a cookbook. How can you cook like that." End of cooking lesson for the day! Another time, I was chatting about a roast chicken I had made and the other person said that she doesn't care for roast chicken as hers always tastes bland. I asked what herbs/spices she used and she looked shocked and said, "You use spices? That's cheating!" That ended yet another cooking lesson!
The funny thing is that I do have a lot of cook books but when it comes down to getting dinner on the table, I have to go with what I have on hand and work around the ingredients. I do refer to my cookbooks for special occasions when I plan ahead and can make sure I have the required ingredients. I'm afraid, however, that I tend to read cookbooks like a novel!
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