Irony

I love to cook.  And I loooove to bake.  My favorite is finding a new recipe and trying it for the first time.  Especially if I am going to be feeding a lot of people.

My husband, Nick, has helped me a ton by being brutally honest with every single item I prepare.  I don't have to worry that he will be delicate in telling me how it tastes.  If it's disgusting, he has no reservation whatsoever in telling me.

So, I have taken it upon myself to cook everything I possible can to perfection.  Nick says I should try going to culinary school…..but there's just one problem.  I can't eat.  Even though I'm great with aromas and textures (being able to tell what goes best with what), I can't taste what I have created until after it has been pulverized.  How would that work in a professional kitchen?  Oh, excuse me while I go and blend my sample!

Well, you know how blind people have readers, and deaf people have interpreters?  Well, what if I had a taster?  I could find some crazy food fanatic, like Adam from Man vs. Food, to follow me around and taste everything for me.  I don't want to toot my own horn, but I feel I have been blessed when it come to food preparation.  My in-laws always joke about me being such a masterful chef even though I don't taste what I make.  

But, taste and smell are so intimately connected, I can "taste" what I'm cooking from what it smells like.  And for that reason, I like to use a lot of strong, aromatic spices.  Sure, who doesn't like a deep fat fried glob of food?  I myself happen to love cheeseburgers (even though they don't blend especially well because of how fatty they are).  But I have to tell you, the best food are the spiciest.  And no, I don't mean spicy as in hot.  I mean cinnamon, cumin, cloves, basil, dill, garlic, paprika.  Ask my husband, I add cinnamon to almost everything!  It's my favorite spice in the whole world.  Basil and cloves come in a close second.

We like to talk about opening a restaurant someday.  Maybe a diner or a bakery.  I would love to be able to make a living cooking for people because it is seriously one of my favorite things to do.  Maybe I enjoy it so much because I love to see the look on people's faces when they bite into something I have prepared and completely lull over in utter contentment.  I live vicariously through them.  

One of my best, basil herbed chicken, you cook it breast side down

and end up with super moist and tender meat.